AS ABOVE, SO BELOW (BENEATH HIS FEET) | STRANGER THINGS ✓

CHAPTER ELEVEN | NEW PLAN

"That's not possible," Lucas spluttered, "you said that you were a ghost."

     "I also said that I probably wasn't dead," Amanda reminded him, and then softly to herself, "I'm a frog."

     "Excuse me?" Nancy questioned. Amanda turned to her to repeat herself. "I'm a frog. I'm a frog stuck in a bag of formaldehyde being preserved until I'm ready to be taken out and dissected on. I think the Mind Flayer is starting to take me out of the bag. Maybe I was injected with something to keep me from going bad, like Johnathan said."

     "Then we need to go!" Nancy ushered everyone into the station-wagon. "We don't have time so just cram on in."

     Amanda was first to crawl into the back of the car, then Will, then Mike. "Mandy, are you okay?" Will asked. Amanda checked her forearm, and it seemed to have stabilized for a bit. "I think so. But I can't be too sure. It's fine now but it can't be too long before it starts acting up again."

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'

The next day, everyone was in the Sheriff's cabin — where El was residing — recovering from last night. Amanda was sitting on the counter checking her forearm, Will was observing it with her, and Mike was pacing back and forth while El was in the bedroom with a blindfold over her eyes concentrating on the static from the radio.

     "That can't be good," said Mike as he continued his pacing, "it can't be good for her to be in there for this long. Especially after what she did last night."

     "Mike, relax." Max rolled her eyes. "She's fine."

     "What if she gets, like, brain damage or something?"

     "Oh, shit," Lucas piped up, "is that real? Can that actually happen?"

     "No, it can't. Mike made it up," Max bit. The two of them continued on bickering while Nancy and Johnathan were busy calling up places for information. After hanging up on The Hawkins Post, Nancy scratched it out and asked Johnathan, "Who's next?"

"Why should there be a next?" Johnathan asked instead. "Unless you want to start calling random people's homes."

"It just doesn't make any sense."

"What doesn't make sense?"

"There's a pattern going on here and it shouldn't be possible to just have the Mind Flayer stop infecting people," Nancy sighed. "Well, what if he all the chemicals he needs?" Johnathan suggested. "Hey, can you settle an argument for us?" Their little talk was broken up with Max and Mike walking up to the two of them. Amanda and Will stopped conversing to hear what was about to happen.

"Who do you think should decides El's limits?" Max continued, "El or Mike?"

Will and Amanda rolled their eyes simultaneously; they were back at this again. Mike did a double take. "What?! The way you frame that is such bullshit!"