𝟎𝟏𝟎 ᵐⁱᵏᵉ ʷʰᵉᵉˡᵉʳ ˣ ᵒᶜ

004

"MOUTH BREATHER"

"A trooper found something in the, water that's at the quarry.Our working theory right now is that Will crashed his bike, he... made his way over the quarry and, uh... accidentally fell in" Chief Hopper explained to the family.

Delilah sat silently crying with her head on Jonathan's shoulder.

"Joyce? Do you understand what I'm saying?" Hopper asked.

"No" she trembled "Whoever you found is not my boy. It's not Will".

"Joyce" he tried again.

"No, you don't understand. I talked to him a half hour ago. He was... He was here. He was talking with these" she held up the lights to show the man.

"Talking?" He asked.

"Uh-huh. One blink for yes, two for no. And... And, uh... And then I made this so he could talk to me. 'Cause he was hiding from that... that thing" she pointed at the wall where she had painted out the ABC's and strung Christmas lights over it.

"Mom, come on, please. You've gotta stop this" Jonathan spoke.

"It's after him! He's in danger. We have to find him"Joyce stressed.

"What exactly was this thing?" Hopper asked her "It was some kind of animal, you said?".

"Uh, no, it was... It was almost... human, but it wasn't. It had these long arms and... it didn't have a face" she told him.

"It didn't have a face?" He asked in confusion.

"Joyce, listen to me. Listen to me. After Sarah...
I saw her, too. And I heard her. I didn't know what was real. And then I figured out that it was in my mind. And I had to pack all that away. Otherwise, I was gonna fall down a hole... that I couldn't get out of" he explained softly.

"No, you're talking about grief. This is different" she shook her head.

"I'm just saying that you.." Hopper tried.

"No, I know what you're saying, Hop. swear to you, I know what I saw. And I'm not crazy" she insisted.

"I'm not saying that you're crazy" Hopper told her.

"No... You are. And I understand, but God, I... I need you to believe me. Please" she lowered her voice "Please".

"Listen...I think you should go down to the morgue tomorrow and see him for yourself.It'll give you the answers that you need" Hopper stood up "But tonight...I want you to try to get some sleep, if you can".

Delilah sat on her bed with no clue on what to do. School was out of the question. Her mom and brother had gone to the morgue and Jonathan wouldn't let her go to see the body even if she wanted to, which she didn't.

She stared at the book at the end of her bed, lifted her arm a little and really thought about it and sure enough it elevated into the air.

She held it there for a minute until she heard Mike's voice come through her walkie-talkie. She got distracted and the book fell down with a thud.

"Del, do you copy?" He asked.

She sighed "I'm just not really in the mood, all right? Over and out".