Chapter 3

When Lacey reached the Wheelers – a two story house at the end of a cul-de-sac - the rain came down harder. She banged on the front door calling for Dustin. "Dustin, Dustin - are you in there?" The front door opened to reveal a confused looking Nancy. "Lacey, what you are doing here?' She asked allowing Lacey to enter the house, dripping water everywhere. "I think Dustin snuck out here while I was in the shower." Lacey stated and Nancy shook her head and said "I haven't seen him?" "DUSTIN?" Lacey called out poking her head around Nancy towards the basement door.

"Oh shit." Dustin stated when he heard his sister calling his name. He and Lucas had both been freaking out since they entered the basement from the door on the outside of the house. The basement was dimly lit and their game of Dungeons and Dragons, that they'd played with Will the night that he went missing, was laid out on the table. The girl they'd found was sitting on the brown couch with her legs crossed. Mike had given her some dry clothes and Mike had taken her to the bathroom to change because before that she'd started to strip naked in front of them which is why the boys were now freaking out even more. "Don't tell her anything." Mike warned Dustin when they heard Lacey's call. "We know you can't keep secrets from her Dustin but this is a secret that needs to be kept." Lucas added. Dustin nodded and came up with the perfect cover story while he walked up the stairs.

"Dustin!" Lacey cried in relief when she saw her brother emerge from the staircase.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked him sternly, she didn't shout but she really wanted to. "I came to get my walkie talkie." Dustin lied but he saw Lacey's eyes twitch. She knew where he'd been he knew it but he couldn't say anything in front of Nancy otherwise they would all get in trouble.

Lacey opened her car and watched Dustin pile his bike into the boot and then get into the car before turning to Nancy, "I'm sorry about that, our mom trusted me to watch him and I panicked." She informed Nancy who nodded in understanding. Lacey said good bye to Nancy and walked back to her car. Dustin was sitting quietly when Lacey got in and closed the door. She started the car and as they drove Lacey cleared her throat. "Why did you lie?" She asked him curiously. Dustin looked confused but then realized what she was talking about, "I heard Lucas call you on your radio so you didn't leave it at Mikes." She added. Dustin nodded and sighed to himself. He was busted and he didn't know how to get himself out of it so he told Lacey the truth about that night. Lacey listened intently but kept quiet once Dustin had finished. Once they'd returned home Dustin and Lacey both changed into dry clothes and hung up their wet ones in the bathroom to dry.

Dustin went to his room but Lacey followed him. "We'll go there tomorrow okay? I need to see this for myself." She told him, he tried to argue but Lacey shook her head. "You guys could be in trouble." She ended.

The next morning they went to The Wheelers again. Lacey noticed Nancy wasn't there but that was better, Nancy didn't need to know why she was there. Lacey decided to park her car down the street so once they reached the Wheeler residence Dustin pulled her to the door that was on the side of the house so they didn't have to knock on the front door. Once Dustin had knocked and Mike had opened the door for them Mike moaned. "You told her?" and Dustin shrugged casually, "She figured it out." Dustin walked into the basement. Lacey followed suit leaving the door open ajar and Mike frowned at her. "We can't get anyone else involved, El told me bad people are after her but she also might be able to help us find Will." He told them both, Lucas was already there sitting in front of the girl Mike named El.

"Why did you call her El?" Dustin asked. "And why do you think she can help you find Will?" Lacey questioned looking at the girl who was dressed in Mike's clothing. "She's got a tattoo on her wrist with the number eleven on it. When I asked her what it meant she pointed to herself. She is Eleven." Mike stated and Lacey sat down next to Lucas now. "She saw this picture of Will." Mike held the picture up and continued to speak, "She pointed directly at him and said his name, I'm telling you this is all connected." Mike ended and turned to look at Eleven who was staring at them not saying a word.

"This is crazy, you're crazy!" Dustin cried out in worry. "We need to tell your mom!" Lucas agreed with Dustin. Lacey was still watching the girl curiously. "We can't, they will find out we were out last night and we'll all get in trouble." Mike ended.

Once Dustin and Lucas had calmed down a bit Mike continued to speak. "Think about it, we found her on Mirkwood where Will went missing, that's no coincidence. Maybe the bad people that are after her took Will?" He finished and Lacey looked at Mike who seemed frustrated that no one wanted to believe him.

"I think she knows what happened to Will." Mike added one last time and Lucas got up and started to pace. "Then why doesn't she tell us?" Dustin asked well more like moaned. "Do you know where Will is?" Lucas asked loudly, sounding annoyed. "Do you know what happened to him?" Lucas added. "Stop it, you're scaring her." Lacey suddenly said when she noticed El trembling at the sound of Lucas's booming voice. "We should all be scared." Lucas cried out, throwing his hands in the air in frustration.

"This is crazy we have to tell your mom Mike." Dustin stated in a worried tone and Mike shook his head. "We can't tell anyone, the more people involved the more danger we're in from the bad people." Mike insisted and Dustin raised his eyebrow in concern, "What kind of danger?" He asked and Mike's face dropped, "Like danger, danger." Mike responded and Dustin groaned now and put his head in his hands.

Dustin looked at Lacey for help but Lacey started to speak. "We should tell your mom Mike, maybe she can help us keep her safe?" Mike shook his head roughly, "No one else must get involved." He stated and eyed out Dustin who was pacing back and forth. "Come on Mike." Lucas said, worry written all over his face. "We're not cut out for this." He added. Mike started bickering with Lucas and Dustin looked at Lacey for help. "I'm telling her." Lucas ended sternly before going to the door that was left open ajar by Dustin and Lacey when they'd entered. "NO!" Eleven said loudly and the door shut in Lucas's face with a loud bang. The four turned their heads to where Eleven was sitting. She was bleeding from her nose but she casually wiped it away. "No!" She said again and shook her head. Dustin and Lucas were standing with their mouths hanging open in shock. "Did you just…?" Lacey asked in shock looking at the door and then back at El.

After a few moments of silence and a few moments of trying to process what just happened Dustin spoke, "We would have never made you angry if we knew you had superpowers." He stated with a quick nod and Mike shoved him with his elbow.

They were quiet again and El was looking tired. She lay her body down on the couch and breathed. Lacey was pacing around the room now. "Lacey." Dustin called out to his sister who was processing everything in her head. "How does it work?' Lacey heard Mike ask El and she assumed it was about her powers. Lacey didn't see how El responded because there was commotion upstairs. "MIKE!" Karen Wheeler called down the basement stairs. "IS LACEY THERE?" She continued and Mike looked up at Lacey who shook her head. "NO, WHY WOULD SHE BE HERE?" Mike yelled back and Lacey walked towards the stairs but out of sight of Mrs Wheeler. "Sorry Steve, it doesn't look like she is here." She heard Karen say to Steve. "What is he doing here?" Dustin mouthed to Lacey who shrugged. "Weird, well thanks anyway Mrs Wheeler." Lacey heard Steve say before hearing his footsteps retreat and Mrs Wheeler closing the door. Lacey ran over to the door that was still closed from El's snap and looked out the window to see Steve get into his car. What the hell was he doing here? Lacey thought to herself as he drove off.

As Steve drove off he saw Lacey's car parked down the road. If she wasn't there why was her car parked down the road and if she was there why was Nancy's younger brother covering for her? He'd driven to the Henderson's and Mrs Henderson had told him that Lacey was at the Wheelers. Why would she lie? He knows Mike would lie but Mrs Henderson, surely not?

All he'd wanted to do was invite her to the party he was having. He'd seen Nancy and Barb in town and invited them and they said they would be there. He now chose to forget about Lacey, maybe he could have fun with Nancy instead and even though he'd actually been avoiding Tommy and Carol after Tammy's party he thought about inviting them to his party too.

Back in the basement El had her hands on Mike's radio. She was fiddling with it carefully, turning the nobs left and right until the four heard a noise that sounded like a child whimpering, after the whimpering had stopped Lacey looked at El who now had her eyes closed, a trickle of blood seeping out of her nose. "Will." El whispered. She turned the nobs again and they all heard Will clearly this time, he was singing some song that he and Jonathan apparently liked because Mike recognised it as The Clash – should I stay or should I go. There was a shriek like sound heard on the other end and then silence, well more like static electricity.

Dustin and Lacey stared at each other, shock horror written on their faces. "She found him." Lucas stated, just as shocked.

El opened her eyes and wiped the blood from her nose. "Dark…" El said slowly. "Do you know where he is?" Lacey asked this time, her stomach turning afraid of El's answer.

"Hiding." El said again just as slowly.

"Could you take us to him?" Dustin asked and El shook her head this time.

"But you know where he is, where is he El?" Mike asked now, sitting in front of her. El got up from her sitting position and walked over to the table where Dungeon's and Dragons was placed. She flipped the board over, letting their playing pieces scatter all over the floor. The board was flipped to the blank side and El grabbed the wizard piece – this was Will's playing piece - from off the floor and placed it in the middle of the blank side. "Will… is… hiding." She said slowly again. "Where is he hiding?" Dustin, who was now sitting next to El, asked her curiously.

El looked around and found the Demogorgon statue that Mike had used on Will that night he went missing and placed it on the board too. "The Demogorgon." Dustin whispered and Lacey looked at the boys confused. "The what?" She asked and Dustin looked up at his sister and explained The Demogorgon to her. She nodded once he'd finished explaining but chuckled to herself while shaking her head. "This is crazy, so are you saying that Will is alive but trapped?" Lucas asked now and El nodded. "But he's not in this world?" Mike asked and El nodded again. "The upside down." El said slowly. Her English wasn't the best but at least she could string a few words together, even if it didn't make sense to Lacey.

On the drive home Lacey and Dustin were quiet. The radio was playing softly in the background until Dustin spoke, "Do you think Will could be alive?" He asked and Lacey shrugged, "We will never know until we find him." Lacey ended.

The next day Mike had called Dustin and told him that they were going to go in search of Will with the help of El. Lacey decided to drop Dustin off but not go with them but when she reached the Wheelers Nancy was already out in the garage. "Hey Nancy." Dustin greeted before disappearing into the house. "What are you doing?" Lacey asked and Nancy looked worried, "I haven't heard from Barbara all day and when I called her house her parents said she didn't come home last night mainly because they thought she was here so I told them I couldn't find her but then acted like I found her." Nancy said in a hurry. "Where were you last night?" Lacey asked casually and Nancy gulped but continued, choosing her words carefully. "We were at the diner." She said with a nod, believing her own lie when in reality they went to Steve's party last night, nothing major had happened only towards the end of the night when she'd wanted to leave but Barbara was no-where to be seen so Steve took her home and he'd kissed her. It had stopped just as quickly as it had started but Nancy could not tell Lacey, well not now anyway.

Lacey stared at Nancy while she paced around the garage. Both of Nancy's parents weren't home, Lacey assumed Karen was at the community pool with Holly – Nancy's younger sister - and Ted was at work.

"What should we do?" Nancy eventually stopped pacing and asked Lacey before flicking her fringe out of her eyes in frustration.

A few minutes later Steve pulled up into the Wheeler driveway. Nancy looked from Lacey to the car. Lacey turned around and noticed Steve getting out of his car. "What is he doing here?" Lacey asked and Nancy shrugged but Lacey could see Nancy's eyes dart quickly back Steve who had now halted when he'd seen Lacey but then he continued walking towards the two girls. Maybe Nancy had told Lacey what happened but that's why Steve was here, he wanted Nancy to not tell Lacey, he would tell her. Once Steve approached the two girls he greeted them nonchalantly "Hey." They both responded at the same time, "Hey." Steve noticed Nancy's body language change as she became uncomfortable around the two. Steve realized she hadn't told Lacey anything. "Have you heard from Barbara?" Lacey asked Steve suddenly and Steve and Nancy exchanged looks which Lacey didn't take notice of but he shook his head. "Why?" He asked curiously. "She didn't go home last night." Nancy said quietly. "Have you tried…" He started but Lacey nodded she knew he was going to say tried her parents. "What if something happened to her like what happened to Will? "Nancy eventually asked and the three kept quiet. "I'm going to speak with Dustin real quick." Lacey advised the two, hopefully they hadn't left already because Lacey realized that if El could find Will maybe she could find Barb.

Once Lacey was out of ear shot Nancy shot Steve a look. "What the hell Steve?" She asked, flinging her hands in the air. "Do you want Lacey to find out?" She added and Steve shook his head and held his hands out in defence. "Look I just came over to ask you not to say anything to her okay? I'll tell her when I'm ready." Steve said to Nancy who breathed a sigh of relief, at least she wouldn't have to put up with the wrath of Lacey Henderson; she'd leave it to Steve. "Look, I saw Barb's car parked down the block from my house this morning so she couldn't have gone far." Steve told Nancy who looked up relieved again. Nancy had already decided that she would go investigate around Steve's house by herself when she was alone.

In the basement the boys were chatting to each other about the search party they were planning and El was sitting on the couch again, waiting. Lacey noticed that El was now wearing a blonde wig and one of Nancy's pink dresses. "You look… nice." Lacey said to her and El smiled, "Pretty." El said with a nod. "We needed to make her look a little bit normal." Mike told Lacey who nodded in agreement. "Do you think El could possibly help find Barb, Nancy is freaking out because Barb didn't go home last night?" Lacey asked Mike who nodded. "I'm sure she'll be able too, we just need something of Barbs so El can channel her but we're leaving now." Mike told Lacey who nodded. "Distract my sister alright?" He asked nicely and Lacey nodded again.

Lacey and Nancy had hung out with each other that afternoon, Steve left shortly after Lacey re-joined them. Lacey wondered why he'd been there in the first place but she put it in the back of her mind because they had more pressing matters to deal with and Lacey needed the distraction.

Karen and Holly arrived home a little after 16:00 with dinner. "Lacey, do you want to stay for dinner?" Karen asked and Lacey looked over at Nancy who nodded. "Thanks Mrs Wheeler." "MIKE, dinner's ready." Karen called down to her middle child who occupied the basement most of the time. "Uh, they're at Lucas's." Lacey said suddenly and Nancy looked up from her meal. "Sorry, I forgot to tell you." Lacey said to Nancy.

The Wheeler's phone rang that night a little after 20:00 o clock as Lacey was about to leave. Karen answered and once she had finished she looked pale and shocked.

"They found Will's body down at the quarry." She told her family. Lacey and Nancy looked at each other but all Lacey could think about now was Dustin.

Thank you for the follows and favourites, it makes writing this story a lot easier. I would love to hear your thoughts about the flow of the story and if I need to change anything?