MIKE POV
"Will was our best friend. Sorry... is our best friend. I mean he's probably fine, right? He probably just got lost in the woods somewhere... We can't just leave him out there, though. I mean, we have to look for him!"
The guys and I were all in my basement. Dustin and I watched as Lucas paced around the basement, ranting about everything going on with Will and how we should be allowed to help look for him. We all agreed, but our parents had us pretty much on lockdown. In fact, the only way they could come over was because their parents dropped them off.
"Well I think we should go look for him. I mean if something's happened to Will we deserve to know. Right? And if anything he'd want us to find him, right?"
"Lucas shut up!" they both looked at me, a look of confusion and worry painted on their faces, "I don't need to be convinced anymore, I'm in. Alright, we just... have to not get caught."
"Yeah, me too," Dustin chimed in. "I'm in."
The two boys smiled as we came up with a plan. They would have their parents to come pick them up then they'd get supplies and sneak back here.
"Great. We have a plan, now we go save Will," Lucas said as we started toward the stairs.
"Wait!" Dustin exclaimed. "What about y/n?"
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Y/N POV
"Will? Will!"
I had made it to Mirkwood and started to bike up the outskirts of the woods. I had gotten dark pretty fast, so I had to turn on my bike light. I got tired of pedaling back and forth and decided to go into the woods. I walked my bike around, making sure to steer my light in the direction I was walking.
"Hello?" I yelled. "Will where are you? Will?"
I searched around for a while until it was almost pitched black out. I knew my parent had figured out I was gone by now, whether Troy snitched or not, but I couldn't give up on Will. Not when I was the only one who knew what really might've happened to him.
"Will Byers? Will Byers, you out there?"
"Y/n! Hello y/n, do you copy?"
I heard a muffled voice from inside my duffel bag, which sat in the basket on the back of my bike. I set my bike against a nearby tree and dropped my bag to the ground. I shuffled around the stuff in my bag until I found my walkie-talkie.
"H-hello? Will?"
"Y/n! Guys, we've got them," Dustin screamed to the others, "okay so listen, we decided to go out and look for Will, but we'd have to seek out; our parents pretty much have us in prison until this is all over."
"Okay?" I waited for him to go on.
"So do you wanna come with us, to look for Will on Mirkwood?"
"Um..."
I mentally debated on whether or not to tell them. I decided against lying to them. I had done that enough already.
"Uh, guys... I'm sorta kinda already out here."
It was silent for a moment on their end, but eventually Dustin said, "Great! That's great, we'll meet you at the end of the road then?"
I nodded, but then realized they couldn't see me.
"Um, yeah. Meet at the end of the road. Got it!"
"We'll be there in about fifteen minutes, okay?"
"Okay."
I closed my antenna and put my walkie back in my bag. I still felt bad about lying to the guys. I felt bad about Will. I just felt bad in general. Will had only been missing for one day and there were already posters being made and search parties being formed. I couldn't help but think that this was my fault. Which is exactly why I wanted to find him and bring him home; why I continued to search in the woods instead of head to the end of the road.
A sudden noise broke me out of my daze. It sounded like it came from an animal, but I didn't see anything. I ignored it and got back to my bike as I continued my search. About five minutes later, I heard the same noise again along with some leaves rustling.
"Hello?" I whispered yelled, "is somebody there?"
No one answered though. I took out my pocket watch, the time read 11:36. I was getting a bit tired, but I did not want to give up. I kept going until I stumbled upon something rather odd. It was a ditch. In the ditch was a hole, one that looked like a small cave could have been shoveled out, but it wasn't created from digging. There was a web of sticky-looking goo covering the entrance, from which came a dark red glow.
I walked closer to it to get a better look, but then something all too familiar happened. I heard the growling noise again. The one that came from the monster. I looked over and saw how close it was.
"Oh shit," I whispered as I got on my bike as quick as I could.
I started to pedal as hard as I could, making my way across the ditch. I could hear the creature running after me as I biked. My mind was no long on Will Byers, no. I was now busy trying to stay alive, knowing, however, that whatever happened to Will, was about to happen to me.
The monster chased me for four minutes before it disappeared. I had managed to bike back up the gentle slope of the ditch. I sighed as I realized that I was now lost. Both my map and walkie-talkie were still in my bag, which I sat securely in the basket behind me. But I didn't want to stop, I couldn't stop. Not for anything. I kept straight, hoping that it would get my out of these woods eventually, when a saw a tree that came out of nowhere. I was pedaling to fast to slow down and ran right into the tree, sending me and my belongings tumbling down into the ditch.
I figured I was unconscious for a minute or two. When I woke up, I grabbed my bike and bag, making sure everything was still in there. I sighed and sat back down, taking out a water and two granola bars, devouring them nearly whole.
But then it came... again.
The sound of the monster creature. It was non-stop, getting closer and closer. I immediately put my stuff away and hauled it over to the wall of the ditch, trying my best to hide flat against the Earth.
But it found me.
I thought that if I played dead, then it would leave me alone. Though, like everything else, I was wrong. I felt it drag me by the strap of my overalls from my spot against the ground. It was taking me somewhere.
I held onto my bag tightly. I had tangled my feet into the front of my bike, so it was being dragged along with me. The monster made it's growling noise again. As carefully as I could, I pulled out my pocket watch and checked the time: 12:00.
Damn it.
I shut my eyes tightly, unsure if I even wanted to know where it was taking me. The creature picked up the pace a bit as it dragged me, now growling with completely furry. I saw a light approach from behind my eyelids and began to panic. My eyes shot open and I tried wiggling away from the creature's grasp.
Bad idea.
It snatched me up, bike and all, towards it's face, which was probably a good nine feet high off the ground, and bared its endless rows of sharp, deadly teeth at me. I panicked even more now trying to untangle my legs from my bike and get loose. Through my struggle, my legs jerked up, sending the bike flying. Unfortunately for me, gravity still works and it fell back down hitting me on the head.
The monster continued to drag me, and my bike, and through my half-consciousness, I saw the familiar red glow grow brighter.
I felt the stickiness of the web gunk from earlier. I was being pulled through the dark, glowing tunnel. I heard the monster growl shrilly one last time before it dropped me. I watched as it left, slowly disappearing behind the trees. I let out a relived sigh, wondering why the monster didn't eat me. I lifted my head slightly, looking around to see where I was. My head was spinning and all I could feel was dizzy. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was the bright light of red lightning flash across the sky.