ৎ ָ࣪    𓄹 ﹙𝟬𝟭𝟭﹚˖  ᨒ  .ﾟ ꗃ  𓄸
❛ THE BAD MEN ❜ 𓂃 𓈒 𓏸 ₊ ˚

         AFTER UNSUCCESSFULLY TRYING TO FIND THE GATE, the group was at an all time low. Mike and Lucas wouldn't get along after their childish little fight. Eleven ran away and didn't return. Dustin and Grace were the only reasonable ones out of the group, having made a plan to make everyone become friends again, which ultimately failed as well.

        Grace stopped riding her bike, a small but visible frown appearing on her face. "This is weird without Lucas." The blonde mumbled, earning looks from both Mike and Dustin. It was already weird enough without Will, now Lucas was gone too, and even El who became apart of their small circle was gone as well.

         "He should've shaken my hand." Mike spoke to the girl, his face showing annoyance.

        "He's just jealous." Dustin chimed in, biking ahead of the two. They shared confused looks.

        "What are you talking about?" The two of them asked at the same time.

         "Sometimes, your total obliviousness just blows my mind. He's your best friend, right?" Dustin shook his head at the pair, directing his question towards Mike.

          "Yeah. . .I mean, I don't know." The raven-haired boy squinted in thought. He couldn't choose between any of them. They were all his best friends.

          "It's fine. I get it. I didn't get here until the fourth grade. He had the advantage of living next door, but none of that matters. What matters is that he is your best friend, and then this girl shows up and starts living in your basement, and now all you and Grace ever does is pay attention to her and each other." Dustin made wild hand gestures, demonstrating dramatically.

         "That's not true." Mike retaliated immediately, leaving no room for Grace to speak. Her lips were left parted, a perplexed expression on her face.

        She didn't realize all her attention was going to Eleven and Mike. It made her feel ten times worse when she realized Dustin was telling the truth about the entire situation. Everything he said was truthful.

         "It's true, Mike. Just admit it. We've been horrible best friends these past few days." The blonde said, turning to make eye contact with the boy riding his bike right next to her. He gulped, silently nodding.

        "Everyone knows it. But no one ever says anything until you both start punching and yelling at each other, like goblins with intelligence scores of zero." Dustin explained, his example made a smile appear on Grace's face. He always had a weird way of saying things.

        "He's not my best friend." Mike stated, biking faster so that he was the one ahead of them.

         "Yeah, right." Dustin rolled his eyes. "I mean, he is, but so are you guys, and so is Will." Mike told them, the pair smiling at each other as if they'd received the best compliment in the world.

        "Can't have more than one best friend." Dustin teased Mike, the latter scoffing.

         "Says who?" Grace turned to the boy with curly hair, reaching forward to twirl a few strands.

          "Says logic." Dustin swatted her hand away, both of them laughing afterwards.

          "Well, I call bull on your logic, because you're all my best friends." Mike spoke seriously. Dustin started to blush, nodding in agreement.

          "Don't forget who his favorite is, though. Yeah, that's me!" Grace grinned, her dimples showing at her attempt to mess with Dustin.

          "But that's different." Mike stated with a loving smile sent the blonde's way, his eyes widening once he realized that he said it out loud.

         "Wait, what? Did I hear that right?" The blonde turned to the boy, her eyes wide. Mike sent the girl a nervous smile. He silently hoped she didn't know the true meaning behind his words.

         "Whoa," Dustin stopped biking, the other two turning their attention to him.

          All three of their eyes traveled in front of them, seeing the chaos that was caused at their local grocery store. Something so abnormal happening in Hawkins, they knew it was Eleven. It had to be.

          "You don't think it was her, do you?" Grace softly chewed on her fingernails.

          "It was definitely her." Mike let out a breath.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆⠘ *‧☽ ‧* ⠘☆ﾟ‧ ───

          THE THREE OF THEM FOLLOWED THE TRAIL OF EGGOS, looking for Eleven. The hints lead them into the woods. Grace heard a few branches snap behind her, holding onto Mike and Dustin's hands as she turned around. A scoff left her lips at the sight of Troy and his evil minion rushing towards them.

         The two boys had no choice but to abandon their bikes on the ground, running in the opposite direction as they pulled Grace along with them. She couldn't even begin to understand why they were running. She could take them, and honestly, she needed to release some of her pent up anger and stress out on someone.

          "You're dead, Wheeler!" Troy called out from behind them, branches snapping under him and his minion the closer they were to the trio.

          Grace flicked her hand behind her, smiling in triumph when both of the boys tripped.

          She held the two psychopaths back for quite some time, tripping them. The blonde girl only stopped when they were no longer in the woods.

         "I'm cramping!" Dustin slowed down, holding his stomach in pain. Grace slowed her pace, letting him lean on her shoulders as they sped back up.

         "Just hang on a little bit longer," The blonde whispered to the boy with curly hair. He nodded with a soft grin, glad to have her in his life.

          As they continued running, Troy's minion appeared in front of the trio. They turned to find Troy behind them, knowing they were stuck in place.

         "Since when do these dipshits have brains? They actually thought about splitting up?" Grace whispered to the two boys, the trio coming together to defend each other. Though, they knew Grace would be doing all the defending. They had to depend on her.

         "Who would've thought." Dustin whispered back, rolling his eyes. Mike was about to make a comment, but didn't get to when Troy snatched Dustin, holding a pocket knife directly at his exposed throat.

          "Let him go!" Mike shouted, tired of the bully. "Stay back, before I cut him! I think I should save Toothless, here, an early trip to the dentist." Troy raised the knife closer to Dustin's skin.

          "I don't think you want to do that." Grace warned him, a deadly look in her eyes. Mike and even Dustin, were more scared of what she would do to him than they were of Troy being a complete asshole.

"Ooh, I'm so scared, Princess! What are you gonna do? Sprinkle glitter on me?" Troy joked, earning a loud and obnoxious laugh from his minion.

"You shouldn't have said that." Dustin shook his head, waiting in amusement. Troy's arm snapped in an instant, the pocket knife falling to the ground with a quiet thud. As he screamed in pain, all eyes drifted to Grace, a small trail of blood dripping from her nose.

"How did you do that? You're a freak! It's just like that time in the gym! I knew you did something to me! Some nerdy science shit to make me do that!" Troy began to shout out things like he was insane.

"You mean piss your pants?" Mike raised his eyebrows, a soft laugh following.

"You did that all on your own, loser." Grace wiped her nose, looking down at Troy. He held his arm, laying on the ground with a frown.

The blonde licked her chapped lips, smirking at the boy who was finally getting what he deserved. She dared him to say something else, but he didn't, only cowering as she brought her foot up and placed it on his chest. Troy could feel his chest closing in, a surprised gasp leaving his mouth.

"Say you'll leave my friends alone, and you won't bother them ever again." Grace pressed her foot on his chest harder, restricting his airways.

"I— I won't mess with your friends anymore! I'll leave them alone for good! Just get off of me! You're crazy!" Troy coughed out.

The girl with light blue eyes removed her foot, sending him a sarcastic smile. He shakily stood up, making a rushed exit, his minion long gone. A scoff left his lips when he realized he'd been abandoned.

"Yeah, that's right! You better run! She's our best friend and she's crazy! You come back here and she'll kill you! You hear me? She'll kill you, you sons of bitches!" Dustin shouted, the two boys running as if their lives depended on it. The minion was much farther ahead, having left the second shit hit the fan.

When the bullies were finally away from them, Grace was tackled into a hug by Dustin and Mike. The two were more than thankful for her. She had saved them from what could have been a terrible disaster.

A sound of branches breaking sounded out. The three kids looked at each other warily, another branch snapped, closer that time. Dustin let out a cheer when a figure appeared from the trees.

It was none other than Eleven. She looked tired and beat, dried up blood was on her face. Grace ran forward no more than a second later, tackling the shorter girl into a bear hug. Eleven almost lost her balance, smiling softly at the blonde who welcomed her back with open arms. She expected them to still be mad at her after the whole stunt she pulled on them the day before.

"Grace. . .I'm sorry." The girl with a shaved head began to cry, her face full of guilt.

"Sorry, for what, El? I'm just glad you're okay. You can't disappear on me like that." The blonde pulled her closer, wiping away her tears.

"The gate. . .I opened it. I'm the monster." Eleven whispered sadly, more tears falling.

"El, you're not the monster." Mike joined in on their hug, embracing both girls.

"Yeah, you're our friend." Dustin agreed with a smile, trying to cheer her up. The three looked at him, noticing for the boy to join them as well.

Their small moment would be cherished between them forever. Little did they know what was coming for them when they got back to Mike's house.

         Grace spent her time at Mike's house helping Eleven freshen up, even washing her face so that she was no longer covered in blood and dirt.

        "That's better." The blonde wiped the last drop of blood off of El's face, adoring how naturally pretty the girl in front of her was.

        Eleven could only stare at her reflection in the mirror with teary eyes and a small frown. She didn't necessarily feel pretty without any hair on her head.

         "Hey, you don't need it, okay? You are so fucking beautiful. Inside and out." The blonde stuck her bottom lip out in a pout. She poked El on the chest, letting her know she that she loved her so much.

         "You think. . .I'm beautiful?" El's eyes widened, her lips parted in happiness.

          "Of course I do, El. I always will. Whether you have hair or not." Grace leaned forward as her eyes met Eleven's. The two girls just smiled at each other. It was times like these that they missed the most. The door to the bathroom busted open, causing both girls to jump in surprise, turning to the culprits.

         "It's Lucas! We think he's in trouble!" Dustin and Mike exclaimed loudly. Both girls shared a look with each other warily, hoping the boy was okay.

         "Do you remember how he said he was looking for the gate? I think he found it." Dustin told his friends, turning up his walkie-talkie. They could hear Lucas screaming incoherent phrases.

         "What's he saying?" Grace asked the two boys in front of her. "I don't know, he's way out of range." Dustin shook his head, not comprehending.

         "Lucas, if you can hear us, slow down. We can't understand you." Mike took Dustin's walkie-talkie into his own hands, trying to calm him down.

          "The. . .bad. . .men. . .are. . .coming!" Lucas shouted, the sound going in and out.

         "Did he say mad hen? Or bad men?" Grace scratched the side of her head.

         "Bad men! Stay here." Mike told Eleven to stay in the basement. The rest of them ran upstairs to look out one of the windows. They spotted a Hawkins van, not failing to notice the way Grace stiffened.

         Her heart began to race as she thought of all the possibilities. She wondered if they there for just El, or both of them? She knew her adoptive parents made a deal with them to leave her alone all those years.

         "What is that guy doing?" Mike questioned, not waiting for an answer. He ran to his mom, his two friends staying behind as they stared at the van. Five more vans started pulling into Mike's driveway. Grace closed the curtains, letting out a deep breath. Her and Dustin ran to warn Mike. They found him in the kitchen talking to his mom. He needed to talk faster.

         "Mike! We need to leave, like, right now!" The blonde shouted urgently, ignoring the shocked look on Karen's face.

"If anyone asks where I am, I've left the country!" Mike yelled to his mom before running out of his house, right behind his friends.

         They all grabbed ahold of their bikes. Grace made a quick hand gesture for Eleven to hop onto the back of her bike, the girl doing so in a hurry.

         Soon after, the blonde made eye contact with Brenner. He stared them down, a smirk appearing on his face at the sight of her.

         "Go! Go! Go!" Dustin repeatedly yelled, knocking the blonde out of her trance.

         She peddled faster than she'd ever peddled in her entire life. Mike and Dustin were both behind her, their words sounding like static.

         Seeing that sick man again brought back memories from a dark past she swore she'd forgotten. Childhood trauma was cruel like that. The second she thought she was over it, boom, it's back to haunt her.

         "Meet me at Elm and Cherry!" Grace tuned back into their conversation to hear Lucas.

         Two vans were catching up to them. Shit. Grace made a turn through someone's yard, breaking up a game of patty cake between two little girls.

        "Sorry!" She called out to the little girls, making it to the street Lucas told them to meet him at. Mike and Dustin stopped behind her. They only had to wait a few seconds before Lucas showed up.

          "Where are they?" Lucas asked his friends, referring to the bad men.

          "I think we lost them." Dustin spoke with a breathless grin. As soon as he said that, two vans appeared right behind them.

"Thank you for jinxing us, Dustin." Grace rolled her eyes, starting to peddle again.

The blonde felt trapped as another van appeared in front of them. She let out a breath, her heart feeling as if it could explode any minute now.

A scream left Dustin's loud mouth as El flipped the van over their heads, making it land behind them. Once she did that, Grace made the other two vans behind them crash into each other, setting them on fire. The two girls smiled at each other, proud of their teamwork.

With both of their distractions, the kids were able to get away from the men. They parked their bikes, the boys letting theirs fall to the ground. Grace shook her head at their carelessness, setting hers up on the kickstand. She didn't care what the circumstances were, her pink bike was not about to get dirty any time soon.

"Holy shit! Did you see what they did to those vans?" Dustin was beyond amazed.

"No, Dustin, we missed it." Mike called out sarcastically, already used to it.

"I mean that was—" Dustin didn't get to finish his sentence. "Awesome. It was awesome." Lucas finished, stunned, and also out of breath.

"Everything I said about you being a traitor and stuff. . .I was wrong. I'm sorry." Lucas walked up to El, putting a friendly hand on her shoulder.

"Friends don't lie. I'm sorry, too." Eleven apologized as well. Grace was just glad that the two of them could put aside their differences.

"Me too," Mike stared at Lucas hopefully, holding his hand out towards him. Lucas shook his hand, both of them over their immature fight.

"Well, me and Dustin don't have anything to apologize for, 'cause we're perfect." The blonde grinned, her and Dustin high-fiving each other.

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        AUTHOR'S NOTE 📝  .    .     .
Only like two more chapters before we hit season two!
I'm so excited, you guys have no idea how much I have in store for this book! Grace is going to blow your minds!