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Chapter 30

Battle with Brenner: Part 2

El ran back into the house with Hopper and the rest of them hot on her trail. This, of course, did not help settle the nerves of the people left inside.

"What's going on?" Steve asked with his heart racing by the panicked people charging inside.

"Brenner." Hopper explained quickly. "We saw him when we were leaving. We turned around and sped home. He's going to be here any minute."

"We need to get out of here!" Mike said grabbing El's hand. He couldn't lose her, not again.

"No!" El said in a demanding voice, yanking her hand away from him. "We ran last time and look at how that ended up." She looked around the room at the worried yet understanding faces. "This time we know he's coming and we're prepared. This time...we fight."

Everyone felt a little nervous about what she was saying, but with the determination in her voice, they started to feel like they could win.

"Alright." Hopper sighed. "But we can't do it here. This is a neighborhood."

Everyone ran around the room and grabbed something they could use to defend themselves. Hopper ushered everyone out and got every person to cram themselves in his truck. As Hopper's truck came to life a pair of bright headlights turned onto the road, blinding anyone who would look that way.

"We need to go." Joyce yelled from the passenger seat fully knowing that was Brenner headed towards them.

A bunch of "Go"s chorused in the back seats as Hopper quickly pulling out of the driveway, making his tires squeak. Hopper took the truck out of reverse and flipped on the lights, then drove as fast as possible with Brenner close behind.

The police truck and the white van following, sped down the roads, taking quick turns and ignoring everything around them. Eventually, they ended up at the school.

"Everyone inside!" Hopper said opening up the back door letting everyone pile out and run in the school.

"Stop right there!" They heard a man's voice call after them.

As they ran through the hallways, El slowed herself to a stop. Everyone quickly became aware of her being behind and turned to face her. Shouts were heard from not to far behind them along with pounding footsteps.

"El, what are you doing?" Max asked quickly just wanting to help her friend stay safe.

"We can't run." She shook her head trying to catch her breath. "Running won't fix this. We need to fight."

Nobody got to object before three flashlights rounded the corner and settle on the group. Hopper immediately stood in front of El protectively as others gathered around her.

"Alright Chief." Brenner voice blared through El's ears. He was leading the group of men with him and step forward so there was less room in between him and Hopper. "Hand her over."

"Not happening anytime soon." Hopper said firmly.

"She is a dangerous person who can kill." Brenner tried to persuade him. "She doesn't belong in the world. She belongs in a place where people understand what's going on with her. In a place where she can't harm anyone. Where she can be safe."

"I know we both know she is no where near safe when she's with you." Hopper laughed venomously.

"Hand her over!" Brenner demanded, pulling a gun out. A click was heard letting everyone know the gun was loaded. "Or we could just take her ourselves."

"Stop!" El cried stepping in front of the group. She refused for anyone else to get hurt.

"El, what are you doing?" Mike hissed at her.

"Eleven." Brenner said lowering the gun but kept it firm in his hand. His expression softened at the sight of the girl. If she knew nothing about him, she would mistake it for a loving expression. But she did know him, and she did know lies. "You need to come home."

"I am home." El stated bravely, she knew this could turn out one of many ways. "And I'm not leaving."

Brenner's once loving expression turned cold as he once again raised his gun, pointing it towards El. No one was fast enough to stand in front of her.

The gunshot rang out loudly, making the group cover their ears and turn away from El. Two more gun shots were heard, and soon after El's body came tumbling to the floor.

No one wanted to turn around. They didn't want their thoughts to be true. They didn't want to actually lose El this time.

Slowly, the group turned around to see the scene in front of them. Four people were on the floor, three weren't breathing, two had gunshot wounds, one was staring up at the ceiling.

"El." Mike broke the silence, kneeling down to where she was on the floor. "El!" He started to shake her.

El started to stir as her eyes fluttered open, making everyone sigh in relief. El moved her head to look over at Brenner but Mike stopped her. "Don't look over there. Look at me." He said calmly hoping she didn't see what happened. But she did. Her eyes started to water as she brought a shaky hand up to her face.

"I killed him." She whispered as tears came down her face.

Mike didn't know how to reply. So instead of replying, he pulled her into a hug, making her cries become louder. Everyone joined in, happy to know she's safe and alive, even if it meant she had to hurt someone.

Soon her cries started to die out as she passed out once again from using all of her energy. Everyone left the hug except Mike, who was cradling her so she wouldn't be uncomfortable on the cold tile floor.

Hopper left the group to go see what exactly happened to Brenner and his to followers. Brenner was the only one out of the three with no gunshots wound. Instead he was left staring at the ceiling with his head cocked at a weird angle.

"She broke his neck." Hopper informed the others. "And she must have managed to make the others shot one another."

"But their were three gunshots." Max stated.

Hopper noticed a hole on the wall beside him. He pointed at it and said, "She must have gotten to him before he pulled the trigger."

"Can we just get her home?" Joyce asked noticeably uncomfortable talking about what just happened. She wanted to get El away from him whether he was dead or alive.

"Yeah, let's get her home." Hopper agreed. "I'll have this taken care of." He said looking around at the fallen men.

The group left that night in mostly good spirits. The best news about though was they didn't need to worry about Brenner anymore. He was gone.

Brenner was gone.

Authors note
Thank you guys for reading! The book isn't over yet, I think there's going to be a few more chapters of the aftermath and all of that to look forward to.

Brenner is gone, yay!!!! I'm really happy with how it turned out (the chapter I mean) I think this might be one of my favorites!

Love ya!!!❤️❤️❤️