We reached the back door.
I tried the handle.
Locked.
Of course.
I carefully moved Will's arm from around my shoulders and leaned him against the wall.
"Stay there."
I pulled out my mace.
Will looked at it.
Then at the door.
"What are you—"
CRACK.
The mace smashed through the wood beside the handle.
Will jumped.
I yanked it free and swung again.
CRACK.
Wood splintered inwards, leaving a hole large enough for my hand while the rest of the door remained intact.
I reached through, found the handle on the other side and turned it.
Click.
"There."
Will stared at the damage.
"You broke the door."
"It was locked."
"That doesn't mean you had to—"
"Would you prefer to stay outside?"
He looked towards the woods.
"No."
"Thought so."
I retrieved my bow and pushed the door open.
"Stay behind me."
The house was empty.
I checked anyway.
Quickly.
Kitchen.
Living room.
Hallway.
Upstairs.
Bedrooms.
Bathrooms.
Nothing.
No Demogorgons.
No vines moving where they shouldn't.
No horrible interdimensional surprises waiting in a cupboard.
For once, the universe had apparently decided I'd suffered enough.
I wasn't stupid enough to expect that generosity to last.
By the time I came back downstairs, Will had lowered himself onto the sofa.
He looked exhausted.
Pale.
Sweaty.
And still very much alive.
Good enough.
I checked the windows one last time before setting my bow within reach.
Temporary shelter secured.
Now I only needed to wait for a teenage girl to cut her hand beside a swimming pool so an interdimensional predator could attempt to abduct her.
Perfectly normal evening.
I turned around.
Will was staring at me.
Not the bow.
Not the mace.
Me.
Right.
There was still that.
I sighed.
"Okay."
Will straightened slightly.
I crossed my arms.
"You've been waiting to ask me questions since the woods."
He was quiet for a moment.
Then his eyes dropped to my hand.
The same hand I'd raised towards the Demogorgon.
When he looked back at me, the uncertainty was still there.
That was apparently all the permission Will needed.
"How did you do that?"
Immediately.
No hesitation.
Apparently he'd spent the entire journey here organising his questions while I kept telling him to stay quiet.
"Telekinesis."
His eyebrows pulled together.
"You can move things with your mind?"
"Yes."
"I figured that much out. I read comics, you know."
"Then why'd you ask?"
"Because it's not supposed to be real."
I looked around at the dead, rotting version of Hawkins surrounding us.
"Neither is this place."
Will went quiet.
"You're right, I guess."
Will stared at my hand.
The same one I'd used against the Demogorgon.
"You stopped it in the air."
"Yes."
"And broke its bones."
"Yes."
"And threw the other one through the trees."
"Also yes."
"How long have you been able to do that?"
There it was.
"A couple of months."
His eyebrows shot up.
"A couple of months?"
"Strange things started happening around me. Things moved when I didn't touch them. It took me a while to realise I was the one doing it."
Complete bullshit.
But despite all the bizarre shit happening around us, telling him my telekinesis had been a newbie gift from something called the System would probably still make me sound fucking crazy.
One impossible revelation at a time.
"And then you learned how to control it?"
"Eventually."
Will was quiet for a second.
Then—
"You weren't scared."
That caught me off guard.
"What?"
"When they came after us."
I almost laughed.
"I was absolutely fucking terrified."
"You didn't look terrified."
"That was rather the point."
He frowned.
"You killed them."
"Yes."
"Like you'd done it before."
"I had."
His eyes widened.
"What?"
"That wasn't the first Demogorgon I've killed."
"No, I mean..." He shook his head. "You knew how to fight."
Oh.
That.
"I taught myself."
"To fight?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"With my powers. Martial arts. Weapons."
His eyebrows climbed higher with every item.
"Why?"
That question was considerably more complicated.
"Because having powers isn't particularly useful if you panic the second someone tries to hurt you. And it's not like I can use them out in the open."
"But why would someone try to hurt you?"
I looked at him.
"Because I'm different."
"So?"
"So this world doesn't have a particularly good history of treating people who are different kindly."
Something shifted in his expression.
Understanding rather than sympathy.
Of course.
Will knew better than most what it was like to be singled out simply for being different.
"I thought if people discovered what I could do, they'd treat me like a monster."
His expression changed immediately.
"You're not a monster. Or a... Demogorgon? That's what you called it, right?"
Despite myself, I almost smiled.
"I know."
"You're human, Erica."
"That's exactly what scares me."
Will frowned.
"What?"
"Humanity is considerably more terrifying to me than those monsters."
"How?"
I leaned forward.
"What do you think would happen if the wrong person discovered what I could do?"
He didn't answer.
"I can move things without touching them. Throw people across rooms. Break bones without laying a finger on someone. Do you honestly think everyone would discover that and politely leave me alone?"
"No, but—"
"I could be taken."
His mouth closed.
"Locked away. Studied. Experiment on. And if somebody powerful enough decided they wanted to know how I worked, who exactly would stop them?"
Will's face had gone pale.
"You could've told me."
I stopped.
"The Party," he continued. "Lucas. Your family."
"Will—"
"Nothing would've happened."
I looked at him.
"We love you."
That shut me up.
He looked completely serious.
"None of us would've thought you were a monster."
Something tightened painfully in my chest.
Then one memory pushed through everything else.
His hand.
Hovering over mine.
Hesitating.
I held his gaze.
"Then why did you flinch?"
Will froze.
"You flinched, Will."
"I—"
"I saw your face."
Silence.
"You were scared of me."
"I wasn't, Erica."
"Yes, you were."
"You took me by surprise!"
His voice rose before he seemed to realise it.
He lowered it again.
"I've known you for years. Even if we weren't really close before…" He struggled for the words. "I didn't know what to think. You suddenly started throwing monsters around with your mind. How was I supposed to react?"
I stared at him.
He was visibly flustered now, his hands waving helplessly in the air as he tried desperately to make me understand.
He had a point.
An annoyingly reasonable one.
And I knew I was being stupid about this.
I'd seen how he and the others would accept Eleven. Powers, weirdness and all. I knew Will wasn't the kind of person who'd decide I was a monster just because I could do something impossible.
But knowing that didn't make seeing him flinch any easier.
"Will, it's okay."
"But I wasn't—"
"You don't have to justify it."
He stopped.
"I understand."
And I did.
That was the problem.
"I know I'm not normal anymore."
Will's face scrunched up.
"Well, I'm not normal either."
I blinked.
"What?"
He gestured around us.
"Look around."
I did.
"I got kidnapped into a dark dimension by a monster," he continued. "I don't think I get to call anyone else weird anymore."
A laugh escaped me before I could stop it.
Will smiled.
Then he shrugged.
"Let's be freaks together, Erica."
For a moment, I just stared at him.
Of all the things he could've said...
"Thanks."
His smile grew slightly.
I looked down at my hands.
"You know, you're a pretty great friend."
His eyebrows rose.
"Pretty great?"
"Don't push it."
He smiled.
I hesitated.
Then sighed.
"Fine. You're probably my best friend here."
That earned me a proper smile.
For the first time since the woods, the tension between us finally loosened.
Then Will's eyes narrowed slightly.
"One more thing."
"Only one?"
"Why do you keep calling them Demogorgons?"
Oh.
That one.
You guys named it.
I shrugged.
"I'm Lucas's sister."
"So?"
"So I've spent years listening to you all talk about Dungeons & Dragons like it's a matter of national security."
His mouth twitched.
"They don't look like the Demogorgon."
"Neither does your miniature."
"That isn't the point."
"It was the first thing that came into my head when I saw one."
"And it stuck?"
"Would you prefer Murderous interdimensional flower monster?"
His mouth twitched again.
"No."
"Demogorgon it is."
For a few seconds, things almost felt normal.
Then I remembered that normal wasn't something either of us could go back to.
My smile faded.
"Will."
He noticed the change immediately.
"What?"
"There's something else you need to know."
His expression became serious again.
"My fear wasn't just paranoia. And I didn't keep my powers from my family because I thought they'd reject me."
"Then why?"
"Because knowing puts you in danger."
His brow furrowed.
"How?"
"I know Lucas and my parents would believe me if I showed them what I can do."
I paused.
"But the more people who know, the more chances there are for something to go wrong. Someone sees something they shouldn't. Someone overhears something they weren't supposed to. It's dangerous. Not because any of you would mean to hurt me. Secrets just spread."
"And you couldn't let anyone find out."
"Exactly."
"Who were you afraid would find out?"
I hesitated.
This was the point where I could stop.
I'd explained my powers.
I'd explained why I'd hidden them.
Everything after this was something else entirely.
But Will had already been dragged into it. Literally.
And once we got back, he'd learn whatever the others had uncovered while we'd been gone. There was no keeping him out of this anymore.
Not after everything that had happened to him.
Keeping him ignorant wouldn't protect him.
It would only delay the inevitable.
And leave him unprepared.
"Will, there's more to Hawkins than most people know."
His expression tightened.
"And I don't mean this place."
I gestured vaguely around us.
"I mean Hawkins."
"What do you mean?"
"You've lived near Hawkins Energy Department your entire life."
He nodded slowly.
"Have you ever thought there was something strange about that place?"
His brow furrowed.
"No."
"Neither did I. At first."
I leaned forward.
"Then I got these powers, and suddenly I had a reason to start looking over my shoulder. I started paying attention to my surroundings. Watching things I would've ignored before."
"To the Energy Department?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"The security."
He looked confused.
"What about it?"
"It's ridiculous. Electric fences. Too many armed guards. Armoured vehicles. Restricted access. Way more security than you'd expect for some boring government facility."
Will frowned.
"So I observed it."
His eyebrows rose.
"You spied on the government?"
"Observed."
"That's the same thing."
"It sounds considerably less criminal when I say observed."
"Erica."
"Fine. I spied on it."
"How long?"
"Weeks."
His eyes widened.
"You spied on the government for weeks?"
"When you say it like that, it sounds bad."
"It is bad! You could go to jail! What if they thought you were a spy or something?"
"They'd have to catch me first."
"Erica!"
"Anyway."
I waved him off.
"Then I started investigating them. Dug through old records at the library. I looked for anything that didn't add up."
"Did you find anything?"
"Yes."
The humour disappeared.
"A woman once accused people connected to the Hawkins Department of kidnapping her baby."
Will stared at me.
"What?"
"She tried to sue the government over it. She lost. Officials claimed she'd miscarried, and everyone wrote her off as some crazy conspiracy theorist."
I paused.
"But she didn't stop. She kept trying to appeal, even going so far as to try to break into that place. She refused to stay quiet."
"What happened?"
"Then, suddenly, the appeals stopped. The newspapers stopped covering her. The whole thing just... disappeared."
"And her?"
I looked at him.
I knew exactly what had happened to her.
Just not anything I could prove.
"I couldn't find anything about her after that. Whatever happened to her, I don't think it was anything good."
"But that wasn't what bothered me most."
"What bothered you?"
"Why take the baby?"
Will frowned.
I leaned forward.
"Not to sound cold-blooded, but if somebody needed children to experiment on, there were easier targets. Orphans. Abandoned kids. Children whose disappearance wouldn't be noticed."
His face tightened.
"So why steal a baby with a mother?"
Will said nothing.
"That question wouldn't leave me alone. What were they doing inside that laboratory that made kidnapping a child worth the risk?"
His eyes stayed on me.
"And if they were experimenting on children, why those children? What made them special enough for the government to want them?"
Understanding slowly crept across his face.
I held his gaze.
"What if they were different?"
His eyes dropped towards my hand.
"Like you."
"Like me."
The words sat heavy between us, the silence stretching uncomfortably.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
I watched the realisation settle across his face as the implications finally sank in.
Then I continued.
"Before I left to look for you, I met someone."
"Who?"
"A girl."
I could still picture her standing there.
Terrified.
Suspicious.
Ready to run.
"She was wearing a hospital gown. Her head had been shaved."
Will frowned.
"And she had a number tattooed on her wrist."
"A number?"
"011."
"She said that was her name."
His eyes widened.
"She barely talked. She was terrified of people finding her."
"Who?"
"She called them bad people."
"That doesn't exactly narrow it down."
"No."
I rubbed my thumb against my palm.
"But then she accidentally saw what I could do."
Will went still.
"And she wasn't surprised."
"What do you mean?"
"She recognised it."
His eyes widened.
"No."
"Yes."
"She can do it too?"
"Yes."
The room went completely silent.
"She had powers like me."
Will stared at me.
"And suddenly every stupid nightmare I'd had about that laboratory stopped looking quite so paranoid."
"You think she came from there."
"I do."
"Did she tell you?"
"Not directly. She didn't exactly give me a detailed organisational chart."
"Erica."
"Everything she told me pointed back to them."
Will was quiet for a second.
"What did you do?"
"What do you mean?"
"With her."
"Oh."
I looked down at my hands.
"I let her stay in my bedroom. Got her food. Helped her hide."
"From the bad people?"
"Yes."
"And then you came looking for me?"
I nodded.
"She was safe for the moment. You weren't. I told her I'd find you, wherever you were, and that I'd come back for her."
Will stared at me.
"You promised her?"
"Yes."
"And we're going back?"
"Of course we are."
A small smile tugged at his mouth. Like, despite everything this place had put him through, my certainty was enough for him to believe it too.
Which made what I had to tell him next that much harder.
I hesitated.
"There was something else she told me."
"What?"
"She warned me that the people looking for her couldn't find out about me."
"Why?"
"Because then they'd want me too."
Will went still.
His face had gone pale again.
"And that's why you didn't tell anyone."
"Partly."
He frowned.
"What else?"
"Because I wouldn't be the only one in danger."
Understanding arrived slowly.
"Lucas."
"Lucas. My parents. You. Anyone who they thought could know about me. Anyone they thought they could use to get to me."
"Would they really hurt them?"
"I am not willing to gamble the lives of everyone I love on the assumption that evil scientists experimenting on children have excellent morals."
Will was quiet for a moment.
"Why didn't you ask for help?"
"Who?"
"I don't know. An adult. The police."
"And tell them what? That I secretly investigated a government facility because I have telekinesis and think they're experimenting on children?"
He frowned.
"They could investigate it. Get the place shut down or something. Then you wouldn't have to be scared anymore."
I shook my head.
"Will, they're not some creepy scientists working out of somebody's basement. They're the US government."
"So?"
"So who exactly do you think the police are working for? Even if the police are oblivious, if it reaches the higher-ups, I am dead."
He fell quiet.
"I had suspicions. A few old newspaper articles. A woman everyone already thought was crazy. Nothing I could actually prove without revealing myself."
"But if someone believed you—"
"That would make it worse."
He stared at me.
"Think about it. Even if I somehow convinced an adult that this was more than some kid making things up, what happens next? They tell someone else. The police start asking questions. Someone makes a phone call."
I gestured vaguely in the direction of the laboratory.
"And suddenly the people powerful enough to cover all of this up once know that there's a ten-year-old girl in Hawkins who knows what they're doing."
Will's expression faltered.
"What do you think would happen to me then?"
He didn't answer.
"For God's sake, Will. They could be monitoring phone lines for all I know. I couldn't just walk into the police station and hope the US government politely let itself get arrested."
"I wasn't saying—"
"I know."
I let out a breath, forcing some of the irritation out of my voice.
"I'm sorry. I know you're trying to help. And I wish it were that simple. I wish I could tell an adult, let them deal with it, and trust that everything would be okay. That I could just be normal again without the weight of everything on my shoulders."
God, I wished it were that easy!
In this life and the one before it, I was still just a child.
I'd been older then, sure, but I never even made it to adulthood the first time.
And despite all the love I had in this life—my family, my friends, the Avengers, everything I never wanted to lose—sometimes I still found myself wishing I could go back.
Back to when things were simpler.
Before I knew too fucking much.
That was the real problem.
The powers were dangerous, sure. But at least they protected me.
Knowing was worse.
In this life, I was surrounded by danger. Once you knew what was out there, you couldn't just fucking unknow it. There was never a moment to breathe. There was always another threat waiting around the corner.
I couldn't look at the people I loved without thinking about what might happen to them. Things they didn't know were coming. Things that might never happen now because I was here.
Or things that might happen anyway.
I could change things. I already had.
But every damn change meant stepping further away from the future I remembered.
Maybe I'd make things better.
Maybe I'd make them worse.
How the hell was I supposed to know?
And what was I supposed to do? Sit back and watch?
How was I supposed to know someone was in danger and simply let it happen? How could I pretend it wasn't my responsibility when I might be the only person who knew enough to stop it?
Everyone else got to live their lives blissfully ignorant.
I didn't.
That was the fucking problem.
I'd been given another childhood.
Another life. A family.
But nobody had given me back the ignorance that was supposed to come with being a child.
And with everything I knew now, I wasn't sure I'd ever get to live like a normal one again.
I struggled to calm down. I took a deep breath and composed myself again.
It was too much for him to understand.
Too much for anyone to know.
I looked up.
Will was still watching me, quiet. He looked like he wanted to say something but didn't know what.
I let out a breath and looked towards the window.
"But Will... this isn't the only place where monsters exist."
I paused.
"Some of them just look human."
For several seconds, he just stared through the window at the dead world outside, seemingly lost in thought.
"Erica?" he asked hesitantly.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think… any of this have something to do with them?"
I followed his gaze outside.
Yes.
"I think it might."
Will looked back at me.
"How?"
"Secret scientists experimenting with things they don't understand. A laboratory hiding children with abilities nobody is supposed to have. A girl with powers escaping from somewhere in Hawkins."
I gestured towards the window.
"And then this happens."
His face tightened.
"You think they made the Demogorgons?"
"No."
That answer came immediately.
"I think they found something they couldn't control."
Will followed my gaze.
"This place?"
"Maybe."
I swallowed.
"But if I had to guess?"
He waited.
"I think they somehow opened a door."
"A door?"
"Between Hawkins and this world."
Will went very still.
"And whatever was living on the other side..."
I looked towards the dark woods beyond the window.
"Got out."