[𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 𝗦𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗔𝗖𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗧 𝗛𝗔𝗪𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗦 𝗟𝗔𝗕]

"I WANT TO KNOW WHERE THE HELL my girl is at, right now!" max exclaimed, as her, dustin, and lucas walked inside the wheeler's house hold.

the officers ignored the red-head and leaded the teens to the living room where all the parents were sitting around. max, lucas, and dustin sat on the couch as chief powell sat in front of them.

"what exactly were you all doing at the lake?" powell asked the teens.

dustin looks over at lucas, max looking over at her two friends.

"uh . . . it's comp —"

"we were . . . we were just going for a walk," max said with a nod. "now can you tell me where sage is, and what you're doing with her?"

"sage? what happened with sage?" karen wheeler asked, looking at the officers. "we'll get there, mrs. wheeler," powell told the adult.

"a walk?" callahan asked in disbelief. "at 9:00 p.m?"

"to the lake," dustin replied squeakily, his voice going high. the officer tilted his head at the sudden voice change. "we were gonna take a little swim," the teen continued, voice still high as his friends just stare at the adults.

"little night swim,"

"dusty," claudia says to her son. "someone was just murdered there,"

"yeah, we . . . we didn't realize that until we got there," dustin clarified. "that's why we didn't swim," lucas added in.

"and nancy, was she with you at this night swim? was sage with you?" karen then questioned.

"nancy, no," max answered. "sage, yes,"

"yes," dustin answered the same time max had answered the adult. "uh . . ."

max and dustin look over at each other before lucas speaks up. "sage . . . was with us, but we're not sure about nancy,"

"she was there. nancy was there. then she left." dustin tries clarifying."it's all a little confusing,"

"and that's when you guys came," lucas said. "right. and then they dared me to say what i said." max added in making the boys chuckle.

"oh, yeah,"

lucas and dustin laughed with each other.

"you're lucky you didn't get shot," ted told them.

"have you had any contact with eddie?" powell asked. "that psycho . . . freak killer?" dustin asked, struggling with his words. "god, no."

"nope,"

"we haven't heard from him,"

"absolutely not,"

"we barely know the guy,"

"who?"

"oh, that's a bunch of bull," erica steps in. "erica!" her parents scold. "i mean, you realize they're lying. the whole couch is on fire."

"erica."

"just the facts,"

"are you lying to these policemen, dusty?" dustin's mother asks her son. "no," dustin's high pitched voice returns.

"lying to the cops is a crime, son," mister sinclair informs his son. "i'm not lying," lucas says.

"the fire is consuming us," erica comments.

"threaten them with a little jail time. maybe that'll loosen their lips." ted tells the cops. "okay," dustin scoffs.

"do you wanna send our kids to jail?" mrs. sinclair asks the male. "we need to take this seriously," ted informs her.

"he didn't mean it like that," karen assures before the whole room goes into a bunch of overlapping arguments.

max sighs and throws her head back in annoyance.

i just want to find my girlfriend, max says in her thoughts.

"shut up!" powell yells, standing up from his chair. everyone immediately closes their mouths.

"we're gonna try a more civilized approach," the chief explains. "one at a time. you first." he points at max. "wait, what? why me?"

"follow me,"

"i'm not even in hellfire. and tell me where my girlfriend is first, or i'm not getting up."

"do i need to cuff you?" callahan questions. "oh, cuff me like you did to sage? what are you gonna do, take me away like you did to my girl? you're homophobic." max raises her voice before getting up from the seat, and walking into the other room with powell.

"i am not homophobic," callahan tells the teen as he follows her in the room.

"excuse me, you cuffed my daughter?" karen tries saying as the officers walk into the other room.

"YOU REALLY DON'T HAVE TO CUFF me to the chair," sage says to the officer, and only one, as her and the man sit in the office alone in the police department.

"mouth shut," the man says firmly, almost half asleep, leaning back on his chair. "rude," sage mumbles, shifting on the chair trying to get more comfortable. "i said —"

"yeah, i heard,"

the wheeler twin sighs as she throws her head back, sighing out deeply.

she had to get out of there.

"STEVE, DO YOU COPY? NANCY? robin?" dustin asks through the comm. "this is dustin. where are you? we've been collared by the law and sage has been arrested. i repeat, we've been collared by the law and sage has been arrested."

"do you copy?"

dustin moves his finger off the button and waits for a response, but he doesn't get one.

"shit!"

the henderson teen puts the antenna down, flushes the toilet he did not use, and walks out of the bathroom to see a officer talking to the adults. dustin turns the other way and walks into the kitchen where he almost bumps into holly. lucas looks over at his friend.

"anything?" lucas asks. "nothing," dustin replies in a whisper.

it was silent for a moment.

"you don't think they went through . . ."

"through watergate?" dustin asks him. "without us? without a plan? without weapons? they wouldn't be that stupid."

"yeah," lucas murmurs. "they must just be laying low 'cause that law got us," dustin suggest. "sage especially,"

"the law?" erica questions as she walks in with a juice box. "what is this, gunsmoke? the stupid and the ugly? should i round up the posse? saddle the horses?"

"erica. please, just go away." lucas tells his younger sister. "here's the deal," she replies, leaning on the counter. "either you tell me what's happening or i tell dustin what i found under your bed," lucas' head perks up immediately as dustin turns his head to the sinclair teen.

"please, no,"

"spill your guts, cowpuncher,"

"what'd she find under your bed?"

"nothing!"

"is it gross?" dustin asks erica. she nods. "scale of one to ten,"

"a hundred,"

"a hundred?" dustin repeats, turning his head back to lucas. "the serial killer is a dark wizard from the upside down," lucas began, erica sipping on her juice box as she listened. "and we've been looking for him, but he's in the upside down, which we can't reach. at least we thought we couldn't, but until we found a gate at lover's lake. that's was the reason why we were there, but these stupid cops grabbed us and took sage without a reason. and if you tell anyone about this, that's including mom and dad and tina . . ." lucas looks at his sister. especially tina, i . . . will smother you in your sleep,"

"do you understand?"

"hmm . . ." erica hums, putting a hand on her chin pretending to think. "erica," lucas leans over the counter more. "do. you. copy?"

"the smothering in my sleep part, but not much else. why would they open up a gate at lover's lake?" erica asks. "what?"

"the commies,"

"the commies didn't,"

"then who did?"

"nobody."

"so it just opened up for fun?"

"erica, you have no idea what you're talking about,"

"no, she doesn't, yet she raises an essential question," dustin cuts in. "how did watergate open up? only two gates have opened so far as we know. one by el, one by the commies. but it's not the commies or el this time, so it . . ." the teen stops talking before coming to realization.

"holy shit. wait, wait, wait, wait."

"wait, wait, wait, wait. what?" lucas questioned.

"there's one thing we've never understood," dustin began, walking around. "which is why vecna's killing people. what's his motive? killing teens? it's always just seemed too random. too prosaic. on top of that, how does the mind flayer figure into all this? maybe this is it. this is the answer."

"what is the answer?"

just as dustin was about to answer him, karen walks in offering a drink to a officer. dustin motions the sinclair teens to follow him, and they walk to the stairs.

"okay, just hear me out. how did el open the mothergate?" dustin questions. "she contacted the demogorgon," lucas answered, slowly catching up with what he's saying. "with psychic contact. just like . . ."

"vecna when he casts his spells,"

"exactly. so, what if, with each kill, he's not simply killing them, he's making a powerful psychic connection with his victims? a connection powerful enough to rip a hole in the fabric of time and space, and just enough power to take someone's abilities."

"he's opening more gates . . . he's taking more power,"

"bingo."

their heads suddenly turn to the sound of a radio and see an officer talking to his comm.

"copy. we're still at the wheeler house."

dustin motions the two to follow him into another room.

"why would he be opening gates and trying to take sage's powers?" dustin questions. "to take over the world," lucas replies as him and erica follow the henderson teen. "who do we know that wants to take over the world?"

"the mind flayer," lucas answers. "so if the demogorgon was just his foot soldier, vecna's his five-star general." dustin informs. "a five-star general with the power to open gates and take abilities,"

"holy shit,"

"holy shit,"

"holy shit. that was incomprehensible." erica cuts in. "you lost me "mothergate." please be kind. rewind."

"okay, so you remember the gate?" dustin began.

"oh, no. i blocked that out,"

the light that leads outside begins to flicker, nobody seeming to notice it.

THE CHANDELIER GLOWS BRIGHTLY as dustin continues to explain to erica.

he doesn't seem to notice the light, and neither do the sinclair teens. soon enough as dustin talks, erica looks over and sees the light blinking.

"we don't know why. we assume he can do it from anywhere."

dustin, noticing erica seems to be not listening, sits down on the chair next to her.

"are you even listening?" he asks. "i'm listening. it's just . . ." the girl gets off her chair and slowly walks to the light. "you said you followed vecna through lights, right?"

"yeah, why?"

"because i think he's here,"

lucas and dustin turn their heads to the direction erica is looking at, and get up off their seats, walking over to stand next to the girl.

dustin walks forward, noticing the pattern of the flickering.

"s. o. s." dustin whispers. "hey, uh, remember when i said they wouldn't be stupid enough to go through watergate?"

"yeah?"

the henderson teen turns to the sinclair siblings.

"i overestimated them,"

LUCAS WALKS INTO A ROOM WHERE holly is laying down on the floor, playing with her lite brite.

the sinclair teen leans over the couch and unplugs the toy.

"hey!"

dustin runs into and snatches the toy before holly could get up to plug the lite brite back in.

"i'm sorry!"

"sorry, sorry, sorry,"

the two run out of the room, lucas grabbing the boxes of beads as they run upstairs to nancy's room. erica goes to holly and gives her a candy bar before following the boys.

"for your understanding,"

the three enter the room, place the stuff down, and immediately start placing the beads onto the board, frantically. the teens made sure it was mostly all covered before dustin tells lucas to plug the light in.

lucas takes the plug and quickly plugs it in, turning around to see if it turned on.

"okay, you guys seeing this?" dustin calls out to the older teens in the upside down. the lite brite glows brighter than it was and dustin laughs in excitement, hugging erica as she smiles.

"we're not moving it, but we're gonna unplug it. stand by." dustin announces before looking at lucas. "yank it,"

lucas unplugs it and the lite brite turns on. the sinclair teen leaves the plug on the floor and crawls back to his sister, and friend.

"okay, try it now,"

the lite brite glows as it begins to spell a word, the teens smiling in excitement.

HI

"hi," erica smiles.

"hi," dustin and lucas says with smiles. "that worked!"

S T U

"stupid? stupid?"

C K

"stuck,"

"they're stuck in the upside down," lucas confirms. "uh, you can't get back through watergate?" dustin questions.

G U A R D E D

"guarded?" lucas asks. "okay, uh, watergate's guarded?" dustin says, catching on. "we think we have a theory that can help with that,"

"we think watergate isn't the only gate. that there's a gate at every murder site."

?

"okay. seriously? how many times do i have to be right on the money before you trust me?" dustin scolds the older teens and adult.

   POWELL WALKS OUT OF THE ROOM, max following behind him trying to come up with a plan to get sage from the police department as she puts on her headphones.

"so, anything?"

"nope. she's sticking to her story. they went to the lake for a night swim. nancy showed up at some point."

"okay, before you continue, where's my other daughter?"

max's eyes land on dustin near the stairs and sees him motioning her to walk over to him. the red-head looks back at the adults then turns to dustin, giving him a look.

"come on!" dustin mouths before max walks over to him. "have you figured out where sage is?" dustin asked as him and max went upstairs to nancy's room. "yeah, she's being held at the police department," max replies.

"why?"

"they didn't tell me,"

the two walk into the room and the three teens explain to max what their plan is. the four teens crawl out nancy's window, careful not to hurt themselves, and careful not to make too much noise as they head to the garage for bikes.

each of the teens grab their own bikes and lead them out of the garage, before hearing callahan shout causing them to rush faster.

"hey! excuse me! no, get back here!"

erica plunges a screwdriver into the cop cars tires before hopping on a bike as the adults run out.

"lucas!"

"dusty!"

"lucas, erica! get back here!"

the teens bike farther away from the house, heading to eddies trailer.

"max, go get sage," dustin orders and max nods, turning into a different direction. "come back safely!"

max pants heavily as her eyes dart everywhere, making sure no cop car comes into view. the mayfield teen continues biking for a few more minutes before seeing the police department come into view. max smiles widely, using all her strength to continue riding to the building.

the red-head stops, dropping her bike, and heading to the door. her hands reach to the handle and carefully pull back on the door, hearing the bell hanging on the door ring.

sage, hearing the bell ring, snaps her head up to the noise just to see the familiar red-head come into view. the wheeler twin lets out a sigh in relief, smiling at the sight of her girlfriend. a loud snore made sage turn her head back around to the, now, sleeping cop.

max winces at the sound of the bell and shuts the door very carefully. the mayfield teen slowly strides into the main office, her eyes landing on a brunette with deep brown eyes. her lips formed a smile, but it fell when her eyes saw the sleeping police officer not too far behind her.

max walks over to where sage is, smiling again.

"hi," sage says cheekily, whispering. "hi," max whispers in reply with a quiet chuckle.

the brunette leans forward, capturing max's lip against her own in a kiss. max returns the kiss, cupping sage's face gently before pulling away with a soft smile.

"have anything to take these off?" sage asks, still whispering, motioning to the cuffs. "uh, yeah, here," max replies, taking a bobby-pin off her hair, and going behind sage, kneeling down behind the chair and beginning to pick the lock of the cuffs. "god, you're a lifesaver," sage mumbles with a thankful smile.

"anything for you, sage," max tells her before successfully unlocking the cuffs, and standing up. sage gets up from the chair, rubbing her sore wrists before turning to max. "my favorite girl," sage whispers before kissing max again.

max laughs a little before returning the kiss, cupping her face gently as sage's hands go on her waist, pulling her in close.

"HEY,"

sage and max pull away from the kiss and turn their head to the awake police officer.

"shit, let's go," max says and grabs sage's hand, pulling her out of the room, and straight outside to the bike. "i'm free!" sage shouts with a smile as she gets on the back of the bike.

max laughs loudly at her girlfriends excitement as she gets on the bike, immediately peddling away. the officer runs out of the building and grabs the comm on his shoulder, immediately contacting an officer.

"bastards!" the officer shouts at the girls after he spoke on the comm.

sage smirked and turned her head, flipping off the police officer as max go farther away from the department.

AUTHORS NOTE //

update !! hope you liked it, love you guys !!

bee <3