DUSTIN LET OUT a shaky breath as he took one crawl forward, releasing the strong magnetic hold that had been placed on him was gone. Tears blurred his vision as he peered up towards the front of the room, his entire heart breaking into two as he saw nothing there.
"No," Dustin spoke at first, quietly. Then, the panic inside him set off, causing him to scramble to his feet. "No no no no no no!" He screeched, bolting to the front of the classroom. He gasped as bricks fell into a cluttered pile on the floor, the damage still evident on the wall.
"Jasper!" He cried, placing his hands on the doorway as he peeked out into the hallway hopefully. He was only met by the dark puddles of blood surrounding several bodies. "No! Jas! Jasper! Please!"
Mike got to his feet as well, his own tears cascading down his freckled cheeks. His heart broke into shattered pieces as conflict tore at his skin. All this time he had been worried about losing El, and he never realized he would be losing his redheaded best friend too.
All three boys began shouting her name now. "Jasper! Jas!" They all cupped their hands around the mouths, screaming past the point of soreness in their throat. Even tears fell down the dark cheeks that belonged to Lucas.
They had lost Jasper. The red haired, feisty girl who was really the one who held the party together. She was fearless, and she never seemed to take herself too seriously. Other than El, she was the only girl that had ever felt affection and non-judgement for the boys. And now they've lost her.
Dustin didn't bother facing Mike and Lucas as he fled from the room. His legs were blindly taking him places he didn't know. He continued running until the cool air of the night whipped against his face. Ambulance sirens wailed in his ears as vehicles pulled into the school. Yellow and red lights blinded him, but he didn't bother looking away.
"Dusty?" A worried voice cried. His mother dashed over to him, throwing both her arms around him. "God, I was so worried."
Dustin weakly hugged her back, trying not to notice the tears leaving a large stain on her tan jacket. He pulled away, tipping his head down to let the brim of his hat hide his tears.
"Dustin!" Another voice called. Ruby Marrow bolted forward, crouching down to look up into his eyes. Panic sparked in their hazel color, causing her to grab both of the boy's forearms. "Where is she?" She questioned.
Dustin was thankful she had asked it the way she did. Because if he heard her name again, he might not have been able to pull himself together. "She's gone," he murmured at least, his voice broken from the pain.
"What?" Ruby gasped, tears immediately springing in her eyes. "No, she can't be," the girl brushed her hair back in fear and grief. "Dustin, where is she?"
"I said she's gone!" He yelled, slamming both his hands on her arms and squeezing them angrily. "Probably dead!"
Another figure stood in front of the two, looking at the Henderson boy with a ghostly look of shock. Jim Hopper removed the hat from his head, letting it slip through his fingers and fall onto the pavement. "She's gone?"
Dustin looked away from the Marrow sibling, who was now fighting back her own merciless sobs. Every muscle in his body ached with pain as he forced himself to nod his head at the chief. "Her and El...they're gone."
Hopper glanced at his hands, grief piercing his heart as he noticed the blue band on his wrist. The same one that belonged to his other daughter, Sarah. The bracelet he had planned on giving to Jasper. Now he had lost the both of them, and the only family he had left.
"I'm really sorry, kid," Hopper apologized, trying to distract himself from the remorse surging through his own chest. "I know she was your friend."
"Not just my friend! My best friend!" Dustin wailed, more tears welling up in his eyes. He stared at the chief as if it was painful to just look at him. "I told her I would never lose her. I told her I wouldn't let anything happen to her. And then I just let her slip out of my fingers like an idiot."
Dustin shook his head, blindly moving in reaction to the immense waves of pain rippling through him. His feet pounded on the pebbled road, marching towards his bike. He stopped, freezing when he saw her bike laying on top of his.
Slowly, he crouched down to hover over the two bikes. With as much care as he could, he slid her bike off of his and gently placed it on the ground, as if it was an injured animal. As if it was her.
Then, torn by the overpowering emotions conquering his heart, he leapt onto his bike. He pedaled away furiously, farther and farther away from the wretched place he lost her.
One a.m. had just hit as everyone sat utterly silent in the hospital an hour later. Mike leaned forward in his seat, his leg rocking up and down anxiously. Lucas had finally fallen asleep, his head resting against the glass pane window. Drool pooled in his open mouth as he slept with loud snores.
Ruby and Hopper both kept their weary eyes on the door, expecting four people to walk in.
The first two being the obvious: Joyce or Jonathan, coming to announce that Will was awake. Mike would wake up Lucas, and the two boys would run into the room with sheer excitement to see their friend.
The third person they both wanted to see was Dustin Henderson. He had run away tonight, hopping on his bike and disappearing. His mother was a frantic mess as she continued wondering where her broken-hearted son had run off to.
The fourth person was one neither Hopper nor Ruby knew would walk through that door. But there was still a glimmer of hope that shined in their chests. They wanted more than anything for the fearless redhead to walk through the door.
Hopper felt like a piece of his heart had been ripped out when Dustin told him she was gone. His only daughter left, his only family, and he had promised he would be there for her. Now she was nothing but a ghost of memories to them, probably dead.
El would be missed too, but she hadn't been here long enough to see. To see how much life and joy Jasper brought to her friends and family. No one knew just how much light she carried with her everyday until she was gone, leaving them all stumbling in the dark.
"It'll be easy," Ruby had murmured just an hour before, pulling the same emotionless face Jasper had the night the fake body was found. The same night Dustin broke her heart before mending it again the next day. "We'll just say she moved away to go live with Paul. Everyone will think she just left because she couldn't handle the stuff with Will."
Hopper glanced at the brunette. She held the same brave qualities Jasper did, but she wasn't as nearly as feisty. Jasper was unbelievably strong for her age, and she seemed like a walking flame of courage.
There was no doubt in anyone's mind that she was the chief's daughter. The resemblance was too obvious to ignore.
The door finally opened, but it was not a redhead or curly-haired boy with a toothless smile. Jonathan Byers walked in, giving Mike a little nod of his head.
"Lucas, come on!" Mike shook his friend urgently. "He's up! Will is up!"
Mike and Lucas followed Jonathan in the room, screaming his name once they laid their eyes on their long lost best friend all over again. "Byers!" Lucas cheered as both boys wrapped their arms around him for a hug.
"You won't believe what happened while you were gone," Lucas grinned, pulling away.
"Yeah, we had a funeral for you," Mike smiled. "Jennifer Hayes was crying!"
"Troy peed himself," Lucas added enthusiastically.
"What?" Will gasped in shock, a smile spreading on his innocent face.
"In front of the whole school!" Mike continued from excitement.
Will opened his mouth again to speak, cut off by a spasm of coughs. The sound of it worried the two boys, causing Mike to place a hand on his friend's arm. "You okay?"
"It got me," he shot the two boys a somber look. "The Demogorgon."
"We know," Mike mumbled sadly. "It's okay. It's dead."
Will's eyebrows pressed together as he attempted to sit up and gaze past Mike and Lucas. "Where's Dustin and Jasper?" He asked, his brown eyes settling on his friends.
The mention of her name sprung fresh pain in everyone's hearts. Mike struggled with the right words, while Lucas glanced awkwardly at the ground. How do you tell your friend that one of your party members is gone?
"She sacrificed herself," a new voice spoke. Dustin strolled into the hospital room calmly, his skin glistening from old tears. A fake smile pulled tightly on his face, the upward curve of his lips feeling unnatural. "She saved us. She killed the Demogorgon. But she's gone now."
Mike and Lucas held their gazes on Dustin, concerned for their usually cheery friend. They had never seen Dustin in such a dark state as he was in.
"Yeah, along with a new friend we made," Mike continued slowly, turning back to Will. "Her name was Eleven."
"Eleven? Like the number?" He questioned in bewilderment.
"We call her El for short," Lucas interjected.
"She has superpowers," Dustin chuckled, trying his best to put on a brave face for the boy. Pretending like his entire world wasn't falling apart right in front of him was entirely too difficult. "Jasper too. She controls time."
"Jasper? She has powers?" Will leaned back in his bed, sighing in amazement. "No wonder she was acting so weird that night. She must've been messing with time!"
Mike and Lucas continued telling the extravagant story of their week, using vibrant details. Dustin just shoved his hands further into his pockets, drowning out their voices. He couldn't stop losing himself to his thoughts.
I love you, Dustin Henderson. Her words repeated on a constant loop in his brain. She had seemed so sure of it too. He never thought a girl could love him and all his imperfections. But Jasper loved him unconditionally. She always did.
He wasn't sure how he could let life go on. Whatever path life had for him next, it almost seemed impossible to take without Jasper by his side. Agony rippled through him again as his eyes caught side of a redheaded nurse walking down the hall. Everything he saw was just another painful reminder.
All he could do was long for the day he may possibly see her again. The day he will be able to hold her, and finally tell her that he loved her too.
• • •
Hopper lit a cigarette, placing it between his lips. Snow crunched underneath his boots as he held the huge container of Christmas dinner leftovers in his bulky hand. The white substance fell from the sky softly, bringing Hawkins in for a White Christmas.
No one was truly happy that day.
Not even the boys playing Dungeons and Dragons in the basement. Dustin had barely spoken a word, fiddling with his hands most of the time. He couldn't get the girl he loved out of his head.
Mike would occasionally glance back at the fort he had built for El a month ago when she was there. All he wanted was to see El sitting there again.
Hopper continued trudging forward in the shallow snow, entering further into the woods. The chest he had placed in underneath a tree with bark decaying on its side was still there. Snow covered its top, falling off in a powder of white as he lifted it.
Hopper placed a small package of eggos in the chest first. His heart ached as he stared down at the container filled mostly with roast turkey. "Ruby said the turkey was always your favorite at Christmas dinner," he remarked, a bittersweet smile on his face.
His frigid hands placed the food inside before gently lowering the top of the chest on again. He got to his feet, standing there for another moment.
"Merry Christmas, Jasper," he tipped the brim of his hat forward in a gentleman-like manner, nodding at the sky. "Come home soon."
Something inside him knew that both girls were alive. Perhaps not safe, but he had been in the upside down long enough to know. They weren't dead, not like most of the others believed they were to be.
He still had hope that the only family he had left was alive, and he was going to hold onto that hope even if it killed him.
And with that, he dropped his cigarette in the snow, letting it curl into blackness amongst the cold. But Hopper didn't leave with everything.
His heart stayed right in that chest, waiting for his daughter to come home to him.
End of Part One