The shed smells like gasoline and wet dirt.
Lena's wrists are tied, not tight enough to cut skin—tight enough to remind her she can't leave.
Her mouth isn't taped.
That's the worst part.
Whoever did this wants her to breathe.
Wants her awake.
Her eyes burn from crying.
The darkness shifts.
A sound outside.
Footsteps, slow and deliberate.
Lena freezes.
"Please," she whispers. "Please don't—"
The door doesn't open.
The footsteps stop.
And then—
A phone buzzes somewhere near her.
She flinches.
A screen lights up across the room.
A message, typed and waiting like a gift.
YOU WERE WARNED.
Lena's breath shakes.
"Why are you doing this?" she whispers.
No answer.
Only silence.
Only the sense of being watched.
Then—
A new sound.
Voices.
Far away.
Calling her name.
"LENA!"
Her heart leaps.
"Nancy?" she croaks.
The voices get closer.
Footsteps rush now, frantic.
"Lena!" Dustin's voice cracks through the night like a lifeline.
Her throat tightens.
"Dustin…?"
The door slams open.
Flashlight beams flood the shed.
And there he is—
Dustin Henderson, wild-eyed, terrified, alive.
"Oh my god," he breathes.
Lena sobs, laughing at the same time. "You came."
"Of course we came!" Dustin rushes forward, hands shaking as he fumbles with the rope. "Are you hurt? Did they—did they do anything?"
Lena stares at him.
Even like this—dirty, shaking, scared—he looks like safety.
She whispers before she can stop herself:
"I thought you wouldn't."
Dustin freezes. "What?"
Lena looks away, cheeks burning despite everything.
"I thought… nobody would."
Dustin's expression softens completely.
"Hey," he says quietly, cutting the rope. "We're not nobody."
Her breath catches.
For a second, she forgets the shed.
For a second, it's just him.
Then Steve appears in the doorway.
"Okay. Sweet reunion later. We need to MOVE."
Robin scans the corners. "This place feels wrong."
Nancy grabs Lena's shoulders gently. "Can you walk?"
Lena nods shakily.
Will's voice is tight. "They let us find her."
Mike's jaw clenches. "Yeah."
Max whispers, "Why?"
Jonathan steps forward, eyes dark.
"Because they wanted us to know they can take anyone."
Silence.
Everyone understands.
This wasn't a mistake.
It was a message.
The Inner Circle Expands
Back in Mike's basement, Lena sits wrapped in a blanket, hands trembling around a mug of tea Joyce insisted on making.
Joyce hovers like a mother bird.
"You're safe now," she murmurs.
Lena nods, though her eyes keep flicking to the corners.
Jonathan stands near the stairs, arms crossed.
Nancy watches him.
"You're in," she says simply.
Jonathan raises a brow. "In what?"
Nancy gestures at the room.
"This."
Dustin mutters, "The disaster club."
Eddie smirks. "We need jackets."
Jonathan's gaze sharpens. "Someone kidnapped a teenage girl to send a warning. This isn't a club."
Will's voice is quiet. "It's survival."
Jonathan looks at his brother.
Then nods once.
"Fine," he says. "Then we do it right. No more running around without telling anyone. No more half-plans."
Mike bristles. "We've been handling it—"
Jonathan cuts him off instantly.
"No. You've been lucky."
Silence falls.
Mike looks down.
Will glances between them, heart pounding.
Jonathan's voice softens slightly.
"I'm not here to take over. I'm here because you're my brother."
Will's throat tightens.
"Okay," Will whispers.
Mike's chest aches in a way he can't name.
Nancy watches all of it.
Calculating.
Hopper's Breakthrough
Hopper doesn't sleep.
He sits in his office with the powder analysis in front of him.
Not street drugs.
Not narcotics.
Poison.
He taps his pen against the desk.
Two cheerleaders.
Same residue.
Same white dust.
Then—
A memory.
He grabs the phone.
"Get me a list of local chemical distributors," he barks.
The deputy yawns. "Chief, it's 3AM—"
"NOW."
Minutes later, papers slap onto his desk.
Hopper scans.
Fertilizers. Cleaning agents. Pest control.
Then he sees it.
A small entry.
Hawkins Community Lab — Educational Supply Orders
His jaw tightens.
He stands slowly.
"Why the hell is a high school lab ordering industrial-grade compounds?"
His deputy pales. "That's… not normal."
Hopper grabs his coat.
"Not even close."
Lena Speaks
In the basement, Lena finally whispers:
"They weren't trying to kill me."
Everyone turns.
Lena's eyes glisten.
"They could have. But they didn't."
Dustin sits closer. "What did they want?"
Lena swallows.
"They wanted me to be afraid."
Her voice cracks.
"They wanted me to tell you… that they're still here."
Mike's hands curl into fists.
Will leans subtly into Mike's side, grounding.
Jonathan notices.
Says nothing.
Nancy's voice is sharp.
"Then we find them first."
Eddie laughs darkly.
"How? They're a ghost."
Hopper's voice suddenly echoes from the top of the stairs.
"Not a ghost."
Everyone whips around.
Hopper steps down, face carved from stone.
"I know where the poison is coming from."
Silence slams into the room.
Hopper's eyes sweep across them.
"Tomorrow… we're going to the Hawkins Community Lab."
Max whispers, "And if they're there?"
Hopper's voice is low.
"Then we finally stop guessing."
Outside, thunder rumbles.
And somewhere in Hawkins—
The watcher listens.
Still hidden.
Still patient.
But for the first time…
Cornered.