1 Demagorgon [Ep1]

[Edited]

There was a low-end rumble, like that of a growl on an unseen beast. 

NOVEMBER 6th, 1983

HAWKINS, INDIANA

It was nighttime, dark clouds were swallowing the stars, but not enough to make them invisible. It made the imposing building under the night sky feel very eerie as it was just sitting alone in dense woods. White lights surrounding the sides of the building with a few red lights on top of tall metal towers. 

HAWKINS NATIONAL LABORATORY

U.S DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Inside the sub-level of the laboratory, slowly creeping down a long windowless corridor toward a steel door, Fluorescent lights flickering non-stop, a siren warbled and that low-end rumble continued. The steel door was getting closer and closer and closer and . . . .  WHOOM! 

The door explodes open, the hinges shrieking as it hits the wall behind it with a loud BOOM! A scientist staggers out, terrified and pale faced. He sprinted down the corridor, running for his life as he was panting heavily. His white lab coat was flying all over the place as he ran. 

Faster, Faster, Faster - - - 

He was now in the sub-level area near the elevator. He rounded a corner, almost falling as his foot slipped from how fast he was running, Up ahead of him was a freight elevator. He mashed the call button as fast and hard as he could. As he was waiting for the elevator to arrive, he kept looking over his shoulder, down that long corridor, terrified. He was sweating a lot but didn't bother to wipe away the perspiration as he mashed the call button again, impatiently. 

Finally, the elevator arrived with a soft DING. The doors grinded vertically open. The scientist basically leaped inside, He hit the button for the top floor in a hurry before standing in the middle of the metal elevator, still breathing heavily. As he was waiting for the doors to close, He stared at the long, quiet corridor in front of him, he heard . . .  

A strange rumbling noise. 

Coming from above him. 

He slowly looked up at the ceiling, His body taken over by tremors. His eyes grow wide on his pale face, and . . . . . 

Through flickering lights, the scientist gets sucked up towards the ceiling by something as he screams in horror. His legs kicking violently in mid-air and then - - -   

The elevator doors snap shut. 

And the silence is restored. 

Meanwhile, In a suburban neighborhood . . . .  

*HISS* Lawn sprinklers kick on in a quiet, calm suburban cul-de-sac. One house in particular, however, isn't so quiet and calm. There was a young boy's voice. He was purposefully speaking in a dramatic, incense voice. 

"Do you hear that? Listen . ." 

The voice was coming from a two-story house at the end of the cul-de-sac. The mailbox read: "The Wheelers" 

". . . Something is coming . . . . Something hungry for blood . . ." 

Inside the two-story house, down in the basement was a group of 5 boys, all 12 years old, playing dungeon and dragons. They sat around a brown card table, a grid map was spread out on the table before them, along with a nearly empty pizza box, canned cokes, and the all-important dungeon and dragons monster manual.  

Mike Wheeler, 12 years old, was the "Dungeon Master" and de facto leader of the group. 

". . .  A shadow grows in the wall behind you . . ..  swallowing you in darkness . . ..  it is almost here .." 

The four other boys lean forward, riveted as they gulp heavily, super focused on the game. One of them sniffled as they rubbed their noses, not taking their eyes away from the boy speaking. 

The four boys, Lucas Sinclair (12) was playing as a knight. He was small but his loud mouth more than made up for it. 

Dustin Henderson, (12), was playing as a dwarf. He was the most fearful - - - And least confident - - - of the group. 

Will Byers, (12). He was playing as a wizard. He was soft-spoken, gentle, and delicate. 

Then there was Maverick Wynd, (12). He was playing as a rogue. He was a very happy and bubbly kid. 

Will spoke up, his voice soft yet slightly loud, ". . .What is it?" 

Dustin, who was sitting on the left side of Will, said, "What if it's the Demogorgon? Oh, Jesus, We're in deep shit if it's the demogorgon." Dustin had a lisp, but all of the boys were used to it by now. 

After hearing what Dustin said, Will slumped in his seat, "It's not the demogorgon." Lucas groaned, 

"It could be the demogorgon, You never know Lucas." Maverick said as he chewed on his fingernail. 

Mike simply watched the four interact, waiting for them to settle down before. . . 

"An army of troglodytes charge into the chamber!!" Mike then proceeded to slam down six winged miniature figurines onto the map. This made Lucas smile smugly at the other three, "Troglodytes?!" 

"Told ya." Lucas chuckled, using a funny voice that made the whole group chuckle along with him, Dustin ending up snorting softly. 

However, Mike wasn't laughing along with them. His face soon became one of fear, "Wait a minute." He said in a soft voice as he slowly looked over his shoulder, His eyes growing wide, "Did you hear that?" Soon all the boys stopped laughing and focused back on Mike. 

"That . . . That sound?" He slowly turned back to the boys, "Boom . . .  Boom . . .  BOOM!" He yelled the final boom as he slammed his hand down on the table, scaring all four boys surrounding the table. 

"That didn't come from the troglodytes. No, that . . . . that came from something else." 

The four boys leaned forward, eyes slightly wide as they listened to Mike. The boys flinch again when Mike slams a large two-headed monster miniature figurine onto the map, "The demogorgon." 

The four boys all groan and throw their hands down as soon as Mike did this. 

"We're in deep shit." Dustin groaned as he sat back in his chair. Mike then hurriedly shouted, "Will your action!" However, Will just shouted back, "I don't know!" He was getting a bit overwhelmed, he hadn't expected the Demogorgon to show up. 

Thankfully, Maverick seemed to have noticed his discomfort and softly smiled at him, which Will returned. 

"Fireball him!" Lucas yelled, making hand movements, "I'd have to roll a thirteen or higher!" Will shouted back, "Too risky, Cast a protection spell." Dustin told him, to which Maverick agreed, "Yeah, A protection spell would be better." 

But Lucas didn't agree with the two of them, "Don't be a pussy. Fireball him!" 

"Cast protection!" 

"The demogorgon is tired of your silly human bickering!" Mike suddenly shouted, making the four members quiet down, "It stomps toward you. BOOM!" 

"Fireball him!!" 

"Another stomp, BOOM!" 

"Cast protection!" 

"He roars in anger!" 

Will was getting seriously overwhelmed with all the shouting, he didn't know what to do. Maverick saw this and tried to make Lucas and Dustin calm down, "Shut up and let him think!" Of course, he was ignored which made the black haired young male quite upset. 

Lucas and Dustin were yelling at the same time, "Cast Protection!", "Cast Protection!" 

"And - - -" Mike started, only to be cut off by Will who yelled, "FIREBALL!" He threw the dice as hard as he could, which was a bit too hard apparently because the dice flew across the table and scattered to the other side of the basement, landing by the basement steps but the boys didn't see it.  

"Oh shit!" Dustin shouted as they all got up from their seats and scrambled to find the dice, "Where'd it go!?" 

"Where is it?!" Lucas exclaimed, as he helped Mike look near the area by the stairs, "I don't know!" Will shouted back as he and Maverick were searching under the table and chairs. Dustin was just standing by his chair as he shouted, "Is it a thirteen!?" 

"I don't know!" Will shouted at the same time as Maverick, "Maybe if you helped us look, dusty, we would find it!" Maverick added, wincing when he hit head on the table when he lifted his head too quickly, "Are you okay?" Will asked him, "Yea, Yea. I'm fine." He quickly brushed it off, and continued looking for the dice. 

While searching, Lucas and Dustin kept muttering to themselves, "Where is it?" or "Oh my god." 

When suddenly, Karen Wheeler, Mike's mom, shouted from behind the door at the stop of the basement stairs. 

"Mike!" 

However, Mike didn't hear her and just continued to search for the dice, while Dustin muttered under his breath, "Oh My God." Over and over again. 

"Mike!" 

"Can you find it yet?" Lucas questioned the other members, Not having any luck on his end. 

Will and Maverick were the only ones who responded to him, "No, I can't find it!", "It's under the couch, table or chairs!" 

Karen got fed up with her son ignoring her calls, so she swung the door open and shouted his name again, "Mike!" While Dustin was in the background still muttering the same words to himself. Mike looked up from his spot on the ground in front of the stairs, "Mom, we're in the middle of a campaign!" He protested, throwing his hands out. 

Karen had one hand on her hip and the other on the door handle, "You mean the end? Fifteen after." 

She tapped the watch on her wrist before the door opened and walked away, prompting Mike to follow after her up the stairs. 

"Oh my god! Freaking idiot!" Lucas shouted while Will mumbled softly, "Why do we have to go?" as he got his backpack and everything ready. Maverick doing the same, "Because it's already so late. We can pick this up another time, don't worry." He gave Will a smile which Will returned, "Are you still staying over at my house tonight?" He asked his best friend, "Yep! Mama and Papa won't be back until next week. So we can have plenty of sleepovers!" Maverick smiled goofily, while Will nodded his head with a big smile on his face too. 

Meanwhile, Upstairs Mike followed his mother into the kitchen, complaining, "Mom, wait, just 20 more minutes!" However, his mom wasn't going to change her decision, "It's a school night, Michael. I just put Holly to bed. You can finish next weekend." Karen told him as she started putting leftover food into containers. 

"But that'll ruin the flow!" Mike exclaimed, "Michael- - -" Mike cut his mother off, knowing what she was gonna say, "I'm serious, Mom.The campaign took two weeks to plan. How was I supposed to know it was gonna take ten hours?" Mike had stopped yelling and softened his voice a bit, however his mother turned to look at her son with an incredulous expression on, "You've been playing for ten hours?" 

Mike licked his lips before turning to his dad, who was busy in the living room, trying to get the T.V to work, "Dad, don't you think that 20 more—" Mike's father cut him off, barely paying attention to his son, "I think you should listen to your mother." Mike's father, Ted, said while messing with the T.V antennas. 

However, There was still static crackling on the T.V. Making Ted grunt, "Dang dumb piece of junk." 

Mike just looked back at his mother, speechless. 

While back down in the basement, Will finally found the dice, "Oh! I got it!" Will held the dice in his hands, showing Lucas, "Does the seven count?" He asked. 

"It was a seven?" Will nodded his head, "Did mike see it?" Will then shook his head, "Then it doesn't count." Lucas told him, making Maverick shake his head with a sigh, knowing that Will won't be able to keep that from Mike.

The four boys then all grabbed their jackets that were scattered around the room before putting them on, and grabbing their backpacks, slinging them around one arm as they got ready to leave the basement. 

But Dustin stopped, his eyes landing on the basically empty pizza box that had one last pizza slice in it. He picked it up before turning his gaze to his friends, "Yo, Hey, guys." He called out, catching the three boys' attention as they made their way up the stairs, "Does anyone want this?" 

"No." All three of them responded, continuing up the stairs while Dustin thought about what to do with it, before coming up with an idea. 

And While Dustin went upstairs, Lucas, Will and Maverick said goodbye to Karen and Ted before heading to the driveway where their bikes were. Mike soon met them outside, none of them having gotten on their bikes yet. 

Will was zipping up his jacket when Dustin came back out with a frown on his face as he eat the last pizza slice, "There's something wrong with your sister." He abruptly said, confusing Mike and his other friends, "What are you talking about?" 

Dustin walked over to his bike, Lucas already on his and Will and Maverick climbing on theirs as well, 

"She's got a stick up her butt." That comment made Lucas chuckle, "Yeah. It's because she's been dating that douchebag, Steve harrington." 

"Yeah, She's turning into a real jerk." Dustin told Mike, as the four friends on bike's got ready to take off, "She's always been a real jerk." Mike furrowed his brow as he said that. The four on bike's then proceeded to turn on their bike headlights. 

However, Dustin seemed to disagree with Mike's statement, "Nuh-uh, she used to be cool. Like that time she dressed up as an elf for our elder tree campaign." Mike just scoffed, Yelling, "Four years ago!"

As Dustin pedaled away, "Just saying." Lucas followed, "Later." He said to Mike. 

Will and Maverick were the only one's left, Will looked guilty and looked like he was having a really hard time keeping the dice number from Mike, so Maverick just nudged his shoulder with a nod of his head, encouraging him to tell Mike the truth. 

"It was a seven." He blurted out, "Huh?" Mike turned his gaze away from Lucas and Dustin, looking over at Will and Maverick, "The roll, It was a seven." Mike just looked at Will, letting him continue, 

"The demogorgon, it got me." 

Maverick felt his stomach drop when Will said that, he suddenly felt like something bad was gonna happen. To who or what? He didn't know, but he didn't like this feeling. He clenched his bike handles tightly, and took deep breaths to calm himself down. 

Mike just stared at Will, not really knowing how to respond. 

Will and Maverick then pushed off on the concrete, "See you tomorrow." Will grunted, "See you later, Mikey!" Maverick grinned as he followed Will down the driveway. As Will and Maverick got further away, Mike took notice that his garage lights had flickered slightly before shrugging it off and turning the lights off, before going back inside his house. 

Not knowing that from this night forward, his whole life would be different. 

Lucas, Dustin, Will and Maverick were riding their bikes down the street, Lucas's house coming up first, "Good night, ladies." He said, which earned a chuckle out of Maverick's mouth, "Kiss your mom 'night for me." Dustin joked, making Lucas roll his eyes at his friend. 

Lucas then separated from the three, whose houses were still a while ahead. 

Dustin then came up with an idea, "Race back to my place? Winner gets a comic." He proposed, getting a raised brow from Maverick. 

"Any comic?" Will inquired, to which Dustin Nodded his head, "Yeah." Will then looked over at Maverick and winked, which made Maverick smile widely before vigorously nodding his head. 

"Dusty! Help!!" Maverick shouted, scaring Dustin as he looked behind him at Maverick, "What the hell, Rick? What was that for?" Maverick just shrugged his shoulders before smirking, pointing in front of Dustin. 

Dustin furrowed his brows in confusion, turning to look in front of him before shouting, "Hey! Hey!" when he saw Will already pedaling towards his house, "You snooze, you lose, Dusty." Maverick chuckled as he hurried to catch up with his friends. 

"I didn't say go!" Maverick heard Dustin yell, it made him chuckle as he yelled for them to wait up for him. Of course they didn't. 

"Get back here!!" Dustin shouted, trying his hardest to catch up with Will, "I'm gonna kill you both!" 

"I'll take your X-Men 134!" Will shouted once he had zoomed past Dustin's house. Dustin slowed down and stopped once he got to his house, panting heavily as he said out loud, "Son on a bitch." 

"Better luck next time, Dusty. See you later!" Maverick said as he sped past Dustin, "Rick, you son of a bitch!" Dustin shouted in frustration, leaning over the front of his bike to calm his erratic breathing. 

Now it was only Will and Maverick left on the road, the road that was dark, cold and creepy. The two quietly chatted with each other, not noticing a big sign that read: 

HAWKINS NATIONAL LABORATORY

U.S.  DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

RESTRICTED AREA

NO TRESPASSING 

U.S. GOVERNMENT PROPERTY. 

As the two boys got closer and closer to Will's house, the worse Maverick started feeling. His bad feeling just got worse and worse until he finally said something to Will, "I have a bad feeling, Will." 

Will looked over at his best friend, wondering what he meant by that. He was about to open his mouth to speak when both the headlights on the boy's bikes flickered and then turned off. 

Maverick felt his stomach plumate again, the bad feeling getting worse and worse as he watched Will lean over the bike slightly to see what was wrong with the light. Both boys watched as the lights fixed themselves, they were a bit weirded out by this as they looked in front of them and saw . . .  

A tall figure with a warped body standing in the middle of the road.  

The two boys freaked out and quickly yanked the handlebars but lost control over their bikes. They ended up veering off the road, crashing into each other and falling off their bikes. They rolled down the dirt a bit, and then stayed where they were on the ground, trying to catch their breaths. 

Maverick was about to ask Will if he was okay when they both froze, A strange guttural sound was coming from behind them. They looked at each other, horror and fear on their faces, as they forced themselves to stand up. They looked around a bit, still hearing that indistinct growling coming from the area around them. They suddenly saw some foliage shuddering, the guttural sounds becoming more like growling now. 

Something was coming. 

The two boys then abandon their bikes, and run out the woods. Ahead of them was Will's house, they felt so much relief seeing the house, Even though it was small, a one-story, lower class, and basically falling apart, they felt safe. 

Will slammed the door behind him and Maverick, making sure to bolt lock it. Maverick heard paws hitting the wood and turned to a shaggy dog, Chester the mutt, racing to greet the two of them. Maverick would have been happy to see the dog and would gladly give the dog some attention, but right now he was too afraid to move away from Will. 

Once Will had bolt locked the door, he pulled Maverick along with him as he ran down the hallway as he shouted for his Mother and older brother, "Mom!? Jonathan?! Mom!!" However he didn't get any answers so he and Maverick checked their rooms, but unfortunately for them, They weren't there. 

No one else was home. They were all alone. 

Will and Maverick scrambled back to the Living room, heading towards the window. Will cupped his hands to glass, peering out into the yard, "W-What do you se-see?" Maverick stutterd, hands holding onto Will's sleeve. 

Will didn't answer at first. It was dark. Murky. Quiet. A gust of wind blew past and  . . .  Will saw the day-old laundry flutter on the clothesline, only to reveal . . .  

That figure again. It was just standing there, amongst the billowing laundry. Will couldn't make out any features, but its proportions seemed . . . off. Its head was too large. Its legs were far too long. Its body was swollen and bent in a strange, twisted shape. 

There was another gust of wind, the clothes fluttering once again and . . . . 

The figure is gone. 

Will felt his face pale, his heart leaping into his throat as he quickly backed away from the window. He pulled Maverick over to the phone in the kitchen. He ripped the phone off the receiver, he then quickly dialed 911 but it didn't ring. It was just humming with low-end static. 

"Hello!? Hello?!!" Will shouted into the phone but got no answer, he was about to dial another number when he paused. He heard something on the other line. But it wasn't a voice. It was that guttural sound he and Maverick heard in the woods. 

He moved the phone away from his ear so Maverick could hear it too, Maverick moved closer to Will so he could hear it more clearly. 

Will and Maverick could hear the pitch rising and falling, making a series of strange sounds. Words? It was as if that figure . . . Whoever . . .  Whatever it is . . . was somehow speaking to them through the phone receiver. 

In the living room, Maverick and Will hear Chester start barking at the front door. Will lowered the phone, letting it drop and hanging from the phone receiver by the cord as he and Maverick slowly move to look back at the door. 

Chester was whimpering at this point, when the two boys saw a shadow filling the crack at the base of the door and the window at the top of the door. They couldn't make out the clear shape but it definitely didn't seem to be human at all. 

And then somehow, Impossibly, the chain bolt began to slide to the side, as if drawn by an invisible hand. The metal shrieks. The door's unlocked. Allowing anything to come in. 

Will thinks quickly, trying to decide where the two could hide. When a light bulb in his head suddenly went off. The shed. 

He grabbed Maverick's wrist and WHOOM! They exploded out the back screen door, sprinting into the old wooden shed and then they slammed the door shut behind them. Both breathing hard, unable to speak a single word about what they just witnessed. 

Their eyes darting around the shed, searching for something. 

The shed was cluttered and slightly dark, lit only by a naked light bulb hanging from the ceiling, swaying slightly. The bulb buzzes, flickering a bit. At last, Maverick spotted something they could use to protect themselves. 

He nudged Will with his shoulder, Grabbing his attention successfully. He pointed to the old Remington rifle that was hanging on the wall mount. Will nodded his head, sending Maverick a weak smile as they rushed over to it. Will yanked it down, Maverick retrieving a few ammo shells from a workbench, he handed them to Will, who loaded it as fast as he could, which wasn't as fast as they both wished; Will was so scared that his hands were shaking and sweating like crazy, it was the same with Maverick. 

Will finally finished loading the rifle, He snapped the chamber shut and aimed it at the door, with Maverick by his side. The rifle was trembling in his hands. While Maverick was holding onto Will's sleeve with a trembling hand too. 

While the two of them kept their eyes trained on the door in front of them, They failed to notice a shadowed figure slowly rising behind them. 

Maverick was the one who sensed movement first, quickly alerting Will before they both slowly turned around. Will didn't fire the rifle and Maverick didn't remind him to. They just stared at the creature growling in front of them. Both paralyzed by fear. Shock. 

They both fought back tears, neither very successful. 

" . . .  P-Please . . ." Will begged, Using one hand to grab Mavericks. A high-pitched shrieking sound suddenly filled the shed. The naked-bulb hanging from the ceiling suddenly grew brighter and brighter until it filled the whole shed with an overwhelming white light as the shrinking intensified. The naked-bulb looked like it was going to shatter but then . . .  

The terrible shrinking sound abruptly stopped. 

The bright white light suddenly disappeared and went back to normal. 

But . . . The shed was empty. 

Will and Maverick had vanished. 

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A/N: Hello! So I've started re-writing this story!! It was too messy for me to continue writing it that way I was before. So I've decided to just re-write the whole thing. I'm going to make it a bit different from the first one I made. I'm going to add some more OC's, Like Maverick.

Please tell what you think of the rewriten version so far, Thank you and Enjoy!!