Chapter 14

"Will she get better?" asked Jane as she sat at the kitchen table with her Aunt Becky.

"I don't think so," said Becky.

"I think she did this to her when she tried to get me out of there," said Jane. "There's this memory I have, but I always thought it was a dream."

"How did you get out?" asked Becky.

"I used my powers," said Jane. It was a couple years ago, but I just ran.

"Where have you been all this time?"

"Where ever I could find a place to sleep. I met a lot of other runaway kids-not kids with powers, though."

"And how did you find us?"

"I had a vision about six months ago of my mom showing something to another woman. I remembered my mom from that memory I thought was a dream."

"There was a woman named Joyce Byers here with a Chief Hopper," said Becky. "Joyce's son went missing. Apparently Dr. Brenner and his people faked Will Byers' death." Becky grabbed a newspaper clipping and handed it to Jane. It had the headline : 'The Boy Who Came Back to Life.'

"Just like they did to me when I was born," said Jane. "If Papa's still alive, Will Byers isn't safe and neither am I. I have to leave."

"Wait," said Becky. "We're pretty far out in the country. You'll be safe here."

"Are you sure?" asked Jane.

"Yes," said Becky. She patted the newspaper clipping. "Maybe Joyce Byers and Chief Hopper can help us."

Jane glanced at her catatonic mother. "Alright. Do you know how to contact them?"

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"We have to head back soon," said Mike as he looked at his watch.

"Stay a little longer, please," Eleven begged. She was glad that at least she would have Sarah for company, but wanted to spend more time with Mike and Will.

"You broke your arm," said Sara to Will.

"How did you know?" asked Will.

"I saw it when you took my hand," said Sarah. "I'm psychic. I'm just glad that nothing bad has ever really happened in this cabin or I'd be having all kinds of visions now."

"Can you only see bad things?" asked Will. Sarah shook her head.

"Traumatic things just come to me much more quickly. I saw you drop a bunch of things and a girl with black hair helped you pick them up. Is she your girlfriend?"

Will remembered the day in early April, shortly after he returned from the hospital. He had been trying to gather up his art supplies by himself after the art club meeting. His fingers were still swollen and he couldn't quite grip everything with the cast still on his arm. Most of the other club members had already left the room, but Julie hadn't.

"She's not my girlfriend, she was just being nice," said Will.

Mike, who remembered how embarrassed both Will and Julie were the day she had helped him carry his stuff to the locker and several students made certain remarks, decided to change the subject.

"So the people who had you made you some sort of spy?" asked Mike.

"Something like that," said Sarah.

"Do you remember much of your life before it happened?" asked Mike.

"It's fading," said Sarah. "I was seven when they took me. I just remember being really sick and my Dad read to me a lot."

"He reads to me a lot now," said Eleven.

"Oh," said Sarah. She hugged her tiger and sank into the couch.

"So," said Mike. "What are you gonna tell Hopper when he gets home and sees his long lost daughter here?"

"I can just say I ran away and found my way back here," said Sarah as she glanced at Will. He had his face in his hands and was rubbing his forehead. "Are you alright, Will?" Mike and Eleven glanced at Will as well.

"I'm fine," said Will. "Just a little headache."

"Maybe you should take a quick nap before we head back," said Mike. Will glanced at Mike for a second, then nodded.

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Joyce leaned against the counter after the last customer from the early afternoon rush left the store.

"We made it through that one okay," said Jeffrey. Joyce nodded as Hopper entered the store.

"Good afternoon, Chief," said Donald. "Looking for anything in particular."

"I was just wondering if I could borrow Joyce for a few hours," said Hopper. "There's been a new development regarding her son and there are people who need to interview her."

"Will she make it in time to close tonight?" asked Donald.

"Of course," said Hopper.

Joyce punched her time card and followed Hopper to his truck. Whatever was happening couldn't have been too serious if Hopper was promising to have Joyce back later that day.

"What's going on, Hop?" asked Joyce when they were both in his truck.

"Remember Terry Ives?" Joyce nodded. "Her sister Becky just called me. Apparently Jane turned up and wants to talk to us."

"Should we get Will?" asked Joyce. Hopper shook his head.

"We can let him relax today and make sure they girl Jane is alright before we have Will meet her."

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"Thanks for coming," said Becky as she opened the door for Hopper and Joyce.

"Where is she?" asked Hopper as they stepped into the house and Becky shut the door behind them.

"In the living room with her mother, going through all those files Terry used to keep on missing kids," said Becky as she wiped tears from her eyes.

"Are you alright?" asked Joyce. Becky nodded.

"I should've believed my sister. Maybe would could have stopped Brenner years ago."

As they stepped into the living room, Terry was sitting in the same rocking chair Joyce and Hopper had seen her in the previous fall. She stared blankly ahead as a girl with light brown hair about the same age as Will and Eleven sat on the floor surrounded by files. She was holding a file and staring at it intensely.

"Jane?" said Becky. Jane looked up and noticed Joyce and Hopper. She got to her feet as she continued to clutch the file.

Joyce held out her hand as she approached Jane. "Hi, you must be Jane, I'm-"

"You're Joyce Byers," said Jane as she hesitated for a moment before shaking Joyce's hand. "I know. Your son is like me."

"Yes, my son and my daughter," said Joyce.

"Your daughter?" asked Becky. "You have a daughter? And Will is like Jane?"

"That's why they faked his death," said Joyce. "Something happened to me by that lab when I was a kid. My older son is normal, but the twins ended up having abilities and they took my daughter when she was born, just they they took Jane from Terry."

"So you understand," said Jane.

"I do," said Joyce.

"Do you know where your daughter is?" asked Becky.

"She has a telepathic link to my son," said Joyce. "She told him she'd hiding from Brenner's people with a friend." Joyce tried not to look at Hopper.

"So you hate Brenner as much as I do," said Jane.

"I want my daughter to be home and my son to be safe," said Joyce. "So, yes, I do hate Brenner. He tried to have us all killed and he's put my children and a lot of other children through hell."

"Where's your son now?" asked Jane.

"He's at his friend's house. I had to work today," said Joyce. "What's that file you have there."

Jane held up a picture of a young girl. There was a headline about her going missing. "She was with me in that place. We used to play together, but they stopped taking me to the rainbow room one day... when they started to torture me and make me do things. I guess they didn't want any of the kids together once they started hurting us."

"I'm so sorry," said Joyce. Jane shrugged.

"Kali can help us stop them. I think I can find her, but she's far away right now."

"Did you see her?" asked Joyce.

"Yes, but I'd have to leave to find her," said Jane.

"Out of the question," said Hopper. "You should stay with your aunt, you're not safe out there. Those people are murders who kidnaps kids and turn their parents' heads into mush." Hopper gestured at Terry.

"How am I supposed to stop them if I stay here? How am I supposed to find Kali?"

"Let us help you," said Hopper.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Jane asked Hopper. "I can trust her-" Jane pointed to Joyce. "Because they took her kids like they took me."

"They took my daughter too," said Hopper. "And they faked her death just like they fake yours. I'm a part of this too."

"I'm sorry," said Jane.

"You've got nothing to be sorry for, kid, you've been through hell," said Hopper. His face suddenly lit up like something occurred to him. "Maybe with some practice, you could find this Kali without leaving the safety of this place."

"What do you mean?" asked Jane. Hopper picked up the newspaper clipping with Will's picture and handed it to Jane. Becky had a map of Roane county. Hopper opened it and held it up.

"Will's a lot closer, maybe you can locate him on this map," said Hopper. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of that before. Maybe it was a way for Eleven to locate Sarah with leaving the safety of the cabin.

Jane stared a the map for a minute, turned the channel on the TV to a signal-less station, put on a blindfold and sat on the floor. Her nose started to bleed. After a couple minutes, she took off her blindfold, stood up and walked over the the map. She pointed to an area in the middle of the forest.

"How can he be there?" asked Joyce. "What did you see?"

"He's sleeping," said Jane. "But he's not alone. There's a boy with black hair with him."

"That's Mike," said Joyce.

"There were two girls with them," said Jane. "One of them has brown hair, like Will. One of them had blonde hair. They were in some sort of old cabin."

Hopper's eyes widened. "I have to go," he said. "I'll be back soon, Joyce." He hurried outside before Joyce could object. She ran after him.

"Hopper, wait."

"Joyce, go back inside!"

Joyce grabbed his arm. "I know," said said pointedly. "I figured out that you're the friend whose been helping her. Apparently two of my children are at your cabin right now and I'm going with you. And if that blonde girl is who I think she is, they got Sarah from whoever had her."

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Mike gave into the idea that he would end up getting grounded. It was getting later and Lucas' parents were likely to figure out that he and Will weren't there. Mike was going to let Will sleep as long as he needed. He figured it was better than Will passing out on the long trip back.

The four children were startled by the sound of the front door slamming shut. They looked up to see Hopper and Joyce. Will sat up and exchanged an anxious look with Mike.

"Looks like you've broken two of the three 'don't be stupid rules, El," said Hopper. His eyes fell on Sarah. She had never seen her father with a beard before, but recognized him. She stared at her feet. Hopper quickly crossed the room and pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry," Hopper sobbed. "I thought you were dead and those people took you!"

Sarah had a vision of her father getting drunk and taking lots of pills. She tensed up.

"I'm sorry, this must be so awkward," said Hopper as he released her.

"Where's Mom?"

"She's in Indianapolis," said Hopper. "She and I, things didn't work out."

"Because you were drunk?"

"Yeah, it was mostly my fault."

Joyce had pulled both Will and Eleven into a tight embrace while Mike stood back awkwardly. He had no desire to attract the attention of either adult.

"Did you two plan this little rescue together?" asked Joyce.

"We had to," said Will. "We couldn't let Sarah stay in that place any longer."

"What were you thinking?" asked Hopper as he released Sarah and walked over to them. "What if you'd been caught?"

"We were careful," said Will. "El checked the room for cameras before I opened the portal and we chose a place where the portal wouldn't be caught on camera and I used invisibility so El could disable the camera. We even opened a vent to make it look like that was how Sarah escaped."

Hopper began to rub his eyes and ran his hand down his face. "So let me get this straight: you used two powers that made you sick enough to be in the hospital for a week last fall-"

"I was sick because of the Upside Down," Will protested

"And you risked being seen by the bad people," Hopper continued.

"Nobody saw us!" said Eleven.

"I told you not to put yourself in, El. Now you've gone and dragged your brother into this. What do you think it would have done to your mother if you'd both been caught?'

"You knew all this time they could help me and didn't let them?" asked Sarah. Hopper was at a loss for words. Sarah ran to the bedroom and slammed the door shut. Hopper glanced at Joyce and followed her.

"We need to take you to the lab to get you checked out," said Joyce to Will.

"What? No! I'm fine, Mom," Will protested.

"Will, I could feel your pulse while I was hugging you. This is non negotiable."

Sarah had thrown herself on Eleven's bed and had her face buried in the pillows. Hopper carefully perched on the edge of the bed.

"I'll have to pick up a second bed for this room. I'm sure El will be happy to have some company though."

"So I'm stuck here now?" asked Sarah.

"This is the safest place for you," said Hopper.

"Why wouldn't you let Will and El help find me?" asked Sarah.

"I didn't want to use them or have them put themselves in danger," said Hopper. "But when I found out you were still alive last fall, I started trying to find you."

"How long are El and I stuck here?"

"I don't know," said Hopper. "We're trying to find and stop the people who took you and the other children. I'm working with some people, but I'm not entirely sure I can trust them. I know I'm going to do everything in my power to keep you, Will, Eleven, and Jane safe."

"Jane?"

"She's another test subject who escaped. I just met her this afternoon."

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Dr. Owens turned off the camera and other recording equipment after he finished running the tests of Will. They had given the cover story that Will had been trying to see how long he could stay invisible in case of of Brenner's people tried to kidnap him.

"Can I talk to you alone for a minute?" Dr. Owens asked Hopper.

"Anything you say to me, you can say in front of them?" said Hopper as he indicated Joyce, Will, and Mike.

"Alright, we intercepted some morse code this afternoon. It looks like some tech company had your daughter."

"Had?" asked Hopper.

"Yes, apparently, she escaped. I've got some people looking for her near Cleveland and we're hoping to find her before they do."

"Are you sure?" asked Hopper.

"Pretty darn," said Dr. Owens. "There's something else."

"What's that?"

"Someone's been taking out Brenner's people."