Splinters In Time

Will Byers

"... And now we return to the story of the local boy, Will Byers, who still remains missing..."

The television played in the background as Lawrence struggled to pull on his boots, open coat flapping as he rushed to get ready to go out the door.

Coming down the stairs in her pyjamas, Lydia saw what he was doing. "Uh, Dad? What's going on?"

"That Byers boy is still missing. I'm heading out to search."

"Uh, no you're not." She stood in his way, holding her hands out to stop him. "Not in the dark. Not with your leg."

Lawrence glanced at his prosthetic and huffed in annoyance. "It's been days! They need all the help they can get! Look, we're not that far from Hawkins-"

"-What, you think you're going to find him in the woods behind our house?"

"-It's entirely possible if he came off the road and got lost in the woods, if he kept going in a straight line away from the centre of town-"

"-The search party has been out here, Dad!"

"They don't know this place like I do! It looks completely different heading towards Hawkins than away!"

"MUM! MUM! Dad's trying to go out in the dark! Make him stop!"

"Lydia, this is ridiculous..." The words died on Lawrence's lips as Esther stepped into the hall, drying her hands on a tea towel as she had been doing the washing up.

"What's going on?" Esther took in her husband paused mid-action and frowned. "You're heading out? By yourself, at this time of night?"

"He's a little boy." Lawrence said earnestly, hoping his wife would pick up on his meaning. "What if he's out there, cold and alone? Think of his poor family!"

"The police are looking for him, Dad!"

Esther nodded her head slowly. "The boy does need to be found. But your daughters need you here, safe. Not tonight, Lawrence. Please."

"I'll be fine! I walk better in those woods than most. Got better stamina than those townies and the leg's hardly a hindrance anymore. It's actually an advantage when it comes to brambles-"

"What's going on?" Lili had appeared at the top of the stairs. Wearing in an elegant nightdress of grey silk and a dressing gown of gauzy blue, she wiped sleep from her eyes as she leant on the banister to look down at them. Somehow, Lydia thought, even when just woken up, Lili always managed to look stylish.

She was meant to be sleeping off jet-lag, having allegedly just come from Edinburgh. It had been a while since that first introduction at the funeral and they had since settled into some kind of routine; the routine being Lili dropping in out of the blue one day, staying for about a month, and then dipping out again with little warning, only to return months later with wild tales about globetrotting and adventures from far off parts. Lydia thought it was awesome- although, in truth, she hated when her sister was gone, and no amount of cool souvenirs would make up for not knowing.

"I'm heading out to look for the Byers boy!" Lawrence loudly declared.

"But why?" Lydia squealed.

"Because if it were my kid, I would like to think others would too."

Coming down the stairs, Lili stopped in front of her father. Softly, she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come on Dad, why don't you sit back down? It's late."

"We can't just leave that little boy out there!"

She could always make him sit back down, of course she could- but he was her father, it wasn't right. Instead, she had to reason with him.

"We won't. If it makes you feel better, I'll go."

"You?" Esther queried. "You don't know the local area at all."

"Well, then... Lydia can come with me." Lili saw the expression on Esther's face. "I'll keep her safe, I promise. It'll be fine! We won't go far- we'll just check things out for Dad's peace of mind."

Esther pressed her lips into a line. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I'll go." Lydia piped up. "We'll stick together, it'll be fine."

"I'm going!" Lawrence insisted.

"No, you're not." Lili looked intently at her stepmother. "Come on. It'll be alright." She lowered her voice almost conspiratorially. "...It's better than Dad going out and getting in trouble with his leg..."

Esther looked at both girls' pleading faces, then pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed in exasperation. "... Fine. But you're to stay close, stay together and be back within an hour, okay?" Grabbing Lili by the arm, she pulled her close. "Lydia's not to see... anything horrible. You understand?"

Lili nodded. "Understood." Victorious, she turned to Lydia. "Get changed and meet back here in five minutes? Wrap up warm. And bring a torch!" The last part was called up the stairs as Lydia had decided to get a head start.

A/N: Wahoo! At last, we have reached season 1! Expect some more familiar faces to be appearing from here on out!

Admittedly this one was meant to be longer, but I saw the word count and decided this was a good place to split it. Hopefully it's alright still! The rest will be coming next update, so it might be it makes more sense then. XD

Anyway, don't forget to leave a like and comment! Thanks for reading!