There's No Place Like Hawkins//Stranger Things. SH

THIRTY EIGHT

The Mind Flayer

Alarms started blaring as Cat raced down the hall to Bob and Mike, skidding to a halt in order to not crash into them. She was still a bit dazed from her not-really-a-dream dream. "What the hell is going on?" She yelled over the loud buzzing of the alarm.

"We're too late." Mike told them.

"What?"

"Too late for what, Mike? What the actual hell is happening?"

"We're too late!" Mike screamed, running back down the hall to Will's room, both Bob and Catherine running after him.

"What's going on?" Joyce asked them.

"No idea." Cat answered, shaking slightly from fear as she wiped a hand under her nose. Another nose bleed? What the hell?

"We're under attack." Mike told them simply.

"We're what?" Cat yelled, shakily pulling her hair into a simple ponytail.

***

Mike grabbed a needle from the counter. "What's that for?" Cat asked him, her eyebrows raised. She definitely did not like needles.

"We need to make Will sleep."

"What?" Joyce asked.

"He's a spy." Mike told them. "If he knows where we are-"

"-so does the shadow monster..." Cat trailed off, understanding Mike's train of thought.

"They're lying!" Will screamed at them.

"He killed those soldiers. He'll kill us, too!"

"They're lying!" Will screamed again, repeating the phrase over and over as the two adults tried to calm him down, but to no avail. In the distance, barely heard over the loud, blaring alarm, the group heard gunshots.

"Holy shit." Cat mumbled.

"Those are gunshots!" Bob stated in shock. If Catherine wasn't scared before, she definitely was now. Will continued to scream but Joyce managed to get him to stop, at least for a moment.

"Okay, Will, Will, listen, listen. Do you know who I am? Do you know who I am?"

It took Will a few moments before he actually answered. And it almost made Cat start crying as her heart broke at the scene before her. "You're... You're... You're Mom."

Joyce turned to Bob. "Hold him down." She then took one of the needles, filling it up with the liquid as Will began to scream in protest. She apologised over and over as she injected the needle into her son's arm.

As soon as Will fell unconscious, the door burst open to reveal Hopper and Doctor Owens. Cat sighed in relief and immediately wrapped her arms around the Chief of Police, muttering something about thinking he was a Demogorgon. The moment was broken, however, when growling was heard from the other end of the hall and the creatures began to break down the only door that was keeping them safe.