Chapter Text
Will runs.
His feet, bare, pound against the uneven earth. He can feel the rocks under his toes, digging into the heels of his feet, stinging. He pays it no mind, more focused on escaping.
For the past three years, Will has been kept away from the outside world, kept in a dark basement in his captor's house. Henry, as he let Will know, seemed like a normal guy — besides the fact that he kidnapped children in his spare time. Whenever he thinks back to the fateful night of November sixth, he wishes he had just stayed at Mike's house. He wishes he never left. But he did, and he paid the price for it.
While biking home, he had steered off the road, into the woods, after being startled by a man standing in the street. The man followed him, and Will ran.
He wasn't fast enough.
This time, he will be.
He runs, adrenaline pumping through his veins, kicking up dirt and pebbles and sticks, so close to being free. He knows Henry is behind him, and he knows that if he gets caught, this is it. He'll die — or meet a fate much worse. Zipping through the woods, he trips over a tree root, and his heart plummets. He hurries to push himself up, knowing that Henry is gaining on him. He's able to get himself up before Henry can catch up with him, and he sets off running again, almost faster than he was before.
He runs out of the woods, and, to his surprise, he recognizes where he is. He knows this area like the back of his hand, even after all these years. He can't afford to pause, continuing to run, but this time, he has a destination in mind.
He'll be safe soon.
It looks late, not that he has a watch, but he would put it at around midnight. He doesn't know if they'll be up, but he hopes and prays to whatever god is out there that someone will answer the door.
Finally, finally, he arrives. He knocks hurriedly on the door, pounding, quite inconsiderately for this time of night, but he can only bring himself to feel a little bad. Henry isn't too far behind him, he thinks, and his heart pounds harder than his fists on the wood.
He hears footsteps, and his heart soars.
The door opens, and — there he is.
Mike.
"Will?"
Somehow, Mike recognizes him. Though he's dirty, covered in sweat, with hair down to his shoulders, Mike recognizes him. He wants to cry, and he thinks he might.
"Mike," he breathes out, and Mike looks a bit like he wants to cry, himself.
"You have to let me in." He says, almost demanding, mainly pleading, and Mike starts.
"Of course– of course, Will, come in! Are you– are you hurt? Anywhere?" He ushers Will in hurriedly, closing the door behind them. As soon as the door is closed, Will turns around and locks it, before sliding down to the floor, gasping for breath. Mike crouches down, a worried look on his face, and his hands hover around Will's shoulders — wanting to touch him, but unsure.
"Will, this is insane, I can't believe you're here." He says, breathless. His eyes look wet, like he's about to cry, and Will can't blame him.
"Where the hell have you been?" Mike asks, and it doesn't sound accusatory, but Will winces a bit anyway. Mike picks up on this, like he always used to, and he backtracks. "Not that I'm not happy you're here, I'm stoked– but, really, where have you been? It's been three years, and, well.. a lot of the town thinks you're dead." He says dead like it physically pains him to say, to even think about, and it hurts Will to think about, too.
"It felt like I was." Will replies, unhelpfully. He doesn't know what to say, not really. Mike nods, encouraging Will to go on. Will takes a deep breath, then tries to explain.
"I.. was kidnapped, basically." He says, a little too blunt.
Mike reels back, "what?"
"By this guy — his name's Henry, that's not really important, though. Or, I guess it is," he chuckles a bit, though it's not really funny. Mike looks devastated, as though it'd never crossed his mind that Will had been taken and not just lost. Lost for three years is a bit of a stretch, but Mike was always hopeful like that.
"Anyways, he.. took me, and kept me, and– just, yeah. So, that's where I've been. For three years."
"God, Will– oh my god, really, Jesus — I don't even know what to say." Mike is fully sitting now, in front of Will, and Will has to look up a bit to see his face. Mike has grown a lot taller, after three years, which makes sense. Will just.. hadn't thought about it. Every time he thought about his friends, they stayed the same age, looked the same age — and so did Will. Will didn't feel like he'd aged in that basement, not really. He'd grown, sure, but not by a lot. His growth had been stunted by his diet of only being given food once a week. Mentally, he feels as though he's aged fifty years and not at all, all at the same time.
He's different, for sure, and Mike is too, he thinks as he looks at him.
"Henry was following me." He blurts out, suddenly a lot more scared than he had been a moment ago. Mike's face falls, and he suddenly looks scared, too. "He knows where you live because of me– he knows, oh my god, Mike, I'm so sorry, I–"
Mike cuts him off, shushing him, and this time he does place his hands on Will's shoulders, a grounding touch. "We'll call the police. You won't leave until they come, and then it'll be safe. They can survey the area, they can– they can raid his house, maybe, if you know where he lives, if you're willing.. We'll be safe, okay?" Mike reassures him, and Will relaxes a bit under his touch.
"Right, the police.. We should.. probably call them, shouldn't we? Like, right now.." Will says slowly, feeling a bit stupid for not thinking about them earlier. Mike nods, like he only realized this just now, himself. He stands up, then extends his hands for Will to grab, and pulls him up with him. "Let me wake up my mom," Mike says, leading Will over to the living room. As Will sits down, his heart speeds up a little. "Isn't her room upstairs?" He asks. Mike nods, looking confused. "Yeah– yeah, it is, why?"
"I don't.. want you to leave me down here. Alone." Will admits, fidgeting with his hands. Mike exhales, realizing. "Oh, of course, Will, I'm sorry– I'm sorry, I'll stay with you, dude, of course."
Mike paces for a second, while Will sits in place and looks at his hands, before he suddenly stops.
"Here's what we'll do," he starts. "You can sleep with me in the basement, like we used to, and then in the morning I'll tell mom what happened and she can call the police."
Will nods, slowly, and looks up at Mike. "That.. That sounds good, yeah. Yeah, okay, um, you'll stay with me?" He feels a bit silly asking, but he needs to make sure.
Mike nods, "of course, Will. Of course, yeah."
"I'll stay."