I DO NOT OWN STRANGER THINGS.
Hawkins, Indiana
Joyce Byers was doing some cleaning around the house when she heard a couple of soft sobs from the room of her youngest son. She opened the door the tiniest creak to see Will at his desk. He was clearly busy working on one of his drawings.
"Will?" Joyce softly asked as Will immediately wiped his tears and turned to face his mother.
"Oh, hey mom, I thought you and Bob were going out." He said.
"We are." She replied as she put her arm around Will's shoulder. "What about you, are you doing OK?"
"Yeah mom, I'm fine." Will told her as he went back to drawing. Joyce could tell that her boy was lying. Will was never very good at it.
"Will, it's OK to miss Mike." She said as she hugged him from behind. "He's your best friend."
"Mom, please...I really don't want to talk about Mike, OK?" Will pleaded. Joyce tried not to look hurt. She and Will used to be so close. He came to her with everything. Now, ever since Mike had ran away from home, Will had changed. He was more like Jonathan, and not in a good way. Jonathan had a nasty habit of keeping his pain bottled up, not letting anyone know that he was hurting. The only time he'd ever been that vulnerable was when Will had been taken to the Upside Down. Now, Will was the one keeping everything bottled up inside. It just was not like him.
"OK, baby...well, we won't be out too late." Joyce said as she kissed her son goodbye and went out to join Bob on their romantic night out on the town. After the two middle aged lovebirds had left, Will crumpled up the drawing that he had been working on, got up, flung himself down on his bed and cried. What tortured him the most about Mike being gone was not knowing what was happening to his friend. Although, if he had known what Mike was going through, he would have realized that ignorance really is bliss.
Meanwhile, miles away in the cabin of chief Jim Hopper, Eleven knew no such bliss. She was once again trying to contact Mike through the void. The TV was on static and Eleven had blindfolded herself. She focused harder than she ever had before. For a few minutes nothing happened, but eventually Eleven went into the void. For a few moments, she saw nothing. As Eleven moved closer though, she began to hear cries of pain. Eventually she came upon Mike, her Mike, wearing a gown like the one she had worn in the lab. He was beaten with a belt by a cruel looking man.
"This can end anytime Paladin." He stated. "All you have to do is admit that this Eleven is not coming, because she is not real."
"No!" Mike shouted. "She's real, I know it!"
"MIKE!" Eleven screamed as she rushed towards him. "DON'T HURT MIKE!" Alas, she found that she could not touch him and he could not hear her. She felt as though she was banging on a window, but could not make herself known. Once the beating was over, she saw two men in white dragging Mike away.
"Eleven...I'm sorry..." he groaned. Eleven wanted nothing more to hold him and kiss him and tell him that it wasn't her fault. She could have said that it was Hopper's fault for making the rule that she could not speak to Mike. Although, she had to admit that it was also her fault. She could have broken the rule and told him that she was all right. However, she did not. Eleven obeyed Hopper's stupid rules and now Mike was paying the price for it. Eleven left the void, flopped down on her bed and cried for her one true love.
"Mike would still be here if I had gone to the snow ball." She said to herself. They had promised to go to the snow ball together. When the day had finally come, she and Mike had spent the entire night in their rooms crying their eyes out. It was on that day that Mike had finally allowed himself to accept that Eleven was dead. If she was alive, she would have showed up or said something. Eleven would not have missed the snow ball. It was on that day that Mike had begun his nose dive into depression. For the next few months, he had become more withdrawn and more sad until finally on the day he left, Eleven saw him pack up his things, write out a note saying goodbye to his friends and family and hitching a ride out of Hawkins. Eleven had wanted to say something, anything, but Hopper told her that doing so would put him in danger and she had believed him like a fool.
WILL ELEVEN FINALLY BREAK THE RULES TO SAVE MIKE? WILL THE YOUNGEST BYERS BOY OPEN UP TO ANYONE? REVIEWS NEEDED AND APPRECIATED