far too young to die ✰ m.w.

CHAPTER FIVE

That evening, Emily, Will, and Mike were in Will's bedroom, discussing everything after the twins had filled Mike in on what had happened since Will's episode the day before.

"It's like... it's like I feel what the shadow monster's feeling," Will explained. He was sweating so heavily that the collar of his shirt was soaked. "See what he's seeing."

"Like in the Upside Down?" Mike asked, tracing with his index finger the path made by the lines on the papers taped onto the wall.

Will nodded. "Some of him is there. But some of him is here, too."

"Here, like, in this house?"

"In this house and... in me. It's like... it's like he's reaching into Hawkins more and more. And the more he spreads, the more connected to him I feel."

"And the more you see these now-memories," Mike said, sitting beside Will on his bed now.

"And the more you have these episodes... or whatever the hell they are," Emily added.

"At first I just felt it in the back of my head," Will continued, putting his hand to the back of his neck for a moment. "I didn't even really know it was there. It's like when you have a dream and you can't remember it unless you think really hard. It was like that. But now it's like... now I remember. I remember all the time."

"Maybe... maybe that's good," Mike said.

"Good?" Will repeated. Emily looked over at Mike and she couldn't help but narrow her eyes a bit at him because of the suggestion.

"Just think about it, Will. You're like a spy now. A superspy. Spying on the shadow monster. If you know what he's seeing and feeling... maybe that's how we can stop him. Maybe all of this is happening for a reason."

Emily's expression softened significantly, and even a small smile appeared on her face. She was glad to have Mike there to help keep them grounded.

"You really think so?" Will asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I really do," Mike said.

The three of them looked over at Will's drawing of the shadow monster hovering over the Byers' front lawn.

"What if he figures out we're spying on him?" Will questioned. "What if he spies back?"

"He won't," Mike said.

"How do you know?"

Mike put his hand on Will's in order to calm him, since he was shaking terribly. "We won't let him."

"Damn right we won't," Emily agreed.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Later that night, after Will had already gone to bed, Emily pulled an old sleeping bag out of her closet and with the help of Joyce, she and Mike found another one for him. Together, they set up the sleeping bags on the floor next to Will's bed, and then Emily left to get ready for bed.

When she walked out of the bathroom after brushing her teeth, she started down the hall towards Will's room, but then her mother's voice stopped her.