𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭: 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢 𝐠𝐨

❝ᴍᴀʏʙᴇ ʜᴇ's ʜᴀᴜɴᴛɴɢ ᴜs.❞

𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐎 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍 𝐁𝐄𝐃, 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 up at the ceiling. her alarm had gone off twenty minutes ago and she hadn't gotten up to even get dressed. not only has will been on her mind, but the nightmare that she had last night had been playing over and over again. should i stay or should i go just kept playing, but it sounded distorted and staticky. it was like the radio she was listening to it on was old or out of whack. either way, it was creepy as hell. her bedroom door opened the reveal steve, a worried look taking up his features as he looked at his sister. she turned to look at him, eyebrows raised as she did so.

"you going to school?" steve questioned, walking into the room before he sat down on her bed.

"no." she simply answered.

steve nodded, examining the girl's face. she had slight bags under her eyes from her lack of sleeping. he wondered if she got any sleep at all last night. "you want me to pick anything up after school? pizza? ice cream?"

"no. but thank you." arlo mumbled, sending the boy a small smile.

"okay. just. . . try not to stay in bed all day, okay? and make sure that you eat, arlo." steve told her, his eyebrows raised as a way to show that he was serious. he understood she was grieving, but that doesn't mean that she had to stop taking care of herself.

"i will, steve." arlo promised.

"okay. i love you." the harrington boy told her as he got up from the bed.

"i love you, too." arlo repeated.

with that, steve walked out of the room, leaving the door opened behind him. arlo heard the front door close, turning over to her side as she let out a sigh. she closed her eyes to go back to sleep - or at least try to go back to sleep. she couldn't imagine how joyce and jonathan was feeling about this whole situation.

"arlo? do you copy? it's mike." arlo groaned as she turned and look at her desk, her eyes falling onto her supercom. she didn't make a move to get up from her bed, hoping that mike would get the gist and stop speaking. but because he's mike, he kept going. "come on. this is urgent. i know you're there, arlo. arlo! i'm not gonna stop until you pick up. arlo. arlo. arlo, arlo, arlo, arlo, arlo, arlo, arlo, arlo -"

"fucking hell." arlo muttered as she pulled her blankets back and got out of bed. she snatched the walkie off her desk, surprised that she didn't break it with how much force she grabbed it with. she yanked the antenna up before she pressed the button on the side. "mike, i swear to god! can't you annoy me later on in the day? when it's not 7:30 in the fucking morning? over."

"it's about will. over" mike quickly told her, hearing the snappiness in her voice. arlo could be scary at times.

"what about will? you mean about his funeral? over." arlo quizzed, her eyebrows knitting as her attitude slowly vanished.

"it scares me how much you and lucas think alike." she heard mike mumbled, making her roll her eyes. "screw his funeral, alright? just get over here as soon as possible! i already radioed lucas and he's on his way with dustin. over and out."

before she even had a chance to say something back, mike's line went to static. she let out a sigh, pushing her antenna down before she placed the walkie back down on her desk. she walked over to her dresser, pulling out some jeans and a gray crewneck and pulling them on. she then pulled on her converse. she went into the bathroom to do her business; brush her teeth, wash her face, do her hair, etc. she walked down the stairs, grabbing her jacket from the hook and grabbing her keys. she closed and locked the door behind her before she walked onto the front yard and picked her bike up. she climbed onto it, pumping her legs so that she could start moving. a few minutes later, she was at the wheelers'. she leaned her bike on the garage wall before she entered the house, going down to the basement door and pushing it open.

"i swear, this better be something good, mike. you chose the day after they found will's body to call everyone over -" arlo started as she walked down the stairs, taking her jacket off as she did so. she paused when she saw that lucas, dustin, and mike were all sitting in front of eleven, who was sitting in mike's fort with the boy's walkie. "what's going on?"

"apparently, the weirdo has something to show us." lucas mumbled as arlo joined him at his side.

"what is it?" she questioned.

mike looked at eleven, sending her nod. she started to play with the frequency of the walkie, turning the knobs as static filled the air. arlo watched with furrowed eyebrows, wondering why she had been forced out of bed to watch eleven play with mike's supercom. but then the sound of someone whimpering appeared, mixing in with the static. arlo, dustin, and lucas all shared a confused look before they looked over at mike.

"we keep losing the signal, but you heard it, right?" the wheeler boy asked, looking at his friends with almost excited eyes. arlo put her head into her hands, feeling a slight headache coming on.

"yeah, i heard a baby." lucas deadpanned, arlo pointing to him in agreement.

"what?"

"mike, you obviously tapped into a baby monitor. it's probably the blackburns' next door." lucas told him.

"uh, did that sound like a baby to you? that was will!" mike corrected. arlo looked up at him with furrowed eyebrows, wanting him to further elaborate.

"mike. . ." lucas tried.

"lucas, you don't understand. he spoke last night. words! he was singing that weird song he loves. even el heard him!" mike informed his friends, making arlo sit up straight.

"oh, well, if the weirdo heard him, then i guess -" the sinclair boy started.

"are you sure you're on the right channel?" dustin interrupted. neither him or arlo was in the mood to hear lucas and mike bicker back in forth about eleven.

"i don't think it's about that. i think, somehow, she's channeling him." mike answered, earning a confused look from lucas. arlo just stayed silent, thinking about how she heard the song that mike was talking about in her nightmare.

"like - like professor x." dustin compared.

"are you actually believing this crap?" lucas questioned.

"i don't know, i mean. . ." dustin started before his voice trailed off, trying to think of an explanation. "do you remember when will fell off his bike and broke his finger? he sounded a lot like that."

"did you guys not see what i saw? they pulled will's body out of the water. he's dead!" lucas reminded, picking up on how arlo hadn't said anything since she sat down next to him.

"well, maybe it's his ghost. maybe he's haunting us." dustin suggested.

"it's not his ghost." mike shut down.

"so how do you know that?" lucas challenged.

"i just do!"

"then what was in that water?"

"i don't know!" mike yelled. "all i know is will is alive. will is alive! he's out there somewhere. all we have to do is find him. arlo you believe me, right?"

everyone turned to the girl with raised eyebrows, waiting for her to answer. she looked at them before she gulped. "i think so."

"you think so?" lucas repeated. usually him and arlo were the ones who agreed on most things.

"we know she has powers, right. doesn't matter if she only closed one door, she still has them. but we don't know the rest of her abilities. she had telekinesis, but what if that's not all she has? what if she has the ability to find people - channel them with her mind?" arlo recommended, looking eleven right in the eyes as she did so.

"come on, arlo." lucas repeated.

"and. . ." the harrington girl started again. "we just found out that i have powers. i'm starting to think that these nightmares i've been having have something to do with them. like - like, they warn me or tell me about the shit that's coming."

"what do you mean?" mike asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"when i slept over the other night, i had a dream about will. but, i couldn't see him. i could only hear him. and we weren't here, like, in hawkins. but wherever we were, it felt so familiar. he was calling out to me. he was telling me to find him. all i could do was ask how or where was he. i - i couldn't move. but he didn't answer. and last night, i was standing in this dark room? almost like a void. the only thing i could hear was should i stay or should i go." she explained, now looking down at the floor. "that's will's favorite song and that's all that was playing."

the three boys didn't say anything, taking in the new found information. they hadn't fully processed that arlo had powers now. hell, they didn't even fully process that eleven had powers. but if what arlo said was true, that eleven can channel people, that arlo's nightmares warn her about stuff, then they needed to take advantage of that. the silence that had fallen over them was broken by static coming from mike's walkie. they all looked at eleven, seeing that she had started to mess with the frequencies again.

"this isn't gonna work." mike told the party, taking the walkie away from her. "we need to get el to a stronger radio."

"mr.clarke's heathkit ham shack." dustin elaborated, a smile appearing on his face.

"yeah." mike nodded.

"the heathkit's at school. there is no way we're gonna get the weirdo in there without anyone noticing. i mean, look at her" lucas said. this made arlo, dustin, and mike all look at eleven, the buzzcut girl look back, slightly confused.

this led to mike taking eleven upstairs and into nancy's bedroom, going to do her makeup. arlo, dustin, and lucas was left with the task of going through boxes full of old clothes to find eleven something to wear. lucas and arlo were doing that, pushing many clothes aside since there were nothing that looked like a preteen girl would wear. dustin was going through an old costume chest to find something that would cover eleven's head. it would be weird for a girl with her hair shaved off to suddenly make an appearance at hawkins middle school. arlo ended up pulling out a pretty old jacket that nancy used to wear, holding it up to show the boys. lucas did the same thing with a pink, long-sleeved dress that had a white collar. the both of them turned to dustin, seeing that he had a blonde wig on his head. the three of them nodded, deciding that this was the best that they could do.

they went upstairs, handing eleven the clothes so that she could get dressed. mike left the room, joining the rest of the party members as they waited for eleven to get dressed. when the door opened, every turn towards it, seeing eleven and everything that they picked for her. arlo nodded her head. everything was out of date, but she did look good.

"wow. she looks -" dustin started.

"pretty." mike finished, making his friends look at him with different looks on their faces. "good. you look pretty good."

"nice save, mike." arlo whispered, earning her a small glare from the boy. she sent him an innocent smile before her eyes went back to eleven.

the telekinetic girl walked over to the mirror that was hanging on the wall, mike following her. she looked through it, a small smile appearing on her lips as she did so. "pretty. good."

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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐏𝐋𝐔𝐒 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐃 into the school through the back, not wanting to risk anyone seeing them. arlo had to remind herself that not everyone cared about will like the party did, so they weren't as affected by all of this like them. they probably didn't even care about the fact that he went missing or that his "body" was found. they just go on about their business.

"okay, remember, if anyone sees us, look sad." mike told the group, making arlo look at him with furrowed eyebrows.

"that's the best advice someone has ever given me." she mumbled. mike glared at her for a second before he looked forward.

"attention students, there will be an assembly to honor will byers in the gymnasium now." the principal said over the p.a system. arlo looked up at one of the speakers that were in the halls, the girl letting out a sigh. of course it had to be right as they entered the school. "do not go to fourth period."

mike went to go open the door to the av room, only to find out that it was locker. "it's locked."

"what?" lucas asked, going forward to try and twist the doorknob. obviously, the door didn't open.

"hey, do you think one of you can open it? with your powers?" dustin quizzed, looking between arlo and eleven.

"i don't know how to get them to work." arlo shrugged. she didn't even know if she wanted to learn how to get them to work. what if she can't control it? what if she hurt her friends?

before eleven could even answer, mr.clarke came around the corner. this made arlo flinch at his sudden presence, bringing her hand up to hold her chest. "boys? arlo? assembly's about to start."

"we know. we're just, you know. . ." mike said, putting on a sad voice as he looked down. arlo quickly followed his league, looking down as she slumped her shoulders slightly.

"upset." lucas finished, a grin on his face. he quickly realized that he was smiling, wiping the grin off and replacing it with a frown.

"yeah, definitely upset." dustin agreed.

"we needed some alone time." arlo added, looking up from the floor and to the science teacher. "you know, to - to grieve, and cry, and stuff." she finished awkwardly, not exactly sure what to say.

"yeah, listen. . . i get it. i do. i know how hard this is, but let's just be there for will, huh? and then. . ." mr.clarke said, making the party nod their heads slowly. he then reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys, throwing them at mike. "the heathkit is all yours for the rest of the day. what do you say?"

"thanks, mr.clarke." arlo told him, putting a fake smile onto her lips. her friends joined her, nodding their heads as mike placed the keys into his pocket.

"i - i don't believe we've met. what's your name?" mr.clarke asked, looking over at eleven.

"eleven -" the telekinetic girl went to answer.

"eleanor!" mike interrupted. "she's my, uh -"

"cousin." lucas continued.

"second cousin." dustin finished.

"she's here for will's funeral." mike lied. arlo smiled to herself, proud of her friends for lying so easily. they were usually so bad at it.

"ah, well, welcome to hawkins middle, eleanor. i wish you were here under better circumstances." the science teacher told her.

"thank you." eleven mumbled, looking around at the party with unsure eyes.

"uh, where are you from exactly?" mr.clarke questioned.

arlo, dustin, lucas, and mike all looked at eleven with wide eyes, knowing that she was gonna answer truthfully.

"bad place -" eleven started.

"sweden!" dustin quickly corrected.

"i have a lot of swedish family." mike added.

"she hates it there." arlo said.

"cold!" lucas nodded.

"subzero." dustin finished.

"shall we?" mr.clarke asked, gesturing towards the direction that gym was in. arlo let out a breath of relief, glad that the older man had believed them.

the party, eleven, and mr.clarke all walked to the gym in silence. arlo cringed slightly, thinking about how they were gonna get stared at when they entered. that made her uncomfortable, having the entirety of the student body looking at her. and they wouldn't even be looking because they felt bad. they would be looking because the party entered the gym a little later than everyone else.

i don't think this is gonna go well, she thought to herself.

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daij speaks!
heyyyyyyyy. last chapter for the night. have another one left for this episode and then we're on to episode five. i'm honestly excited to write about arlo's other powers. we'll see another one of her abilities next chapter.

but i hope u guys enjoyed :)