Chapter Text
Milwaukee, 1994, 2:04am
It was late, definitely really late, but the telephone let out desperate cries that Will could no longer ignore. Who would call this late?
For a moment, the ringing stopped, Will groaned and buried his head back into his pillow- hoping for sleep to capture him once again.
That part would’ve been easy if the damn telephone didn’t start ringing again, “Shiiiit” Will mumbled as he pulled himself upright.
With all the effort that was possible for someone running on half a nights sleep, Will rushed over and snatched the phone from its base, pressing the phone up to his ear, he spoke, “hello… this is Will Byers speaking”
A soft crackle came from the other end. “Hello? Ugh- prank callers-!” As Will went to place down the phone he heard a familiar voice…
“Wi-“ Static. “iL!” “Who- who is this…?” Will asked slowly, putting the phone back up to his ear- but he already had a sneaking suspicion as to who.
“Will!- it’s- me-“ The phone cut out and then back in, “Ja-“
It couldn’t be? Could it? “El- Jane- EL, is that you?!”
“Ye- ss. I- don- t have much time!”
“El! El! Where are you?!”
“The government- they are… dr kay- Running. Iceland-“
The phone cut out a final time, a long beep played has Will put the phone back on the base. He needed to sit.
How could this all happen? The government? Dr Kay? Iceland?- what does Iceland have to do with any of this? And on top of all that- how is El contacting him?!
This is all a dream, one big scary dream- Will is gonna wake up and think ‘hey- that was one hell of a rollercoaster!’ But Will knew deep down, a feeling more certain than anything he ever felt, that this was not in fact a dream nor a nightmare. This was real, El was alive, and she’s probably in danger.
And what was Will supposed to do? He can’t just chase after El! And certainly not by himself, no one would believe him.
It was a story that would seem so made up, that only one person would truly believe it.
The narrator. Mike.
Hawkins, 1994, 3:16am
This was the one, the story that set Mike up for life, all the hours of writing instead of sleeping hadn’t been for nothing, it was perfect, it was-
The phone.
He picked up, “Hello, this is Mike Wheeler speaking-“
“MIKE!” Will shouted
Will? Will Byers? “Mike I don’t know how to explain this at all- but I’m gonna try-“
“Will?”
“Don’t interrupt me this is serious. SERIOUS.”
“We haven’t talked in four years- this is-“
“MIKE! JUST- just listen. Please.” Will begged
“I got a call, and I know this sounds crazy but you have to try to believe but- it was El, she was calling me, I don’t know from where but she was urgent- the phone kept cutting out- I think she was in danger, but I don’t know- and I-“
“Will.” Mike said firmly, “Are you on drugs, are you okay?”
“Oh my god Mike! I am not on drugs- I’m not drunk- I’m not high- this is real, I’m not lying.”
“Okay- okay- okay. I haven’t seen OR heard from you in fours years- like no contact, not even a Christmas card- ANYTHING. And you call me- now. THREE in the morning telling me you got a call from El, a call! That she’s in danger, and you want me to do… what? What exactly?”
“Help me! That’s what I want you to do! I want you to come down to Milwaukee, and help me find El!”
This was crazy- Will was crazy. Mike felt crazy!
“It’s just- I didn’t know who else to call- and I’m being serious and I thought you’d believe because you were our storyteller- but El is out there- I know it. She is in danger, and I- I have to help her.” Will sounded almost at the brink of tears, stopping and starting sentences with sniffles.
“I’ll go, sorry for calling…” Will mumbled
Say something
God, Mike- Say something!
“Wait- wait, Will. I will help you find El. But I won’t go to Milwaukee- halfway, Chicago, somewhere around that point- okay? And I will humour the idea.”
“Thank you- thank you Mike, you won’t regret this.”
And with that, Will hung up, what the hell? Why did Mike agree to do this? Hell- an even better question, why didn’t Mike disagree?