Risky Business ｡ Stranger Things

45 : The Funhouse

Not even halfway across town, the evening was alive with colour and excitement from the fun fair that sparked vibrant joy into the balmy summer air. But back at the cabin hidden in the dense forest—that was meant to be a safe haven—a shadow creature was coming for them. Fireworks popped and sprinkled in the night sky and the dazzling explosions were just visible through the forest canopy of thick branches and dry leaves.

"This is bad. This is really bad!" Mike was muttering, pacing back and forth.

"Yeah, no shit!" Max barked, turning her attention back to Eleven by her on the couch. Prue was on the other side of Eleven, her hands pressed flat against her thighs. She studied Eleven closely; weepy eyes, leftover blood marking one nostril and shallowing breathing. Prue desperately wanted to ask what else she had seen in Billy's mind—she was desperate to know if he was still in there, still fighting for his life against the Mind Flayer; she needed the hope like a lifeline—but she couldn't bring herself to ask the girl, and they did have something more pressuring to focus on.

"He said he was building something," El clarified, her eyes rimmed red with tears. "That it was all for me," she added, her voice low and dry.

"Building something... is he talking about the flayed?" Max asked, searching the faces around her for an answer.

"He must be," Nancy replied, glancing at Jonathan beside her.

"So, he's building an army, just like we thought," Lucas concluded. Mike heaved out a sigh, slumping down on a chair in front of Eleven.

"Yeah, but he's not building this army to spread—" Mike started.

"—He's building it to stop Eleven," Will finished. It made sense, Eleven was the only threat to the Mind Flayer. She was the only one with any kind of real power. A power that was capable of terrible and great things.

"Last year, El closed the gate on him. I have a feeling that really pissed him off," Mike shared.

"Like, royally," Lucas agreed.

"Well, duh! He's locked out of his own world," Prue pointed out, her sarcasm bright. She remembered the Mind Flayer's world, so dark and cold, and surely he missed his home.

Mike ignored her dig and continued on with his theory. "And the Mind Flayer now knows that she's the only thing that can stop him. But if she's out of the way..."

"Game over," Lucas added.

"He also said he was gonna kill all of you," El whispered, looking around the room of friends and allies. There was a collective intake of breath, of fear. Prue's heart squeezed against her ribs; it was possible that the Mind Flayer would use Billy to kill them all. Use his muscles, his bones, his hands to kill the people he knew, the few people he cared about. 

"Yeah, well, that's nice," Max hissed out, her sarcasm just as bright as Prue's. Outside the darkened windows, there was a sound warring against the fireworks. A low rumble that was moving fast. Nancy was the one that noticed it first, her ears perking up as she moved to peer through one of the windows.

"Do you guys hear that?" she asked, eyes locked on the forest outside, the forest shifting with shadows. The silence that followed was prickling as each party member strained their ears to hear something over the clash and pop of the fireworks.

"It's just the fireworks," Jonathan murmured out, trying to reassure his girlfriend. He didn't want it to be anything other than the fireworks dancing in the sky above Hawkins. The thud of Prue's heart and the way her scars stung along her skin told her otherwise. Prue rose from the couch, joining Nancy by the window.