Wait For Me ~Stranger Things Fanfiction~

Chapter seventeen

3rd Person POV:

"By saying 'that's not Wendy', what was that supposed to mean, exactly?" Max asked as she used her flashlight to navigate the dark woods.

"By her not reacting when Steve grabbed her and shook her, she's not herself," Dustin answered. "Plus, how she acted when we were getting attacked, very suspicious."

"Well, how was she supposed to react?" Max asked.

"She hates being touched," Lucas explained. "I remember when we first met her, some kid tried to hold her hand and she scratched his face."

"Yeah, and she also bit Steve once when he tried to hug her," Dustin piped up.

"Okay, so, she has boundaries that don't like being crossed," Max said.

"But the way she didn't even react when we were getting attacked? She should've been screaming the loudest out of everyone, but no. She sat very calmly in her seat like nothing was wrong," Lucas said. "And when the demodogs left and all of a sudden, she had to go with them? She would've been running in the opposite direction as soon as they left."

"There's something infecting her," Steve spoke up. "It's under her scars, it's probably the reason why she took so long to heal."

"Then wouldn't it infect her entire bloodstream, not just be under her scars?" Lucas asked.

"I don't know, all I know is it has something to do with the Upside Down and those creepy Upside Down dog things," Steve said, keeping his eyes on Wendy, who was walking like she was still in a trance. "Gotta find a way to get it out of her."

"We don't even know what it is," Max said.

"Well, we know that it makes her in tune with the demodogs, and she didn't even know it until tonight," Dustin said. "It's like it was activated when the demodogs showed up."

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold up," Steve caught everyone's attention. "Nancy? Jonathan?"

"Steve?!" Nancy asked, shocked to see him with the other kids coming out of the woods.

"What are you guys doing here?" Dustin asked.

"Looking for Will, what about you guys?" Jonathan asked.

A screeching from, the now powered-down, Hawkins Lab resonated, sending chills down everyone's spines.

"That, and," Steve stopped his sister from trying to open the gates. He let out a grunt as he pulled her by the arm to make sure she stood by him. "Nope, we're staying here."

"What's going on?" Nancy asked.

"We're pretty sure Wendy is in a trance and is somehow connected to whatever is happening inside Hawkins Lab," Dustin said. "She led us here."

"How would you know that?" Nancy asked with furrowed brows.

"Because I can do this," Steve said, then used his hand to gently tap Wendy's face, no reaction. "And then there's also this," He turned her so her left side was facing Nancy and Jonathan then lifted her shirt, exposing the black lines underneath her scars.

"Jesus, is it like an infection, or something?" Jonathon asked.

"We don't know," Lucas said. "It just started tonight."

More screeching came from Hawkins Lab.

"We gotta get them out of there," Jonathan said, going to the gate controls to try to open the gate but to no avail.