Chapter Text
June 1995
2,768 days.
Mike Wheeler was tired. His boots squelched damp footprints in the doorway before he stood on each heel and kicked them off. Rain water dripped like ice down his neck and clung to his hair. The apartment was empty. Living off a feeble graduate wage and military hush money meant Mike was able to afford a place of his own, but he had a roommate nonetheless. This roommate, a quiet, mousy boy was much like Mike. They enjoyed each other’s company through days of silence and closed doors. This pleased Mike, who didn’t speak to many people unless obligated to at work. The arrangement was perfect, someone to split bills with but with no falsehoods of friendship.
He lowered his body onto the scratchy, cushioned chair by the TV and closed his eyes. The apartment air was cool to breathe and he hadn’t turned any lights on during his entry. He could hear the wind rattling against the glass behind the curtains. The phone rang and he didn’t have to answer to know it was probably his mother.
Karen Wheeler was a wonderful woman. She was kind and caring and empathetic. The only issue was her worry. She saw her children wholeheartedly and knew when they were down. Consequently, it was an issue that Mike had no recent memory of being happy. Karen called a lot. She asked him about his day, about his weekend plans, when he was going to visit… sometimes she called just to ask what the weather was like. Mike knew she was only calling to check in because she loved him, but sometimes he didn’t want to talk. At least, not about his real feelings. Not about El.
See, Karen never really knew his girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend. Kind of. There’s no real label for dead girlfriend. Karen never knew El. She never knew the fierce, strong, determined, sensitive girl who had his heart for eternity. Karen knew of El, but it wasn’t the same. Nancy’s stories could only explain so much. After ‘that’ night in 1987, Nancy had explained everything to their parents and younger sister Holly. With the whole story finally, all three Wheeler’s were part of the people in the know. The rest of Hawkins were misled to believe a series of catastrophic earthquakes had devastated the town, taking tens of victims with it. The military had organised substantial hush money packets to those present in the MAC-Z.
So while Karen knew of El, she didn’t know the real El. She only knew that her son hadn’t been whole for 7 years. He smiled, and he laughed occasionally with friends. He visited his family and he’d graduated both high school and college. But the twinkle in his eye had been gone long before the military had escorted him home in November 1987.
“Hello” he answered, twisting the coiled cable around his thumb.
“Michael, how are you?” Karen said warmly.
He smiled softly, “yeah, all good. Just got back from work. It’s awful weather I’m soaked through”
“Have a warm shower” Karen offered, “do you have plans for dinner?”
“Er, I have a pizza somewhere” he said, thinking about the contents of his freezer. He wasn’t much of a cook but he got by enough that he didn’t rely on pizza every night like his mother thought.
“Okay baby. How was work?”
“Same old. Office was hell. You know I hate it but it’s money so…” he trailed off. Graduate jobs weren’t pretty but he was thankful to have an income and his own space. He knew his mother would welcome him home if he asked but bee couldn’t stand it. There were too many memories in Hawkins. That’s why he kept his visits to a minimum.
“I ran into Mrs Sinclair today, apparently Lucas and Max are home at the start of July, you should come by and see them. I know they’d like that”
Mike sighed, “yeah, I’ll um, see if I have plans that week”
Now Karen signed. To her credit she didn’t call him out on his unenthusiasm. “Alright baby, I’ll speak to you soon.. I love you”
“Yeah mom, love you too”
He paused before putting the receiver down, waited a second and heard the click disconnecting the call from Karen’s end.
He shoved the frozen pizza in the oven and had a shower whilst it cooked. He thought again about reuniting with Lucas and Max. They were living in Illinois and visited fairly often which was great, the old friends did their bit to fill the gaping void in his heart well. But it only lasted so long. When they would say goodbye, Mike was alone again. And the pain of isolation always descended like a smack to the face. It hurt because he was lonely, it hurt because they weren’t lonely, it hurt because he was jealous. It hurt because they reminded him of his life before grief.
He stepped out of the warm water and towelled himself down. A slice of pizza was between his lips when he felt a chill running down his back. This was not unusual and certainly didn’t call for suspicion, other than the fact he should be warm after his shower. He regularly felt like he had eyes prickling into the back of his head.
Then the radio switched on, breaking the silence.
“- and it’s looking like it’s your number one again, that’s right, it’s TLC with ‘Waterfalls’”
“A lonely mother gazing out of her window
Staring at a son that she just can't touch
If at any time he's in a jam
She'll be by his side
But he doesn't realise he hurts her so much
But all the praying just ain't helping
At all 'cause he can't seem to keep
His self out of trouble
So he goes out and he makes his money
The best way he knows how
Another body laying cold in the gutter
Listen to me
[Chorus]
Don't go chasing waterfalls
Please stick to the rivers and lakes that
You're used to
I know that you're gonna have it your way
Or nothing at all
But I think you're moving too fast
Little precious has a natural obsession
For temptation but he just can't see
She gives him loving that his body can't handle
But all he can say is baby it's good to me
One day he goes and takes a glimpse
In the mirror
But he doesn't recognize his own face
His health is fading and he doesn't know why
3 letters took him to his final resting place
Y'all don't hear me
[Chorus]
I seen a rainbow yesterday
But too many storms have come and gone
Leavin' a trace of not one God-given ray
Is it because my life is ten shades of gray
I pray all ten fade away
Seldom praise Him for the sunny days
And like His promise is true
Only my faith can undo
The many chances I blew
To bring my life to anew
Clear blue and unconditional skies
Have dried the tears from my eyes
No more lonely cries
My only bleedin' hope
Is for the folk who can't cope
Wit such an endurin' pain
That it keeps 'em in the pourin' rain
Who's to blame
For tootin' caine in your own vein
What a shame
You shoot and aim for someone else's brain
You claim the insane
And name this day in time
For fallin' prey to crime
I say the system got you victim to your own mind
Dreams are hopeless aspirations
In hopes of comin' true
Believe in yourself
The rest is up to me and you
[Chorus]”
Mike listened the whole song without finding the energy to walk and turn the radio off. Then, the song ended and it shut off by itself, leaving him in silence once more.
That night he woke in a cold sweat. He could hear the creaking of floorboards that meant his roommate was home and moving quietly around his room next door. Mike covered his face with his hands and took a long inhale. He’d had that dream again. The reoccurring one that had haunted him for 7 years. He could still feel El’s hand against his head, her arms holding him tight in an embrace. He could feel the wetness on her cheeks and taste the mix of their salty tears in that final kiss. He could hear his begging.
“I will always be with you. Goodbye Mike”
Those words lived in his head permanently. In his heart, he still believed she was out there. That she was living in a small village in peace. He never gave up the hope. Others believed along with him, others told him that he needed to let her go in order to heal. He had no choice but to believe.
It was pitch black behind his curtains but the street lights were still lit. It must be around midnight. In the stillness he thought about the radio from dinner. Why did it turn on randomly? And more importantly, how? The song. He hasn’t given it much thought at the time. It was called “Waterfalls”!
He sat upright in bed and immediately drank the glass of the water by his bed. His t-shirt was soaked from sweat. Suddenly his heart was beating impossibly fast. It couldn’t be… could it? No, his mind was clutching at straws again, like before. That first year, after her disappearance, he thought he could see her everywhere. He felt her presence in everything. But as time moved on, he was seeing her less and less. It was like she was leaving him all over again. He often struggled to remember her voice, until she came to him in his dreams to devastate him again. His hands found the small photo, sliding it out of his wallet and smoothing it out against his palm.
“El” he said out loud. “Please El, if you’re out there, give me a sign. I need to know I’m not crazy”
A stray tear left his eye and he swiped it away. He listened to the slow creaks of the floorboards next door and deflated. Nothing happened, there was no sign. He replaced the photo in his wallet and lay back against his pillow, staring at the ceiling. Another tear left his eye, then another. His whole body ached with the pain. He cried himself to sleep.
A week passed and Mike still thought about the radio. He was so distracted at work that he was surprised he’d managed anything productive at all. He was shrugging his jacket off after another rainy day and shivered. The light clicked on dimly.
“Don’t go chasing waterfalls” he sang lowly. The irony was not lost on him.
Concealed safely inside his room, he turned the radio on to get the song out of his head. It was playing some upbeat song he recognised but decidedly didn’t like. The was some interference but he honestly didn’t care, so long as the song about waterfalls left his brain.
It crackled again.
“Mike”