Chapter Text
Something had changed when he crossed the Roane County line into Hawkins.
For the first time in a year there was a sensation of dread.
A sense of terror he had not felt since they had closed the gate that summer. Since his family had sold the only home he had ever known and moved to parts unknown. Looking desperately for a fresh start from a never ending nightmare.
And for a while, it had been.
It had been a quiet. A sense of refuge he hadn't known since the day he fell from his bike -- and the world had turned on its axis.
He would have been the first to tell you how much he had welcomed the quiet. Welcomed the sense of calm. Peace and serenity he had not known in so long. How much of a wonder it had been to just be normal. To be a regular kid with regular problems. There were no monsters. No evil lurking in the shadows ready to strike at any moment. It was almost uncanny. Too good to be true.
And then it all got blown to bits. Figuratively and to the first house he had called a home in so long -- literally.
It was an inevitability he thought. How can he escape this darkness that loomed over him since he was twelve.
He had loved Lenora. For the first time in his life he felt like he could fit in. He could belong. He had made friends. Gone to parties. The movies. He had sprouted about two feet over the summer they had been there. He finally had found his center.
The same couldn't have been said for his sister.
Jane Hopper aka Eleven aka El wasn't his sister by blood but she was in ways that mattered more than that. Since the night that he was taken. Kidnapped by a monster and literally dragged to another world. Forced to run for his life for six days until he was eventually found & rescued by his mother, Joyce and El's adopted father, the late Chief of Hawkins Police, Jim Hopper. Eleven, born Jane, was naturally gifted with psychic powers. She had spent years at the mercy of terrfying government lab experiments only to have escaped what had been her prison and walk her way into their lives. Having accidentally been the one to rip the tear between dimensions that led to this other world where he would fall into, they had formed this unique bond. One that defied explaination. It was innate. Speaking volumes without the necessity of having to be said. One that would connect them on an almost spiritual level.
After the death of her father El had been taken in by his mother Joyce, who had always looked to the young girl as his daughter. Loved her just as deeply as she did one of her own. They were bound together as well by the grief they both held for the death of her father, Jim Hopper, whom his mother loved very much. The loss of her father and of her psychic powers during the tragedy, had left El off kilter. It had been a hard time adjusting to being away from Hawkins, away from their other friends. Away from the only safety and security she had ever known.
He had made it a point in the first few months after they had arrived to be there for her. He had slept on the floor of her room, even though he had his own room, because she would wake up crying from nightmares. Made a point to include her in all his activities with his newfound friends, despite the fact that she was still awkward being around other people. Had done what he could to encourage her to find happiness and positivity. And in the beginning, before school had started, it had been good. That is, however, until they started school.
It was here where El, who had to go by Jane for the first time, struggled immensely. She had been dealt a cruel blow of being harassed and bullied. Not being able to fit in, no matter how hard he tried. As time wore on, the worse she struggled and the worse Will felt for her. He had tried his best to support her. To be there for her yet again. But something had changed. And he couldn't figure out what that had been. So when she was in danger. Captured by the government she had fought so hard to avoid for so many years, Will was determined to find her. So desperate was he for her happiness that he willingly sacrificed his own just to make sure she had some peace. Make sure she was happy. She had gone so long without it, it felt cruel of him to not do it.
But that had made him miserable. A misery now compounded with feelings of fear, pain and anger. Feelings that weren't his own. The monster that had taken him so long ago had a name now. Henry. Giving a name to it made it worse somehow. Added a feeling of ugliness that had never been there before. It was one thing to be tormented by a monster, a creature of untold darkness and scope. To have been tormented by a man, a creature who had given in to his own darkness, was a different beast entirely.
He didn't say anything to anyone at first. Although the feeling of fear and dread had almost jumped into him the moment they crossed the Welcome to Hawkins sign. He did his best to quell the fear, the rising terror. It was eating away at every bit of himself. Every inch of his being. Ever since he was taken he would get these feelings in the back of his neck. A sensation of fear, a signal of the evil that haunted him and his friends. Like the Bat Signal it was a sign of danger that had alerted them time and again of impending doom.
This was different. Feral almost in a way that haunted him to his very core. The sensation had come in stronger. Deeper. Almost profound. It took every inch of him not to pass out the moment he first felt it. He had been sitting alone when it had first happened. So shocked he had been by watching the devastation that had befallen Hawkins since he had left. It was like a wave of nausea and dizziness had hit all at once. Those around him to enthralled by the awe of destruction that they didn't notice his breathing pick up. His hand steady itself on the seat next to him. His breath came in short pants, but quiet. Unnoticed.
He had regained composure by the time they had reached the Wheeler house but the feeling still remained. Almost stronger than ever. But he buried it deeply. Like he buried everything else. Held his composure when reuniting with his friends. With visiting the hospital to see Max. He held himself together. As well as he could. It wasn't until they had reached Hopper's cabin. That he sat there, alone with Mike, did he dare to speak his fears aloud. The reality of what was happening hitting him like a ton of bricks. This monster who had plagued him for so long. This beast who had stolen his peace, his innocence so long ago.
Vecna.
He was alive. While he had suffered a heavy blow, it didn't destroy him. He was walking wounded but Will could feel him nonetheless. His thoughts. His feelings. All flooding back like a tidal wave. He confessed it all to Mike. And like he knew, Mike would understand. Mike always understood. His reassurance brought great comfort and for the first time since he had been back, it didn't feel so afraid. That feeling wouldn't last. The earth broke open around him and the Upside Down entered Hawkins like the aftermath of a nuclear explosion. Will had felt it. And they all had seen it. He couldn't hide from them that those feelings that had plagued him so long ago had returned.
He had his first nightmare that night. The first in almost a year. He couldn't remember what it was about. All he could recall was an overwhelming sense of dread and the defeaning chime of a grandfather clock.
For the first time in nearly a year -- Will Byers woke up screaming.