Chapter Text
101, that’s what was written on his arm in ink. He still didn’t understand what was going on. One moment he was standing off the side of the Mirkwood road, the next he was sat in a chair with a man tattooing the number onto his wrist. He told him that was his name, one oh one. But that wasn’t his name, his name was Will Byers. He had tried to tell the man, but the man had simply told him to forget it, that this was his new name. That this was his new home and that he was going to have a new family.
But this looked like anything but a home, it was cold and looked like one of those laboratories out of the scary books that he wasn’t really allowed to read, but had stolen once or twice from Jonathan. After the man had finished etching the number into his skin, he had told Will that he was brave since he hadn’t even flinched at the pain of the needle. It had been meant as a compliment, but Will couldn’t help but think that the needle was nothing to what had gone on in his real home. He hadn’t said that to the man, he had said nothing after the man had told him to forget who he was. The man hadn’t taken offence, instead he had offered Will his own hand and told him that he would be like a father to him now.
Will hadn’t taken it, and he hadn’t believed the man either. Not that it would not have been like his dad to then drag him to another room to have all of his hair forcibly shaved off. He would have done that in a heartbeat if his mom hadn’t made him promise to not cut her boys’ hair. Will thought it was a way she could keep control, and that she was probably desperately looking for him now.
His hair had been shaved off, and he had been thrown into a small sterile room. He had tried to call for help, banging on the door with his fists but nobody answered. After a while he had fallen asleep against the door, exhausted from everything which had happened. The following days hadn’t been better, his hope for rescue had become less and less as the hours ticked by. The man had come back, but this time there were others with him. All the doctors called him by the number that was written on his arm, they took his blood and they forced him to try and do impossible things. Things that were only possible for the characters in his party’s campaign, not actual people.
After another examination which led to nothing they had returned him to his room, where Will found himself thinking of his party and his family. It was small, but he missed them all. His mother, his brother, Lucas, Mike, all of them were constantly on his mind. How he wanted to run to them, to hug them and be told that it was all okay but none of that happened. Instead he was trapped in this terrifying place, with people treating him like he was some sort of experiment.
He felt tears running down his cheek as he thought about them again. How he was hoping that they could find him and bring him home, but there wasn’t a response to his hope. Suddenly he got hold of a conversation outside his room. He didn’t understand how, since the walls were so thick. Yet the conversation came through to his ears as if he was standing next to a radio.
“You shouldn’t treat him like Eight, you saw the consequences of isolating her.” He didn’t recognise the voice, but it sounded young, younger than the voices of most of the people he had heard until then. Not only that but the voice sounded strong, almost commanding.
The response was commanding too, but this time he did recognise the voice. It was the man who had been taking him to all the different rooms, the one who had told him he was his father now. “You’re right, he isn’t like her, but he isn’t like the others either.” The voice paused as if thinking about what to do next. “What the soldiers reported seeing that night, it was unlike anything, even unlike…” It was like there was static coming through for a moment and Will was unable to make out what the man said. “But now he is not showing anything.”
The voice he didn’t recognise replied almost impatiently. “So have him socialise with the others. If he only performs in unpredictable scenarios, why not put him in one?” The others? There were other people in there, other people like him? He had assumed that there was a reason behind the tattoo but it had never come up.
It was quiet on the other side of the wall, and Will couldn’t hear anything anymore. Instead he felt something dripping down his nose. He raised his hand up to feel what it was and his fingers came back red. It was blood. He quickly wiped it away on his arm, his tattoo now being stained with the blood of his nose. Whoever was on the other side of the wall clearly had plans for him, and Will knew that anything was better than how he was living now. The doorknob to his room suddenly rattled and Will shot back, quickly sitting down on his bed to stare at whoever came in.
It was a young man, with blond hair and eyes that seemed more open than the ones that he had seen before. “Did I scare you?” He asked, and Will immediately recognised the voice. It was the man who had been talking on the other side. “I didn’t mean to, you’ve already had a pretty tough week haven’t you, William?” Will perked up at that, it was the first time his name, his real name, had been said in a week. The man seemed pleased to see his response and took it as a sign that he could approach. “I know that’s not your name anymore, but we all need time to adjust. My name is Peter, I hope we can be friends.” Again, a hand was raised for him to shake.
However this time, Will did take it. His small hand fitting easily into the one of the older man. Peter, that was his name Will tried to remind himself. Maybe making a friend wasn’t such a bad idea. Briefly he was brought back to the swingset, the first day of kindergarten, when Mike had approached him with similar kindness.
But he was quickly pulled out of the memory when Peter looked at the side of his arm, noticing the blood that had smeared over his tattoo. He didn’t seem surprised, instead he pulled out a handkerchief and carefully wiped the blood away from his arm. “Don’t worry, it happens. You’ll get used to it eventually.” He gave him a smile before putting the handkerchief back into his pocket. “Some advice, don’t tell anyone about what you just did. It will make everything a little easier for you.” That wouldn’t be a problem, he didn’t even understand what he had just done. “I’m here to take you to meet your new siblings.”
Suddenly the moment was broken and Will was brought back to reality. The fact he was taken prisoner and that Peter, no matter how kind he looked, was a part of whatever organisation had taken him. A tiny “What?” came out of his mouth. It was the first word which he had spoken in a week. He knew there were others, the conversation from earlier had made that clear, but those were supposed to be his siblings? He already had one, Jonathan, and he was probably doing everything he could to try and find him.
Peter gave him that look, the look adults had when they felt sorry for you. He had seen it plenty of times on the face of Mike’s mom when his dad had come to pick him up from a sleepover. It was a look that meant they felt bad, but wouldn’t do anything. “Papa really didn’t tell you anything, did he?” Papa, was that the man who had taken him? “You are special, William. That’s why you’re here, why they gave you this.” He said pointing to the number on his arm. “And because you are special, they want to see what you can do but you aren’t alone. That’s why you’re going to meet your siblings.”
At least somebody finally explained to him what was going on. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to put Peter down as the only person who he could somewhat trust. After a few moments of silence, Will nodded. If he was going to be stuck here, he was sick of being stuck alone. Peter seemed happy with his response, as the look changed and he got a smile on his face before offering Will his hand again. This time to walk with him outside. Will took it.
It was the first time that he could actually fully take in the hallways without struggling against the grip that the scientists usually had on him. It was all so cold, it felt so wrong. The walls were tiled the same as the floors, as if someone had combined a hospital and a fancy bathroom. It was a stupid comparison but that was all his brain could think of as him and Peter walked down the hallways. At the end of one particularly long one was the man that Peter had called Papa, he looked as if he was waiting on them. “Are you ready to meet the others, 101?” He asked Will, and though Will had to stop himself from flinching at the number he slowly nodded.
The doors behind Papa opened and revealed a room painted with rainbows, there were toys sprawled unevenly across the room. It was the most amount of colour he had seen in a week, and still it was almost nothing. It reminded him of the time he had drawn a rainbow ship, and his dad had told his mom to take it out of the house. His mom hadn’t thought he’d heard his dad saying it, but he had. He heard so many things that people didn’t seem to notice.
Besides the room’s appearance he saw other children, around fifteen of them. They all had their hair shaved off like him and were wearing the same hospital gowns. Most of them looked at him with apathy, some of them looked at him with frustration and some did not seem to notice him at all. “Children, I would like you all to meet your new brother, 101.” Those who did not look before, looked now and they all had confused looks on their faces. Papa seemed to notice it as well and knew he had to say something more. “He will be joining you in your activities, so treat him like everyone else.”
That was all he said before turning around and leaving the room. Peter stayed behind a little longer, looking at Will as though he still had something to say. He leaned down “Some last advice, try to stay away from the older kids. They don’t respond well to newcomers.” Peter seemed to stare at a few of the kids across the room. They did seem a little older than him, and they were the ones who stared at him with anger. “But I’m sure in time, they’ll get used to you.” He said before giving one last squeeze of his hand and turning around to follow Papa outside.
He was left alone, and it felt terrifying. It was like the first day of school all over again, but this time Mike wasn’t there to help him through it. Even Peter, the man who he thought he could rely on had left him alone. He carefully looked across the room, his eyes landing on a few potential things to do or people to talk to. Most of the other kids seemed to have returned to their own toys, and that’s when he saw things he couldn’t believe. Toys that were moving on their own, floating in the air or moving across the ground. He could see some of the others with blood running down their noses. The same as what had happened to him in his room.
He wanted to ask questions, but there was nobody to ask them to. Peter’s words about him being special repeated in his mind, was this what he meant? Could he move things with his mind too? It fit with everything the scientists had wanted him to do before. The impossible things only his D&D character could do but not him, except all of this seemed to prove otherwise. He felt panic in his chest, he needed to get out of here, this was all too much. Except before he could do anything he felt another hand placed on his. He turned around to see a girl his age looking at him with curious eyes.
“Hi.” She said. “Do you want to play with me?”