Stranger Things Have Happened- Steve Harrington x OC

Keep Digging

I nodded along carefully to each bit, having already got the gist of it from Steve earlier, and somewhat disappointed that was all Robyn had for me.

"But this is where it gets interesting," she smirked.

I leaned forward, interest peaked, gesturing for her to continue.

"So Nancy's mom ends up coming into school, right? And Nancy's questioned by the police. Turns out she's in the shit with her mom because she told her she was staying at Barb's and had convinced Barb to tell her folks she was staying at Nancy's. So her mom's like thoroughly embarrassed in front of the cops, right? But then one of the officers, you know the one with the glasses and moustache?"

I knew the one. Callahan, I think it is.

"Well he asked what they were actually doing, and when it came out about the party and Nancy going upstairs, he basically called her out for sleeping with Harrington. In front of her mom! I would be mortified!"

"That's insane," I agreed.

I felt a little bad for Nancy. She hadn't meant for Barb to go missing, and had seemed just as shocked as I was when she hadn't turned up for school the next day. Obviously, I don't think she'd made the right decisions at the party, but for them to be dragged up in front of her family as part of an official police investigation? I don't think I'd ever get over it.

"And then I'm 90% sure I saw Nancy and Jonathon Byers heading into the photography lab together this afternoon, but I'm not sure," she finished, shovelling another handful of popcorn into her mouth.

I frowned; "Very weird."

"Very," she agreed; "Anyway you want to hear the conspiracy about how Stephanie Dalton's going to try to rig homecoming?"

A few hours later and Robyn had gone home and Dustin was back from Mike's. And just like that, I was bombarded with more news.

"We heard Will!"

"What?!" I jumped up from the couch and beckoned for Dustin to come sit immediately.

"So we smuggled El into school and to the Ham Shack. We figured she'd have a better chance of finding him with a better signal."

 I nodded, trying to keep up.

"Anyway she found him. He must have been talking to his mom somehow? Because he kept calling her name."

"Did he say anything else?" I pressed.

"He said he was somewhere that was like home but it wasn't... that it was dark and... really cold," Dustin furrowed his brows as he tried to remember.

My blood ran cold. 

"It's like home but it's not?" I clarified.

"Yeah... I know Lucas was being a dick about it, but your parallel universe theory is looking pretty good."

"And it was definitely Will?" 

"Yeah, for sure. It sounded just like him."

"And that definitely happened today?"

Dustin blinked at me; "Yeah, Gracie, I'm pretty sure I know what day it is. It happened this afternoon."

"So it's not his body," I whispered.

"Not... what are you talking about?" Dustin asked.

"I went with Joyce and Jonathon today to see the body. It looked just like him, but they wouldn't let us near him. Not enough to see him clearly... not enough to touch him... it felt like they were hiding something. Something big."

"Shit," Dustin muttered, "So... why are we going to a funeral tomorrow?"

"Because blabbing around town that the boy's body in the morgue has more to it probably isn't the best move right now," I murmured.

Dustin nodded and we sat in a silence as we both digested what we'd told the other.

"Oh yeah," Dustin added, "And Troy pissed himself."

I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Tomorrow was the funeral. Mom had laid out some clothes for me, and had done the same for Dustin. She'd made a show of offering me some of her heels, but I kindly pointed out we're not the same shoe size. She'd chuckled to herself, becoming flustered, and had offered me a handbag. I'd had to put my hand on her arm and assure her that her just being there for me and Dustin was more than enough.

Everyone was shaken up. Adults included. Adults who didn't even really know Will all that well. 

Then my thoughts went to Barb. Poor, sweet Barb, who'd wanted nothing more than to be a good friend. Tears started prickling at my eyes, threatening to spill over. If only I'd been more adamant on making her leave with me. Or I could have stayed too to keep her company. No. Hopper said I'm not to do this. I'm not to blame myself for what I could have done. It's just so hard when I think about how different the outcomes could have been if I'd just been a little more insistent. I closed my eyes, tried to get some sleep.

Then I heard it.

A crackling sound. It sounded as if it was coming from the other side of my room. I slowly turned my head towards the source of the noise. I almost didn't want to open my eyes. Terrified that that... thing would be stood on the other side of my room. I'd just seen it with no face that night. What if tonight it's different. The guys said its face opens up into petals when it approaches its prey. I'm laid here like a sitting duck. I was sure I'd latched the window. Shut the door. Had I?

Come on, Gracie. Be brave.

I slowly peeled my eyes open and jumped even when I saw nothing there. I hurriedly switched on the light as the crackling continued, eyes scouring the room for the source of the noise.

"Kid!"

I leapt out of bed and fished my walkie from out of my backpack, pressing the button.

"Hopper?" I asked, "How did you-"

"I'm the five-o kid. You honestly think it's that hard to hack onto your frequency?"

I rolled my eyes; "What do you want?"

"I have something to tell you, but couldn't do it over the phone. Anyone could be listening. Nobody would think to hack into a kids walkie talkie feed."

I nodded, then realised he couldn't actually see me; "What did you find?"

"You were right. It's not him. It just looks like him. The body's stuffed."

I shivered; "Stuffed?"

"Yeah like those foxes and rabbits Old Man Taylor has strung about the counter at the gun store."

"Okay," I breathed, not really sure what to do with the information.

"Do not tell anybody, do you understand me?" Hopper warned.

"Yeah, I understand. Keep digging," I begged.

"Sure will, kid... over and out."

I smiled as I heard the humour in his voice signing off, and put my walkie back in my backpack, returning to bed and turning the light back off.

A stuffed body. Who would want to make it seem like Will had died? What was the benefit? My gut told me it had something to do with 'state'. They seemed to have taken over a lot of the investigation and it wasn't sitting right with me. Regardless, I knew I had to get some sleep for tomorrow. I needed to be on top form if I was going to keep looking for the truth.