Halley's comet | Steve Harrington

ii.ix hide and seek

"You let him get away!" Mike said, pointing a finger at Max, glaring at the girl.

"Well, you tried to attack him!" Dustin shouted back.

Halley had had enough. She pulled Dustin away from Mike, effectively bringing the boys' and Max's attention to her. "Would someone please explain what the fuck that was?" she asked.

"We'll explain later, we have to get it." Mike was already unsheathing his walkie from his backpack. "Split up. Let the others know if you find anything." and he took off.

Halley was used to Mike's inability to take a step back and realize not everyone knew what was going on. However, it did not make it less annoying.

Like usual, everyone else followed Mike's lead. Dustin took off in the opposite direction, and Max followed after Mike. Will had gone off when Halley's back was turned, no doubt to get out of the millions of questions she had. Her gut feeling earlier was right. There was something definitely wrong going on. And the worst part was that that slimy little creature of whatever was ominously familiar. She had a sneaking suspicion of where it had come from, and she could only hope she was wrong.

Lucas was the one who waited for her.

He led her down the one hallway that no one else had taken, and tried to give her the rundown on what had been going on.

"Slow your roll, Kid," she said, taking the stairs two at a time up to the second floor, "True sight?" He had said that that was what Will had, after explaining that they assumed the little slime thing was actually some creature from the Upside Down. which, of course it was, because Halley couldn't catch a fucking break, apparently.

"Yeah," Lucas said, checking inside a trash can, "in D&D, where you can see into the other realm, so, like, Will can see into the Upside Down." he stomped down on a fallen poster, making sure that nothing had hidden beneath it.

Halley pinched the bridge of her nose, she had another headache brewing and it was not a good time for that. "So, what you're saying is that my brother's 'now memories' aren't—"

"Aren't memories at all. Will is somehow looking into the Upside Down, and seeing things in real time—Here, hold on." he handed her his walkie, as the boys on the other end continued to question whether or not he had found anything.

Lucas jumped into the door in front of them without warning, foot outstretched like a scene he had probably seen in a movie. 'Dart' was not in the classroom. An old lady was. She was not happy.

"Mr. Sinclair!" she screamed, clutching her handbag to her heart. "What in the world are you doing!"

He was still for a moment, giving an awkward laugh, he apologized, and backed out the door.

"Smooth." Halley handed him the Walkie.

"Nothing here, man," Lucas said into it, walking back the way they had come.

This was not good. If Will was seeing into the upside down, what did that mean for Halley? And if she was right about Dart...

Her headache was getting worse, and her ears were ringing. She called out to Lucas to wait up a second, at least, she thought she did. The room was spinning around her and she wasn't sure what she was thinking or saying anymore.

She was vaguely aware of Lucas starting to panic. And that was not supposed to be something that happened. She could just make out his shaky voice as he spoke over the Walkie, "Guys, we have a problem."

Sitting down against the wall, Halley put her head between her knees, trying to regain a sense of her surroundings. She would be fine, everything was going to be fine. Another wave of pain crashed against the front of her head, and she clenched her eyes shut.

Except, instead of the black nothingness composing the insides of her eyelids, she saw something else.

Flashes of the school. El.

"You don't want me in your party."

"Correct."

Max? And Mike?

Halley was starting to shake, trying her hardest to get her head to focus. It was like flipping through TV channels, changing from images of a curly haired El, and far off voices from Max and Mike to Will walking slowly down a hallway. Like a light switch flashing on and off.

"I could be your zoomer."

The pain was getting unbearable, it was like something was slamming against her skull, fighting to be let out.

Will was walking through the school, walkie held tightly in his hands. He was trembling.

"Jesus!" Halley cried, cradling her head. It wouldn't go away. Images and voices images and voices. Over, and over, and over.

"I found him."

That was Will's voice. It echoed through her head, reverberating through her bones. For a moment, Halley could see him perfectly. Standing outside a stall door, staring at Dart, who was hiding behind a toilet.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

Dart hissed. Will ran.

There was a burning sensation, starting at her neck and working its way up, her head flung out from its nook between her legs. Her eyes snapped open, and for a quick, solid, moment, she saw the Upside Down, inside the school, with shadows closing in on Will.

Halley gasped, heaving in heavy breaths of air that felt like poison to her lungs. She was coughing, hacking at the dust she had seen, but not felt.

Lucas was freaking out. His hands were on her shoulders, shaking her, begging her to snap out of it. Asking her if she was okay, what was going on.

Her heart was racing. Ignoring Lucas's terrified expression, she brought her hands up to her face, running them over her cheeks, wiping sweat from her forehead, and a small trickle of blood from her nose.

"We have to get Will." she finally said, disregarding everything else Lucas had been asking her. She was not okay, but she didn't need to worry him right now.

To say he was surprised by that, would be an understatement, he was taken aback, blinking once, twice, three times before he answered her. "Yeah. uh, yeah. We just heard from him. He and Dart are in the bathroom."

Halley shook her head. "No. Not the bathroom. Outside. We need to get outside." she was sweating, but still felt goosebumps running up and down her arms.

Lucas held out his hand, but she pushed herself up. Wavering on her feet for a moment, before taking the lead, and taking Lucas down the stairs.

They passed Mike on the way out, he tried only once to tell them that the bathroom Will was talking about was in the opposite direction, before Lucas told him that Halley had other plans. Mike wasn't quick to follow along, but Halley wasn't going to stop moving, whether or not Lucas was behind her.

She broke through the door of the school, hit in the face by the brisk wind of November. And there he was. Standing in the middle of a grass field.

Halley took off running. "Will!" she screamed, "Will!"

But he couldn't hear her. He couldn't hear anything. At least, not from their world.