Moonstruck - Stranger Things

Suicide|18

H O P P E R
Earlier that day

Wake up, drink, smoke, take my pills. Same routine as every other morning, but I just can't figure out why everything feels so different. It's been like this for the past week, and I can't put my finger on it. It feels like something is missing. Like there's some part of me that's disappeared, but I just don't know what it is.

I sigh, taking off towards the station. I'll never get a real case, or any respect, but I guess it doesn't matter anymore. Sarah's gone, I've lost my wife, and I basically have no family.

I pull up at the station and walk in, tossing my old cigarette and lighting up a new one.
"Jesus, chief, you look rough," is the first thing I hear.
"I look better than your wife when I left her this morning," I joke, and a feeling of dèjàvu washes over me. What the hell is going on with me?

Maybe I've just had one too many pills.

I do the usual, get my coffee, and take off towards my office where I can carelessly read the newspapers or stare at the wall. For the next 7 hours, I just sit, read, and think. Suddenly, the random thought of Joyce Byers comes to my head, the thought of her hanging up Christmas lights. I don't think I've ever been more confused with myself. Something had to have triggered the thought, but I haven't seen her since high school. Why would I suddenly think of her hanging up Christmas lights, which I've never seen her do before?

I shake my head of the thought and decide to walk through the station. Maybe talking to some people will clear my thoughts. I go to get a doughnut, and see two Eggos pop up from the toaster. I get this weird feeling, like I have some weird connection with them, but then tell myself that they're frozen waffles. My thoughts are interrupted by my two officers coming up behind me.

"Hey chief, think we have an actual case. We haven't had anything since all that Will Byers nonsense-" I cut him off.
"Will Byers?"
"Don't you remember?" He says. "When he disappeared and the whole town went nuts?"
I just chuckle, assuming he's joking or something, but why Will Byers? It's really strange that Joyce Byers's son is brought up right after I randomly think about her. I just grab my forehead with my hands and start to walk away, but he stops me.

"I just got some information. Something happened down at the quarry, some kid. We need to get down there as soon as possible," he says, and I begin to walk out the door. I can't keep my thoughts straight. I feel like I'm going insane, and it's not the pills. I have no idea what's happening.

"I guess you feel like a big city cop again," I hear, and I look back.

"Yeah," I mumble, not wanting to say another word before some other weird thing happens. I feel like I'm in a parallel universe, like I have another life that I can't remember. Maybe it's just tiredness. Maybe this will pass.

As soon as we get to the quarry, my heart starts to beat out of my chest. Why? I have no idea. I haven't been down here a lot, but it seems so familiar.

I see fire trucks and ambulances everywhere, and it makes me wonder what happened. Did someone drown or jump?

I make my way to the front of the crowd, just in time to see some kid's body being pulled from the water.

I don't know what it is, but something makes my vision go black, and all of a sudden I'm imagining another kid's body being pulled from the water. This one is a different kid, with a bowl cut and a flannel vest on. It seems very vivid, like a real memory.