"Will Byers' and (Y/N) (L/N)'s deaths are unimaginable tragedies," Principal Coleman stands in front of a gymnasium packed with students. He has written a eulogy and wants to commemorate the young ones who have 'passed'. "Will was an exceptional student and (Y/N) was one of the kindest children I've ever met. Both were wonderful friends to all of us. It's important to express the hole their losses will leave in our community," The students stare at the principal, some holding apathetic expressions and some holding expressions of discomfort because this might be their first reminder that death is the reality and it can fall tragically upon anyone. "I'd like to introduce you to Sandy Sloane. She's a local grief counselor from the church over in Jonesboro."
The Party sits in the bleachers, tuning out Mr. Coleman's speech because they know it's entirely untrue. Eleven is next to them, intrigued by everyone around her, she wears a light blonde wig and Nancy's old pink dress. She's under the alias of Mike's cousin, or was that second cousin? Eleanor from Sweden.
The boys planned to sneak into the Hawkins AV Club room whilst the other students were at the assembly, but instead their plans were foiled by a lingering Mr. Clarke who dragged them to this impractical assembly, seeing that their friends are actually alive. They could be using this time to prove that (Y/N) and Will are trapped somewhere, but instead they're stuck listening to a gushy speech made by their principal.
The boys peer around at the mourners. "Look at these fakers," Mike whispers to Lucas.
"They probably didn't even know their names 'til today," Lucas responds, sharing Mike's cynicism. The Party's attention travels over to snickering heard nearby. They aren't the slightest bit surprised to see who the giggles belong to.
"Who is interested in this? This is so stupid," Troy whispers to James, who wears a large, stupid grin. Troy makes a dumb face and in an even dumber voice mocks the principal, "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah," This earns more laughter from his cackling sidekick, "Oh, he was such a great student. She was so nice. Oh, they're going to leave a hole in the community," The two continue to snicker. Mike glares at them. He feels his blood boil and his jaw becomes tight. Eleven leans over and looks at the boys, "Mouth-breather," Mike is confused for a second but then turns to look at Eleven, proud that she remembers the phrase he'd taught her. However, the the anger rising in him isn't interupted and he turns his bitter gaze back towards the bullies. This time they've gone too far.
♥︎
The bell rings and all the students unload off of the bleachers and head for the door. Mike is focused on his target as he makes his way through the crowd. "Hey! Hey!" He yells trying to get the attention of the two bullies ahead of him, "Hey, Troy!" Mike persists, "Hey, Troy!" Finally, the boys seem to hear Mike and they stop walking. They slowly turn to face the angry Party. Students move around the two groups and continue on their way out the door to class.
"You...you think this is funny?" Mike asks, clearly irritated.
"What'd you say, Wheeler?" Troy is not used to his victims speaking back to him.
"I saw you guys laughing over there," Mike points out, trying to get the two to realize what they did was sick and insensitive, "And I think that's a real messed up thing to do," Obviously, these mouth-breathers are never going to own up to their wrongdoings.
"Didn't you listen to the counselor, Wheeler?" James shoots back at the irate boy, "Grief shows itself in funny ways," Remaining students become interested in the shouting and begin to gather around the kids.
Troy decides to add his cruel twist onto the conversation, "Besides, what's there to be sad about, anyway?" Dustin and Lucas become even more provoked as Troy starts insulting their "dead" friends. "Will's in fairyland now, right? Flying around with all the other little fairies. All happy and gay!" Troy dances around and sings like a fairy. Mike clenches his jaw and balls his hands into fists. His heart rate rises and he feels heat burn into his cheeks. He's clearly outraged by the blatant disrespect. "And let's not forget about the ghost. I guess now, she really is where she belongs," James imitates a ghost while Dustin shakes his head and Lucas crosses his arms, getting even more agitated. The bullies take a second to laugh at their own joke before turning around and walking away from the group.
Eleven watches a furious Mike as Troy and James make it a little further away from them. She fully expects Mike to do something rash. The anger can be seen boiling over inside of him before he strides forward and uses all of his force to shove Troy to the ground, grunting as he does so. The ground squeaks as Troy makes impact. The large crowd that had formed around the kids gasp. A fuming Troy turns his head to look back at who had pushed him only to meet the eyes of a proud Mike Wheeler.
Troy begins to collect himself off of the floor. "You're dead, Wheeler!" Troy fully regains his footing, "Dead!" He sprints at Mike but is brought to a lurching halt, his body still in the position of an active sprint. Troy's eyes shift confusedly, everyone around him shares the same expression. They aren't sure why Troy hasn't ripped Mike to shreds by now. Mike, who is wondering the same thing, stares at the boy in front of him with furrowed eyebrows.
A wet spot makes its way from Troy's crotch all the way down his leg, staining his tan khakis. "Dude, Troy peed himself!" A blonde kid from the crowd calls out. The gymnasium begins to erupt with laughter. Mike's bewildered expression morphs into a smile as he looks at the trail of urine running down the boy's pants. Dustin and Lucas are just as pleased. Troy's shoulders heave as he breathes heavily, he's furious at his loss of control. Mike whips his head around and looks at Eleven, who seems strangely focused. A drop of blood drips from her nose. She looks from Troy to Mike and smirks as she casually wipes the blood away. She coolly walks off and Mike turns back to Troy, his smile grows in amazement for the girl's ability.
"Hey! What's going on here?" The principal breaks away from the counselor and Mr. Clarke to shout at the crowd of students. The laughing halts and the crowd begins to rush out of the gymnasium, students murmur about the wondrous thing they had just experienced. The Party wants to leave much quicker since they were the ones really involved. Lucas yells, "Let's go!" And The Party blends with the crowd and rushes out with the rest of the students.
Troy is left standing in a puddle of his own urine as James brushes him off and steps past him, not wanting to be associated with the boy, who had definitely gotten what he'd deserved.
♥︎
Mr. (L/N) and Jonathan Byers both stand in front of the smallest coffin they have ever seen.
After the incident at the coroner's office, they headed straight to the funeral home, trying to get closure as soon as possible by getting the funerals over with. Secretly, Jonathan felt a bit relieved to have an adult there with him, honestly, he has no idea what he's doing.
The funeral home's director talks in detail about wood and it's color. Both men have no idea what to do in this kind of situation, so they both idly listen.
"Uh, now, I...I don't know what your budget is, but over here, we...we have copper and bronze," The funeral director says, mostly targeting Jonathan because the Byers happen to be less wealthy. The men follow the director aimlessly, not interested at all in the materials he's been speaking about.
A young girl, know as Nancy Wheeler, steps into the parlor. She looks shyly up at Jonathan. "Can you just give me a second?" Jonathan asks, his voice hoarse.
"Of course," The man responds politely. Mr. (L/N) has had to use the bathroom for a while now and doesn't really want to be left alone with the director, so he decides to use that as an excuse to give himself a break, "Yeah, and I'm gonna go use the men's room."
"Yes, sir. It's down that hall to the right.
"Thanks."
♥︎
Mr. (L/N) comes out of the bathroom and hears the two teenagers having a quiet conversation around the corner. It sounds serious. He leans against the wall and begins to eavesdrop.
"And you're sure you didn't see anyone else out there?" The girl asks.
"No," Jonathan responds timidly, probably nervous to be talking to a girl, "And she was there one second and then um...gone. I figured she bolted."
"The cops think that she ran away," The girl pauses dolefully, "But, they don't know Barb. And I went back to Steve's...and I thought I...saw something. Some...weird man or...I don't know what it was," There's a long pause. Mr. (L/N) is very interested in the teens' conversation now. His eyebrows are furrowed, and he's listening intently to every word. "I'm sorry. I...I shouldn't have come here today. I'm..." Nancy stands up and turns towards the exit. Mr. (L/N) backs up a little, getting ready to walk towards the two nonchalantly as if he'd just come out of the bathroom. "I'm so sorry—"
"What'd he look like?" Jonathan asks her bluntly. Nancy stops and turns back towards Jonathan. (Y/N)'s father stays put.
"What?"
"This man you saw in the woods. What'd he look like?"
"I don't...I don't know," Nancy stammers, "It was almost like he...he didn't have—"
"Didn't have a face?" Jonathan is asking Nancy the question but his tone suggests that he knows what he's saying. Mr. (L/N) feels his heart leap as he realizes a terrifying similarity.
"How did you know that?" The girl asks seriously. But, Mr. (L/N) doesn't need to listen any longer, he knows exactly what Jonathan Byers knows. This is the thing his wife was talking about. It can't be real. They're just teenagers being teenagers. They probably know he's there listening. This is a prank. This whole thing is a prank. It has to be. Everything is so surreal right now, how can this be reality.
He walks out into the open and clears his throat. Screw this. He heads for the door and makes his way to the closest pub, searching for some alcohol that'll soothe his troubles. Temporarily.
♥︎
Mr. (L/N) walks into the pub. He heads over to the bar and the bartender begins to prepare his usual beverage. He sits on a stool and begins to watch the sports game, however, a familiar voice makes it's way to his ears. "To Sarah," Two men clink their drinks together and take a sip. Mr. (L/N) turns around to see Chief Hopper and another man, who looks somewhat familiar, but he isn't sure why. In similar fashion to what he did to Nancy and Jonathan, Mr. (L/N) tunes into the men's conversation.
"I recognize you," The Chief says to the other man knowingly, "Are you famous or somethin'?"
"Uh, you might have seen me on TV, I, uh...I found that Byers boy...and that girl too," Mr. (L/N) feels another dangerous flood of adrenaline spike through his body at the mention of his daughter. He came here to get away from that, not to delve deeper into it. The bartender sets the drink in front of him and he takes a long swig of it.
"So, you on that case or what?" Hopper pretends to be oblivious. What's he doing?
"I just saw them on patrol, you know? Dumb luck."
"So that quarry, that's, uh...that's state-run, where they found the kids, huh?"
"Yeah," There's a long pause. All Mr. (L/N) wants to do is sit, drink, and watch the game with the other men like normal. But, he knows Hopper's working an angle, so he probably shouldn't get in the way. Besides, this conversation seems to be going somewhere a bit more interesting than the game.
"Yeah, well, that's funny," Hopper's chuckles are painfully fake, "'Cause, you know, I know for a fact that it's run by the Sattler Company," Hopper now uses a tougher and more serious tone, "Frank Sattler? Decent guy, still got a couple operational quarries up in Roane."
"Is that right?"
"Yeah. That's right. So, why're you lying to me, man?" Mr. (L/N) feels obvious tension present in their conversation. He doesn't know why the Chief is so angry with this guy. All he did was lie about who owned the quarry. What's the big deal?
"What's your problem, bud?" O'Bannon, the quarry worker, asks Hopper, who he doesn't know is the Hawkins Chief of Police.
"I don't have a problem. I'm just a concerned citizen."
"Yeah? Well stick your nose someplace else," Hostility lines O'Bannon's voice, "The kids are dead. End of story. He stands up. "Thanks for ruining the game, d*ck," Mr. (L/N) watches O'Bannon stomp out the door. A second later, Hopper follows after. Obviously, Mr. (L/N) does too.
♥︎
Slowly, (Y/N)'s father comes up to the corner of the brick building. He hears a fist hitting thick skin and O'Bannon grunting. Someone's getting the sh*t beat outta them. "What were you doing out there?"
"I don't know! I don't know," O'Bannon yells fearfully, "They...They just told me to call it in and not let anybody get too close."
"Get close to what?"
"The bodies," Mr. (L/N) furrows his eyebrows. What is going on! His daughter is dead. He saw her dead. So, why is 'everyone' in Hawkins saying otherwise.
"Who do you work for? The NSA? Hawkins Lab?" A black Sedan in the parking lot starts it's engine, "Who is that?"
"You're gonna get us both killed."
"Who is that?" Hopper runs at the car, "Hey! Hey!" The car speeds away as Hopper pulls out his gun. O'Bannon flees, injured, around the corner, seeing (Y/N)'s father leaning against the brick wall around the corner. He makes eye contact with him for a second, but continues to hobble away as quickly as he can.
"What the h*ll is going on," Mr. (L/N) yells at the Police Chief as he turns the corner of the pub. Hopper looks at him, exasperated, but his expression changes as he gets an idea. If someone's gonna help him, this is the man for the job.
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Thank you guys so much for the reads! I'm really glad you're enjoying my writing and I hope it brings you to another state of mind while reading it. I plan to get through season one more quickly so I'm going to try to upload each week! I'm sorry if I'm not able to stay true to that statement but I really hope I will be. It's almost summer after all! Have a great week ~WoodCeiling♥︎
*THE CHARACTERS, THEME, AND SOME DIALOGUE BELONG TO STRANGER THINGS AND THE DUFFER BROTHERS*