#'killing the flayed won't stop the mind flayer we have to find the source'

[brionysea]

i need to finish my mike edit so i can finish my nancy edit so all my manifestation theory pals can see why she concerns me so much

[natashasfilms]

Chapter Fourteen - The Source

Summary: With the days leading up to the fall, Aria had hoped to spend her last summer after high school with her friends before she went off to college. She didn’t expect to deal with the monsters she and her friends supposedly defeated months ago once again, nor did she think she had to deal with heartbreak in the process.

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Original Female Character

Warnings: This story contains mature themes such as sexual content, strong language, violence, mentions of alcohol and drugs, blood, gore, and death.

Note: I imagine Aria Kaul as South Asian but I have decided to let you, the reader, imagine her appearance, hence the reason why I have not given her a face claim. However, her race does not affect the story, whatsoever. You, as the reader, are free to imagine her however you want. If you don’t see her as South Asian, then that’s fine. It won’t affect the storyline.

Series Masterlist

They all sat together, watching Eleven with a blindfold over her eyes, in front of the TV with a static background, using her powers once again.

They waited patiently for her to say something. She told them she found Billy a few moments ago so she tried to find him again. Aria was sitting on the couch’s arm next to Nancy, getting a little worried when Eleven started to breathe heavily.

She took off her blindfold, panting. She wiped the blood down her nose with tissue as Max asked her a question. “What’s he doing now?”

Eleven turned her head back to look at them all. “He’s just…sitting in his room. Alone.” She stated. “He’s not doing anything.” She then stood up, walking over to the kitchen to grab a glass of water.

“And that’s not normal, right?” Nancy asked Max.

“Billy staying in his room on the Fourth of July?” Max raised an eyebrow. “No, that's not normal.”

“He wants us to find him.” Will said slowly.

Aria crossed her arms. “Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of.” She sighed, looking at them. “We can’t go to Billy or else the rest of the flayed will know where we are.”

“It's a trap, I agree. We'll be ambushed.” Mike agreed.

“We won't be surprised.” Lucas stated. “We'll know that they're coming, and we will kick their flayed butts.”

“You mean El will kick their butts.” Max tilted her head.

“It's too risky.” Said Jonathan.

“Yeah, and unnecessary.” Nancy shook her head. “Killing the flayed won't stop the Mind Flayer. We have to find out where it's spreading from. We have to find the source.”

“Billy knows it.” Eleven said, walking towards them. “Billy's been there. To the source.”

Mike started to speak. “Yeah, but—“

“It's a trap. I know.” Eleven told him. “We can't go to Billy, but I think there's another way.” They all looked at her, expectantly. “A way for me to see where he's been.”

Eleven turned the static background of the TV on once again. Everyone spread around the room, waiting for her to use her powers to find Billy. Mike crouched down next to her, reassuring her that she didn’t have to do this.

Aria knew the boy wanted the best for her but if Eleven couldn’t handle it, she would say so. He didn’t have to keep reminding her. Max was right. Eleven can make her own decisions.

Eleven reassured him that he could trust her and Aria smirked. She saw him glance at Max, to which the redhead just gave him a look.

Eleven put the blindfold on, the others waiting patiently. They waited for a while before she started to breathe heavily.

“Something's wrong.” Mike shouted.

The others were worried, looking at each other. Eleven seemed to calm down a little bit, still breathing a little harder than normal.

“El, are you okay?” Mike asked her. “Are you okay?”

“I'm okay.” Eleven answered quietly.

“What's going on?” He asked.

She spoke slowly. “I'm... on a beach.”

“Okay, I may be dense,” Lucas started to say. “But the last I checked, there weren't any beaches in Hawkins.”

“What else do you see?” Max questioned her.

“A woman.” Said Eleven. “She's...pretty. I...I think she's looking at me.”

The young adults glanced at each other before their gazes fell back on Eleven’s form.

“There’s a boy.” She said. “It’s Billy.”

“It's California.” Max stated. “It's a memory.”

“I think I see it.” Eleven spoke. “The source.”

They waited a few more minutes in silence, Eleven not saying a single word. She said she found the source so she was probably looking deeper into it.

“I think I found it.” Eleven said after a while. “The source.”

“Where, El?” Aria asked her. “ Where are you?”

There was a second of silence before she started speaking again. “Brimborn...Steelworks.”

Jonathan ran over to the book on the counter, picking it up and walking over to meet Nancy and Aria halfway, flipping through the pages of addresses. “Here. Okay, uh, steelworks, steelworks…” His eyes scanned through it before he finally found it. “Uh...Here, steel. Uh...Found it. 6522 Cherry Oak Drive.”

“That's close.” Said Aria.

“El, El, we found it.” Mike called Eleven. “Get out of there. Get out.”

However, Eleven still didn’t stop. She stayed put in her spot for much longer, starting to breathe heavily once again.

“El!” Aria called out, a little worried she wasn’t answering. “Can you hear us?”

There was still no answer for a few more minutes until finally, Eleven took her blindfold off, screaming. She fell into Mike’s arms and started sobbing. Aria rushed over to her, holding her face.

“Hey, you’re okay,” she said softly. “You’re okay, you’re here with us. You’re okay. What did you see?”

Eleven had tears streaming down her face and Aria could see the terror in her eyes. The older girl furrowed her eyebrows, sensing she saw something terrible.

“He said he was building something.” Eleven told them all. “That it was all for me.”

“Building something…” Aria started to think. “Is he talking about the flayed?”

“He must be.” Nancy answered.

“So, he's building an army, just like we thought.” Lucas said.

“Yeah, but he's not building this army to spread.” Said Mike.

“He's building it to stop Eleven.” Will added.

“Last year, El closed the gate on him.” Mike reminded them. “I have a feeling that really pissed him off.”

“Like, royally.” Added Lucas.

“And the Mind Flayer now knows that she's the only thing that can stop him.” Said Mike. “But if she's out of the way—“

“Game over.” Lucas finished his sentence.

“He also said…” She looked at all of them. “He was gonna kill all of you.”

There was silence for two seconds before Max spoke up. “Yeah, well, that's nice.”

Suddenly, Aria heard something in the distance, causing her to walk closer to the windows. “Do you guys hear that?”

“It's just the fireworks.” Jonathan answered.

Aria turned around to look at Eleven. “Billy…When he told you this, it was here, in this room?”

Eleven nodded her head. Aria, Nancy, and Jonathan made eye contact, instantly knowing what was happening.

Aria swallowed, her intuition suddenly telling her something was wrong. They were all in danger. “We need to leave.” She said sternly.

Will suddenly felt the odd sensation at the back of his neck, bringing his hand up to touch it. “He knows we're here.”

They rushed out of the cabin, walking to the car when they saw the trees rustling. Then, they heard a growl and the shadow of the big creature, crawling towards them.

“Back in the house, now!” Aria instructed, pushing everyone back inside.