Hell on Earth

Chapter Twelve - An End

Cynthia was basically falling asleep in the hospital chair. It had been a long day, night, and everything in between, but there was still more left to do. Will was found. Will was actually alive. After being dead for a few days, Cynthia almost couldn't believe it. Almost.

Cynthia wanted to go home and get some sleep, but she knew that Dustin (alongside Lucas and Mike) had to see Will. They had never stopped believing that their friend would come home to them. It was only right that they see him when he woke up. Cynthia wished she was able to get her car, but whatever people were associated with the Hawkins Lab said they would drive her home. She didn't like what was happening or even know exactly what was happening, but she knew that it was going to be pointless to refuse. At this point, all that mattered was having the boys see Will.

Cynthia opened her eyes when she saw the door open. Jonathan was standing in the doorway. He was motioning for the boys to follow him. They all ran out of the room. Nancy got up and left the room. Cynthia knew that Nancy would need some time after losing Barb. It was horrible that she had died the way she did: scared and alone. She hoped that if there was an afterlife, Barb was happy and not scared. Cynthia put her head back and closed her eyes for a moment. At least, she thought it was a moment.

Dustin was shaking her awake, "Cynthia, come on."

Cynthia shot up, "Who's dying?"

A man in a black suit stood up with his hands clenched behind his back, "It's time to take the two of you home."

"Lead the way then, Suits," Cynthia grumbled. She grabbed onto Dustin's backpack strap. She didn't think that the government man would separate them, but she wasn't taking any chances.

The Henderson siblings were led out to a black car. They got in the back seat. The man who had escorted them outside got into the driver's seat and started to drive them home.

Cynthia leaned over to Dustin, "Let me do the talking. Don't say a word." She pulled away and looked at her brother. He nodded at her that he understood what she was saying.

"So," Cynthia looked in the rearview mirror at the man. "What now? What's even happening?"

"You are going home," the man said. "Your house will be bugged to monitor for any disturbances. If the girl tries to contact you, we'll know."

Dustin clenched his fists. It was clear he wanted to say something. Cynthia was glad that he trusted her judgement enough to stay silent.

"So, it's about the girl," Cynthia looked out the window at the stars. "And who's fault is it that you guys lost her?"

The man didn't give in to her jibe, "Before the two of you leave the car, you will both sign a non-disclosure agreement. If either of you say anything to anyone about what happened over the course of the past six days, you'll be put in federal prison."

"We won't tell anyone, Suits," Cynthia didn't have the energy to look at him. "Even if we wanted to, who would believe us?" She bit her lip. "At least tell me that you guys didn't traumatize our mother. She didn't have any part in this."

"We told your mother that there had been reports of a Russian spy in this neighborhood," Suits explained. "She was more than happy to let us bug the house for upholding American security and democracy."

"Of course," Cynthia rolled her eyes. "Blame the damn Commies."

The rest of the ride was silent. The car pulled into the Henderson driveway. Before the siblings left the car, they signed the NDAs. There wasn't any point in trying to fight that. Besides, everyone who needed to know what had happened all ready knew. They had people they could talk to. Suits watched them walk into the house before getting into his car and driving away.

Their mother was already asleep, so they didn't have to worry about her questions. Cynthia figured the thought of fighting Commies was enough to put her to sleep. Cynthia grabbed Dustin and dragged him to the bathroom. When they got there, Cynthia turned on the shower and sink faucet to try and drown out what they were talking about. She didn't know where the bad men had hidden the bugs, but she figured they were everyone and she needed at least one private conversation.

Dustin flung himself into Cynthia's arm and started to cry. Cynthia hugged her brother tightly. She rocked back and forth as Dustin let out all of his emotions.

"What happened, Dustin?" Cynthia asked. "What happened to Eleven?"

"We were at the school and the bad men came," Dustin cried. "And they were going to take her, but she killed them. She killed all of them. But the demagorgan came. It came!" He just continued to sob in her arms. "And it was coming after us. It found us! It was going to kill us, but then she saved us." The tears were flowing harder. "She used her powers and she killed it, but she was gone! Gone!"

"It's okay," Cynthia rocked her brother back and forth. "The demagorgan can't hurt you now and Eleven has to be out there. She has to be okay." She knelt down so she could look her brother in the eye. She wiped the tears from his face. "Eleven is a special person with special abilities. I bet she's out there right now, alive and well."

"But what about the bad men?" Dustin sniffled. "They'll find her."

"She'll hide," Cynthia smiled softly at him. "And it's going to be up to you guys to find her. But you'll find her as long as you don't give up hope. Look how it turned out for Will." She paused for a moment. "We've had a long week. I think it's time you went to bed. It won't solve anything that has happened tonight, but it'll give us time to reset, okay."

"Okay," Dustin wiped the remaining tears from his face. He went into his room and laid down on the bed. He was asleep almost instantly. Cynthia smiled as she watched him sleeping. The kid deserved it. She heard the phone ring, so she went to answer it.

"Henderson residence," she said.

"Hey, Cynthia," Jonathan's familiar voice was on the other end of the line.

"Hey, Jon," Cynthia said. Even to herself, she sounded tired.

"I just wanted to make sure you got home okay," he said. "I was worried that the government people were going to whisk you and Dustin away."

"We're safe," Cynthia nodded. "We're safe, but very much tired."

"Go to bed," Jonathan said. "I just wanted to check up on you. I'm going to call to check up on Nancy next. We've had a long few days."

"That we have," Cynthia let out a exhausted laugh. "I'm just glad we found Will and it's over."

"Time to go back to normal, then Cynthia."

"Oh, Jonathan. I don't things could ever go back to normal."