Chapter Text
Mike
My feet stepped on a ground I was not familiar with. The ground rugged with broken pieces of rocks paving, bright green moss covering most of it, decorating its dull rock exterior into a soft inviting trail. The mixtures of pine and damp earth lingered in the air. The ambience around me was surrounded by deciduous trees scattered sporadically all over the wide greenery space, a cool mist of thick fogs, hindering my vision as I tried to squint my eyes to have a better look of my surrounding but failed.
The only visible area was the path ascending the mountain, which pushed me to gather my feet as I left my position at the bottom of the mountain.
Hiking up the abundance of slippery rocks with my aching feet I felt a trickle of sweats dripping down the side of my face despite the cool air wrapping around my body.
It was no secret I was not athletic growing up, my days consisted of playing D&D or hanging out at the arcade with the Party, reading books about numerous topics, varying from storybooks, scientific explorations to supernatural elements, or studying and doing homework. To put it into perspective, or simply rather, I was a nerd. I’ll leave the athletic stuff to Lucas and Max. So, the hike up these uneven rocks were taking a toll on me, leaving me out of breath.
You would think years of escapades of Demogorgon, mind-flayers and Vecna would have helped my stamina. In a way, it did but after the final battle, a rainstorm followed me everywhere, life drained out of me.
A void filled my existence, with the shape of her.
She left me, a haunting thought that I wish more than anything was untrue.
The thought of the final battle always casted a sadness and gloom over my life. It angered me but most of all it shaped a newfound pain that seemed to refuse to leave my body. But even through the pain, I would choose to relieve that final moments in my head, in my dreams if it meant I could see her once more.
Sleeping had been my coping mechanism to move through life, dreams of El, dreams of endless possibilities where our lives were one for the movies, just us, loving each other, no harm coming our way, and more importantly, no force taking her away from me;
Because that was how it was supposed to be.
She did not deserve the life she had, she did not deserve what happened to her and in my heart,
I believe.
I believed that she was out there somewhere, and that was enough to ease my head of the plaguing sorrowful thoughts about her, but sometimes, it wasn’t enough because I knew deep down no amount of belief would be enough unless she was with me, beside me, where I could touch her, feel her and love her freely.
Before I could dwell too deep in my sadness, I focused my attention on the seemingly lengthy pathway ahead of me.
Nearing the peak of the mountain, a deafening roar of a waterfall filled my ears, taking me away from my depressing thoughts.
My awestruck expression scanned the wide expanse of the environment. Right in front of me were three waterfalls, the almost deafening rumble of waterfalls, streaming heavily down an endless pool of water at the very bottom of the ground, its water stream travelling through rocks, the noise vibrating through my heart and the mist enveloping the waterfall like a hug, creating an ethereal view that would certainly capture everybody’s breath away.
El would love this.
The memory of a promise I had once made clouded my mind, a future once so bright and hopeful now crushed by a choice I prayed every day I could change. I had a lot of regrets surrounding that time of my life;
If I had looked more closely;
If I had been there for her more;
If I had told her I loved her with every bones in my body;
Would she had sacrificed her life like that? Like her life was so meaningless and was nothing but just a life?
Because she was wrong, her existence was a lifeline for me. She was the most important thing in my life, and when she left, she had taken a part of me that I wish I could follow just to be with her.
So, although the view before me was nothing but breathtaking, looking down at the deep-water stream below me casted an ominous thought in the back of my mind.
One jump.
All it took was one jump and I could maybe see her again.
Before that seed of thought could bloom into fruition, a distant hum of a song that I could not make out whispered through the thundering stream of water.
I was not alone?
My feet followed that voice unconsciously, like it was having a mind of its own.
The closer I got, the harder my heart was beating against my ribcage, and it felt like my heart was taking the lead over my feat, dragging me nearer to that sweet voice.
It couldn’t be?
You could put me in a crowded room with a havoc of sounds from different people, and I could still isolate that voice out even if it was only through vibration because it was hers.
The possibility of that person being her woke me up from my daze of slumber that I felt like I was in the whole time here. My whole body took over every movement, I was walking with speed, warry but curious. My heart was so loud, it was taking over the sound of the waterfall.
The deeper I walked through these rock-filled pavements, the more I could make out a figure that was on the other end from the place I was once situated on.
And there it was.
At the far end was a silhouette of a girl, crouching down, rummaging through her backpack, her back facing me, humming a tune I now could decipher.
Every breath you take.
My eyes pricked with tears, hearing the once familiar tune that meant deeply to me, as I took a sharp intake of breath through my gaped mouth. Before her figure could vanish before me, my mouth let out a name I had dreamed for so long to be able to say it out loud again.
“El?”
Just when I feared my voice was too small to be heard against the water, her movements ground to a halt, the thing she had finally rummaged through her backpack fell back in, slipping through her grip.
Slowly and steadily, she stood up, her back still facing me.
Before I knew it, she was turning to me and every resentment, sadness and yearning I was holding onto crashed into oblivion.
It was her. It was really her.
“Mike?”
All it took was her calling my name and I was running to her, impatiently closing the gap between us.
Then, I was there, crashing my body onto hers, stumbling her out of her balance but I held her tight in my arms.
I was hugging her; I was touching her.
I was sobbing hard and I could hear her cries as well, my heart thumping from the mix of exhaustion and shock that she was real, and not just a figment of my imagination.
“El, is that really you?” I hugged her tighter, afraid she was going to disappear from my grasp.
“Yes, Mike it’s me, I’m real.”
Backing away but without letting go of her, just enough to be able to see her, I took in every inch of her features, memorizing this girl before me that has now grown.
She still had her long, brown hair but this time, it was cascaded freely, flowing against her back, making her look more relaxed, free from the cage she was constantly on back in Hawkins. Her features had grown, sharper but still holding the youth it once had, still kind, still gentle, still her.
Her outfit was a layer of different clothing. She had on a flowy white dress, hugging her figure fittingly, a pale-yellow cardigan around her with different patterned stitches showing, while also wearing pajama pants that was also white in colour, matching her dress.
She looked different but nonetheless beautiful.
She always was, it didn’t matter how she was looked, whether it was her wearing a benny’s burger shirt with her head shaved or her with this new style, she would always be the utmost beautiful person in my eyes.
“I always believed you were alive, I never doubted, I just knew, I can feel you.” I took her face between my palms, resting my forehead against hers.
“You did?” She whispered, her tear-streaked face relaxing against my touch as I tried to brush her tears away, but it kept on falling, we were a crying mess.
“Of course, I did, I knew I would find you someday, I always have and now here you are.” A bubble of laughter came out of us through our state of dishevelment.
“I wanted to go to a place you once described... with the waterfall and all. I go here every time I missed you, I just wanted to be near you in any way, and this became my comfort place.” She tried to express through her choked sob.
Her words caused a warm affection to engulf my heart, something I had missed so dearly, which could only be felt around her.
Overwhelmed with emotions, I kissed her. It was desperate, it was hungry, and it was messy, but it escalated into a more gentle, passionate and intoxicating kiss that would no doubt be engraved into my brain for the rest of my life.
“I love you El, so much.” I breathed through jagged breath after pulling away.
“I love you too Mike, so much.” Her lips tugged into a smile I longed to see again, and I finally could.
“El, come with me please. Let’s go home.” I plead with my whole heart; my voice filled with desperation as I gripped her waist tighter.
“I want to Mike, but I can’t.”
My heart sank to my stomach, her words baffling me as I tried to conjure up any reasoning to ease her skepticisms.
“B-but why?” I inhaled a shaky breath, tears once again flowing down my face. “If you’re afraid, don’t be. I promise I will protect you with my life, you can stay with me and-”
She interrupted my rambling, but the words she spoke out next further intensified my confusion and panic.
“Mike, this isn’t real, you have to wake up.”
“What?” Brows furrowed, my voice a whisper breath.
“You have to wake up.” She caressed my face, her voice in pain.
“No, no, El. I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m not leaving you.” I shook my head hard, my voice firm.
“Goodbye, Mike.”
And just like that, her frame had faded into a cloud of mist, the cold breeze replacing her warmth as I chased her vanishing figure with my hands, desperately clutching onto her nonexistent presence.
“El!” I screamed, looking around, trying to find even just a glimpse of her but I was once again alone.
“El, please come back, please, I don’t want to live without you anymore.”
I screamed her name repeatedly until I was hoarse, crumbling onto my knees as I sobbed my heart out onto the ground.
“Mike!”
Hearing my name, I instantly stood up, desperately looking for the source.
“El, I’m here.” I screamed but no matter how much I screamed, I couldn’t find her until the vision of my surroundings slowly faded before me, each image chipping away until I was surrounded by nothing but blackness.
Next thing I knew, I was sitting upright on my bed, my heart pounding as I gasped for air, my cheeks wet with the remnants of tears.
There was a knock on my door.
“Mike? Are you up?” The voice of my mom muffled through the closed door.
Stabilizing my breathing, I answered her.
“Yes, mom.” I tried to let out.
“Ok, breakfast will be ready soon. Hurry up and get dress.” A set of fading footsteps slowly descended outside my door.
I dragged my hand across my face, my heart still in chaos as I remembered my dream.
She was there. I held her in my arms.
I laid back onto my bed, images of her flashing across my brain as I closed my eyes, trying to savor the feeling of her body in my embrace, her face in my grasp, her delicate voice running through my ears, her face, her features haunting me, as I felt the tears from the corner of my eyes streaming down into my ears, the stains of droplets on my pillow as the only witness of my sorrow.
I cried that morning, wishing on every deity, on every star and on every universe to bring her back to me.