Chapter 2 – Woken up, shaken up

Will felt terrible.

His limbs hurt as if a truck had run over him while in his forehead a red-hot knife seemed to be stuck. His mouth was dry like a desert and he tasted blood. As he carefully moved his tongue around to find out where it came from, he noticed that his lower lip had split open. His shirt was sticking to his upper body which was covered in cold sweat.
Altogether, he was quite a miserable heap.
A physical condition like this surely would have frightened anyone else deeply.

For Will instead it showed one simple truth: He was alive. And that's what it was all about. He had escaped Vecna.
Somehow he had broken free from his grip. And he didn't have even the slightest idea how.

„Guys!"

He recognized Dustin's voice immediately. Normally, hearing it would have triggered a wave of happiness inside of him, but this time it was like a tsunami was rolling through his brains. Will moaned softly, hoping that Dustin didn't intend to shout again. Instead, he heard him running up some stairs: "Hey guys, where are you? I think he's waking up!"

Will tried to open his eyes but stopped immediately as a single ray of light filtered through his half-opened lids and nearly made his head explode. When the pain had passed, he took a moment trying to find out where he was. With his eyes closed he tried to concentrate on the smell that hung in the air. A familiar smell. A combination of peculiar aromas that made him feel safe and comfortable. Dust. Old furniture. Cold pizza. Worn socks.
Then he heard feet trampling on a staircase. Heard someone gasping with relief. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder, skinny, long fingers squeezing him with light pressure. Even if it hurt, Will enjoyed the warmth the touch sent through his body.

„Will!"

Mike's voice was trembling a bit. „Will, can you hear me?"

He gathered all his strength and indicated a nod. Dustin let out a whoop of joy that almost knocked Will unconscious.

„Not…"

The words he tried to string together were little more than a whisper. Even though his eyes were still closed tightly, he knew that Mike leaned down to him. He could smell the peach-flavored shampoo that his best friend always used and he felt a strand of Mike's hair tickling his face.

„…that…"

„…loud."

Every single word cost him a great amount of energy.

In his mind suddenly memories appeared of all the many sleepovers at Mike's. Of the many occasions when they couldn't fall asleep (or didn't want to) and, cuddled in their sleeping bags, talked to each other until far after midnight. Will remembered how hard it always had been to speak while drifting away to sleep. How much strength it took him to force his lips to form words. It felt a little like back then, he thought. The times, when everything still was alright. When he and Mike were inseparable.

„What did he say, Mike?", Dustin shouted und Will moaned in pain as the knife pierced his skull even deeper.

„Shhhh", Mike hissed. With a hushed voice, he said: „I think he has a headache."

Had he been able to, Will would have smiled. Headache. The understatement of the century.

„Mike…"

„Yes, Will?", his friend whispered.

„Lights out, please…"

Even if he didn't hear someone walking over to the light switch, it suddenly got darker in the room. The bright light of the lamp on the ceiling over him – so much he could see even through his closed eyes – was out. The darkness settled over him like a warming blanket. He felt his body relax, felt the sharp pain in his head decrease immediately. Will took a deep breath and opened his eyes carefully. Through the slit of the open door at the upper end of the staircase fell enough light to illuminate the surroundings. But it was gloomy enough to prevent the invisible knife from stabbing him in the head again.

The first thing Will saw was Mike's slim face. His best friend gave him a reassuring smile, but in his eyes, there was one thing above all: concern. Great concern. Again. He didn't want his best friend to look at him like that.
Next to Mike he saw Dustin's characteristic curly head and his even more typical wide grin that showed the silver brackets of his braces. On Mike's other side El stood. She was the only one not smiling. Instead, she looked at him with a serious expression, frowning. Her stare was so piercing that he was sure, she could see into the depths of his soul.

That was when Will realized that she knew what had happened to him. And for a short moment his heartbeat stopped as he understood what that meant.
How much of Vecna's speech had she heard? And if she had heard something, had she drawn the right conclusions out of it? What did she know? About him. About his deepest secret…

Will felt the touch of a cool hand on his own. „You are safe now", El said calmly, looking at him understandingly. „You don't have to worry." The strong affection in her voice made Will relax a little. But the questions remained. And he was scared to find out the answers.

„Better?", Mike asked. He made a gesture with his head towards the lamp.

„Much better", Will mumbled, then he closed his eyes once more and took a deep breath. Again the familiar smell penetrated his nostrils – and now he knew where he was even if it was too dark to see all the details in the room. After all, he had spent a great amount of his childhood here. Fought countless hours against creatures from the depths. Argued with Mike, Dustin and Lucas about the right strategies, about whether to attack or to defend (he for himself had always voted for the latter). With them by his side, he had defied death over and over again, many times only by one single throw of dices. If Will would ever have to choose a place that was a symbol for their friendship, it would have been the cellar in the Wheeler's house.

Stinking cellar.

„You scared the shit out of me, man…"

The concern Will had seen in Mike's eyes a few moments ago was now audible too. Embarrassed, Will lowered his eyes . He didn't want his best friend to worry about him. Didn't want to see him weak again.

So weak.

"I'm sorry…", he mumbled but Mike shook his head vigorously. "You don't have to apologize, are you serious? The only thing that matters is that you're still here." Mike looked like he was about to burst into tears every second.

An awkward silence filled the room when nobody knew what to say. Will knew that his friends were dying to hear every detail of what had happened to him on that hill. And he felt no desire to tell them.

"How long did I sleep?", he asked, hoping his own questions would distract the others from their own ones.

"Just a few hours", Mike replied. "Like El has predicted." He smiled at his girlfriend. "When she saw you, she knew that you would be okay soon. How do you feel?"

"Run over, beaten up and thrown into a pool of acid", Will said and managed to show a crooked smile. "But it gets better every minute."

Mike squeezed his arm encouragingly. But something about his behavior was strange, Will thought. Something was troubling him. He could sense it. And then he remembered what he had told Mike a few hours ago. How he had broken down and almost confessed everything. And even if he hadn't been able to say the final three words to him, he was unsure if Mike didn't understand anyway. That he knew. And that he struggled with that knowledge, to say the least. Will asked himself if he had ruined everything. And he cursed that one moment on the hill when he had lost his control. Stupid idiot.

"Do Mum or Jonathan know?", he asked the others, trying to get rid of those question marks in his mind.

Mike shook his head. "When it became clear that you haven't been seriously injured, we decided to bring you here. We didn't want to upset them until we knew more details about…"

He hesitated. But Dustin couldn't keep it anymore. "Dude, you have to tell us what happened! Mike told us that you were talking to him in one moment and in the next – BOOM!", he slammed his fist into his open palm, "you became a zombie!"

"Dustin!", Mike snapped before guiltily putting his hand over his mouth when Will moaned loudly again.

"What? That's how it was, wasn't it?", Dustin hissed back to Mike.

Will rubbed his temples. A little longer than he really needed to (because the pain already subsided) but it was his chance to buy some time. At least he thought it was…

"You were with…Him."

Will froze. Then he looked over to El. Her eyes were locked on him.

"Am I right?"

Will nodded silently as his hands started to shake.

"I felt it", El said, "how you fought against him."

"You fought him, dude?", Dustin shouted, chocked on his own spit and got a coughing attack. When Will said nothing, El shook her head.

"It was more inside…here." She pointed to her forehead.

"Did you see it?", Will asked, feeling the shaking in his hands increase.

El shook her head again and Will almost breathed out loudly. "It was similar to when he attacked Max, but…", she hesitated for a second, frowning again, "I couldn't reach out to you. I tried, but it was as if there was an invisible wall or something." She lowered her eyes, ashamed. "I wanted to save you, Will, but I couldn't."

Will was torn apart.
On the one hand, he was more than happy that El obviously hadn't heard anything of his conversation with Vecna and that his secrets still remained to be safe.
On the other hand, he didn't want his friend to feel guilty because of him. Especially because he knew that El was already blaming herself for the bad condition Max was in. Blaming herself she couldn't rescue her in time.
Even though her relationship with Mike didn't make it easier for him to get along with her, he knew that El felt a strong compassion for him. And he liked her too, he had always liked her. She indeed had become a sister for him, someone he trusted, someone he relied on. Sometimes during the last few months, Will had been surprised of himself. It would have been so easy to convince himself that she was the one to blame for everything. To concentrate all his bad feelings on her because she was the one who took Mike away from him. That she was the villain in his sad love story. But he never did. And that was one of the few things he was truly proud of.

"Don't get offended, El", Dustin said and threw a grin in Will's direction. "But I think this time he wasn't in need of your help at all."

Puzzled, Will looked from Mike to El and back.

"Well", his best friend began hesitatingly, "it seems as if you escaped him completely on your own. Just like that…"

Will blinked. "But how?"

"No clue." Mike scratched his head. "You know, you were talking to me when suddenly your eyes rolled back in your head. And then you started to spasm." Mike shuddered while remembering the horrible view. "In fact, it was like with all the others of Vecna's victims." Mike again put his hand on Will's shoulder. "But opposite to the others you didn't start to float in the air but stayed on the ground. I grabbed you, I shook you, I called your name, but you were completely gone. Gone for minutes."

Will just stared at him stunned.

"And suddenly you screamed "NOT YET!", flew a few yards through the air and crashed on the ground busting your lip open. I was just about able to see that your eyes were normal again, then you faded."

"No music…", Dustin mumbled.

The other three looked at him confused.

"Don't you remember?", Dustin asked, shaking his head. "Max needed her favorite song to have a chance to run away from Vecna." He took off his baseball cap and run his hand through his dark curls. "If you didn't perform a stunning Kate-Bush-impression or anything like that, Mike, then he was able to free himself without any music."

"Like I said, all I did was shaking him and calling his name."

"I didn't need any music too", El said. "I mean when you saved me."

Mike looked a little offended but before he could say something, Dustin said giggling: "But the ultimate confession of love by Mr. Loverboy here!"

"Hey!", Mike punched his shoulder while El's cheeks turned red.

For a short moment the tense atmosphere in the cellar loosened and even Will couldn't suppress a giggle. His body was recovering so quickly that he could do that without having to fear he could pass out.

Then Mike spoke. "Before you even think about it, Dustin, no, I didn't do that either!" From one moment to the next, Will's laughter disappeared.

"Then, my dear friends", Dustin said solemnly, "this means nothing less than Sir William Byers here is the first person we know who could escape from that asshole without any help at all." He indicated a bow. Will shook his head smiling and realized that it didn't cause any pain anymore.

"What did you see on the other side, Will?", El asked.

"Not much", he replied truthfully. "In fact, only red, everywhere. At first I only heard Vecna's voice."

"What did he say?", Mike asked curiously.

"Nothing special", Will tried to avoid the question. "Only threats, insults – you, know, just simply bad stuff to scare me…"

"Nothing else?"

He shook his head. When he saw El's gaze, it was clear that she did not believe him. That she knew he was hiding something. But surprisingly, she stayed silent.

"Guys, that doesn't make any sense", Dustin grumbled. "He already had his four victims. The gate to our world stands open widely. Why for god's sake should he try to capture Will right now?"

There was a moment of silence in the room when everyone tried to gather their thoughts.

"He said I was something special…", Will finally mumbled.

The heads of the other three snapped in his direction.

"That it was the reason he chose me. That he makes an exception for special people…"

Will again heard Vecna's booming voice in his head. He shuddered. Dustin instead, for the second time now, let out a whoop of joy.

"What the…", Mike snapped.

"Guys, don't you get it?", Dustin yelled triumphantly. "If Vecna feels compelled to kill you personally – whichofcoursewillneverhappenaslongaswearearound", he added hastily, "that can only mean one thing: He has a good reason to take you seriously!" Dustin showed a satisfied grin. At least, until he saw the blank faces of his friends. He sighed theatrically. "Will, you are excluded for a second because you have been half dead, but Mike, El, seriously? Seriously?"
He leaned forward towards them like a teacher who tries to explain something to a couple of exceptionally slow-witted pupils and widened his eyes. "He's scared of Will, got it? Because our dear Will the Wise obviously has something on him or in him that can be dangerous for Vecna."

Mike hesitantly shook his head. "Are you sure?"

"It would be possible…"

El sat down, elbows on her knees, chin resting in her hands. She looked Will right into the eyes.

"You have a connection to the Upside Down. The Mindflayer - I mean Henry - was inside your body. Perhaps something remained when he was driven out. Something that gives you special powers now."

Will, who had listened silently while his friends were talking about their theory, propped himself on his elbows. How could they seriously assume he possessed any power at all. Him. The one who was laying here once more, just barely having managed to survive, nothing more than a miserable heap drenched in sweat. Again. He was determined to be the victim, the one who always had to be saved. The weak one who always needed protection. The wimp. Him, superpowers. Ridiculous.

"You mean like yours?", Dustin asked excited.

El furrowed her eyebrows. "Different."

She eyed him briefly and then asked: "Are you sure you didn't see any building or landscape or… anything when you were there?"

"Nothing, just red."

"Hm…" Then suddenly her features brightened. "Perhaps he wasn't capable of reaching you completely. So he couldn't pull you into his own world. That would explain why I couldn't reach you too. Perhaps, you just blocked us."

"Blocked? Wait, guys", Will shook his head desperately even though El's words made some sense to him. Actually, he remembered wanting Vecna to stay out if his head. But, no. That wasn't possible. "You work your way into something there. Look at me, do I really seem like something special right now?"

Hearing that, Mike lost his composure. "Could you finally stop making yourself so damn small! I'm sick of it!" The sharpness in his voice made Will jump in shock. "You escaped from Vecna, just like that! What kind of proof do you need?"

"I…", Will stammered but Mike cut him short with a rude gesture.

"He attacked you, Will! And he didn't get what he wanted, which means that he'll try again. And one thing's for sure", Mike shouted angrily, "next time he won't let you surprise him again! If you don't start believing in yourself, you won't stand any chance."

Will tried to grab his hand, but Mike pulled it away. "In case you didn't notice, Will", he said hoarsely. "Today no paladin saved you. You did." A tear formed in the corner of his eye.

And Will finally understood how the events on the hill must have upset him. And he tried to image how it would have been for him the other way around. To witness how Mike suddenly wasn't himself anymore. Not being able to do anything but shake him and call his name. To know how invisible forces are about to lift him into the air. That he was about to hear the sound of cracking bones and to see eyeballs pop like grapes. To know that Mike will die right now. Just like that.

"Mike, I…"

"Stop it, Will, it's okay", Mike said quietly. Then he turned on his heels and almost hastily left the cellar.

Will stared after him in horror. He just wanted to cry out loud.

"Don't worry, he didn't mean it in a bad way", El said, smiling understandingly. "He just worried a lot about you." She came to him and gave him a lovingly kiss on his forehead. "I'm glad you are here, Will. We all are." He blushed. "Now rest a little more. I'll check on Mike." Then she left the room.

Will looked at Dustin who had watched the whole scenery in silence, his mouth slightly open, his facial expression showing deep and utter confusion. Then his friend turned to him and said: "What the hell was that all about? And I always thought our bickering about D&D was weird."

When Will said nothing, Dustin shook his head as if with that gesture he could shake off the bewilderment in his mind. Then he gave his friend a warm smile. "Anyway, El is right of course. I'm glad you're here too. As far as I'm concerned, I'm done with losing friends for the rest for my life." For a split second, there was a deep sadness on Dustin's face and Will remembered with embarrassment that his old friend had suffered a lot too in the last few days. Will had never got to know Eddie Munson personally but even the stories about the guy had shown him what an inspiring person he must have been. Especially for Dustin, who always had been clinging to older boys as his role models.

"You won't get rid of me that quickly", Will said smiling.

And Dustin grinned widely. "If there's one thing we've learned during the past few years, that's it. Perhaps I should call you Willverine? Indestructible, like Logan in X-Men. Perhaps you should wear black and yellow spandex."

They both laughed.

Then Dustin said: "Man, you must be hungry. Let me get you something to eat", before storming up the stairs of the cellar.

When he had left the room, Will's thoughts immediately began to circle around Mike. About his odd behavior. About the emotions, his best friend had shown.

It was all about Mike again.

It always was.