*Rain falling*
*Thunder Rumbling*
*Breathing Heavily*

[Mike]
Is there a number we can call for your parents?

[Dustin]
Where's your hair? Do you have cancer?

[Lucas]
Did you run away?

[Mike]
Are you in some kind of trouble?

[Lucas]
Is that blood?

[Mike]
Stop it! You're freaking her out!

[Lucas]
She's freaking me out!

[Dustin]
I bet she's deaf. Not deaf.
[Mike]
All right, that's enough, all right? She's just scared and cold.

*Thunder Rumbling*

[Mike]
Here, these are clean.

[Mike]
Okay? No, no, no!

*Boys Exclaiming*

[Dustin]
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.

[Mike]
See over there? That's the bathroom.
Privacy. Get it?
You don't want it closed?

[Eleven]
No.

[Mike]
Oh, so you can speak.
Okay, well...
Um, how about we just keep the door...
just like this.
Is that better?
[Eleven]
Yes.

[Dustin]
This is mental.

[Mike]
At least she can talk.

[Lucas]
She said "no" and "yes."
Your three-year-old sister says more.

[Dustin]
She tried to get naked.

[Lucas]
There's something seriously wrong with her.
Like, wrong in the head.

[Dustin]
She just went like...

*Motions taking off shirt*

[Lucas]
I bet she escaped from Pennhurst.
[Mike]
From where?

[Lucas]
The nuthouse in Kerley County.

[Dustin]
You got a lot of family there?

[Lucas]
Bite me.
Seriously though, think about it.
That would explain her shaved hair and why she's so crazy.

[Dustin]
Why she went like...

*Motions taking off shirt again*

[Lucas]
She's an escapee is the point.
She's probably a psycho.

[Dustin]
Like Michael Myers.

[Lucas]
Exactly! We should've never brought her here.

[Mike]
So you just wanted to leave her out in that storm?

[Lucas]
Yes! We went out to find Will, not another problem.

[Dustin]
I think we should tell your mom.

[Lucas]
I second that.

[Mike]
Who's crazy now?

[Lucas]
How is that crazy?

[Mike]
'Cause, we weren't supposed to be out tonight, remember?

[Lucas]
So?

[Mike]
So if I tell my mom and she tells your mom and your mom...

[Dustin]
Oh, man.

[Lucas]
Our houses become Alcatraz.

[Mike]
Exactly. We'll never find Will.

[Dustin motions taking off shirt once more]

[Mike]
All right, here's the plan.
She sleeps here tonight.

[Dustin]
You're letting a girl

[Mike]
Just listen! In the morning, she sneaks around my house, goes to the front door and rings my doorbell.
My mom will answer and know exactly what to do.
She'll send her back to Pennhurst or wherever she comes from.
We'll be totally in the clear.
And tomorrow night, we go back out.
And this time, we find Will.

(Here you go.
This is my sleeping bag.)

[Dustin]
You really think she's psycho?

[Lucas]
Wouldn't want her in my house.

[Dustin]
[Sighs], Mental.
[Door closes]

[Mike]
Hey, um, I never asked your name.
Is that real?
Sorry, I've just...never seen a kid with a tattoo before.
What's it mean? Eleven?

[Eleven Nods]

[Mike]
That's your name?
Eleven, Okay.
Um, well, my name's Mike, short for Michael.
Maybe we can call you "El," short for Eleven.
Um, well, okay.

[Mike]
'Night, El.

[Eleven]
'Night, Mike.

*Intro*

[Jonathan]
All right, Mom.
Breakfast is ready.

[Joyce]
What? No, be careful of the poster.

[Jonathan]
Yeah, okay.
All right.

[Joyce]
I can't eat.

[Jonathan]
I just need you to eat, Mom.

[Joyce]
[Sniffles] Listen, listen. The Xerox place opens in, like, 30 minutes...

[Jonathan]
Yeah.

[Joyce]
And I don't want you to go alone...

[Jonathan]
No, I know.
I told you, I got it.

[Joyce]
So I'm gonna have Karen take you, 'cause I should be here.

[Jonathan]
Okay.

[Joyce]
We need to make, what, 200, 300 copies?

[Jonathan]
Yeah, okay,

[Joyce]
How much is a copy?

[Jonathan]
Okay, Mom, Mom...

[Joyce]
Ten cents?

[Jonathan]
Mom...

[Joyce]
If we- ten cents

[Jonathan]
Mom, Mom! Y-You can't get like this, okay?

[Joyce]
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

[Jonathan]
No, it's okay.

[Knocking on door]

[Joyce]
We've been waiting six hours.

[Hopper]
I know, I came as soon as I could.

[Joyce]
Six hours.

[Hopper]
A little bit of trust here, all right?
We've been searching all night, went all the way to Cartersville.

[Joyce]
And?

[Hopper]
Nothing.

[Joyce]
God.

[Hopper]
Flo says you got a phone call?

[Joyce]
Oh, yeah.

[Hopper]
Storm barbecued this pretty good.

[Joyce]
The storm?

[Hopper]
What else?

[Joyce]
You're saying that that's not weird?

[Hopper]
No, it's weird.

[Joyce]
Can we, like, trace who made the call? Contact the-

[Hopper]
No, it doesn't work like that.
Now, uh, you're sure it was Will? Because Flo said you just heard some breathing.

[Joyce]
No. It was him, it was Will... and he was scared.
And then something-

[Hopper]
It was probably just a prank call.
It was somebody trying to scare you.

[Joyce]
Who would do that?

[Hopper]
Well, this thing's been on TV.
It brings out all the crazies, you know.
False leads, prank calls, uh

[Joyce]
No, Hopper, it was not a prank.
It was him.

[Hopper]
Joyce.

[Joyce]
Come on, how about a little trust here? What, you think I'm I'm making this up?

[Hopper]
I'm not saying that you're making it up.
All I'm saying is it's an emotional time for you.

[Joyce]
And you think I don't know my own son's breathing? Wouldn't you know your own daughter's?

[Hopper]
You hear from, uh, Lonnie yet?

[Joyce]
No.
It's been long enough.
I'm having him checked out.
Oh, come on! You're wasting your time.
Hey, Hopper.
Hopper.
Let me go.
- I'm sorry? - To Lonnie's.
You know, if Will's there, it means he ran away.
And if he sees the cops, he'll think he's in trouble.
He'll He'll hide.
- You know, he's good at hiding.
- Yeah? Well, cops are good at finding.
Okay? Stay here with your mom.
She needs you.
Slow down, Mike.
That's disgusting.
Do a lot of studying last night? Yeah, actually, I did.
What was your test on again? Human anatomy? Hey, what's going on? Nothing.
Hey, you found my supercomm.
Pretty cool, huh? I talk to my friends with it.
Mostly Lucas, 'cause he lives so close.
Signal's pretty weak.
Got you breakfast.
So listen, this is gonna sound a little weird, but I just need you to go out there.
Then go to the front door and ring the doorbell.
My mom will answer and you'll tell her that you're lost and that you need help.
But whatever you do, you can't tell her about last night or that you know me.
Understand? Really, it's no big deal.
We'll just pretend to meet each other again.
And my mom, she'll know who to call.
No.
No? No.
No you don't want my mom to get help? You're in trouble, aren't you? Who Who are you in trouble with? Bad.
Bad? Bad people? They want to hurt you? The bad people? Understand? Michael, where are you? We're going to be late.
- Let's go! - All right, I'll be back.
Just stay here, okay? Stay here.
When was this? Last night.
Less than two miles away.
- And the boy? - Still missing.
It was my son.
I know it.
And I I heard something else.
Something else? It was like, uh, some kind of animal.
I don't know.
Just please tell Hop to hurry.
Will! Will Byers! Will Byers! - Will! - Will! Hey! Anything? You? No, nothing but a dead phone.
Joyce? About one step from falling off the edge.
She's been a few steps for a while now, hasn't she? Kid's missing, man.
Show a little class.
All right.
Come on, let's go! We got a lot of ground to cover.
The chief and her, they've screwed before, huh? Will! That a "yeah" or did they - Will! - Will! "When alpha particles go through gold foil, they become" - Unoccupied space.
- "A molecule that can" - Hey! - I don't know, I think you've studied enough, Nance.
- Steve - I'm telling you, you know, you got this.
Don't worry.
Now, on to more important matters.
My dad has left town on a conference and my mom's gone with him, - 'cause, you know, she doesn't trust him.
- Good call.
So are you in? In for what? No parents? Big house? A party? Ding, ding, ding! It's Tuesday.
It's Tuesday! Oh, my God.
Come on.
It'll be low key.
It'll just be us.
What do you say? Are you in or are you out? - Um - Oh, God.
Look.
Oh, God, that's depressing.
- Should we say something? - I don't think he speaks.
How much you want to bet he killed him? Shut up.
Hey.
Oh, hey.
I just I wanted to say, you know, um I'm sorry about everything.
Everyone's thinking about you.
- It sucks.
- Yeah.
I'm sure he's fine.
He's a smart kid.
I have to go.
Chemistry test.
Yeah.
- Good luck.
- Thanks.
Attention, faculty and students.
At 8:00 p.
m.
tonight, there will be an assembly on the football field in support of Will Byers and his family.
All are encouraged to attend.
Volunteer sign-ups for search parties are still available in the office.
Oh, this is weird.
- He's never this late.
- I'm telling you, his stupid plan failed.
I thought you liked his plan.
Yeah, but obviously it was stupid, or he'd be here.
If his mom found out a girl spent the night He's in deep shit right about now.
Hey, what if she slept naked? Oh, my God, she didn't.
Oh, if Mrs.
Wheeler tells my parents - No way.
Mike would never rat us out.
- I don't know.
All that matters is, after school, the freak will be back in the loony bin, and we can focus on what really matters, finding Will.
You want anything to drink? We have OJ, skim milk What else? Um, we have Oh, this is my living room.
It's mostly just for watching TV.
Nice, right? It's a 22-inch.
That's, like, ten times bigger than Dustin's.
- Pretty.
- I guess.
That's my sister Nancy.
And that's baby Holly.
And those are my parents.
What are your parents like? Do they live close? That's our La-Z-Boy.
It's where my dad sleeps.
You can try it if you want.
Yeah.
It's fun.
Just trust me, okay? See? Fun, right? Now you try.
Darling, you got to let me know Should I stay or should I go? - You like it? - Yeah, it's cool.
All right, you can keep the mix if you want.
- Really? - Yeah, really.
All the best stuff's on there.
Joy Division, Bowie, Television, The Smiths It'll totally change your life.
Yeah, totally.
Where the hell are you, Lonnie? I don't want to hear it.
I don't want to hear it.
This is ridiculous! I'm so sick of your excuses.
One day is fine and next is black He's not coming, is he? Do you even like baseball? No, but I don't know.
- It's fun to go with him sometimes.
- Come on.
Has he ever done anything with you that you actually like? You know, like the arcade or something? - I don't know.
- No, all right? He hasn't.
He's trying to force you to like normal things.
And you shouldn't like things because people tell you you're supposed to.
Okay? Especially not him.
But you like The Clash? For real? For real.
Definitely.
Should I cool it or should I blow? So you gotta let me know Should I stay or should I go? Joyce, I wasn't expecting you today.
- I brought Jeffrey in to cover.
- I'm not here to work.
I The storm last night, I I need a new phone.
Okay, that looks like $22.
56.
Uh, yeah, you know, uh I gave Jonathan all my money for for the copies for the posters.
Uh, I need an advance.
Yes, well, of course.
- Of course.
- Thank you.
Yeah, uh, I was thinking, two weeks? Um Yes, I understand, but, you know, I have to pay Jeffrey for covering Donald.
I've been here ten years, right? Have I ever called in sick or missed a shift once? I've worked, uh, Christmas Eve and Thanksgiving.
I don't know where my boy is.
He's gone.
I don't know if I'm gonna ever see him again, if he's hurt I, uh I need this phone and two weeks' advance.
And a pack of Camels.
- We're all clear.
- Copy that.
Extraordinary.
Ready are you? What knows you of ready? His name's Yoda.
He can use the Force to move things with his mind, like this.
Whoosh! Oh, this is my dinosaur, Rory.
Look, he has a speaker in his mouth so he can roar.
Oh, these are all my science fair trophies.
We got first every year.
Except for last year when we got third.
Mr.
Clarke said it was totally political.
You know Will? Did you see him? Last night? On the road? We gotta go.
I bought pizza and macaroni.
- Okay.
- Okay.
Ted? Is that you? Just me, Mom! - Mike? What are you doing home? - One second! In here.
I'll be right back, okay? Please, you have to get in, or my mom, she'll find you.
Do you understand? I won't tell her about you.
I promise.
Promise? It means something that you can't break.
- Ever.
- Michael? Please? Pop! Papa! Papa! No! Papa! No! No! No! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa.
I just I don't feel good.
I woke up and my head, it really hurt bad, and my throat was all scratchy, and I wanted to tell you, but the last time I told you I was sick - you made me go to school anyway, and - Michael.
- Yeah? - I'm not mad at you.
- No? - No, of course not.
All this that's been going on with Will, I can't imagine what it's been like for you.
I just I want you to feel like you can talk to me.
I never want you to feel like you have to hide anything from me.
I'm here for you.
Okay? Is there someone else here? No.
Eleven? Is everything okay? El? - Mike.
- Is everything okay? Are you sure? Promise.
- Will Byers! - Will! Whoa, whoa.
Careful, careful.
I need you alive for the next few days, at least.
Oh, hell, I could survive that.
What? George Burness made the jump.
And he was drunk as a skunk.
He did it on a $10 bet.
George is a liar.
You make that jump from this height, that water turns into cement.
Hits you like a ton of bricks.
Break every damn bone in your body.
Nah.
Chief, you copy? Yeah, Flo, talk to me.
Hey, Chief, we got a call from over at Benny's.
I think you need to get there right away.
Ugh, Jesus! Suicide? Mmm-hmm.
Missing kid, suicide You must feel like a big city cop again, huh, Chief? Well, I mostly dealt with strangers back then.
Benny was my friend.
Hello? Yeah.
- Can I help you? - Yeah, is Lonnie around? - Yeah, he's out back.
What do you want? - To look around.
- Hey, what do you think you're doing? Hey! - I'll be fast.
Hey, Will? Will! Will, you here? Will! Get off! Damn, you've gotten stronger.
Will someone please explain what the hell is going on? Jonathan, Cynthia.
Cynthia, this is Jonathan.
My oldest.
- Come here.
- Get off me, man.
- Are you out of your mind? - Just listen to me.
- You are out of your mind! - She knows about Will.
What do you mean she knows about Will? She pointed at him, at his picture.
She knew he was missing.
I could tell.
- You could tell? - Just think about it.
Do you really think it was a coincidence that we found her on Mirkwood, the same place where Will disappeared? - That is weird.
- And she said bad people are after her.
I think maybe these bad people are the same ones that took Will.
- I think she knows what happened to him.
- Then why doesn't she tell us? Do you know where he is? Do you know where Will is? - Stop it, you're scaring her! - She should be scared! If you know where he is, tell us! This is nuts.
We have to take her to your mom.
No! Eleven said telling any adult would put us in danger.
- What kind of danger? - Her name is Eleven? - El for short.
- Mike, what kind of danger? Danger danger.
No, no, no! We're going back to plan A.
We're telling your mom.
No.
Take a look at this beaut.
Should've seen it when I got it.
Took me a year, but it's almost done.
Really? You want to check up my ass, too? I told you the same thing as I told those cops, he's not here and he never has been.
- Then why didn't you call Mom back? - I don't know, I just I assumed she just forgot where he was.
You know, he was lost or something.
That boy never was very good at taking care of himself.
This isn't some joke, all right? There are search parties, reporters Hopper's not still chief, is he? Tell your mother she's gotta get you out of that hellhole.
Come out here to the city.
People are more real here, you know? And then I could see you more.
- What, you think I don't want to see you? - I know you don't.
See, that's your mother talkin' right there.
She even know you're here? Oh, great.
So one kid goes missing, the other one runs wild? Some real fine parenting right there.
Look, all I'm saying is, maybe I'm not the asshole, all right? In case you forgot what he looks like.
He's kinda cute, hmm? Maybe I'll trade you in for the younger model? Just doesn't make any sense, Chief.
You, uh, notice anything odd about him the last few weeks? No, we're fixin' to go fishing down the Etowah next Sunday.
I mean, he was lookin' forward to it.
I know that.
He got any enemies you might know about? I mean, people who might not want him around? The exes didn't like him much.
That's for sure, but nah.
- When was the last time you saw him? - Yesterday.
Lunch, same as always.
- Just you and the boys? - Yep.
Me and Henry and Well, there was this, uh, this kid.
No kid did this.
Kid? What are you talking about? Yeah.
At lunch, uh, there was this boy that, uh I mean, he was trying to steal food out of Benny's kitchen.
Can you imagine that? This kid what'd he look like? Well, he was about yea high.
You know, tiny like.
I didn't get a good look at him, though.
He was back in the kitchen.
He look like this? Oh, no, that's, that's Lonnie's missin' kid.
No.
This was a different kid.
This one had really short hair.
I mean, it was buzzed nearly down to the scalp.
Yeah, well, let's You know, let's forget about the haircut.
I mean, if this kid had a buzz cut could it be Lonnie's kid? Well, I-I didn't get a good look at him.
About the right height, though.
I mean, could've been.
Yeah, that's Could've been.
Because I don't want to go by myself.
Barb, Barb, it's not rocket science.
You just tell your parents you're gonna stay at my place afterwards.
No, tell them we're studying.
Nancy! Dinner! Coming! Look, I gotta go.
I'll see you in an hour.
Something wrong with the meatloaf? Oh, no, I had two bologna sandwiches for lunch.
I don't know why.
Me, too.
- It's delicious, Mommy.
- Thank you, sweetie.
So, there's this special assembly thing tonight for Will at the school field.
Barb's driving.
Why am I just hearing about this? I thought you knew.
I told you, I don't want you out after dark until Will is found.
I know, I know, but it'd be super weird if I'm not there.
I mean, everyone's going.
Just be back by 10:00.
Why don't you take the boys, too? - No! - Mmm-mmm.
Don't you think you should be there? For Will? Sorry.
Spasm.
Oh It's okay, Holly.
- It's just a loud noise.
- Nice.
Will! Better come out, buddy.
Will, where are ya? Hey, you think Earl really saw Will? I mean, what's he doin' with a shaved head? And stealing food from Benny? Tell you what, when we find him, we'll ask.
Can't ask a corpse questions.
Hold up! You got something? - Hey, what do you got? - Not sure.
Maybe nothing.
I found this.
In there.
No way a kid crawls through there.
I don't know a scared enough one might.
His brother said he was good at hiding.
El? No adults.
Just us and some meatloaf.
Don't worry.
They won't tell anyone about you.
They promise.
Right? We never would've upset you if we knew you had superpowers.
Ow! What Dustin is trying to say is that they were just scared earlier.
That's all.
We just wanted to find our friend.
"Friend"? Yeah, friend.
Will? What is "friend"? Is she serious? Um, a friend Is someone that you'd do anything for.
You lend them your cool stuff, like comic books and trading cards.
And they never break a promise.
- Especially when there's spit.
- Spit? - A spit swear means - you never break your word.
It's a bond.
That's super important, because friends they tell each other things.
Things that parents don't know.
- Barbara, pull over.
- What? Pull over! What are we doing here? His house is three blocks away.
We can't park in the driveway.
Are you serious? Yeah, the neighbors might see.
This is so stupid.
I'm just gonna drop you off.
Calm down, Barb.
Come on.
You promised that you'd go.
You're coming.
We're gonna have a great time.
He just wants to get in your pants.
No, he doesn't.
Nance seriously.
He invited you to his house.
His parents aren't home.
Come on, you are not this stupid.
Tommy H.
and Carol are gonna be there.
Tommy and Carol have been having sex since, like, seventh grade.
It'll probably just be, like, a big orgy.
- Gross.
- I'm serious! All right, well you can be, like, my guardian.
All right? Make sure I don't get drunk and do anything stupid.
Ugh.
Is that a new bra? No.
Barb, chill.
I'm chill.
Hello, ladies.
What are you doing? It's freezing.
You ever feel cursed? You know, the last person to go missing here was in, uh the summer of '23.
The last suicide was the fall of '61.
When'd the last person freeze to death? Hey, come back inside.
Warm me up.
Just Just give me a minute out here.
What's the weirdo doing? El? Will.
Superpowers.
Did you see him? On Mirkwood? Do you know where he is? I don't understand.
Hiding.
Will is hiding? From the bad men? Then from who? Where are you? One! Two! - Three! - Stop it, Tommy, no! Don't! You're such an asshole, Tommy.
Is that supposed to impress me? - You're not? - You are a cliché, you do realize that? You are a cliché.
What with your your grades and your band practice.
I'm so not in band.
Okay, party girl.
Why don't you just, uh, show us how it's done, then? Okay.
- You gotta make a little hole right in - I got it.
Yeah, she's smart, you douche! Chug, chug, chug.
Chug.
Chug.
Chug.
Barb, you wanna try? What? No.
No, I don't want to.
Thanks.
- Come on.
- Yeah - Come on.
Yeah.
- Nance, I don't want to.
- It's fun! Just give it a - Nance Just Just give it a shot.
Okay.
So you just - Gnarly.
- Are you okay? - Yeah.
- Barb, you're bleeding.
I'm fine.
Where's your bathroom? Oh, it's It's, uh, down past the kitchen, to the left.
Okay.
Thanks.
Oh.
Oh, my, God! What the hell, Tommy? No! Whoo! Hello? Hello.
Who is this? Will? Will, it's me.
Talk to me.
I'm here.
Just tell me where you are, honey.
I can hear you.
Please.
Mom? Will! Yes, it's me.
It's me.
Where are you? Where are you? Just talk to me Oh, no, no! No! No! Oh, no! No, no No! No! Jonathan? What Will Will Will, is that you? Oh, my God.
Oh, God Oh, my God I'm freezing.
Hmm well, I hear his mom's room has a fireplace.
- Are you kidding? - Oh, yeah? Okay, well, you know, you are cleaning the sheets.
- You all right? - Yeah.
Yeah? Come on, let's get you some dry clothes.
Nance! Nancy.
Where are you going? Nowhere.
Just upstairs.
To change.
I fell in the pool.
Why don't you go ahead and go home.
I'll just I'll get a ride or something.
Nance Barb I'm fine.
This isn't you.
I'm fine.
Just go ahead and go home, okay? Thanks.
Um some privacy, maybe? Oh Yeah, right.
Sorry.
Steve? Damn.
Shut up.