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THIRTY ONE!
unification of the party
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"Wendy....Is that you?" It was definitely a shock to the Party to see Wendy Harrington standing before them, alive and well.

The now thirteen year old girl had been declared dead for almost a year and everyone was forced to come to terms with her presumed death. It never once crossed their minds that there was a even a slight possibility of her actually still being alive

But here she was, standing right in front of the group. The teens didn't know if it was their minds were playing tricks on them after such an terrifying situation or if they needed to get their eyes checked. They didn't want to believe so quickly.

Wendy was indeed alive after everything they had gone through. She looked as if nothing had ever happened to her and that life had been completely normal, despite her being presumed death for almost an entire year.

"You thought you'd see the last of me." Wendy shrugged with a smile.

That smile. That was enough to convince the shocked teens that she was indeed real and not an hallucination.

"Wendy!" Stanley was the first one to break the shock inducing silence between the Party members.

His eyes immediately filled to the brim with happy tears upon making direct eye contact with his long lost younger sister. The Harrington boy quickly ran towards his sister to reunite with her with a much needed hug.

Wendy accepted her older brother's hug as her own set of tears to began slide down her cheeks. The two siblings shared the brightest smile possible. Both were happy to be in each other's presence again after being separated for almost an entire year.

"I missed you. I missed you so fucking much." Stanley breathed out, between light sobs.

"I've missed you too, Stan." Wendy agreed, becoming choked up with her own tears. It was also a very emotional moment for her.

"You're alive? How? The lab said you were dead." Stanley questioned in disbelief.

"I was in the Upside Down for months but I found an opening back to Hawkins. Hopper found me and took me in." Wendy explained.

"If you were in Hawkins then why didn't you come home? Don't you know how worried dad and I were about you?" Stanley asked in a shocked tone.

"I know." Wendy nodded solemnly. "I wanted to but I couldn't. It was too dangerous because the lab was looking for me. I had to hide or else the lab would of done terrible things to me."

"That doesn't matter anymore. I'm just so glad you're back." Stanley sighed in relief, giving his sister one more right hug just for extra confirmation that she was indeed still there.

"I am too." Wendy agreed with a sigh.

When the two tear stricken siblings had finally pulled apart from their sickly tight hug, the rest of the Party members were now able to re-greet their best friend with a hug of their own.

The first one to step forward towards Wendy was none other than her paternal cousin, Steve Harrington. Despite, his cool boy persona that he often showcased to the public eye, the boy teen was actually worried and saddened by his cousin's sudden disappearance. Seeing her in front of his was definitely a relief.

"How about a hug for your dear cousin?" Steve asked with an awkward chuckle.

"Steve!" Wendy exclaimed happily, immediately running over to pull him in for a hug.

The older boy stumbled back from the force but still sported a fairly large grin as he hugged his cousin. "Hey, kid. I missed you." Steve sighed in relief.

"The family hasn't been the same without you." He admitted, which was definitely true. The family basically lost of piece of themselves when Wendy had disappeared.

"Missed you too, Steve." Wendy smiled happily as she reached up to play with the boy's hair.

"Not the hair! Not the hair!" Steve laughed in fake annoyance at his cousin's action.

When the young Harrington girl pulled away, she was immediately met with the soft eyes of her three best friends. Nina Henderson, Lucas Sinclair and Dustin Henderson all sported looks of surprise but their excited smiles said otherwise.

Wendy quickly pulled the three friends in for a tight hug. "You're crushing me..." Dustin gasped, causing the girl to let out a light hearted chuckle before pulling away with a bright smile.

"I'm so glad to see you guys again!" Wendy exclaimed, practically bouncing on the spot. "You guys need to tell me everything."

"We will, don't worry." Dustin nodded happily.

"Yeah, you missed a lot." Nina pointed out.

"But we're happy to see you back." Lucas agreed, giving the girl another hug.

When Wendy had pulled away, she was immediately met with a pair of ocean coloured eyes. Those eyes belonged to none other than Max Mayfield. The tomboy girl with bright red hair had already left quite an impression on the Harrington girl and they had yet to speak a word to each other. Her looks and personal aura were enough to entice her to the point that her heart pounded out of her chest and left her with sweaty palms.

Max decided to break the ice in the situation by stepping forward with her hand out. "Hi, I'm Max." She introduced in a calm tone.

"I'm Wendy." The Harrington girl quickly wiped her clammy hand on her jeans before nervously shaking the red head out stretched hand.

Wendy really hoped that Max could not sense her strange nerves as they greeted each other. "It's nice to meet you. I'm glad to have another girl in the Party."

"Yeah......I hope we can become good friends." Max proposed in a gentle tone.

"Yeah, of course." Wendy agreed happily.

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The pale moon had shined down upon the group of teenagers as they trekked back through the thick forest. After the sweet reunion the group had with Wendy Harrington, the teenagers had decided to head back in the direction of the lab.

The lab was the most obvious destination point. The teens quickly drew the conclusion that the only place where the mutated dogs had come from was none other than Hawkins Laboratory.

And that's exactly where the group were heading. It may sound dangerous but it was the best place to scope out their theories.

"You're positive that was Dart?" Lucas questioned the curly haired boy.

"Yes, he had the exact same yellow pattern on his butt." Dustin nodded in confirmation.

"He was tiny two days ago." Max pointed out.

"Well, he molted three times already." Dustin exclaimed to the group.

"Malted?" Steve pondered in confusion.

"Molted. Shed his skin to make room for growth. Like hornworms." Dustin explained.

"When's he gonna molt again?" Max asked.

"It's gonna be soon." Dustin reminded in a dreadful tone. "When he does, he'll be fully grown or close it it and so will his friends."

"Yeah and he's gonna eat a lot more than just cats." Steve muttered, completely forgetting that the Henderson boy had yet to alert his friends of Dart's late night feast on his orange feline.

"Wait! A cat?" Lucas exclaimed in disbelief, freezing immediately on the spot. "Dart ate a cat?"

"No, what? No." Dustin quickly shook his head.

"What are you talking about? He ate Mews." Steve pointed out.

"No! Not Mews. I loved that little orange beast." Wendy exclaimed in disbelief.

"Mews? Who's Mews?" Max asked in confusion.

"It's Dustin's cat." Steve confirmed.

"Steve!" Dustin hissed in annoyance.

"I knew it! You kept him!" Lucas declared.

"No! No......No.......He missed me. He wanted to come home." Dustin horribly defended himself.

"Bullshit!" Lucas debated.

"I didn't know he was a demogorgan, okay?" Dustin explained to the Sinclair boy.

"Guys, who cares? We have to go." Max reminded.

"I agree with Max. Terrible shit will happen if we don't leave now." Wendy agreed with the red head.

The two girls then shared a gentle smile without even realizing it. Their soft moment was cut off by the two preteen boys, who continued to argue as if their life depended on it.

The intensity of the fight had raged on long enough that no one had heard the distant howls from those dreaded dogs. Only Steve Harrington's ears had perked up at the sound invasion.

"Hey, guys?" Steve called in confusion but no one answered back to his.

"Guys!" The teen boy exclaimed in a louder tone.

This had finally gained the others attention. The entire group turned towards the older boy with looks of horror. They had realized that more of those blood thirsty dogs had made their way into Hawkins.

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It felt like hours before the group had stumbled upon the entrance of Hawkins Laboratory but it was probably just a mere twenty minute walk.

When Wendy laid eyes on the building, something felt off inside of her. The lab was usually some sort of lively, even during the dark hours but today, it felt like a barren waste land.

The Harrington girl could not sense any sort of life within the walls and that caused the hairs on her arms to raise in alert. Something devastating had occurred in the lab and the vision she had at the Ives residence was her look into the tragedy that had just occurred. It was definitely those dogs.

Wendy Harrington was the only one who paid attention to the dark building as the others were infatuated with the two shadowy figures that lingered in the distance. Dustin and Steve both immediately raised their flashlights to investigate the matter.

As soon as the light hit the figures, it was revealed to be a distraught Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers. They must have come to the lab for the same reason as the other teens.

"Steve?" Nancy and Jonathan questioned in sync. Both teens wore a confused expression.

"Nancy?" Steve called out with the same amount of confusion in his tone.

"Jonathan?" Dustin pondered.

Nancy and Jonathan's eyes were drawn to Harrington girl who stood in the middle of the group. Their jaws dropped at the sight. "Wendy?"

"Yes, I'm alive!" Wendy exclaimed with a shrug. "Can we move onto a more important matter right now? What are you two doing here?"

"We're looking for Mike and Will." Nancy answered.

"They're not in there, are they?" Dustin pondered, staring at the lab in horror.

"We're not sure." Nancy confirmed.

"Why?" Jonathan questioned worryingly.

Just as the older Byers teen finished his question, the air was filled with echoes of howls. The group stared at each other in horror before turning towards the lab. They knew that those sounds could only have come from that horrid place.

"The power's back!" Nancy exclaimed suddenly. The entire group of teens turned towards Hawkins Lab to see that the building was flooded with light.

Jonathan immediately ran over to the control booth next to the fence to open the gate. The Byers teen repeatedly hit the button to open the gate but nothing happened. He just looked like an idiot, continuously smashing the panel.

"Let me try." Dustin suggested, pushing the older teen aside. "Let me try, Jonathan!" He exclaimed.

The curly haired boy thought he would be able to get the gate open but he too, was just smashing the panel button like an idiot.

"Son of a bitch! You know what....." Just as Dustin was about to scream out in annoyance, the gate suddenly opened up. "Hey! I got it!" The boy smiled happily at his accomplishment.

"Guys?" Max called suddenly.

The group all turned to see a familiar truck speeding down the road, leading directly towards them. It was Jim Hopper's police truck and it was followed by Joyce Byers' car. The two cars honked at the teens that stood directly in the side of the road, so they all quickly ran out of the way to let them drive by.

The Byers car sped off of the property at a menacing rate. Luckily, for the teens, Hopper had quickly noticed them standing there. He abruptly stopped on the asphalt, causing the tires to squeal loudly.

"Let's go!" Hopper called out in a rush.

The preteens all rushed towards the truck, quickly climbing into the back to let the older man drive away. They drove off as fast they possibly could to escape the horrors of the lab behind them.

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It felt like forever before the Chief's truck pulled up to the front of the Byers residence. A sense of relief washed over the entire group of preteens as they realized that they were in a safe atmosphere for the time being.

Mike Wheeler was the first one to make any sort of movement. He reached over to open the trunk hatch to allow the group to exit the vehicle. He outstretched his limbs by placing them on the concrete driveway before pushing himself out. Lucas Sinclair climbed out next, followed by Dustin and Nina Henderson. The Harrington siblings were the last ones to climb out of the back.

When Wendy had planted her feet firmly on the ground, she had caught a glimpse of a set of familiar blue eyes. Those crystal blue eyes, that she had grown so accustomed to. They were so unique and only belonged to one person, her father.

She looked directly at her father, who stood a foot away from her. He just exited out of the Byers car and almost collapsed on the spot when he recognized that his long presumed dead daughter was actually right in front of him.

Thomas took a step closer to assure himself that she was real and she was indeed real. "Wendy?" He called out in disbelief.

The older man's eyes began to water within an instant, causing a few tears to escape and roll down his face. A giant smile was etched on his face.

"Hi, dad." Wendy greeted happily. She was then pulled into a much needed bone crushing hug.

"Dad, you're hurting me." Wendy laughed at the amount of force her father put into the hug.

Thomas didn't care at all. The only thing that mattered to him in this moment was that his daughter was home and currently in his embrace.

"I knew you would come back to me. I knew you were still out there. I just knew. I knew you wouldn't give up that easily because you're a strong girl, so I never gave up on you." Thomas reassured, beginning to happily cry.

The girl rubbed gentle circles on his back like he did when she used to cry as a kid. "I'm here. You don't have to worry anymore. I'm alive and I'm alright. I'm not leaving again. I'm here to stay with you and Stan." Wendy assured.

"I love you. I love you so much." He spoke softly, so that only she could hear.

"I love you too, dad." Wendy smiled happily.

★ 𝐎𝐃𝐃 𝐄𝐘𝐄 ! stranger things fanfic ★
(© 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝘆𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱)