Screams filled the car as dusk had taken its place in the sky, and the children crammed into the backseat were flung against each other as Joyce Byers slammed hard on the brakes. Dottie Fields was clutching her brother's arm, eyes huge with terror as the car ran through the Merills pumpkin patch sign. They had been driving around town all afternoon and still hadn't found a single clue that would lead them to Hopper. Until Will was crying out to turn right and they had, right into a pumpkin farm a little outside the town limits.

Headlights were cutting through the dead grass and rotting pumpkins and showing them that Hopper's car was parked lonely in the middle of the field. Without even cutting the engine, Joyce was hurrying out of the car and into the chilly air, her voice screaming out for Hopper. Each child, along with Bob Newby, followed in Joyce's footsteps, despite being told to stay in the car.

"Hopper!" Joyce shouted, eyes soaking up the hole dug deep into the dirt.

Dottie scrambled over the rocky dirt, squinting into the darkness. At the very bottom of the hole was a thick layer of strange vines that wiggled with movement. Bob Newby was handing over a shovel left behind from Jim Hopper hours ago. Joyce made the first dint in the ground with a strangled grunt. Micky was peering over Dottie's shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse. Behind them, a little further back from the hole was Mike and Will, waiting quietly. There was an odd look in Will's eyes, something so unclear hidden in the back of his mind.

The vines made strange noises as Joyce hacked at them, finally opening up a hole in which everyone assumed Jim Hopper had gone down earlier that day. Joyce was demanding Bob help her get down there, which he found extremely odd. Micky gulped loudly, staring across at Dottie. "What do you think is down there?"

Dottie, who had seen her fair share of weird things lately, crossed her arms against her chest to try and fight against the chill in the air. She was very unsure about all this. She actually wished she had stayed home, at least she would not have gotten dragged into strange occurrences at home. But then she knew that was lie; for she had witnessed plenty of horrors at home when that monster nearly killed her dog.

"No idea," Dottie replied. "But it can't be good."

Joyce was suddenly turning her attention to the children waiting on the edge of the hole. Her hand was safely tucked into Bob's, ready for her drop into the deep depths below. The tunnels that Will had seen in his mind. "Dottie, stay with the kids. Whatever you do, do not follow us. Do you hear me? It's too dangerous."

"Okay." Dottie nodded. "I mean, yes, Mrs. Byers."

As the adults dropped into the hole, blinking from Dottie's view, a hollow silence fanned around the remaining children waiting above. The only light slicing through the fog that now lingered around their ankles, came from the headlights and that was sparingly light, which allowed shadows to move in the distance and leave Dottie's stomach knotted with doubt. She did not like this at all.

Mike and Will finally stood inline with Dottie and Micky, all eyes pinned to the hole. "Do you seeing anything? In your Now memories?" Mike asked Will, who shook his head grimly. He hadn't spoken a word since his mother had jumped from the car to find Hopper.

"It's okay," Dottie tried to remind them all. "Joyce is an adult. She knows what she's doing."

Micky stared at her. "Because she's an adult? That means jack shit."

Dottie smacked her hand against his shoulder. "Shut up. I'm trying to stay positive."

Suddenly, headlights were blinding the children standing alone in the middle of a dead pumpkin patch and the sound of engines filled the dark air. Dottie was spinning around on the spot to find very familiar white vans now parked on the grass. Men decked out in hazard suits were jumping from the vans with loaded weapons. Panic weaved its way through Dottie's bloodstream and without thinking, she was tugging on Will's sleeve and pulling him towards her. Mike stumbled behind her too. Her natural instinct in protecting the younger children kicked in.

But the men from Hawkin's Lab did not intend on harming the children, not tonight. They only rallied their weapons, some sort of gun that shot out hot flames, something Dottie had never seen before and fanned the area. A few selected men dropped down into the hole and scattered into the tunnels below.

"What are they doing?" Mike asked, the area around them now lit like a Christmas tree.

Dottie was still confused, as nobody even glanced in their direction, but she assumed the men were not here to cause more damage. "I think...they're here to help."

Somebody standing very close to the vines Joyce had hacked away at, flicked on his weapon and the children watched as flame ripped through the dirt and dust and strange vines, that most definitely were not from this world. Flames destroyed the vines within seconds, hot and lethal. As orange flames coloured the night, Will was dropping to his knees, a painful cry escaping his lips. Mike was the first to turn around in shock.

Angry flames cut away the vines, attacking everything that did not belong and that included the very thing that was deep within little Will Byers now. Dottie was dropping beside Will, the boy lashing about on the ground like his entire body was on fire. "Will. What's wrong? Will." Dottie stared back at Mike, who was blinking away tears. "What's going on?"

Before Mike could even reply, before Dottie could even try to calm down the boy, Will's body flipped over onto his back and he let out an ear-piecing scream that didn't even sound human. The noise echoed through the entire pumpkin patch, finally drawing attention to the children. Mike was jumping backwards from his friend and Dottie was scurrying to her feet, Micky pulling on her arm.

Nobody moved for a long moment, just watched as Will went into a horrible seizure. Dottie's gaze ripped away from the boy, landing on the men around her. "Do something! Somebody help him!"

***

Night had bled into daytime, long hours being lost within a blink of an eye and within Hawkins, the Lonsdale family had been separated, each with a story to follow. Marigold Lonsdale had been locked away at Hawkins National Laboratory overnight with Duncan Downings, the teenagers not budging on the idea to put a child in harm's way. Dottie Fields had spent the night pulling rotten pumpkin from the bottom of her sneakers and comforting the Byers after their nightmarish night watching Will jerk around on the grass without being able to help him. Lastly, Daisy Lonsdale had been crammed into a car driving around town, searching for a creature named D'Artagnan, without any luck. Now, it was daylight and the battle was only beginning.

"We've been walking for hours, do we at least get a breather at some point?" Daisy Lonsdale complained. Currently, she was walking along the train tracks with Steve and Dustin, dropping chunks of meat for D'Artagnan to follow, all the way to the junkyard. She would not have agreed to go monster hunting if she knew it detailed spending her entire weekend trekking through the woods.

Dustin shook his head. "You complain a lot. Like a lot."

"I'll stop complaining if we can sit down for a second," Daisy said, trying to thumb out the stitch that was forming in her side. She was not equipped for exercise that lasted more than ten minutes. She also hadn't slept a wink and hadn't eaten in hours. "And if you hand over some of your candy stash. Don't think I didn't see you stuff your bag full with treats. It's kind of rude that you're not sharing with the rest of us."

Steve Harrington was smiling softly. He had dealt with a cranky and hungry Daisy Lonsdale before, back when they had road-tripped across states to find Marigold. Hearing her complain almost brought back all those good memories. "Dustin, are you holding out on us?" Steve asked.

With a glare, Dustin reached into his backpack and revealed two candy bars. He tossed one at Daisy, who barely had time to catch it and one at Steve. "You both are leeches. That's all you're getting, okay? I'm a growing boy. I need it more than you both."

Daisy took a bite of the gooey chocolate. "I've never been happier."

"Great!" Dustin rolled his eyes. "Can we get back to focusing on this? We've gotta' reach the junkyard before it gets dark. We've got a lot to prepare for."

Steve dropped a few more meat pieces onto the train tracks. "Sure, shithead. But let's get this straight for the last time. You kept something that you knew was probably dangerous, because you thought it would impress a girl you just met?"

"An interdimensional alien is cool," Dustin explained. "It's not my fault he turned into a baby Demogorgon. Not all of us guys have good hair like you, okay? I needed something more to keep her interested in me."

Daisy licked at her lips. "Hey, I like your curls."

Steve pressed on, kicking at a stone and watching it roll over the tracks. Around them there was a whistle through the trees and Daisy casted a look over her shoulder, fearing somebody was watching them. "It's not even about the hair, okay? You want a girl's attention. Act like you don't even like her."

"Even if you do?" Dustin questioned.

Daisy was a little behind them now and hurried to catch up, her legs tiny. She watched as Steve dropped another handful of meat to the dirt. "Yeah, exactly. Drives them nuts."

"That's stupid," Daisy interjected.

Steve sent her a little look over his shoulder. "Don't listen to her, okay? Once you keep the ladies wanting more, you just wait...wait until you feel it."

Daisy was trying her best not to burst out into laughter, considering the serious frown that was digging deep into Steve's forehead. He was being dead serious. "Feel what?" Dustin asked innocently.

"It's like before it's gonna' storm, you know? You can't see it, but you can feel it...like this uh, electricity, you know?" Steve answered, face blank and words serious. Daisy found herself staring down at the ink smudged on her hands, suddenly wondering if she had ever felt something like what he was trying to explain.

Dustin made a little interesting noise, finally understanding. "Oh, like in the electromagnetic field when the clouds in the atmosphere—"

"No, no, no, no," Steve butted in. "Like a...like a sexual electricity."

"Oh."

Daisy suddenly lost her footing with Steve's words, her boots slipping on the rocky undergrowth. Her knees hit the wood of the train track and her candy bar went falling to the dirt below. Steve Harrington was circling back to her, forgetting about his little conversation with Dustin. He dropped his bucket and reached for her hand. He didn't even bother asking, just let his fingertips circle through her own. Another hand cupped her waist and gently, he scooped her up.

Dead leaves fell from above, the breeze picking up a little bit. Daisy found herself unable to breathe, her legs feeling like jelly and her hands a little clammy. Steve's hand was still circled around her waist, holding her still. He was so close she could smell the mint from his gum and see the softness in his eyes. "You really gotta' watch where you're walking, Goldilocks."

Dustin watched them closely. He examined them with a keen interest. He noticed how Steve's hand was placed around her waist and how Daisy was trying her best to angle her hips away from him. He saw how there was a soft pinkness to Daisy's cheeks and how Steve's smirk only grew a little bigger with her lack of words. Dustin was almost bold enough to question if that was the kind of sexual electricity Steve had been speaking about.

"Are you both just gonna' stand there?" Dustin finally called out, snapping them from their little moment. "Come on, let's move it!"

Steve slowly drew his touch from Daisy coyly, but he watched as Daisy dug her teeth into her bottom lip and quickly adverted her gaze away, suddenly extremely busy with dusting off her jeans and pretending some thirteen-year-old was not watching them like a fish in a glass bowl. With a little smile for Daisy, Steve handed over his candy bar. "Eat up, it's gonna' be a long day and we both know you get cranky when you're hungry."

Daisy unwrapped the candy car. "I don't get cranky!"

"Sure you don't," Steve winked across at her.

Dustin rolled his eyes for the second time today, but he had learned a pretty valuable lesson when it came to girls; you did not have to ignore them, you just had to get to know them.

***

Deep within the Hawkins Lab, Marigold Lonsdale waited. Somebody had visited them hours ago, dropped off some crappy vending machine food, which was supposed to keep them sane while they contemplated their next actions. Hours had gone by and at some point, Marigold must have drifted off to sleep in her uncomfortable chair, because she woke to Duncan shaking her shoulder. His words soft, but demanding.

"Mari," Duncan whispered. "Wake up."

Marigold, hazy with sleep and still annoyed they were being locked away like criminals by their own grandfather, twisted around in her chair. Duncan's jacket was laid over her shoulders, trying to keep her warm against the harsh air-conditioning. "Hey...what's wrong?"

Duncan pressed a finger to his lips and motioned towards the camera that was set up in the far corner of the room they had been stuck inside for hours. He was only trying to help, but Marigold did not need a reminder that they were being watched. They had always been watched, even when she thought they were clear from all that.

"Have you eaten?" Marigold questioned quietly, eyeing the camera.

Her cousin lowered himself back to his knees but made sure the camera still faced his back. Duncan had been awake the entire time. He had not been able to sleep, even if he tried. He had stayed awake with his back pressed against the cold wall, listening. Not many people came and went, some too far away to actual hear their thoughts but he had tried anyway. Nothing had been of importance, until now.

"Pudding." Duncan said, eyes hard. "I had some chocolate pudding."

Marigold schooled her features. "Anything else?"

"No," Duncan replied. "But I know where we can find some. Upstairs."

Living on the run, always watching over your shoulder for something dark and ugly to follow behind, Marigold and Duncan had created their own little version of communicating. Sometimes words did not even need to fill the space between them. But today, the words spoken were a hidden code in which Duncan was sure Marigold would understand, and she did. There was only one name that could be replaced for chocolate pudding and that was Dottie Fields. Which meant their beloved friend was inside the building, which meant it was time to figure out their next move and get the hell out of the cursed room they were locked inside.