Chapter Eight: Nightfall

He drowned. Something about the sentence felt off, or maybe that was my disbelief talking. Joyce and I had just talked to him, so how could he be dead? The words on their own should've been enough to sink my heart, but instead it felt like my conscience had left my body. Just the mere uttering of them sent my soul creeping out through my ears. It was like I was watching myself from above, wondering how I was supposed to react. I didn't cry because I didn't believe them, but I also had no proof that they were wrong. I mean, if they had found his body, then who was it that I had seen? Who were Joyce and I talking to? Nothing had made sense these last few days, but now everything is making even less sense than before.

My expression was blank. I didn't know what to say or how to feel. I was probably supposed to be crying by now, but everything happening just seemed too surreal. Uncle Jack had shown up as soon as the police cars did. He found out just the same as we did, and he seemed more distraught than I did. I took in the warmth of his arms as he held me against his chest while choking back a tear. Jonathan stood beside me with glossy eyes, and it was like I had completely forgotten that I was even mad at him. The only other person that I noticed was Joyce. She knew. She knew he wasn't gone, and it was evident in her distant stare as Hopper, the Chief of Police, tried explaining what had happened.

"As of right now, our theory is that he crashed his bike and went over the quarry and he, uh, he fell in. The ground must've given way or something." He kept talking, but I could tell she wasn't listening. I watched the two of them from over my uncle's shoulder as he pulled away from me. "Joyce?" No response. She kept the same wide-eyed stare. "Joyce," he repeated. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

She shook her head firmly. "Whoever it is you found, it's not my son. It's not Will."

"Joyce—"

"No, you don't understand," she stammered. "I talked to him. We talked to him," she continued, gesturing towards me. "It was a half hour ago. He—" she cut herself off mid-sentence and scattered to the wall that we had just seen the spiney monster come out of. "He was in here. He was talking with the lights. Daisy—Daisy saw him."

"Talking through the lights," Hopper questioned.

"One blink for yes, two blinks for no. And, uh, and—and Daisy, she had a vision. He talked to her. She has powers. She blasted that, that thing that's after him. We made this," she pointed to the letters on the wall, "so he could talk to us."

"The thing that came out of the wall? The thing that was chasing you?"

Jonathan brushed by me to rescue her. "Mom, please. Come on. You have to stop this."

Tears started welling in his eyes as Joyce pulled away, acting as frantic as ever. "No, maybe he's—it's after him. He's not safe. We have to find him! We—we—she talked to him! Why aren't you saying anything?!"

And just like that, all eyes were on me. I looked over everyone, trying to figure out what I should say exactly. On one hand, if I agreed with Joyce, I was potentially putting all of their lives in danger. Dr. Owens had never told me exactly how bad the bad guys that'd come for me are, but I was sure I didn't want to risk it. Then, on the other hand, was it worth it to make Joyce look like she was actually as crazy as everyone thought she was? I knew she wasn't, but what would happen if too many people found out? "I—I don't know what she's talking about. She was hysterical when I got here. She just—"

Joyce cut me off. "You're lying. Why are you lying? Will is in danger. He—"

"Joyce," Jack interrupted, stepping forward to place a hand on her shoulder.

"It was like it was human, but it wasn't. It had these long arms, and it didn't have a face!"

"It didn't have a face," Hopper questioned.

All I could do was watch. I felt frozen until Jonathan snapped me out of it with a cold glare, knocking into me as he fled from his mom's mental breakdown. "You told her," he asked, but it had come out more as a statement than a question. I reached out for him, but he jerked his arm away before I could even grasp it. "Why are you here?" His voice was now cold and cruel.

"Jonathan," I said just barely above a whisper. It was in that moment that I wanted to tell him everything. I wanted to tell him about Dr. Owens and the medicine he made me take, about Joyce and the monsters and the weird ball of energy that had come out of my fingertips. But I couldn't. I would do anything to protect him, even if it meant losing him. "I can't explain it."

"You can't explain it?" His voice started to rise as tears came pouring down his face now. He met my eyes for the first time that night, and they were filled with more anger than I had ever seen from him before. "You can't explain why you came here? This is your fault, Daisy! You're the reason my mom is sitting here talking about monsters and fucking Christmas lights! God, why can't you just leave things alone sometimes?! You're always shoving yourself into—"

"That's enough." Uncle Jack's voice sounded like it came from the heavens with how deep it had gotten. He was in between the two of us in the blink of an eye, barricading me from Jonathan as he continued hurling insults at me. "I don't care how upset you are, you will not talk to my niece that way. Do you understand me?" Jack's eyes bored into Jonathan's forehead, but he never looked up at him. "Daisy, I think it's time to go."

I didn't want to leave, but he was right. I could sense my presence was no longer welcome there. I wished I could defend Joyce and tell everyone what was really going on, but I couldn't. If Hopper had already found Will, then there was no point in staying around and making it even worse. Of course, I knew he wasn't dead, but it was better to figure it out alone than bring anyone I loved into it. I took one more look at Jonathan, who of course didn't want to even glance at me, before turning around to follow my uncle out the door.

Midnight came faster than a speeding bullet. I had tried to sleep. I really did. But it was impossible. I tossed and turned all night, wondering if and when I would be sucked right back into the nightmare I had just escaped. I wished I could wander over to the Byers house, or even give a few taps to Jack's bedroom door. This was the first time in my life that I had ever truly felt alone and the first time there was absolutely nobody I could talk to. I watched the clock tick in the light of the moon, counting each second as it passed by. There was no sleeping tonight.

I let out a sigh of frustration. It was no use lying here wide awake. I felt anxious and depressed, like I wanted to crawl out of my own skin. I had nothing against my uncle, but I didn't want to be in this house anymore, not tonight. My nerves were too on edge here. Something told me I needed to go to the source. Maybe there'd be some kind of answer as to what was really going on. Either way, there was no point staying in bed. Uncle Jack was already fast asleep, so getting out the front door wasn't difficult for me. All I had to do was tip toe through the hallway and delicately close each door I passed through. Then, just like that, I was on my way down the road.

The walk was long and cold. I had a sweater on, but it only kept me so warm. Feeling the breeze in a silent night felt good though. After the week I had been having, anything that made me feel human was welcome. I counted the stars that circled the way. For such a bad day, the moon seemed to shine extra bright. Maybe it's Will, I thought to myself as a smile started to creep up on me. I didn't always believe in spirits or the afterlife, but it was still comforting to think about things like that, and who knows? If there was some crazy upside-down world in the middle of Hawkins, Indiana, then maybe there was a little more magic out there than I had thought.

As I walked down one road after another, I thought more and more about Will. It reminded me of the many times I had walked him home from the Wheelers' house. He would tell me all about the new Dungeons and Dragons campaign he was playing. I didn't always understand what he was talking about, but I was just happy seeing him light up with every word. We had done that exact thing just days before he disappeared. Jonathan stayed over at work that night, and I was quick to volunteer for it. I didn't have a license yet, so it took a little bit longer, but Will never seemed to mind. He enjoyed the little things. He was different like that.

By the time I got to the lake, my legs were tired. I knew it was worth it though. Seeing the scene of the accident brought me a strange feeling of comfort. Maybe it was the connection it held. This was the last place he was. My eyes inched through each ripple as I took it in, just inches away from where Hopper had pulled his body out. I studied the way the leaves blew and the reflection of the moon. I wondered what he had seen that night, if he had also looked to the moon. Maybe he had watched it sway in the water. With each inch that I scanned through, I started seeing more and more things. This wasn't just the still edges of the lake, or the splash of bullfrogs. The spot that I was standing in was right where he had been found, but yet I couldn't see any further than a few feet in front of me. The light from the moon shined everywhere but there. It would've been impossible to see a body from this spot, especially one as small as Will's.

My breath shook. I tried moving from one angle to another, thinking that maybe Hopper had just been wrong about where his body was found. Still, it was impossible to see anything in such a crowded spot. Whoever had called the body in had to have known exactly where it was. My heart started to race. Here I was, again, in the middle of something that was much bigger than I could handle. There was no doubt in my mind that Will was still alive. Those visions were real. Dr. Owens all but confirmed it. Joyce was right, and I had blown her only chance of anyone believing her. It was all up to me now. And I had the perfect plan.

"Daisy Mae," my uncle's voice echoed through my bedroom. "Good morning, sleepy head. You almost slept through breakfast. The pancakes kind of fell apart, so it's probably going to be a microwave past—Hey, what's wrong?"

I looked up at him through the crocodile tears in my eyes and gave him my best sad, weak, feeble little voice. "I'm not sure I'm ready to go back to school today, Uncle Jack."

"Hey, hey, that's okay." His arms were wrapping around me as quickly as they could. He was playing right into my plan. "I'm not going to rush you through anything. If you need time to grieve, you don't have to be afraid to ask for it." I pulled away with a half assed smile. To really seal the deal, I started burrowing myself so deep into my blankets that the only visible part left of me was my face. I had seemed to be pretty convincing so far. "I'll call you in today, but I want to make sure you didn't forget your medicine."

My façade fell for a moment. I gulped. This was not part of the plan. "Oh, I—I must've forgot about it."

He gave me a warm smile and turned to grab a glass of water that he must've snuck in while I was pretending to sleep. "Well it's still a pretty new part of your routine," he said, handing me the water and pill bottle from my nightstand.

I hoped he hadn't noticed my shaking hand when I reached out. I tried staying as calm as I could, but for someone who gets anxious just from existing, I'm sure it didn't look too cool and collected. I still took it with a smile though, or at least as much of a smile as I could muster. Uncle Jack watched me pop the pill into my mouth, slipping it under my tongue in the blink of an eye right before I threw back the glass of water.

"I'm proud of you for being so brave lately. I know it's been tough with the night terrors and losing Will, but you've really proved a lot to me." My heart skipped a beat. I knew he had meant to sound sweet and encouraging, but all it did was make me feel guilty for lying to him. "I'll come check on you after I get off work, okay?"

I nodded, unable to speak. He gave me one last look, full of nothing but pride and pure love, before giving me one last hug and heading out towards his car. As soon as the door had shut behind him, I spit the pill out as far away from me as I could. I waited six minutes, counting the seconds with each tick of my bedroom clock, and then I started to slowly creep out of my bed. With a blanket still wrapped around me, I stayed as low as possible as I shuffled towards the furthest window. His car was gone. I could finally let out a sigh of relief. I'd like to say that lying to my uncle so I could skip school was the hard part but, unfortunately, everything else was going to be much harder.

I waited another ten minutes before I felt safe enough to move. It took me around the same time to brush my teeth and throw some clothes on, and then it was finally time to start walking. I wasn't completely sure where I was going, but I had a general idea. I had only ever been to this place a handful of times when I was a kid, and the only real directions I had were on a map that Jack had made for me nearly a decade ago. It was a longshot that I'd even make it to the right place, but it was the only thing I could think of. If I couldn't go to Joyce or Jonathan, I needed to go to the next best person.

An hour later, a vaguely familiar house popped its face over the horizon. Thank God, I thought. If I had taken a wrong turn somewhere and gotten lost, there's no telling what would've happened. I was good with following directions, but I wasn't good at making them. Somehow, I had still made it. I breathed a sigh of relief and started to pick up my pace. I hoped and prayed that someone was home. If nobody was there, my plan was ruined, and Will would have to wait even longer. There's no telling if he would survive another day in that place.

I took a deep breath as I made my way up the steps to the front door. Checking that no one was around to see me sneaking by on a school day, I looked back at the door and paused before knocking. A couple seconds passed, and I was starting to realize that no one was there. But just as I turned around, I heard the click of a door opening. A desperate smile spread across my face when I saw just who I was looking for.

"Hopper"