Stranger Things: The Lost Family (Part 1)

The Girl with Red Eyes

"Mike, I would never do that." El said. She coudln't believe he could dream such a thing. She saw Mike smile. "El, I know you wouldn't. I just thought I'd tell you, to make sure you hadn't changed." Mike said. She looked at Mike. He was the person she trusted the most, the person she always felt comftorable around. He showed her everything good about the world, and how she could be strong. El knew she had to get it off of her chest. "Mike, I need to tell you something. She said to him. "Sure El, anything." Mike said to the radio. "Mike, I... I..." Why was this so difficult for El to say? It was three simple words. Everything Hopper taught her, she felt it towards Mike. "What is it?" Mike said to the radio. El took a deep breath. "Mike, I Love You."

El felt like she was going to pass out. She couldn't believe she had the courage to say that. What she saw in Mike and Nancy was confusion. "El? Are you there?" Mike asked. El looked at Mike. "Yes, I'm here." El said. El looked behind her, and saw what may have been causing the problem. There was a figure, with black smoke around them. Then, the figure teleported in front of El. It was the same girl El saw with Kali. Her eyes were glowing red. El saw her walk quickly to Mike and Nancy. El tried to get in her way. "No, leave them alone!" El said. The girl pushed El out of the way. Then, she saw Mike and Nancy disappear into smoke, as if the girl had control of the conversation now. "Mike!" El yelled. They were gone.

El was in darkness by herself. She took off the blindfold. She started crying. It was her fault she brought an intruder to the conversation. But she could fix it. El got up, and ran to the door. She remembered the list of rules Hopper made for her. But Hopper was gone. And all she knew, Mikes life was at stake. El unlocked the door, and ran outside. She was told of a shortcut through the woods to the Wheelers house. Even though it was dark out, she remembered. She ran through the snow, and ran through trees and leaves.

El finally made it out of the woods. She came to a street. She looked for Mikes house, and she saw cars with flashing lights heading down a street. She went behind a few trees, and followed the cars. As she expected, they lead to Mikes house. She walked down the road, and behind a few cars. She looked through the window, to see the family interviewed by the police. She saw everyone was shaken up. She saw Mike had a blanket around him. Then, she saw him look up to the window. El smiled. He almost smiled back, but got up, and told his mom something. El saw her nod her head, and Mike walked outside.

They met each other, both had tears in their eyes. Then, embraced each other. El was sobbing, and spoke up. "Mike... I'm so, so sorry. It's my fault." She said. Then, Mike stroked her hair. "No, El, it's not. It's..." Mike held on tighter. "That was honestly the scariest moment of my life. I just... I can't get her out of my head." He said. "Those red eyes, staring right into my soul, while her burning hands tried choked me." El could understand what he was going through. That really shook him up.

Mike kissed her cheek. "I'm just lucky that didn't happen to you." He said. El looked into his eyes. "If she comes back, for either of us, promise we will be there for each other?" She asked. Mike nodded. "Of course." He said. The two looked into each others eyes, almost kissed each other, when a car pulled up behind them. It was Joyce. She unrolled her window. She looked confused. "Mike, what happened?" She asked. Mike was about to speak up, when Joyce cut in. "You know what, I'll ask tomorrow." She said. She looked at El. "Come on. I'll give you a ride." She said. El gave Mike one last hug, and went into Joyces car. El saw Mike go back to his house.

As Joyce drove down a road, she spoke up. "Do you want to know how I found you?" She asked. "Yeah. How?" El said. She saw Joyce smiling. "Wills radio happened to also be on that channel." Joyce said. El grinned. "I came into the part where he told you his nightmare." Joyce said. "Then I heard you talk, saying you had to tell him something." El blushed. Joyce saw this, and smiled. "What?" She asked. "I was about to say... I can't tell you." El said.

Joyce pulled up to her house, and she and El got out of the car. "Come on. You can tell me." She said. El smiled. "Okay. I was going to say... I Loved Him." Joyce froze where she was. "What?" She asked. El looked nervous. "Are you mad?" Then, she saw Joyce smiling again. "Mad? El, that's wonderful!" She said. Then she gave El a hug. Joyce and El were about to walk into the house, when El heard a twig snap in the woods. She looked towards the noise, seeing something duck behind a bush. It couched down so quickly, like it was a person. El was confused. Joyce looked where El was looking. "What?" Joyce asked. "I thought I just saw... Nevermind." El said. And they both went inside.

Joyce made up some hot chocolate, while El explained what had happened after the conversation was inturupted. When El was done telling the story, Joyce was shocked. "So this girl with the red eyes, she can teleport?" She asked. El nodded. "She attacked Mike." She said. Joyce reached out for Els hand. "I know it's scary." She said. "And it's such a good thing trying to help him. But you need to understand, you can get hurt too." Joyce said.

El looked out the window. "I'm scared to go back to the cabin." She said. "The girl with the red eyes knew where Mike was, she could know where I was." Joyce understood this. "Tell you what. You can stay on the couch for the night. Then, we can go back to the cabin tomorrow." Joyce said. El nodded. It sounded like a good idea. The Red Eyed girl maybe didn't know about the Byers house.