THE KIDS AREN'T ALRIGHT ｡ STRANGER THINGS

10 - SOMETHING STRANGE

Usually, Daisy would roll her eyes, tap her dear aunt's shoulder and nod along with her nonsense. Aunt Beatrice had frequent episodes of sheer madness and it was something the young girl had grown up with and been taught to ignore by her mother. But today, with the mention of Duncan Downings, her heart clenched suddenly. "Duncan?" Her aunt nodded her head, leaning forward and pushing away Daisy's bowl of oatmeal. "Did you tell Marigold about the bad men and Duncan?"

"Marigold was clever," Aunt Beatrice exclaimed while Molly Lonsdale finally arrived from upstairs, her hair perfectly neat and her dress ironed to match. Always the picture of perfection. Beatrice inched closer again, her nose almost touching her niece's button nose, fearing any second their conversation would be halted. "The storm, it came, dear girl. My little boy predicted that storm, he's free from it though. But it's a caged freedom. Marigold knew that, she went looking for him. They're in a new storm."

The madness, that maybe wasn't quite madness, was brutally stopped. Molly Lonsdale, who had overheard the last snippet of conversation was slamming down her hands on the table. Daisy's glass of juice rattled with movement. "That is enough." Her words were fuelled with a blinding anger, Daisy shifting back in her chair. Molly glared across at her sister, who had fallen silent, shrinking back into her shell. "Daisy, why don't you head to school early today."

"But mum—" Daisy protested.

Her mother didn't budge. "It's not a question, Daisy."

Daisy was sulking away from the dining table, her breakfast quickly forgotten. With the horrible glare in her mother's eyes, she knew trying to go against her was not possible today. Clicking her tongue against her teeth, she grabbed her bag and marched towards the front door. While she reached for her house keys, she let her gaze swing over her shoulder for a second, only to see Molly Lonsdale crumbling up the newspaper with such hatred. It was very clear, something was strange about whatever was going on inside Aunt Beatrice's mind and why her mother always reacted the way she did when she spoke about Duncan. Daisy just didn't know why, but she'd figure that out soon enough.

***

Hawkins High was packed with students that were quickly forgetting about the weird things happening all over town, many already pushing little Will Byers from their minds. Dottie Fields was not one of them, her mind growing hyperactive with what had occurred outside Will's house last night. With her dark thoughts looming, fear and suspicion started to weigh her down and a new mystery was suddenly upon her when her presentation partner hadn't turned up to class.

"Barb didn't show for our history presentation today," Dottie had mentioned in passing with Daisy Lonsdale, who already had too many things running wild in her head today.

Daisy dumped a textbook into her locker, catching a glimpse of Jonathan Byers at his own locker. He was fiddling around with his camera and a stack of photographs. "Okay, maybe she ditched class? She did spend her night at Steve's thing, right? Maybe she was too tired to finish it and decided to skip."

Dottie was shaking her head. "Barb isn't like that. She wouldn't just skip out on our presentation." The bell echoed through the hallways, indicating the end of the school day. Kids were already hurling towards the exits, wanting nothing but freedom for a few lousy hours. "I asked Nancy in class, she doesn't know anything about it either. Isn't that strange?"

"Apparently, strange is going around lately." Daisy pointed out quietly, recalling their not mentioned yet incident last night and how her mother and aunt were acting weird. Throw in the disappearance of Will Byers and now, maybe Barbara Holland, Hawkins indeed was growing strange. Daisy's attention was snapped up again by Jonathan, who still waited by his locker. "Hey, I want to speak with Jonathan for a second, mind meeting me at the truck in a few?"