𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐲

vii. illinois.

    

     IN THE kitchen, El told Becky and James what happened. "And it just kept repeating?" Becky said, sounding confused. "Repeat?" El says and James looks at her. "Like a loop, was it just showing you the same image over and over again?" He asked and El looks at her, nodding her head. "She kept showing the girl in the room." She says.

"The rainbow room?" Becky asked and James leans over. "What did the girl look like, El?" He asked and she looks at him. "Different." She says. "Different than you?" Becky asked and she nodded, Becky nodding in response. "I think this is why mama wanted to talk." She says.

"To show you the girl?"

El nodded and looked over at her mom in the livingroom before looking back at Becky. "I think she wants me to find her." She says and James smiles. "Alright, another adventure for James and El?" He asked and Becky just stood up, showing them to a room with filing cabinets.

"When Terry was looking for her, she kept these files of other missing kids. Kids she thought were like her." She said and threw a file onto the floor which made James glare a bit at her. "Maybe that girl is in here somewhere." She said and then stood up straight, holding a file.

"Honey, you can handle it right? I need to talk with James." She says and James just looked at her. "Okay..." He said and followed her. In the kitchen, she crossed her arms. "What exactly are you to her? To Jane?" She said and he crossed his arms as well. "You mean El?" He smiled. "Jane. What are you to her?" She asked him again.

"What do you think?" He stepped forward and laughed bitterly. "I took care of her for a year, I shared my old clothes with her, I paid for clothes for her, I made her breakfast, I made her lunches, I made her suppers, and I taught her how to read and write. For a year. What makes you think it's anything else than that?" He asked and she slowly let a breath out. "I just... I wanted to know, she's my niece." She said, nervously.

"And she's like a little sister to me..." He said and she glanced away. "Ellie? You found her in the files yet?" He walked into the room where El was. "Yeah..." She stood up and showed the picture to her. "Wanna find her?" He asked and she nods.

In the livingroom, James watched El go into the void and try to find the mystery girl. She takes off the blindfold, "hey, don't wear yourself out... It's okay if you didn't find her." He says and she looks up at him, sighing softly. "I need to recharge." She said and stood up. "Okay." He nods.

James was staying in a guest bedroom and El was in her old room, as he was writing in his notebook, he heard a car pull up. "James! James! I found her!" She ran out of her bedroom and they quickly head downstairs, to tell Becky but find her outside on the porch, smoking a cigarette while talking on the phone and pacing back and forth.

"Yeah, I just... I didn't know who else to call. He gave me this number, and he came here looking for her. And I thought maybe he could help me, I mean, his son's here too. Yeah, uh, Jim Hopper, he cane here with some woman named Joyce Byers? Well, that's a little hard to explain. Uh..." James turned to El, grabbing her shoulder. "Grab your stuff..." He whispered to her and he turns around, to the counter and dug through Becky's purse.

He met with El at the front door and quickly stepped out with her, slamming the door. The two run over to James' car and he starts the car quickly, driving off. "Do we know where we're going?" James asked her and she just sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Um... a city." She said and he furrows his brows. "Illinois?" He asked her, confused.

"I-I guess." She looked out the window and he just drove. After a while of driving, they got to a city and she gives him directions of where to go while simultaneously taking in the city, the many buildings and the signs, the lights. "I'll... park here," he said as he parked the car and got out. "Okay." She said and they both get out of the car.

They walk through the alley filled with homeless people, when they get closer to a bald man, he says "they're dead." And laughed. James pulled El closer to him and just kept an arm tight around her shoulders. "They're all dead!" James can hear the man exclaiming as he laughs.

El starts walking faster and the two started running suddenly, El holding onto James' hand before they slowed down and she let go. They approach a warehouse and James is first to go inside, he can hear people inside as they walk. "You should do stand-up, Axe. There's a spot a few blocks away." A girl said and El spoke, "hello."

James groaned and closed his eyes when he realized she got their attention. "Well, well..." The man with the mohawk said. "What do we have here?" He said and James looks at El. The other girl in the group scoffed, "what is she wearing?" She says and James looked at the group. "What are those, overalls?" She added and James sighed. "Listen, we don't want any trouble..." He said, pulling El closer to him again. "Yeah, pretty boy?" The girl said with a taunting smile at him.

"I'm looking for my sister..." El said. "Aw, Shirley Temple lost her sister. So sad." The guy with the mohawk said as he now stood to the left of James. "She saw her, here, an Indian girl, she has a photo." He said and Axe looks at El. "Show me..." He says and she reached into her bag, slowly taking out the photo which Axe quickly snatched.

"Is that Kali?" The dark skinned girl to his left said. "Kali?" El says and James looks at the guy with the mohawk who was glaring at El. "How did you find us? Who else knows you two are here?" He looked at James who scoffs. "No one."

"So, what then? Poof! You just show up like magic with that picture?" He says and James sighs. "She's just a kid, who wants to see her sister... Come on, don't be a dick." He says and Axe glares at him. "So where's this Kali chick?"

Axe held out a knife suddenly and James stepped back, holding El tighter to him. "Put it away..." He says sternly and he just steps closer. "Axe, put down the knife!" One of the girls says. "How did you find us?" The guy asked. "I saw her." El says and James looks down at her, panicking. Why doesn't he keep a hairspray can on him?

"That's not an answer!" Axe grabbed a hold of El and James hit his arm away from her as the man now started freaking out, looking at his hand. He started hitting himself all over after throwing his knife away, "you're a terrible dancer, Axel." James looked over to see Kali standing at the stairs.

"I told you, stay out of my head."

"So, we're threatening little girls now, are we? Especially the pretty guy." Kali said and James glanced down at El. "She knows about you." Axel said as the girl with pink and blonde hair walks over to Kali. "She had this." She says.

She looked at El, "where did you get this?" She asked and James clears his throat. "She got it from her mom." He says and Kali glanced up at him. "In her dream circle." El says and James glanced over at Axel who scoffed. "Dream circle. I think she's a schizo or something." He said.

"Says she's looking for her sister."

"Yeah. Like I said, schizo." He said and bent over to pick up his knife but it flies into El's hand. "Jesus!" Axel said, looking at Eleven who closed the knife. "I saw you. In the rainbow room." She said and held out the knife to Kali who takes it.

"Kali? Kali, right? She grew up in a lab, and I think you did with her..." James said as he gestured between the two. "What is your name?" Kali looked at El. "Jane." She said and James looks at her, furrowing his eyebrows. Kali reached out and took her left arm where her tattoo was. Kali pulled the sleeve up and El took her left arm and revealed her tattoo as well. Eleven and eight.

"Sister." Eleven said softly. "Sister." Kali said and then the two embraced each other as James stepped back, looking down at the floor. James gave Kali and El some time and was left alone with the others who he properly introduced himself to and they introduced themselves to him.

  

  

   

  

  

  

authors note just realized el went out of her way to find her family and such and came to the conclusion to go back to the family she had in hawkins, knowing she had a family there already