Elijah Brooks's life is turned upside down when his best friend Will Byers goes missing one night. Teaming up with an unlikely group of friends, Eli finds himself transforming from a quiet bookworm to a courageous adventurer willing to do anything f...
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THE FRONT DESK LADY GAZED DOWN at the twins sourly, her wrinkled face covered in displeasure. "You say you're here to see your father?" She asked once again with a grainy voice.
"Yes ma'am," Eve answered sweetly, a fake, almost mocking smile sewn onto her lips. "We won't be long."
The woman pushed her spectacles up her nose with a crooked finger, continuing to eye the kids suspiciously. "And where's your mother?"
Eli swept in deftly, replying, "She's waiting in the car for us." He tried not to let the lie show on his expression, his mind thinking of their bikes parked obscurely in the trees. "Probably shouldn't keep her waiting too long."
The woman sighed through flared nostrils, organizing the stacked papers on her desk absently. "His office is on the third floor. Don't go anywhere else, or you'll be in serious trouble."
"We won't!" They chirped in unison, thanking the woman enthusiastically before dashing off for the elevators.
"What are we looking for, exactly?" Eli questioned once the metal doors slammed shut, shooting them upwards to the third floor.
"Anything suspicious," Eve shrugged her shoulders lamely, keeping a wary eye on the changing floor levels. "Cryptic papers, scientific stuff, I don't know." The elevator doors opened and they were out in an instant, scouring the hallway doors for the one labeled with their father's name.
"Wait," Eli lashed and gripped his sister's wrist in sudden realization. "What are we gonna do if he's in there? I already stand out like a beacon with my costume!"
Eve flashed her dark eyes almost in an irritated manner at him, pulling herself from her brother's grasp. "We hide in a closet or something and wait? I don't know! It seems pretty empty up here anyway," she grumbled, continuing to lead the way.
"Wonder why," Eli murmured to himself.
"This is it!" Eve whisper yelled, jabbing her thumb at the name plate printed next to the door: Dr. Alan M. Brooks.
Eli glanced at the plate for a moment, his nose scrunching up in discomfort. People read this plate and saw a professional, intellectual doctor, not a monster who bares his fists at his kids at any wrongdoing. It made something in his heart shrivel knowing people saw Alan as a trustworthy doctor, and yet he envied them as well.
"C'mon, E," Eve was tugging at his sleeve, her arm craned forward with the door slightly ajar. "He's not in here!"
Alan Brooks has always been a neat, organized man with a lack of emotion beyond any other. It had always reflected in any of his projects, including the house he bought and the clothes he wore. Which is exactly why stepping into a disheveled office, littered with notes and folders and crumpled sheets on the ground, was not what either twin was expecting.
