Stranger Things x Reader

Chapter 16

"Well what do you want us to do? The chiefs right. We can't stop those demodogs on our own," Dustin says.

"If it was against Dart maybe," Dustin says, waving his hand.

"But now he has an army," Lucas says with a defeated sigh.

"Precisely," Dustin says.

"His army...His army!" Mike repeats.

"Maybe if we stop him, we can stop his army!" Mike exclaims.

You give Mike a knowing look. You ran into Wills room, with Mike on your trail. You pick up the picture Will drew of the shadow monster before going back into the kitchen.

"The shadow monster," Dustin says as you put down the picture on the table.

"It got Will on the field that day," you say to them, nodding your head.

"The doctor said it was a virus. It infected him," Mike says, glancing at you.

"And so this virus is connecting him to the tunnels?" Max asks shrugging her shoulders.

"To the tunnels, to the Upside Down, to everything," Mike says pointing to the table top.

"Woah, woah slow down," Steve says while walking up behind Dustin.

"Okay. If the vines feel something like pain, then so does Will," you explain, remembering having to relive Will of the pain.

"And so does Dart," Mike adds.

"Yeah. Like what Mr. Clark taught us," Max says, finally grasping the concept.

"The HIVE mind," Mike says, pointing at Max.

"HIVE mind?" Steve questions, his shaggy hair falling into his eyes.

"A collective consciousness. It's a super organism," Dustin explains.

"And this thing controls everything," you add onto Dustins explanation.

"Like the brain," Mike interjects.

"Like the Mind Flayer," Dustin speaks, in deep thought.

You all look at him and agree. You patted his back, proud of making the connection.

"The what?" Max and Steve say together.

Dustin grabs a book and opens to the exact page. He gathers everyone in the house and tells them to meet at the dining table. He puts the book down on the table.

"The mind flayer," Dustin says again, pointing at the morphed monster in the DnD manual.

"What the hell is that?" Hopper asks, taking a closer look.

"It's a monster from an unknown dimension," Dustin explains.

"It's so ancient, that it doesn't even know it's true home," You read from the book.

"It enslaves races of other dimensions by talking over their brains using its highly developed psionic powers," Dustin finishes.

"Oh my god. None of this is real. This is a kids game," Hopper says with a sigh.

"No, it's a manual. And it's not for kids," Dustin says in defense.

"And unless you know something that we don't, this is our best metaphor," Dustin says while pointing at the book.

"Analogy," Lucas corrects Dustin.

"Analogy? That's what you're worried about? Fine. An analogy for understanding whatever the hell this is," Dustin says angrily.