Please go away.

Will Byers stood completely motionless as he stared at the door in front of him, not even daring to take a breath.

Please go away.

He heard its plodding footsteps as it came stalked through the room outside, sniffing and snarling. He know it was hunting for him. The boy's eyes widened and his heart began to pound as it came closer to the door.

Don't scream.

It stopped now. Will could hear its guttural breathing right outside the door. He shut his eyes and covered his mouth.

Please….

It howled, causing Will's body to tense up as he prepared for it to break the door down. To his relief, the creature turned and charged out of the room. The boy remained motionless for another moment until the creature's galloping footfalls faded into the distance. He uncovered his mouth and slowly exhaled.

He leaned against the back wall of the closet and sunk to the floor, bending his legs in front of him. He was exhausted. He didn't know how long it had been since he was snatched from his home and dropped into this world of darkness and decay, but he had been on the run ever since then. Sleep only came briefly, for a few minutes at best, before the creature's howls awoke him and spurred him to run. He had never felt weaker before in his life than he did now. It was getting harder to even get up and walk, let alone run. Even if he did muster up the strength to flee, breathing was becoming much more difficult. It was if his lungs were slowly filling up with some kind of liquid the longer he stayed in this place. His stomach hurt, his throat was bone-dry, he was constantly having periods of severe dizziness whenever he moved and the deep cold penetrated the clothes that now clung loosely to his body with no respite.

As much as his body begged him to just lay down, Will never did. He didn't want to end up like the others. Not like the soldier who was ripped out of his hazmat suit, not like the men who were chased through the woods, not like the teenage girl who was dragged screaming into an empty pool.

He didn't want to die.

Will leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He thought of the last time he saw his mother; behind a murky, transparent window of flesh. He thought he was going saved from this horrible nightmare, until the creature came. But he still had hope, because his mom was coming for him. He had the feeling that Johnathon would dive into this world without a second thought to rescue him too.

Because brothers look out for each other.

A small smile came to Will's face as he tried to get some sleep. He was almost about to drift off when he heard a sound in the distance. His eyes opened as he strained his head to hear. His heart sank when he recognized the sound; footsteps.

It was coming back.

"No…." he whimpered, burying his head in his knees, "No…."

There was no escape from the closet as the footsteps got closer and closer until they stopped in front of the door. The boy curled up even tighter and squeezed his eyes shut as the doorknob turned. Will tried to think of his mom, brother and friends for comfort as he braced himself.

"William Byers."

Will cracked open one of his eyes. Did somebody just say his name?

He peeked out and to his utter shock, he found himself staring at a pair of black dress shoes and pants. His eyes slowly made their way up as he saw a suit, a black briefcase and finally the pale face of a man staring at him with an indifferent expression.

Scarcely believing his own eyes, Will only gave a feeble nod.

"It is a…. pleasure to meet you", the man said, with an odd, slow moroseness tone, "I feel the need to… congratulate you on your resourcefulness in surviving thus far."

Will blinked. Was this real? He remember reading somewhere that hallucinations could often arise from severe sleep deprivation. He uncurled slightly and gazed up at the man's face. Pale green eyes were staring back at him beneath a black crew cut set atop an angular face. The shape of the man's face reminded Will of Tarkin in Star Wars.

He could have sworn that the man's mouth slightly curled up in amusement when that thought came to mind.

"Who….?" Will started to mumble.

"That is not important at this time," the man slowly responded "what is important is your continued… survival, young Byers".

"If you'll excuse me for a moment…" he said as he began to turn around.

"No!" Will exclaimed as he quickly sat up. The ensuring wave of nausea forced him to lower his head again, "Don't leave…"

As unnerving as this man was, Will would rather he stay as opposed to being left alone again.

The man ignored him and stepped out of the closet. Will heard the sounds of a briefcase opening and closing. True to his word, the man reappeared in the doorway with a grey jar in his hand.

"My… employers have little interest in you, young Byers. They would rather you become simple… collateral damage," the man explained as he slowly opened the jar, "However, I admit, I have a fascination with those who adapt and survive against all odds. For a mere… child to survive being hunted for so long is impressive indeed."

He kneeled down and extended the jar to Will "….And I would not like to see a potential asset go to waste."

Will stared at the jar, barely comprehending what he was seeing and hearing. The man made a slightly amused smile.

"I know that your… mother must have warned you against taking food from strangers, but these are extraordinary circumstances, are they not?"

Will became alert. Food! He snatched the jar out of the man's hand and began shoveling the watery substance inside his mouth. It didn't have much taste, but to the starving boy it might as well have been ice cream. When he finished, he set the jar down and looked back at the man patiently watching him. Will suddenly realized how uncomfortably close he was.

"You may consider that an investment, young Byers. Your great potential ensures that we may have use for you in the future," the man said as he stood up and brushed dust off his suit.

Will didn't like the sound of that. "What use?"

"I am not at a… liberty to say, but I trust that you will keep the details of what you've experienced in this… place to yourself." the man said with a slight menace in his voice, "My employers are already taking a great risk in allowing me to invest in you, and they would be most… displeased if others are informed."

The man stared intently at Will, expecting an answer. The boy swallowed, "I… I will."

"Excellent," the man said as he turned to leave again, "If you'll excuse me, I must return to my… primary assignment."

"Wait!" Will yelled as he grabbed onto the man's leg, "Please… don't leave me here…" he begged as he looked up at the man with pleading eyes.

The man glanced down with an expression of mild annoyance. "Your test is not yet over", he stated as he kicked his leg out of the boy's grip, "But I will wish you luck, young Byers."

The man walked out the door and paused "…I would hate for my investments to be squandered."

He adjusted his tie and calmly walked away.

"No…" Will said, his eyes wide and his heart racing. He crawled out of the closet, ignoring the dizziness racking his head again. "Don't leave me! Please…."

He wildly looked around the hallway. But the man was gone.

"Please…" Will begged, with his eyes beginning to water, "Don't leave me…"

He lowered his head to the floor and began to quietly sob.

"Don't leave me…"

"Hey guys, don't leave me behind!"

"Sorry Will!"

It had been two weeks since Will was rescued from the other world. He had only just left the hospital a couple of days ago and was now trying to return to the semblance of a normal life. He wanted to block out that horrible week he spent in the "Upside-Down" (as his friends called it), but he couldn't. He couldn't forget running from a monster, couldn't forget the deaths, couldn't forget the bitter cold and the exhaustion, couldn't forget being dragged off and having a slug slither down his throat.

And he couldn't forget the man with the briefcase.

He wanted to tell his family and friends about that man and how the man saved his life by giving him food, but whenever he tried to, he remembered the man's veiled threat and lost the nerve. He didn't even think the man was human. So he lied to everyone and said that he didn't die of dehydration because he happened to have a water bottle with him when was grabbed. No one questioned it.

Now, he was trying to convince everyone that everything was fine. Thus, on this chilly Saturday he was riding with Mike, Lucas and Dustin to the video rental place in town. Though Will felt rather weak from his experience and found it difficult to keep up with his friends, he still tried to smile and keep up the façade.

Mike slowed his bike down so he was alongside Will, "We can slow down for you, Will."

"You don't have to do that."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm fine, really."

Mike watched his friend for a moment as if he was looking for something. Then he gave a mild shrug, "Alright, if you say so."

He didn't sound convinced.

Ever since he got back, Will noticed that his friend had changed as well. Dustin and Lucas were mostly the same as always, Mike had become a bit more withdrawn, and a bit less enthusiastic about most things. Normally he would take the lead on expeditions like this but now he was hanging back. Will knew the reason of course, and he almost wished that he didn't. Mike had told him all about Eleven, and how she saved his life. She even talked to him right before he was grabbed by the monster, but he was delirious at the time and didn't quite remember. She sacrificed herself to kill the monster, vanishing in a burst of light. Will had felt a ball of ice form in his stomach when he heard that part of the story, because he had the feeling that he knew where she was.

Or rather, who took her.

He remembered what the man had said about attending to his "primary assignment". He had the feeling that if a normal pre-teen kid had attracted the man's attention, than a girl who could kill people with her mind would probably be of great interest to the man and his "employers".

Mike appeared to be deep in though as he quietly rode alongside his friend. Will saw everyday just how much losing El hurt his friend, and the guilt at withholding information about her fate was tearing him up inside. Will lied to keep him safe from the man, but he didn't like it.

Friends weren't supposed to lie to each other.

Thankfully, Mike never wanted to actually talk about El. He seemed to be dealing with it in his own way, alone.

"Mike, thanks for… well, everything."

"Huh?" Mike said, suddenly snapping out his trance, "Oh… yeah, that's what friends are for, right?"

He tried to smile but ended up being more of a grimace. It took all of Will's restraint to not tell him that El may still be alive.

"Mike, I…. oh…."

Will suddenly felt pain in his stomach and filling his skull.

It was happening again.

Please, not now…

"Will…?" came a voice that sounded more like an echo.

With a flash of light Will was back in the Upside-Down. His bike was covered in fleshy vines, holding it to the ground. The buildings along the street were decayed and covered with the flesh. Spores rained from the black sky. Will shivered in the cold as he heard distant howling. He squeezed his eyes shut and willed himself to go back to the real Hawkins.

"Will, please wake up!"

Will opened his eyes to see the concerned faces of his friends surrounding him in a circle. He was lying on the pavement with his bike alongside him and blood seeping out of his elbow.

"Will, what the hell just happened?" Lucas demanded.

"Nothing…" Will feebly responded, as he sat up.

"You just zoned out and fell off your bike!" Mike yelled.

"I…" Will began as he tried to think of yet another lie. He shut his mouth when he realized that he couldn't. He couldn't keep this up, he wanted to tell his friends everything about his appearances in the Upside-Down, the constant pain in his belly, Eleven, the man with the briefcase.

Right as he was about to tell them, something grabbed his attention. His gaze drifted to the space between Mike and Dustin and froze.

Pale green eyes were staring back.

Will blinked, hoping he would vanish, but he was still there. The man was down the street standing against the corner of a store, watching him with the same indifferent expression he had when Will met him. He was waiting.

"I…" Will began, as his resolve disappeared. He looked at the worried faces of his friends. "I think I just got dizzy again." He tried to smile, "I guess I should have listened to the doctor and waited a bit before getting on my bike. I think we should walk the rest of the way."

Mike was simply looked at him for a minute, before extending his hand. "If you say so."

"Thanks," Will responded as his friend pulled him to his feet. As he picked up his bike he glanced back down the street.

The man was gone.

Subject: Byers

Status: Primed

Awaiting Activation