Mike was shaking from head to toe, cold and soaking wet as he sat on the sidewalk, illuminated by a yellow lamp towering above his small figure. If he had been crying for the third time that night, no one would even notice because the rain was so heavy. Only him, who could feel the difference between the temperature of hot tears and the icy rain.
"Mike!" he heard Lucas call from somewhere in the distance. "Mike? Are you there?" Mike didn't answer.
"There!" said Max's voice, quieter. "See? By the streetlamp."
"Why is he sitting by a streetlamp?"
"Do you really think I know the answer to that, Lucas?"
Mike didn't move to greet his friends, he just listened as their footsteps fell on the ground and approached him, splashing puddle water onto his shirt, although he was already wet to the bone, so it didn't matter to him.
"Mike," Max said, leaning down and putting a hand on his back. "Are you okay? Where did the Mind Flayer go?"
Mike didn't respond. He kept his head down, trying not to reveal his embarrassing emotional state at the moment.
"Mike?" Max tried again. "We're gonna find him, okay? He can't be that far... What would he even be doing?"
Mike looked into the hazy distance, taking his head up from between his knees and letting the rain drip down from his hair to his eyes to his lips and finally fall from his chin. He was no longer crying, there was only rain.
He looked at Lucas. " We are going to find him. You, me, and Dustin." He got up, Max and Lucas following his movement and matching his height. "Come on, we have to go fast. Who knows how far he's gone."
"Wait," said Max. "Just Lucas and Dustin? I think you're forgetting a few people-"
"No, I need Lucas and Dustin." Mike shook his head, trying to explain his incoherent thoughts. "We've known Will the longest... I think we've got the best chance to get him back... and we need a smaller group." He felt slightly bad leaving the others out, but this made sense.
"Jane's his sister," Max argued. "I don't think she'd be too happy about staying home either."
"Then look for him yourselves. Or prepare for when we get back. Or try to contact him with Jane." Mike sighed, looking at Max with a pleading expression. "Look, please just listen to me, Max. I'm the one who was with him before when he was possessed. I know what I'm doing." In truth, Mike had absolutely no idea what he was doing, but he had a certain feeling about looking for Will with the original party. Something about it spoke to him, something saying it was going to be successful like this. And Mike loved Jane and Max and he knew they cared about Will, but it had to be Dustin and Lucas with him. "Please."
Max crossed her arms, stopping herself from arguing with the shaking, soaking, distressed mess of a boy in front of her. "Fine," she said. "But you better find him. Don't make me say I told you so."
"I won't. We're gonna find him," Mike insisted. He couldn't let himself believe anything else. Making sure Will was okay was always his top priority as a kid, and there was no reason for anything to be different now. If anything, he wanted to help him more now that they were both older, and that was saying something.
He walked back to the house in front of his two companions, his eyes subconsciously scanning the horizon for any signs of Will in the trees and behind houses. Of course, nothing was there. He went up the stairs two at a time and threw open the door, calling out to Dustin and Jane.
They came running to the entryway, eyes wide with anticipation.
"What happened?" Jane asked. "You didn't catch the Mind Flayer?" She sulked as Mike shook his head.
"We will," he said. "Me and Dustin and Lucas are going to look for him. You and Max can do what you want, but I feel like we specifically need to do this... you know?"
Jane paused, looking Mike in the eyes. She nodded eventually, relieving Mike since she understood. "I get it. Max and I will make up some sort of plan to get that thing out of him while you're gone... Are you leaving now?"
Mike looked to Lucas and Dustin, confirming their thoughts on the matter. They both nodded, if not somewhat reluctantly. "Yeah, we're leaving now."
"Good luck," Jane sighed, shaking her head. "Please bring him back... I'll... I'll try to contact him and make sure he's okay. I don't know if that's possible. I'll tell you if I find something wrong."
"Thank you," said Mike, giving Jane a tight hug. She was a wonderful friend, not to mention helpful. Mike had no idea where they'd be without her powers and quick wit. She'd come very far from when they first found her in the woods so many years ago.
Mike let go of Jane and motioned for Dustin and Lucas to follow him. There was no time to prepare or grab supplies. They needed to find Will now.
"Not even gonna let me grab a jacket?" Dustin grumbled as he climbed into the passenger seat of Mike's car. "I'm gonna catch hypothermia and then we're gonna have another problem."
"It's not even that cold," Mike argued, still shivering. He turned the car on and backed out of the driveway, no chance of getting warm layers from the house now.
"Don't lie to yourself," Dustin groaned. "It's raining ice water... God, at least turn the heater on!"
Mike gave in and took a second to turn up the temperature in the car. It made him think of after their demogorgon hunt, when Will had driven him and Jonathan home. Jonathan insisted they didn't turn on the heater. Mike's grip on the wheel tightened. He wanted it cold. He should've noticed earlier, then maybe everything could have been avoided. It was obvious looking back.
"I can't believe you're trying to kill us," Dustin said again, continuing to complain about the cold.
"Imagine what Will feels like," Mike snapped. "He's out in the rain somewhere and he doesn't even have a car. I bet he's doing so much worse than we are. That's why we need to find him."
"The Mind Flayer likes it cold!" Lucas argued, crossing his arms.
"But Will doesn't," said Mike quietly. "And here's there too. Here's there too." Mike stared ahead at the road, trying desperately to think of where the Mind Flayer would have gone. He had to be somewhere close to the direction he'd run, although he was pretty fast, so there was all the chance he wasn't. He could be anywhere. Maybe somewhere important to the Upside Down. Or maybe a place Will liked. Whatever it was, there had to be a way to find it. Mike was going to find Will. He was going to find him. He had to find him. He had to–
"AHHH, MIKE WHAT THE HELL!" Dustin shrieked, pointing at the deer standing in the road a few feet from the front of the car. Mike braced himself and slammed on the brakes as fast as he could, jolting his friends forward as they yelled profanities at him. The car skidded a few feet to the left, spinning slightly. When it stopped, Mike still has his hands on the wheel, breathing heavily.
"Sorry about that," he said, looking around to make sure his friends weren't injured. They only seemed shaken. "I guess I got lost in thought for a second, but we should get going. I-"
" Mike," Lucas said sternly. "Look, we all want to find Will just as much as you do, but seriously! You could've killed us! You have to calm down."
Mike scoffed. Clam down? He wasn't even that worked up, he was just trying his best to find his friend and save him from the Upside Down. Of course he was going fast and everything. And the near-accident had been a mistake, but it wouldn't happen again. They needed to get going, he didn't have time to argue with Lucas right now.
"A few minutes isn't going to change anything," Dustin added. "We've gotta approach this strategically. And smartly. We're not going out in the middle of a rainy night with no form of protection or supplies. That's not gonna help us find anything."
"Okay, fine!" Mike said, irritated. "We're close to my house now, so we can stop there. I've got some coats you can borrow if it really means that much. But we've gotta get going, I'll-"
"We're actually closest to Dustin's house," said Lucas. "And I'm driving, Mike. Please just sit in the back and... breathe or something. You're gonna explode if you keep up like this. We're going to find Will, trust me. I'm not worried about it." Dustin nodded in agreement to him, both boys waiting for Mike to accept.
Mike sighed, defeated, and went to the back of the car, switching spots with Lucas. He supposed maybe it would do him good to stop trying to move so fast, but it worried him too. The ride to Dustin's was too slow. He restrained from telling Lucas to speed up every five seconds, clenching his fists and distracting himself by looking out the window at the passing, dripping trees in the mist. It was beautifully terrifying outside, the perfect night for an evil monster of shadow to be lurking around in his best friend's body.
Once they were at Dustin's house, Mike's friends insisted he at least dry his hair off if anything. He argued that it would just get wet again, but was ultimately defeated, taking the towel he was offered.
Dustin handed everyone a thick rain jacket. "They're not super warm, but they'll work," he explained.
Lucas started putting his on. It was black with a silver logo reading across the top right. "Thank you, Dustin. Can't do much to save Will if we're all freezing to death."
"No kidding," said Dustin back to him. "If you need any coffee or anything, I can make some too. It's... it's pretty late. I don't know about you, but I'm super tried."
Lucas yawned as if suddenly realizing the time. He stretched up his arms. "Yeah, coffee would be good. Maybe we can take some to go, or-"
"I don't think we have time to make coffee," Mike interjected. If it really was late, they were losing time. "We should get going as soon as possible."
Dustin looked at Mike, slumping his shoulders in a disappointed stance. "Mike, he doesn't have a bomb timer on him or anything. I'm making you coffee." He didn't wait for Mike to argue, going into the kitchen.
Mike looked at Lucas, trying to gain some support for his concern. Lucas shrugged and followed Dustin, leaving Mike in the entry. He considered, for a second, running out the door and continuing on without them. He sighed, almost turning to leave and then stopping in his tracks, somewhat guilty about it. He was being ridiculous. Dustin was right, there wasn't a time limit to find Will. He could wait a few extra moments to benefit everyone's well-being while looking for him.
He walked into the kitchen. Dustin handed him a cup of coffee in a portable mug. "Thought you ran off," he said. "But here's your coffee. Not sure how you like it, so it's just black."
Mike didn't like black coffee, but he didn't care right now. He sipped some, wincing at its heat and the bitter flavor. He had to admit, he was tired. Coffee was going to help him stay awake for the search. Especially black coffee.
Lucas sipped his own cup. "So, where the hell do you guys think he is? Where would the Mind Flayer think to go?"
Mike shrugged, disheartened by all the possibilities. "He could be anywhere."
"Well, there's gotta be a reason to it, right?" Dustin leaned on the kitchen counter. "Somewhere that the Mind Flayer would think about. Something related to Will, maybe? What's a place that was really important to Will?"
Mike thought about all the places they went on their car ride that one night. Any of those places could have been a possible answer. The possibilities still seemed too many.
"I think he wants us to find him," said Lucas. "So he can kill us, so the location can't be too complicated. Someplace we'd think to look."
"The middle school?" tried Dustin. "I mean, that's where Will first got possessed, right? That could be it."
The middle school. Mike remembered that day they had been looking for Dustin's baby demogorgon. Mike had gone outside and found Will frozen on the field, unresponsive to any of his calls.
He nodded. "Yeah, that's gotta be it."
"Well, let's go, then," said Lucas, taking another drink of coffee from his cup.
The three friends went out to the car, a unanimous feeling of confidence shared between them. They were going to find their best friend if it was the last thing they did.