FAMILIAR ↳ STEVE HARRINGTON

twenty-five.

Christine Wheeler was getting bored, the girl had been laying on the couch for awhile, but she couldn't fall asleep due to the severity of the situation. She had exhausted Steve, the boy sitting in a chair and staring mindlessly at the wall, he wasn't too susceptible to conversation.

Eventually the lights began to flicker in the house, everyone that was in there getting up from where they were and going to look out the kitchen window at the shed. Christine was confused about the lights, her eyebrows furrowing as everyone else seemed to act like this was not that strange. The lights stopped soon after, everyone looking at each other and then sitting in the kitchen. A few minutes later everyone came inside, Hopper pushing past Christine to grab a piece of paper.

"What happened?"

"I think he's talking, just not with words." Hopper wrote out a bunch of dots and a line, Christine quite confused as to what was happening now.

"Hey what is that?" Steve asked, looking down at the paper.

"Morse code." A few people answered.

"H-E-R-E."

"Here." They all repeated, Joyce looking at Jonathan as they read the word.

"Wills still in there. He's talking to us." Hopper said, nodding at Joyce. Christine figured this was great news, the girl gaining a hopeful look along with a few other people at the table. The shed group left again, the kids inside buzzing about the new plan to translate Wills morse code by Hopper sending the code to them and them figuring it out. After awhile they had gotten something, Nancy lifting the notepad and all of them rounding the table to read it together.

"Close gate." As soon as they read it the phone started to ring, Christine jumping up almost immediately and grabbing it. She slammed it into the receiver, her eyes wide as she turned around to look at the rest of them.

"Do you think he heard it?" She asked, her heartbeat spiking as she realized what it would mean if he had heard it. It rang again, Nancy ripping the phone off of the wall and throwing it down the hallway.

"It's just a phone. It could be anywhere. Right?" Steve asked, everyone looking at him as he thought about it. They all stood there in silence for a minute before a familiar ominous screeching sound came through the air, all of them heading to the living room as they heard it. Christine felt the dread fill her, realizing that they were goners now, because the plan had failed. He had found them.

"That's not good." Dustin said, all of them looking out the front window. Everyone made their way inside now, Hopper entering with a gun as everyone seemed to be trying to figure out what to do.

"Can you use this?" He said to Jonathan, the boy stuttering and causing Nancy to step forwards.

"I can." She said, Hopper throwing her the gun. Steve put himself between the two with the guns, lifting his bat in the correct swinging stance, the boy making sure he was in front of the kids and Christine, just to make sure that nothing could get to them.

"Where are they?" Max asked, the room completely silent as the tension in there mounted. There was another growl, this time the noise much closer than it had been before. There was a loud thud, everyone turning as it came from the side of the house. Christine couldn't help but figure that she was about to die, and not only that, but everyone else in here was going to die too.

"What are they doing?" Nancy asked, everyones scared breaths mingling. Another snarl sounded, the entire group turning back to the front window. There were multiple more unexplained noises, Christine reaching out and gripping Dustins hand, her fear making her heartbeat accelerate greatly. Dustin accepted her hand, figuring that if he was about to die, at least he would do it holding the hand of a hot girl.

A demo-dog burst through the window, everyone screaming as it flopped to the ground in front of them. They all collectively moved closer, Steve checking to make sure Christine was still behind him as they approached it.

"Holy shit."

"Is it dead?" Max asked, Hopper using his boot to touch the demo-dogs face. It didn't move, the man slowly lowering his gun as everyone looked around confused. The door creaked behind them, everyone turning to look as the lock turned. Everyone with guns lifted them, the sliding lock sliding out of the lock, Christines eyes widening in some form of terror as she watch this unfold. The door opened, a girl appearing in the doorway and making everyone lower their weapons. Christine could almost hear the heartbeats in the room from how quiet it was, everyone looking at the girl like they knew her. Christine glanced over at Max, the girls widening their eyes as they both seemed to put it together at the same time. This was the girl with magical powers. Mike stepped forwards, his face broken and unbelieving and his lips spreading into a smile that was filled with nothing but pure love.

"Eleven." Mike said, stepping forwards and pulling this unknown girl into a hug.

"Mike." They both cried into each other, Max looking at the other two boys with genuine shock.

"Is that..." The two boys nodded, Christine pulling her hand out of Dustins grip as they all watched the heartwarming reunion. Christine had no idea what the story was, but she could tell that this girl meant a lot to Mike.

"I never gave up on you. I called you every night. Every night for--"

"353 days. I heard." Eleven said, a tear slipping down her cheek as she admitted this.

"Why didn't you tell me you were there? That you were okay?"

"Because I wouldn't let her." Hopper revealed, the man walking over to the girl and shaking his head. "The hell is this? Where you been?"

"Where have you been?" Hopper pulled the girl into a hug, Mike having a revelation as he did so.

"You've been hiding her. You've been hiding her this whole time!" Mike pushed the chief, the man quickly turning around.

"Hey! Let's talk. Alone." The chief said, grabbing Mike by the shirt and pulling him into a separate room. The shouting started from inside the room, Christine watching as the girl walked past her and to Dustin and Lucas. They all hugged, Christine scooting across the living room to an awkward looking Steve.

"Did you know about the girl with powers?" Christine asked, talking out of the side of her mouth as she kept her eyes on the girl in question.

" No clue."

"I always wondered who Mike was calling in the basement every night." Nancy joined in, her whispers low as she looked at her cousin. Christine shrugged at her, her lips parting to speak again.

"Right, so I saw the lock open and everything but like...what kind of powers are we talking here?" Christine asked, Nancy looking at her with a clueless face. Christine looked to Steve who also looked clueless, his head shaking as he admitted he had no clue.

"Well now what?"