𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐒 𝐅𝐋𝐘 ; stranger things

7. | the demogorgon

They inspected the temperature closely. Maisie could say that she was using this as a distraction not to look at Aaron, who was standing right there between Mike and Dustin, watching her closely.

"Right there!" Lucas screamed once again, holding his hand out even though Nancy couldn't see it.

Maisie sat on the gym floor and watched Aaron help his brother and Jim pour the salt into the pool. She eyed his arms, her gaze slowly dropping lower until she caught Lucas smirking at her, wiggling his eyebrows. She shook her head and glared at the boy. He only cackled in response.

They boys' faces fell when the first egg sank, so they had to add more salt. Maisie smiled at the party's excitement over the egg as it finally floated, and it made her sigh softly. She wished she had more friends her own age, instead of enjoying spending time with a bunch of 12-year olds.

She watched Eleven take her socks off and get ready to go in. The young girl looked beyond nervous, and Maisie felt a little bad for making her do this for them.

Maisie watched with anticipation as Eleven walked into the pool blindly, slowly lowering herself to lie down. The lights in the gym started flickering immediately, and Maisie looked up in bewilderement. When the lights shut off completely, she felt her breath hitch and she ignored her beating heart, solely focusing on Eleven.

The girl was quiet for a long time, the only sounds in the gym being the sounds that came from her. Then her breathing got heavier, and she seemed to start panicking.

Maisie watched the electricity in the building pulse, and she couldn't hear past her beating heart. She tried to breathe, but it was like her lungs wouldn't let her do it.

"What's going on?" Nancy was the first to ask.

"I don't know." Mike said quickly, looking as confused as everyone else in the room.

"Is Barb okay? Is she okay?" Nancy's concerned voice rang in the gym.

"Gone."

"Gone." Eleven's voice sounded anguished. Horror struck in Maisie when she imagined what the girl had seen and what might have already happened to Will.

"Gone."

Joyce started comforting the girl. "It's okay. It's okay. It's okay," she whispered all over again as Eleven started to panic more.

The girl was gasping in the pool and Maisie didn't know if she truly wanted to know what was happening to Will in that place. She watched her mother comfort Eleven until she calmed down and her breathing went back to normal.

"Castle Byers," she said much more calmly now.

Maisie looked up and swallowed. She was almost itching in anticipation to hear about Will. She moved closer to her mother and Eleven. Sitting in silence, she was waiting for the girl to talk, to tell her that her brother was okay. She couldn't take her eyes off of her, her palms white with the way she was clutching them together, holding onto hope like a tightrope.

"Will?"

That one word was enough to light Maisie's entire body in fire. Will wasn't dead. He was okay, and she was crying. She laughed through her sobs. "I knew he was alive. Fuck you all for saying he was dead. I fucking told you so." She chuckled, earning a few laughs as well.

"You tell him, I'm coming. Mom is coming." Joyce said, her voice near breaking.

"Hurry." Will's weak voice was heard through the radio, making Maisie's body sink to the floor. She clinged to Will's voice and she kept repeating it in her head, making sure that it was real.