The four bikes ride smoothly across the concrete. The clinking of the bicycle chains in motion is the only sound that fills the streets of Hawkins. (Y/N) lifts her head upwards and glances at the starry sky, she takes a deep breath and the cool air fills her lungs making her throat freeze up.
The bikes veer from one side of the road to the other, the children make sure not to bump into each other and cause a crash. (Y/N) looks to her right and gulps, her heart skipping a beat as she passes the street she's supposed to take home. The boys are so lost in their routine that they don't realize (Y/N) hadn't taken her usual route. Lucas turns right into his driveway, "Good night, ladies," Lucas jokes and gives a small wave to his friends as he parts ways with them.
"Kiss your mom 'night for me," Dustin shoots back. Will glances over at (Y/N) with a sudden realization that she should already be on her way home.
"You missed your street," Will tells (Y/N) as he slows his bike down to match the pace of hers. She looks down at her hand clenched tightly around the handlebars, her grip is so tight that her knuckles have turned white.
She bites her lip, gives Will a crooked smile, and lets out a soft laugh.
"Um, yeah... I uh, I just decided to umm..." (Y/N) lets out another nervous laugh, "I just have a lot of energy. We were sitting down for a long time. So, I thought I'd ride with you guys for a little while to get some fresh air, if that's alright?" (Y/N) looks at Will and waits for a response. He is unsure of what she's feeling right now. She almost looks fearful. Like she's scared of something. Maybe she's acquired a new fear of the dark or riding home alone. She seemed a bit off that night but Will decided to blame it on the Sunday night blues. He isn't so sure that's the case anymore. Will is so captivated by his thoughts that he forgot to answer (Y/N). "Will?" She calls his name, snapping him out of his trance. "Is it alright if I ride along with you guys?" (Y/N) repeats.
"Of course, yeah!" Will shakes his head up and down rapidly.
"Hey! Race you guys back to my place? Winner gets a comic," Dustin is farther ahead of the two but close enough to hear their conversation.
Dustin is always up for some competition. So, he decided he'd propose one to bring some fun back to their bike ride.
"Any comic?" Will asks looking over at Dustin.
"Yeah," Dustin replies optimistically, ready to start racing down the road. Will exhales, stands up on his bike pedals, and speeds up. (Y/N) stays at the same pace. She doesn't like competition, she knows she'd lose so what was the point of trying? (Y/N) is also afraid she'd go too fast and wouldn't be able to keep up with her bike. Which would cause her to crash and hurt herself significantly.
"Hey!" Dustin yells as Will rides ahead of him, "Hey!" (Y/N) giggles at Dustin's anger towards a bold Will. "I didn't say 'go'!" Dustin yells angrily after Will. (Y/N) speeds up slightly to catch up to Will, the distance between them making her feel forlorn, she isn't sure why. "Get back here!" Dustin shouts as the three ride down a small hill. "I'm gonna kill you!"
Dustin is infuriated with his friend for starting the race too soon. (Y/N) loves the playful competition the boys always have. It usually makes them look ridiculous, which makes watching it even better.
"I'll take your X-Men 134!" Will shouts behind him as he passes Dustin's driveway. (Y/N) is enjoying the wind blowing her hair behind her as she rides at a speed she wouldn't usually dare to go.
"Son of a b*tch," Dustin curses coming to a stop and resting his arms on the bicycle's handlebars while catching his breath.
♥︎
(Y/N) and Will ride down the quiet street. The only sound other than the bikes are the crickets humming in the foliage. There is a comfortable silence between the two. The children's only focuses are on the steady pushes of their feet on the bike pedals and the pace of their breathing.
Suddenly, the silence became unbearable for (Y/N). "You did the right thing," (Y/N) blurts out into the silence.
"Hm?" Will hums, confused by what she means.
(Y/N) realizes where Will's confusion comes from, so she clarifies her statement, "Telling Mike the truth about your roll."
"Oh, yeah," Will now knows what (Y/N) was referring to, "I mean, cheating isn't right." Will smiles gallantly, knowing that he impressed (Y/N) with his honesty. "I can't really lie," Will laughs bashfully, "I always end up feeling guilty."
"I don't like lying either," (Y/N) frowns and diverts her eyes away from Will. She wants to tell him the truth. If she wants to tell anyone it's Will, he's been her best friend for a long time and she trusts him the most out of anyone in the world.
The children are so absorbed in the moment that (Y/N) doesn't notice the chain link fence with signs reading "Hawkins National Laboratory U.S. Department Of Energy" and "Restricted Area: No Trespassing U.S. Government Property" across them. This was the way Will usually went home, however (Y/N) had always tried to avoid it when riding to his house. It creeped her out.
(Y/N) swallows, her throat becoming dry. She takes a deep breath. Her heart rate is increasing and her eyes are becoming glassy, tears enter and blur her vision. She is going to tell him. Her lips part and she breathes in slowly getting ready for the emotional dam to break, the words are nearly pouring out.
She is about to reveal her largest and most life changing secret when the lights on both of the kids' bicycles start blinking. "Hm?" (Y/N) raises an eyebrow, all of her previous thoughts go down the drain as her and Will examine the lights. "That was-" Her sentence comes to a stop as she looks up. The two gasp at the creature in front of them. The fear makes both the children's bodies go numb.
They both steer off toward the left and their bicycle pedals interlock so that they can no longer control the bikes. The bicycles roll down a hill, into the forest, and tip over. Will tumbles off, landing on his stomach, his bicycle's wheel is spinning rapidly in the air.
(Y/N) falls off to the side. Her ankle is sandwiched between the two bikes. The pedals dig into her skin.
Will collects his thoughts, his head spinning slightly. He gets up slowly turning his head towards the road he had just rolled off and then to his friend, who is struggling with a pained expression on her face. Will crawls over to the bikes and examines the problem at hand. (Y/N) is wincing and trying to pull the pedals apart. Just as Will takes the pedal of his bike a deep growl can be heard from above.
"Please, hurry," (Y/N) pleads, her voice cracks, causing Will's heart to sink. He doesn't want to move the pedal, if he does he'll break the skin on (Y/N)'s leg.
The growling moves closer. (Y/N)'s eyes meet Will's, giving him permission to do what he has to. So, he closes his eyes and with all his strength tugs on the pedals. (Y/N) lets out a wounded yelp and the pedals disconnect from each other. She scrambles up, Will taking her arm and pulling her along with him. Her leg stings as she runs, but her life is in jeopardy, she doesn't have time to be sensitive.
♥︎
The two pant as they run through the thick fog in the forest. They round a bend. Will's house is in sight. A few terrified whimpers escape from their lips as they lose their breath. Both of the children's legs feel like Jell-O and their throats sting from the cold air entering in through their mouths. Their hands are clasped together, so that (Y/N) doesn't fall behind. There are a few streaks of blood on (Y/N)'s leg from the wound she had gotten caused by the bicycle pedals. She barely notices the feeling of the blood dripping down her leg.
(Y/N) and Will run to the wooden door of the Byer's home and Will turns the knob quickly. He swings the door open, pulls (Y/N) inside, and slams the door shut. He secures the door chain while his dog, Chester, barks at the two as they rush in. He must sense that there is something wrong.
"Oh, God," (Y/N) chokes out as she and Will run further into the house still holding each other's hands tightly, that being the only security they have at the moment.
"Mom?" Will calls out, "Jonathan?" Will peeks into a bedroom. No one answers. The house is eerily quiet except for the barking dog. "Mom!" Will shouts again hoping for someone to answer him. He speeds up, searching the rooms desperately for life. There is no luck. Will and (Y/N) run out of the hallway, their adrenaline higher than it's ever been before. They both race to a window in the front of the house and lift up the blinds. The children let go of the comfort of each other's hands to look through the darkness outside of the window. There are clotheslines with the Byer's laundry drying in front of the house. Just as it looks like the coast is clear, a shadowy, dark silhouette comes into sight from behind the fog. The children's stomachs drop and (Y/N) lets out a gasp while tears of petrification start to fill her eyes. Just as Will sees the figure he, once again, grabs the hand of his friend and makes a run for the phone.
His hand quickly shoots out for the yellow phone, clutching it in one hand and letting go of (Y/N)'s with his other, so that he can dial 911.
(Y/N) is trying her best to keep it together. She's tired of running. She's tired of being scared. She's just tired.
The phone rings. Both (Y/N) and Will's breathing is laboured. The phone's dial tone comes to a stop. "Hello?" Will asks. No voice can be heard from the other side of the phone, just static. "Hello?" Will repeats, his tone more frantic. A screech can be heard from the other end of the phone.
"Who is it, Will?" (Y/N) questions with a hushed, frail tone. Will doesn't respond. He just peers around the wall, the phone is still being tightly gripped in his hand and is placed up to his ear. (Y/N) gets close to her friend. She wraps her hands around his arm and peeks around the corner. They stare at the door as a shadow passes the pebbled window, Will's dog whimpers.
Then, the chain lock starts to slide open. Will drops the phone as the lock comes completely undone and the children start to sprint again.
They burst out the back door and dash through the backyard towards a wooden shed. They stumble into the shed and slam the door closed behind them. Both kids are panting. Will grabs a rifle from the wall and drops it on the table. (Y/N) stares in awe. She doesn't feel safe around guns. And she especially doesn't feel safe when a kid her age has one in their possession.
Will retrieves a box of bullets and dumps some out onto the table. His hands quiver as he tries to load the ammo into a magazine. (Y/N) looks around at the walls and starts to gasp for air as she realizes how close that thing could be. She doesn't want to freak out, not now. She wants to be useful, but in a crisis, she is just as tactical as a ragdoll, maybe even more of a burden than just plain useless.
Will inserts the magazine into the rifle shakily and it clicks letting the children know it is ready to be fired. Will picks the gun up and cocks it while positioning it for the door.
"Get behind me," Will orders (Y/N) hesitantly. He isn't sure if he can protect her. He definitely isn't the strongest person he knows, the only ones more fragile than him would probably be (Y/N) and Mike's little sister, Holly.
(Y/N) hovers behind Will, her breath on the back of his neck is making his heart beat even faster than it already is.
Both children are whimpering as they take in air, worrying that any breath could be their last. Their eyes are glazed over in fear.
A low, dreadful growl echos from behind them. They feel as if their hearts had beat right out of their chests and run out of the shed, out of Will's house, and out of Hawkins.
The children start to turn around slowly, filled with dread. They know this could be the end. (Y/N) has a firm grip on Will's arm, almost certain that they could be fused together.
Finally, turning around completely the two look up in horror at the figure in front of them. Their wide eyes gazing upwards. Will mouths, "Please," as he and (Y/N) tremble in terror. The lightbulb above them buzzes with an ear piercing screech and gets brighter and brighter.
Suddenly, the screeching stops. The panting and trembling and growling stops. The lightbulb returns to normal. The night regains it's peaceful silence. The shed is empty. No monster or children in sight.
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Hello!! I hope that you're enjoying the story so far! It got quite interesting didn't it ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Have a great week♥ ~WoodCeiling
*THE CHARACTERS, THEME, AND SOME DIALOGUE BELONG TO STRANGER THINGS AND THE DUFFER BROTHERS*