Chapter Text
It’s cold. Dark. It must be sometime during the night, but the moon and the stars are absent among the silent trees. There is no wind, yet the air freezes through the young boy’s colorful jacket. Maybe because his hair is so wet. He passes his fingers through the strands and shivers as he looks at the gooey substance on his hand. The boy grimaces and wipes away the strange jelly on his pants.
His breath forms a small cloud. His back aches, probably due to the fact he’s been sleeping on the ground without any sort of mattress between his body and the earth. He puts his small frozen hands on the floor and pushes himself up into a sitting position. His backpack is still next to him, with a familiar long tube sticking out of the side pocket. The sight of the object harshly brings the boy out of his drowsiness.
He’s not safe, and he knows it all too well. He remembers where he is, he almost recognizes it. Castle Byers. Adrenaline strikes like lightning in the child’s body, and he can hear his heart ferociously beating through his chest. His hands and his knees are shaking, and his teeth are chattering in a futile attempt to wake his sluggish limbs. The fear is-
Will’s eyebrows start twitching.
His head is hurting, but the rest of his body is oddly comfortable, wrapped in a firm yet slippery embrace. He feels himself being lighter than usual, is he being pulled from the ground ? Maybe he’s simply dreaming. His eyelids are too heavy for him to verify.
He lets out a small groan and twists his head to the right.
Someone, or something is near him. He still can’t force himself to open his eyes, but he hears something squelching, slowly approaching his space. He is still unsure of what is happening, but his head hurts too much to think about it.
“William.”
The young man breathes softly.
It comes without a warning. Before he can grasp what is being done to him, he chokes on something that shouldn’t be in his mouth. His muscles contract as he attempts to cough up whatever is blocking his airway, but his efforts get violently swallowed inside of himself. A single tear drips down on his cheek, ashamed by his own helplessness.
His breathing quickens, and his fingers curl to scratch the sheets.
A hand softly brushes against his face, but it does not comfort him. Its texture is wrong, slimy, human but also… unnatural. Whatever is caressing his cheek should not exist, much less be touching him. There is still something moving in his throat, but he has grown numb to the constricting feeling. All of his senses have been assaulted, and the young boy can’t help but wish he could-
“Wake up, Will.”
Someone’s gently shaking his shoulder. When that doesn’t work, the covers get pulled away to the other side of the bed.
“Come on man, we’re gonna be late.”
“Hm ?” Will groans as he rubs his eyelids.
The sun briefly blinds him and before he can recognize who woke him up, he suddenly feels the air being sucked out of his lungs. His chest lunges forward and his hands reach his throat, trying to remove whatever is making him choke. His eyes and his mouth are wide open, but he can’t make a single sound other than his wheezing breath.
“Hey, hey ! What’s going on ? Will !” Mike panics. “Will, are you okay ?”
He doesn’t answer. Mike promptly steps onto the bed next to his friend and puts his hand over his shoulder. Will swings himself back and forth, his arms wrapped around his legs and his chin rested on his knees. Mike softly rubs his arm as he waits for Will to calm down.
“Will ?” he whispers softly. “Hey. What is it ?”
“Mike. I…” Their eyes lock. “I’m sorry… I don’t know what happened.”
Will inhales, then exhales softly. His eyes are watery, but not enough to form tears. He can still feel the strain from his neck muscles, as if he just swallowed an apple whole.
“Bad dream ?” Mike asks, looking concerned.
“... Maybe ?” Will sniffs. He slowly cracks his neck. “I’m really not sure, I just started choking on nothing.”
Will feels the sudden warmth of Mike’s hand over his own. His heart flutters at the buzzing touch. He takes in a deep breath and redirects his attention over the soft grip over his fingers.
“Hey, it was probably just a nightmare.” His best friend says. “Unless… was it…”
“No… no, it wasn’t the um…”
“The goosies ?”
“You… you’ve gotta stop calling it that !” Will rolls his eyes and smiles.
“I won’t.” Mike grins. “Blame Harrington, he’s the one who got that word stuck in my head.”
Will’s cheeks warm up and he forces himself to look away from Mike’s face. Maybe if he felt a little more courageous this morning, he could bear to look into his dark eyes once more, but Mike’s gaze was simply too much to bear. Will felt as if he gave in and locked his eyes into the boy’s sharp features, he would melt on the bed right there and then.
Since their house had been sold when they left for California, the Byers basically came back to their hometown without a place to live. Mrs Wheeler was nice enough to offer them a place in her own house, and they didn’t have much of a choice but to accept her offer. It’s not like his mom could’ve afforded anything else. Will was truly grateful for it, as it also meant he could spend even more time with Mike.
“Boys !” Karen Wheeler swings open the door. Mike immediately retreats his hand into his lap, much to Will’s dismay. “Okay, good, you’re both up. Breakfast’s ready.” She closes back the door just as suddenly as she had opened it and her steps echoes through the hallway, then down the stairs.
Mike sighs. “I guess no one in this house will ever learn what knocking is.”
***
“It’s looking like a pretty regular day in Hawkins !” Robin announces through the daily broadcast, transmitted from Mike’s walkie strapped to his bicycle. “Fifty-five degrees, low chance of rain, medium chance of arrest, high chance of helicopters !”
“I wonder how El’s doing.” Will says.
Mike shrugs.
“Probably being a badass, training and all. You know how it is.”
“True. What is it she calls it… Bitchin’ ?”
“Oh right, she loves that word.” Mike pauses when he notices a military truck passing by. “I still don’t know who taught her to say those kinds of things.”
“And now, I’m stuck here with you, my fellow quarantine compatriots. And if I can be brutally honest, I couldn’t be happier. Because when you really think about it, why would you want to live anywhere else ? I mean, what town on Earth can match our very impressive military-to-civilian ratio ?”
Can’t argue with that, Will says to himself. His thoughts bring him back to that awful feeling he felt while waking up. Mike had to be right, it was probably some messed up nightmare. It wouldn’t be out of place, as he used to have them a lot when he was younger, back when his father was around, and especially after what happened in the Upside Down.
Speaking of the Upside Down, what actually happened back then ? It was certainly the worst week of his life, but he doesn’t remember much on how he survived. He ran from the Demogorgon, took his dad’s old shotgun… then ran through the woods ? His mom had told him that he communicated with her through Christmas lights, but he barely recalls having done such a thing.
Maybe El could help him remember, somehow. She had told him the story of the Nina Project a couple of months ago, and how it made her remember Henry/Vecna/One. Knowledge is power, after all. And if they wanted that monster dead, they were going to need it.
His memories were probably going to be useless though, but maybe, he thought he could at least distract El with all the pressure she was being put under next time he saw her. If he feels brave enough, he’ll talk about it to her on the next crawl.
“While we’re on the subject of things not to do, please steer clear of the Military Access Control Zone, aka the MAC-Z, or as I like to call it, the Big Mac. I have no idea what’s going on in there, but I have a gut feeling there’s a pretty good reason they’d like you to stay away.”
***
“Henderson, you copy ? Henderson ?”
“Yeah. I copy.” Dustin answers, annoyed. He makes his way down to Hawkins High School, proudly wearing his Hellfire shirt and ignoring the side eyes given by onlookers. “God, you sound swell. Let me take a wild guess. You’re not calling to wish me a good morning.”
Steve explains that there is some kind of issue at the WSQK radio station, but if he’s being honest with himself, Dustin really couldn’t give less of a shit. Always asking for his help, always calling him for the smallest of problems; Steve was acting like his child. He had enough things to worry about on his own, he really didn’t need to tutor a 21 year old on how to read a manual on top of everything.
“Come on, man, that thing might as well be in Greek.”
“Then learn Greek !” he snaps. “I can’t always be there to solve your problems for you, Steve.” Dustin moves his bike into the rack and flattens the antenna.
As he walked to his locker, he bumped against the students in his way, earning a couple of confused looks. Let them look, his inner voice said. There was nothing these mouth breathers could say that would convince him to change his shirt, remove his rings or cut his hair. They were simply prisoners of conformity, all doomed to a mediocre life society decided for them.
At least, he had Eddie. If not for him, he would probably still be as lost as all those sheeps. While having nerdy friends, or Steve, none of them could ever really understand him. Mike, Lucas and Will might be freaks, but they didn’t really know Eddie like he did. How brave he was. How he laid his life on the line to save them all.
His mentor might have died, but as long as Dustin’s heart was still beating, he was going to make sure his legacy lived on. There were still many lost sheep out there, and they needed him.
His locker suddenly slams shut, inches away from his face.
“I thought I was pretty damn clear when I said I didn’t wanna see you in that shirt.”
Great. Those jocks were at it again. At this point, their presence barely bothered Dustin, and he saw them as nothing more than an opportunity to practice snappy comebacks he thought of after their last encounter.
“Yeah, well you also told me to stop screwing your mom, and that didn’t stop me, did it ?” he returns with a smug look on his face.
Andy grabs him by his shirt collar and vigorously throws him against the lockers. After Jason’s death, he was the one who took over the basketball team’s clique, which makes sense. He was always busy sucking up to him. He wasn’t as insane as the latter, but undeniably just as annoying.
“Hellfire is over, you hear me ?”
Like hell it is.
“Let. Go.” Dustin says firmly.
“Or what ? What are you gonna do ?”
Dustin doesn’t answer. Andy’s grip strengthens as he pulls apart the Hellfire shirt from the seams of the collar.
“Stop. Andy, stop !” Dustin yelps.
“Hey !” A familiar voice echoes through the corridor.
Andy turns his head around to watch Lucas approaching them at a fast pace. He slowly lets go of Dustin’s shirt to put his hand in his pockets, failing to look menacing.
“Do we have a problem here ?” Lucas asks, hands on his hips.
“Get lost, traitor.” Andy retorts.
If only Lucas would mind his own damn business. Dustin didn’t need his help defending himself against a horde of losers like them. He would never admit it, but a part of him still appreciated the gesture, especially since they had the audacity to rip apart his precious Hellfire shirt.
“Says the guy who got beaten up by an 11 year old.” Lucas smirks, with a hint of pride. “Just leave before you regret it, man.”
Andy sighs, and after a moment of hesitation, silently obeys. He gives one last shove to Dustin, angrily bumps into Lucas and walks away, followed by his friends.
Dustin lets out a breath and flips him off, revealing the many rings he decorated his fingers with. At least, he likely wouldn’t have to deal with them for the rest of the day.
Him and Lucas start walking towards their morning class.
“Dude, why are you still provoking them ?”
“Oh, so it’s my fault now ?” he grumbles. “They were talking shit about Eddie, and I’m supposed to let them ?”
“That’s… That’s not what I’m saying !” Lucas sighs. “We’re supposed to keep a low profile here, and you keep attracting attention to us with your…”
Dustin raises an eyebrow.
“Whatever.” Lucas brings a palm to his face. “Just… focus on the task, on our mission.”
“Oh, right. As if I haven’t been thinking about every possible way to find that bastard since-” Dustin stops himself, grits his teeth.
He can’t talk about it, not here. He would scream it for the whole town to hear, if it didn’t mean for all he’s worked for to be in vain. For 19 months now, he’s had only one goal on his agenda : to find the monster responsible for Eddie’s death and bury the bastard six feet under.
“I know, man.” Lucas sympathizes. His voice lowers. “Trust me, I want him gone just as much as you do.”
Dustin doesn’t add anything, he instead takes the opportunity to speed up towards the classroom. His jaw is still tense from the anger. A bitter hatred boils inside of him, and he doesn’t know what to do with it. As if an evil wizard from an alternate dimension wasn’t enough, he has bullies breathing down his neck at every moment of the day.
He was going to teach them a lesson. He just had an idea, and the perfect partner in crime for the occasion.
***
“Santa brought a full sack today !” Murray announces, carrying supplies from the back of his truck into Nancy’s hands.
A new telemetry tag, more bullets and shells, grenades, food. Steve carefully picks up a basket full of salad, underneath which are hidden said grenades.
“Need help with that ?” Robin asks.
“Nope, I’d rather not blow up.” Steve answers as he walks away.
She shrugs her shoulders.
“Your loss, dingus.”
Jonathan grabs onto another basket, but Murray stops him before he can pick it up.
“Wait up, Mr. Byers ! I got a present for you.”
He pulls a small cassette tape out of his pocket.
“Listen, I know you’re allergic to jazz, but just give it a whirl.” Murray says in a sing-songy tone. “I think you’ll find it quite… engaging.” He winks.
Jonathan snaps it away from his hands before Nancy asks anything. So, it’s here. Who knew finding an engagement ring would be so hard under quarantine ? He could understand why the military wouldn’t want people leaving the town, but did they really have to keep people from trying to fix their relationships ?
He honestly wasn’t so sure about where he was with Nancy anymore. He thought that living in the same house for months would clarify things, but it just made everything even more confusing. He spent most of his nights sleeping in the basement, even if he could have easily sneaked to her room. They were barely talking about anything else but the crawls and the drama caused by their two families living under the same roof. Worst of all, they still hadn’t talked about the future plans they had together before everything went to shit.
Maybe he was just overthinking it. Maybe this was simply how couples acted after years of being together. Besides, there was so much going on in Hawkins that he didn’t think it was too weird of her to not mention it. They’d have plenty of time to talk once they’d know everyone was safe and the military out of their town.
“And for the station manager, the reason for my premature delivery.”
Murray gives a large brown envelope to Nancy. Robin and Jonathan gather around her as she opens it.
“A burn ?” Nancy asks. “Tonight ? But that’s-”
“Too soon, I know.” Murray interrupts. “Whatever they’re doing in the Upside Down evidently needs serious resources.”
It had barely been a week since the last burn, and they were going through the gate again ? Jonathan was getting a pretty bad feeling about this. He couldn’t help but wish he could call Argyle for some Purple Palm Tree Delight, but alas his friend was lucky enough to leave Hawkins before the quarantine came into effect. Forget about getting weed into a militarized town, the contraband they needed for their plan was hard enough to bring here.
“I figure a supply drop this big takes two hours, minimum.” Murray admits.
“Which gives Hopper plenty of time for a crawl.” Nancy says.
“Wait, tonight ? That’s early.” Steve adds as he walks back to them.
“What, you’ve got a date or something, Harrington ?” Jonathan inquires.
Steve stares at him, confused. Robin mumbles something inaudible.
“No ? No, I don’t, actually. Why, are you volunteering ?”
Nancy and Robin chuckle.
“Shut up. As long as you do your job, I don’t care.” Jonathan mumbles..
“Whatever, man.”
The nerves are definitely getting to him now. The autumn breeze makes him shiver. Murray gives him a side look.
“Do you need Santa to fill out a special order, perhaps ?”
“No. Santa’s done enough.” Jonathan sighs, determined to not make himself into a self-obsessed stoner any more than he already is.
“Alright kids, let’s go prep.” Robin declares as she makes her way to her booth.
***
“Hey there, friends, this is Rockin’ Robin.” Mike’s walkie transmits, as the four friends suddenly stop eating to listen closely. “We have a very special treat that’s sure to turn your day up… side… down…”
“Holy shit…” Lucas starts.
“Already ?” Dustin asks.
“Paper, paper ! Give me paper !” Mike says, agitated.
Will reaches for his bag, takes out a notebook and a pen before tossing it to Mike.
You’re giving love instinctively
‘Round and ‘round you’re turning me
“Fun fact about our guest : he was born Diane on the North End of Detroit. Berry Gordy, that’s Gordy with a G, signed her to Motown in 1961. And One is the key number, because between 1964 and ‘67, the Supremes had ten songs hit the top of the charts. That’s right, ten.”
Boy, you turn me inside out
Instinctively, you give to me the love that I need
I cherish the moment with you
Code making worked perfectly in the favor of Rockin’ Robin, who was now working as the local broadcaster at the WSQK. Only someone as chaotic as her could include so many seemingly useless details in a sentence without it sounding completely out of place. From cracking secret Russian transmissions to making codes from scratch every time the gang needed it, Rockin’ Robin was finally putting her talents to good use. Every time she played Upside Down by Diana Ross, every party member scattered across town would be listening in, waiting for her instructions.
“...because this movie has a run time of over two hours. Alright, class dismissed. I hope you were taking notes. There will be a test later.” Robin concludes.
North
G1
10 PM
2 hours
The boys all get up and pick up their bags. Mike leads them out of the cafeteria to the schoolyard, a folder full of maps and notes in his hands. After passing by the tennis courts, they enter the woods to find a small picnic table.
Mike puts the papers on the table and sets aside his backpack. The other boys do the same. He empties a small pouch from which spills out a bunch of small figurines next to the stack of maps. There’s Lucas the Bold, Dustin the Bright, Mike the Brave and Will the Wise, which Mike uses to serve as proxy for the four boys. On the table were also the D20, small models of a green and a blue van, a barbarian, and most notably, the dark lich Vecna.
“Lucas, we’ll take our usual observation post.” Mike announces as he puts his and Lucas’s models on top of a drawing of a church on the town map.
His partner nods.
“Once the burn starts and there’s sufficient cover, we’ll signal Hopper, who’ll make his move.” Mike sets the barbarian figure atop the green van.
Hopper and the military truck roll on the MAC-Z. A perimeter has been drawn around the area. 2 years ago, this section of Hawkins’ busiest street had a movie theater, a general store, a RadioShack and the public library, but now all of those had been taken over by the U.S. military.
It was around 19 months ago that everything had changed. On March 27th, 1986, there was an earthquake. An earthquake that shattered the ground, starting from 4 different points across Hawkins, its crimson cracks swallowing everything in their way until they converged on the very spot where Hopper’s barbarian figurine was positioned.
Ultimately, the truth was hidden from the general public under the cover of a “natural phenomenon never before seen by man.” Most of the population believed the story, even though they were mandated medical check ups due to the mysterious particles seen floating in the air and the unexplained disease that had hit some patches of vegetation near the cracks in the earth. There was no reason why the government that swore to protect their people would lie to them, after all.
Those ruptures had all been covered up by large aluminium plates fittingly labeled as the “metal band-aid” by the townsfolk. Everyone became so accustomed to its presence that the local children were now using it as a slide, much to the anger of the patrolling soldiers.
In the end, only a handful of people actually knew what had occurred on that fateful day of spring break, and that excluded the military as they were missing vital parts of the story.
Mike gently pushes the two figurines until they reach the model of a blue minivan.
“You and Harrington will follow along in the Rightside Up.” He says, joining the two trucks together as they continue rolling on Main Street. “Just remember, try to keep the telemetry signal between…”
“Negative 60 and negative 70 dB.” Dustin completes. “Easy-peasy.”
“The convoy will probably take the same route as last time.” Mike continues. “You’re gonna travel up Cornwallis for about 6 miles.” He makes the trucks roll to the edge of the map, after which he flips the page.
“And as the convoy reaches this gas station here, we radio the old man to disembark, which will drop him at the border of G1. He’ll have 2 whole hours to search for Vecna, which is more than enough time to complete the zone.”
“Why does it have to be G1 ?” Dustin asks. “There’s what, a couple of houses and a grocery store ? What are the chances Vecna’s shopping for Lucky Charms ?”
“Doesn’t matter.” Mike counters. “We gotta stick to the plan.” He takes a quick glance at Will. “That bastard is still alive, and he could be anywhere. We don’t know the logic behind his choices, so we have no choice but to search methodically.”
Will shivers. Mike is right, but the fact that Henry hasn’t shown any signs of life since the day he came back to Hawkins worries him. He’s quite certain that he’s been badly injured by Nancy and the others, but he didn’t die. Why can’t El find him in the bath ? It doesn’t make sense, as she can usually find people who are thousands of kilometers away, even in the Upside Down. Nevertheless, they have no choice but to continue looking for him in the place where he is most likely hidden, before he decides to come out of his shelter and do something even worse than brutally killing a few teenagers.
“Everyone in ?” Mike puts his hand forward.
Lucas adds his own on top of his friend’s, followed by Will. Mike turns his head towards Dustin.
“I want to see Vecna’s heart on a platter.” Dustin says. “I just wish I could do it myself.”
He puts his hand on top of Will’s.
“For Eddie.” He adds.
“For Eddie.” Lucas repeats, determined.
“For Eddie.” Will echoes.
“For Eddie.”
For a moment, Will sees an emotion he doesn’t recognize on Mike’s face, but it vanishes almost instantly.
“Let’s kill the son of a bitch !” Lucas yells.
“Fuck yeah !” Mike releases his hand into the air, and the others follow.
A sudden cold breeze grazes Will’s face. November is here, he recalls. He still feels as though it was just yesterday when he could go outside without adding layers. Time went by faster than he realized.
Something attracts him in the corner of his vision. A tree. A perfectly normal tree, except it’s got one of those weird tumor-like bumps on it. He’s seen those before without questioning it, but something about its shape is vaguely familiar.
The weight of the hunting rifle slows him down. He’s desperately holding on to it, but he has to run. There’s nothing but trees and vines as far as his eyes can see.
Will slowly blinks and brings both of his hands forward, cupping the air.
The young boy brings himself to a halt. His breathing is hoarse and uneven. He never liked running, or sports in general, but if he did, maybe he wouldn’t be struggling as much.
He keeps staring at the bump on the tree.
Maybe those trees were sick. Could trees get sick like people do ? He could ask his mom about it when he gets back home. If he gets back home. No, when he does. He just had to keep running, to keep hiding, and the monster wouldn’t get to him. He wasn’t good at sports, but at least, he was good at hide-and-seek.
“Will ?” Mike notices his friend staring at the trees.
“Um…” Will starts. “What ?”
“You good ?” Lucas asks.
“You looked really focused on those trees.” Mike adds. “And you keep touching your neck.”
“Oh.”
Will hadn’t even noticed that his own hands had crawled up to his chin, firmly gripping his neck. He lets them go in a hurry, like he had just been burnt. His heart is pounding. He looks at his own hands, confused, as if they had a mind of their own.
“Did you feel something ?” Mike inquires. “Is it… is it him ?”
Will swallows. His throat feels numb again, just like this morning.
“No, it’s not Vecna.” He assures. “It’s… something else. I think I’m just remembering some stuff.”
He shifts his gaze towards Mike. His best friend looks worried, and so does Lucas.
“I’m fine.” Will says as he takes in a deep breath. “It’s nothing important.”
Mike looks unconvinced, but he doesn’t say anything.
“If you say so.” He sighs. “But you’ll tell us if you feel him again, right ?”
“Of course. I know how it feels when he’s nearby, and it wasn’t that.”
Mike smiles. He takes a step towards Will, but awkwardly stops midway and puts his foot back down. Lucas raises an eyebrow.
“Uh, anyway, let’s go back inside.” He mumbles. “Six o’clock at the Squawk, guys. Don’t be late.”