𝒂/𝒏 18 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔? 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝑼𝑲 𝒍𝒂𝒘𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒕. 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔. 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚'𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒏. 𝒔𝒐 𝒊 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒔𝒐 𝒊'𝒎 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓
☀︎︎☀︎︎☀︎︎☀︎︎☀︎︎☀︎︎☀︎︎☀︎︎☀︎︎☀︎︎☀︎︎☀︎︎☀︎︎☀︎︎☀︎︎☀︎︎☀︎︎☀︎︎☀︎︎
𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒍'𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒗
Will was still reeling from his dream when he got to his house. He stood outside, so lost in thought that he didn't notice the music blasting from inside until he heard his mom yelling. He rushed towards the door, but something on the wall caught his attention. Where the wooden panels should be, a wide reddish film stretched about three feet wide. He ran to it, and could see faint light glowing behind it. He started to hit it, and the sound seemed to echo through the woods. He heard the music stop and his mom's footsteps walk closer to him
"Mom? Mom!" he called, hoping she could hear him
"Will! Will!" she replied, but he heard her run towards the door and he sighed in exasperation. She must've realised he wasn't there, because she quickly came back to the wall
"Will, i'm here!" she ripped away the wallpaper and dim light filtered through.
"Mom!" she pressed her forehead to the wall and Will copied, trying to catch his breath.
Behind him, a demogorgon growled, and it didn't seem happy. Panic rose in his throat
"Mom! It's coming!"
"Tell me where you are. How do i get to you?"
Will didn't have much time, but his brain took over and talked for him
"It's like home, but it's so dark. It's so dark and empty. And it's cold!" he shivered at the thought, and he heard the demogorgon pick up its pace, but he didn't dare look
"Mom? Mom!"
"Listen to me. I swear i'm going to get you, okay? But right now, i need you to hide"
The wall began to close up, if his mom grabbed the axe or something...he was being selfish. What about Ashley? All she'd done for him, promising she would get them out together. He couldn't leave her here alone.
"Mom, please-"
"No, no listen! Listen, I will find you, but you have to run now. Run! Run!"
Behind him, the monster screeched and he took off.
"Will?" a familiar voice called as he entered the woods
"Will? Is that you? Here. Big tree" she sounded so broken that his heart ached. He ran over to the sound of her voice and found her lying against a tree
"Ash! You're okay! What-"
She coughed, cutting him off
"Alive, not okay. Bad things. Dying. Where?"
"I'm so sorry, i shouldn't have left Castle Byers, but i felt the need to go to my house, and i talked to my mom"
"Lights?"
"No, no there was an opening in the wall. It was like, i could see her, but there was this thin transparent wall between us. It closed up, and a demogorgon came after me, so i ran"
"But-"
"Hey, i think we should probably get you back to Castle Byers and warm you up, okay?"
He didn't wait for an answer. He picked her limp frame up, carrying her bridal style. She put her arms round his neck and buried her face in the crook of his neck. After a while of walking, Will decided to break the silence
"So...did you send me that dream?"
He felt her sigh before she replied
"Yes"
"Was it all true? Everything that happened?"
"Yep"
"And you knew you were going to meet me some day"
"Yeah"
"You know, you'll need to say more that just variations of yes"
She smiled against his neck
"Okay"
"So why did you send me that dream?"
"Found the time where both of our timelines connected. Thought it was important"
Will cast his mind back to the first day they met, in school
"The fire alarm. It sounds like the bell in school. Is that why you were scared?"
"Yep. And fire. Scares me. Killed mama"
"What about your brother, Harley? I didn't know you had a brother"
"Don't know. Been trying to find Harley, not dead, but can't track. Missing"
"But didn't you guys run away together?"
"Yeah, but the bad men, they took me. Left brother. Didn't need brother"
He set her on the ground outside Castle Byers and helped her get in. They sat inside and Ashley took a drink before Will continued
"So who started the fire?" the question had been eating away at him probably as much as it had the man with the white hair. He turned to face Ashley and, even in the dark, he could see her narrowing her eyes at him
"Why?"
"I just wondered if you knew"
She sighed and closed her eyes for a few seconds before reopening them to look back at him
"The bad men. Lit the middle floor. Fire went fast. Mama didn't jump" her tone went bitter "Too scared. Papa killed mama. Just to find me."
"Hey, this isn't your fault, you were just a baby, it's not like you could've helped. You saved your brother, which is the best you could've done"
"But-but what if it is? What if it is all my fault?" her voice trembled and her eyes were glassy. Will wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer to him
"It isn't, okay? None of it. Don't be so hard on yourself"
"Okay" she took an Eggo from his bag and ate it quickly, she was clearly drained from whatever happened earlier with the demogorgon
"So, what happened with the demogorgon?"
She eyed him warily "Can't say. Know i promised no more secrets. But if i tell you, i'll have to kill you" her eyes glinted darkly, and Will wondered even though she claimed to no longer be possessed, one part of that shadowy thing stayed with her.
Quick as anything, she shot up and ran out of Castle Byers, up Mirkwood, past his house and kept following the path until she reached the road. Will grabbed her arm to stop her, turning her around
"Wh...what was...that for?" he asked between breaths
"Someone's here" she looked him dead in the eyes, causing a chill to travel down his spine
"What do you mean? A demogorgon? That shadowy misty monster from earlier?"
"No. Person" She pointed at the house in front of them
Will racked his brain for the name. They had a pool and were well known in highschool. Nancy's boyfriend...
"Steve Harrington?"
"His house. Party. Yesterday maybe?"
"Steve Harrington is here? In the upside down?"
"No, no friend. Mike's sister, Nancy-"
"Nancy is in the upside down?!"
"No! Stop interrupting! He's right, you need to learn to let people talk" she laughed, and Will rolled his eyes
"Nancy's friend. Barbara Holland?"
"Yeah, Barb is her best friend. Is she in the upside down then?"
"Yes"
Will's stomach did a flip. Not just because someone else was here with them, but if they could get in, surely there was a way back out?
"Okay, so where is she?"
Ashley walked around the house to the back where an empty pool sat
"Pool"
Will moved to get a closer look inside, but Ashley grabbed his arm to hold him back. She let out an ear splitting screech and a demogorgon came hurtling through the woods. She thrust a hand out and it crumpled to dust. After she was sure it was dead, she casually sauntered over to the pool and climbed down the ladder. Will followed, but slipped one one of the rungs and was about to land face first on the ground if it weren't for Ashley grabbing his shoulders. She made sure he wasn't hurt before bursting into a fit of giggles
"Clumsy"
"I could've broken my face, and you're laughing at me" Will scoffed
"But you didn't" she shot back
"And what if i did?"
"Then-"
"Nancy?" a somewhat familiar voice whispered nearby
They ran over to the voice, only to find a close to dead Barb, covered in vines and gunk. She looked up at them as they knelt down beside her, but her eyes were far away.
"Mike's friend? Will?"
"Yeah" Will bit back a sob. He had never been close to Nancy or her friends, but he was still realising how lucky he was to be alive.
"Who?" she glanced at Ashley
"Ashley. Will's girlfriend" Ashley whispered.
"One of Mike's friends? With a girl?" she began to laugh hysterically but it quickly turned to coughing
"You kids. You gotta get outta here. That thing-"
"Dead. Killed it" Ashley wiped some of the gunk off of Barb's face. Barb quickly grabbed her hand, causing her to flinch but she didn't pull away
"Ca-can you guys help me?" her tone was so desperate that Will felt that he had to do something. He turned to Ashley, who had tears running down her face
"Hey Ash. You know that thing you did to me? Do you think you could do that to Barb too?"
"Can try" she mumbled, but she seemed doubtful and wouldn't meet his eyes. He shuffled back to give her some space and she put her hands out, separating the vines until Barb was no longer covered in them. She closed her eyes in concentration and stopped abruptly
"Why did you stop? She's not getting any better" Will asked, but she ignored him and moved closer to Barb until her ear was to her mouth. She stayed there for a few moments before pulling back
"Okay. Promise"
"Stars. I can see the stars again" Barb whispered, turning to face the sky, her expression going slack.
They sat motionless for a few seconds before Ashley turned back to face Will, her eyes red and puffy. They stood up and she reached her arms out for a hug, but Will turned sharply on his heel and stormed the other way.
"Will!" she called after him, but he ignored her, continuing back into the forest. He picked up his pace and Ashley followed, but didn't try to catch up to him. Once he reached Castle Byers, he turned around to face Ashley
"Just leave me alone. Go away. Find somewhere to hide or something. I don't want any more involvement with you, okay? You could've saved her, but you didn't. I don't know what's wrong with you, but you need to fix it. I get that she's a stranger to you but you she's human, just like me. She had a whole life ahead of her again, just like me. So i don't know why you would save me and not her. And now Nancy is gonna be upset so Mike will probably end up hating me. I know that you don't really get the concept of friends and stuff, but we've been best friends since kindergarten. Since we were four. That's eight years" he held up eight fingers
"I can't afford to lose my best friend, all because you were too tired to save Barb. If we ever get out of here, you're explaining everything to Nancy and Mike. Hopefully, they'll understand and forgive you and maybe, just maybe if i'm in a good enough mood, i'll forgive you too. Until then, get out of my sight, and don't talk to me unless it's 'Hey Will there's a direct way to get back home without dying'. Got it?"
He expected her to burst into tears about how sorry she was or to start explaining herself, but he was mistaken. She simply turned and walked into the woods without a word. Will sighed and sat down in Castle Byers, trying not to think about what could happen while Ashley was by herself.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝:1921☕︎
𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎: 𝚓𝚞𝚕𝚢 23𝚛𝚍 (1𝙳'𝚜 10𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚊𝚛𝚢! 𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏)
𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒏𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚.
𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒊 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚?
𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚, 𝒊'𝒎 𝒂 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒖𝒏𝒔. 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒂𝒚, 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒖𝒑𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒉𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝒊 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚'𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆. 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊'𝒎 𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒔𝒚. 𝒔𝒐 𝒊'𝒎 𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒔. 𝒊'𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔
𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒐, 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒔
𝒙𝒐𝒙𝒐