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Karen wasn’t really sure why the Wheeler house became the go-to meeting place for Mike and his friends. They’d sort of flitted from house to house when they were younger; But then Lonnie Byers had left, and Dustin had arrived in town with just his mom, and even though Lucas’s house was right next door, the boys had gravitated to the Wheelers’. When they’d started playing Dungeons & Dragons, Karen had realised that she was never going to get her basement back. The space became Mike’s, and his friends became regular fixtures around their dining table, and that was just how it went.
Those four boys were constants. Mike and Will and Lucas and Dustin, always a group, always causing a mess down in Karen’s basement and always, always the best of friends. Since Dustin’s arrival, no one new had joined. There was never even a flicker of interest in anyone else, never a mention of a new friend or someone else coming round to join in their games. The four of them seemed to be all they needed.
So when Max arrived, Karen was genuinely surprised.
Not only was there a new friend in the group, but she was a girl. Outnumbered four to one, Karen honestly felt a bit sorry for her.
(Of course, she would find out later that there had been a girl in the group before her, and there would remain another girl in the group after her. Outnumbered four to two was so much better.)
Max was shy, at first; quiet and polite, never one to draw attention to herself whenever adults were around. Sometimes, when Karen walked past the stairs, or went down to get a load of laundry, she’d hear Max bantering with the boys, loud and rough - but she’d always stop as soon as she saw they weren’t alone.
Karen didn’t know much about the Hargroves. They were new to town, having recently moved from California, both parents on their second marriages, and mostly kept to themselves. There were rumours, of course, about what could have drawn them away from sunny beaches and brought them to sleepy old Hawkins, but nothing substantial. Nothing that really told her anything about the family.
She learnt much more by watching Max.
Sometimes she’d catch a glimpse of red hair flying down the street, and then see Max knocking on the Sinclairs’ front door at all hours of the day and night, skateboard tucked under her arm. They never turned her away.
The boys were all more on edge and alert, now, but Max jumped the most out of any of them at unexpected noises. And while they’d all turn towards the source, eyes wide, she would always flinch away, hands coming up instinctively.
When they were all there for dinner, Karen caught Max marvelling at the way Mike and Nancy bickered, shooting insults at each other one second and then laughing as Nancy held his arm affectionately the next. Her expression was a strange mixture of envy and confusion, but she’d always shake it off before Karen had a chance to mention it.
The picture Karen gathered of the Hargrove family over those first few months wasn’t a nice one.
It got worse, though.
“Mom!”
Karen started, losing her page in the book she was reading, as someone - Nancy - banged on the bathroom door. She would have been annoyed at her for interrupting her bubble bath, had she not sounded so panicked.
“Mom, I need to get to the medicine cabinet!”
“What? Nancy, are you okay?” she asked, quickly stepping out of the bath and putting on her robe. She opened the door to see Nancy with her hand raised to knock again, looking genuinely scared. “What’s going on?”
She spoke at a million miles an hour, voice shaking. “It’s Max, she’s hurt, I don’t know, she won’t say what exactly happened, but Lucas brought her over and we need bandages -”
Nancy pushed past her and rushed over to the medicine cabinet, piling supplies into her arms.
“Bandages?” Karen asked, unable to keep the panic out of her voice.
“It’s bad, Mom.”
Karen tightened her robe and caught a roll of tape as it fell from Nancy’s arms. “Is it - was it something…?” She couldn’t bring herself to finish the question.
Thankfully, Nancy didn’t need her to say it aloud. She shook her head. “I think it was her brother.”
Karen froze. “Her brother?”
She remembered a boy with long hair, chiseled muscles visible beneath an undone shirt, a charming grin and a manner straight out of one of her romance novels, asking her where he might find Max, because he was worried sick about her.
She remembered how nice it had felt to have someone look at her - in nothing but the robe she was wearing now - and like what they saw.
Something sad and choking clawed its way up Karen’s throat.
This wasn’t the type of monster she’d been expecting.
Nancy didn’t respond.
Karen followed her down to the lounge, where Lucas was crouched by the sofa, holding a bag of frozen peas to Max’s face and murmuring quietly to her. Steve was pacing back and forth, one hand in his hair and the other on his hip, expression tight.
“I’ve got bandages,” Nancy announced, and Lucas looked at her like she was handing him the sun.
It was only when he shifted back that Karen was able to properly see Max, and when she did that choking sensation in her throat intensified. Half her face was swollen, an ugly mix of reds and purples, and there was blood leaking from her hairline down over her forehead and into her right eye, which was swollen shut.
Karen gasped, both hands flying up to cover her mouth. “Oh, my god.”
Lucas’s face fell. “What do we do?”
“We kill the son of a bitch,” Steve growled.
“I meant right now ,” Lucas said, desperate. “Do we call an ambulance?”
Max whimpered quietly, and he gently pressed the peas back against her bruised face.
“Call an ambulance, and call Hopper,” Karen said, surprising even herself with how firm she sounded. “Right now, Steve. And Nancy, get some Aspirin.”
Instantly, Steve was gone, running for the phone, while Nancy dropped what she was holding to the ground and searched through it for the painkillers.
Karen stepped cautiously over to the couch, not wanting to startle Max. “Is she conscious?”
“Hey, Ms Wheelr,” Max said in response, words slow and slurred.
“Hi, Max,” Karen said softly, kneeling beside Lucas. “We’re going to make sure you’re okay, all right, sweetie?”
“‘mfine,” Max drawled. Her bottom lip was swollen and split. “‘s jus’ a bruise.”
“Jesus,” Nancy hissed. She handed over the Aspirin and then wrapped her arms around her waist, looking like she was going to be sick.
“You’re being so brave, Max,” Karen continued, scanning her for other injuries. She could see a splotch of color crawling out from under the cuff of her jacket, wrapped around her thin wrist, but this one was stained yellow. God, how long had this been going on? “You’re doing great, okay?”
The bag of peas slipped and Max yelped.
“Sorry!” Lucas exclaimed, quickly righting it. “Sorry, sorry, I’m so sorry -”
“Hey.” Nancy was there instantly, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. “You’re okay. You’re doing great.”
Lucas nodded. Tears were running down his cheeks and he’d started shaking. Karen wondered if the initial shock was wearing off.
“Don’ cry,” Max said, her one good eyebrow lowering in concern. “‘sokay.”
“I know,” Lucas said, grabbing her hand. “Sorry.”
“She needs water,” Karen said, craning her head back to look at Nancy.
She nodded and went to get a glass, passing Steve on the way. His eyes flitted between all of them before settling on Karen. “Ambulance and Hopper are on their way.”
“Good, that’s good.” Karen leant forward and gingerly touched the uninjured side of Max’s face, pushing her hair back. A few strands stuck in the blood, and she swallowed thickly as she carefully pulled them free. She wanted to see if she was still bleeding, but she didn’t want to risk hurting her.
“Here.” Nancy returned in record time with a glass of cold water.
They all jumped a mile as the door banged open. Relief flooded through Karen. Hopper was here, Hopper would know exactly what to do, he’d help Max -
But it wasn’t Hopper.
“ Lucas !” Mike screamed, slamming the door shut. “Lucas, we got your message, Code Red, where are you? Lucas, are you -!”
Mike and El froze in the doorway to the lounge. They looked from Max, still lying prone on the sofa, to Lucas, still crying, to Karen, to Nancy and Steve, who were hovering across the room, and then back to Max.
All of the color drained from Mike’s face. “What happened?”
“Billy,” Steve spat.
“He did this?” Mike glowered. He stomped forward, leaning over Karen to get a better look at Max.
“Hey,” she said, looking up at him. “Sorry fo’ gettin’ blood on your couch.”
He almost laughed.
El hung back. She was watching Max closely, her mouth set in a straight line and her eyes dark.
“She’s going to be all right,” Karen assured them. “Hopper’s on his way.”
El’s expression shifted slightly, but she didn’t take her gaze off Max. “How?” she asked, voice low.
Karen looked to Lucas. His fingers twitched around Max’s hand. “I don’t know, she just showed up at my house looking like this… We were supposed to go to the movies…”
“But you’re sure it was her brother?” Karen asked.
Steve answered, “Yeah, this is his M.O.”
She didn’t want to think about the repercussions of that statement. Instead, she focused on gently tilting Max’s head up and holding the glass of water to her lips. “You need to drink this, Max. We’re giving you some pills that will help you feel better.”
Max groaned at the change in angle. “Hurts.”
“I know, sweetheart, I know it hurts. I’m sorry, but this’ll help, I promise.” Karen persisted, still holding the glass at an angle, until Max successfully took a few sips. She gave her the Aspirin, made her drink some more, and then let her lie back.
She moaned. “E’erythin’ hurts.”
Karen looked helplessly out the front window into the night. She wasn’t equipped for this, she was just a mom, she was good for scraped knees and bruised elbows, not… not beatings . The streetlamps illuminated an empty, quiet, suburban street. There was still no sign of Hopper or the ambulance.
Without warning, every light in the room flickered.
“Hey,” Mike said quickly, darting over to El. He grabbed both of her hands and tugged on them until she turned to face him. The lights steadied and remained on. “Hey, it’s okay. She’s gonna be all right, you don’t have to -”
“He hurt her,” El growled. “He’s bad.”
It was the first time Karen had ever seen El’s powers in action. She knew that this was nothing compared to what she was capable of, but it was enough to send a thrill of fear racing down Karen’s spine. Looking at her expression now, she could easily reconcile the girl in front of her with the one in the photo the government agents had shown her, the one whom they said was extremely dangerous. For the first time, Karen started to comprehend why they thought so.
“Yeah, he is, he’s a piece of shit,” Mike agreed, sounding more concerned for El than worried about the power surge. “But Hopper’s going to deal with him, so you don’t have to.”
Her shoulders relaxed slightly and her bottom lip dropped. “How?”
Mike shrugged. “I dunno. He’ll arrest him, probably.”
“No!” Max said, jerking violently upright, sending the bag of peas falling to the ground. “He’ll get out an’ he’ll hurt me, he’ll hurt me again -”
“Shh, Max, shh.” Karen and Lucas gently pushed her back down. “You need to rest, you need to lie down.”
“No,” she whimpered, but was too weak to fight. She lay back on the pillows and closed her eyes.
“No, no, no, Max you need to stay awake.” Lucas cupped her good cheek. “Max, come on, stay with us.”
The lights started to flicker again. El looked on the verge of tears, scared and angry and overwhelmed. Mike looked helplessly at Lucas, who was too focused on Max to notice anything else.
“Sorry, I just -” Mike licked his lips, glanced from his friends to his girlfriend and made up his mind. “We’ll be right back.”
He pulled El from the room, their murmured voices still audible, but unintelligible, from the other side of the house.
Max blinked. “Lucas?”
“I’m here, Max,” he replied, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.
Steve asked the question Karen was thinking. “Is El okay?”
Nancy sighed. “I think it’s… bringing back memories.”
As if this day wasn’t already traumatic enough.
The sound of a car roaring down the street halted their conversation. Karen straightened, peering through the curtains as a blue Camaro drove by. It slowed as it approached Lucas’s house, enough that Karen could clearly see the driver even despite the glare of the headlights. She’d only met him once, but it was obviously Billy. He looked straight at the Wheelers’ front door and swerved into the drive.
“Oh, god.” Karen turned quickly from the window. “He’s here.”
“I’m going to kill him,” Steve declared, hands already balled into fists.
“Steve!” Nancy grabbed his arm and hauled him back. “He’s already kicked your ass once, don’t give him another chance.”
Steve spluttered. “Nance, that was - it was - I totally had him! He fought dirty, hitting me over the head with that plate.”
Karen’s hand went straight to her heart. “He hit you over the head with a plate?”
Steve blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, it was… Well, I looked about as good as Max does now, actually.”
“Shuddup,” Max said, almost casual. “I look betta than you did.”
“Yeah, kid, we know,” Steve said softly, crouching down beside her. He gently cradled her face, studying her injuries. “I’m sorry for joking about it, it’s not funny. You know what I’m like when I get nervous.”
Max hummed thoughtfully. Her eyes were glazed, as if she was only half paying attention to what he was saying. “Billy hit me,” she said again, and then added, “Wit’ his car.”
All of the air was sucked from the room.
Steve’s hands froze, hovering an inch above her face. Karen twisted the tie of her robe into knots around her fingers, heart thudding in her chest. In the sudden silence she could hear Mike and El still talking quietly in the other room.
Nancy blanched. “What?”
Lucas was shaking harder than ever. “He hit you with his car ? Like he ran over you?”
“No, like…” Max took a deep, shuddering breath in. “Like behind me. Hit me from behind. I fell off my board.”
“Son of a…” Steve cut himself off, looking away. When he stood, his shoulders were tense. “I’m gonna kill him. I’m going to beat his fucking head in, the piece of shit.”
“Steve,” Max said. She gingerly raised a hand and touched her split lip, wincing when her fingertip came away stained red. “Don’ get beat up fo’ me again.”
A knock sounded on the front door.
The room fell silent, apart from a single, quiet whimper from Max.
“Leave it,” Nancy whispered, clutching Steve’s arm in an attempt to hold him still. “Maybe he’ll go away.”
But Billy knocked again, louder, with more force, and Karen just knew that he wasn’t going to give up.
“I’ll answer it,” she said, sweeping her hair over her shoulder.
“Mom!” Nancy looked aghast. “You can’t, you don’t know what he’s like -”
“Nancy, trust me. I can handle him.” Karen gave her best I am your mother and I know best stare, until her daughter shrank back against Steve’s side.
She straightened her spine and tried to hide her apprehension as she walked to the door. Mike and El were hovering at the end of the hall, watching from around the corner. She waved at them to go join the others out of sight, and they did, despite how worried they both looked.
When Karen swung open the door, she flashed her most charming smile. “Well, hello.”
“Mrs. Wheeler,” Billy said, grinning at her. His eyes remained cold, even as he raked them over her, clad, once again, only in her robe. “It must be my lucky night. What a pleasure.”
She tittered, pretending to be pleased. “The pleasure’s all mine, Billy. What can I help you with?”
Her acting skills must have been better than her childrens’, because Billy’s smile didn’t change at all. “I’m awfully sorry to bother you, but I’m looking for my sister, Maxine? We’ve got a family dinner tonight, you see, and she’s not home, and I’m getting worried. I remembered that your house is the hangout choice, so I thought I’d check here.”
Karen pretended to think, fluttering her fingers against her chin. “No, I don’t think she’s here tonight. Mike left this afternoon, said he was meeting up with his friends… Now where did he say they were going?”
She was trying her best to stall for time, praying for Hopper to arrive, but she could see Billy’s patience was already wearing thin. She let her hand fall to her chest, subtly grazing the edge of her robe, as she hummed thoughtfully. The distraction worked - Billy’s eyes followed the path of her hand, travelling across her collarbone and back up to her lips as she pulled her bottom one up between her teeth.
“Mrs. Wheeler,” he began, voice a little rougher than before.
“Call me Karen,” she said with her sickliest sweet smile.
“Karen,” he said, smiling back at her. “I really appreciate your help, but if you haven’t seen Max I’m afraid I should keep on looking.”
She had to keep him here until Hopper arrived, just a few more minutes. “Silly me! The arcade, that’s where Mike said they were going.”
Billy’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve already checked there. No sign of her, unfortunately.”
“Oh. They must have left already, then.”
He hovered on the front step, glancing over her shoulder. “You’re sure they’re not here?”
“One hundred percent,” Karen lied. “I wish I could help.”
“That’s okay, Karen.” He gave her a sleazy grin. “I’m sure I’ll find her. I just have one quick question, though.”
She batted her eyelashes, playing up the innocent act. Her heart was racing, and all she could think was, Hopper’s coming, Hopper’s coming, Hopper’s coming. “Oh?”
“Who’s is that?” Billy nodded to the jacket hung hastily on the coat rack. It was small, bright yellow, obviously a girly design.
She realised what he was thinking and tried to laugh. She brought a hand up, intending to reach for it, but he lunged forward and curled his fingers around her wrist, trapping her there.
“It’s not Max’s,” she said, breathless with fear. Her bravado was rapidly leaving her, disturbing images of Max’s injuries flashing in front of her eyes, patterns matching to the knuckles going white around her wrist.
“It’s mine.”
Karen craned her neck back to see El standing right behind her, chin lowered and eyes narrowed. She tilted her head to the side, and the pressure on Karen’s wrist instantly disappeared.
Billy screamed and clutched at his hand. “What the fuck?!”
El jerked her chin up and he fell forwards into the hall. Karen barely stepped aside in time, and then the door was slamming shut behind them without anyone touching it.
El stalked forward, pausing only briefly to look at Karen, presumably to check if she was okay, before advancing towards the boy who was more than double her size without any hesitation.
He was struggling, trying to stand, but it was like he was pinned on his back by an invisible force. He started laughing, crazed, and lifted his head to meet her stare.
Mike ran behind her. “El, wait!”
She held out a hand and Mike stopped right beside Karen, at the edge of the entrance hall.
“Stay away from my friends,” El said threateningly, looming over the top of Billy. “Stay away from Max, stay away from Lucas, stay away from Steve. If you go near any of them, ever again, I will hurt you. And I don’t need the bat with nails to do it.”
As if to prove her point, she tilted her head again, and Billy’s laughter was cut off by a howl of pain, his fingers on both hands bent at entirely unnatural angles.
“El!” Mike said, more desperately now.
She looked over her shoulder at him, and everything about her softened. She swiped her sleeve under her nose, wiping away the blood that had fallen there, and came to join him and Karen, leaving Billy curled in a ball behind her.
Finally, finally, a police cruiser pulled up on the curb, blue and red lights flashing through the windows. Seconds later, Hopper was throwing the door open and hitting Billy in the back of the head.
“What’s going on?” he demanded, taking in the scene - Billy, curled on the floor and clutching his head, Karen, standing there in only her robe, shaking and holding her wrist, and Mike and El, both looking at him as if daring him to question them.
Karen swiped the back of her palm across her forehead, breathing out a sigh of relief. “Thank God you’re here.”
“Is everyone okay?” Hopper asked.
“No,” Billy wailed. He sat up, groaning.
“Not you,” Hopper said bluntly. He stepped over Billy and looked right at El.
“He tripped,” she said flatly. “And fell on his hands.”
“Uhuh, I bet he did,” Hopper said, in exactly the same tone.
“Chief,” Karen said quietly, gingerly touching his elbow. He immediately turned his focus to her, eyebrows creased with concern. “He hit Max with his car.”
Mike and El hadn’t heard this, yet, and both looked at her, horrified. “He what ?” Mike exclaimed.
“Right,” Hopper said. A cloud passed over his face, and it was obvious he was trying to approach this as purely the Chief of Police, and not someone with a vested, personal interest in these kids. He took a deep breath, and then got the cuffs off his belt and dangled them over Billy. “You’re under arrest.”
He started reading Billy his rights as the flashing lights outside doubled, the ambulance finally pulling up behind the police cruiser.
Hopper hauled Billy roughly out of the way so Karen could open the door and usher the paramedics through to the lounge, where Max was still lying on the sofa.
The next few minutes were a blur. Hopper loaded Billy into the back of the cruiser, calling for backup as he did so. The paramedics loaded Max onto a stretcher and put her in the ambulance. Lucas wanted to ride with her, but they said he was too young, so Steve volunteered to go in the ambulance while Nancy and Lucas followed in his car.
Karen, Mike and El were left behind, standing to the side and watching it all unfold.
“Is Max going to be okay?” El asked, once the house was empty.
“She’s going to be fine,” Karen replied. “The doctors will check her over and then she’ll go home.”
“Home? With Billy?” El asked, obviously confused and concerned.
Karen hadn’t thought of that. “Oh. Well. I’m not sure.”
“Don’t worry,” Mike said. “He’s probably going to jail, and we’ll make sure Max is safe, wherever she goes. I don’t think Billy will try anything again after today, anyway.”
El smiled, pleased with herself. “You think?”
Mike laughed. “Yeah, you terrified him, holy shit. It was almost as good as that time with Troy.”
“The time with Troy?” Karen asked, raising an eyebrow at them.
“Uh. Well, Mom -”
“Karen.” It was Hopper, hat in hand, standing at the front door. “I need to get a statement, do you mind?”
“Not at all.” She left Mike and El sitting side by side on the sofa and joined Hopper on the front step.
Billy was in the back of the cruiser, Officers Callahan and Powell in front, and it looked like they were having a heated argument despite the fact the two cops had only just arrived on the scene.
Hopper followed her gaze. “Ignore them. Callahan secretly enjoys this part of the job.”
“What, being talked back to?”
Hopper nodded.
Karen laughed. “He should have a kid.”
“God, there’s a terrifying thought.” Hopper smiled, but it fell away as he pulled a notepad from his pocket. “And speaking of terrifying things… Can you tell me what the hell happened tonight?”
She ran him through everything, or as much of the events as she could remember. She tried to be as detailed as possible, tried to make sure that everything was consistent. She didn’t want to make any mistakes or say anything that could negatively impact the case against Billy. When she got to the part where he grabbed her wrist, Karen realised she was shaking, and not from the cold. She hugged her middle, trying to hold herself together.
“It was… It was terrifying, Hop.” The nickname slipped out before she could stop it, and for one horrifying second, Karen thought he was going to call her on it.
Thankfully, he just shook his head and said, “All the shit that goes on in this town, and somehow ordinary people still manage to be some of the scariest.”
He pulled a packet of cigarettes from his pocket and held them out to her. Karen hadn’t had a smoke in a long time, not since before Holly was born, but she took one anyway. If ever there was a time for a smoke, this was it. He lit her up and then lit one for himself, and they stood in companionable silence, blowing smoke into the air.
“You know,” Karen said eventually. “It was El who saved me.”
“I figured. She doesn’t like bullies,” Hopper said easily.
Karen looked up at him. He was staring at the cruiser, expression unreadable. “She’s a great kid.”
He smiled at that. “Yeah, she is.”
“Terrifying when she’s mad, though.”
He laughed, long and loud. “Yeah, yeah she is.”
They lapsed back into silence, until Karen dropped her cigarette. Hopper dropped his and crushed them both under his heel, as she was still barefoot. “Thanks for everything, Karen. I’m glad they had you, tonight.”
His words caught her off guard. She blinked up at him. “I didn’t do anything.”
“You did a lot. Don’t discount how much it means to them, just having an adult there who’s willing to help.”
She realised he was speaking about more than just this one night, more than this one problem, and felt a shift in her understanding of the world. She was truly in it, now, as someone any of the kids could turn to if they needed help, with anything. She was responsible for all of them.
There weren’t really words to explain the gravity of how that felt, so Karen just nodded.
Hopper glanced back at the door. “I know it’s a lot to ask after what you’ve just been through, but would you mind looking after El for a while longer, just so I can go back to the station and write this up? I want to get it processed as quickly as possible.”
Karen smiled. “Of course. Of course, it’s no problem.”
Hopper adjusted his hat and started walking back to the empty cruiser, gesturing for Callahan and Powell to go on ahead and take Billy to lock up. He stopped with the car door open and leaned on the top. “What you did tonight was really brave, Karen.”
She didn’t feel brave. She felt terrified, shaken and vulnerable. But she’d tried not to show it in front of the kids, and she supposed that must count for something. “Thanks, Hopper.”
She watched him drive away, wondering what was going to happen to Billy and, more importantly, what was going to happen to Max. El’s worry about her having to return to the same house as her abusive step brother wasn’t unfounded, but Karen vowed then and there to never let that happen. If she needed, Max could come and live with the Wheelers.
After all, she’d heard that their basement was a great place to stay.