His dim light hardly lit the thick woods in front of him, as Mike made his way deeper into coverage outside of the Byers' house. Darkness had crept up so quickly, making it nearly impossible to see anything except silhouettes of the trees. Squinted eyes, trying to keep his lookout for any subtle movements, he passed by familiar tree collections that the boys had explored in the past. He knew exactly where he was, flashlight or not. He had ventured this direction plenty of times, going on adventures with Lucas, Will, and Dustin.

"El?" Mike asked, not expecting an answer. He peered over his shoulder, trying to catch some sort of movement through the darkness. Nothing.

The wind whistled through the branches above, causing everything to shift constantly. Mike noticed the weather beginning to change; the wind had picked up a bit and the temperature dropped quite a bit from when he first entered the forest. He continued on, though, reaching the unfamiliar areas in the forest. They hadn't gone out this far, but he was determined to find some sort of sign of Eleven.

Ever since he had met her, there was something unique about her. Something that… he couldn't quite put his finger on. He knew that he liked her, but there was more to it. He wanted to be able to protect her, even though he knew she could pick him up and throw him across the room at any given time. He wanted to find her and bring her home.

"Eleven! Can you hear me?" His voice had picked up, trying to be heard over the sound of the rustling trees and bushes. Nothing.

With a quiet sigh, he threw his hood over his head and pulled on the strings to tighten it up a bit. There was no rain yet, but it was coming. Mike flashed back for a moment, back to when they first found El. When Dustin, Lucas, and Mike had stumbled upon her, shivering in her gown. He thought back to how scared they all were, and moreso of how scared she was. He remembered how she needed help and protection, and how he was the one to give that to her. And now, out looking for her, he took it as a failure. She was gone.

He shined his light around him, a few bushes shaking in the wind had startled him for a moment. He laughed it off quickly, letting the light find its way in front of him once again. At the end of the light, at its dimmest point, was a pair of feet. The feet shuffled a bit, trying to find cover behind some foliage, but Mike's light caught a glimpse of what it was. Someone.

"Do you think he's in there?" Dustin asked, his hands resting on his head out of nervousness. His hat tilted upwards on his head, being messed up every time he did this. He quickly shot a look to Lucas who was searching over Mike's bike like it was a crime scene.

"Okay, well.. The good news is that it doesn't look like Mike fell off of his bike. I don't see skid marks or anything. Maybe…" He turned around to the entrance of the forest, the trees starting off quite spread out, but looking into the forest, the trees became very dense very quickly. "...Maybe he went in?" Lucas' voice trailed out quickly as he gulped. The forest was always a frightening place at night, especially after what had happened to Will.

"I'm not going in there in the dark with nothing. Let's get a flashlight from Will… And maybe his BB-22 rifle..." Dustin said hesitantly, his eyes still bugged out from even just the thought of venturing into the forest. Dustin's voice had just begun to change over the last few months, dropping a few octaves. His voice cracked often enough during his everyday activities, but more so when he was nervous.

"I've got one in my backpack. If we're going to find Mike, we have to get a move on it!" Lucas said, ruffling through his backpack in search of the huge metal flashlight. "He can't be too far. He knows it's going to start raining soon." He said as the flashlight emerged from his backpack, almost being too big for him to hold. He shined it right into Dustin's face as a ready check, and beckoned Dustin over. "Come on! Let's go!" Still a little dazed from being hit with the light, Dustin followed Lucas, staying relatively close to him; staying close to the light.

The trees buzzed from the flow of the wind, it twisting and winding in between every leaf and branch, stirring up the entrance to the forest as the boys made their way in.

"Mike!?" Lucas yelled, his voice seeming to be swallowed by the roar of the winds that were coming in. He flicked the light in random spots around them, hoping to find Mike. Dustin stayed close by, trying to see through the dark patches that Lucas hadn't hit with the light.

"Mike! You need to come back RIGHT NOW!" Dustin yelled, having several voice cracks in there, but just trying to make himself heard over the winds endless melody.

A couple hundred feet into the forest, Lucas turned to Dustin," Dude, I don't know if Mike even went this way. Maybe he went in at a weird angle?" He pointed the flashlight in an obscure direction, before throwing his arms in the air in a fed-up manner.

"Lucas… Shine your light back over there…" Dustin said, his gaze focused on something in the distance. He raised his hand to point directly at where Lucas had randomly thrown his light previously. He didn't look terrified; he was only uneasy. "There's someone over there…" He finished his statement, lowering his voice as he did.

"MIKE!" Lucas yelled out, as the light shined on a hooded figure deeper into the forest. He started by quickly walking and it turned to running towards who they saw. Lucas staying quite a bit ahead of Dustin, he continued on, paving the trail for his friend to follow.