Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
KALI DIDN'T COME HOME THAT night. Max said not to worry, as she was most likely at Nancyʼs and ʼtoo busyʼ to pick up the phone, but the others thought otherwise. For somebody who grew up without a family unit, Kali was an extremely family-oriented person. She never left the house without saying goodbye, she never went a day without speaking to them, and most of all, she never, ever went to sleep without checking up on Cole first — whether it was through a telephone call or actually, physically being with him, her mind would never ease without the confirmation of her baby brotherʼs safety.
Cole knew she wasn't okay. Cole knew something was wrong. Cole knew she was in danger. He couldn't describe the feeling in his stomach, but he knew it. His gut was shaking. His forehead was sweaty. His mind was searching, he jumped into the darkness, her launched himself in to find her, and...
Nothing.
Kali wasn't there.
Kali wasn't anywhere.
With a deep breath, Cole tore off his blindfold, his eyes wide as he stared up at Dustin, Steve and Robin.
"Did you find her?" Dustin asked.
Cole shook his head, eyes filled with worry.
"She'll be okay," Steve assured him with a shrug. "It's Kali."
Robin nodded, patting the boy on the back. "Let's go see what our resident Russians are up to," she said, trying to put his mind to rest and leading the way to the back of the mall.
Cole followed them, but his mind was still on Kali.
༄༄༄
AT THE LOCAL STORE, HOPPER shook his head at Joyce. "It's just not like her," he went on stressfully. "She does what she wants, sure, but she doesn't leave without saying goodbye. She doesn't go off without telling us."
Joyce shrugged, smiling at the pure worry in his eye. Jim really cared about his kids, and she, more than anybody in the town, understood the uneasy feeling when one suddenly doesn't come home. She panicked now whenever Will didn't answer the second she knocked on his door. And with kids like Hopperʼs, kids who had a lot of enemies and were wanted by the government, she couldn't imagine what went through his mind whenever one of them left the door.
"She's nearly nineteen, Hop," she said, reassuring him softly. "She's finally living the life every teenage girl wants to live, she's going to stay out some nights and drink —"
"Drink?" Jimʼs eyes went wide.
Joyce playfully rolled her eyes at his dramatics. "I mean, last week I was crying to my boss because Jonathan was five minutes late from Rileyʼs house." She shrugged. "Turns out, he was just running to the store to get her some sanitary towels."
