further apart // max mayfield x oc

4: ii (e pluribus unum)

"i like the summer rain,
i like the sounds you make"

——

the party formed a circle in the lobby, staring uneasily at the flickering lights and at will, who reached for the back of his neck every few minutes. a sickening scream came from one of the corridors nearby, followed by an animalistic roar. "nancy- come on!" mike called, running towards the sound. they immediately sprinted after him. "this one!" lucas panted, stopping in front of a door to his left. eleven ripped it off with ease to reveal a scene that felicty would never be able to forget.

the fleshy figure of what she assumed was the demogorgon was towering over nancy, saliva dripping onto her pale face and sharp claws either side of her. the creature whipped around, revealing a row of teeth. "what the f-" max cried out involuntarily. el picked it up with a scream of effort and smashed its body against the walls and ceiling. it looked weaker for a moment, then lurched towards them. max stepped in front of felicity, slightly blocking her view. of course, max couldn't protect her from it, but it wouldn't stop her trying.
she peered over the taller girl's shoulder to see el throw the demogorgon out of the window.

they raced outside just in time to see the sludgy mass that was once the demogorgon crawl from where it had landed into a nearby drain.

——

tv static crackled as eleven sat cross-legged on the floor of the wheeler basement. "it can't be good for her to be in their this long!" mike sighed as eleven put another bloody tissue onto the pile next to her. "you need to relax" max retorted. "what if she gets brain damage or something?"
"oh shit, is that a real thing?" lucas said, eyes wide. "no, don't be ridiculous. he doesn't know what the hell he's talking about."
"oh and you do?"

felicty's attention was turned away from the bickering to nancy as she slammed the phone down. "who's next?"
"there is no next. unless you just want to start calling random people's homes?" jonathan sighed. "it doesn't make sense!" she slammed down her notebook. "what part of any of this makes sense nance?"
"there's a pattern, a consistency! they've been feeding on these chemicals from the very start, and now? what, they just stop out if the blue?"
"maybe they have all the chemicals they need- maybe they've all turned into those things?" will proposed.
"but what about the source? did the mind flayer decide to just stop infecting people? and even if the flayed are monsters now, why can't el find them? and what about-"

"can you guys settle an argument for us?" max asked, striding over to the brainstorming group. "who do you think should decide el's limits, mike or eleven?"
"the way that you framed that is such bullshit!" mike cut in. "it's not bullshit mike, this is your whole problem! it's also precisely the reason why she dumped your ass!"
"el dumped you?" nancy questioned, suddenly reminding felicty that she was his big sister and not just another member of the party. "yeah, because she's conspiring against me! she's corrupting el."
"i'm enlightening her. the fact is, she's not yours. she's her own person, fully capable of making her own decisions!"
"she's risking her life for no reason."
"for no reason?" nancy cut in, "mike, the flayed are out there doing god knows what- killing, flaying, turning into monsters- and el isn't stupid, she knows her abilities better than any of us. and she is her own person with her own free will!" max grinned, glad that she was actually right and wasn't just being stubborn.
"thank you, exactly! el has saved the world twice and mike still doesn't trust her!"
"you want to talk about trust, max? after you made el spy on us? after you dumped lucas with no reason? after the way you completely replaced lis with el?"
"it was her idea to spy, i didn't make her! and why are you so concerned with my life?"
"yeah, who cares?" will agreed, sensing the panic from felicity next to him as soon as she was mentioned. she silently thanked him, even though his efforts made no difference.
"i guess girlfriends don't lie, they spy!" mike continued. "we were just joking around!"
"wouldn't it have been so funny if i was changing or something?"
"mike, you weren't! she barely stayed five minutes, ok?"
"look, I'm just trying to demonstrate how careless she is with el's powers. how careless all of you are! you treat her like she's some sort of machine when she's not a machine, and i don't want her to die looking for the flayed when they've obviously vanished off the face of the earth, so can we please just come up with w different plan because i love her and i can't loose her again!"

the whole room was stunned into silence, staring at mike with a mix of amazement, horror and amusement. "w-what's going on?" eleven asked, coming into the kitchen area.
"nothing!" mike smiled innocently.
"family discussion!" lucas elaborated. the rest of the party nodded. "oh, well i found him" el mumbled. "found... who?"

——

"and that's not normal, right?" felicty asked, remembering how unpredictable billy could be.
"billy staying in his room in the fourth of July? no, that's not normal" max confirmed. eleven had just pulled off the blindfold and revealed what she'd seen. "it's like he wants us to find him" lucas proposed.
"that's what i'm afraid of, if we go to billy then the rest of the flayed know our location. it's a trap." will said, rubbing his temples with his hands. "we won't be surprised," lucas pointed out, "we'll know that they're coming and we'll kick their flayed asses!"
"you mean el will" max sighed, "it's too risky."
"and unnecessary. killing the flayed won't stop it, we have to find the source to do that"

"billy knows it. he's been there" el mumbled. "it's a trap. i know we can't go to billy, but i think there's another way. a way for me to see where he's been."

once again, the old TV set was flicked on and the room was filled with a buzzing sound that was becoming far too familiar for the teenagers likings. "el, i know you think you have to do this but you don't. you've only done this once, and it was your mom. she let you in, she wanted you to see what happened. billy's mind is sick, diseased- the mind flayer is in him..." mike whispered.
"he can't hurt me in there" she reassured him, taking his hand. "but you don't know that-"
"mike, i need you to trust me"
"yeah, just be careful!" she smiled, clearly pleased with his answer and her new found freedom, and pulled the fabric over her eyes.

——

ten minutes had passed and el was whimpering like a frightened animal every so often. "el, are you ok?" mike spoke softly.
"i'm ok..." she replied. there was a so of relief in the room. everyone knew the rule- don't talk to el when she's using her powers- but she was never like this, she had never done something so risky. "what's going on?"
el turned her head as if she was looking around the location. "i'm on... a beach."

"ok, i may be dense but last time i checked there were no beaches in hawkins- what else do you see?" lucas asked.
"a woman. she's... pretty. i think she's looking at me. there's... a boy. it's billy."
"it's california," max breathed, "it's a memory."
"i think i see it. i see the source." el said. the party went silent, leaning towards her expectantly. "where, el, where are you?"
"...brimborn ...steelworks?"

immediately jonathan jumped out of his seat for the address book they had been using earlier. "brimborn," he repeated, flipping the pages and gearing a few in his panic. "found it. 6522 cherry oak drive. it's close!"
"el we found it, get out of there!" nancy instructed, "get out!"

it seemed she hadn't heard. she continued to leave the blindfold on, letting blood drip onto her shirt. "el?" mike shouted, kneeling in front of her. "something is going wrong!"
eleven flinched backwards, her breathing increasing. "no, NO!" she screamed and screamed, cowering away from something no one else could see. "'no! GET AWAY! NO!"
her voice was scratchy and hoarse by now.

felicity wanted just to put her arms around the poor girl, to try and pull her back to their world though she knew it was impossible. instead, she buried her face into max, breathing in her scent and staining her shirt with tears. the blue eyed girl rubbed small circles into her shoulder. she didn't shy away like she would've done a few weeks ago, she simply let herself be distracted from the horrific events until another wave of sobs ripped through eleven.

"el, it's ok, you're ok!" mike said, pulling her close to him. and suddenly she was back. she took one look at the boy holding her and turned, sobbing into his chest.

——

1461 words!
a little bit shorter than usual.
i'll be updating every day this week
until it's done- wish me luck...

feel free to vote & comment <3
~bee 💜