STICKS AND STONES ↝ S. HARRINGTON

[13]

The air in the waiting room of Hawkins Memorial was deathly still, the only sounds that of someone shifting in their seat, or the dull scrape of a shoe against carpet. After Joyce and Hopper had returned with Will, Jonathan and Michelle had disappeared back with their mother to wait in his room, while the chief of police had gone to wait for the arrival of Dustin and their friends, but had assured the teenagers that he would be back soon.

"What do you guys think happened at the school?" Becca spoke up suddenly. "I heard Hopper's radio before he left, something about emergency vehicles heading that way."

"It has to be the lab." Anna said. "Dustin was telling me about it in the car, about these men that were after them just for looking for Will and Eleven. Maybe they found them, maybe-"

Anna's voice cut short as she shut her eyes, not letting herself go any further as she began to worry more about her brother and his friends. For all she knew, they were safe and sound, and she intended to keep it that way. She knew she couldn't afford to think any different. Will had been found safe, and his friends were going to see him as soon as they returned.

A knock on the glass window of the waiting room pulled their attention to where Hopper stood on the other side, gesturing for Anna and Nancy before nodding in their direction. Anna jumped out of her seat with Nancy hot on her heels as the girls left Becca, Landon, and Steve in the waiting room, following after the chief.

"Are they okay?" Anna asked as Hopper began to lead them back down the hallway towards the entrance.

"They're okay," Hopper said, and Anna felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "They went through a lot, the girl... she didn't make it."

"Eleven?" Anna asked, bringing a hand up to cup her mouth as the doors opened at the end of the hall, revealing Dustin walking inside with a nervous Claudia right behind him.

"Anna!" Dustin shouted, and she took off running, closing the gap between them as she hugged her brother tightly into her arms.

"You're okay," she murmured into his hair, though she couldn't quite be sure if she was trying to reassure him or herself. "You're okay. You're okay and they found him, they found Will."

Dustin nodded. "I'm okay," he agreed.

"What happened?" she asked.

"There was an incident at the high school." Claudia explained, pulling Anna into a hug as soon as her eldest daughter had released Dustin from her hold, and behind them the rest of the boys began to file in with their parents close behind. "The boys were riding their bikes by the school when they heard a commotion and went to check it out. Wrong place at the wrong time, the chief says."

"We're just glad you boys are all okay," Anna said, with Claudia nodding in agreement before her eyes wandered down to the bandage adorning her daughter's hand.

"Annie, what happened?" Claudia asked, reaching for her gauze covered hand.

"Oh, this?" Anna asked, waving it off as she began to chuckle. "I was helping Becca make dinner and sliced my hand open while cutting carrots. You know me, I'm just clumsy."

"Well, if you're sure you're alright..." she trailed off nervously. "Why don't you look after Dustin for a bit? I want to talk to the chief for a moment."

As Claudia took off down the hallway after the others, leaving Anna and Dustin alone in the hallway, she finally turned back towards her brother, looking him over once more for any sign of injury. "Hopper told us about Eleven." she said, lowering her voice so as to not be overheard by anyone passing by. "What really happened?"