𝕾𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗 - [𝗦𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻]

𝐯𝐢. 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗 - custody battle

━━━━━━━

 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐍'𝐓 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 One had expected.

 Perhaps she thought she'd find Will in the comfort of his home, struggling against the hold of the Mind Flayer. She thought he'd have been exactly where he needed to be, home, in the midst of familiar surroundings.

 But then again, what could she have predicted, really? For though she had delved into the depths of Will Byers' mind, it wasn't really his right now. The Mind Flayer was in control, puppeteering Will's thoughts and body as though he were nothing but a limp rag-doll.

 There were echo's around her, stray thoughts that still belonged to Will, bouncing around his head but never quite able to break through the Mind Flayer's hold. He called out for his mother, his voice so very scared and frail. He screamed for Jonathan, desperation in his voice, begging his brother to save him. He shouted Mike's name over and over again. Dustin and Lucas; he begged for them to figure it out just as they always did.

 It was like a ghost was whispering into her ears. His voice floating around her like old television static.

 Her eyes broke open and squinted against the darkness One found herself within. Everything had been doused in twilight and it was as cold as a late December daybreak; she was surprised to find no snow coating the ground. Her skin erupted in goosebumps and no matter how hard she tried to scrub her hands against her flesh... she felt nothing.

 Each puff of air that squirmed from her lips billowed into the dark sky as nothing more than a wisp of white. It was soon swallowed by the haze.

 But as her curious eyes followed it higher and higher, watching as it faded away — she finally saw the ash littering the air. Small flakes flitted to and fro, passing through her as though she was just one of Kali's conjured Illusions. She wasn't real here. She could talk and search but the extent of her interactions was limited to her powers; the very thing that allowed her to invade somebodies head.

 There was a flash, red streaks glittering through the sky and trailing across the horizon like an old spun spider web. She almost flinched when another CRACK rang out, tearing through her eardrums, splitting through her mind.

 Her body flickered, and for a second she could see the Byers' living room; all of the crumpled drawings lining the wall like an odd choice of wallpaper. The motionless Demo-dogs bleeding out into the ratty old rug... Then, as she tightened her grip, she was back. Back in the fall of ash, back in the darkness again. She wasn't leaving until she found Will.

 Her steps were light, as though she had the grace of a ballerina walking atop her tip-toes. She passed through an aged gate that looked as though somebody had taken a battering ram to it. She grew closer and closer to an old building; bricks had tumbled from the composition, the ancient — and what had once been white — door hung by a single hinge.