Chapter Text
Will couldn’t explain what had happened. One moment he was in the monster’s grasp. The Mind Flayer loomed over him. Its breath panted hot and wet against his face and its tentacles constricted around him. Will was sure that he would die. There was no escape from the monster and all he could do was hope that it wouldn’t hurt. Would there be peace in death?
Then he blinked and he was staring up at the night sky. Dark clouds blocked and shrouded any moonlight. The monster that hovered over him had been replaced by a man. Will couldn’t place his age, but he had dirty blond hair and a thin face. The man pulled a cigarette from his lips and blew a puff of smoke out through his nose.
‘I must have died,’ Will thought to himself. After an eternity of hiding in the shadows, the Mind Flayer had finally caught him. It had caught him and killed him and now Will was dead. The only question he had was where he had ended up. “Is this heaven?” he asked. “Or is this hell?”
The man brought the cigarette back up to his lips and took a long drag. His features were etched with confusion. “This is Hawkins.”
“Hawkins?” Will asked. His voice was rough and horse. He hadn’t used it often. If he was honest will couldn’t remember the last time that he had talked out loud. It was no wonder his voice sounded like sandpaper on concrete.
“Come on Kid, get up,” the man said. He grabbed onto Will’s arm and pulled him up off the ground. “What the hell are you doing out here. Do you know what time it is?”
Will ignored the man. Instead, he looked around and took in everything. He knew where he was, an empty field south of town. Usually, he would stay away from large open spaces, but something was different. The air was cold and crisp. There was a lack of dust and spores that floated ambiguously. He knew he was not where he had been before.
“Hey, are you listening?” the man asked again. He looked at Will strangely. “Do you need a hospital?”
“A hospital?” Will asked. He dusted off his pants and looked around again. He had been here before and not in the replica place. The place where the air was clear, and the shadows didn’t move. He didn’t know when or how but he was sure he had been there.
“Jesus, did you hit your head or something. Do you know what a hospital is?” The man blew another cloud of smoke out through his lips.
“I know what a hospital is,” Will said. He didn’t know how he knew but he did. “I have to go.” The problem was that he didn’t know where he needed to go.
“Woah, now settle down. I was a kid once. Drinking, drugging it up. I know how it is but maybe you better come with me. Your parents are probably worried sick.” He grabbed onto Will’s arm again and pulled.
“No,” Will said, shaking his head. He tugged his arm back, but the man held tight. “Let go.”
“Kid don’t make this harder than it needs to be. If I hadn’t come around, you would have gotten hypothermia. At least come warm up in the truck.”
“Let go!” Will said again. His tone raised with fear. He tried to pull his arm free again, but the man didn’t budge. Fear crept over him, and his stomach knotted up painfully. Was this another trick that the monster was playing on him? Was the man going to try to take him back to the replica place? “No!”
Will couldn’t let that happen. He wouldn’t go back there.
As the panic wrapped around him like vines, he felt the sudden familiar sensation of energy. It was like lightning, and he had no control over it. The man went flying back several feet away. Will could hear him groaning from the impact.
“I’m sorry,” Will said. His eyes frantically darted around before his legs started working again. He took off running towards the patch of trees ahead of him. He ran until his lungs ached and his muscles burned. Even then he didn’t stop.
Miles away El woke from a dead sleep. She sat up in bed and shoved the blankets off her. She leaned over and looked out the window into the night. The porch light flickered, and she knew something was out there.
He had found the fort easily enough. The landscape of the town had ingrained itself in his head from the replica. The fort stood strong, and the sticks were just as stable as before. It wasn’t much but it was sheltered, and it had a few old quilts and pillows inside of it. That was plenty. One thing Will had found astonishing was that nothing crept outside the fort. Nothing growled or screeched into the night. For once it was peaceful. Crickets and wind were all he heard.
When the sun came up Will was again astonished. The sun had never come before but there it was. The dark clouds from last night were gone. White perfect puffs floated through a sea of blue. Will found that if he sat just right in a ray of sun it would warm his skin. It was the kind of warmth he could only dream about; it was nothing like the cold damp blankets he was used to bundling up in.
He sat in the grass outside the front and closed his eyes. He sunned for what felt like hours. There was no sudden feeling of safety. Will did not believe he was safe. However, he was no longer in danger of being eaten or ripped to shreds. ‘Today I don’t have to fight the monsters,’ Will thought to himself.
He hadn’t slept that night. It was fine, there were many times Will didn’t get the opportunity to sleep. Will needed to stay aware in this new place. Yet the sun made it hard to stay awake. He had never been so warm before and instantly it made him sleepy. As the sunbeams continued to stream in through the sticks, Will closed his eyes and let himself drift off.
***
“Jane, Johnathan Dinner!” Joyce yelled from the kitchen. She placed a hand on her hip as looked at what she had cooked up. Like always the mashed potatoes were a tad runny but the pork chops looked good. Expect of course that one that had gotten just a little burnt.
“Coming!” El yelled back. She grabbed the television remote and switched it off. The smell of food wafted from the kitchen. It made her stomach growl in anticipation. The Byers home had always smelt warm. Sometimes like spices or the fires her dad would start for them. Other times it smelt faintly like cigarettes and fallen leaves.
She darted into the kitchen and hurried to help set the table. Joyce had become like a mother to her. El enjoyed helping her. It left her with a sense of normalcy that she got nowhere except with Joyce and Hopper, the man she now called dad. Jonathan too. They would sit together and listen to music. He would sometimes give her band shirts that he had outgrown. They were a family.
“What do you want to drink Hun?” Joyce asked as she opened the fridge. “Juice or Milk?”
“Soda?” El asked hopefully.
Joyce pulled her head out of the fridge and gave her a look. “How many have you had today?”
“None,” El said seriously. “No caffeine at all.”
“Okay,” Joyce said, drawing out the vowels as she pulled out a red can and sat it at the table in El’s spot.
“Smells good,” Jonathan said as he joined them. El knew he had been in his room getting ready for his night shift at the store. He still looked groggy from a late afternoon nap.
Joyce sighed as she grabbed the bowl of green beans from the microwave. “I hope it’s alright. Something went wrong with the potatoes but-”
El quickly cut her off. “It looks good, even the potatoes.”
Joyce smiled warmly and smoothed down El’s hair. “Glad you think so.”
Before anyone else could speak up the front door opened, and the floorboards squeaked under a heavy set of boots. “I’m home!”
El’s expression broke into a smile. Her eyes light up with happiness as she ran to greet the man. “Dad,” she said. “6:15. You’re on time.”
“I’m doing better huh Kid?” he asked. He grinned down at her and ruffled her hair some as they walked back to the kitchen. “Do I smell pork chops?”
“It’s six already?” Jonathan asked, looking a little frazzled. “It’s almost time for me to get going, maybe I should take this to go?” He reached into the cabinet to look for some Tupperware.
“Ah ah,” Hopper said. He reached over and took the container out of Jonathan’s hand and put it back in the cabinet. “Your mom cooked. You’ve got time to sit and eat.”
“Jim’s right,” Joyce said. “Sit down and eat with your family before you go.”
“I was going to get there early so I could see Nancy before she went home,” Jonathan said weakly
“Sit and eat with your family,” El said. She knew just what to say to make the older teen stay.
The older teen sighed but he pulled out his chair and sat down obediently. El hummed in contentment and settled in at the table. She watched as Joyce dished their plates up for them. Hopper grabbed a beer from the fridge and gave Joyce a peck of a kiss.
El didn’t bother to stop herself from thinking about how perfect it all was. They were a little ragtag, but they were her family, and it was perfect.
They were in the middle of discussing Jonathan’s new job at the Hawkins post. He still had two weeks left at the general store but after that, he wouldn’t have to work nights anymore. El had thought it was a good thing. Jonathan had a constant sleepy look about him since he had started working the late-night shift.
“I guess I’m ready to sleep at night again,” he said with a smile.
“Don’t forget you promised to drive me to the arcade tomorrow. Everyone is going,” El said before taking a large bite of potatoes.
“That’s after we go to the mall, right?” Joyce asked. “We have to get you a new coat. I don’t think we can put that off any longer. The one you’ve got now is on its last leg.”
“Last leg?” El asked.
Joyce was about to reply when suddenly the lights flickered. Once. Twice. And then suddenly the power surged, and the house went dark.
“What the hell?” Hopper asked. His chair scraped against the hardwood floor as he got up.
“I’ll get the candles. Looks like a fuse or something blew,” Joyce said.
Once again, El could feel the energy. It was a distant buzz, but she knew it was there. She stiffed as she too got up from the table. Unlike Hopper who went to the fuse box or like Joyce who had gone to the storage closet, El went to the back door. She opened it up and stared out into the darkness.
She took one step and then another until she was standing on the patio. “Who are you?” she whispered.
It was still. Just as she was about to take a step further into the yard, the house lit up behind her. “I reset the breaker!” Hopper yelled.
El was snapped out of her daze and she quickly walked back inside. She shut the door behind her. Again, her mind told her that something was out there. Her heart sped up, but she refused to let the other three see her fear. She told herself that there was still a chance that it had been nothing. Maybe the fuse had just blown. It was as simple as that.
She walked back to the table and sat down. In her heart, she knew that something else was out there.
***
“I’ll pick you at what time?” Jonathan asked. El knew that he knew the answer. He was testing her to make sure that she knew.
“At 9 o’clock,” she said easily. She pulled her new coat tighter around her. She was glad that Joyce had taken her to get one. It was pink and purple and lined with warm fleece. El had instantly loved it. She hadn’t realized how cold the weather had been getting. The warmth of summer was long gone. Already the trees were nearly skeletal and bare.
“Do you have plenty of money for the arcade?”
He asked next. El rolled her eyes and climbed out of the car. “Yes, Dad gave me money and I saved money.”
“So, you’ve got lots of money?” Jonathan said. She could see that he was teasing.
“I have enough money,” El said correcting him.
“Have a good time, okay?” he said. “Don’t go anywhere else unless you call home. Stay with the group too.”
“Okay,” El said. “I’ll see you in a few hours.” She closed the passenger door and watched as the older teen drove off into the evening.
Once she was alone, she walked into the arcade. She liked the flashing lights and the beeps and dings of the games. She even liked the pattern on the carpeted floor.
Soon enough she was looking through the crowd for her friends. It wasn’t long before she spotted a familiar head of curly hair. There was Mike.
Next to Mike, she could see that Dustin, Lucas, and Max. They were all gathered around a machine. They looked excited and she could tell that Dustin was cheering Max on.
“El, over here!” Mike said turning around. “Max is about to break her high score.”
For a moment El could forget about the last few nights. She ran over to where the group stood and joined in on the excitement. Mike pulled her into a quick friendly hug before letting her go.
For a while, they were dating. She had even kissed Mike several times. Joyce had described it best though. ‘Sometimes young love just fizzles out but that doesn’t mean you still can’t be friends.’ She and Mike were friends but nothing more. It was amicable. ‘You don’t always find the one on your first go-around.’
“She’s been at it for like an hour already,” Dustin said. His eyes were glued to the screen.
It was Pacman. She had grown familiar with the game after playing it a few times herself. It was fun. El couldn’t say she was as good as Max. Once or twice though she had managed to beat Dustin at it.
“You’re almost there,” Lucas said. His voice had dropped to a whisper as the group continued to concentrate on the game.
“You’re buying me something to eat if I break the score tonight,” Max said. Her eyes were narrowed, and her hand clutched tightly to the joystick.
“If you break the score I’ll buy us all a round of pretzels,” Lucas countered.
Dustin snorted and looked over at Lucas. “What the hell is a ‘round of pretzels’ who would say something like that?”
“Guys,” Mike said. “She’s trying to play, shut up!”
The little ghost was right behind her, but Max had one cherry left. El believed in her. All she needed to do to break her score was finish the level. It looked like she was about. The game’s exit path was right there. Max was so close. She was almost there.
The lights of the arcade flickered, and it went black.
“What the fuck!”
It wasn’t just the party that groaned in frustration. The rest of the arcade goes huffed and yelled. The illuminated building was suddenly dead and dark.
“I can’t believe that just happened,” Dustin said. “You were so close!”
“Yeah, no shit Dustin! I’m going to fucking kill someone,” Max hissed. El could tell she was seething even in the dark.
El made her way to the front of the building. Some of the evening light poured in through the glass door. She peered through the door before cautiously stepping outside. The streetlights that had been on moments ago were burned out. It looked like the whole block was out of power. In the middle of the street, a car was stopped.
“What the hell, some kid…there was a kid. He just ran out in front of me,” an older man explained. He looked confused. “I almost hit him, but I didn’t see where he ran off to,” he said to some other onlooker.
“I don’t see no kid,” the other stranger said. A younger woman.
“He was just here. He looked wild, like some kind of jungle boy.”
El stared at the scene in front of her. She took a few more steps outside and tried to see if she could spot anything.
“El, what are you doing?” Mike asked suddenly as he opened the door. “The manager is trying to get the power back on.”
Around her, she could feel the unstableness of the atmosphere. Electricity buzzed through the air with nowhere to go. Someone was there.
“Sorry,” El said. “I just was looking. I think it’s the whole block.”
“That’s weird,” Mike said. He brushed some of his hair out of his face and looked around with her. “I wonder what it could have been.”
“I do not know,” El said. ‘But I intend to find out.’
***
Will panted breathlessly. His heart was hammering so fast in his chest that he wondered if it would beat right out through his rib cage. He grasped into the pavement as it might save him. His knees were bloodied from falling and his palms were raw.
He had left the safety of his fort to see if maybe he could find himself something to eat. He watched Main Street from the shadows of an alleyway. A large brick building provided more than enough protection. It allowed him to watch people walk along the sidewalk. They would go into stores, or they would climb into cars.
He didn’t know how exactly he was going to get any food. He had remembered the concept of money from somewhere deep inside him. Standing in the alley wasn’t getting him any food either though.
He had made the decision to cross the street and stare into the bakery window. The smell of fresh bread had made his stomach growl demandingly. Maybe if he asked nicely somebody would give him one of those puffy bread things in the display. He would love that.
Will must not have looked both ways though. Just as he was halfway across the street a car sped toward him. It was flying faster than Will could react. He froze in fear, eyes wide like a deer in the headlights. He had survived monsters and demons and now he would be killed by a car going 50 in a 30.
His legs wobbled and gave out. They had refused to support his weight any longer. Will closed his eyes and held his breath as he braced for impact. ‘Will there be peace in death?’
Once again, the buzz of energy soared through him. He didn’t understand how it worked but it seemed to show up when he was scared. It had happened the other night when he woke from a nightmare. The energy was hard to pinpoint. Will couldn’t be precise with it. Instead of a steady stream of energy, it came like bursts.
“Stop please stop,” Will whispered, clenching his jaw as the streetlights above him shattered. The car’s tires screeched to a halt. It felt like centuries before Will was able to open his eyes again. Carefully he cracked one eye open. The car was only a foot away from him. Close enough for him to smell the scent of burnt rubber. Smoke billowed heavily from the hood of the car as the driver shouted from inside of it.
Will struggled to stand. It took all his energy to haul himself off the asphalt. He wobbled and fell again. It felt as if he was made of rubber. The muscles in his body refused to work with him. Bruised knees hit hard against concreate, but Will didn’t feel it.
When he scrambled up on his feet for the second time his knees decided to hold strong. He was able to run out of the street and back to the alley where he had first hidden. From the alley, he took off back toward the back road. He could get back to his fort from there.
He wiped at the blood that poured freely from his nose. Will was tired and hungry, but he was alive. That was enough. He’d live to see another sunrise.
The night was hard on Will. He was grateful to be back in his fort, but his stomach ached from hunger. He had reminded himself that he needed to be more careful. He knew that hunger made you act carelessly.
While he had been walking back into the woods, he had come across an old, tattered blanket. On the ends of it were wooden clothespins. It looked like it had blown off a clothesline days ago. Nobody had cared enough to look for it. He grabbed it and carried it back with him. He could add it to the collection inside of the fort.
The day before he had found a creek with slow-flowing water. He was lucky that there had been an old water bottle left inside the fort. He was able to fill it up and save water for himself.
Even if it was from a creek, it tasted like heaven compared to the water in the other place.
At night he settled down into the fort. It was cold and the thin ratty blankets did little to keep him warm. It was miserable and wonderful at the same time. He could lay his head down and know that the monsters couldn’t get him there. He closed his eyes, but sleep didn’t come. Will found himself waiting for the warm rays of the sun to come back.
“It’s November sixth,” El said softly as she entered the kitchen. That morning Hopper was there cooking breakfast instead of Joyce.
“It is,” Hopper said just as quietly.
“Where is Joyce?” El asked as she took a seat at the table.
“She’s in bed. She’s uh…she’s having a hard time,” he answered as he grabbed her a plate from the cabinet. “I figured we could let her take it easy today.”
“She’s sad,” El said. The somberness radiated throughout the house.
“She is. It’s a sad day.” Hopper said. He sighed before he filled the plate with a few pieces of bacon and some scrambled eggs.
“Where’s Jonathan?” She asked as Hopper sat the plate down in front of her.
“He spent the night at Nancy’s. He’ll probably be home later.”
El didn’t say anything. The food smelled good, but she couldn’t bring herself to take a bite. She knew what day it was. That day was the reason why that was an empty seat at the dinner table. It was the reason why Joyce sometimes cried on holidays. It was why nobody opened the last bedroom door on the right. It was a very bad day.
“It is day 1080,” she said. That was how long Will had been gone.
It was Hopper's turn to remain silent. He made himself his plate before he sat down across from El. He stared at her with sadness in his eyes. El could see something in his brown eyes that reminded her of guilt.
“I have to go to work today. I’m going to try to get off early. Can you check on Joyce today? She’s not going into work.”
El nodded her head quickly. “I’ll check on Joyce,” she answered.
“Good,” Hopper said. He smiled at her took a sip of his coffee. “She needs you today. I’m counting on you.”
“I’ll take care of Joyce,” El said with a fierceness that was reserved for her friends and family. She would keep Joyce safe, even if it was from the sadness.
“That’s my girl,” Hopper said. “I’m going to bring home pizza tonight. Any requests?”
“Cheese bread,” El said.
“Cheese bread it is. I better get going. Try to have a good day, okay?”
She watched as Hopper got up and filled his thermos with coffee. He then slipped out the backdoor. She noticed how he hadn’t eaten his breakfast.
El decided to try and make things easier for Joyce that day. She knew exactly what Joyce did around the house when she was at home.
She had learned quickly how to do the chores on her own. She could start laundry, run the vacuum, do the dishes, and dust. Joyce had never made her work too hard on the house but El had found that she enjoyed spending time with her. They had often done chores together.
The older woman would turn on the radio and turn up the volume. They would dance and laugh as they swept the floors and polished some of the furniture. She would let them listen to new music with poppy beats. Not like Hopper's old rock.
The chores were not as much fun without Joyce. But El followed the daily routine of doing the dishes and taking out the morning trash. Afterward, she vacuumed the floors and wiped down the coffee table. To her dismay, there wasn’t much to do.
When El had done everything that needed to be done, she went to her room to work on some of the papers Jonathan had left for her. He called it algebra. El called it ‘torture.’ He had shown her how to do the math, but she still forgot sometimes how to solve the problems.
An hour or so had passed when she gave up on her work. Instead, she crept out of her room to the kitchen where the phone rested on the wall.
She ran her fingers over it thoughtfully. She debated with herself for a bit but eventually, she picked it up and dialed a familiar number. The phone rested between her shoulder and ear while she twirled the cord around her finger.
It rang once, twice, three times. On the fourth ring, someone finally picked up.
“Hello?”
“Mike?”
“Hey,” he said. His voice sounded duller than usual. It was flat and hallow.
“I wanted to call you.”
“Yeah, yeah uh how are you?” he asked.
“I’m okay. What about you?”
“Fine, I guess.”
“It’s November 6th.”
“I know,” Mike mumbled into the phone.
Neither of them talked for several seconds. For a moment she thought maybe he had hung up.
“Mike?”
“Sorry, I’m here,” his voice was no longer flat. Instead, it was nasally and wet. Was he crying? Mike cleared his throat and sighed. “I miss him like crazy.”
“I’m sorry…I don’t want you to be sad,” El said.
“Sometimes we can’t avoid it,” Mike said. “Sometimes I think I just need to sit in the hurt you know?”
El let the phone cord drop from her fingers. She couldn’t understand. “No, I don’t know,” she admitted.
“It means that sometimes we just have to be sad, we have to hurt so we don’t ever forget.
“Everyone hurts a lot today,” El said.
“Yeah. That’s how special Will was. The more you love someone the more it hurts when they’re not here anymore.”
“I wish he was here,” El said. She didn’t know him like the others did but she had met him in the Upside Down. She had thought maybe he would be a big part of her life he was here.
Hopper and Joyce had found his vest but that had been it. He was gone. He couldn’t hold on any longer.
“Yeah, me too,” Mike said. His voice was clipped and tight. “El, I have to go, okay?”
“Okay. I’m sorry Mike,” El said. The ‘I wish I could have saved him,’ lingered unsaid in the air.
“It’s alright. I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Okay.”
El hung up the phone long after Mike did. She waited until the dial tone was silenced before she put the phone back on the wall.
She sat back at the kitchen table. There were no more dishes sitting out and she had wiped everything clean. She tried to think of what she could do to be useful, but nothing sat right with her. She was learning when it meant to reflect on things. Maybe she too needed to sit in the sadness for a while.
El would have done that for the rest of the day but the sound of a door slowly opening snapped her back to reality. She stiffened in her chair as she listened to the sound. Joyce was the only one home, so she knew it had to be her.
She got up from the table and walked into the hall. From there she caught the tail end of a door being shut. It was the last door on the right. The one they never went into. Will’s room.
Curiosity got the better of her. She tiptoed into the hall and listened outside the door. A few minutes passed and just as El was about to leave the sound of crying filled the silence of the house.
The thought of Joyce wanting privacy never crossed her mind. She could hear the woman’s sobs and they touched her in the pit of her heart. Her breath got caught in her throat and her own eyes welled up with emotions. “Momma,” she said before pushing the door open.
Joyce’s was sat on the edge of the twin bed. Her face was buried in her hands and her shoulders shook. “Momma,” El said again. The words had come out of nowhere, but they didn’t feel wrong.
Joyce looked up. Her cheeks were red and blotchy. Tears streamed down her face and the light layer of makeup she had was smudged. “Oh Jane, Honey I’m sorry.”
El took a step closer and shook her head. “You were crying. I was worried”
“Don’t’ be worried, I’m just sad,” Joyce said. Her lips pursed together. She looked as if she was holding back another round of tears. She reached her hand out to El and motioned for her to join her on the bed.
El didn’t waste any time in hurrying over to her. She wrapped her arms around the woman and held on tightly to her. El was greeted with the familiar smell of cigarettes and Joyce’s perfume with notes of apple shampoo. The two sat there holding onto each for.
“You loved Will the most,” she said into Joyce’s shoulder.
“What makes you say that?”
“Because you’re hurting the most. Mike said the more you love someone the more you hurt.”
Joyce smoothed El’s hair down with her hand. She pressed a kiss to her forehead and smiled a teary smile. “He’d be sixteen, almost all grown up. He’ll always be my little boy.” She pulled away just long enough to grab something off the nightstand. It was a picture of Will.
“He was always on the quiet side. A little shy but he was so sweet. He loved to draw and to listen to music with Jonathan. Just like you. He’d always share anything he had,” Joyce said as she stared at the picture of a little boy with a big grin.
El listened for a long time. She let Joyce talk about Will and what he was like growing up. She talked about what she thought he would have been like today. She shared a few stories and the tears started to slow down.
“I’m sorry you hurt,” El whispered.
“It’s okay Honey. It just means I got to love someone as wonderful as Will. I wouldn’t trade those thirteen years for anything. They were the best years of my life.”
El buried her face back against Joyce’s shoulder and sighed. “I know.”
“But I’ve got you now and Jonathan and Hopper. We’re a family and we’ll be okay,” Joyce said in return.
“We’ll be okay.”
Jonathan didn’t come home that evening either. He stayed over at the Wheeler's house again. Like promised though Hopper brought pizza home with cheese bread. The three of them ate in the living room with the television providing background noise.
El was grateful when the day came to an end. She knew neither she nor the rest of them would forget Will, but the anniversary of his disappearance made it feel heavy and raw. Like picking at a healing wound.
She lay in her bed in the darkness of the room. It had started to drizzle, and the sound of raindrops pattered against her window. El pulled the blanket up to her chin and rolled over onto her side. She stared out the window and into the darkness of the night. Not far beyond the house was the woods.
She waited for the lights to flicker or for the sensation of the energy echoing through the atmosphere. Nothing happened that night. The hall light stayed steady, and nothing pulsed through the air.