𝐂𝐎𝐒𝐌𝐈𝐂 || Will Byers x Gender Neutral!Reader [✓]

━ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐃𝐘 - 𝐏𝟒 ━

Much to her disappointment, she scanned the empty porch in a panic before running back inside.

"Will?"

"Mom!" He screamed, his voice distinctive and frightened.

"Will! I'm here! I'm here!" She kept banging on the wall in attempt to break through, not knowing how else to comfort her son but through example. She was determined to get to him. To save him.

Joyce began tearing down the wallpaper.

"Oh, God..."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"Will!" I croaked, my voice breaking.

"Will, it's us! Are you there?" Lucas cried desperately.

"Can you hear us? We're here!" Dustin nearly burst my eardrum but I didn't care.

If it meant he would hear us I didn't care.

But the radio crackled and he called to his mom. My stomach fell.

"He can't hear us." I croaked again, stepping back.

"Hello? Mom?"

"Why can't he hear us?" Lucas exclaimed.

"I don't know!" Mike yelled, just as frustrated as we were.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"Baby..." Joyce cried as she tore away the wallpaper to see a pulsing, red bulbous barrier of some kind but what she saw behind it nearly made her faint.

It was Will.

"Mom?" He cried, hands up against the barrier.

"Oh, God! Will!"

"Mom!" His cries were distorted echoes.

"Oh, thank God." She wept, not knowing what to do. "Baby... Will!"

Joyce heard the same horrific growl she heard right before the monster came through the wall. She could see Will look around in fright, panic consuming him.

"Mom, it's coming!"

"Tell me where you are! How do I get to you?"

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"It's like home, but it's so dark... It's so dark and empty." Fear gripped my chest as I heard Will so frightened for his life.

I squeezed my brother's hand just as fears grip tightend around my heart. The four of us exchange worried glances as we listen.

"And it's cold! Mom? Mom!"

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"Listen to me! I swear I'm gonna get to you, okay? But right now, I need you to hide."

The barrier began to disappear as the original foundation of the wall took its place.

"Mom, please!"

"No, no, listen! Listen, I... will find you, but you have to run now! Run! Run!"

Seconds before the wall closed for good, she saw the distorted image of her son running away as she sheared another screech nearby.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

The Heathkit crackled and suddenly it caught fire. Everyone but El jumped back in shock.

"He's alive. Will is alive!" I mumbled, it finally dawned on me that I know for a fact that my best friend is alive.

The boys stumbled back and Dustin got the fire extinguisher and put out the fire, but the fire alarm had already started ringing.

My first thought was El. She must be exhausted.

"El? Are you okay?"

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Joyce found the previously abandoned hatchet and immediately set to work on the wall. She swung the hatchet with all her might, releasing all her pent up anguish with a hellish scream as she slowly but surely chipped away at the wall.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"El? Can you hear us?" Mike asked worriedly.

All the color had been drained from her face. She looked ill. Guilt washed over me once more.

"Can you move?" She didn't even have the energy to respond.

Mike and I shared a look and both grabbed one of her arms and helped her up.

"Can someone grab her legs?" I pleaded.

Lucas was quick to jump on the task, and Dustin found a swivel chair to put her in.

I was just thankful the fire alarm was a big enough distraction to get El out. To get her to safety.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Joyce dropped the hatchet in defeat when she was met with the cold autumn air and the sight of her front lawn through the new hole in the wall.

Confused and defeated, unable to shake the weight of the utter frustration and agony, she collapsed into sobs.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"This way!" Mike and Dustin each held a side of the chair as they rushed El down the hallway.

I ran alongside her and I grabbed her hand, giving it a tight squeeze.

"Hang in there, El. We are gonna get you home."