While quickly making his way back into the gymnasium, Mike said, "They're gone."

In turn, Lucas said, "What?"

Mike told them, "Nancy and Jonathan. His car's gone."

Dustin replied, "They're probably just sucking face somewhere."

In turn, Lucas said, "Gross."

Then Mike said, "No. No way!"

Dustin asked him, "Did they go with the chief?"

Mike replied, "I don't know."

It was then that El looked over at Mike and said to him, "No."

Mike asked her, "What? Did you see them? Do you know where they went?"

El replied, "Yes."

Mike asked her, "Where? Where did they go?"

After a couple seconds of silence, El told him, "Demogorgon."

After silently looking between the group of twelve-year-olds, Matthew asked him, "Um, am I the only one here that doesn't know what the fuck a Demogorgon is?" After seeing the way that they were all looking at him at that exact moment, he said with a raise of his eyebrows, "Never mind. I guess I am."

While El sat on the bleachers with her legs pressed up against herself and her arms wrapped around both of her legs, she looked between the two Wheeler brothers.

One of the Wheeler brothers was sitting just beside her with his arms crossed over his chest and his head tilted to the side, while the other was standing with his two friends and yelling, "Guys, guys! This is crazy. We can't just wait around."

Lucas replied, "Mike, in case you forgot, we're still fugitives. The bad men are still looking for us."

Then Dustin told Mike, "Yeah, and we don't even know where your sister is."

With a wave of his hand, Mike said, "El can find them."

With a wave of his own hand, Dustin replied, "Mike, look at her." While Mike turned to look at El, Dustin told him, "I still think we should stick to the chief's plan."

With a nod of his head, Lucas said, "Exactly. We stay here, keep El out of sight and keep her safe. That's the most important thing, remember? Besides, she's okay. She's with Jonathan."

Then Dustin said to Mike, "Yeah, and she's kind of a badass now, so... I mean, not like your brother's level of a badass, but still a badass, if you really think about it."

As soon as Dustin turned his back on them and started to walk away from them, Mike asked him, "Well, where are you going? You just said stick to the plan!"

Dustin replied, "I am. I'm just gonna go get some chocolate pudding. I'm telling you, Lunch Lady Phyllis hoards that shit."

In turn, Mike said, "Are you serious?"

Dustin told him, "El needs to be recharged!"

Not long after he said that, El stood from the bleachers and simply stared after Dustin, while Matthew closed his eyes and sighed to himself.

While Matthew picked up one of the knives in the kitchen and started to mess around with it a bit, Dustin opened a door to the fridge before he said, "Found it! I knew she was hoarding it. I knew it."

While the two middle-schoolers started to stack some of the pudding into their arms, Lucas said, "Yeah."

Then Dustin said, "Always lying, saying she's out. Bald-faced liar." Then he turned his head and yelled, "Mike, I found the chocolate pudding!"

In turn, Mike yelled, "Okay!"

After shoving the knife into his jacket pocket, Matthew took out another cigarette and stuck it in his mouth before he lit it with his lighter.

It wasn't until he shoved the lighter into one of his pockets and glanced over at Lucas and Dustin that he could see them now staring at him with their eyes narrowed.

With a wave of his hand, he said, "What?"

Dustin asked him, "We're trying to keep El safe and make sure the bad men can't get to her, and you're just smoking?"

With a shrug, Matthew replied, "What the hell do you want from me, Henderson? Ever since I first met El, my life has become a lot more stressful, and I've got to do something to get these nerves under control. And since we're here to keep her safe, I can't exactly go to my dealer and get him to sell me something. So, yes, Henderson, I'm smoking a fucking cigarette."

Instead of saying anything more to Matthew, Dustin simply stared at him, only to stop when Matthew had tilted his head to the side and went to take a step forward to him.

As soon as the two of them had gone back to stacking more pudding into their arms, Matthew took the cigarette out of his mouth and let out a sigh.

At this rate, it felt like he'd need to buy more than just weed off of Eddie the next time he saw him at school once his suspension had ended.

After dropping the cans of pudding onto the table, Dustin said, "This will charge your battery right up, I'm telling you."

El looked over at Matthew, who had the same lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth, before she looked at one of the cans she grabbed.

It was then that Mike ran into the room and yelled, "Guys! Guys!"

While the four of them turned to look over at Mike, Lucas asked him, "What is it?"

Mike told them, "They found us."

With a sigh, Matthew threw his cigarette onto the floor and put it out with his shoe before he shoved his hand into his jacket pocket and grabbed onto the knife he stole from the kitchen.

While they went down a set of stairs, Lucas asked, "How did they find us?"

Mike replied, "I don't know, but they knew we were in the gym."

Then Dustin said to them, "Lando."

Just when Matthew was about to roll his eyes at Dustin, he suddenly stopped when the doors on the opposite end of the hallway opened, and a couple of flashlights were now being pointed at them.

While they turned around and went to run back up the stairs, Mike yelled, "Go, go, go, go, go!"

Then Lucas yelled, "Come on!"

After making a turn through an open door, they were all forced to come to a halt when a man with his flashlight pointed at them said, "There they are. Freeze."

Then they quickly ran back through the door, while Mike yelled, "Back! Go back! Go, go! Go left!"

As soon as two men and a woman had stepped in front of them and the woman had her gun pointed at them, Matthew tightened his grip on the handle of the knife and went to pull it out of his jacket pocket.

He only stopped when their flashlights started to flicker and soon enough blood started to leak out of the eyes of the men and the blonde woman.

Then just like that, the men standing in front of them and behind them— including the blonde woman— had all fallen down onto the floor.

It wasn't until they were all lying dead on the floor that El had also fallen onto the floor, which got the four of them to quickly crouch down beside her and Mike to ask her, "El, are you okay?" When she didn't respond, he yelled, "El!"

When she still didn't respond, he looked over at his brother and his two friends and said to them, "Something's wrong."

Dustin told him, "She's just drained."

Mike replied, "No, no, no, she won't wake up. El! El! El!"

While slightly raising his head, Mike said, "She's barely breathing."

Lucas told him, "We gotta go."

It was then that they heard a voice say, "Leave her."

The four of them quickly turned their heads and Matthew simply stared at the man with a scowl on his face when he recognized him as the very man that was questioning him about his brother.

While Matthew pushed himself in front of Mike and the others, the man said to them, "Step away from the child."

Mike yelled, "No! You want her, you have to kill us first."

Then Dustin yelled, "That's right!"

While taking a step forward, Lucas yelled, "Eat shit!"

It was then that Mike and his friends were suddenly grabbed by three men, which left only Matthew to stand in front of El.

While he slowly walked towards Matthew, the man said to them, "Well, well, well, Mr. Wheeler. We meet again." Then he glanced over at Mike and Mike's friends before he said, "And I see that you've found your brother."

In response to the man's words, Matthew quickly took the knife out of his pocket and had it pointed right at the man, which got the man to come to an abrupt halt as he eyed the fifteen-year-old that had that same scowl on his face and whose eyes were now narrowed.

With a hand held out in front of himself, the man asked him, "Now, why don't you just put the knife down before you do something that you'll regret?"

With a scoff, Matthew replied, "Here's a better idea. How about you go right ahead and fuck off, and the four of us take El out of here and then we act like none of this ever happened? Hmm? Or you just keep being your asshole self and I see just how many of your men I can stab and kill and then we just leave with her that way."

With a sigh, the man only tilted his head, which got Matthew to tilt his own head at the man, just before he was suddenly grabbed from behind and was forced to let go of the knife.

Just when the man went to walk over towards El yet again, he suddenly stopped himself when Matthew threw the back of his head into the face of the man that was holding him, which resulted in the man that was holding him to let out a groan.

This alone allowed Matthew to quickly throw his elbow into the man's chest before turning around and going to kick him in the balls, only to stop when the man that was originally holding him had grabbed onto his ankle and pulled at it.

As a result of the man's actions, Matthew fell onto his back with a groan.

As soon as the man started to attempt to forcefully turn Matthew over and have him pinned to the floor, he suddenly stopped when Matthew had kicked him in the balls with his other leg.

With his eyes wide as ever, the man grabbed onto his covered balls and fell onto his knees, which allowed Matthew to get back up onto his feet, despite just how much his backside and the back of his head was hurting from falling onto the floor.

It was only when he was about to throw himself at the white-haired man that he suddenly found himself unable to when not one, but two men had thrown themselves at the fifteen-year-old and had pinned him onto the floor.

While Matthew tried to break free of the grip and pressure they had on him, the white-haired man made his way over towards El before he eventually crouched down beside her and brought her into his arms.

After putting his hands on both sides of her face, he asked her, "Eleven? Eleven, can you hear me? Eleven?"

With her eyes now slightly open, El said, "Papa?"

The man replied, "Yes, yes, it's your papa."

Then El turned her attention over towards the two Wheeler brothers.

One of whom was still pinned to the ground and doing what he could to try and break free of the grip that the two men had on him, while the other was trying to break free of the one man that was holding him as he said, "Get off of me."

Then Mike yelled, "Let her go! Let her go, you bastard!"

While El went to turn her head away from the man, the man said to her, "Shh, shh, you're sick. You're sick, but I'm going to make you better. I'm going to take you back home, where I can make you well again. Where we can make all of this better, so no one else gets hurt."

When El looked back at him, he nodded his head, before he stopped when she said, "Bad. Bad." Then she turned to Mike and said, "Mike. Mike. Mike."

Just when she was about to turn her head to look over at Matt, she suddenly stopped when the lights in the hallway started to flicker.

A couple of seconds after the lights started to flicker, Mike said, "Blood."

In turn, Lucas said, "What?"

Yet again, Mike said, "Blood."

As soon as thudding could be heard coming from one of the walls, the men closest to the wall started to back up from it, while bits and parts of it started to fall from the wall.

It wasn't until a faceless creature had stuck its head out from the wall that Matthew stopped fighting against the two men and asked, "Uh, Mike, what the fuck is that?"

Not long after he asked that, Dustin said, "Demogorgon."

It was then that the Demogorgon had pushed itself out of the wall and opened up its face, which got each of the men to let go of Matthew and the three middle-schoolers before pushing the four boys behind them.

With his eyes wide as ever, Matthew watched as it took a step forward towards the group of men that had their guns pointed at it.

It wasn't until he felt three pairs of hands grab at him and try to pull him up onto his feet that he quickly got up and started to run after the three middle-schoolers with El in his arms, while Mike yelled, "Go, go, go, go, go!"

While Matthew started to look around the classroom they were in for anything he could use as a weapon and El had gone ahead and grabbed Mike by his hand, Mike said to her, "Just hold on a little longer, okay? He's gone. The bad man's gone. We'll be home soon, and our mom... she'll get you your own bed. You can eat as many Eggos as you want. And we can go to the Snow Ball."

While still holding onto Mike's hand, El asked him, "Promise?"

After letting out a sniffle, he said to her, "Promise."

Not long after he said that, Matthew let out a groan when he couldn't find anything that he could really use as a weapon.

He couldn't find anything that would let him fight against the Demogorgon without getting too close to it.

It was only when he was about to run his fingers through his own hair that he suddenly stopped and jumped in place when he heard the sound of the Demogorgon screeching from out in the hallway, which was shortly followed by screams and more gunfire.

After repeatedly looking between the group of twelve-year-olds and the door, Matthew quickly made his way over towards his brother and his small group of friends before he bent over beside El and started to attempt to wipe the blood away from her nose.

Not long after he started to do that, he suddenly stopped when the gunfire had ceased.

After a couple seconds of silence, Dustin asked, "Is... Is it– I-Is it— Is it dead?"

It was then that the door was thrown off of its hinges with the Demogorgon crouched in place on top of it.

While Matthew stared at it with wide eyes and went out of his way to push himself in front of El, Mike turned to Lucas and yelled, "Go, go, go, go!"

Then Dustin yelled, "Get the wrist rocket! Get the wrist rocket now!"

While Lucas started to go through his bag, Mike yelled, "Go, go, go, go, go!"

After the Demogorgon had let out a roar and Matthew started to quickly look between the Demogorgon, El and his brother, Mike yelled, "Get the rocks, get the rocks, get the rocks!"

In turn, Dustin yelled, "Getting the rocks!"

As soon as Lucas was handed a rock, he pulled back his slingshot and let one rock fly towards the Demogorgon, which only got it to let out another roar.

With his eyes still wide as ever, Matthew yelled, "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!"

The closer Matthew could see the Demogorgon getting to them, the more he realized that these rocks being shot at the Demogorgon was doing nothing to it.

It was still walking towards them with its faceless head held high and its attention directly on them, despite the fact of it not having any sets of eyes on it.

It wasn't until Lucas had shot yet another rock at it that the Demogorgon was sent flying far away from them and into the chalkboard on the other side of the classroom.

While the three middle-schoolers quickly moved even further into the back of the room, Matthew could do nothing but stare at it with wide eyes and a slightly agape mouth.

Then, without saying a word to the four of them, El walked past the four boys and over towards the Demogorgon.

This got Mike to quickly attempt to go towards her and yell, "Eleven, stop!"

With a wave of her hand, Mike was thrown back from her and slid across the floor and into one of the cabinets.

Despite his urge to run over and check on his brother, Matthew could do nothing but stand in place with wide eyes and his heart pounding heavily in his chest as he watched El continue to walk over towards the Demogorgon.

And while she did that, the Demogorgon started to let out squeals as it attempted to break free from the pinned state it was in against the blackboard.

It wasn't until El was standing in front of the Demogorgon that she turned her head to look at the four boys that were staring at her with wide eyes before she said to Mike, "Goodbye, Mike."

Then she looked over at Matthew and simply smiled at him before she turned her attention back over towards the Demogorgon, just as it let out yet another squeal.

While staring directly at the Demogorgon, El said to it, "No more."

Then she extended her arm in front of herself, which got the Demogorgon to start to screech, which got the four boys to press their hands over each of their ears, while the Demogorgon simply reached one of its arms out to El.

While repeatedly moving her arm around in that same exact place, El started to let out a scream, which eventually resulted in a bright and white light to start to appear at the Demogorgon's chest.

And while she continued to scream at it, bits and pieces of itself started to break away from its body before eventually both the Demogorgon and El were nowhere to be seen.

It was only then that the lights stopped flickering, which allowed the four boys to remove their hands from the sides of their heads.

While Matthew simply stood in that exact same spot and stared at the place in which El had disappeared from, Mike quickly moved away from the wall and towards the front of the classroom as he said, "El? El? El!"

And while the three middle-schoolers started to yell El's name and look around for her, Matthew simply fell onto his knees and stared down at the floor as he tried to wrap his mind around everything that had just happened.

After getting out of the car with her husband, Karen said, "Michael? Matthew?" When she couldn't see either of her sons, she quickened her pace and yelled, "Michael! Matthew!"

It wasn't until she saw Mike sitting in the back of an ambulance with Matthew right beside him and saw her eldest son holding Mike close to himself with an arm wrapped around him that she quickly started to make her way over towards them and let out a sob as she said, "Oh, my God." As she wrapped her arms around both of her sons, she said, "Oh, my God. You're okay. You're okay."

And while Mike simply cried onto their mother's shoulder, Matthew simply stared ahead of himself with a blank look on his face and the familiar feeling of his rage boiling from deep inside of himself.