Chapter 2

Claudia Henderson gave her kids some cereal to eat for breakfast before telling them to get dressed because they were meeting at the Byers house as Chief Hopper wanted to talk to the kids

Once dressed and ready the Henderson's left the house in Claudia's car. They reached the Byers residence and Dustin immediately ran over to Lucas Sinclair and Mike Wheeler who were his other friends. I saw Nancy, she was standing with Jonathan Byers. The chief of police - Jim Hopper was also there with another police officer organizing a search party for Will later that evening but for now he was talking to Joyce Byers who was telling Hopper where Will liked to hang out.

"Uh… he has a Castle, no not a real one but one he built outside our house in the woods… he calls it Castle Byers…" She was saying.

Lacey left her mom to stand with Karen and Ted Wheeler and went over to Nancy and Jonathan. "Hey." She greeted and they both greeted back. Nancy looked at Lacey with a worried expression on her face. "Are you okay?" She asked softly, not letting Jonathan hear. Jonathan wasn't concentrating on them though he was watching his mother.

Lacey nodded but Nancy raised her eyebrows in suspicion that Lacey was lying to her.

Once Lucas, Mike and Dustin had sat down with the Chief they all started talking at once and Jim Hopper held his hand out to silence them. "Okay, Okay one at a time alright?" He advised, and they stopped the chatter and nodded.

"You said he takes what?" Jim asked, and Mike spoke, "Mirkwood."

"Have you ever heard of Mirkwood?" Asked the other police officer that was with Jim and Jim shook his head, "I have not, sounds made up to me." They both concluded. Lucas spoke this time, "It's from Lord of the rings…" Dustin scoffed and corrected Lucas, "The Hobbit." The two started bickering. "Shut up you guys." Mike said to both. "Hey, what did I say, one at a damn time, you." Jim said and then pointed at Mike. "Mirkwood, its real road it's just the name that's made up. It's where Cornwallis and Kerley meet." Mike ended with a nod. "Alright, I think I know where that is." Jim nodded to the police officer with him. "We can show you if you want?" Mike suggested but Hopper shook his head, "I said I know it." He ended, sounding annoyed, before putting on his hat. "We can help look?" Mike said, and Dustin and Lucas nodded in agreement. Hopper shook his head while standing up, "No, you guys go home, no biking around looking for him, no investigating, no nonsense this isn't some Lord of the rings book." He ended.

Dustin spoke this time, "The Hobbit." He corrected the chief and Lucas shoved Dustin, "Shut up."

"Do I make myself clear?" Hopper asked the boys who were still bickering. "Do I make myself clear?" He asked more sternly this time and they nodded. "Yes Sir." They all said in unison.

Nancy and Lacey went outside to wait for their parents by the cars. "So, what happened last night?" Nancy questioned, and Lacey looked to the ground. "We broke up." She said bluntly. Nancy's eyes widened in shock. "What?" She cried out and Lacey frowned, "Look, I think we all saw it coming, its fine, he can go be in a weird relationship with Carol and Tommy if he really wants to I just don't want to be a part of it." Lacey ended.

They were quiet for a few minutes before Lacey spoke again, "How was the rest of the party though?" Nancy looked at her and chuckled, "If you want to know what Steve got up to I can't help you there, we didn't see him come back into the party." Nancy nodded, and Lacey sighed. "Wait a minute…" Nancy said before turning to Lacey, "When we left his car was still there, but he never came back into the house?" Nancy added, and Lacey frowned.

Lacey could see Nancy was racking her brain for answers, "What if something happened to him too?" She questioned, and Lacey frowned, "Maybe he passed out somewhere?" Lacey advised but Nancy could see that Lacey had started to worry. "Maybe you should check on him?" Nancy suggested, and Lacey nodded. "Can I borrow your car?" Lacey asked her best friend, "My mom could give you guys a lift back to your house and I will bring your car back later?" She added, and Nancy nodded but said "My parents bought their car too, I thought I would stay back and hang with Jonathan." She advised, and Lacey thanked her, "Thanks Nance, let my mom know I've gone to Steve and will be back soon please…" She asked and took her keys and jumped into the car.

When she reached Steve's house she parked in the driveway. His car was there so she sighed in relief but she needed to know that he was actually okay. She walked up to the front door and rung the bell. She heard it go off inside and waited patiently to see if anyone came. After what she felt like was five minutes she knocked and called for Steve. "STEVE, are you there?" She yelled and continued to bang on the door for what she felt like was another five minutes. Eventually she heard movement inside and Steve opened the door. He was in his boxers and his hair was a mess. He'd obviously been sleeping. "What is going on?" He moaned, rubbing his eyes. Lacey rolled her own eyes and folded her arms in front of her chest; she was feeling angry again seeing him in this state. "Lacey?" He questioned her, once he'd noticed it was her. "What are you doing here, come to yell at me again?" He asked sarcastically and Lacey shook her head. "Will Byers is missing, and Nancy told me that you didn't go back into the party last night after I left so I just thought I'd see if you were still alive…" She advised him truthfully. "That Byers kid went missing?" Steve questioned and Lacey nodded. "He went missing going home last night, and you know he usually rides with Dustin on the way home from Mikes." Lacey continued and Steve nodded, he noticed her eyes turned misty but she looked away from him. She was going to cry.

Steve stood there awkwardly while Lacey pulled herself together. Last night she was super angry and broke up with him and today she was super emotional and on his door step. He didn't know what to do and he didn't want to invite her in because his house was a mess and he was a mess and he didn't even know what to say to her right now, he was angry with her at how she handled everything last night and he was angry at himself too. Once Carol had slapped him in the face he lost his temper and had yelled at the both of them and had told them to fuck off. Which in his opinion was probably the best thing he could've done. He'd then followed Lacey outside gotten dumped and allowed himself to sneak out back into the party from the other side and grabbed a bottle of whatever he found first and headed out into the woods to be by himself and drink his sorrows away. He'd passed out for a while but then woke up and drove himself home. "Ok so I'm glad you're alive." She said finally, "Be careful." She warned him before turning on her heel and walking back to her car.

Steve stood there for a little while not knowing what to do, then an ice cold breeze brought him back to reality. He closed the door as Lacey got into her car and leaned against the back of the front door. He knows he should've invited her in or chatted with her more but he couldn't bring himself to it not when he was this tired and hungover and especially not when she was in a roller coaster of moods. He heard her car start and heard her drive away so he was in the clear. For now.

As Lacey drove her way back to Nancy's house she thought about Steve for a moment. How all she'd wanted to do was give him a hug or have him hug her in comfort but he didn't do it, he didn't even try to redeem himself, sure maybe he was angry at her with how she handled things the night before but he could have at least said anything to make her feel better but he didn't.

When she arrived at the Wheeler's she found her mom and Dustin there too. Claudia was in the kitchen with Karen Wheeler drinking tea and the boys were in the basement as usual. Ted Wheeler was watching TV and Nancy was obviously still at Jonathan's house because she was nowhere to be seen. "I've come to drop off Nancy's car." Lacey said to Karen placing the keys on the hook. "How's Steve, darling?" Lacey's mom asked and Lacey kept quiet. Karen looked at Lacey seemingly interested in the topic too. "He's…" Lacey started but she stopped herself before she continued, "Fine." She ended. "We better get going." Claudia Henderson said while getting up. "DUSTIN." Lacey shouted down the basement stairs which lead into the kitchen "WE'RE LEAVING" She ended before saying goodbye to the Wheelers. Dustin trotted up the stairs and the Henderson's headed home. "Hopper found Will's bike." He informed Lacey on the way home. "Where?" She asked curiously and Dustin responded with one word. "Mirkwood."

It was well into the evening now and Lacey was lying on her bed thinking about everything that had happened that day. She heard Dustin's walkie talkie go off but she couldn't really here what was being said.

"Dustin, meet me outside in five minutes, we're meeting Mike on Mirkwood, over." Dustin looked at the time it was after 7 and he knew this was a bad idea, especially after everyone had told them to not go investigating for Will but there they were. Claudia Henderson had gone with Karen Wheeler to the search party and Lacey said she would stay and look after Dustin. Dustin heard Lacey put on some music and she'd popped her head in to see how he was doing and told him she was going to have a shower.

Dustin knew this was his time to head out so he packed his walkie talkie in a back pack before heading downstairs and out the door. He grabbed his bike and as he started cycling Lucas pulled up and they both headed for Mirkwood. Thunder rumbled, and Dustin looked up at the sky it was dark and cloudy. The search party would be over soon if it started to rain and they would need to get back. "Here it is." Lucas stated when they reached Mike and Mirkwood and the crime scene tape that had been put up after Jim Hopper found Will's bike earlier that day. Thunder rumbled again, and Mike felt a raindrop hit his head. Dustin looked over shoulder and shuddered as a breeze hit his skin. "Maybe we should head back and try again tomorrow… in the day time?" Dustin asked, and Mike shook his head, "If you want to go then go, we're doing this now." Mike ended before they dropped their bikes on the side of the road and the three of them wondered into the forest. "Did you ever think Will went missing because he ran into something bad?" Dustin asked, "and we're going to the exact same spot where he was last seen?" Dustin added. "Shut up." Mike said as the rain fell heavier now.

"We have no weapons, nothing!" Dustin said as the visibility around them worsened. "Shut up." Mike stated as they heard rustling around them as if someone were walking or running towards them. "Did you guys hear that?" Mike asked the others. They both nodded with wide, shocked eyes. The thunder rumbled, and the ground shook around them. They gasped as they saw a small girl with a shaved head standing in the thicket after a bolt of lightning struck a nearby street pole.

Lacey had finished her shower and decided to check on Dustin again. "Shit." She said once she realized he was not there. "DUSTIN!" She called. She ran into her bedroom and threw on whatever clothes she could find. She grabbed her car keys and jacket and when she was outside the rain started to pour. She saw that Dustin's bike wasn't there.

She wished she had one of his walkie talkies, so she could try get in touch with him and she knew he didn't go anywhere without it. It was pouring now as she drove herself to Will's house. "Mirkwood, where Cornwallis and Kerley meet." She remembered Mike saying from earlier that day, they must be there. She prayed she wouldn't find anything and when she reached the road they dubbed as Mirkwood she didn't find anything. She sat in her car confused because she thought they would be there. She decided to go back to the Wheelers hopefully they were there.

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