Chapter Text
The will of a ghost to exist is far more than the stories created by the people around them—they reflect our dreams, desires, and our nightmares. Perhaps ghosts exist because we need them to exist.
The trees of the gravel road seemed to bend over the car as Will watched the scenery slowly pass through the window. It had rained yesterday, making the lawn in front of the Wheeler Estate soft and muddy. The kind of muddy where the terrain beneath your feet would make gross squishing and watery sounds, he imagined. Will tried to shake the thought (since those noises grossed him out), looking over at his sister El, seated right across from him.
His foot bounced on the heavy plastic material placed over the car’s plush floor. He was nervous, his mind running with any thought it had, speeding at one hundred miles an hour. Will thought about what his new room would look like, if he’d even get along with Mike at all, and how Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler would treat him.
Everyone in the town knew of the Wheelers, but very few truly knew the Wheelers. Nancy was the only family member who seemed to frequent Hawkins—the regular part of Hawkins, that is—as she went to Hawkins High. But, she didn’t hang out with students or participate in extracurricular activities. She showed up, did her work, and left.
Mike was even a stranger case: for the first couple years of his schooling, he had attended public school. Mike had even ‘befriended’ Will before he was mysteriously pulled out of school to do private tutoring from the Estate. He was barely seen outside of the mansion and was considered creepy by all of Will’s friends at his school—Will’s old school.
But that’s not what Jonathan had told Will. He had assured Will that Mike was a misunderstood kid, that he was lonely and desperately wanted to go back to public school, but that his father didn’t want him going back. He was funny and sassy, but in a cute charming way, not in the typical sixteen-year-old way. Mike had talked to Jonathan about Will, asking how he was doing as he had recognized him as Will’s brother. That’s what gave Jonathan the idea to ask Will about the position in the first place.
Will was not going to the Estate to visit Mike or go on a tour the family did occasionally, he was going there for work. He had been hired as Mike’s personal assistant. Jonathan, one of the many house’s caretakers, had explained that it was Mike’s and Mr. Wheeler’s compromise for taking Mike out of school (Mike had been making a bigger fuss about being homeschooled lately than he usually did) and that Mike seemed like a perfect fit for Will. Something like that. And, oh, don’t forget: Will’s Mom always needed help with paying the bills.
El was also hired to be on the staff as a maid and a general housekeeper. When Will heard that El had accepted the position, he was a little caught off guard—her father had adopted her only a couple of months ago and she was still getting a grasp on the norms of society and everyday life. And, on top of that, she was still getting used to their parents’ new marriage.
He tried to explain to her that she didn’t need to take the job, that with Jonathan and Will working for the Wheelers their Mom would be fine, but she insisted on working for them as well. “I want to, Will,” she said assuringly. “Plus, the uniforms look cute.” Will rolled his eyes, knowing that the conversation was over.
(How did she even know what the uniforms looked like in the first place?)
The more that Will kept getting distracted, the faster the car seemed to go. He couldn’t tell if this was a good thing or a bad thing, but before he had time to decide, the car arrived at the huge light-grey mansion.
The Estate was big. It had about three different floors, a huge garden, big garages and delicate landscaping. The decoration of the exterior was jaw-dropping, with beautiful windowsills and fencing on the front porch, but none of it compared to the mansion’s entry—an elegant dark green wooden door, decorated with stained glass windows on the sides and top of it. The house must have cost a million dollars, Will thought. His Mother always talked about how the house they lived in was a little under a hundred thousand, and the Estate was ten times bigger than his house. Maybe even more.
But something didn’t sit right with the way the mansion looked. It was graceful and one of a kind, but it wasn’t alluring. It didn’t have any life to it. The house looked as if it was made with no care, only built to show off the immense wealth the Wheeler family had. Though the house was well kept (Will had to think that considering his brother was a caretaker) it looked empty, eerie. If Will hadn’t known any better, he would have thought it was haunted, or at the very least a historic home that had been preserved for many, many years, unowned by anyone, only for show. Surely no living being resided there.
He looked over at El, trying to read her expression. She was open-mouthed, entranced at the sight of the house. Her head moved with the car, keeping herself fixated on the front door until she couldn’t turn her head anymore. She looked over at Will, smiling. He smiled nervously back.
The car parked, coming to a slow stop, facing parallel to the Estate. Looking towards the front of the house Will saw Jonathan, instantly relieved at the sight of a familiar face. It calmed his nerves a little but didn’t stop them from rising again when he caught sight of who he assumed to be Mrs. Wheeler standing next to his brother.
The pair on the porch started walking to the car, and Will knew he had to get out. His hand felt heavy as he grasped the cold metal of the door’s handle, letting himself and his sister out and onto the rocky road beneath them. Will tugged at his sweater’s sleeves, feeling the bitterness of the fall air. The gravel crunched loudly under their feat.
Jonathan picked up his pace, jogging the rest of the way to Will and El. He wrapped them both in a big hug, smiling. “I’m so glad to see you guys!”
Will smiled and hugged his brother back, slightly tugging at the back of Jonathan’s shirt communicating his uneasiness. Jonathan tightened the tug.
“Jonathan, you are going to crush me!” El squealed.
Jonathan pulled back from the hug with a goofy grin. “Sorry about that. I’m just a little too excited that you guys are going to be living here now.”
“Don’t worry, we know,” El said slowly, laughing a bit. Will gave another nervous smile but remained silent.
As if on queue, Jonathan turned over to Mrs. Wheeler, letting her introduce herself. She had her hands folded and resting in front of herself, both gloved. She wore red lipstick and a blue and white pencil dress. She looked like a politician’s wife, Will thought. Or a flight attendant. Does she always dress this fancy?
“Hi! Will, El, I’m Mrs. Wheeler. It’s lovely to meet you both! I’ve heard so much about you,” she shook both of their hands with a warm and inviting expression on her face.
“It’s nice to meet you, too,” Will shook her hand back, hoping his palms weren’t sweaty. He tried to sound as normal as possible, which for some odd reason, was difficult at this moment.
“Yes, it is—it’s nice to meet you, too,” El repeated.
Will tried his best to study Mrs. Wheeler’s face and body language. She’s being genuine , Will thought. I’m glad to know that the Wheelers aren’t as scary as I’d imagined.
“Mike is out playing in the backyard right now, so I’m afraid you can’t meet him right now—” she gestured towards Will ( If he’s just hanging out in the backyard, why can’t I go and introduce myself? ), “—but, I am more than happy to give you a tour around the house! I’m sure Jonathan will be able to show you where a lot of the stuff is, but I just wanted to go over the basics of where you’ll be spending most of your time here.”
The four of them trekked to the front of the house, Will taking slow, deep breaths in and out as they arrived at the looming dark-green wooden door.
The inside of the Estate was shocking compared to the lightness of the exterior—almost everything was made of dark wood, the walls being of a gothic and dark green color palette. The house was also overly decorated just like the outside, with handcrafted wooden chairs, sofas, and tables. It looked like a house from a fairy tale, a vampire’s mansion in Dungeons and Dragons.
Mrs. Wheeler carefully explained where the bathrooms, the kitchen, living area, dining room, and other major rooms of the house were, as well as where things like where cleaning supplies were kept and the laundry room.
“Now, for the grand finale…” Mrs. Wheeler smiled, excited for the twins. “Your rooms!”
“I can’t wait,” El said, and squeezed Will’s arm as the trio slowly walked down the hall, following Mrs. Wheeler like puppies. She slowed down after turning into a hallway directly adjacent to the main stairs of the house.
“Ladies first,” Mrs. Wheeler said, “This is your room, Ms. Hopper.”
Will watched El as she swung open the door to her room, exhilarated.
“Do you prefer Ms. Hopper? Or Byers?” Mrs. Wheeler asked, but El was already lost in her own world, almost dancing across the wooden floor of the room.
“It’s perfect,” she was glowing.
Arms folded, Will turned to Mrs. Wheeler. “Is this room mine, then?” Will said, pointing to the door directly left of El’s room.
“No, your bedroom is right of the stairs,” Mrs. Wheeler smiled. “Next to Mike’s.”
Will’s brows furrowed. El’s room being in a separate hallway from him made him very uncomfortable. “Where’s Jonathan’s room?”
“At the very end of this hall,” Jonathan explained, hands in his pockets.
Oh . So his brother was also in a completely separate section of the house from him. “Oh, so that means, uhm…”
He expected Mrs. Wheeler to pick up on his discomfort. A tiny part of him hoped that she would be willing to reassign Will’s room to something in this hallway, but he knew that wasn’t likely to happen—especially if he didn’t say anything. Plus, he didn’t even know if there were any other open bedrooms in this hall anyway. It wasn’t like the Estate was a boarding school, even though it was big enough to be one.
Will turned back to look at El’s bedroom. The room was ‘cozy,’ or at least as cozy as a room in the Estate could be. She had a desk facing the wall with a chair worthy of a dining room placed in front of it and a bed that was made neatly. On the bedding was El’s maid uniform: a dark green dress with a white blouse and apron. When she saw Will looking, she immediately ran to it, smiling and picking it up. El unfolded the dress and showed her brothers and Mrs. Wheeler.
“Doesn’t it look so cute, Will? I told you!”
Mrs. Wheeler laughed, “I’m glad you like them. Ted wanted the uniforms to look different, but he doesn’t know much about fashion.”
Why do we even have to wear uniforms? Will thought. How rich are they? Maybe this is a boarding school.
Despite his pessimistic thoughts, Will cracked a smile. It was nice seeing El so excited about something. And, he couldn’t deny it: the uniform did look pretty cute. He was sure his sister would look great in it.
“And, Will, you won’t be getting a uniform,” Mrs. Wheeler turned to him. “I mean, unless you want one. But the dress code is that you have to be wearing pants—not jeans—and a collared shirt when you’re working. I know it’s—not ideal—but that’s what Ted settled for. But it looks like you already got the memo.”
He looked down at his polo and sweater combo. “Yeah, Jonathan told me,” Will lied, grateful that he had chosen his outfit by pure luck. He looked at his brother, who was paying more attention to El. Will immediately made a mental note to call his mom and ask her to bring some more of his collared shirts to him.
Mrs. Wheeler clapped her hands together. “Great! And, just between you and me, I won’t get you in trouble for not wearing a collar. But be careful around Ted.”
She doesn’t even talk about Mr. Wheeler like he’s her husband, she talks about him like he’s her father.
Will’s room also looked very comfortable, and as promised it was placed right next to Mike’s. It was smaller than El’s, but not by too much. Since it was his room, Will paid more attention to the details: the bed looked very soft, the desk they gave him was a lighter wood, and the dresser was pretty big. Though Will was still uneasy about moving into the Estate, he could imagine himself comfortably living here for a while.
“Wow,” El said as she was now the one observing Will’s reaction. Jonathan shifted.
He walked around his bed, going over to the desk that was facing the window, suddenly feeling a bite as the room temperature seemed to drop a few degrees. “Is it—is it colder in here?”
Mrs. Wheeler nodded. “Yeah, sorry. The heater’s old and doesn’t seem to reach all the rooms, so sometimes there’s coldspots.” She paused. “But there’s always lots of extra blankets and warm water, and we have plenty of tea, coffee, and hot chocolate mix.”
“What about chocolate milk?” He asked, avoiding eye contact. Truth be told, he didn’t mind the cold all too much.
Mrs. Wheeler smiled. “Of course. Mike loves the stuff.”
Will felt more at ease. Living here wasn’t going to be as bad as he thought. “Cool.”
“Well, I’ll let you kids get settled in,” Mrs. Wheeler announced, slipping out of Will’s room and into the doorframe. “Please let me know if you need anything,” she hummed. “Dinner will be served at seven. We have a caretaker that cleans at eight sharp. Again, welcome!” The door closed behind her.
Jonathan leaned against the dresser as the room fell silent. The trio awkwardly stared at each other, all of them being introverts. Mrs. Wheeler’s absence and her outgoing nature became very apparent.
“I’m going to go to my room if that’s okay,” El said, looking over at Will.
A beat.
“Go ahead,” Will responded, nodding. El grinned at Will and Jonathan before leaving excitedly.
As it was now just the two brothers in the room, Jonathan stood up straight, taking a few steps into the room.
“Hey, are you okay?” Jonathan asked, concerned. “I saw you looking a little nervous outside, I just wanted to make sure that you’re okay with living here and— it’s no big deal if you don’t want to work here.”
Jonathan could always read Will like a book. He sighed in relief as Jonathan seemed validated and recognized his feelings. “Yeah, I’m just kind of anxious,” he revealed. “It’s just this house is so like… big and fancy. And rich.”
His brother laughed. “Yeah. It’s honestly really crazy how rich they are. But, I promise they’re nice. Mike seems intimidating but he’s sweet. He’s really excited to meet you, Will.”
Will smiled. “I hope I live up to the hype.”
“You definitely will. Because you are the best person I know. And if Mike doesn’t like you, I’ll beat his ass.”
Will rolled his eyes and laughed. “Okay. I’m gonna unpack some now. You should probably help El with some of her bags—” Will was cut off by the distant sound of a child’s laugh from outside his window.
“Oh shit,” Jonathan stood straight up, remembering his promise to El to help her settle in. “You’re right. I’ll be right back. I love you, Will, and if you ever need to leave for any reason, it’s one hundred percent okay.”
Will nodded, watching his brother exit his new room. His bedroom fell silent once again until he heard that same childish giggling. He walked over to the window, bending over his desk to get a better view. In the backyard, he recognized Nancy playing with whom he assumed to be Holly, the Wheeler’s youngest kid. Looking over to the side of the yard, he saw his first glance of Mike. Though he hadn’t seen him since he was in early elementary school, he immediately recognized the black-haired boy.
From the view of his second-story window, Will couldn’t make out the fine details of what exactly was going on down there. But he felt the smile on Mike’s face as he watched his sisters play. It was the kind of warm smile Will remembered from when they had met on the swings in kindergarten, and it was enough to make Will’s heart melt.
Will considered the fact that living here wasn’t going to be as bad as he initially expected. With a flushed expression, Will realized that living here might not only be fine, but perhaps enjoyable.
☆
That night the Wheeler’s held a special dinner for all of the new guests that would be living with them, mostly since Mrs. Wheeler insisted. (Not that she cooked the meal or anything, the house staff did.) The dining room was in a rarely visited section of the house from what Jonathan told Will, it was mainly used only when there were ‘special guests’ and as a way of showing exactly how much money the Wheeler’s had. But, for all that exclusivity, the dining room wasn’t that special.
It reminded him deeply of the Hill House. Big, vaulted windows were installed on one of the walls showcasing more of the Estate’s exterior, particularly one of their many gardens. A dark wood, long rectangular dining table sat in the middle of the room on top of a gothic styled rug. In the corners of the room there were cabinets holding fine china along with a lot of other expensive delicacies that Will thought were only relevant when Jane Austin was writing.
At the heads of the tables sat Mr. Wheeler and Mrs. Wheeler in a fashion that reminded Will of The Beauty and the Beast .
On one side of the table sat Will, El and Jonathan, as well as Maxine—another highschooler working for them as a gardener. Maxine had red, wavy hair and was wearing a cable knit sweater slightly stained with some dirt. (Mr. Wheeler disapproved of this, of course, but there wasn’t enough time to change before dinner, Mrs. Wheeler reminded him.) On the other side of the table was Holly, Mike, and Nancy, who all looked miserable.
Mike’s hands disappeared into his hair as Will could see him growing impatient. He was dressed quite differently from the rest of the Wheeler’s at the table, wearing a slightly oversized sweater and jeans as opposed to the more formal attire of the rest of them. He looked off and into one of the door frames in the dining room, his stare far off.
This was the first real look that Will had gotten of Mike since he had arrived at the Estate, or even since they were young and in elementary school. He still had his black hair, but it was curlier and longer now, falling into almost-a-mullet around his shoulders. It looked insanely pretty, and if Will didn’t think it was goofy to call it one, he would have described it as a mane. It was perfect. Will felt jealous.
His eyes were another big part of his face—they were wide, slightly dipping at the bottom, highlighting his lower lashes that looked like they were meticulously placed there in triangular forms, like thin strokes of graphite on sketching paper, the kinds of details that you had to sharpen your pencil for every line to make sure they were just right. And, also—
Mike looked back to meet Will’s gaze, and Will quickly changed to being very interested in what was outside the window. He didn’t know why it felt so weird to make eye contact with Mike—maybe it was because they were basically strangers, or maybe it was because Will was most definitely staring— no , he thought, I was gazing, not staring. Either way it made his cheeks flush with embarrassment, like he had been caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to.
House staff brought plates with food, which made Will feel uncomfortable due to the unfamiliarity of it. It was like they were eating at a restaurant with a full staff, but they weren’t—the Wheeler’s just had that much money. It was mind boggling. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this , Will thought.
“Well,” Mrs. Wheeler clapped her hands together. “Let’s eat, shall we?”
The table broke out into awkward clattering of silverware on plates. Normal, stereotypical pasta had been made for dinner. Red sauce, of course, with meat chunks mixed in. Will looked over at Jonathan, who shrugged ever so lightly before going to eat. Will didn’t like meat with his pasta, but he didn’t dare say that in front of anyone. He sweated at the concept of having to announce that to the table.
“Have you all met yet?” Mrs. Wheeler asked the Byers (and Maxine) side of the table.
Will always hated having introductory dinners. He was famished from getting set up, trying to adjust to this new life that had been laid upon him in the last couple of hours. Now, right as he was about to eat the meal in front of him, which he didn’t even particularly like, he was now being asked to introduce himself. Will knew most of these feelings were a result of hanger, but he couldn’t help himself from feeling the slightest tinge of annoyance.
“No, not yet,” Jonathan said, “We’ve been so busy unpacking, there’s barely any time to talk,” he smiled.
Mrs. Wheeler gave a polite laugh to this. “I suppose you’re right!”
What kind of fantasy world was this?
Will was more than used to various mythical and magical worlds, of kingdoms with handsome princes and knights in shining armor and with dungeons and dragons and, on occasion, secret buried treasures… but this was real life. He could physically not comprehend how people had enough money to live like this, comfortably, might he add. To sit down at a table with people who cleaned your house for you ( and talked to your children for you , Will thought, but he pushed that out of his mind) and your own children, and laugh at the fact that your house is so big and complex that obviously the new staff hadn’t met the family yet, they were still unpacking and getting entirely lost looking for the bathroom, ha ha ha! I suppose that is quite funny!
Jonathan returned the laugh quietly as Will looked at him. He could see there was not a genuine feeling motivating that laugh rather than the absurdity of the concept. It was then that Will realized how Jonathan had gotten on the good side of Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler—he humored them, acted like they were a normal family that he was more than happy to help.
“Well then, Mike, Holly, Nancy, meet Will and El, the new staff. And Jonathan’s siblings.”
And Jonathan’s siblings? Was being staff here more important than the family relation? It was such an uncanny way of introducing the two to the rest of the family.
Unenthusiastic ‘hi’s came from the other side of the table as Will looked up to sneak a peek at Mike once again. Mike paused after his obligatory introduction, also taking time to study Will as the two made eye contact again. This time, Will forced himself to maintain it.
“Will?” Mike said, inadvertently pointing his fork as he spoke.
“Oh, yeah,” Will cleared his throat as he replied. “Nice to meet you.”
“No, we’ve met before,” he replied, “kindergarten, remember? The swings?”
Will pretended to give this thought, though he knew exactly what Mike was referring to. “Yeah,” he replied, “that was so long ago. I didn’t realize you remembered me,” he lied.
Will felt regret washing over him as he realized what his lying implied—what if Mike had thought that Will had forgotten about him after all these years? (He hadn’t.) Thinking about Mike’s lonely situation already depressed Will and he could only imagine how much it depressed Mike, so the thought that some of that sadness was going to be caused by him made him want to scream.
“I mean—I still think about that, a lot, actually,” Will realized he was contradicting himself at this point, but wanted to more importantly ease the feelings Mike was (probably) having about the conversation.
“Yeah, we were—” Mike’s voice wavered at the ‘were’, “We were best friends back then.”
Will gave a sad smile, trying his best to comfort him. “Well,” he looked at Mike’s eyes, “we still are, right?”
Mike reciprocated with his own sad smile, though Will could see as it slowly started to turn more authentic.
☆
Will and Mike couldn’t stop talking for the rest of the dinner. Of course, Nancy sometimes made a snarky remark about how Mike was finally learning to be polite to people instead of sarcastic, before forgetting about Will and Mike entirely as she talked to Jonathan casually. (If Will had to guess, they were definitely dating, because there was something so casual and comforting about their conversation that Will noticed in the corner of his eye at moments.)
El began talking with Maxine, who he had learned preferred to be called Max (“nobody calls me Maxine”). Those two really hit it off as well, giggling and talking to each other, and almost anything that Max revealed about herself impressed El. When Will caught wind of this, he smiled, happy that his sister had finally found another person who she felt like she could open up to. He had seen way too many people at school take advantage of her kind and innocent nature, and it was nice to see someone truly talking to her for a change.
Holly, who was sitting directly across from the pair, sometimes engaged in the conversation, causing Mrs. Wheeler to start participating, all four of them getting along. And the great part about that was that Mrs. Wheeler was actually participating, not just putting on a fake housewife persona for her husband or trying to act overly proper and polite—it looked like she had put her guard down to really try and talk with the three of them.
This all probably annoyed Mr. Wheeler. He no longer had any control over what was happening., the table or the conversation. He didn’t say a word for the entire dinner as he sat there, eating his spaghetti. Will couldn’t find it in himself to care all that much, either.
Out of everyone at the table, Mr. Wheeler was the one Will thought the least off—it’s not just because he didn’t say anything, it was because of why he didn’t say anything. He wasn’t friendly nor inviting or pleasant, and when he did speak, it was to tell Mike to take his elbows off the table in a stern voice or for Holly to keep her voice down. It wasn’t like a father-child relationship to Will at all, it was like a principal trying to keep students in line. Not that Will had a great bond with anyone close to being a father figure in his life (up until recently), but this still unnerved him greatly.
After dinner had run its course and Mike had finished, he got up and invited Will to come with him to his room.
“But I still have—” Will stuttered, referring to the plate in front of him.
“Oh, that’s alright,” Mrs. Wheeler said. “Go and have fun, you two.”
Mr. Wheeler glared at her.
“Great, thanks mom!” Mike almost exclaimed happily. He pushed in his chair as he looked at Will, a goofy grin on his face, as the two walked out of the room.
As he followed Mike out of the dining room, Will felt that heartwarming feeling again in his chest. Sure, this house wasn’t perfect, it was way way way far from that, but things weren’t going to be so bad. He wouldn’t be lonely—he had Mike. And now, Mike had him.