Where the Red Lightning Met

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You were hunched over the bathroom sink.

Crumpled tissues, stained with blood, sat, sodden, in the basin - water slowly dripping on them from the faucet.

Will had walked the both of you out of school, down the corridors, storming past the teachers who were sprinting to the cafeteria, ignoring their calls.

The school doors swung open and the next thing you knew, you were in your bathroom and Will was sat, quietly, in the living room.

Your nose had stopped bleeding, you raised your head to face yourself in the mirror - dark circles were beginning to form under your eyes from the hit. Slowly, you leaned in towards the mirror and looked at your eyes.

You pulled at your eyelids, checking the whites of your eyes, the iris and your pupils - which were both unusually large.

The whites of your eyes were blood shot, it looked like the veins were small bolts of red lightning which extended and stretched out to your iris. And where the red lightning met at your iris dark, murky rings outlined them.

You pulled away from the mirror and stared at yourself, eyebrows frowned.

And you stared at your hands which were grasped on either side of the sink, on your right hand black veins were visible at the surface of your skin - they ached. Your hand ached. You turned it over to examine your palm, but it was just the same - your hand looked as if it had been washed in soot.

Gradually your eyes dropped to  the floor, but then they began to trail up the the bathroom lock.

Quickly you turned the shower on, all of the taps, you shut the window, closed the blinds - and locked the door.

You snatched a towel from the side, soaked it and began to wash it all along the floor until it too was soaked.

Then, as slowly as your eyes dropped, you sat down on the floor - back against the bath.

And closed your eyes.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Eleven" you whispered.

It echoed out into the void which was all around you.

A raspy breath was released from your mouth, and you shifted your legs slightly, on the cold, wet floor.

"Y/N?" The hurried sounds and splashes of footsteps emerged from behind you and when you turned around - you saw Eleven walking towards you.

She looked different than when she contacted you those months ago, when you were alone in the scrap yard after you had just run away from Will. Her hair was longer, and she was wearing a torn and dirty white top, black baggy trousers hung from her waist and her brown hiking boots were scuffed and muddied.

She reached you, and sat down next to you.

"What happened?" She asked.

You sighed, looked around you, and then up at her, "I got Mike away from me and Will, like you asked"

She sighed, as well, "How?"

You explained how you had slowly pushed Mike away, how you hadn't been grateful for all the help he had given you. You mentioned how you argued with him and ditched him for Will once everything was okay, and explained what had happened at school, the tension, the comments, the fight.

Eleven also knew how you didn't want to do any of it.

"So, he'll stay away, he'll be safe" you stated, "He hates me, and Will, he won't want anything to do with us"

El took your hand and held it in hers, "What happened - to you?"

You made an attempt to shake your head, "The shadow monster's doing something, I don't know what"

"Festering" El replied.

You looked up, "Yeah, I guess. It's definitely starting to effect me and Will now"

"I know, I saw" 

"You saw?" You asked El.

She nodded, "I watched, the fight. I was expecting you to contact me. I saw what you did. I saw Mike and Will"

El took your other hand, "You and Will both have two powers"

She lifted up your left hand, the one you clenched, the one that was clean and then she lifted up your right hand, the one that was dark and ached, the one which you broke up the fight with.

El then put yours hands together and interlocked your fingers, "They can be used together," She pointed to your right hand, "One power you got from the upside down," she pointed to your left hand, "The other one you got from Will"

You stared at your clasped hands.

"What you have is not good or bad," El stated, "It's how you use them, and how you let them control you - that is"

She looked you in your eyes, "You have to help Will, make sure they don't control him"

You nodded, "Because he's more at risk than me"

El sighed, "Both of his powers came from the upside down, and we don't even know exactly what they are"

"yet"

"Yes, yet" El continued, "You know, you know what yours are," She put a hand on your chest, "You only have one from the upside down, it won't be as difficult for you to stay in control as it is for Will"

"Yeah, wait" You unclasped your hands, "The Mind-Flayer, Shadow-Monster, whatever you want to call it - he got both me and Will, in the same way, the smoke, so, surely, we're going to share a power, right?"

El shrugged, "Yes. I assume so."

You sighed, "Okay, at least we know that," You looked down at your right hand, "We'll share this one"

El stood up, "Remember, the Shadow Monster chose you for a reason - he knows that you have come from Will and that you are close to him and he already had Will himself after the Upside Down - you have to work against him, you need to get Will to do the same. You need to use his own powers against him, and your own"

You tried to swallow the big lump in your throat.

"It's why I asked you to keep Mike away," El whispered, "He needs to stay safe, I don't want him to get hurt, he can't know about this yet or he'll want to help, and he can't"

"Yeah I know, I'll make sure Dustin and Lucas stick with Mike"

A bang erupted from deep within the void around you and El.

"I need to go, I can't lead him to you," El hugged you, "I know you can do it y/n"

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

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