SO THE WEIRDO WASN'T LYING !
☀︎
WILL BYERS HAD BEEN FOUND DEAD IN THE WATER AT THE QUARRY. This news had not gone well with anyone. Everyone had their own reactions to the news, some unable to believe the truth, some frozen in emotion, and those that couldn't hold it together.
It had all felt unreal to Alex Henderson. She hadn't been certain if her lack of reaction had been from the overwhelming emotion or that she had refused to believe that as the truth. Will Byers was a shy boy that was always kind, even when his best friends would go around the group, attempting to come up with the best insult for Alex. Though she had never minded the boys and their antics, Will always stood out with his good heart.
School had felt as if it had only dragged on. Jonathan had been absent for the day which had been understandable but once again Barb had been missing out. Something had seemed to be occupying Nancy's mind as she had been distant from everyone.
After school, Alex had stuck to her word on listening to Mike and Dustin on heading straight to the Wheelers as soon as she got out. Barely even able to get her jacket on as she rushed out of the school, she collided right into Steve as he came out from an alley that he had just spoken to Nancy in.
Sighing loudly, he slapped his hands against his jeans in frustration. "Yeah, you won't believe this. Cops are gonna question us about the party cause of Nance."
Confused, Alex just dropped her bag down to her feet as he had spoken and threw on her jacket.
"She's freaking out about Barb, who, by the way, is still a no show. Apparently, she went to my house when I wasn't even there and is talking crazy about some dude."
Picking up her bag, Alex had patted his chest lightly with a small, somewhat reassuring smile and went to walk away. There was no use in listening to Steve's complaints on Nancy when she had felt there were much more problems at hand. However, he grabbed her arm just as she pulled her hand away from his chest and put her to a complete stop.
"So, what? You can't believe me right now either?"
"I gotta go find Dustin and Lucas. They're, uh, hanging out at my house after school and Dustin doesn't have the key..." Pausing, she hoped her lie was good enough. She hated doing it, but the more that Steve had been left in the dark about the young girl secretly living in the Wheeler's basement, the better. "They need me right now," she whispered. "They were there when the cops pulled out Will's body. I mean, I had to practically hold Dustin all night to get him to feel good enough to even go to school today."
"Right," he breathed out releasing her arm. "You know, if you wanted, I could totally pick you guys all up and head to the movies or something. That's how I distract myself."
"That's actually really cool of you, but we can't. My mom wants us home since she's sort of freaking out about everything."
Steve nodded his head in understanding as she had spoken. The movies and time spent with the Hendersons and Lucas Sinclair had felt like a perfect distraction for himself. It just wasn't enough for Alex when Mike had already been so eager to see them all after school.
She still had felt bad to leave him on his own. Looking him over as he focused in on the ground beneath them, she quickly wrapped her arms around him. Before he could have a chance to put his arms around her, she had pulled away, already rushing off towards the bike rack. Giving a simple wave to her back, he exhaled through his nose in disappointment.
『••☀︎••』
AT THE WHEELER'S THE FIVE HAD SAT IN A CIRCLE ON THE FLOOR. Unaware to them all, they had left a single spot open, a spot that should've been filled in by Will Byers. Alex had sat right between her brother and Eleven, who had been wearing Mike's clothes as well as Alex's jacket she had given her on that rainy day they had found her.
The night before, Eleven had shown Mike that somehow and somewhere, Will Byers was still alive. Now today, she had been tampering with his radio, wanting to show the rest of the truth as he had explained several times that he knows he had heard his voice.
"So, Eleven has powers?" Alex looked to the boys for confirmation. Even though she has yet to see it herself, Dustin told her in a lot of detail how it all went down the day she slammed the door shut. Her eyes shifted over to the girl curiously. In response, Eleven had managed to glance up from the radio long enough to flash Alex a smile before getting back to work.
"Totally. It's just like the X-Men," Mike said in awe as he watched her work away with his radio. Soon the radio started to pick up sounds of whimpering, going in and out the more Eleven tried to make the signal stronger.
"We keep losing the signal, but you heard it, right?" Mike looked to the rest of the group, wanting more than anything for them to believe Will Byers was alive but still in deep trouble.
"Yeah... I heard a baby. You obviously tapped into a baby monitor. It's probably the Blackburn's next door," Lucas said harshly. He wanted to have faith like Mike but there just wasn't enough evidence to say Will was alive. Especially after they had seen his body pulled from the water, something he knew would haunt him for the rest of his life.
"Uh, did that sound like a baby to you? What do you think, Alex?"
All the boys' eyes fell onto her, awaiting an answer. Her nerves grew with all the eyes on her, knowing that her opinion would most likely spike the fight further. "I-I don't know. It sounds like Will but it could also be a baby whimpering. If he could talk or sing again like you said... then yeah, I'd agree he's alive."
"Are you guys actually believing this crap?" Lucas sighed.
"I don't know, I mean... Do you remember when Will fell off his bike and broke his finger? He sounded a lot like that," Dustin said quietly, not wanting to make either Mike or Lucas mad. It already felt that he had lost too much to lose another best friend.
"Did you guys not see what I saw? They pulled Will's body out of the water! He's dead!"
"There's a lot weirder things happening. I wouldn't be surprised if Will is alive. Swear you won't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you," she looked at all the boys in all seriousness. The night of Steve's party had been in the back of her mind, but it was never forgotten. The thought of the figure in the woods had been unsettling, causing goosebumps to come to her arms whenever she had thought of it.
"I saw something in the woods. I was leaving Steve's house and there was this... clicking and kind of like a growling.... then I saw something standing in the woods. I don't think it had a face..." her voice trailed off as she noticed Lucas raising a suspicious look her way. "I was probably seeing things though, right?" She felt that if anyone would mock her for what she had seen, it would be him. But the others all glanced around in worry, even Eleven had stopped playing with the radio to watch Alex.
"Demogorgon," Mike whispered.
"What? That thing from your game?"
"Eleven said Will was hiding from a monster... Maybe she wasn't lying, Lucas." Mike shot him a glare instantly.
"Okay, so what if the weirdo isn't lying? We'd be screwed either way!" Lucas yelled.
Snapping his fingers in front of them, Mike's eyes were wide with excitement and a bright idea. "We need to get El to a stronger radio. Maybe then she can channel Will."
"Mr. Clarke's Heathkit ham shack," Dustin grinned but both Eleven and Alex had no idea why the boys were so excited now. Jumping up from his spot, Mike had pointed around the group giving out clear instructions to the group on what to do and how to get Eleven ready to face the public.
Mike had figured that he would take the duties of helping Eleven with make up and brought her straight up to Nancy's room. The other three had done as Mike said and searched through the Wheeler's boxes in the basement for any of Nancy's old clothes.
The moment that Dustin had placed a wig over his curls, the sound of the front door closing upstairs had them all pause in fear. From upstairs, Nancy had called out Mike's name which had only filled Dustin with relief.
"Why the hell are you smiling? Mike's in her room with the weirdo!" Lucas whispered harshly.
"Oh, right," he whispered. Ripping the wig off, he tossed it towards Lucas as he began shoving Alex towards the stairs. "You get her the hell out of here. Go do whatever you girls do. Just keep your mouth shut or you put the party in jeopardy."
Forcing the pushing to a stop, she grabbed the railing and spun around towards Dustin. "But I want to come with you guys."
"We'll tell you all about it! Please, Alex!"
Groaning, she headed up the stairs in disappointment. Nancy had heard the sounds of footsteps coming up from the basement and rushed her way over with tape and a torn-up picture in hand. Wide eyed, she had been startled by the appearance of Alex when she at least expected her brother. "Alex, what are you doing here?"
Coming up with a quick excuse, she managed a smile. "Came to check in on Mike. See how he's doing after everything."
"That's nice," she whispered. A part of her heart had sunk at the idea. Nancy had been focused more on the disappearance of Barb than anything else that she hadn't considered how Mike had been feeling losing a best friend. She wasn't even sure the last time she had given him a hug. And she knew that Alex most likely gave him one the moment she had seen him. Shaking her head to pull her from those thoughts, she looked down at her full hands. "Do you mind helping me out?"
With Alex's approval to help, the two girls had made their way into the kitchen and laid out the picture. The voices of Lucas and Dustin had come from the basement and there was no sign that Mike and Eleven were anywhere upstairs.
As they had pieced together the picture with Alex taping as they had gone, Nancy let out a laugh when she was anything but happy. "I talked to the cops today about Barb."
"Really? That's great. I heard Steve was an ass about it though."
"He was afraid I'd get him in trouble. As if that's more important than Barb." Nancy shook her head in disapproval, leaning over to tape two pieces together. As she laid down the piece of tape, she snatched up the picture, her eyes darting around it curiously. Instantly, she placed it right in front of Alex's face. "Do you see anything wrong with this picture?" Before she had a chance to answer, Nancy continued. "There's something behind Barb. I just... I went back to Steve's house and I saw something in the woods. I don't think it had a face but that's insane, right? Steve thinks that's crazy."
Alex's stomach twisted into knots as she brought the picture closer to her face. Everything that the boys had learned with Eleven and the thing she had seen in the woods herself had been more than unsettling, especially with Nancy becoming aware of these horrors. "I don't know, Nance. It could be a perspective distortion. We could ask Jonathan? He's out looking at caskets for Will's funeral."
"You think it wouldn't freak him out? I'm actually surprised you aren't."
Alex handed back over the picture with a forced smile that Nancy didn't seem to notice. "Well, until we know what it really is, why freak?"
Nancy smiled up at Alex for a moment before letting out a sigh, "We should go now then. Sooner we figure this out the better. Maybe then we can find Barb."
Nancy had grabbed her bag off the counter, leaving Alex to grab the picture to bring with them. It wasn't what she had planned for the day, but it was another step closer to understanding what had been going on in Hawkins. If anything, Alex believed she was able to help the boys in her own way, all it took was convincing Jonathan Byers to help the two girls out.