Hold On ·Will Byers x Reader·

17

Y/N POV

Flashing lights.

That's what I saw when I woke up. The lights were a bright red and the entire building was silent. My head throbbed. The monster had held me upside down by my leg and I passed out from the rush to my head along with all my crying.

Will had cried when I was taken. Guilt was eating me up inside and I wanted him to know that I was alive and okay. I stood up and realised I was in a stairwell. I didn't know exactly which floor I was on, so I entered the building through the closest door to me.

I assumed I was on the third floor because one of the room doors I passed said 323. I walked around the entire floor, hoping to find anything but the monsters. When I didn't see anything useful, I found the elevators. The elevator's, however, were covered in blood and some weird sticky substance, much like the stuff from the portal that got me here.

I mentally cringed at the sight. I sighed and made my way back to the stairs. As I made my way past the rooms again, something caught my eye. It was a little piece of paper on the floor, neatly folded and somehow conveniently placed at the edge of a table. I opened the door slightly and poked my head in. There was no one or thing in sight, so I quickly walked over to the table and snatch the paper up.

I unfolded the tiny square to reveal a small, creased map of Hawkins Laboratory. I frowned at the paper. Something didn't feel right. It felt too neat, too in order for it to be a coincidence. Sighing once again, I folded the paper back up and shoved it in my pocket. I'd be an idiot not to take it. It was, after all, the only thing that help me navigate this place.

I left the room, closing the door softly behind me, and walked to the stairwell. Looking at the map, I now knew that I was indeed on the third floor, and assumed that whatever I was looking for would be much higher up.

Eventually I made it to the eleventh floor. My leg and ankle hurt like hell. I stopped to rest and pulled out the map. The words "RESTRICTED AREA" were printed in bold lettering on the thirtieth floor. I sat on the floor and slumped against the wall. I heard a low grumbling noise and popped my head up, looking around. I realised that it was a monster, a hungry one too. My stomach growled again, and I held it tilting my head back against the wall.

I was starving, and I knew Will was too. We had no luck finding food at Benny's, which I found rather odd since there was food at my house.

"Fuck, I'm starving," I mumbled to myself.

I realized that was the first time I had spoken since I'd been brought to the lab. My throat was dry and my voice was raspy. It hurt a little when I talked. If I was being honest, everything was hurting. Things here were bad, and we had only been there three days. Or maybe it was four. I don't know, I had lost count.

I curled up into a ball and cried for what seemed like the thousandth time. My head hurt as I shut my eyes tightly and forced myself to sleep again, hoping that when I woke up all of this would somehow be over.

Deep down, however, I knew that it wasn't going to be that easy. At least not for me.