CHAPTER TWENTY
( the byers residence )
MADDIE STOOD NEXT to Mike outside the Byers residence. Mike turned to Maddie slightly and she gave him a small smile in reassurance, which seemed to be enough for Mike to knock on the door. "Hello? Will! Mrs. Byers?"
The door slowly opened, Mrs. Byers now standing before the two. "Hey." Mike sighed, happy to know the house wasn't empty. Joyce smiled. "Hey, Mike. Maddie." Mike took a step closer. "Is Will here?"
"You know what? Now is not a really good time." Joyce responded, trying to go back inside. "Is he okay?" Mike questioned, not letting her go that easily. Joyce sighed, stepping out of the house and shutting the door behind herself. "Yeah. You know, he's... he's just not feeling real well. He's laying down, so I'll tell him you both stopped by, okay?"
She had walked the kids away from the door and began back towards it herself. Maddie frowned. "Mrs. Byers, wait." She turned around, looking towards the two kids. Mike made eye contact with Maddie and when she nodded, he looked back at the older woman before them. "It's about the shadow monster, isn't it?"
Joyce froze for a moment, just looking at the two. And then she sighed, opening the door. "Come inside."
Both kids eagerly did as told, happy to be able to go in and see Will. But the house itself was a shock to see. There where drawings, everywhere.
They where taped to the walls and floors, spreading from room to room almost connected. It was as if everything went together. Maddie traced her fingertips on one of the pages that had been taped down to a small table by the couch, looking down at the mix of blues and blacks on the page.
"What... is all this?" Maddie questioned slowly, looking towards Joyce. She sighed. "We, uh, we aren't entirely sure just yet."
Mike looked towards Joyce as well. "We?" She nodded. "Yeah. Me and, uh, Hopper and I." Maddie's eyes widened. "Hopper?" She hadn't seen her uncle in the last few days and had been beginning to get worried. Hopper had made the young girl promise they wouldn't go a while without even a phone call, so, it was especially weird when she had tried to call in the last few days just to get no response.
She had even tried the sheriffs office, but no luck.
Joyce nodded. "Yeah, Hopper. He left a little bit before you two got here actually." Then she sort of turned into herself. "He said he'd be back by now, actually..."
"What?" Maddie questioned, a bit panicked. Joyce just chuckled, trying to hide the fact that she too was now panicking. "How about you two go talk to Will and I'll see if I can catch Hopper, okay? I bet he's fine. You guys go."
Mike gave Joyce a small smile, ushering Maddie away and towards Wills room. "I bet he's fine, Maddie. Don't worry." Maddie nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Let's just— let's just focus on Will."
Mike smiled before knocking on Wills door. "I'm fine, mom." Will stated from inside his room. Maddie inhaled. "Not your mom. It's Maddie and Mike."
A bit of movement could be heard from inside the room before Maddie heard the lock click. And then the door opened and the two where met with Will, though seeing him made Maddie even more nervous because he did not look good.
His shirt was completely lined with sweat and he had bags under his eyes. He just didn't look like Will.
But Maddie didn't say anything as she followed Mike into Wills room. Will shut the door behind them, this time leaving it unlocked.
"Are you okay?" Mike questioned, looking around and seeing the same drawings that where in every other room. Will just took a seat on his bed, facing away from his friends. "I don't know. I— I'm having these memories. But, but the thing is, they aren't my memories."
Mike kept his full attention on Will. "What do you mean?" Will sighed. "I just— something happened to me on the field. It was like the shadow monster was entering me. And now— now I know of things I didn't know before and I have memories of things that didn't happen to me. But the worst part is these aren't past memories. They're now memories."
"Now memories?" Maddie questioned, taking a seat on the chair near Wills bed. Mike continued to look around. Will nodded. "I guess they're less of memories and more of things going on right now. But they feel like memories to me."
He continued to stare forward. "It's like... it's like I feel what the shadow monsters feeling. See what he's seeing." Mike looked over to Will as he traced the papers on the walls. "Like in the Upside Down?"
Will nodded slightly. "Some of him is there. But some of him is here, too." Mike looked around, meeting Maddie's concerned gaze for a moment before his eyes went back to Will. "Here, like, in this house?"
"In this house and... in me." Will cried. Mike took a seat next to him on the bed. "It's like... it's like he's reaching into Hawkins more and more. And the more he spreads, the more connected to him I feel." Mike looked forwards as he took in the information. "And the more you see these now memories."
Will continued. "At first I just felt it in the back of my head." He put his hand on the back of his neck. "I didn't even really know it was there. It's like when you have a dream and you can't remember it unless you think really hard. It was like that. But now it's like... now I remember. I remember all the time."
"Maybe... maybe that's good." Mike offered. Will turned to him for the first time. "Good?" Mike nodded. "Just think about it, Will. You're like a spy now. A super-spy. Spying on the shadow monster. If you know what he's seeing and feeling... maybe that's how we can stop him. Maybe all of this is happening for a reason."
Will looked around a bit. "You really think so?" Mike smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, I really do." Will looked to Maddie, who had just been sat there watching the two and listening. "Maddie?"
Maddie's gaze met Wills and she tried her best to smile. "I think that's a really good way to look at it." Will nodded slowly before his gaze shifted down to a drawing. Maddie followed his line of sight and took in a deep breath when she realized he was staring down at the drawing he must have drawn of the shadow monster.
"What if he figures out we're spying on him? What if he spies back?" Will cried, his body shaking. Mike turned to him fast. "He won't." Will continued to stare forward. "How do you know?"
Mike put his hand over Wills, causing the younger boy to look towards him. "We won't let him."
MADDIE WATCHED WITH worry as Will continuously scribbled on a piece of paper. She had woken up that morning to Will telling her and Mike and then Mrs. Byers how he had seen Hopper and he thinks Hopper is going to die.
Honestly, it was a horrible way to wake up. But, Maddie was trying her best to keep all her emotions down because Will knew where he was. Well, not exactly the location but he knew how to draw it using his pictures.
Maddie bit at her nail as she watched Will stop, his mom going next to him. "Hey, is this where you saw him? Is this where you saw Hopper?" Will nodded. "I think so. Yeah."
Joyce picked up the paper and immediately everyone's goal was to find where the drawing fit into the rest of the drawings. Where was its match.
Maddie scanned around the floor and the ceiling of the hallway before she made her way back towards the bathrooms, trying to figure out where Hopper was. She needed to know he was okay. Once she had that she could stop worrying but she wasn't going to get that anytime soon.
"Here!" Mike suddenly yelled out and Maddie made a dash towards where she heard his voice. She stopped behind the boy, who was in the kitchen by the back door, and looked at the spot that did indeed match up with Wills picture.
Joyce ran towards the two kids, putting the image on the spot and further confirming that it was the spot. "Okay, so... so Hopper is here?" Mike nodded. "Yeah. Now we just need to figure out where here is, right?"
"Right." Joyce responded. "How do we do that?" Maddie questioned, putting her thumb nail into her mouth as she grew more anxious. Mike frowned. "I don't know. Did he say anything? I mean, before he left?"
Joyce sighed. "Uh, some... something about vines?" The three then turned their heads at the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. Maddie instantly perked up, begging whoever was listening for it to be Hopper.
Mike grabbed Maddies hand, slightly squeezing it as he pulled her behind him while Joyce ran in front of them. "Hopper." Joyce slightly sighed, happy before she saw it was in-fact not Hoppers truck but Bob Newbys red car.
Maddie watched as he exited the car before Joyce turned to the two kids. "Stay here and try to keep figuring things out, okay?" The two nodded and Maddie once again felt Mike squeeze her hand. "Don't worry, okay? We'll find him and he's gonna be okay."
Maddie nodded. "Yeah, you're right. We just need to hurry." Mike smiled reassuringly, beginning to go back to trying to find a pattern. Maddie let his hand go, walking to the other side of the room to search.
When Joyce returned, Bob was shoot behind her. "You two remember Bob?" Joyce smiled, then turning to get Will. "Hi again!" Bob smiled, though it was obvious he was more concerned with all the pictures everywhere. Maddie waved a bit while Mike awkwardly smiled, the two giving each other looks as they silently communicated.
"Bobs gonna help us figure out what we need and he already knows not to ask questions." Joyce explained as she walked back with Will behind her. Bob walked a bit forward, everyone else trailing behind as he looked at the walls more. "Huh. Hmm." He turned to Will. "You drew all these yourself?"
Joyce nodded as did Will and Bob looked back at the drawings. "Why, exactly?" Joyce put her hand on his arm. "I... I told you the rules. No questions, okay? We... we just need you to help us figure out what..." Joyce began walking and turned around when no one followed. "Bob? Bob? Over here." Bob handed Mike whatever he was carrying and slowly followed after Joyce, who was bent down by the spot.
"Where..." she began scribbling in a red X, "where this is." Mike nodded from behind Bob. "That's the objective. Find the X."
Bob looked down, laughing to himself a bit. "Yeah? What's the C? Pirate treasure?" Joyce just stared back at him seriously. "Bob, no questions." Bob sighed. "Okay." They all stood awkwardly for a moment before Bob grabbed Joyce, pulling her a bit. "Let me talk to you for a second. Hang on, guys."
The two walked out of the room and the silence continued. It was unbearable as Maddie silently watched Will, who just didn't look good. Mike looked between his friends. "Might as well sit?" He tried his best to smile and he relaxed more when Will nodded, taking a seat. Maddie shook her head, pacing a bit as she knew sitting wasn't a good idea. Mike frowned but took a seat as well before the three heard the adults coming back.
"And if you just follow it naturally... it moves to... the Eno River. And there it is. That's the Eno, do you see it? Okay, so the lines aren't roads. But they act like roads. And they act like roads cause when you follow 'em, you'll see... they don't go over water. And that's the giveaway. That's the giveaway. Ha! Don't you get it? It's not a puzzle, it's a map. It's a map of Hawkins." Bob smiled.
Maddie turned towards Mike and Will, eyes widened. She couldn't believe he just cracked it so fast. Bob laughed a bit before turning to Will. "Right, Will?"
BOB SAT AT the table in front of a map as the rest of the group moved around the house trying to figure out where the spot was in terms of Hawkins. "All right. I'm 3.6 inches, what do you got?"
Mike, from the area where Lovers Lake was, yelled back. "I'm not sure. Mrs. Byers?" Joyce, running out of the room Mike was in responded, "hold on."
She reached Tippecanoe and read the distance. "Twenty-one feet, four inches." Bob nodded, marking that down. "What about Tippecanoe to Danford Creek?"
Joyce sighed. "Danford? Where's Danford?" Will looked around for a moment before catching it. "Dining room!" Maddie ran over and placed her hand on Tippecanoe, holding the measurer in place before Joyce ran to Danford.
"Sixteen feet, ten inches." Joyce read to Bob. "What about Danford to Jordan?" Joyce frowned. "Oh, come on. This has gotta be enough." She walked up to Bob after grabbing the measure from Mike and Maddie, the three kids following behind.
"It's not. It's... it's really not." Bob replied. Joyce let out a sigh. "Okay. Can't you figure it out?" Bob began moving his hands around. "Well, it's hard. The ratio isn't exactly one-to-one. I mean, if you're twisting my arm, and you are twisting my arm, I would say that the X is..." he marked a few things down on the map. "Maybe a half mile southeast of Danford?"
Joyce smiled, kissing Bob on the cheek. "Thank you. Thank you." She grabbed the map and was quick to run, the kids giving each other looks before chasing after her.
Bob followed behind confused. "What? Are we really... are we really going?" No one replied as they all got into the car.
They drove until dark, going down one singular road for most of their journey. Maddie stared out the window as she tapped her foot against the bottom of the car. "There's nothing. There's nothing here." Mike freaked, looking around the empty landscape. "Are... are we close?" Joyce questioned from the drivers seat. "We're in the vicinity." Bob replied.
"What's that mean, the vicinity?" Joyce responded. Bob just shrugged. "It means we're close. I don't know. It's not precise." Joyce frowned. "But we did all that work."
"I told you the scale ration is not exactly one-to-one. We needed to take—" Bob began but was soon cut off by Will who shot forwards. "Turn right." Joyce looked back at him for a moment confused. "What?"
Will just started at her. "I saw him." Joyce looked around. "Where?" Will moved forwards more. "Not here. In my now memories. "In your what?" Bob asked confused. "Turn right!"
Joyce turned a hard right, going off the road and running straight into a pile of heigh. Everyone screamed at the impact but Joyce kept driving. Maddie leaned into Mike, hiding her face so she didn't have to watch. He continued to yell as he wrapped an arm around her, watching as the group also ran right into Hoppers car.
Joyce breaked fast, causing everyone to shoot forwards in their seats for a moment. "Are you okay?" Joyce asked the kids in the back before turning back. Maddie moved out of Mikes grasp as he looked forward. "Super spy."
"What's Jim doing here? Joyce?" Bob asked. Joyce just turned to the kids again. "I need you three to stay here." Will shook his head instantly. "No. Mom, mom, mom, it's not safe." Joyce looked back at her son. "That's why I need you to stay here! Stay here!"
Bob followed out of the car as Joyce began screaming for Hopper, looking into a large hole in front of them.
Maddie frowned. "I hate this. Just sitting here." Mike nodded. "Me too, but we're no help just standing there." Maddie sighed. "Okay but can't we just do that? If we're no help here and no help there at least we can see what's going on from there."
Mike shrugged. "Sure." The three kids then got out of the car, slowly walking forwards towards the large hole that had weird vines blocking the entrance. "Do you see anything? I mean, in your now-memories?" Mike wondered. Will just shook his head no.
The three turned around as cars began approaching and once she could see clearly, Maddie could see that they were Hawkins Lab cars. Maddie sent a worried glance towards Mike before looking back at the cars.
Last time Hawkins Lab pulled up cars near them it did not end well for anyone, especially El. So, Maddie didn't trust it one bit.
But rather than paying the kids any mind the people just went right past them, trying to enter into the pit. More cars continued to show up and more people continued to exit said cars, getting closer to the hole.
But then Will fell to the ground, thrashing around in pain. Maddie and Mike were down next to him in seconds, trying to understand what was happening. "Will? Will, you okay?" Mike freaked as Will continued to thrash. "Will, what's wrong?"
"Will? Please Will—" Maddie begged, grabbing onto the boys hand to try and calm him. But she then shot up to her feet as Will turned onto his back and let out a scream. His body convulsed as this high pitched scream left his body and all Maddie could do was step away from the boy.
Maddie looked around quickly as random lab workers began coming closer to see what was going on with the boy. "Help him! Please, help him."
AUTHORS NOTE!
wow me updating who would have guessed. craziness honestly but I'm super excited for season four and wanna try and get this as close to done with season three as I can before the next season hits!
also go check out my steve harrington fic!