The first thing that Matthew heard when he woke up after spending the night getting high with Eddie Munson was a muffled voice coming from his jacket.

With a groan, he opened his eyes to find himself staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling and simply blinked to himself before he looked around at the posters that were hung on the walls in the room.

Then he found himself looking at one thing in particular that was hanging on the wall in the room.

A guitar.

More specifically, Eddie Munson's guitar.

It was only then that it hit him that he had actually spent the night at Eddie's trailer and somehow ended up lying on the floor in Eddie's room.

And that fact alone simply scared the hell out of him.

Not once during the almost three years in which he had feelings for Eddie Munson did he ever think that he would be spending the night in Eddie's room, or even getting high with him for that matter.

It was this reason alone that he'd completely forgotten about the fact that he heard a muffled voice to begin with until he heard it once more.

After letting out yet another groan, he grabbed his jacket that he'd taken off at some point in the night and pulled out a radio that Mike had gotten for him, just in case either of them needed to get a hold of one another before he pressed a button and asked, "What the hell do you want, Mike?"

In turn, Mike asked him, "Where the hell are you?" When Matthew had only sighed to himself, Mike told him, "I went into your room to get you, but you're not there. So, where are you?"

As he started to run a hand through his hair, Matthew asked him, "Why do you need to know?"

Mike replied, "Look, I'd hate to have to use that lingo that Dustin likes to use, but we've got a code red."

It was then that Matthew suddenly straightened his head as he said, "A code red?"

In turn, Mike said to him, "Yeah, Matt, a code fucking red."

Then Matthew asked him, "And you're not just fucking with me, right? This isn't some bullshit attempt to get me to give you a ride to the mall or something?"

With a scoff, Mike replied, "No, of course not, Matt. Would I be saying 'code red' if I needed you to give me a ride to the mall?"

With a sigh, Matthew said to him, "Fine. I'll be on my way soon. Just, uh, try and keep things together until I get there, alright?"

Mike told him, "Just hurry the hell up and get back home, Matt. It's a matter of life and death."

With a sigh, Matthew turned off his radio and put his shoes and jacket back on and went to walk out of Eddie's room, only to stop when Eddie himself asked him, "Do I even want to know just what the hell that brother of yours is even talking about?"

With a shake of his head, Matthew replied, "Nope." As he quickly walked out of Eddie's room, he said, "I'll see you around, Munson."

It wasn't long after that that Eddie could hear the sound of the door to the trailer closing and then eventually the sound of the engine to Matthew's car starting up.

After that, he could hear Dokken's Into the Fire blasting from Matthew's car before he heard the sound of the tires of his car squealing as Matthew quickly drove away from the trailer and back towards his own home.

While Matthew stared into Billy's direction with narrowed eyes, Max said as she looked through the binoculars, "I don't know. He looks pretty normal to me."

In turn, Lucas asked her, "Normal? How many times have you seen him with a shirt on?"

While Matthew simply snorted to himself in response to Lucas's question, Max said with a tilt of her head, "I mean, it's a little weird."

With a nod of his head, Mike said to her, "More than a little. He was in a tub with ice. The Mind Flayer likes it cold. Plus everything else—"

Max replied, "But he's lounging at the pool, which is, like, the least Mind Flayer thing ever."

Will told her, "Not necessarily." After the five of them turned their heads to look over at Will, he said, "The Mind Flayer likes to hide. He only used me when he needed me. It's like... like you're dormant. And then, when he needs you, you're activated."

While Matthew tightened the grip that he already had on one of the straps to his backpack that he'd been keeping his crowbar inside of, Max replied, "Okay, so we just... wait until he gets activated."

With a shake of his head, Mike said to her, "No. What if he hurts someone?"

Then Will turned to her and said to her, "Or kills someone."

Mike told them, "We can't take that chance. We need to find out if he's the host."

It was only when Mike had pushed himself away from the car and started to walk away from them that El asked him, "Where are you going?"

As he waved his hand at Matthew, Will and Lucas, Mike replied, "I have an idea. Boys only."

In turn, Max said to him, "Seriously?"

Mike said to her, "Just trust me on this one."

While Max only rolled her eyes to herself, Matthew took a quick glance over at Billy with narrowed eyes before he eventually followed Mike and his two friends into the men's locker room.

It was only when the four of them were walking through the locker room that Mike said, "Okay, so we wait until the pool closes, until everyone leaves, and we somehow get him to come from here and..." After opening a door and walking past some men that were working out with a thing of weights, Mike pointed at the sauna room as he said, "...get him into here."

It was then that Mike opened the room and could see several men sitting in the room with towels covering them, which got one of the men to yell, "Hey, shut the door!"

Then another man yelled, "Hey, come on, kid, shut it!"

While Matthew only turned away from them with a roll of his eyes, Mike closed the door, which got Lucas to tell them, "I think I just threw up in my mouth."

After turning away from Lucas, Mike pointed at a nearby panel outside of the sauna room and told them, "And look, the controls are right here. It's perfect."

Will asked him, "Will it get hot enough?"

Mike replied, "Two-hundred and twenty degrees." After looking back into the closed room, Mike said, "We just have to figure out how to get him in here."

With a scoff, Matthew said, "Shouldn't be that hard. I mean, the guy's a total asshole. He'd do anything to be able to kick at least someone's ass, no matter who it is." When the others turned to look at him, Matthew told them, "I mean, let's look at this way, alright? That asshole cornered me after school almost a year ago now all 'cause he didn't like the way I talked to Val when– in reality– the guy more than likely doesn't give two shits about her or her sister, so..."

Then Mike looked between his two friends, who only shrugged to themselves with a nod of their heads, which got Mike to only sigh to himself.

After looking between his two friends and Matthew, Will said, "Then we lock him in..."

With a nod of his head, Lucas said, "Heat him up..."

As he looked between his brother and his two friends, Mike said, "No matter what happens, we'll know. We'll know for sure."

While Matthew continued to stare at Billy with his eyes narrowed and his hands pressed onto the car he and Max were standing behind, Max asked into the radio, "Mike, are you there?"

In turn, Mike yelled, "Yeah!"

While Matthew only raised his eyebrows at his brother's choice of yelling, Max asked Mike, "Where are you guys?"

Mike replied, "I'm coming. Just... hold on a second."

It was then that Matthew took the radio from Max and said into it, "Hey, asshole, lose the fucking attitude, alright?"

With a sigh, Mike started to say to him, "Matt—"

Matthew replied, "No, don't fucking 'Matt' me, alright? Just get to work and make sure that this fucking plan of yours actually works. Got it?"

With a scoff, Mike said to him, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got it. Just calm down, alright? We'll be out soon."

While Matthew only rolled his eyes at his brother's words, Max raised the binoculars and used them to look at Billy once more as she said, "God, I hope it's not you." After lowering the binoculars once more, she said, "I really hope it's not you."

After opening the door and seeing a mannequin standing by itself in the sauna room, Billy quickly walked over to it and grabbed it by its neck and raised it off of the floor, only to look away from it and down at the radio that was attached to it when he heard a voice say, "Hey. Behind you."

It was then that Billy quickly turned his head to see that El was standing outside of the sauna room and staring right at him, which allowed El to say to him, "Hi."

As soon as Billy had thrown the mannequin down and onto the floor, El raised her head at him, which got Billy to be sent flying into one of the walls in the room with a groan.

It was then that Mike yelled, "Now!"

Not long after he yelled that, three of his other friends and Matthew had quickly ran out of a nearby room at the same time that Billy tried to get out of the sauna room, only for it to be slammed shut in his face by a wave of El's hand.

While Matthew stood beside El with a tight grip on his crowbar and his eyes narrowed, Lucas and Will were quick to go over towards the door and keep the door shut with the use of chains and a metal rod.

It was only when Lucas and Will were finished with it that they quickly ran back over towards the others, while Billy continued to try and force the door open.

While Matthew took a quick glance at his brother and the other middle-schoolers, Billy stopped throwing himself up against the door and only stared ahead of himself for several seconds before he said, "Max."

After the others had turned their attention over to Max after hearing Billy say her name, Max said to them, "Do it."

It was then that Will quickly ran over towards the panel and simply turned the dial to it, which got Matthew to turn his attention away from Max and over towards Billy, who was still staring directly at his youngest step-sister.

While Matthew simply tightened his grip on his crowbar and raised it above his head some more, Billy threw himself at the door yet again as he yelled, "Max! Let me out of here! Let me out." While Matthew simply sighed to himself as he took a quick glance at the other middle-schoolers, Billy said, "You kids... You think this is funny? You kids think this is some kind of sick prank, huh?"

Then Billy looked over at Matthew and asked him, "What about you, Wheeler? You think this is some great way of getting back at me for the shit I pulled with you? Huh? When I cornered you after school last year? After the way you talked to Valerie? Hmm? Was pulling that goddamn knife out on me not enough for you?" When Matthew didn't answer and only tightened his grip on his crowbar some more, Billy spat at the door before he looked at the others and asked them, "You little shits think this is funny? What is this? Open the door."

Then Billy hit the door yet again as he yelled, "Open the door! Open the door! Open the goddamn door!"

Then Billy soon enough fell from their line of sight and started to scream to himself, which got Will to quickly run over towards the panel and tell them, " We're at two-twenty."

It wasn't until Will had made his way back over to them that Billy started to sob, which got Matthew's eyebrows to furrow as he silently eyed the fogged up sauna room.

It was then that they all heard Billy say, "It's not my fault. It's not my fault." While Matthew took a quick glance over at Max and watched as she slowly walked over towards the door to the sauna room, Billy said, "It's not my fault, Max. I promise you, it's not my fault."

As soon as she came to a halt in front of the door and stared into the room, Max asked him, "What's not your fault, Billy?"

Billy told her, "I've done things, Max. Really... bad things. I didn't mean to." While Mike and his other friends slowly took a couple of steps closer to where Matthew and El were standing in front of them, Billy said, "He made me do it."

In turn, Max asked him, "Who made you do it?"

Billy replied, "I don't know, it's like a shadow. Like a giant shadow. Please, Max."

Max asked him, "What did he make you do?"

It was then that Billy said to her, "It's not my fault, okay? Max, please. Please, believe me, Max, it's not my fault. I tried to stop him, okay? I did." After letting out a sniffle, he said to her, "Please believe me, Max. Please believe me."

Max put a hand on the door and said to him, "Billy, it's gonna be okay."

Then Billy said to her, "Max, please."

In turn, Max said to him, "It's gonna be okay. We want to help you. We want to help you. You just have to talk to us, okay? You have to talk to us. I believe you, Billy. We'll figure it out together, okay?"

It was then that Will told them, "I feel him." While Matthew took a quick glance back at Will, Will turned to Mike and said in a whisper, "He's activated."

While Matthew hesitantly took a step closer towards where Max was standing in front of the door to the sauna room, Max said to Billy, "I need you to trust me. Please."

In turn, Mike said, "Max, get away from the door."

While El quickly grabbed onto Matthew's arm and forced the sixteen-year-old boy to come to an abrupt halt, Max said, "What?"

Then Mike quickly looked over at Max and yelled, "Get away from the door!"

It was then that the glass on the door broke, which allowed Billy to stick his head out of the room, along with a single arm as he yelled, "Let me out, you bitch! Let me out! I'll fucking gut you!"

While Max kept herself far enough away from the door, Billy quickly pulled the metal rod out of place and started to try and force the door open as he yelled, "Let me out!"

It wasn't long after that that Billy fell with a groan as soon as one of Lucas's rocks had struck him in his forehead.

It was then that Lucas yelled, "Max, come on!"

It was only when Matthew was about to ask Max if she was okay that he suddenly stopped when the lights in the room had started to flicker.

While looking around himself with furrowed eyebrows, Matthew said, "Well, shit. This isn't good. This isn't good at all."

It wasn't long after that that Billy started to scream as he repeatedly threw himself at the chained-up door.

In response to seeing Billy continue to throw himself against the door, Matthew quickly took a step back towards the others at the same time that Max asked them, "He can't get out, can he?"

Lucas replied, "No way. No way."

After watching Billy only hit his head against the door, Matthew couldn't help but take a quick step back when Billy had thrown himself against the door one more time and was finally out of the sauna room.

While Matthew took a quick glance at the others with his eyebrows furrowed, Billy straightened his back and stared directly at El, who eventually raised one of her arms and threw a single weight at him with a scream, which got Billy pinned to the wall with a groan.

Then El raised her other arm, which got the weight to be dug even more into the wall, only for Billy to eventually push his hands against the weight and have it almost hit her in the head.

Without even thinking twice about it, Matthew quickly ran over towards El to try and bring her back towards the others, only to find himself dropping his crowbar and being grabbed by Billy, whose hand went from Matthew's arm and towards the front of his neck.

With narrowed eyes, Matthew stared directly into Billy's eyes as he did everything he could to break out of the grip that Billy had on him from punching him wherever he could and kicking at him, only to find that nothing he did could get Billy to let go of him.

And while Matthew continued to try and break free of the grip that Billy had on him, despite knowing just how much stronger Billy was than him at that exact moment, Mike couldn't help but let his eyes widen upon realizing that nothing his big brother did could get him out of the mess that he was currently in.

And Mike's horror on the matter only worsened when Billy tightened his grip on Matthew's neck and Matthew was finding it difficult to breathe.

It was only when Matthew started to let out strangled yells and curses as he continued to try and break free of the grip that Billy had on him that Matthew fell to the floor with a groan and tried to do what he could to gasp for air and simply cough to himself when El had raised the very same weight she'd used before and threw it at Billy's back.

As soon as Billy's attention was no longer focused on Matthew, Mike and Will were quick to drag the sixteen-year-old boy away from Billy, who had turned to El and grabbed her by her hair before he turned to look over at Max.

After silently staring over at Max for a couple of seconds, Billy harshly grabbed at the front of El's neck before he started to straighten his back once more and pull her up and off of the floor.

With a hand pressed against the front of his own neck and his eyes wide as ever, Matthew could do nothing but cough to himself as he watched El start to hit Billy's chest as she yelled, "No! No! No! No..."

It was only when El had started to gasp for air that Mike quickly ran up to Billy and swung the metal rod at the back of Billy's head, which got Billy to immediately let go of Billy and fall to the floor.

As he went to raise the rod above his head once more, Mike yelled, "Go to hell, you piece of shit!"

It was then that Billy quickly turned around and grabbed onto the rod and tossed it aside as soon as he was back standing onto his own two feet.

As soon as Matthew saw Billy start to make his way over towards Mike, he attempted to get back up onto his own two feet, only to stop when both Will and Lucas did what they could to hold him back, despite the fact that Matthew was a hell of a lot stronger than the two of them combined.

And while Matthew started to yell his brother's name and try to break free of Will and Lucas, who each had their arms tightly wrapped around the sixteen-year-old boy, Mike had soon enough pressed his own back into a wall as he stared at Billy with wide eyes.

It was only then that Billy found himself being raised off of the floor and pulled away from Mike by El, who had her arms raised and her hands pointed directly at him as she let out yells of her own and moved herself to be standing directly in front of Mike.

It wasn't until both Billy and El were letting out screams of their own that she threw her arms to the side, which resulted in Billy being flown into a wall and landing outside of the locker room.

While Lucas and Will finally stepped away from the sixteen-year-old boy, who was quick to run over towards his little brother– despite all of the coughing he was still doing– both Mike and El sank down onto the floor as El simply cried in his arms.