Chapter 011: Hello Darkness, My Old Friend

*This chapter contains explicit content. For those that are uncomfortable with it, warnings have been added.

I woke up alone in a cobblestone alleyway. I knew immediately where I was, and realizing it tugged at my heart strings a little. Though this variation was much darker and gloomier, I recognized it as the only cobblestone alleyway in Hawkins. It was a shortcut that Jonathan and I had always taken on the way home from school. Those were the days when my uncle always worked late and let me stay with the Byers until he made it home. Thinking back on it hurt quite a bit. I missed Jonathan a lot, even in the midst of Hell's version of Hawkins, but what I missed even more than that was my childhood. Times were a lot simpler, and the sun shined much brighter on cloudy days. The wonder I had once felt for the unknown had turned to fear. I was terrified, and the only thing I wanted to do was hide in a blanket fort with the younger version of myself. I wanted to have movie nights with Uncle Jack or watch cartoons with Will and Jonathan while Joyce scrambled to put together the best breakfast I'd ever had. Those days were long gone though, especially now that so much had happened.

A chill ran down my spine, bringing me out of my daydream. I looked around, trying to calculate just how much time I had before something came lurching out of the shadows towards me. Just like any other time, I couldn't hear anything. It didn't feel like anything was after me, but I still had an uneasy feeling. The only thing I could do was count the steps I took and hope that I didn't walk into something I shouldn't have. It's possible I wouldn't be as lucky as last time. My fingers tingled as I noticed a single streetlamp cattycorner from where I was standing. It flickered in intervals of three, three short, three long, and three short again. SOS, I thought to myself. I turned in a circle, looking for someone nearby that might've been in danger, but there was no one. Maybe it was a message from Will. Maybe he needed my help again.

I took off in a sprint. I knew I was only a few minutes away from my house. I don't know why I felt like he would be hiding out there, but it was the best place to start looking. If Will was trying to contact me, there'd be no better place than my own house. The world started to blur the faster I ran, skipping over the black vines spread across the grass. It was only a matter of minutes before I was plowing down my own front door, flinging it open as my feet hit the fuzzy carpet inside. What I saw next made me stop in my tracks. Sure, I knew that my house wasn't going to look the exact same as it did in the real world, but I didn't expect to see what had happened to it.

Along the walls were a series of cryptic messages sprawled throughout the house, the letters written messily in black, much like the alphabet Joyce had painted in her house. It's coming, one read. Get out while you can, another said, while a third just simply said, Help. Whoever had left these messages must've been in a hurry. I checked the air around me, searching for someone lingering inside, but it was just me. I started taking small steps across the living room, stopping when I saw my own name written over and over again on the wall furthest from me. My heartbeat picked up when I saw what was at the end. 'Daisy Mae' it read. My uncle was the only one that had ever called me that.

I jumped as soon as I felt something touch my shoulder, jerking around and holding a hand towards the creature in order to protect myself. When I saw who it was though, I was glad I hadn't instinctively zapped them. Standing behind me was the one and only Jack Clearwater, smiling wide with a hazmat suit in between us. I let out a gasp, stepping forward to wrap him into the biggest hug I had ever given anyone. The strange thing was, I knew this was my uncle. He looked the same, and his shining personality seemed the same, but his skin was giving off a pale blue tone, and his body felt ice cold. Hugging him felt like stepping into an ice box, my arms feeling like they were about to frost over just touching him. He hugged me back before pulling away and outstretching one hand towards me. It was my natural instinct to trust him. He hadn't given me a reason not to. I grabbed his hand, a chill coursing through my veins as soon as our fingers made contact. Something was different about him, and I needed to know why.

A few steps later and Jack was stepping outside and into his garden. It looked just as lively and beautiful even in this world, feeling like I was stepping straight into a fairytale as soon as the floral aromas hit me. He led me through an assortment of rose bushes before stopping right in front of the small patch of garden that we had planted together when we first came back to Hawkins. It was where he had put the wooden picnic table that he helped me build ten summers ago, right in the middle of our daisy bushes. I still wasn't sure what was going on, but I had finally realized he was trying to tell me something. That was that same moment that, one by one, I saw dozens and dozens of unfamiliar faces stepping out from behind the bushes. I looked over at Jack, who was still smiling, though I could tell there was worry behind his eyes. As I turned back around, I caught the eye of the only other face I recognized, Nancy's friend Barb. When she stepped into view, I could see her hand, still wrapped up and bleeding. She gave me a weak smile as it started to die down. I looked around, searching for one more face, but I never found it. Will wasn't here.

I looked back to my uncle, hoping that he would somehow find a way to tell me what was going on. I tried to speak, but just like each time before, nothing came out. His smile fell the more he looked at me. It was as if he was taking in every detail of my face, like he was never going to see me again, his eyes connecting every freckle. I felt a tear start to roll down my cheek at just the thought of it. I knew that I would see him as soon as I got home, but even just thinking of continuing on in a world without him was enough to get to me. He raised one hand to my face, wiping away the tear as one made its way down the bridge of his nose. I watched him close his eyes before leaning forward to press his forehead against mine. Something told me he wanted me to do the same, so I did. When I closed my eyes, I was flooded with glimpses of the same young girl I had seen drawing the picture in the lab. In one moment, I saw her in the same wire hat that Dr. Owens had put on me, tears leaving a trail down her face. Then we were inside of a white room, each color of the rainbow running horizontally across the walls. I saw her watching the footsteps of someone in long, white pants and dress shoes so shiny I could see her reflection. Her face flashed through my head over and over again before I finally saw what I needed to. The girl was standing with her hand outstretched, blood coming from her nose, eyes, and ears. I sucked in a breath. She was like me.

When I opened my eyes again, I saw Jack's face boring into mine, pleading for something. I saw him open his mouth to say something, knowing that I wouldn't be able to hear him. But I did. The first thing I was able to hear was my uncle's voice, saying the words, "I love you, Daisy Mae." My eyes widened once I realized I had heard him. I was so used to being completely deaf in this world that I almost didn't recognize his voice, so strong and clear. I tried to say something back, but I was already right back to silence. I love you, Uncle Jack, I then mouthed. He seemed to understand, giving me his signature warm smile. I smiled back, but his attention was snatched away from me as the trees started to rumble behind him. He turned to me with wide eyes. I knew what was coming. Uncle Jack gave me one last hug before pulling away and pointing towards the ground. Confused, I glanced up at him, but all he did was keep pointing at the ground. It wasn't until I saw the familiar, spiney limbs growing closer and closer to me that I realized what he had meant. He wanted me to ground myself to escape.

With one more look into his eyes, I nodded as each face started to fade away. Jack grabbed my hand and helped me into a sitting position on the ground. As I closed my eyes, I felt his cold hand slowly vanish, meaning I was all alone with this monster that was coming after me. I let out a few deep breaths, thinking of some of my happiest memories. I thought of Jack and how long it took us to put this tiny area of the garden together. I remembered my hand slipping as we dug holes for the flowers, my thumb getting jammed between the shovel and the damp soil. I cried for hours, and Jack never once yelled at me. Instead, he had asked if I wanted to take a break, and we came to town to 'run errands' that I now realized he had just made up. He took me to see Joyce at work, showing her my bruised thumb like it was a trophy for our hard work, before we went back home with a tub of ice cream and the new Scooby-Doo series on tape. The more I thought of it, the more the world started to disappear. By the end of it, I could no longer feel the grass on my legs or the cold air grazing my chin. There was just one bright flash, and I was safe and sound.

Much to my surprise, I woke up in my bed, confused but completely safe. My head was throbbing. It felt like I had just woken up from hibernation or something. My arms and legs felt like they were filled with cement as I used them to push myself out of bed. I rubbed my head, looking around to see if anything was even slightly out of place. It wasn't, which made me even more confused. I was sure I didn't dream up sneaking into Hawkins Lab with Hopper, and there's no way he would've just dumped me in my bed after all that, but there wasn't a single explanation I could think of. I pulled an old skirt, a t-shirt, and a plaid jacket out of my closet, figuring it was no use just staring at my room all day. It wasn't until I had finished showering and preparing myself for the day that I realized how quiet the house was. Nobody was in the kitchen making breakfast or outside my door waiting for me to take those retched pills. There's no way Jack was at work, not with knowing that Will's 'funeral' was today.

After searching the entire house, I was able to conclude that I was definitely the only one there. I decided to tell myself that Jack had just headed out early to be there for Joyce, and I was set on making myself believe it. If I was wrong, he'd show up with some excuse by the end of the day. He wouldn't leave me, I knew he wouldn't. That's what I had kept thinking at least. It was kind of strange that I had seen him in my vision last night, and it was even more strange that he had been wearing a hazmat suit and somehow gave me visions of someone who I had never even met before. I wondered if he knew this girl, and if he knew about me. Was he just playing along this whole time?

My mind was bustling with so many thoughts that I almost didn't hear the knocks coming from my front door. I rushed to the door as quickly as I could, hoping it was Jack stopping by to check in on me and apologize for not telling me he'd be gone. It seemed like a longshot, but I definitely would've expected that before the person that had actually shown up at my doorstep with a satchel slung over his shoulder. "Jonathan," I asked, squinting my eyes to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. "Why are you here?"

He raised a hand to nervously scratch the back of his head. "I—uh—I wanted to talk to you. Can I come in?" I was suspicious, but I let him in anyway, shutting the door but staying put right where I was with both arms crossed in front of me. He took a seat on the sofa and started stumbling on his words. "I'm sorry that I've been a jerk to you lately," he started. "I should've listened to you. I should—"

"Where are you going with this?"

His eyes finally met mine. "I believe you, Daisy. I don't think you're hallucinating."

"Well thanks for that, but you're a little late to the party," I said, sarcasm dripping from each word. "Why are you really here?"

"I need your help."

There it is. "My help with what? I'm just imagining everything, remember?" I don't know why I was suddenly so angry. Maybe it was the fact that everyone else in the world put their faith in me before my own best friend did. My best friend who, might I add, called me every name in the book and told me to stop putting my nose where it doesn't belong.

"I said I was sorry, okay? I mean, how believable do you think any of that is?" I rolled my eyes and started towards the kitchen to make myself breakfast. I was already done with the conversation, but Jonathan was being incredibly persistent. "Do you remember the night we took those pictures?"

I turned away from him and gulped, memories of the exact night going through my head, specifically the ones of the two of us getting very hot and heavy. "Oh, the night you were snapping photos of Nancy Wheeler half naked?"

"I shouldn't have done that," he said. I let out a fake laugh. Men really were unbelievable sometimes. "I just want you to look at this photo, okay?"

"I think I saw enough of those photos when Steve Harrington shoved them in my face," I replied coldly. Jonathan continued to shuffle through his bag before stepping in front of me, holding out said photo so close to my face that I was forced to look at it. When I did, I fully thought it was going to be a close up of Nancy or something, but it wasn't. Instead, it was a shot of Barb sitting at the edge of the pool, her hand bandaged just as it had been when I saw her get taken. That wasn't all though. Behind her was the blood boiling creature, zoned in on her from just a few feet behind. "How did you get this," I asked immediately.

"It's one of the photos I took that night." He pointed towards the shadows of the creature. "Is that what you've been seeing?"

"Yeah, but I don't understand how you got this" I said, grabbing onto the photo to get a closer look. "I was in that vision when Barb went missing. I—I saw it take her."

"What do you mean you saw it take her?"

I let out a sigh, handing the photo back to him as a chill ran down my spine. "I was in the other world, and I saw Barb sitting by the pool. Her—her hand was wrapped up. It was like it could smell the blood or something, and I don't know. The last thing I saw was that thing grabbing her. I woke up before I could see anything else."

Jonathan took a step forward, gingerly placing his hand on the small of my back. "I'm sorry," was all he said.

It was only two words, but the way he had delivered it made them feel like so much more. For someone who had just caught the sour end of my attitude at the ripe time of seven in the morning, he was being incredibly gentle. When he finally caught my eye, I realized it was impossible for me to stay angry at him. We had spent so many years of our lives side by side that one argument, no matter the size of it, was so miniscule in the grand scheme of things. I studied his face as closely as I could, counting every freckle and memorizing the way he smelled. "It's okay," I finally replied, my voice just barely audible amongst the pounding in my chest.

* EXPLICIT *

We were suddenly lost in each other's eyes. Jonathan raised one hand to cup the side of my face while the other stayed put on my lower back. I felt my face start to flush when I noticed his eyes flicker down to my lips for a split second. I knew he was going to kiss me before he started inching closer to me, but that didn't make it feel any less magical. The way his soft lips moved so perfectly with mine made it feel like clockwork. Our souls were so deeply intertwined that it was impossible to ignore it. The arm that had been on my back now wrapped around my torso, closing any space that had been between us. It was now just the two of us giving in to our own attractions.

Before we knew it, I was half naked on the kitchen counter, Jonathan's heavy breath trickling down my neck as I started physically aching for more. I didn't even remember pulling my t-shirt and jacket over my head, but I was able to catch them being flung against the refrigerator. I was now sitting with my legs wrapped around Jonathan, nothing between us but a bra and a thin skirt. My heart was racing, but I found comfort in his embrace. Each kiss left my lips tingling for more, jolts of electricity running up and down my body with the feeling of his hands on me. It was only a matter of minutes before he was peeling off my underwear and pushing my skirt to the side.

This time didn't last quite as long as the first, but something about it still made it feel twice as good. Maybe it was the anxious feeling that someone could've walked in and caught us any second, or maybe it was my newfound sense of confidence. Either way, I wasn't going to complain. With each thrust, I felt my body start to tighten up before finally spilling all over him just as his movements started becoming more and more messy, my thighs twitching around him. My entire body had become overstimulated by the time he had pulled out. The two of us were silent for a long while, simply breathing in each other's hormones as Jonathan rested his forehead against mine.

* EXPLICIT END *

The one and only thing that was able to bring me out of that moment was the ticking of the clock behind him reminding me exactly what time it was. "The funeral," I gasped, jumping off of the counter and scrambling towards my clothes. "We have to get ready for the funeral. Uncle Jack will kill me if I'm late."

Just as I bent down to grab my shirt, I felt a pair of arms slide around my waist, Jonathan cradling me into his torso. "We still have another hour," he mumbled into my bare shoulder.

"An hour, but now I have to deep clean my kitchen counter," I said, turning myself around to give him a flushed smile. "And you're not even dressed," I added.

He grinned at me, pressing his head against mine. "Do you want to ride with me," he asked softly. I gave him a tiny nod as he pressed his lips against the tip of my nose. "Come over when you're ready, okay?"

I smiled, reluctantly pulling myself away from him with a playful hip sway. "See you in thirty minutes, Byers," I said, keeping my eyes straight ahead and hoping I looked as attractive as I had wanted to.

Today might suck, but at least it started out well.