𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐲

vii. the bathtub.

IN THE Byer's home, Mike shows them something on a paper, something about an acrobat and a flea. "Okay, so, in this example, we're the acrobat, Will and Barbara, and that monster, they're this flea." He pointed to the drawings of the acrobat and the little flea. "And this is the Upside Down where Will is hiding." He explains.

"Mr. Clarke said the only way to get there is through a rip in time and space." He explained as he set down the marker and paper. "A gate." Dustin continued for him. "That we tracked to Hawkins Lab." Lucas said next. "With our compasses." The curly haired boy spoke again.

"Okay, so this gate that you're talking about, has a really strong electromagnetic field, and that it changed the directions of the compasses' needles?" James said and they all look at him with surprise. "Come on. I'm a writer. Of course, I'm a nerd." He said and then looked at his dad who spoke next, "is this gate underground?" He asked.

"Yes." They all look at Eleven now. James quickly had learned her name before they came inside, he said his name was James and held out his hand to her which she didn't even shake. She just pointed to herself and said Eleven. "Near a large water tank?" Jim asked and she nods a bit. "Yes." She answered and Dustin looks at him.

"H-How do you know all that?" He asked and Mike stared at the coffee table. "He's seen it." He said and James looked over at El then his dad. "Is there any way that you could... that you could reach Will? That you could talk to him in this—" "The Upside Down." Eleven explained for Joyce who nods. "Down, yeah..." She whispered softly.

She nodded slowly. "And my friend, Barbara. Can you find her, too?" Nancy asked her and James looked at Eleven who just looked at her.

The group now surrounded a table where Eleven was seated in front of a picture of Barb, a supercomm, and another picture, this one of Will. There was mostly static and then the lights flickered, James looked at the lamp instantly before looking at Eleven who looked at Joyce. "I'm sorry." She said and Joyce looked back at her.

"What? W-What's wrong? What happened?" She asked worriedly. "I can't find them..." Her voice breaks as she spoke and James frowned as he looked at Eleven. As the girl went off to the bathroom, James sat down where she was sitting and looked at the others. "Whenever she uses her powers, she gets weak." Mike explains to them.

"The more energy she uses, the more tired she gets." Dustin says. "Like, she flipped a van earlier." Lucas said and James looked at him, raising his eyebrows. "It was awesome." Dustin nodded as he noticed James' reaction. "But now she's drained." Mike says and James glanced at him.

"Like a dead battery." Dustin says. "How do we make her better then?" James asked as he leaned over. "We don't. We just have to wait and try again." Mike said and looked at Joyce who looked down. "Well, how long?" Nancy asked him.

"I don't know."

"The bath." They all look over where Eleven stood, behind Joyce. "What?" The woman says and Eleven glanced around. "I can find them. In the bath." She explained and James quickly realized what she meant. "Great. A sensory deprivation tank. Anyone know how to make one?" He looked to the group and Dustin furrowed his brows.

"Why? Do you?" He asked and James sighed. "In fact, young man, yes, I do." He said and sat down. "Pen and paper me." He smiled and Dustin quickly took out a notepad and a pen. "Thank you, young man." He said and Jim crossed his arms, giving a confused look as his son now writes down, before looking up at his father, smiling.

"Dad? Do you know where we can get 1,500 pounds of salt?" He asked and Jim just sighed before James looked over at Joyce. "Do you guys happen to have like... a kiddie pool or something?" He asked and Joyce looked towards the kids. "The one they bobbed for apples in, yeah." She looked back at him and James nodded his head.