So hey there! I'm the Wandering One and this is my first story, this is kinda what happens when you finish a GREAT show and have a sudden urge to write stuff up. I've been a reader for YEARS but I never really had the nerve to actually write and post my own ideas here, up until now at least. I hope this ain't too bad, English ain't really my first lenguage (it's Spanish), but hey! Guy's gotta practice and this is way more fun than writing reports.
If you encounter any typos or mistakes, please tell me about them, I want to improve, same goes for thoughts and criticism, I want to become a better writer and I'm guessing that the first step is actually knowing what you do wrong.
Reviews would be highly appreciated, I'll try to anwer them via PMs
Maybe, if people like this, I might add more chapters to this thing, but for now it's just a Oneshot
Nice to meet ya
-The Wandering One
Ah and before I forget
No, I do not own Stranger things...
Please don't sue me
He should have kissed her more.
Should have talked, hugged, been with her more
But it's too late for that
These words have been on his mind for the last year, they are on his mind right here, right now, in the middle of Mirkwood with a box filled with stuff for a lost girl (she is NOT dead) and Chief Hopper by his side with a sad look on his face.
Yes, this is how Mike Wheeler spends most of his Sundays (Sometimes his mom manages to actually catch him when he's leaving (sneaking out), but not too often), huddled up with Chief Jim Hopper to drop off some supplies for Eleven, they've been doing this for over year now and Mike isn't planning to stop, not now, not ever.
Much to everyone else's despair.
While his father manages to still masterfully ignore him and any other related topic that might affect their perfect nuclear family life (he's strangely okay with that, sometimes he likes to pretend that Hopper is his real father, he at least listens.), his mother raves and rants and pleads for her happy little baby Mike to return, to talk to her, to tell her what's wrong. But old happy Mike hasn't returned yet and he refuses to bring him back until Eleven returns, no matter how much his mother might cry herself to sleep unable to breach through the high walls her son has raised to separate them (he sometimes feels guilty about that, lingers on his parents' bedroom door at night, but he never knocks).
His talks with Nancy a lot, she lost someone too after all (Jonathan sits awkwardly by sometimes, eyes full of pity that make Mike angrier than the guy deserves.) but it's not the same, Nancy had closure, Barb was dead and she couldn't do anything about it, she grieved her friend and moved on.
Mike couldn't move on.
Everything about her being gone was confusing and mysterious and it wasn't fair-
It made Mike furious in a way than nothing else before or after could, she was there and when the lights stopped flashing she was gone, GONE. But she was there, somewhere out there, she was a survivor and she was surviving and she would be back one day, this was the truth that ruled his existence, his only certainty, the only thing he would believe beyond any doubt and he would die before moving on and forgetting her.
He would never forget
Friends don't betray each other.
The fury would shift and twist and redirect itself on to other things, other people. School, home, friends, family, he punched and kicked and messed stuff up, screaming and cursing, picking up fights everywhere he could. No one dared to push him anymore, but only because they were afraid of him, being angry was easier than being sad and he was angrier than ever.
I'm the Monster.
There were moments, he and the gang (Will was back...but different, sometimes there, sometimes not.) would lock themselves on his basement play campaigns all day, watch movies all night, his mother would come down with snacks and crack a smile at the sight of a laughing Mike. But there was a tension, heavy in the air, so obvious that it hurt but that everyone refused to acknowledge. El and the Upside Down were forbidden themes, hidden triggers for the Mike-Bomb to be unleashed (to be fair the Upside Down wasn't Will's cup of tea either, his eyes would twitch and his body would curl up in a ball of fear and panic).
Her pillow fort remained untouched, a testament and monument to her existence and his refusal to accept any possibility of that mysterious girl not returning. No one dared to even get close to it, the unspoken decree of Mike's silent Law and Will was ominous, no one would challenge these unspoken laws unless they wished to meet with Mike's swift judgment and by now everyone of them knew what Mike's wrath looked like (he punched Lucas in the face last time he told him to move on and forget about it, 6 months later and there's still no apology from either side).
They all knew and understood where his anger and aggression was coming from.
That didn't mean they liked it.
Sometimes his eyes would wander to her pillow fort and his gaze would linger a little too much, empty look on his face as he wondered about that scared girl that hid oh-so long ago in that exact same place and how she managed to change his world in so little time, his friends would shut up and they would look at him. Silent conversations in little glances between each other when they thought he didn't notice.
He always noticed
(He hated it)
"You're all broody again kid"
Hop's voice yanks him out of his thoughts so suddenly that he almost yelps, twitching visibly he gets up and gives the older man his own sorry excuse of a smile, Hopper understands, he should throw the man a bone, but he can't force himself to be happy, he has tried and he has failed.
"Guess so" Mike replies meekly, Hop's hand settles on his shoulder reassuring and comforting, but unlike the rest there's no pity in his aura, just understanding and regret (he wishes he could tell Hop that it wasn't his fault, the same way he does with him). He had a daughter once, a little girl that was his world, it took almost nine months, but one rainy Sunday night he shared his own experience with him, hard voice and empty eyes.
I just want you to know…that I understand kid
You don't
I do
He lost too and while he can't bring his daughter back, he believes he can bring El back, he hasn't given up on her and that's enough for Michael. That's why he doesn't flinch or pushes his hand away, he lets it rest there, knows he's waiting for Mike to say something but he feels like he's got something in his throat and fears that he might cry if he opens his mouth. Hopper seems to feel the tension on the boy's shoulders and removes his hand.
"C'mon kid, I'll drive you home"
Mike drives a hand through his hair, swallows, trying to keep his dignity intact, he's NOT going to break down. Eventually he just nods, mouth shut tight and hands on his jacket pockets.
"Just…gimme a second"
Jim nods and gives him some space.
The silence stretches through the forest, finding Mike, coiling around his throat like a noose.
Mike
His name rings through the nothingness, so quiet yet so incredibly loud at the same time.
Here we go again
Mike
He thinks he can see her sometimes, hear her. In school, in his basement, in his room, deep in the night. An unseen presence just out of his reach, at first he was hopeful, but hope turned into disappointment, disappointment into desperation and desperation into fury. He grits his teeth, fist clenching.
Mike
The air feels colder, the presence heavier, Mike wonders if he's going crazy. There are times when he thinks he can see her, just in the corner of his vision, torn dress and ripped jacket, bleeding nose and those damn eyes of her, eyes that don't ever let him go, but when he moves to look at her she's gone, never there at all.
Mike
Something's behind him, he feels it, he wants to feel it, like a hand reaching out for him. He has felt this before, too many times now and he always falls for it, his heart quickens as his anticipation grows, so treacherous. But maybe…maybe this time…El!
Mike
He turns around
…
Nothing
Jim lights up a cigarette as a scream full of anger fills up the forest
Just another Sunday.
Mike hikes back to Jim's truck, throws his bike on the back and climbs up. There aren't any questions or explanations, just the same old silence and the Hawkins police chief starts off his truck.
Somewhere else, very close yet so very far, trapped in the valley of shadows, a girl screams a boy's name once again.