36. The New Host

Steve frowned at his girlfriend's odd expression, her eyes almost seemed out of focus, and her cheeks were freezing.

"You're so cold…what happened?" Steve questioned.

"I just got myself a little freaked out. It's nothing, really" Karmen shrugged, pulling away from his embrace.

"What happened? Eleven saw you in the upside down…she said something bad had happened to you" Steve informed her, as Karmen opened and closed her mouth a few times like she wasn't sure what to say.

"I'm fine. No reason to worry" Karmen insisted, noticing that Steve didn't seem convinced.

"Whatever El saw, she got it wrong. No need to worry" Karmen stated, taking his hands in hers.

"I always worry about you" Steve admitted, as Karmen gave him a smile that seemed forced.

"Some would say that's a character flaw" Karmen teased, as Steve huffed out a laugh.

"Others would say it's just because I love you" Steve grinned.

The grin slowly fell from his face as Karmen looked at him with confusion. He opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong when she suddenly leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. Karmen's movements were far more forceful than usual, her hands pulling his hair lightly, earning a soft moan to fall from Steve's lips. Just as Steve's hands had settled on her waist, Karmen pulled away, as Steve's eyes slowly fluttered open. Karmen felt a spark of emotion as she looked into his brown eyes. Just as quickly as it was there, it was gone. She tried to hold onto the feeling, but it was buried too deep inside of her.

"What was that for?" He questioned, as Karmen kept her arms wrapped around his shoulders.

"Let's go back to your place" Karmen announced, confusing Steve.

"My parents will be home in the morning" Steve pointed out.

"Then I'll sneak out the window. C'mon, let's just spend some time together. Alone" Karmen said, with a mischievous smile.

"I better tell the others that you're alright-" Steve started, but Karmen cut him off with a chaste kiss.

"They can wait until the morning" Karmen smirked, as she all but dragged him towards his car.

"They'll be worried. El especially" Steve exclaimed, as Karmen grit her teeth.

"Don't you want to spend time with me?" She asked, making Steve sigh.

"Of course, I do" Steve replied, as he opened the passenger door for her, as gentlemanly as ever.

"Then let's go" Karmen insisted, crouching down to get into the passenger seat.

Steve frowned as he closed her door, wondering why she seemed so insistent on not telling the others. Karmen would never want to leave Eleven worrying…and the way that she was running towards him earlier...he was sure she had been running from something.

Later that night, Steve was awoken by a loud thunderclap from nearby. He had always hated storms and reached out for Karmen, but his arms found nothing. He rubbed his eyes, sitting upright in his bed, finding that she was nowhere to be found.

"Karmen?" He called out, looking around his dark bedroom.

"Karmen!" Steve announced, as he pushed himself up from the bed and started to search around his large house.

"What the hell?" He mumbled when he noticed his front door was wide open, rain beginning to get in.

He rushed over to close the door, as a bad feeling settled in his stomach. Where was she? It made no sense. She had been the one who wanted to spend the night together, now it seemed as soon as he fell asleep, she had gone. Steve jumped slightly as a flash of lightning lit up the room, as he noticed one of the cupboard doors in his kitchen was open. Cautiously, he made his way over, wondering what Karmen had been looking for. He frowned when he saw there was nothing inside apart from cleaning supplies. His frown deepened when he saw the lid was off a bottle of bleach. What was going on, Steve thought to himself.

Karmen and Billy watched as Heather finished tying up her parents, clearly not caring how rough she was being. The two adults looked worse for wear, but their bodies would still be able to take on a full transmission. Karmen found that even though there was a connection between her own mind and Heather's, the other girl was only apart of the hive mind now. She couldn't create any thoughts of her own. She was all but dead. A walking corpse. Karmen wondered how close she and Billy were to being like her.

"How many people have been infected now?" Karmen inquired.

"Including us? Fifteen" Billy replied.

"It's not enough" Karmen mumbled.

"We'll find more bodies. We still have time" Billy insisted.

"People will start to notice" Karmen pointed out, as Billy turned to her.

"Notice what?" Billy questioned.

"That there's something wrong with us" Karmen answered.

"Not if we stick to the plan" Billy shook his head.

"Acting like normal? That's easy for you to say. I used to care about people so much…El, Steve…you…" Karmen trailed off, with a frown.

"And now?" Billy inquired, tilting his head.

"I don't feel anything anymore. I just feel…cold, all the time" Karmen admitted, a blank expression on her face.

It wasn't entirely true. She had felt something earlier with Steve, but it wasn't enough to cause any doubts in her mind. She had a mission, that was all that mattered.

"This will all be over soon. I promise" Billy told her, placing his finger under her chin to look her in the eyes.

Karmen's head snapped to the side as she heard terrified cries coming from nearby and saw that Heather's parents had woken up. Her father strained against the ropes around his hands, his eyes widening as Heather walked over to them.

"Hi Daddy" Heather exclaimed, taking away the tie that had been covering his mouth.

"Heather…sweetie…whatever this is, whatever they've got you into, you don't have to do this. You can stop this" He pleaded, glaring at Billy and Karmen.

"There is no stopping it, daddy. You'll see" Heather retorted, stroking his face lightly.

Billy then crouched beside Heather's mother, pulling the rag away from her mouth, allowing her to speak. He almost rolled his eyes as she begged her daughter to let them go and pressed his finger against her lips.

"Try not to move," Billy told her, a hint of sympathy in his voice.

"You don't need to be scared. You're going to be like us. You won't be afraid anymore" Karmen told them, as Billy came to stand beside her.

"Heather!" Her father sobbed as they all turned simultaneously around.

None of them turned back as they heard the Mindflayer snarl and take a step forward, hearing Heather's parents begin to scream. Heather kept walking, not even flinching at the blood-curdling screams. Karmen on the other hand, shut her eyes as the screaming suddenly stopped, as she could practically feel them being infected. She felt Billy's hand wrapping around hers and turned to look at him. There was a flash of fear over his face before it was covered by a mask of blankness a moment later. There was still some part of them both inside, no matter how deep it was buried.

Steve almost jumped out of his skin as he heard a door slam from downstairs, gripping his baseball bat tightly in his hand. He hadn't slept at all since Karmen had disappeared, watching the storm settle and the sunrise. Now it sounded as if someone had forced their way in downstairs. He quietly opened his bedroom door and started to rush down the stairs, hoping to catch whoever it was by surprise.

"Karmen?" He gaped when he saw her standing by the sink with her back to him.

She had a bleach bottle in her hand, the same one that Steve had found earlier that morning. She slowly placed it down on the kitchen counter and wiped her mouth, turning around.

"Since when do you play baseball?" She inquired, tilting her head.

"I…it was a Christmas present from dad last year. He thought it was baseball I played, not basketball" Steve answered.

"Huh" Karmen shrugged, taking a step towards him.

She noticed he took a step back when she did this and raised an eyebrow at him. Her eyes dropped to the baseball bat he was still holding onto.

"What's wrong?" She asked confusion etched on her face.

"What's wrong? Karmen, you disappeared! Where the hell have you been?" Steve pointed out, dropping the baseball bat.

"I went for a walk" Karmen replied.

"At two in the morning? In the middle of a thunderstorm?" Steve questioned.

"I couldn't sleep" Karmen shrugged.

"You are acting very strangely" Steve informed her.

"I'm fine" Karmen shook her head.

"No, you're not! Just tell me what's going on…please!" Steve exclaimed, walking towards her and taking her hands in his own.

"I think you should get out of Hawkins" Karmen announced, as Steve looked at her dumbfounded.

"…What?" He asked.

"Go see your grandparents maybe? It'll be the end of summer before you know it, and then-" Karmen began, but he cut her off.

"I can't just leave. What about my job?" Steve pointed out.

"I'm sure they can find another ice cream scooper" Karmen retorted.

"My parents would never allow it" Steve shook his head.

"Oh, fuck your parents. Who cares what they think! Just…I really think you should leave" Karmen insisted, squeezing his hands.

"Why does it sound like you wouldn't be coming with me?" Steve frowned.

"Because I wouldn't be" Karmen admitted, as Steve scoffed.

"You really think I'd go anywhere without you? Jesus, Karmen, I flunked my exams just so I could stay in Hawkins with you…" Steve trailed off when he realised what he had said.

"What?" Karmen gasped.

"I…I couldn't leave you. You'd find someone else and I…I couldn't bear that" Steve confessed, a guilty expression on his face.

"I would have waited for you," Karmen told him, with sad eyes.

"We can-" Steve began, but was cut off as the phone started to ring.

"Don't answer it" Karmen insisted, holding tightly onto his hands.

"It could be important" Steve stated, as Karmen gripped onto his hands roughly.

"Please, just leave it!" Karmen exclaimed, making Steve frown.

"This is a code red. I repeat this a code red! Steve, do you copy?" Mike's voice could be heard from upstairs, as Karmen guessed he was using the walkie talkie.

"I have to answer" Steve told her, pulling his hands away, as Karmen grit her teeth angrily.

"So, what did they say exactly?" Karmen asked, as Steve parked out of the Wheeler's house.

"Not much. Just that it was a code red about the Mindflayer and we both needed to get over here ASAP" Steve replied, as Karmen nodded and went to open the car door.

"Hey, do you remember last time we fought the Mindflayer, in those tunnels?" Steve began, as Karmen turned to look at him.

"Yeah?" She questioned, ushering for him to elaborate.

"Do you remember what you said to me down there?" Steve inquired.

"There was a lot going on, Steve. We were kind of running for our lives most of that night" Karmen explained.

"Yeah, but it was the first time you said something to me" Steve insisted, as Karmen looked at him blankly.

"You really don't remember?" Steve frowned.

How could Karmen have forgotten the first time she said she loved him? It was one of the best moments of Steve's life. It made no sense. He opened his mouth to speak, when suddenly there was a bang on the car window, making him jump.

"Get out of there, dipshits. We've got to talk!" Mike announced.

Mike quickly ushered the pair towards his basement, as they saw that all the kids were their par Dustin. Karmen watched as Eleven looked away from her the moment she walked down the stairs, refusing to meet her eyes. Karmen felt even colder than usual as she could see the hurt in Eleven's body language.

"Hey El" Karmen greeted, with a small smile.

"We weren't sure you'd turn up after yesterday" Max pointed out.

"About that…I'm really sorry. Billy and I got it into our heads that Heather had been possessed by the Mindflayer. I know, it's crazy-" Karmen started, but Lucas cut her off.

"Wait! Heather's been taken over by the Mindflayer?" He gaped.

"No. We were wrong. I tested her. She didn't react. I'm so sorry for what I said, El. I swear I didn't mean any of it. I just wanted to get you out of harm's way" Karmen told her, bending the truth to what suited her.

"You don't need to protect me" Eleven muttered.

"I know. I really am sorry. Forgive me?" Karmen asked.

"Friends forgive friends" El nodded, as Karmen smiled at her softly.

"How exactly did you test Heather?" Mike inquired, still not convinced.

"I held a knife over the grill for a couple of minutes and then burnt her with it. No reaction...Well apart from the normal reaction of getting burnt. She's fine" Karmen explained.

"Didn't she wonder why you were burning her?" Will asked.

"I said it was an accident. You know what Heather's like, always been a bit of an airhead. I don't think she thought anything of it" Karmen shrugged.

"You never told me any of this" Steve frowned.

"It didn't seem important" Karmen retorted, as Steve bit his lip, obviously wanting to say more but decided against it.

"Karmen, uh…I think we owe you an apology" Max announced, grabbing her attention.

"Why?" Karmen questioned.

"You might have been right. We think the Mindflayer could be back" Lucas informed her, as Karmen tried to look as shocked as possible.

"How would that even be possible?" Steve inquired.

"I can explain…This is him. The Mindflayer…" Will trailed off, as he drew a picture of the monster with black crayon.

"But, that day on the field, a part of him attached itself to me" Will went on, wiping his hand over the crayon, getting some of it on his hand.

"My mom got it out of me…and Eleven closed the gate. But the part that was still in me, what if it's still in our world? In Hawkins" Will suggested, flipping the paper around and pressing his hand onto the paper, showing a dark smudge.

"I don't understand. The Demodogs died when El closed the gate. If the brain dies, the body dies" Max pointed out.

"We can't take any chances. We need to assume the worst. The Mind Flayer's back" Mike announced.

"That's a lot of what-ifs, guys. Don't you think you might be overreacting?" Karmen exclaimed.

"You were the one who thought something was wrong in the first place" Max frowned.

"Yeah, and I was wrong. I just don't want to make the same mistake twice" Karmen answered.

"If he is back, he'd want to attach himself to someone again. A new me" Will told them, as Karmen felt a shiver go down her spine.

"A new host" Lucas nodded.

"You thought it was in Billy" Max mumbled, concern flashing over her face.

"I spent the whole day with him. Trust me, its' not Billy" Karmen shook her head.

"Yeah, but you've always been a little…easily swayed by Billy" Mike suggested, as Karmen rolled her eyes.

"You're not going to drop this, are you?" Karmen theorised, as all the kids shook their heads.

"Let's go then" Karmen announced, walking towards the stairs.

"Where?" El inquired, following her, nonetheless.

"I'm going to prove to you that Billy hasn't been flayed" Karmen exclaimed.

"I don't know. He looks pretty normal to me" Max stated, using binoculars to spy on Billy who was currently at the poolside.

"Normal? How many times have you seen him with a shirt on?" Mike pointed out, indicating to the thick sweater, hat and sunglasses Billy was wearing.

"I mean, it's a little weird" Max admitted.

"More than a little. He was in a tub with ice. The Mind Flayer likes it cold. Plus everything else" Mike insisted.

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

"Not necessarily. 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" Will explained, as Karmen thought about this.

Will was so wrong. They weren't just dormant anymore. It was like they were apart of the Mindflayer now. Like evil clones who only had one goal. To serve and protect the Mindflayer. It was all she could think about it. Just the kids threatening to stop the Mindflayer was enough to have her balling her hands into fists. She needed to find away to stop them…before she had to do something she'd regret.

"Look, I'll go over and talk to him. See if he's acting weird" Karmen announced, taking a step away from the group.

"What?! No way, it's too dangerous!" Steve cried, holding onto her arm.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry" Karmen replied, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips.

Steve reluctantly let go of her arm, knowing it was a fight he wasn't going to win. He watched as Karmen made her way towards Billy, who seemed to sense she was there before he had even seen her.

"Do you guys…do you…" Steve stuttered, not sure if he wanted to speak up or not.

"What?" Will asked as the kids all turned to the Steve.

"Do you think there's something wrong with Karmen? She's been acting kind of…off recently" Steve told them.

"Not really" Lucas shrugged.

"She hasn't even asked where Dustin is. Don't you think that's weird?" Steve pointed out.

"I guess…" Max trailed off.

"Hey, she's approaching him" Mike stated, as he grabbed the binoculars from Max, who looked annoyed at the move.

"How much do they know?" Billy questioned, as Karmen stopped beside the lifeguard's chair.

"Enough to know you're the new host. They're going to want to test you. They won't take my word for it" Karmen informed him.

"This could work in our favour" Billy pondered, as Karmen looked at to him with a frown.

"How?" She asked.

"They'll think they're making a trap for me…but really it'll be a trap for them" Billy explained.

"They don't suspect me yet. I'll find out what I can" Karmen told him, as she went to step away.

"You could have already taken Eleven, you have the element of surprise. Why haven't you?" Billy inquired, tilting his head towards her.

"She's powerful. I might not be able to take her on my own" Karmen answered.

"And that's all?" Billy insisted.

"When the time comes…I'll kill her myself if I have to" Karmen announced, turning on her feet to walk away.

The moment the words left her lips she felt a spark of…something. Some sort of emotion that was buried so deep it almost wasn't there. Just like when she had kissed Steve. Maybe there was still a part of her old self left.

The plan was quickly set into motion. They waited until everyone else had gone home, leaving only Billy who went to have his usual shower after work. While he was there the kids worked on blocking all his exits and setting up a dummy with a walkie talkie attached, to lure him into the sauna. Karmen had been surprised when she had heard the Mindflayer in her mind telling her to let things play out. The kid's plan went off without a hitch, as Billy stormed into the sauna, pulling the dummy from the ceiling, as Eleven popped out from a nearby cupboard. She quickly used her telekinesis to close the door, as everyone else ran out to use chains to lock him inside. After a few minutes of angrily banging on the door, screaming to let him out, Billy slumped to the floor. Steve was surprised to see Karmen looking emotionless towards someone she cared about in so much distress. It wasn't until they heard a strange sound from inside the sauna, that she seemed to come out of her trance. It sounded like Billy was…crying.

"It's not my fault. It's not my fault, Max. I promise you, it's not my fault" Billy sobbed, as Max cautiously walked towards the door.

Karmen's mouth fell open as she realised it wasn't the Mindflayer speaking anymore. It was the real Billy. The Mindflayer must have given him complete temporary control over his body.

"What's not your fault, Billy?" Max inquired, seeing him slumped on the floor, holding his hands in a prayer gesture.

"I've done things, Max. Really bad things. I didn't mean to. He made me do it" Billy cried, tears dripping down his cheeks.

"Who made you do it?" Max questioned

"I don't know, it's like a shadow. Like a giant shadow. Please, Max" Billy begged, as Karmen found it hard to listen to.

"What did he make you do?" Max insisted as a tear dropped down her own cheek.

"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" Billy sniffled, as he fell against the nearby bench, scrunching his eyes shut.

"Billy, it's gonna be okay," Max told him, placing her hand on the glass.

"Where's…where's Karmen? Is she with you?" Billy inquired, as Karmen stiffened next to Steve.

"Yeah, she's here" Max nodded, as Billy suddenly lunged towards the door.

"You have to stay away from her, Max! You can't trust her, she's-" Billy cut off midsentence, his head flopping down.

Max gasped as the lock on the chains fell to the ground, with a loud bang. Karmen looked at the rest of the group, happy to see that no one had noticed her raising her hand to send an electric pulse towards the door, breaking the lock.

"Max, get away from the door!" Mike yelled.

Max's head snapped up to see Billy staring at her, deep black veins pulsing all over his chest, and his eyes almost completely black. She rushed backwards just in time as Billy ran into the door, pushing it off its hinges. He slowly stood back up from where he had fallen to the ground, glaring at Eleven, who had pushed everyone behind her. With an angry look in her eyes, Eleven raised her hand out, using her telekinesis to pick up a nearby weight and threw it towards the teenage boy. Eleven let out a scream as she used all the power she had to keep Billy in place, who was straining against the metal weight. Steve watched in horror as the weights began to break the wall behind Billy, showing just how much strength Eleven could muster. It seemed like Eleven would win the fight easily. Suddenly a large electrical pulse threw Eleven off her feet, as she rolled to the floor, the arm of her top in tatters. The kids and Steve all turned to see Karmen standing only a metre away, her hand raised out.

"Karmen…what are you doing?" Steve exclaimed as Karmen stormed towards the teenage girl on the floor.

Billy threw the weight that was no longer holding him in place towards the rest of the group, as Steve ducked, just missing being hit by the weight.

"El!" Mike cried as he watched Karmen grab Eleven roughly by her hair.

Karmen turned to the group, a sinister smile on her face, as they could now see black veins spreading up her neck and down her arms. Eleven let out a cry as Karmen suddenly wrapped her hand over the younger girl's neck.

"Goodbye Eleven" Karmen announced, choking the life out of the girl she had once considered her sister.

Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I love a good cliffhanger, you guys should know this by now. Thought I should explain that Karmen is really not in control right now, the real Karmen would never hurt El. Please leave a review:)

NicoleR85: Aw, thank you! I hope you like this chapter too:)

RoseAmeliaSarahNoblePond: Thank you so much:) Hopefully Karmen and everyone will survive this, but we'll just have to wait and see. I'm really glad you're enjoying this!

Angryfanfic: Thank you, I hope you like this chapter!

tazsgirl696: Here's the next chapter, enjoy:)

Stranger Things: Uh oh, you definitely will want to do that after this chapter! Please remember Karmen isn't in control right now though, haha.