╭ ╮
━━━━ " 📂 "
𝙋 𝘼 𝙍 𝘼 𝘿 𝙄 𝙎 𝙀
╰ ╯
SOMETHING WAS HAPPENING BY JONATHAN'S CAR and if Sadie wasn't seeing things, then she knew Carol, Tommy, Steve and Nicole had something to do with it.
Nancy was there as well - but Sadie automatically knew that she wouldn't be involved. She wasn't that type of person, and she never would be. She actually seemed like she was trying to help, but the Henderson girl hurried over anyway, slowing to a stop by the group as she took in the ripped photographs on the floor and the smashed camera beside it.
"Oh look - here's the freak's girlfriend." Carol popped a bubble of gum as she saw Sadie approach. "Who knows, maybe she invited him and all - I told you she shouldn't have come." She hissed to Steve, who shook his head.
"Excuse me?" Sadie looked between the four, eyes remaining on Nicole just a little longer - she didn't usually hang around them. "What the hell are you on about?"
"Byers was being a bit of a perv." Tommy pushed himself off of the trunk of Jonathan's car. "Took some great photos of Nancy." Steve punched his shoulder, Sadie's eyes travelled over to her best friend, who was clutching several pieces of ripped up photographs. "Maybe if you piece them back together then-"
"Come on, let's go." Steve was avoiding looking at both Sadie and Jonathan, turning towards Nancy. "The game's about to start." He passed his girlfriend, Nicole, Tommy and Carol following him as they headed back towards school.
Nancy stared down at the pieces of paper in her hand, and when Sadie looked over she saw the familiar figure of Barb, sat on the diving board of Steve's pool.
"Come on Nance!" Steve shouted back to them, and Nancy moved to follow him.
"Nancy - just a moment." Sadie stepped in front of her. "I'll make sure the photos get thrown away - you go have fun. And.. I called Mrs Holland. Barb hasn't gone home. I think we should tell someone.. maybe your mom? Or mine?"
"Right." Nancy seemed to be in shock, staring over Sadie's shoulder to Jonathan. "I'll.. tell my mom. I think. Thanks Sadie - I'll call you."
"Yeah, okay." The Henderson girl offered her a smile before she turned towards Jonathan. "What the hell? Why would you do that?" She asked, instantly dropping down into a crouch as she hurried to pick uup the scraps of recently developed photographs.
"I.. I don't know." He admitted, confused as to why she was even speaking to him. "I wasn't thinking.. It just seemed so strange. I was looking for Will in the woods when I found this party... I'm going through hell whilst they're having a party."
"I was there too, you know." Sadie didn't look all that impressed as she scrunched up the photos as best she could. "I was there for Nancy and Barb - but I was there. Much to the distaste of Carol and Tommy."
"They might hate you even more than she hates me." Jonathan chuckled hopefully, then saw the look she was giving. i just saw.. candid photos in moments where you were all just being so carefree with no sense of anyone watching.
"And the photos of Nancy?"
"I don't have an explanation for that." Jonathan admitted, and Sadie rolled her eyes. "But... I'll make it up to her. I swear."
"It's not me who needs to hear that." Although Sadie really hated what Jonathan had done, she couldn't help but want to help him. Silently, she cursed her good nature and knew that she really needed to develop some form of backbone when it came to these things. "Apologise to her next time you see her. And again.... and again."
"You believe me?"
"If you sound any more shocked then i'll think you're lying." Sadie's eyebrows darted upwards for a split second as she stood up. "But yes, I do. You're an artist, and you're going through one of the toughest times in your life. You're just copying with it. Even if it's totally creepy."
"I won't do it again - if I ever come across something like that again I'll leave straight away." Jonathan promised.
"You'd better." Sadie watched as he picked up the last of the pictures and stuffed them in his bag, before staring down at the camera, which Jonathan was cradling in his palms. "Do you think there's any chance of me being able to fix it?" She asked. "I can try - cameras have never been my area of expertise, but I am looking to expand my knowledge."
Jonathan shook his head. "It's smashed. You can have a go, just let me..." He fiddled with it for a second, taking out a couple of things and adjusting a few things. He looked upset as he examined everything and the damage that had been done, picking up the shards of glass from the smashed lenses. The camera was held up in front of Sadie's nose a minute later. "There. If you can't fix it, let me know and you can take it apart for all the things you want from it."
The Henderson girl paused. Admittedly, there had been something in the back of her mind prompting her to offer to examine it to deepen her understanding of other instruments such as a camera - she just hadn't realised it was so obvious.
"I'll try and take it into see Bob Newby at Radioshack. He can have a professional opinion on it that I won't be able to confirm." Sadie smiled. "I don't know when I'll be able to - it's a bit of a busy week for me... but if it can't be fixed, I'll let you know."
"Thanks Sadie. For Indianapolis as well." Jonathan scratched the back of his head as Sadie began to extract her car keys from her bag, already staring down at the broken camera and barely paying any attention to anything else.
"Yeah - no worries." Sadie glanced up. "See you around Jonathan." She smiled, turning on her heel and making her way towards the car, sliding down onto the front seat and placing the camera in the passenger seat, but not after wrapping it carefully in a thick blanket stored in the back of her car - it would prevent any damage.
It was 3:20. She was already five minutes late to meeting her brother, Eleven, Mike and Lucas. It would take her another five to drive there, but reaching over into the glove box, she was glad to see that the old walkie-talkie was still in there, although a little broken - but it would still work.
She fiddled with the buttons on it as she turned the keys in the ignition, reaching to insert a tape before getting it right, the walkie-talkie crackling into static life. Sadie wasn't too sure if they used the same channels, but she twisted the knob until it reached the one she hoped Dustin would be on.
"Dustin?" She spoke, pressing down on a button.
"Sadie?" The confused reply came seconds later. "Yeah a this is Dustin, what's going on, where are you? Over."
"There was something happening at school, but I'm on my way now. I'll be there in five minutes. Over." Sadie said, glancing up into her rear view mirror as she heard Jonathan's car pull out of the parking lot.
"Make that ten?" Dustin asked. "Could you stop on the way for snacks? Mine are already gone. Over."
"I've already got snacks." Sadie glanced back into the seats behind her, where there was a neatly packed bag with stuff for Eleven within. "I'll be there in five. Over and out."
✧
"Is that my old bike?" Sadie's eyes widened as she approached the group of kids, smiling at Eleven who gave a slight smile back, still a little wary of the older girl. "Why is my bike here?"
"Doesn't matter." Dustin held it out to her, letting go of the handlebars and his sister catching it. "Come on - we've been waiting for ages. If you want to come you need to be quicker."
"Alright, alright." Sadie wasn't going to get upset with him for acting as if he wasn't her younger brother and instead somewhat of an authority figure, so instead she stuck her tongue out at him and moved the strap of her bag so that it went across her body as opposed to hanging from one shoulder. She swung one leg over the seat and settled on the seat. "Huh. Still fits."
"Yeah - well you only stopped using it when you got your car." Mike said, looking wary of her even being there. "El - hop on, we only have a few hours." Of course, he was meaning the second seat on his bike, and after she settled on there, they set off.
The group headed towards the forest, Sadie really contemplating why she had agreed to come out with a bunch of kids - including her brother. She should be looking for Barb with Nancy... but Nancy was busy with Steve. Perhaps on her way back she could check whether her car was still there.
When the floor beneath the trees became too thick with fallen brown leaves for them ride, they dismounted and pushed their bikes alongside them, Sadie walking between Lucas and Dustin as Mike and Eleven went up ahead. They listened as El asked about the cut on his chin, and how some bullies at school had given it to him - one of them was called Troy, Sadie learnt.
In all honesty, she thought she should have just somehow managed to get them all into her car and search for Will that way, because wherever Eleven was leading them to was quite a distance away. But perhaps her powers wouldn't work that way, maybe she had to be walking it.
Either way, now that Sadie didn't ride her bike as much, she didn't exercise as much and her legs were aching whilst Dustin, Lucas and Mike all sprang forward. This lead her to reaching for the snacks in her bag first, dishing out bars of nougat, as well as a half of the sandwiches she had packed each, with one left over.
In the back of her mind, she was always thinking of Barb, always wondering whether or not she had made it home, or was in trouble elsewhere. It made her feel sick to her stomach, and her knuckles turned white on the handlebars. This was wrong: how could she be walking with her brother and best friends trying to find Will in a place he clearly wasn't - the search party had come this way for him the night before and found nothing - when Barb was missing.
But before she knew it, night had fallen and she couldn't just leave them to their own devices, needing to be there for their safety and most importantly, Eleven's. So she tried to forget about Barb as she turned on the almost- dead light attached to the bicycle and continued on, surrounding becoming more and more familiar before they came to a stop outside of the Byers house.
Eleven came to a stop, turning back to face the group. "Here." She said, her voice emotionless but no less confident.
"Yeah - this is where Will lives." Mike was confused, but trying to see whether or not this would go somewhere, or if Eleven had just led them to somewhere that Will had been, rather than where he was right at that moment.
"Hiding." Eleven said, voice almost breathless in quality as Sadie, Dustin and Lucas came to a stop besides the pair.
"No, no." Mike quickly corrected her. "This is where he lives. He's missing from here. Understand?"
Lucas and Dustin let go of their bikes and let them rest on the ground. "What are we doing here?" Lucas asked. Out of them all, he was the one who didn't seem to have as much faith in what Eleven was saying.
"She said he's hiding here." Mike shrugged.
"Um.. no!"
"I swear, if we walked all the way out here for nothing-" Dustin began, Sadie looking between them. She could've been looking for Barb, but instead she was here.
"That's exactly what we did!" Lucas exclaimed. "I told you that she didn't know what the hell she was talking about!"
"Come on." Sadie interrupted, seeing the look in Eleven's eyes and turning towards the others. "Maybe give her a chance to explain... maybe there's a reason."
Mike turned back towards her. He seemed a little hopeful. "Why did you bring us here?" He asked, but all he got in reply was a stammer.
"Mike, don't waste your time with her." The Sinclair boy cut across again, when it became abundantly clear that Eleven wasn't going to give them an answer.
"What do you wanna do then?"
"Call the cops, like we should have done yesterday." Lucas replied.
"Oh hold on - we are not calling the cops." Sadie said. "Are you kidding me? There is no way that we're calling the cops. Didn't you listen to her? There are bad men after her, what if they find out we've been in contact and get into trouble. Not to mention how scared that will make her. It is out of the question, we are not-"
She stopped, just as Lucas was about to argue back. She turned, meeting Dustin's eyes and watching as he walked forward, getting their attention. They all followed his gaze, and the sound of sirens and flashing lights approached the road.
"Will..." Mike gasped, and all of a sudden it was a mad rush, the five getting back onto the hikes and riding haphazardly down the paths besides the road, keeping pit of sight of the ambulances and police cars as they followed them.
Sadie couldn't quite describe the fear that had settled in her heart. She had been so hopeful that Will was going to be found safe and sound and just got lost in the woods. But with so many sirens and emergency service vehicles of all kinds, she knew it couldn't be good, whatever they were going to find at the end of the path.
She could only hold onto that hope for as long as possible, clutching onto the bars of her bike and not caring as the bag strapped around her torso banged against her back. Something had happened to Will, and as they moved from the path onto the road, she realised where they were.
"Sattler's Quarry." She breathed out, just as the path back a little more of a decline, and they emerged out onto the gravel, skidding to a halt and dumping their bikes behind a fire engine, unable to see anything.
They crowded around the side of the fire truck, all leaning over each other as they tried to get a good luck. Sadie's hand moved to cover her mouth as she realised what she was looking at - what they were all looking at.
Paramedics were lifting a body from the water and into a stretcher. It was motionless, and the outfit it wore - no matter how waterlogged - was far too familiar.
"It's not Will." Mike spoke, breaking the stunned silence they were in. "It can't be - it's not."
But as they watched, it settled in even further. The hope that had burned in Sadie's heart flickered and died, completely put out.
"It's Will. It's really Will." Lucas's voice was thick, and Sadie moved one arm around his shoulders, the other one leaving her mouth to hug Dustin, pulling him close to her side.
They turned away from the sight, unable to look at it any longer without feeling the need to physically throw up. "Mike..." Eleven breathed out.
"Mike? Mike what?" The Wheeler boy slammed his hand against the red metal of the fire truck. "You were supposed to help us find him alive. You said he was alive! Why did you lie to us? What's wrong with you? What is wrong with you?"
Eleven took a halted breath in, shoulders shaking. "Mike..." She had no idea what to say, her voice soft.
Sadie couldn't even bring herself to interrupt this time, clutching Dustin to her side not only as comfort for him, but for herself as well.
"What!" Mike shouted, waiting for an answer but getting nothing, turning away and stalking over to his bike.
"Mike, come on. Don't do this, man." Lucas's voice was thick with tears as he watched. "Mike.."
"Mike, where are you going!" Sadie cleared her throat. "Mike come on - you should all be together right now - come on."
"Mike.." Dustin called after him, but nothing could stop him from picking up his bike and wheeling it away from them, continuing up the hill.
He left them there, staring up after him and trying to stop themselves from turning towards the scene again.
"Don't do it to yourselves." Sadie swallowed back her own tears as she pulled Dustin and Lucas into a hug, feeling tears soak into her shirt. "El - you too."
She reached an arm out, and hesitantly the girl stepped forward, letting Sadie hug her only for a moment before stepping away. The Henderson girl wouldn't force her back into one - Eleven didn't strike her as someone particular comfortable with affection just yet. She remained hugging the other two boys though, trying to comfort them as best she could until she knew they really needed to leave, pulling them further behind the fire truck as the first ambulance left.
They split apart to leave, Sadie reaching for her bike and gesturing for Eleven to come sit behind her. Both her and Dustin had to go back to the Wheeler house anyway, so that she could get her car as well as making sure Lucas got home safe.
In all the upset, the flashing lights, the slowly quietening sirens, the mess of tears, Eleven's hands tightened around her stomach as she held on, and Sadie let the tears flow freely.