Flames | Madwheeler |✗|

2 | The Gate

"these arms, were made for holding you."

[ chapter two ] → the gate 

The minute Hopper's car skidded to a stop in front of the Byers home, Max had been pushed out of the vehicle and ushered inside with the rest of the boys. They all stood at the entrance of the house, door wide open, gaping inside. All around them on the walls, on the floor, even on pieces of furniture there was drawings and not just of anything Max realized, but of the mind flayer and the webs connecting it, the house itself was a life-size map.

Mike who was taking up the rear, pushed past everyone a bored expression on his face as he sat down on a chair in the kitchen.

Thirty minutes later and they were all surrounding the kitchen table as Dustin explained his thoughts on the mind flayer, his army, and the demo-dogs as he deemed the creatures to be called. They were all trying to come up with a game plan but they seemed to keep ending up empty-handed.

Mike stood off to the corner, thinking hard. How did the demo-dogs always know where they where. Then suddenly the pieces all fell into place. He looked at Will realizing that he was a spy, not just for their side, but for the mind flayer as well.

He voiced his thoughts, "If anyone knows how to destroy this thing, it's Will. He's connected to it. He'll know it's weakness."

Max looked at him, silently admiring just how smart he really was,

"I thought we couldn't trust him anymore.That he's a spy for the mind flayer now."

"Yeah, but he can't spy if he doesn't know where he is."

-o-

Max looked around the room, she had plopped herself down on the couch and Dustin and Lucas were sitting across from her, Steve in the corner swinging his bat, and Nancy translating Will's way of communicating with them, through morse code and writing down the letters Will was tapping. Nobody had spoken a word since the rest of their group had left with an unconscious Will. Her gaze landed back on Lucas and she couldn't help but smile a bit. He was one of the only people who had been nice to her, who had accepted her for who she was, and liked her regardless of how hurt and broken she was. He had listened to her, she had barely scratched the surface about her life, but it was a start.

She decided to go talk to him. She walked over to him sitting down next to him,

"Hey."

Lucas looked up at her, offering a small smile he replied,

"Hi."

They once again lapsed into silence and Max couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable. Talking to Lucas wasn't as amazing as she had thought it would have been. The butterflies she thought she would get when talking to him where just a dim, barely there, flutter in her stomach. He didn't challenge her, she realized, never sparked the fire in her the way someone else did. She shook her head, trying to clear her head of the negative thoughts, she knew she liked Lucas, but something in her heart, deep within, had started telling her otherwise.

She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard the ring of the telephone, breaking the silence barrier in the house. They all froze, looking at each other, eyes wide and fearful. Dustin was the first to react and he sprinted towards the phone, picking it up and slamming it back down again. Despite that, the phone rang again and Nancy this time, strode over to the telephone before ripping it out of the wall, throwing it on the floor.