It was a normal day. Until it wasn't.

Hawkins Middle School. Science Classroom.

Everyone was just sitting, listening to Mr. Clarke's lecture on the heart. Most kids were bored to death. Others were actually listening. And then the room flickered.

Briefly, the room darkened, with rot and decay. Vines crept across the walls. Spores floated in the air. Blood stained the ground under Mr. Clarke's desk.

Someone screamed. Will hunched his shoulders and shut his eyes. El looked around, hands clenched into fists. The other Party members reacted with a level of fear above that of their classmates.

The room returned to normal. Mr. Clarke went to the door, looking out. He was far from the only teacher to do so. Others peered out, muttering, calling to one another.

The Party, meanwhile, hunched together, whispering frantically; their classmates and teacher only caught a few words: "… not safe…" "…how did this happen…" "…not normal…" "…happen everywhere?..."

"Ahem." Mr. Clarke cleared his throat. "While I don't know what just happened, everyone please remain calm."

"Calm!" someone shrieked. "Calm?!"

"Yes, calm." Mr. Clarke sighed.

And then the room spun, the edges blurring, the whole place darkening, and everything disappeared…

Hawkins High School. Math Classroom.

Math. Steve really disliked math. Mainly because the teacher seemed determined to make everyone fall asleep. Well, the room turning into the Upside Down sure woke him up.

His classmates were babbling, confusion turning quickly to fear. He tensed, wishing he had his nailbat. Or, hell, that Nancy and Jonathan were here.

And then the room spun, the edges blurring, the whole place darkening, and everything disappeared…

Hawkins High School. History Classroom.

Nancy and Jonathan immediately reacted when their classroom turned into the Upside Down. Nancy reached for her gun, hidden in her waistband under her jacket. She didn't pull it out- not yet. The classroom almost immediately returned to normal, but every one of their classmates had seen it. Fear flooded the classroom.

The two exchanged a dark look, silently asking- 'What do we do?'

The teacher uselessly attempted to regain control.

Chaos reigned.

And then the room spun, the edges blurring, the whole place darkening, and everything disappeared…

Meverly's General Store.

Of all the things to happen at work, Joyce had never expected the entire store to turn into the Upside Down. Customers were shrieking, Donald was trying to calm everyone, and then the whole place went back to normal. Joyce rushed to the door, looking out. Everyone outside was reacting, so it had clearly happened everywhere. She thought of her sons, at school. Her heart squeezed and she wished she could just run to the schools and find them.

And then the room spun, the edges blurring, the whole place darkening, and everything disappeared…

Hawkins Police Department. Bull Pen.

The room flickered. Turned into the Upside Down. Hopper pulled his gun- and he wasn't the only one. Powell moved over to him as soon as the room returned to normal.

"The hell is happening, Chief?"

"I don't know, but I don't like it one bit." He hoped the kids were doing alright. Jane and Will would definitely react badly to this.

And then the room spun, the edges blurring, the whole place darkening, and everything disappeared…

Citadel of the Ancients. TV Room.

The room was large. A screen took up the far wall. The walls were painted cheerful yellow. The floor had wall-to-wall plush orange carpeting.

Everyone was looking around, bewildered. Teachers started doing headcounts and ensuring they had all their students. Parents rushed to find their families as well, and the police tried to call for order (meaning Hopper did, thanks to being used to such things).

"Hey!" he barked. "Everyone shut up!"

Eventually, everyone did.

"Oh, thank you, Chief Hopper. That saves me the trouble." A girl's voice rang out. Everyone whipped around, startled. The girl was slight, short, with curly, pixie-cut honey-colored hair, and apple-green eyes. She wore thick black plastic glasses and her cheeks were covered in freckles. She stood by the far wall. She was barefoot and wore a white bodysuit. As they stared, she gestured.

"I am Fate. Why don't you all sit while I explain some things to you?" They suddenly noticed the couches scattered around, and moments later were sitting, with no idea how they'd gotten there.

"I'm going to be showing you my absolute favorite TV show." She enthused, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"A TV show? You somehow kidnapped us all to watch a freaking TV show?" demanded Hopper, clearly trying to avoid swearing.

"Yes, exactly. Here, let me give you a summary of the show." She smiled mysteriously. "It all happens over two seasons. The first season starts in a small town in Indiana, when a young boy disappears. From there, everything kinda snowballs. There is a government conspiracy, and you know, teenage drama, bullies, the usual, oh, and a monster, hungry for blood. And one very strange little girl."

That… sounded awfully familiar for the PartyPlus. For everyone else, it was just confusing.

"The second season also involves even more strange occurrences. You could say, Stranger Things." She chuckled. "The second season deals with the consequences of the first, as well as some new characters. Of course, the show is called 'Stranger Things' and it is absolutely amazing. And, it's about people you know! It takes place in Hawkins, mostly."

"What?" questioned Claudia Henderson.

"Yep. There's one episode that takes place partly in Chicago, and another part at the very beginning of Season Two that takes place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Season One takes place November 1983."

"That's the month Will Byers disappeared." Remarked Powell. Fate nodded.

"Season Two takes place in October, November, and December 1984."

"What happened then?" asked Tommy H, confused.

"Oh, here, I'll show you the episode list." She remarked absently. She pulled out a remote and clicked it a few times. The screen turned on and showed a logo- NETFLIX. Red on a black background. There was a set of pictures with names accompanying them, and the question 'Who's watching today?' She selected a square with a cartoon image of a girl with straight black hair, blue eyes, freckles, and a smirk, labeled FATE. Then she clicked through a bunch of squares with images, showing things like a girl in red and black (she looked like a superhero), a cartoon image of girls in glittery clothes, another cartoon image of what appeared to be a female Frankenstein, what appeared to be Iron Man, and a number of others.

"These are different movies or TV shows," she explained. "We get them on demand. Most of them, at least. Oh, right. In my universe, my home universe that is, you are all fictional characters. In a TV show. So, for me, it's 2018. For you, it's 1984."

"The- the future? An alternate universe? I knew they would be different, but…" Mr. Clarke trailed off.

"Yeah. Pretty different. But anyway, yeah. You're fictional characters. The fanbase is insane. Seriously. You've got the rabid fangirls who are totally in love with some character or another, you've got the perverts- there aren't many of those thank goodness. You've got the people who obsessively binge-watch all seventeenish hours of it. You've got the Steve Protection Squad-"

"The what." Steve stared at her.

"The Steve Protection Squad. I'm not sure they've actually got a name, but whatever. You know, the ones like that fanfic writer who tagged their fic with 'I never thought 'I'd die for Steve Harrington' was something I'd be saying in 2017'. You've also got the Billy apologists, you know, the ones who have crushes on the actor and can't see that he's an asshole. You've got the Mileven shippers versus the Byler shippers and then the Milevill shippers. You've got the Jancy and Stancy shippers and the Stoncy shippers."

"Mileven? Byler? Milevill? Jancy? Stancy? Stoncy? Those aren't words." Snapped the high school English teacher.

"They are too. They're name combos. You know, they're pairings. Like, you know, couple names?" Fate kept clicking. "Well, fandoms are weird. I'm pretty sure there's also a Will Byers Protection Squad and also a group dedicated to convincing the Duffer brothers (they make the show in my universe) to give Will and Eleven a break- they've succeeded, I think there was an official announcement to that effect- and that group also is in the middle of trying to persuade them not to kill Mike off. I think they'll succeed, though, that was only a rumor."

"W-what?" asked Will, both about the whole protection squad thing and the whole 'killing Mike off' thing.

"Well, yeah. I mean, the rumor only got started because the actor is so busy, they're filming a sequel to IT and everything." She kept clicking. "Jesus, this is annoying. It should be here."

"Whaddya mean?" asked Callahan. Fate ignored him.

"Ugh, where the heck did it go?" she complained. "I was watching it just yesterday, for the billionth time; I was rewatching 'The Weirdo on Maple Street'. I see Miraculous, Ever After High, Monster High, Marvel, W.I.T.C.H., Harry Potter, eew, why the heck do I even have the Peter Johnson movies in here? Those are the worst movie adaptations ever. Oh, here it is!"

The square showed Hopper shining a flashlight on rotting pumpkins. When she stopped on it, the background changed to a creepy sky and four kids on bikes.

"Here, here we go. I'm gonna need to be careful, it autoplays. I don't wanna watch Episode Three of Season One, that episode, well, um, teenagers doing stupid stuff." She grimaced and clicked the remote. She then hastily clicked to More Episodes. Here they saw a list of episodes.

"Here we go. Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers. Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street. Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly."

Holly Wheeler looked up at the sound of her name, looking curious.

"Chapter Four: The Body. Chapter Five: The Flea and the Acrobat."

Mr. Clarke suddenly remembered Will's funeral and his explanation of the multiverse theory.

"Chapter Six: The Monster. Chapter Seven: The Bathtub."

Someone snorted, and she frowned. "Troy. I suggest you don't snort. Besides, that's a really good episode. Chapter Eight: The Upside Down. That's it for season One. Now season Two. Chapter One: MADMAX."

Max glanced at the other Party members, all of them looking back. That was three Party members mentioned in titles, because they all knew that the "weirdo on Maple Street" was El.

"Chapter Two: Trick or Treat, Freak. Chapter Three: The Pollywog. Chapter Four: Will the Wise."

Several people glanced in Will's direction and he looked down, nervous.

"Chapter Five: Dig Dug. Chapter Six: The Spy."

Will and Mike exchanged a look.

"Chapter Seven: The Lost Sister. Chapter Eight: The Mind Flayer."

Will flinched.

"Chapter Nine: The Gate. Those are all the episodes. Shall we watch them?" She smiled politely. "I will likely be blacking or muting various parts, because I suffer from terrible secondary embarrassment. Oh, but don't worry, Troy's humiliation in 'The Body' will remain intact. I don't worry too much about the people I dislike. I will only be blacking and muting embarrassing parts regarding the PartyPlus."

"PartyPlus?" questioned Mr. Clarke.

"Oh, yeah. That's Hopper, Mrs. Byers, Jonathan, Nancy, Steve, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, Max, and Jane."

She adjusted her position on her armchair, then pulled out another remote and clicked it a few times. In the corner of the screen, numbers appeared, negative but moving toward positive. She put the remote down and the numbers vanished. "Volume." She explained.

"We start with Episode One." Her lips curled into a wicked, energetic smile. "Here we go."

The scene shows stars. The camera pans down to show Hawkins Lab, with the words NOVEMBER 6, 1983 appearing on the screen. It cuts to inside the Lab, and a door, sealed shut.

El tensed, recognizing the door. She wasn't the only one; Hopper and Joyce both recognized it- they'd gone through to get to the Gate.

The door flies open, and a man in a white lab coat sprints out, hurtling down the hallway, panicked breathing loud and harsh. He reaches an elevator and punches the button repeatedly, turning to look over his shoulder.

"What is he running from?" asked Callahan. Fate didn't respond at first, then she said, "Well, let's just say one of their experiments went very wrong."

A steady boom sounds, slowly getting louder.

Mike, Dustin, and Lucas all glanced at Will, with Dustin quietly complaining "You didn't tell us that!" Will hunched his shoulders. "I was a little more occupied with the teeth." He retorted.

Several people glanced at them, curious.

The lights flicker.

"Seems like the Department of Energy should be able to get lights that don't flicker." Remarked Mr. Sinclair. "Then again, that was the day those blackouts all happened, wasn't it?"

"You'll see." Murmured Fate.

The elevator doors open and the scientist ducks in before they're fully open. He repeatedly hits the button, before straightening and staring at the hallway, sweating. The doors begin to close. The man looks up abruptly, eyes widening. Then he flies upward as the doors close.

Will winced, remembering how the Demogorgon had appeared where he hadn't expected it. Right behind him.

"What the heck?" exclaimed Ted Wheeler.

"What was that?" gasped Claudia, shocked.

The screen cuts to the Wheeler basement, and Mike speaking. "Do you hear that? Listen… Something is coming. Something hungry for blood. A shadow grows on the wall behind you, swallowing you in darkness. It is almost here."

"So dramatic." Laughed Nancy, while a number of other people looked relieved.

"It's not funny, Nancy." Mike snapped, wrapping an arm around Will. The other boys nodded solemnly. Nancy blinked in shock.

"What is it?" asks Will.

"What if it's the Demogorgon?" Dustin askes. Will flops back, and Dustin grabs his hat. "We're in deep shit if it's the Demogorgon."

Now, Nancy looked a little disturbed, and Max stared at Dustin for several seconds before she leaned forward and poked his forehead. He jerked back. She grinned and leaned back in her seat, offering no explanation for her actions. She didn't need to. The whole Party had unlocked latent psychic abilities, after all, and Dustin's tended toward the telepathic.

"It's not the Demogorgon." Says Lucas. He, Dustin, and Will all look towards Mike, who is smiling. He puts a piece down. "An army of troglodytes charge into the chamber!" he exclaims, and the other three look relieved. "Their tails drum the floor. Boom! Boom! Boom!"

"Troglodytes?" Dustin demands.

"Told you!" Lucas tells Dustin, grinning. Dustin huffs.

"Wait…" says Mike slowly, looking around. "Do you hear that?"

Everyone tensed and leaned forward, except for the Party, who all glanced at each other.

"Boom!" Mike leans forward. "Boom! Boom! That sound, it didn't come from the troglodytes. No. It came from something else. The Demogorgon!" He slams the piece down on the board, and the other three cry out.

Several people slumped in relief.

"We're in deep shit." exclaims Dustin.

"Will, your action." Urges Mike.

"I- I don't know!" Will yelps.

"Fireball him!" Lucas yells.

"I'd have to roll thirteen or higher!" Will says.

"Too risky. Cast a protection spell." Dustin advises.

"Don't be a pussy. Fireball him!" Lucas tells Will.

"Protection spell." Dustin repeats.

"The Demogorgon is tired of your silly human bickering!" Mike yells. "He stomps toward you! Boom!"

Fate chuckled. "That reminds me of when my sister and I get way into our role-plays. We end up yelling and running around like crazy people. Plus, you boys can just be so ridiculous- and that's not an insult."

The boys exchanged confused looks.

"Fireball him, Will!" Lucas shouts.

"Another step. Boom!" Mike says.

"Cast protection." Dustin urges.

"It roars in anger." Mike says.

Dustin and Lucas speak at the same time- "Fireball!" "Protection!"

"And…" Mike says.

"Fireball!" yells Will, throwing the die. They scatter across the table and fall off. The boys scramble to their feet, knocking over their chairs, and start searching.

"What is it?" asks Lucas.

"I don't know!" Will responds.

"Is it a thirteen?" asks Dustin.

"I don't know!" Will repeats.

The basement door opens, and Karen appears.

"Mom! We're in the middle of a campaign!"

"You mean the end? Fifteen after." She taps her watch.

At this point Troy rolled his eyes. "When are we going to get back to the interesting stuff? Like the guy at the Lab?"

Fate frowned at him. "This is important, the stuff here. Also, this is interesting. It's cool!"

Troy scowled. "But we're just watching a bunch of nerds playing stupid nerd games, how is this important?"

Most people looked like they agreed.

Fate sighed. "It's the buildup; you're getting to know the characters. And it foreshadows the entire season, practically. The whole show is like a giant Dungeons and Dragons game. A giant, dangerous Dungeons and Dragons game."

Troy groaned.

Mike follows his mother. "Just twenty more minutes?"

"It's a school night, Michael. And I just put Holly to bed. You can finish next weekend."

"That'll ruin the flow-"

"Michael."

"I'm serious mom! The campaign took two weeks to plan! How was I supposed to know it would take ten hours?"

"You've been playing for ten hours?" demands Karen. Mike gets an 'oops' look on his face, then turns toward his dad, who is adjusting the TV antennae. "Dad, don't you think-"

"I think you should listen to your mother. Daggum piece of junk!" Ted responds. The scene cuts back to the basement, where Will has just found the die.

"Got it! Does the seven count?"

"It was a seven?" Will nods. "Did Mike see it?" Lucas asks. Will shakes his head. "Then it doesn't count!" Lucas tells him.

"Cheaters!" laughed Mike.

The boys gather their things and head upstairs. Dustin pauses by the empty pizza box. "Hey guys, anyone want this?" Lucas and Will shake their heads. Dustin heads upstairs and stops by Nancy's room, where Nancy is on the phone. "I know, I know, but- I don't think so. Yeah, he's cute, but- Barb, Barb. Listen to me."

Nancy smiled sadly.

Dustin knocks on the doorframe and holds up the pizza box, smiling hopefully. "Hey Nancy, there's a slice left if you want. Pepperoni and sausage."

Nancy glances over. "Hold on." She gets up, walks over, and slams the door.

"Sorry." Nancy muttered, glancing over at Dustin. He shrugged.

Dustin emerges from the house stuffing the pizza slice into his mouth. He grabs his bike. "There's something wrong with your sister."

The other boys look over. "What're you talking about?" asks Mike.

"She's got a stick up her butt."

Now it was Dustin's turn to apologize.

"It's 'cause she's dating that douchebag Steve Harrington." Lucas says.

"Yeah," Dustin agrees. "She's turning into a real jerk.

"She's always been a real jerk." Mike responds.

"Nu-uh. She used to be cool. Remember when she dressed up as an elf for our Eldertree campaign?"

Carol snickered, glancing over at Nancy, who raised an eyebrow and nodded over at the screen.

"Four years ago!" Mike says.

"Just saying."

"Um, sorry." Lucas told Steve, who shrugged.

Lucas and Dustin pedal off. Will hesitates, glancing at Mike, who is looking after the other two.

"It was a seven." Will tells Mike.

"Hmm?" Mike responds.

"The roll, it was a seven. The Demogorgon, it got me. See you tomorrow." Will pushes off and pedals away. The garage lights flicker. Mike looks up at them, then turns the lights off and walks inside.

"No, no, no." muttered Mike. "I should've stopped you."

Will shook his head. "Doesn't matter. I'm fi-"

"Don't." Mike snapped.

Most others looked on in confusion. Fate coughed. "Remember the episode title? The Vanishing of Will Byers. We're getting there. Also, can I just say that little discussion was adorable."

Will and Mike exchanged a look.

The boys pedal down a road. Lucas peels off with a "Goodnight ladies!" Dustin hollers, "Kiss your mom goodnight for me!"

"Race to my house? Winner gets a comic." Dustin says. Will looks over. "Any comic?"

"Yeah."

Will stands up on his pedals and bikes faster.

"Hey! Hey! I didn't say go!" Dustin yells, trying to catch up. "I'm gonna kill you!"

Will skids past Dustin's mailbox. "I'll take your X-Men 134!"

Dustin slides to a stop. "Son of a bitch!" he sighs.

Dustin looked abashed as multiple people frowned at him. "I didn't mean it! And I apologized later."

"It's true, he did." Will said.

Will pedals along a road. The camera cuts to a chain-link fence, with a sign reading DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY and DO NOT TRESPASS. The camera cuts back to Will. The light on his bike goes out and he looks down at it.

"You know, this part always stresses me out even though I'm not there and I know what's going to happen." Remarked Fate. She then shrugged. "Then again, everything stresses me out. At least I haven't yelled at the screen yet. Though I will."

"What?" snipped Tommy. "His bike light went out, what's the big deal?"

"What?" Amora snipped right back. "The lights at the Lab were flickering, remember?"

Several people now looked worried. The Party, meanwhile, were curling around a visibly freaked Will.

Will's bike light flickers back on and he looks up. The camera cuts to a figure, weirdly elongated and distorted, then cuts back to Will, who gasps and swerves off the road. He rises to his knees, staring, then whips around and starts running. He runs down a path and reaches his house, running in. He slides the chain across. Chester runs to meet him.

"Mom? Jonathan? Mom?" he runs down the hallway, then back to the living room, where he grabs the blinds and ducks under them, peering out the window.

"Oh, my God." Muttered Mrs. Sinclair. "What is that thing?"

Several other people muttered to one another, snippets like "Why didn't we hear about this?" and "Poor child" filtering through.

The camera shows the thing approaching the house. Will tenses and runs to the phone, dialing. He holds the phone against his ear.

"Hello? Hello?!"

The camera shows the front door, and the shadow looming through it. The scene cuts to Will, peering around the corner, then back to the door, and the chain sliding slowly, then dropping. Will drops the phone and runs through the back door, out to the shed.

"How?" gasps Claudia, shocked. "How did that happen?"

"Truth be told, I don't know exactly how it moved the chain like that." Fate responded.

Will lifts a gun off of a rack, then fumbles with the ammunition, before loading the gun and pointing it at the shed door, trembling. Several seconds pass, then he abruptly turns. He looks behind him, clearly terrified. The camera cuts to the lightbulb, which is brightening. The lightbulb dims, then the camera shows the empty shed.

"What-how-" people babbled. Fate smirked and said lazily, "You don't even get a good look at it 'til episode Six."

"WHAT." Someone sputtered. "WHAT WAS THAT THING?"

Fate smirked again. "The Demogorgon. Told you that stuff was important. And that this whole thing is pretty much a DnD game. It's pretty interesting, actually, that DnD becomes such a metaphor for the whole thing. Even the campaign at the end of Episode Eight; then again, people can overanalyze this kind of thing."

The camera shows a child's drawing on a wall.

Hopper's eyes widened.

The camera pans across a messy trailer. A TV is playing a news station. "… reports of surges and outages across the county… we reached out to Roane County Water and Electric, and…"

The camera shows Hopper sprawled on his couch. He wakes up. The camera cuts to a porch, where Hopper is smoking. It cuts to a shower, then the mirror.

"Why… why are we watching Chief's morning routine?" asked Powell. Fate rolled her eyes. "Again, it's important. Or, well, maybe not, but it's interesting."

The camera shows Hopper dressing. Then it pans to the TV. "… in other news, it seems like you may want to stay in tonight- or pack an umbrella. Let's go now to everyone's favorite morning weatherman, Charles. Charles?"

The door closes.

The camera cuts to the kitchen of the Byers house. Jonathan is cooking breakfast. Joyce's voice rings out. "Where the hell are they? Dammit!"

Joyce blushed, embarrassed.

"Check the couch." Jonathan advises. Joyce, frazzled, nabs her keys from under a cushion. "Okay, I've got to go, goodbye- wait. Where's Will?"

"Oh, he's probably still sleeping. I haven't gotten him up yet."

"You gotta make sure he's up, Jonathan, how many times-" Joyce sounds exasperated.

"I'm making breakfast!" Jonathan protests. Joyce shakes her head and hurries down the hall, clapping her hands.

"Will, honey, come on, time to get up." She opens Will's bedroom door. His room is, unsurprisingly, empty. She hurries back over to Jonathan, looking worried.

"He came home last night, right?"

"He's not in his room?"

"Did he come home or not?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

Jonathan blinks. "I got back late, I was working-"

"You were working?"

"Eric asked if I could cover for him. I said yeah; I figured we could use the cash."

The whole Byers family cringed at this airing of their family's monetary issues.

"We talked about this. I told you not to take shifts when I'm working; someone needs to be home for him." Joyce says.

"He was over at the Wheelers' all day, I'm sure he just stayed over."

"I wish." Mike muttered.

"I can't believe this." Mutters Joyce.

"I'm sorry-"

"I can't believe this." Joyce grabs the phone and dials. The camera cuts to the Wheeler kitchen.

Mike is grabbing syrup, Nancy is eating scrambled eggs, Holly is crying, and Ted is watching the news.

The phone rings and Karen answers. "Hello?"

"Karen- it's Joyce."

"Joyce, hi-"

Nancy watches Mike pour syrup on his scrambled eggs. "That's disgusting."

"You're disgusting." Mike retorts, pouring syrup on her eggs.

"Mike, what the hell?" Nancy shouts.

"Hey, language." Ted says, clearly not paying attention.

"Quiet!" Karen shouts to the kids. "I'm sorry, one of those mornings." She tells Joyce.

"Was that Will I heard back there?"

"Will? No, no. Just Michael."

"Will didn't spend the night?"

"No… he left here a little after eight. He's not home?" Karen looks worried now.

Joyce tries to calm down. "I- no- he must have just left early for school. Thanks, Karen."

She hangs up and looks at Jonathan, both worried.

The cameras cut to Mike, Lucas, and Dustin riding past the high school toward Hawkins Middle School.

They put their bikes in the bike rack, looking around.

"I don't see him. Weird." Mike says.

"I'm telling you, his mom's right. He just went to class early again." Lucas says.

"Yeah, he's always paranoid Gursky's gonna give him another pop quiz." Dustin says. Mike nods.

"So not the case." Dustin mumbled.

Troy's voice rings out. "Step right up, ladies and gentlemen! Step right up and get your tickets for the freak show!"

James and Troy head toward the boys. They don't move, staying where they are.

"Mouthbreathers." Muttered El.

Troy looks at them all, then speaks. "Who do you think would make more money at a freak show? 'Midnight', 'Frogface', or 'Toothless'?" He hits Lucas, Mike, and Dustin, one at a time.

Fate muttered darkly. Her audience caught a few words here and there- "idiots", "uncreative" "slimy worms", "scum from the bottom of the barrel of scum", "jerks", "cowards", "fools", "evil", "arseholes", "screw them".

"We are not cowards!" yelled Troy.

"Mmhmm." Fate said coldly. "Right. You totally didn't run away when a little girl threatened you."

Troy sputtered soundlessly.

James speaks now. "Hmm. I'd have to go with-" he mimics Dustin's lisp- "Toothless."

Dustin glares. "I told you a million times, my teeth are coming in, it's called cleidocranial dysplasia."

James mocks him. "'I told you a million times-"

"Do the arm thing." Troy butts in. Dustin hesitates. James speaks now. "Do it, freak."

Claudia looked to be on the verge of smacking the two bullies.

Dustin relents. Troy and James exchange disgusted looks and shudder. "Ugh, it gets me every time. Every time!" They shove past the boys and leave, laughing.

Lucas mutters under his breath. "Numbskulls."

Mike turns to Dustin. "I think it's cool. It's like a superpower, like Mr. Fantastic."

Dustin shrugs. "Yeah, except I can't fight evil with it."

The boys grab their backpacks and head into the school. The camera cuts to the high school, and Nancy, walking into the school.

"Ugh, why is there so much focus on Miss Perfect and her lame brother?" asked Carol.

"A better question is, why was Steve friends with you for so long?" asked Fate. "I mean, I'm genuinely curious."

Steve shrugged when her inquiring gaze fell on him.

Barb hustles through the crowd and catches up to Nancy. "So? Did he call?"

Nancy smiled sadly.

"Keep your voice down." Nancy hisses.

"Did he?" Barb repeats. Nancy shakes her head and opens her locker. "I told you, it's not like that."

Barb gives her a look.

Nancy relents. "Okay, I mean, yes, fine, he likes me, you know, but not like that. We just… made out a few times."

Nancy groaned and covered her face, a hot blush covering her cheeks.

"When are we going to get back to something interesting?" demanded Troy.

Barb smirks. "'We just made out a few times'. Nance, I'm serious, you're going to be so cool now it's ridiculous."

"No, I'm not!" Nancy protests.

"You better still hang out with me, is all I'm saying. If you become friends with Carol and Tommy H-"

"Gross. And I'm telling you, this was just a one-time… okay, two-time thing, alright?"

She stops, pulling out a note, reading MEET ME. BATHROOM. STEVE. Barb raises an eyebrow. "You were saying?"

The scene goes black and mute.

"What?" said Carol, now looking confused.

"I told you, I'm gonna black and mute stuff." Fate sighed. "It's gross watching people make out."

"Oh, eew." Muttered Mike, making a face. Nancy reached over and hit him.

The scene cuts to the Police Station. Hopper's car is pulling into the lot. He walks inside, smoking.

"Good of you to show." Flo snaps from behind the partition.

"Mornin' to you too, Flo." Hopper responds.

He heads for the coffee machine.

"Mornin', Chief." Says Powell.

"Damn, you look like hell, Chief." Says Callahan.

"Well, I look better that your wife did when I left her this morning." Hopper drawls. Powell laughs.

Flo nabs Hopper's cigarette and stubs it. "While you were drinking, or sleeping, or whatever it is you deem so important, Phil Larson called, said some kids stole the gnomes out of his garden again."

"Gnomes again, huh?" Hopper comments. "Well, tell Phil I'll get right on that." He walks towards his office, lighting another cigarette. Flo follows.

"On a more pressing matter, Joyce Byers can't find her son this morning."

"Yeah, alright, I'll give her a call. Just give me a minute-"

Flo scowls. "Chief, Joyce is very upset and-"

"What have I told you? Morning is for coffee and contemplation."

"Chief, she's-"

"Coffee and contemplation, Flo!"

"Hop…" sighed Joyce, looking somewhat aggravated.

"I know, I know." Hopper snapped.

The scene cuts to the inside of his office, with Joyce already inside, a cigarette in hand.

The camera shows the police report, and the word forming: MISSING.

"I've been waiting in here for an hour." Joyce says, pacing.

"And I apologize again-" Hopper starts.

Joyce cuts him off. "An hour."

"I understand. But, boy his age, he's probably playing hooky-"

"Eew." Will mumbled, making a face.

"Not my Will, no. He wouldn't do that. He's not like that." Joyce says immediately. Hopper leans back.

"You never know. My mother though I was on the debate team, when really I was screwing Chrissy Carpenter in the back of my dad's car."

"Eew, Dad." Whispered El, making a face and full use of a vocabulary word she had learned from Max. Hopper sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Will's not like you. He's not like me. He not like… most." Joyce says. "He's got a couple of friends. But the other kids, they make fun of him. Call him names, laugh at him, his clothes-"

Will cringed.

"His clothes? What's wrong with his clothes?" Hopper asks.

"And that's the part he focuses on." Laughed Fate.

"I don't know. Does it matter?"

"Maybe."

The screen goes black briefly.

Hopper scratches his chin. "You hear from Lonnie lately?"

Joyce hesitates. "He was in Indianapolis last I heard, about a year ago. But he's got nothing to do with this."

Hopper grabs a pen and notepad. "What's his number?"

"I told you, he's got nothing to do with this-"

"Kid goes missing, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, kid's with a parent or relative."

"What about the other time?"

Fate grinned. "They get kidnapped by an extradimen- oh, frick, can't say that, spoilers."

Several people glared at her in frustration.

"What?" Hopper says, startled.

"You said, 'ninety-nine out of a hundred'. What about the other time? The one."

Hopper leans forward. "This is Hawkins, Joyce. In the four years I've been police chief, you know the worst thing that's happened?"

Fate cracked up. "Bet that's changed! Bet it has!"

Everyone stared at her, confused.

"It was when an owl attacked Eleanor Gillespie. It thought her hair was a nest."

Joyce sighs. "I'll call Lonnie. He'll talk to me before he talks to a-"

"A pig?"

"A cop." Joyce sits down. "Just find my son, Hop. Find him."

The scene cuts to Hawkins Lab. Black sedans drive up, stop, and discharge men in black suits. A white-haired man greets them. "Welcome, gentlemen."

"Wait, Hopper does find Will, doesn't he?" asked Mr. Clarke.

"Yes, but it's a long, complicated process taking an entire week, during which- well, bad stuff. And it's a process that that bastard Dr. Brenner could have easily shortened, but nooooo, he had to keep stupid secrets and try to cover things up and let people die. Argh. It's stuff like that that makes my job so much harder." Grumbled Fate.

"What is your job?" asked Powell.

"It's right in the name, isn't it?" Fate chirped. "I have to manage the balance of good and bad, which means that people like Brenner make my job so very difficult. When good people die, I have to figure out what makes it better. 'Course, it's worse when I have to let good people die because too much good stuff has happened."

"Too much good stuff?" questioned Hopper doubtfully.

She nodded and sighed. "When good stuff happens, anywhere, I have to be able to balance it out, somewhere. My job stinks."

The men walk through the hallway with Dr. Brenner. Scientists rush around, clearly worried. One scientist rushes up to the men. "We've evacuated the east wing- sealed it off, following quarantine protocol-"

"Quarantine protocol?" asked Powell. "There something no one told us?"

They arrive at a plastic quarantine door. Brenner unzips it. The men walk in and get into hazmat suits. The camera cuts to the elevator. Brenner, the scientist who'd spoken before, the agents, and soldiers armed with M16-like rifles with barrel-mounted flashlights. All riding down into the lab. One agent looks up at the ceiling. The elevator stops, and the doors open.

The group exits into the dark corridor, much transformed. The lights are dead. White fog clouds the air. Snowflake-like spores dance in to air. Cracks in the cement.

"What the heck?" muttered the high school science teacher.

"The place is dying." Murmured Fate serenely.

The men enter the lab and look around. The far wall is illuminated. Fleshy growths cover the wall. There is an opening in the center, around twelve feet in diameter. It is undulating, pulsing. Like a heart.

"What the hell?" multiple people exclaimed, while El looked down, unhappy.

"Hey," Dustin nudged her. "It's kinda cool, actually." She smiled hesitantly, while others looked at Dustin like he was nuts.

"This is where it came from?" asks the lead agent. Brenner nods. "And the girl?" the agent asks.

"Girl?" asked Callahan.

"She can't have gone far." Brenner responds. The camera pans to an isolation tank with a clear viewing window. Empty. Haunting.

"Right, right." Mumbled Fate. "Here we go, we finally meet her."

"Is that an isolation tank?" Mr. Clarke suddenly glanced over at Dustin, remembering a certain phone call.

"Ye-e-es." Replied Fate, rather evasively.

The screen shows two bare feet stepping onto grass. The camera pans up to show a child, wearing a filthy hospital gown. Her face is smudged, her hair shaved.

"What?" questioned several people at once. "Who-what-huh?"

The girl stares at a restaurant. BENNY'S BURGERS AND ICE CREAM.

Benny emerges from a side door and dumps trash.

He heads back in, and the girl slips in after him. She watches him bring someone burgers and fries. Earl speaks now. "Benny, how about Kellogg last night?"

"Oh, yeah, oh yeah." Says Benny.

"He's gonna win us the championship, I just know." Says Earl.

Benny shrugs, "Eh, if we hadn't traded English-"

"Don't get me started on that, too damn early." Earl replies.

The girl sneaks into the kitchen. She steps over to a basket of French fries. She picks one up, staring at it like she's never seen one before. She eats it, then starts eating more. Benny spots her. "Hey!"

She grabs the basket and runs, through the swinging doors and into the back storage room, where Benny catches her. "Think you can steal from me, boy?" He stops, confused, as the girl tries to break free. "Girl, what in the hell?"

She stares at him, then the scene cuts to Hawkins Middle School.

"What?" someone asked.

A bell rings, and Mr. Clarke's class rushes out as he calls after them: "Remember, finish Chapter Twelve, and answer twelve-point-three on the difference between experiment and other forms of science investigation…" he trails off, as most of the class has left.

"Did it come?" Mike asks excitedly. Lucas and Dustin join him in front of Mr. Clarke's desk. Mr. Clarke gives them a sad look. "Sorry, boys, hate to be the bearer of bad news, but…"

The boys droop.

"It came!" Mr. Clarke tells them.

The camera cuts to the AV Club room. The door bursts open and the boys race in, followed by Mr. Clarke.

"The Heathkit ham shack. Ain't she a beaut?" he says.

The boys examine the radio, excited.

"I didn't know it ever came!" Will grumbled. "What happened to it?"

"Well-" started Dustin awkwardly. Several teachers frowned at him, but Fate swooped in. "It was sacrificed in the name of saving lives- well- one life. Okay, it died in the service of a good cause, let's put it like that."

"A good cause?" demanded the principal. "What good cause?"

Fate sighed. "You'll see in Chapter Four: The Body."

Dustin speaks. "I bet you can talk to New York on this thing!"

"Think bigger." Mr. Clarke replies.

Lucas says, "California?"

"Bigger." Mr. Clarke says.

Mike speaks up. "Australia?" Mr. Clarke nods.

The boys look shocked.

And excited.

Lucas grins. "Oh man. When Will sees this he's going to totally blow his shit-"

"Lucas." Mr. Clarke says.

"Sorry."

Lucas starts working the dials. Mike grabs the transceiver, and speaks(in a bad Australian accent): "'Ello, this is Mike Wheeler, President of Hawkins Middle AV Club-" Dustin grabs the headset and speaks in an even worse accent: "'Ello, this is Dustin Henderson, Secretary and Treasurer of Hawkins Middle AV Club. Do you eat kangaroos for breakfast?"

"Dustin, Mike," laughed the other Party members. Neither Dustin nor Mike seemed remotely abashed, just grinning.

A knock sounds at the door. The principal is here with Hopper and Callahan. He speaks. "Sorry to interrupt, but may I borrow Michael, Lucas, and Dustin?"

The camera cuts to the three boys, looking at one another in confusion.

The scene cuts to the principal's office, where all three boys are speaking at once.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Hopper cuts in. "One at a time." He points at Mike. "You. You said he takes what?"

"Mirkwood." Mike answers.

Hopper scowls. "Mirkwood?" He turns to Callahan. "You ever heard of Mirkwood?"

"I have not. It sounds made up to me."

Lucas interjects. "It's from Lord of the Rings-"

"The Hobbit-" interrupts Dustin. "It doesn't matter!" Lucas responds.

"He asked!" Dustin says. Lucas mimics him. "'He asked'."

The two boys jostle each other, attempting to hit one another. Mike sits in the middle with an exasperated look on his face.

"Why- why exactly did you sit in the middle? I've been here for three months and I know not to sit there." Max said to Mike. He shrugged. "Normally, Will and I would both sit in the middle and that would keep them from actually hitting each other."

"Oh."

"Hey!" shouts Hopper. "What'd I just say? One at a damn time." He points at Mike again.

"Mirkwood. It's a real road, it's just the name that's made up. It's where Cornwallis and Kerley meet."

"Okay. I think I know it."

"We can show you-" Mike starts.

"I said I know it." Hopper snaps.

"We could help look!" Mike says.

"No. After school, you all go straight home. That means no biking around, looking for your friend, no investigating, no nonsense. This isn't some 'Lord of the Rings' book-"

"The Hobbit." Dustin corrects. Hopper glares.

"Do I make myself clear?" he growls.

"Probably not clear enough." Chirped Fate. "Given how they- uh, dammit, spoilers again. Oops. Whatever."

The boys all nod.

The camera cuts to a slightly brighter, washed out scene, with unnatural hints of blurriness at the edges. Joyce is walking through the woods, looking happy.

"What-" someone started.

"Oh, it's a flashback." Said Fate casually. "There's lots of them. They show the full story- well, some of them do. This one just makes it more emotionally charged."

The camera pans to reveal her destination. A fort made out of sticks and tarp. A sign reads CASTLE BYERS.

Will smiles slightly, remembering hiding there during his time in the Upside Down.

Joyce kneels by the entrance. "Ring-a-ding! Anybody home?"

Will's voice rings out from inside. "Password?"

Joyce speaks. "Rad-fast- no, Rhada- Rhadagast?"

"You may enter." Will responds.

Joyce enters. "I got off early today-" she sits next to Will. "And guess what?" she pulls out a pair of tickets. "Poltergeist!"

Will looks excited. "I thought I wasn't allowed?"

"I changed my mind." Joyce responds. "But if you have nightmares-"

"I won't, I don't get scared like that anymore."

Will shook his head a little, frowning. The other Party members all hugged him.

"Not even by clowns?"

"No-"

"What about my witch?"

"Mom!" Will laughs as his mother starts tickling him.

The scene abruptly cuts to a still, silent, empty Castle Byers. Joyce retreats, leaving the fort, her face desperate.

"Will? Will!" Jonathan shouts outside the fort.

Joyce joins him. "Will! Will!"

Only silence responds.

Several people sent the Byers pitying looks. They ignored them

The scene cuts to a hamburger patty hitting the broiler. Benny is tending it. He glances up at the girl.

The camera cuts to him placing the burger and fries in front of her. There is no one else there. She now wears an oversized BENNY'S BURGERS shirt.

She begins eating. Benny watches a moment, then speaks. "Your parents forget to feed you?"

She keeps eating.

"That's so rude." Said Flo. El blushed, embarrassed, and Mike hugged her. "It's okay, you didn't know." He murmured. She smiled.

"That why you ran away?" Benny asks. She still doesn't respond. "They, they hurt you? And… you went to the hospital, that it? But you got scared, ran off, found your way here?"

She pauses, looks up at him. Then goes back to eating. Benny hesitates, come to a decision. He pulls away the plate. She freezes and looks up at him.

"Okay, here's how it's gonna go. I'll give this back, and you can have as much as you like, maybe even some ice cream. But first, you gotta answer a few of my questions. We got a deal?"

She stares at him.

"We'll start easy. My name's Benny. Benny Hammond." He holds out his hand, then takes hers, and shakes. She tenses.

"Nice to meet ya. And you are…?"

She doesn't respond. He sighs, starts to withdraw his hand. He notices a small tattoo. The camera cuts closer. It reads 011 in simple black lettering.

"A tattoo?" asked Carol. "What kinda freak has a tattoo like that?"

El flinched and rubbed her arm. The Party all glared at Carol, who didn't notice.

Fate frowned. "Be nice. Or someday you'll say something to the wrong person. And they won't appreciate it at all." Her tone held a hint of anger.

"Eleven?" asks Benny. She yanks her hand away.

"What's that mean?" he asks.

"No." she says.

"Well, I'll be damned. She speaks." He paused. "No? No what?" she doesn't respond.

Benny sighs. "Alright, guess 'no' more food then." He starts to move away with the food.

"Eleven!" she says quickly. Benny turns. "Eleven. Yeah. What's it mean?"

She hesitates, points to herself. "Eleven."

"That's her name?" asked Claudia, looking worried now.

"Yeah, well, sort of." Said Fate.

Benny is now on the phone in the kitchen, speaking softly. "All I know is, she's scared to death… yeah, I think she's been abused or kidnapped or something." He pauses. "It's 4819 Randolph Lane. Randolph, right. R-A-N-"

Eleven is finishing her fries. A soft noise repeats in the background. She looks up at an old fan, squeaking with every turn. Eleven stares at it, eyes narrowing. Intent. The fan blades stop. She looks down at her fries, content now.

"How did-did the fan break?" asked Mr. Clarke, confused.

"No." Fate said innocently.

"Then what-"

"Spoilers!" she singsonged.

Several people twitched, suspecting that that was going to become quite annoying.

The scene cuts to two police cars speeding down the street.

Then cuts to Hopper walking down the road, eyes sweeping from side to side. Behind him, Callahan and Powell call out. "Will Byers? WILL BYERS?!"

Hopper pulls a vial out of his pocket and pops two pills. His eyes narrow and he moves off the road.

"Hey, I got something here." He calls to Callahan and Powell. He kneels by Will's bike. Callahan and Powell race over.

"That his bike, Chief?" asks Callahan. Hopper nods. "Looks like he crashed." Hopper says.

"Maybe he got hurt in the fall." Callahan says.

"I did, actually. I scraped my hands pretty badly." Will said, slowing as he realized- "I was bleeding…"

"Oh, Jesus." Muttered Dustin.

Others looked on in confusion, while Jonathan and Nancy rubbed their matched scars.

"Not so hurt he couldn't make it home. And a bike like this is like a Cadillac to these kids. He woulda walked it home."

The scene cuts to a large radar dish. Then cuts to a line of agents, sitting, listening to radios.

Voices can be heard: "… going to the store…" "… be home by…" "… meeting with Tom in ten…"

"They were listening to us?" someone shouted. "What the hell!"

Other people echoed that outrage.

"Hush." Fate scolded softly. "Listen."

The screen shows one agent, and a familiar voice rings out.

"Lonnie. It's Joyce-"

"Lonnie isn't here right now."

The scene cuts to the Byers kitchen. "Who is this? Who are you? This is Joyce- Lonnie's ex-wife. I need to speak to him- now- no not later-" a click is heard. Joyce explodes. "Bitch!" she slams the phone down.

Jonathan, working on a MISSING poster in the living room, calls out. "Mom, you need to stay calm."

"I'm calm." Joyce says.

She dials again. No one answers. It goes to message.

"Hey, you've reached Lonnie, I'm not here at the moment but…"

Joyce glares at the phone and speaks: "Lonnie, some teenager just hung up on me. Will's missing and I need you to call me back." She slams the phone down.

Jonathan rises, looking out the window. "Mom."

"What?"

"Cops."

Joyce explodes out onto the porch, with Jonathan following. Hopper carries Will's bike over.

Inside the house, Joyce asks, "And it was just sitting there?"

"Yes." Hopper answers.

"Was there any blood or-?"

"No, no."

Jonathan butts in. "If you found his bike out there, why're you here?"

"He's got a key to the house, right?" Hopper says.

"Yeah-" Jonathan answers.

"So maybe he came back here." Hopper says.

"Yes, he did." Chirped Fate. "You just won't find him there."

"So- what? You think I haven't checked my own house?" Joyce demands.

Hopper nods. "Never said you didn't." He inspects the back door, where a dent resides in the wall. He opens the door. Its handle aligns perfectly with the dent.

"This always been here?" he asks.

"No." mumbled Joyce.

"Probably. I've got two boys, look at this place." Joyce replies.

Hopper exits the house. They hear whimpering. Chester is pacing in front of the shed, whimpering.

"You know, I was worried about him." Murmured Will softly. "He was in the house… I thought it might've gotten him."

"What's up with you, buddy?" Hopper crouches and pets Chester, who barks.

"Oh, he's probably just hungry- come on…" Joyce grabs Chester's collar and leads him to the house.

Hopper straightens and looks toward the shed.

Hopper walks into the shed. He flips the light switch and looks around. He sees the empty rifle mount and the scattered ammunition.

"Oh, that's- noticeable…" muttered Mike, glancing at Will. "Why did everyone automatically believe you'd somehow ended up at the quarry?" he winced as he said it, knowing that he had.

The lightbulb flickers. Hopper looks up at it. It goes out. Hopper fumbles for a flashlight, and shines it on a broken box. The box is slimy with mold.

Footsteps sound. Hopper turns, shining the light on- Callahan.

Several people let out relieved breaths.

"I'm all spooked now…" murmured Jennifer Hayes.

"You deaf? I've been calling you." Callahan says. The lightbulb flickers back on. Hopper and Callahan exit the shed.

"I want you to call Florence, have get a search party together, as many volunteers as she can muster- have them bring flashlights, too."

"You think we got a problem here?" Callahan asks.

"We did." Muttered Hopper.

"Yeah." Fate sounded unusually somber. "You did. You know, any longer there and he would've died."

Most people looked confused, but the PartyPlus understood immediately. Mike wrapped both arms around Will, tense.

Fate nodded. "He did, actually- but I have pull with Death. And so, Death does the occasional favor for me. That was one of them."

Joyce's mouth opened, and she silently mouthed, 'thank you'. Fate just smiled.

The scene cuts to a neighborhood. Mike's voice sounds.

"We should be out there. We should be helping look for him."

The camera cuts to the Wheeler dining room.

"No, you should not." Snapped Karen.

Mike isn't eating, unlike the rest of his family.

Karen speaks now. "We've been over this. The chief said-"

"I don't care what the chief said." Mike snaps.

"Michael." Karen says.

"We have to do something- Will could be in danger!" Mike says.

Karen snaps, "More reason to stay put."

"Mom-" starts Mike. Karen frowns at him. "End. Of. Discussion." She snaps.

Mike looks away. The family sits in silence. Nancy isn't eating now, just moving her food around with her fork.

"So… me and Barb are gonna study for the chemistry test at her house tonight." She is clearly trying to sound casual. "That's cool… right?"

"No. Not cool." Karen replies.

"What?" Nancy says. "Why not?"

"Why do you think? Am I speaking Chinese in this house?" Karen says. "Until we know Will's okay, no on leaves."

"That didn't really do much." Laughed Fate. "Didn't stop anyone leaving- well, except for Holly."

Karen frowned in her direction, then frowned at her children.

"This is such bullshit!" Nancy yells.

"Language!" Ted snaps.

"Um… Will… I apologize in advance." Nancy said nervously. Will nodded, confused. Mike scowled at his sister, angry, and clearly not happy about her apology.

"Just because Mike's friend got lost on the way home-" Nancy continues.

"So this is Will's fault now?!" Mike demands.

"Nancy, take that back!" Karen snaps.

"No!" Nancy shouts.

Fate spoke. "This may be slightly embarrassing, but I like it." She shrugged.

Mike scowls angrily and spits, "You're just mad 'cause you wanna hang out with Steve!"

"Who is Steve?" questions Karen.

Mike looks at his mother. "Her new boyfriend-"

"You are such a douche, Mike!" Nancy exclaims.

"I'm still not sorry." Mike mumbled.

"Language!" Ted snaps again.

Nancy storms off, heading upstairs. Karen calls after her: "Nancy! Come back! NANCY!"

Karen picks up a crying Holly, looking torn. "There, there, it's okay, Holly…" she murmurs.

"You see, Michael. You see what happens?" Ted turns to Mike, who immediately responds.

"What happens when what? I'm the only one acting normal here- I'm the only one who cares about Will!"

Ted responds through a mouthful of chicken. "That's unfair, son. We care."

Mike moves to respond, stops, then throws his hands up and storms off. Karen glares at Ted. "I hope you're enjoying your chicken, Ted." She leaves with Holly.

Ted calls after her; "Hey! What'd I do? What'd I doooooo?"

Karen cringed with embarrassment.

The scene cuts to the dark woods, where Hopper is walking near the front of the search party.

"That's a lot of people…" Will noticed, voice soft.

Mr. Clarke comes up next to Hopper. "He's a good student."

"Huh?" Hopper responds.

"Will. He's a good student. A great one, actually."

"Thanks, Mr. Clarke…" Will trailed off awkwardly.

Mr. Clarke offers his hand to Hopper. "I don't think we've met. Scott Clarke. I teach at Hawkins Middle. Earth and Biology."

Hopper shakes his hand. "Always had a distaste for science."

"Maybe you had a bad teacher."

"Yeah, Ms. Ratliff was a nasty piece of work."

"Ratliff? You bet. She's still kicking around, believe it or not."

"Oh, I believe it. Mummies never die, or so they tell me."

The conversation tapers off briefly.

"Sara, my daughter. Galaxies, the universe, whatnot. She always understood that stuff. I always figured, there's enough down here. Don't need to go lookin' elsewhere." Hopper says.

"Your daughter. What grade is she? Maybe I'll get her in my class."

Fate laughed. "Different daughter, but you did get one of his daughters in your class. Granted, an adoptive one, but what difference does that really make?"

"Oh, uh, she lives in the city. With her mother."

"Oh."

Hopper walks away. "Thanks for coming out, teach. Appreciate it." He calls over his shoulder.

A nearby woman whispers to Mr. Clarke; "She died a few years back."

"Sorry?" Mr. Clarke says.

"His daughter."

Mr. Clarke looks over to Hopper.

The camera cuts to the Wheelers' basement. The Demogorgon figurine is the focus, at first, before it pulls back to show Mike lying by the board. He stares at the figurines scattered across the board.

He moves to the table, and picks up his Supercomm. "Lucas? It's Mike. You copy? Lucas?"

"Hey, it's Lucas." Lucas' voice crackles over the walkie.

"I know it's you. And say 'over' when you're done talking or I don't know you're done. Over."

"Aah, nerd etiquette for Supercomms." Said Steve, smirking. "I remember getting lectured on that."

Dustin rolled his eyes. "You can't communicate if the other person is holding down their button, so you have to say 'over' to make sure they know you're done."

"We all know." Singsonged Fate.

The camera cut to Lucas in his room. He says exaggeratedly "I'm done. Over."

"I'm worried about Will. Over."

Lucas rolls over. "Yeah. This is crazy. Over."

"I was thinking… Will could've cast Protection last night. But he didn't. He cast Fireball. Over."

"What's your point? Over."

"My point is… he could've played it safe. But he didn't. He put himself in danger to help the Party. Over."

"And that, right there." Fate said. "That is going to be incredibly important in Season Two, specifically in Episode Eight and Episode Nine."

"What?" asked a confused Callahan. "It's just a kid trying to read too much into a situation."

"Is it?" asked Fate. "Or is it someone reading a situation pretty well? And as for the whole 'going to be important in Season Two, I was referring specifically to 'he put himself in danger to help the Party'. That's gonna be important, just wait."

"Yeah." Mike muttered, lightly smacking Will's arm.

A moment passes. Then Lucas seems to come to a decision. "Meet me in ten. Over and out." He slides the antennae on his Supercomm down.

The scene cuts to Mike jamming flashlights into his backpack.

"Michael!/Lucas!" shouted Karen and Mrs. Sinclair at the same time, while Claudia looked at Dustin, who squirmed.

"Weeell, I love this upcoming scene, but I think I'll black it." Fate said calmly. "Don't wanna get anyone in trouble, after all. More trouble than necessary, that is."

The scene cuts to Benny washing dishes. Eleven is sitting on a counter, eating ice cream.

"You like that ice cream, huh?" Benny asks.

Eleven looks up and smiles. Benny turns off the faucet. "Smile looks good on ya."

Eleven's smiles fades and she gives him a confused look.

He blinks. "Yeah. You know, a smile?" he gives a big smile. She smiles back. A knock sounds at the door, and she tenses, smile fading again. Benny looks over, than says, "You stay put, okay? Whoever it is, I'll just turn 'em away real quick."

Eleven watches while he walks to the door.

A blonde woman is waiting. "Benny Hammond?" she asks as the door swings open.

"'fraid so. Also 'fraid we're closed for the night. Why don't you try back tomorrow?"

The woman extends a hand. "Connie Frazier. Social Services."

Benny opens the door back up.

Fate shook her head slowly.

"Didn't think you'd make it here so fast. Heck of a drive." He says.

"Not so bad this time of night." She replies.

"Listen, I, uh, haven't told her you were coming. Didn't want to scare her off, you know… she's a tad skittish."

"Children I work with usually are." Connie smiles brightly, looking around. "So… where is she?"

"In the kitchen." Benny responds, turning. "Sorry again for trying to turn you away. You know, your voice sounds different on the phone-"

She raises a pistol and fires. He falls.

"My mom was pretty upset when we watched this." Remarked Fate.

"Social Services wouldn't-" started Powell.

"She's not Social Services." Interrupted Fate. "She's one of the bad men."

"The bad men?" asked Mr. Clarke, confused.

Eleven leaps to her feet, dropping the ice cream and running into the storage room. Two men block her. She stares, cornered.

"Oh-" Jennifer covered her eyes, having noticed the guns.

"They're just stun guns." Fate said. "And I wouldn't worry about Eleven. She can take care of herself."

The camera zooms on Eleven.

Then cuts to Brenner walking into the building, looking at Benny, then moving quickly into the storage room. Both agents are lying broken on the ground, heads bleeding.

Dr. Brenner steps hastily out the back door, but Eleven… is gone.

"What the hell?" exclaimed Callahan.

"What happened to them?" someone asked.

Fate smiled mysteriously. "You won't find out for a little while. Episode Three I think."

The scene cuts to Mirkwood. The boys are biking down it. Mike slows to a stop by the police barrier, with Lucas and Dustin following.

They get off their bikes. Mike and Lucas start for the police barrier. Dustin hesitates. "You guys feel that?" he holds out his hand, rain hitting his palm. "Maybe we should go back."

Mike glares and ducks under the barrier, calling, "Stay on Channel Six and don't do anything stupid." Lucas follows him under the barrier.

Dustin hesitates- then runs after them. "Hey, guys, wait up! Wait up!"

"Dustin." His mother scolded.

He squirmed again.

The screen cuts to blackness and silence for several minutes.

Someone coughed impatiently.

"What?" asked Fate innocently. "I don't wanna get anyone in trouble."

The screen lit up with Jonathan and Joyce making a MISSING poster. They are flipping through a folder of photos Jonathan had taken.

"These are great, Jonathan." Joyce murmurs. Jonathan doesn't respond. Joyce continues. "I've been working so much lately, I feel like I barely know what's going on with you anymore."

She looks up. Jonathan is fighting tears. "What is it, honey?"

"Nothing."

"What is it?"

"It's just… I should've been here for him. He was probably so scared… I should've been here."

"It would have done absolutely nothing." Fate said firmly.

"Hey. Hey, you can't do that to yourself, baby. This wasn't your fault." Joyce says. Jonathan nods.

Joyce turns back to the pictures. "Oh, how about this one? I always liked this one…" she picks up a picture of Will at the park.

"…Me too." Jonathan says softly.

The phone rings.

"Ugh, talk about boring." Grumbled Carol.

"This part isn't boring." Fate replied.

Joyce and Jonathan look up, and Joyce moves to the phone. "Yes… hello?"

No one answers. The sound of breathing can be heard.

"Lonnie…? Hopper…?"

The Party came to a sudden realization, and all moved automatically to curl around Will again.

No answer.

"Who is this?" Joyce asks.

Jonathan stands up.

The breathing gets louder. It sounds like a child's breathing. Joyce stiffens. "Will? Will?!"

Jonathan rushes over. Joyce continues to speak. "Where are you, baby? Talk to me! Will? Will?!"

The breathing is replaced by a harsh, guttural growl. An inhuman sound.

"What the hell is that?" asked Mr. Sinclair. No one responded.

"How did you know it was Will?" asked Karen. Joyce frowned. "I just knew."

"Who is this? What have you done with my baby? What have you done?!" Joyce demands. Silence, then a high-pitched shriek erupts from the receiver. Joyce drops the phone with a gasp of pain. Jonathan grabs the phone. "Who is this?! WHO IS THIS?!"

The phone line is dead. No one responds. And the phone is fried.

"How did the phone end up fried?" wondered Mr. Clarke. Nothing about this really made sense to the scientific-minded man.

Fate sighed. "Connections to another re- uh, shoot. Spoilers. But connections like that- they never last long. Only when it is nearby. And electronics don't last long."

Spoilers. More than a few people grumbled when she said this.

The scene changes to the wet, dark, woods. Mike shouts, "Will? WILL?"

Lucas joins in. "BYERS?!"

Dustin yells, "I've got your X-Men 134!"

Will gave Dustin a highly amused look. "Were you trying to bribe me?"

"Um… no?"

"Guys, I really think we should turn back." Dustin says.

Lucas glares. "Seriously, Dustin, if you want to be a baby, just go home already."

"I'm just being realistic, Lucas-"

"No, you're being a sissy."

"You ever think Will went missing because, you know, he ran into something bad? And we're going to the exact spot he disappeared from, and we don't have any weapons or anything?" Dustin says.

"Dustin, shut up-" says Mike.

"I'm just saying-"

"Shut up!" Mike snaps.

He's not mad. He's listening.

"You guys hear that?"

The sound of rustling foliage can be heard. They swing their flashlights around, then whip in another direction.

The beams land on Eleven, standing soaked to the skin, shaking. She and Mike lock eyes. And…

Credits.

"What?" complained Dustin.

"You know what happens next." Fate pointed out.

"Yeah, but, that's a major cliffhanger." Dustin protested.