At the Byers' house, Lonnie nails a wooden plank across the hole in the wall. Joyce walks in, cigarette in hand, and sighs, "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Lonnie gestures to the hole, "You wanna freeze to death all winter?" He continues to hammer. Joyce turns her head and notices strings of Christmas lights laying on the coffee table. "I told you not to take these down," she moves over to the table and grabs the cluster.
"They were in the way, babe. How long are you gonna keep those up? I mean, really?" Joyce starts to put a string back up on the wall as Lonnie nails in another plank, "You know it's a shame what they've done to this family," Joyce looks at him confused.
"What?"
"The Sattler Company. I went to the quarry on the way over here. I just wanted to look around, you know?" A look of suspicion becomes evident on Joyce's face, "Couldn't believe it. I just couldn't believe it," he hammers in another nail, "No warning signs, no fence, no nothing. Oughta be held accountable if you ask me," All Joyce does is stare suspiciously at Lonnie, something isn't right.
♥︎
(Y/N) and Will returned to "Castle Byers" quite a while ago. They've been sleeping soundly for nearly a day, finally able to rest. But, after a while, (Y/N)'s growing hunger and thirst conquers over her and she's drawn from her slumber.
She mumbles, her raw throat burning in the process. Her and Will are tightly snuggled up to each other, both of their bodies craving warmth. (Y/N) turns her head, which had been buried in Will's chest. She looks up at the damp wood and the dark sky that can be seen through the decaying roof. She touches her tongue to the roof of her mouth. It's unbearably dry. She remembers Mr. Clarke's statement again. If her and Will don't get water soon they're going to die.
She turns her head back to Will and looks up at his face, if she didn't feel his heartbeat beating against her chest, she'd believe he was dead. She shifts her arm, which had gone numb, and reaches it up to her face wondering if hers is as colorless as Will's. Her skin tingles at the warmth of her hand making contact with her icy cheek. (Y/N) moves her dainty fingers down her face and feels her cracked lips, they're sore from the lack of moisture.
(Y/N) looks back up to Will and, out of curiosity, she brings her hand up to his face and brushes her fingers against his cheek. His face is colder than hers is. That's because her face had been gaining some heat from his chest. (Y/N) places her full hand on Will's cheek. He doesn't react.
The silence makes her think. I wonder what they're doing right now? She's curious about her friends. Do they believe her and Will are dead? Or maybe, somehow, they know that the two are out here. What is her mom doing? She may be so close to saving them. Or so far. But, she's most curious about what her dad is doing.
(Y/N) and her dad had a delicate relationship. Her father never really understood the importance of fragility. He wasn't sure how to act around a little girl. Most of the time he'd come off as harsh or rude. The young girl knows about the abuse of drugs and alcohol and what it could do to a person. However, she hadn't considered something like that could actually happen in her own home. Her mother had hidden her father's alcoholism from her very well. But, (Y/N) was bound to find out at some point. And that point happened to be on the morning of the very day she disappeared.
Suddenly, Will stirs. (Y/N) swiftly moves her hand from his face and looks at him bug-eyed. She watches his eyes flutter open. Just as they lock eyes (Y/N) awkwardly shifts her glance to the side and gives Will a forced, crooked smile.
"How long have you been awake?" The boy asks groggily.
"Not long," (Y/N) says, her voice is just above a whisper. Too much speaking irritates her throat.
The two sit up and bask in silence for a few minutes, collecting themselves. (Y/N) breaks that silence by addressing her previous concern, "I...I think that we should try to find water or something," (Y/N) looks at Will, "We can't survive much longer without it," The boy turns to her and nods.
"Alright...just a few more minutes," They have to gather the courage before moving out into this world. Terrified that they could possibly alert the monster that's been hunting them for days. Both wonder how much longer they have to take this torture. Will they have to survive here forever, or will they die before they can find out?
♥︎
"You were here for the money!" Joyce screams at Lonnie from inside of her house.
♥︎
While he was showering, she'd snuck into his bag and discovered a blue flier that read, "KOHNER: LAW OFFICES & PARALEGAL SERVICES'' and "ACCIDENTAL INJURY OR DEATH LET US FIGHT FOR YOU". Joyce shook her head and looked away from the flier in defeat. How could she have not seen this before? Of course he would use their son's "death" as an excuse for money. Once a liar always a liar.
♥︎
"No!" Lonnie shouts as Joyce shoves the flier into his chest.
"The money! Admit it!" She throws her arms up, she's never wanted to punch someone more, "You aren't here 'cause of Will. You never cared about him. You never did!"
"Jesus, Joyce, it was his funeral today. Do we have to do this right now?" Lonnie asks yelling back in Joyce's face, trying to hide the fact that she's right.
"I can't believe I fell for this," She says, smiling at how stupid she had been.
"I'm here to help, Joyce," Lonnie says, trying to bring a calmer tone onto the conversation.
"To help?" Joyce seriously cannot believe she had ever married this man.
"We could use that money for good," Lonnie, basically, admits to his motives.
"Oh, like maybe to pay off your debts?" Joyce stammers sarcastically.
"To pay for Jonathan to go to school!" Lonnie shakes his head.
"Oh, don't do that," Joyce points her finger at Lonnie's chest.
"Do what?"
"Lie to me!"
"I'm not lying to you!"
"Yeah, well, where does he wanna go? Huh," Joyce can feel rage bubbling up inside of her. How could her ex-husband even have the nerve to try and get something out of his son who he was never there for? How could he do that to her? To Will?
"What?"
"Where does Jonathan wanna go to college?"
"We get that money, anywhere he d*mn well pleases!" Lonnie shouts, trying to mask the fact that he has no idea.
"NYU, Lonnie!" Joyce screams at the top of her lungs, "He's wanted to go to NYU since he was six years old!"
"So then he goes to NYU!" Lonnie matches Joyce's volume and screams straight into her face.
"Get out," if looks could kill Lonnie would be six feet under with the two stuffed corpses, "Get out!"
Lonnie's voice lowers down to a hushed grumble, "You need me here, Joyce," Joyce chuckles. That's honestly the funniest thing she's heard in a long time.
"Oh, brother, I have not needed you for a long time!" She shoves him.
"Oh, no? Look what happened," his tone to the woman is belittling. Joyce angrily points her finger at him and scoffs.
"Oh, don't you dare. At least I was here!"
"Oh, come on, Joyce. Just look around at this place," Lonnie motions to the boarded up hole in the wall and then up to the lights, "All your Christmas lights. What the h*ll am I supposed to think? You're such a great mom? You're a mess!" He shouts in her face.
"Maybe I am a mess. Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe I'm out of my mind! But, God help me, I will keep these lights up until the day I die if I think there's a chance Will and (Y/N) (L/N) are still out there!" Joyce turns around and picks Lonnie's bag up from the floral patterned chair. She harshly rams it into his chest, "Now, get, out! Get out of my house!"
♥︎
Mr. and Mrs. (L/N) pull into the Byers' driveway just as Lonnie comes stomping out of the house. He whips his car door open, drops down onto his seat, and slams the door shut. He jabs his key into the ignition slot and angrily speeds away, nearly hitting the (L/N)s' car as he recklessly drives away.
Both parents watch the man closely. Mr. (L/N) rolls his eyes. Did that man seriously almost hit them? Mrs. (L/N) smirks "I guess he's not coming back anytime soon."
♥︎
"Wow," Joyce sits on the couch below the alphabet lights with Mrs. (L/N). Mr. (L/N) sits on the couch to the left of them. He'd just explained what he found with Hopper. The "children's" stuffed bodies. Joyce is stunned, stunned yet relieved. So relieved. "Where's Hop?" She asks, not breaking her stare with the wall in front of her.
"I'm not sure. My best bet would be at his house. That's where they dropped me," Mr. (L/N) replies, "I tried calling him but he didn't answer."
"Oh, God," Joyce says, rubbing her temples.
Mrs. (L/N) places her hand on Joyce's forearm, "I bet he's okay," she smiles warmly.
As if on cue, there is a pounding on the door. Joyce scoffs, "I bet it's Lonnie," she stands, "Go away, Lonnie," the pounding becomes more frantic, "Seriously!" She stomps over to the door, hammer in hand, "I am gonna murd--" she opens the door to reveal a panicked policeman. Hopper holds up a piece of paper which reads, "DON'T SAY ANYTHING" he holds a finger up to his lips.
"What? What?" Joyce whispers. He pushes Joyce and himself inside and looks up at all of the lights he's going to have to disect for a listening device, "Oh, Jesus," a daunted look appears on his face. He notices the couple on the couches and swiftly makes his way over to Mr. (L/N), "How much did you say?" He asks him in a hushed whisper. Mr. (L/N) looks warily at the Chief and nods.
"Everything," he ashamedly whispers back.
"Sh*t."
♥︎
In Joyce's living room, colorful light bulbs litter the coffee table. The group stands around Hopper, who's panting. They'd all helped take down the lights, but Hopper definitely worked quicker and more efficiently.
Hopper locates the last bulb and unscrews it, finding nothing. He sits heavily on a chair, out of breath, "Okay. Should be okay, I mean...I can't guarantee it, but it should be okay," he gestures to the couple, "You two are definitely going to need to check your place."
"What the h*ll is going on, Hopper?" Joyce asks, confused by his panic.
"They bugged my place."
"What?"
"They bugged my place. They put a microphone in the light," he shakes his head wearily and sighs, "It's because we're onto them and they know it. I don't know."
"Who? Is it the lab?" Joyce asks.
"I thought they might be watching you, too. I don't know the CIA, the NSA, Department of Energy...I don't know," he pauses and shakes his head. "You were right," Hopper says looking at both Joyce and Mrs. (L/N), "This whole time, you were right."
♥︎
(Y/N) and Will left the comfort of "Castle Byers" to venture out in search of some sort of drink. They'd gone a bit into the overgrown forest, making sure to walk in a straight line, so that they didn't get lost.
They now observe every detail they pass, trying to see if there's anything that looks slightly drinkable. They've come across some puddles, but decided that they looked far too gross and swampy to put into their bodies, however, it might come to them having to.
They walk a bit further into the woods and find a stream, it isn't really running so the water is still. That isn't a good sign, but it's the best they've seen so far. Will bends down and looks at (Y/N), probably for validation. She looks at him, shrugs, and slightly nods her head, knowing that drinking this is their only choice.
Will cups his hands and scoops up some of the water. He lets it run through his fingers, to test if it causes any reaction to his skin. It's much thicker than normal water and darker too. However, it seems okay. (Y/N) bends down next to him and cups her hands. Before she can scoop up any of the strange liquid, Will blocks her hands from moving any farther, "I'll drink first," he says bravely. (Y/N) looks at him worriedly, yet with great admiration.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm sure," he nods before scooping the water into his cupped hands and sipping the tiniest bit. The rest runs right through his fingers again. (Y/N) waits with anticipation. She observes his facial expression with care. He scrunches his face up and hangs his head slightly, but then looks back up to his friend, "It's okay, I think. I mean it's drinkable. It's terrible, but it's drinkable. If we want to live it's our only choice," Will says to (Y/N) who looks warily down at the water. She takes some and sips it as well, grimacing at the slimy, gunky texture and almost metallic taste.
"Yeah, gross," she chuckles sticking her tongue out in disapproval.
"Don't be so picky madam, it's the finest around," Will jokes putting on a posh accent.
"I'm very sorry, sir. How could I be so rude! Cheers then!" (Y/N) puts on the same accent and scoops up more water, holding her hands out to Will. He gets some of the liquid and taps his hands against hers, mimicking the clinking of glasses. They both down whatever is left in their hands and make sour faces. They both feel pretty grossed out, but lucky that they actually found something. Now they have even more time to wait for a rescuer. Or to suffer in this dimension.
♥︎
(Y/N) and Will sit against a tree's trunk. (Y/N) is attempting to rub the dirt off of her hands whilst Will is picking at the fabric of his jeans. They'd both drank as much water as they could until they felt physically ill. They now sit in peace, trying not to worry about their current troubles.
(Y/N) flinches as she hears something echo in the distance. Is that a person? She slowly stands up, looking left then right.
"What is it?" Will asks concerned.
"I thought I heard a--"
"Jonathan!" A high-pitched scream echoes throughout the dimension. It's Will's turn to stand confused. The two can barely make out the person's words. They're too far away.
"Jonathan, I'm right here," They might be in trouble. That thing might be after them. The children look to each other, then take off in the direction where the echo seems to be coming from. "Jonathan, where are you?"
The voice quiets down and the two look around frantically.
"Which way? Which way?" (Y/N) asks Will desperately.
"I-I don't know," he says looking around. Everything looks the same.
The voice begins to call out again. They can hear it clearer now and it definitely belongs to a girl.
(Y/N) looks in the direction of the sounds, "It sounds like she's saying..."
"Jonathan!" Will cries out. They both begin to run again.
"Jonathan, I'm right...I'm right here!" The girl yells. (Y/N) and Will grow closer, but not close enough. They cannot run very fast, both are too weak.
"Jonathan!" The girl calls again. Her voice is getting clearer and clearer. (Y/N) and Will's adrenaline has kicked in. However, they can't cry for help just yet. Their voices are far too quiet and they fear that they may attract the attention of that thing if they're too noisy.
They stop running. The two can no longer hear the girl's voice. "Where'd she go?" (Y/N) asks, mostly to herself. The two try to stay as silent as possible, they listen for any noise the girl may make. Everything is silent except for their panting.
There is one more muffled scream before the girl is completely quiet. The children wait patiently but there's nothing. It's dead silent. (Y/N) sharply cries out in frustration and collapses onto the ground. She crouches on the ground, hugging her knees, on the brink of tears. Will, clearly shocked by hearing his brother's name from a mysterious girl, kneels next to (Y/N) and embraces her. He holds (Y/N) in a hug that both him and her need. That could have been their only chance of survival. That could have been the end of their pain. Why didn't we run faster? Why didn't we try hard enough? Regret and blame cause their thoughts to become toxic.
♥︎
As the two share their moment, a frightened Nancy tears out of a webby portal which resides in the side of a tree. She falls into Jonathan's arms, mortified by both the strange dimension and terrifying monster. As that happens, three boys sulk in their rooms after an adventure gone wrong which resulted in a fight, a damaged friendship, and a missing girl who also happens to have super powers. What a night.
___________________________________
It's officially been a year since Stranger Things 3 has come out. Wow. I'm so excited to write that season by the way! Anyways, I hope you had a fabulous day and are having the best summer you can possibly have at a time like this♥︎ Stay safe ~WoodCeiling♥︎
*THE CHARACTERS, THEME, AND SOME DIALOGUE BELONG TO STRANGER THINGS AND THE DUFFER BROTHERS*