Chapter Text
Dusky orange light seeped in through the pleats of the narrow hopper window at the top of the Wheeler basement wall.
Mike sat at the table in the middle of the room. Large round glasses perched on his nose, he gazed at the map of Hawkins spread out in front of him, pinned down by his D&D binder on one side and a dice tower on the other. Dust mites danced in the gentle eddies around him, but he sat perfectly still.
Finally, he picked up a pencil and ran his free hand across the map. It was an old map, one he’d had since childhood. He found the place he was looking for, an empty space between a complex of buildings and a thick road near the southern end of the map. A long time ago the word MIRKWOOD had been penciled in there. Below that, in a much more grown-up hand, he carefully wrote four names:
WILLIAM BYERS
DUSTIN HENDERSON
MAXINE MAYFIELD
LUCAS SINCLAIR
He sat and studied these.
Then he slid his hand closer to the middle of the map, flattening out an area next to Hawkins Middle School. There he wrote another name:
STEVEN HARRINGTON
He drew a pattern of dots surrounding this name. He sat for a moment tracing his finger around the ring he had created. A small smile crept onto his face.
“Batter up,” he said softly.
From upstairs in the living room came the sound of laughter and wine glasses chinking. Three distinct women’s voices were loud enough to carry down into the basement. Mike listened to the voices for a moment. Then he pulled the map a little closer and looked along its northern edge until he found a spot labeled MY HOUSE in a childish scrawl.
Here he neatly wrote three more names:
KAREN WHEELER
SUE SINCLAIR
CLAUDIA HENDERSON
He put the pencil down and sat back. He looked around the map as though taking in the town from above. His right hand drifted to the dice tower, a clay castle glazed in lavender with ornate turrets and windows. He traced his index finger up and down the tower’s side gently.
“Batter up,” he said again. “Batter up.”