lost love

chapter 25

-june 16th 1984-

-day 217 without eleven-

-reader's pov-

I peacefully strolled through mirkwood, walkie in hand whilst turning my head at any sudden sound. hoping that the sound would lead me to eleven, eleven who would be patiently waiting for me to find her, like a game of hide and seek. but I had been proven hopeless so many times because I had been searching for her every weekend, so that's 31 weeks to be exact and not once have I found her, not even a single trace of her existence. alas, that didn't mean I believed she was dead, no of course not. I could almost still feel her lingering presence beside me, as if she was softly treading on the dried forest floor.

the boys believed me at first, but now I'm starting to think that they're losing hope, and I know that they talk about me when I'm not around but it's only because they're worried about me.

I looked up to the evening sky which was draped with the light colours of purple and pink. the bright, setting sun beamed through the coloured clouds but no matter how pretty it looked I still felt strangely empty because whenever I call out her name, there will still be no answer. and that hurts, it hurts a considerable amount, my heart is always aching for her. but then not only does it destroy my heart and soul, it incinerates my mind too because my mind will constantly give me the doubtful consolation that she did something very brave. she sacrificed herself for a group of kids she'd only known for a damn week.

"eleven.." I whispered gently into my walkie, knowing I would get no response.

"y/n?.." a familiar voice replied but it was so quiet I could barely hear it. my heart still skipped a beat, in shock that someone was actually on this channel and at the fact the silent whisper was oddly familiar to me. was it?.. could it be?..

eleven?

"eleven!" I called out into the walkie after holding the 'speak' button, "is that you?"

I had no reply except from a grunting sound that came from somewhere in the distance.

I sprinted as fast as possible to the nearest tree to hide behind because I still had to be careful outside, no one knew if the bad men were still out there or not.

"oi!" a loud voice yelled, "come out! I know you're behind that tree!"

my heart's pace quickened so fast I thought I was about to suffer from a cardiac arrest.

"I'll give you 3 seconds," the male voice shouted out again, "3..2.."

"1!" I quickly spun around the tree, into sight when the voice called out '1.' to find chief jim hopper with a gun held out before him, aiming it right at me. his facial expressions changed in an instant before I made the pistol fly out from his hands.

"shoot, I'm so sorry kid, didn't mean to scare you.." he apologised whilst walking to retrieve his gun, "or aim this thing at you either."

but before he could clasp his clammy hands on the gun again I made it spring up into my own hand. he stood up straight from his leaning position and looked me up and down.

"can I have my gun back?" he asked, sounding a lot like a little kid when they kicked their ball over the fence and into the neighbour's garden.

I chucked him back his firearm with no response, he caught it with ease before inserting it into his belt pocket.

"what you doing out here by yourself at this time anyways?" he then proceeded to ask me.

"I might ask you the same question." I slyly replied.

a soft chuckle escaped his lips at the sound of the young girl asking a question that he'd very likely ask to someone else. he liked the wheeler girl, she reminded him of himself.

"well," he began, "I'm on patrol, so now it's time for your excuse."

"I'm.. looking for someone." I simply answered.

a tsunami of guilt flushed over the chief as he remained looking at the very determined young girl.

"and who might this someone be?" he asked whilst placing his hands on his hips.

"eleven.." I muttered quietly.

and now not only did hop feel guilty, he was also shocked. he was so very shocked because he found it astonishing that the young girl had still managed to fight through these difficult months without loosing a single ounce of hope.

"ah.. well," hopper piped down a little, "I- err.. I hope you find her." he then finished with a fake smile.

I just slowly nodded in response before the chief began to turn and walk away.

"oh, and um.." I sheepishly called out, "if you ever see her.. can you let me know?.."

the large man twisted his head around to bare a gruff-looking smile, "sure thing, kid."

"thanks hop!" I replied before continuing my trek but what I didn't know was that hopper was currently rubbing streaming tears off of his cheeks. he tried his best to silence his sobs, keeping a secret as large as this one from someone as young and as brave as y/n was a struggle.

suddenly, a voice emitted from my radio, "n/n! mum says to come home now, she's made your favourite for dinner!" mike's voice echoed through the walkie.

"on my way now," I replied before stuffing my supercomm into my backpack and making my way home.