𝐑𝐮𝐛𝐢𝐤'𝐬 𝐂𝐮𝐛𝐞 ─ 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀

𝟬𝟰. 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝘁𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝗰𝗶-𝗳𝗶 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘀

"I should talk to him," said Ted, surprising both Sabrina and Karen by turning off the television and sitting up on the edge of his recliner. "I should say something to Michael."

Sabrina could've been a smartass at that moment. She could've asked her dad why he was just now choosing to involve himself in their lives. But she didn't. It wasn't the time. Even she knew that.

"No," Karen whispered, shaking her head. She'd taken the spot on the other end of the couch, elbow resting on its arm. "We need to give him time," she insisted. "He'll come to us when he's ready."

Karen's cheeks were stained with the streaks of the tears she had shed for the young boy who'd spent most weekends curled away in the basement. A kid she's known for all his life. The kid of a woman she'd once considered a friend. Will had become a constant in their family. Every weekend he and the others could be heard yelling up from the stairs about some new game they'd become obsessed with. When she'd learned he'd been found dead, Karen realized at that very moment, none of that would ever happen again. Mike, her little boy, would never be the same.

And she hated that she made this about her. About her grief for the part of her son that this death would likely take from him. But she couldn't help but mourn that part of him. To mourn that small bit of innocence that had been so cruelly ripped away.

Scoffing, Sabrina stood up, "Screw that!"

"What are you doing?" asked Karen, turning up to look at her daughter, confused.

"I'm getting Mike out of the basement," she told her mom, shrugging.

The truth was that Sabrina was getting to Mike first. Before her mom or dad could change their minds and go wandering down the old basement steps to talk to Mike, only to then find the small girl they'd been hiding down there. Sabrina needed to get him out of that basement, even if that meant pulling him up the steps by his feet.

The cold was like a slap in the face. Sabrina had been hit the moment she opened the door. The basement was freezing. For a second Sabrina thought Mike had run away, leaving the door open behind him. But she heard him seconds later.

Neither parent tried stopping her. Though it wasn't as if she would've listened to them if they'd tried.

The cold air felt like a slap to the face. Sabrina's cheeks stung red. She was hit the very moment she opened the door. A quick shiver ran down her spine. With the stove being in the basement it made no sense for it to be so cold. Unless something had let the winter air inside.

There was a second when a thought crossed Sabrina's mind. She wondered if Mike had run, leaving the door down the steps open, allowing for the winter chill to blow inside. It seemed a plausible enough theory until she heard Mike's voice travel up the stairs.

Quickly, Sabrina stepped down onto the first step, her bare feet already freezing, and shut the door behind her. She didn't need her mom or dad to hear Mike yelling. They'd only worry and want to follow her down.

"I thought that we were friends!" his voice carried throughout the entire basement.

Sabrina had no idea who he was yelling at like that. She thought that maybe it was Will. Despite knowing he was gone; Mike could be angry with him. He'd want to take his anger out – maybe even blame Will for leaving him.

"You made me think that he was alive," he continued yelling, only to confuse Sabrina even more as she quietly made her way further down the stairs. "You made me think that Will was out there somewhere, but he wasn't... he wasn't."

She knew then it wasn't Will that Mike was taking his anger out on, but El.

"Friends don't lie, Eleven!" Sabrina had stepped down, just low enough to see beneath the basement ceiling. To see Mike step toward a trembling El, who stared at him with wide, sorry eyes. She was scared but allowed Mike to take his anger out on her. "I thought that you were telling me the truth."