Stranger Things: Doomsday

**Next chapter tomorrow.

*********

"Why did that thing run away?!"

Jonathan had gotten up and run to the destroyed door, frantically searching for the monster outside.

"Why do you look so upset that the thing that almost killed us ran away?" Steve asked, not understanding Jonathan's frustration.

"Because the plan was to kill it!" Jonathan replied, frustrated.

Steve blinked, stunned, and turned to Nancy, who was still kneeling in front of him. "You... you're kidding me." His tone was pure shock, almost indignation. He couldn't believe that Nancy—the straight-laced girl he knew—thought they could take on that monster.

Even with his powers, he had almost died!

Nancy didn't look away, didn't even show a trace of guilt or shame. Instead, she grabbed his arm and pulled him up, helping him to his feet with surprising strength for someone so... skinny. "We had a plan."

"A great plan, from what I saw," Steve said sarcastically as he stood. His legs felt heavy—no, his whole body felt like it was made of lead, as if he'd run a marathon without ever training for it.

"Shit, shit, shit," Jonathan muttered, resting his forehead against the wall. "Now what, Nancy? What do we do?"

"Maybe—"

Nancy started to say something, but her voice was drowned out by a strange buzzing in Steve's ears. 'What's happening?—' He wondered in alarm when his vision started to spin. 'Ah, crap.'

"STEVE!"

Nancy's scream was the last thing he heard before everything was swallowed by darkness.

********

"Hic... hic... hic..."

Steve opened his eyes and sat up abruptly, startled by where he was. The place seemed endless, but there was nothing—only darkness, dense and suffocating. He looked around, searching for anything in that void, broken only by the faint shimmer of a thin layer of water on the ground, reflecting a light he couldn't identify. 'Where... am I?'

"Hic... hic... hic..."

The sound of soft, muffled sobs cut through the oppressive silence, catching Steve's attention. He looked behind him and spotted a small figure curled up a few meters away. It was a little boy, head shaved, wearing a torn and stained hospital gown. The child was crouched on the ground, arms wrapped around his knees, face hidden between them as shaky sobs escaped his throat.

Steve blinked, his chest tightening with a mix of confusion and protective instinct. He didn't know where he was, how he got there, or how to get back home—but he knew he needed to help that kid, who looked so lost and vulnerable.

"Hey..." Steve stood up, his legs a bit unsteady, and walked toward the boy. "Hey, kid, are you okay?"

The crying stopped.

The boy slowly lifted his head, his eyes wide and shining, full of tears and something else—maybe fear, or something Steve couldn't name. The child didn't say a word, just stared at him, the silence between them heavier than the emptiness surrounding them.

"You shouldn't be here," the boy said suddenly with a deadly serious voice, fear and fragility from seconds before fading away as if they had never existed.

!!!!

Steve swallowed hard, his heart beginning to beat so fast it felt like it might burst from his chest. He didn't know why, but under the weight of that gaze, he felt like the one in need of help wasn't the child—it was him. "What—?"

"Leave and never come back, Steve Harrington." The boy's voice was steady, practically a command, and as soon as he finished the sentence, Steve felt a sharp pain in his head just before the world began to spin again.

********

"Are you... going to tell him everything?" Jonathan's voice sounded hesitant, almost reluctant.

"Considering he saved our lives and already saw that thing? Yeah, I'm going to tell him," Nancy replied firmly, leaving no room for argument.

"Okay... fair enough," Jonathan gave in with a resigned sigh.

Steve started to come to, his senses slowly emerging from the haze. He didn't remember what had happened, only that he was lying on something hard and uncomfortable—probably the back seat of Jonathan's car. But he wasn't about to complain, not with his head resting on Nancy's lap.

'I could stay here forever—Wait, what the hell am I thinking?' He scolded himself and opened his eyes, coming face to face with Nancy's face.

"Steve!" she exclaimed the moment she saw him open his eyes. "You passed out."

Steve tried to smile but managed only a grimace. "Yeah... I guess fighting monsters isn't really my thing," he muttered, trying to sit up. Nancy helped him, her hands steady on his shoulders, guiding him gently.

Steve sat up, letting out a tired sigh and running his hand through his hair, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his head.

"How are you feeling?" Nancy asked, her eyes fixed on him, searching for any sign he might faint again.

"I'm fine," he replied, forcing a light tone. "Must've been the adrenaline crash or something." As he spoke, Steve felt a strong wave of jealousy coming from the front seat. 'You've got to be kidding me.' He glanced at the rearview mirror and caught Jonathan's eyes for a split second before the other quickly looked away, focusing on the road. 'Ugh, I think I'm gonna throw up.'

"I thought it might be that too, since I didn't find any injuries," Nancy said, unaware of the storm of thoughts spinning in Steve's head. She frowned, still watching him closely. "Anyway, we're heading to the hospital."

'Am I going to feel this kind of stuff forever? Like, will I always know when someone's into my girlfriend? Holy shit, this is going to suck.' Rubbing his eyes, Steve decided to save the suffering for later and focus on the now. "So, we're going to the hospital?"

"Yeah, but we're stopping at the middle school first."

'Middle school?' Steve looked at her, puzzled. "Okay, I think this is the part where you explain what the hell is going on, Nancy."

She didn't answer right away, just stared at him, and Steve felt a wave of hesitation coming from her. "Steve… the more you know, the more dangerous this gets for you. You understand that?"

'Better than you two do.' Steve let out a dry laugh, gesturing with his hand. "I just fought a monster. So yeah, I kinda get the whole danger thing."

Nancy held his gaze for a few more seconds before nodding. "That monster comes from another world. My brother and his friends call it the Upside Down. It's like a copy of Hawkins, but… dark, cold, covered in vines, and with some kind of white dust floating in the air. The monster's been crossing into our world through portals to hunt, drawn by blood—like a shark."

'Another world and portals… right, right, right. I don't think anything surprises me anymore.' Steve lowered his gaze to her bandaged hand, then to Jonathan's, who was driving silently. "You guys cut your hands to lure it?"

Nancy gave a short nod. "Chief Hopper and Jonathan's mom went into the Upside Down to look for Will. The idea was to keep the monster busy here, clear the way for them, and try to kill it."

'Hmm, so traveling between worlds isn't something only the monster can do,' Steve thought, his mind starting to connect the dots. "Looking for Will? He's not—"

"The body was fake," Jonathan interrupted. "That monster took him to the Upside Down."

'Ah, that's where you come in,' Steve felt his hand automatically slide into his pocket, his fingers finding a coin. He pulled it out and began to spin it between his fingers, hidden from the two. "Who faked the body?"

Nancy hesitated, exchanging a quick glance with Jonathan before answering. "You know the Department of Energy building?" She waited for Steve to nod before continuing. "It's not a Department of Energy. It's a secret government base. They do experiments, Steve. Experiments on people. We met this little girl who… uh, she has superpowers."

'Eleven.'

"I know it sounds crazy—crazier than it already is. But it's true. She was able to locate Will in the Upside Down, and Chief Hopper and Jonathan's mom went to the Department of Energy to access it through the portal they have there. That's where all of this started, Steve. They've been trying to cover it up until now."

'Then she managed to escape,' Steve closed his eyes, remembering the small, quiet girl — 'Wait, how do I know it's Eleven?' He froze, heart racing. It didn't make sense. Why was he so sure it was her and not one of his other "brothers" or "sisters"? The doubt hit him like a punch, and without thinking, he blurted out: "What's her name?!"

Nancy furrowed her brow, thrown off by the urgency in his voice. "Uh, well… she doesn't really have a real name. Mike calls her El. But, like, her name would be… Eleven, I guess?" She tilted her head, clearly confused as to why, out of everything she'd just said, that was what caught his attention.

'...I fucked up.'