Chapter 10 – The Fall of Mike Wheeler

There he sat.

On a couch, in Hopper's cabin. His mum to his left, with one arm wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him tightly to her body. Hopper, his stepdad, to his right, lighting one cigarette after another. His friends Lucas, Dustin and Max sitting on the couch opposite to them and El standing in front of the wooden bookshelf.
Everyone thinking and talking about his sexuality.
About a subject he once thought to be the one information he would take into the grave with him. His dirty, little secret.
Will didn't even know if he felt good or bad. Most of all, he felt awkward being the centre of attraction. Awkward and exposed.

When they were finished with their detailed explanation about the many variations of love, El still looked perplexed.

"But why is it bad if a boy loves a boy or a girl loves a girl? It's love after all."

Will couldn't suppress a smile given to the heartwarming innocence of his half-sister. Even after four years in "real" civilization, there was still so much left she wasn't familiar with. Subjects she approached like little children usually did. Open, uncompromised, without blinders. More than once, Will had admired (and sometimes almost envied) her for that. For not being corrupted by prejudices or dogmas. If only more people were like her…

"It isn't bad at all", Max replied. "But there are some assholes who think it is. Because they say it's not normal."

"Yeah", Dustin agreed. "Those jerks are convinced that homosexuality is against nature."

El frowned again. "But how could it be against nature if nature itself creates people who are gay?", she asked.

Dustin nodded. "Good point. Explain it to those idiots."

"They say it's a mistake", Will said quietly. "And they make you feel like you are one, too.

Once again, his gaze went to the front door. He would have given everything for it to swing up and Mike to come back. The fact that he didn't know why his best friend left on his bike and where he went, was burning him from the inside.

When he turned his head back towards his friends, his eyes met Max'. And Will got frightened. She had seen…
Max looked at him for a moment, then to the door, then her eyes widened in understanding. Her lips silently formed the words "Oh shit". And that was exactly what Will thought too. She knew…

Will looked at her pleadingly, and finally Max shook her head almost unnoticeably, signalling to him she wouldn't tell anyone. And Will knew how much that meant since El, the girl whose boyfriend he yearned for so much, was no less than her best female friend.

"Your dad was one of those people, right?", El ripped him out of his thoughts.

Will just nodded as his mum's hand on his shoulder grabbed him just a little more tightly.

"Lonnie's a prick", Hopper mumbled.

"He knew it long before I knew myself. He called me a fag, a fairy…"

Dustin clutched his fists. "He didn't…"

Will hadn't intended to talk about his past. But the honesty of El's question had opened something deep within him. Some kind of chest where he had kept all those bad memories locked away for years. He swallowed hard.

"I was too young back then to understand what he meant by that. But what I understood was that it had to be something bad, something dirty. That one shouldn't be like that." He blinked away a tear that appeared in the corner of his eye. "He was very successful…"

"Oh honey", Joyce said and ran a hand through his brown hair. "You could have talked to me all the time." She sniffed loudly.

He lowered his head and began to nibble at the skin of his fingers, trying not to let the stinging in his eyes get the upper hand again. "But you've been so clamped with your work and everything. I didn't want to burden you even more."

Joyce forced him to look at her. "Will, it's not a burden for a mother if her child needs help. It never is!"

"Yeah, I know, mum. But regardless of that, it's not like I knew about my…, about me… when I was eight years old. I started to realize that I'm in love with-", he bit his tongue and quickly corrected himself, "that I like boys more than girls during the last few years." Inwardly, he breathed out loud. That was close. "And you know what happened in those years…"

"But why didn't you tell us, Will? You knew that we were not going to judge you, right?", Lucas asked softly.

Will shook his head. "I-, I wasn't sure. I was afraid to be rejected by you guys."

Dustin snorted. "Dude, that's bullshit. We're a party for life, we would never reject you!"

Will smiled. "I know now."

"Well, I don't mean to be rude or something, Dustin", Hopper interrupted, "but considering the fact that one of you rushed out of this building after Will's… um…, revelation, I think he wasn't completely wrong to be afraid."

"You think Mike's a homophobe?", Lucas asked, and his face turned angry. "No way, man! No way!"

No way? Even if Will had never heard his best friend saying something bad about gay people, he wasn't so sure about that anymore. Why else would he have left?

"So why did he leave then?", Hopper voiced his own thoughts. "Because he had to pee urgently? I don't think so."

"Maybe he was just surprised. I mean, no one would have expected that kind of information during a D&D game", Dustin said.

"Mike's not a bad person, Dad." El looked at Hopper with darkened eyes. "He would never dump Will."

Will winced in view of El's choice of words. Dump. The word brought back some memories. Memories of last year, when El dumped Mike's ass and he helped him to win her back. When the Mike he knew for so long disappeared and a new Mike took over. One that didn't seem to care for him anymore.

"Even if he's not", Hopper continued unimpressed, "there are people in Hawkins who are." He turned to Will. "Kid, don't get me wrong here, okay? What you did is brave. Very brave. And as long as I'm around I will do everything I can to protect you. But you should know that it's not easy to walk around openly gay in a small town like that. You know what I mean?"

Will just nodded.

"There is ignorance out there, you know. Ignorance and fear – which can be a dangerous combination."

"Stop scaring him, Jim", Joyce snapped.

"I'm not scaring him, Joyce, I'm telling the truth. He needs to be prepared for what's waiting out there." He pointed at the door. "Because even if we defeat Vecna, the world won't be the harmless, beautiful and sweet spot you want it to be. And because I care, I want him to know that."

"I already know", Will answered briefly. "I'm not a small child anymore."

"Good", Hopper grumbled.

"Just to make it clear", Max pointed out, "anyone who wants to hurt Will has to get past us first, right?" The others nodded with a grim expression on their faces.

"Thanks, guys", Will said with a smile. Then he turned his head to the door again. "But we shouldn't worry about things like that right now. We should look after Mike."

Dustin raised an eyebrow. "Dude, relax, he's only gone for half an hour."

"But it's late", Will insisted. "What if he's in danger?" He knew that he overreacted in a way but the urge to get Mike back was too strong. He couldn't take it anymore. He needed to know why he had left. The uncertainty ripped him apart.

"Maybe he's just having a walk to get a clear head", Lucas assumed.

"We could search for him in the void just to make sure he's okay", El suggested, but there was something odd about her gaze, Will thought. When she saw everyone raising from their seats, she hastily added: "Alone. It won't take long." When Hopper nodded, she signalled to Will to come with her.

A few minutes later, the two sat on her bed cross legged, with the familiar rustling of a radio as a background noise. Before she put the blindfold over her eyes, El took Will's hands into her own and looked deep into his eyes. "I know why you're upset, but everything will be alright."

Will froze. "You know? Wha-, what do you mean?"

El just smiled, then she slipped the piece of black fabric down from her forehead. And everything went black.

It took only a few moments until they found Mike. The black-haired boy was sitting on a red swing (a swing Will knew all too well), his head lowered, his body bent over something he held in his hands. When they took a step closer, Will saw what it was. And his heart jumped. Mike was inspecting a colourful painting. A painting that showed a huge red dragon fighting against a couple of heroes, the one in the forefront holding a shield with a red heart on it. A paladin…

When he tried to read the facial expressions of his best friend, he noticed that Mike's eyes were red and puffy. He had cried. But why?

"He's safe, see?", El's voice rang in his head.

When he turned to her, the invisible cold hand was already pulling him into reality.

Back in El's bedroom, they almost synchronically wiped the drop of blood from their noses.

"We should give him some time alone", El said quietly. "He'll come back soon, I'm sure. You know how impulsive he is sometimes."

Will nodded but he didn't feel much better. His unhappiness didn't go unnoticed and El comfortingly put a hand on his shoulder. "He'll talk to you, Will." She forced him to look at her. "And when he does, you should tell him the truth."

"Wha-", Will began, but El didn't let him speak.

"Will, I ain't blind", she said smiling warmly. "I see how you look at Mike. I noticed long ago. But I didn't know what it meant. Until today."

Will felt his eyes filling with tears again while he tried to identify at least a hint of anger or disappointment in her face. But there wasn't any. She still just smiled at him. And it just made Will feel more treacherous, more guilty. For all he desired was the boy El loved.

"I'm so sorry", he choked out. "I never intended to hurt you. But I just can't help it."

For a second, she looked at him uncomprehendingly, then she pulled him to her, so their foreheads were pressed together.

"You don't have to apologize, Will", El said. "If there's someone who should, it's me. Because I'm the one responsible for you to be sad."

"No, you're not!" Will looked at her in shock. "You must not think that! It's not your fault. And neither it's Mike's. It's just not supposed to be…" He sobbed.

"But I want you to be happy, Will. You're my brother and I love you", El said, now with tears in her eyes too. "It's just not fair."

"Yeah", Will smiled thinly. She was right. So right. "Sometimes life isn't."

The door went open, and Hopper's head appeared in the gap. "Everything alright?"

They both nodded hastily. "We're coming!"

Before they re-entered the living room, Will grabbed El's hand and hold her back. "El, it's very important for me that you know that I'm not holding any grudge against you, okay? I really, really like you, and for my part, this is not going to change, okay?"

She hugged him shortly and smiled. "Friends."

Then they returned to their friends and family and told them about Mike's whereabouts.

Hopper wanted to bring him back to the cabin, but the others finally convinced him (and Will) that Mike should take his time. El suggested to look after him again if he wouldn't return until midnight.

Even though he was still upset, Will knew that he had to accept the decision. So, it was up to him now not to rack his brain any longer about the reasons for Mike's hasty disappearance. Normally, in this regard, his friends would have been a welcome distraction since they bombarded Will with questions about the brand-new information about him.

"Do you find girls ugly in general?"

"Do you know other gay people?"

"Did you ever kiss a boy?"

"Do you have a crush on someone?"

The questions themselves weren't bothering Will at all (except the last one, of course). In fact, he felt extremely relieved about the way his friends received the news, about how curious they were, something he didn't dare to dream of for a long time.

But admittingly, Will also felt increasingly overwhelmed by all the talking, all the sensations, all the events of the day. He knew that he needed some time for himself, to calm down, to process, all the more since he felt his eyelids getting heavier every minute.

So, finally, he excused himself, snuggled into Hopper's old armchair, put the headphones of his Walkman over his ears and listened to the compilation of music Jonathan had taped for him, trying to have at least a little rest.

It took only a few minutes for him to fall asleep.

When he woke up, it was late night. He heard Hopper's familiar snoring coming through the curtains of his separated bedroom and saw Steve, Robin, Jonathan and Nancy slumbering peacefully in their sleeping bags on the floor.

A cold breath of wind made Will shiver. He wondered where it came from and realised that the front door stood a gap wide open. When he rose from his seat to close it, he heard a soft cough coming from outside. He peeked through the opening and his heart almost stopped.
Mike sat on the tree stump, slumped together, with his back turned to him.

Will didn't hesitate a second.

"Mike?", he quietly asked as he approached his best friend.

Will could see Mike wince a little when he heard his name, but his friend didn't turn around.

Instead, after an uncomfortable moment of silence, he just said one word.

"Why?"

Will felt cold running down his spine.

And then, finally, Mike looked at him. And the disappointment in his eyes stung his heart like a glowing knife.

"What…, what do you mean?", Will almost whispered.

"Of all the things you could've hidden from me", Mike said in a flat voice, "why has it to be you being gay?" He shook his head. "How could you keep something like that for yourself, Will?"

His tone was so accusing that Will started to tremble.

"I'm sorry, Mike", he whimpered. "I was so afraid…"

"Friends don't lie, Will", Mike said, his eyes glistening in the moonlight. "Especially if it's about something as important as this…"

Will tried to swallow the lump that built in his throat. This was so much worse than he had expected.

"But why is it so important?", he asked helplessly.

Mike snorted, then he pointed at himself. "Did you look at me, Will? I'm a boy. Like Dustin and Lucas. We would have had every right to know about your… preferences. Every right to decide whether we still want to hang out with you or not."

"But Mike…", Will stuttered, fighting hard against the tears. "I'm no threat for you or something. What do you think of me?"

Mike rose from the tree stump. His eyes were filled with disgust when he continued to speak.

"No threat?" He shook his head and came a step closer. Instinctively, Will stepped back. Retreated. From his best friend…
"Did you really think I didn't see all those glances, Will? That El wouldn't notice? She warned me, but I didn't want to believe." He pursed his lips. "But now I see that she was right."

"Mike, please", Will pleaded. "Let us talk. Let me explain…"

"Explain what?", Mike hissed. "Why you're not normal? Why you want to touch me where nobody except El should touch me?"

The last time Will had seen such revulsion, such abhorrence in somebody's eyes, he thought, was when Vecna had attacked him.

And then he realized.

"You're not real."

Mike laughed a humorless laugh. "I'm far more real than you think, William."

But then it was like the image of him flickered a bit. For a split second he could see One's ugly face instead of Mike's features. When he spoke again, his best friend's voice wasn't his own anymore.

"Do you really think they will accept you? That they will tolerate you in their presence? That they won't avoid your company?" Mike laughed, but it was Vecna's deep and booming voice that came out of his mouth. "What you're longing for to be reality, William Byers, is nothing more than the dream of a desperate teenage boy. The one wish all the weak ones carry around their entire life: to fit in."

Vecna-Mike came another step closer, but this time Will didn't retreat. He wiped the tears out of his face and met the eyes of his opponent, staring at him almost defiantly.

"But you never will, William. You never will. You'll always be the misfit, the outcast. The mistake. And you can try as hard as you want, it's not going to change."

Even though he felt his heart beating fast and hard, Will wasn't afraid. Not anymore. Most of all, he felt relieved. That it wasn't his best friend to say those terrible things to him.

"Yeah, maybe you're right", he finally said quietly. "Maybe I'll never be able to live the life I truly want. And maybe my life won't be any less miserable now that they all know about me."

The fake image of his best friend smirked spitefully, but Will didn't let himself be deterred.

"But I also know now that I'm way ahead of you." When he saw the mirage narrow its eyes, he gained even more confidence.

"So?", Vecna growled. "And why is that?"

"Because I stopped to crawl into solitude, blaming the world for what I am and pity myself." Now it was his turn to take a step closer to fake Mike so finally, they almost stood in front of each other nose to nose. "Because I reached out to people who care and didn't seek solace in hatred, like you did."

The face of his best friend (who wasn't his best friend) turned into a grimace of rage.

"What I did was to finally break the chains that held me back", One roared. "To find a way to release my full potential. And now I'm more powerful than any living being."

Will shook his head. He didn't know if Vecna was about to attack him every second, but right now he didn't care. All he wanted was to tell him everything he thought about him. To stand up for himself and for all the people he loved. By any means necessary.

"You may have powers, Henry", he said, knowing all too well that mentioning One's true name was something he despised deeply. "But you are not powerful."

For a moment he was sure to see a flicker of surprise in fake Mike's eyes.

"Not at all. You're weak. Because all you know is to kill. To destroy. And even if you may win, you will find yourself in an empty world. Alone. Like you've always been. And in the end the hatred that kept you alive the whole time will turn against yourself because there's no one else left you could hate." Will smiled at his opponent provocatively. "Maybe you're right. Maybe trying just to fit in is indeed a weak thing to do. But your way isn't any better at all. Because you'll never find the peace you seek. And that's why I pity you."

Vecna (it was more Vecna than Mike now, like a photographic negative on top of another) inspected him with a scowl.

"You are brave, William Byers, but your confidence will leave you soon."

"No, yours will. Because I finally managed to free myself from the things that haunted me. Things that made me weak and vulnerable for your attacks. But that's over now. I'm not weak anymore, Henry. But you still are."

For a moment, there was silence between the two. Then Vecna-Mike nodded.

"You have indeed become more powerful, William. I wouldn't have thought that you were strong enough to tell your friends and family the truth." Then he smiled viciously. "But you know that you're not finished yet. That there's one last thing left for you to do. And I'm sorry to tell you that unfortunately it's too late for that."

At first, Will didn't understand. Then his eyes widened in horror. When the wrong Mike saw his expression, he started to laugh. "Poor Will. You were so damn close. And now you will lose everything."
He turned around as if he wanted to leave but Will instinctively grabbed his wrist.

And darkness engulfed him.

Once more Will had crossed the threshold into the void.

He took a few hesitant steps forward, his breath and the soft splashing every time his feet made contact with the wet ground being the only noises in the blackness.

Did Vecna trap him in here?

For a second, panic surged up inside of him, but he managed to choke it back down. Will took a deep breath and tried to focus. Why was he here?

Then a loud bang broke the silence.

Will jerked his head around…

…and saw Mike. He instantly knew that this was the real one.

His best friend rode on his bike through heavy rain as fast as he could, fear of death written in his face, repeatingly looking back over his shoulder where the house of his family could be seen.

Another bang made Will's ears ring. And this time, he could hear another sound. The terrifying swish of a bullet flying just past.

And then he saw him.

A tall man in an impressive uniform, insignias and badges identifying him as a US military person of high rank. Even if it was late night, his eyes were hidden behind black sunglasses. Even though he had never seen him in person before, Will knew immediately who the man was. His men had almost killed him, Mike, Jonathan, Argyle back in Lenora Hills.

Lt. Colonel Sullivan just stood there, unimpressed by the rain that was soaking his clothes, and watched the soldiers doing their work. A few feet in front of him, three of them had raised their rifles, aiming at something – someone! – in the distance. A fourth man was positioned behind a heavy machinegun on an armoured vehicle. He looked at Sullivan questioningly. "Sir, ready to shoot, sir."

For a moment, the Colonel didn't seem to react. Then he took off his sunglasses to wipe off a raindrop from the back of his nose - and Will saw his eyes. Eyes of pure darkness. Billy's eyes. Cold. Dead. Inhuman.

"Release fire."

There was no hint of any emotion in Sullivan's voice when he spoke the words that should seal the fate of his victim. Motionless he observed the first salve shooting out of the machinegun.

Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam.

One projectile after the other hit the ground, each one getting a little closer to its target. A slender, dark haired teenage boy on a bike, riding for his life.

The soldier behind the weapon adjusted his target display a little.

Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam.

Mike did everything he could, he tried some zig zag moves, made himself as small as possible, desperately trying to reach the tip of the little hilltop behind which he would be safe from the fire.

Will wanted to warn him, wanted to throw himself out of the void into reality to help his friend. But all he could do was watch.

The last bullet of the second salve missed the rear wheel of Mike's bike just a few inches.

Once more, he looked back to see how far his enemies were behind. When he turned his head back, Mike's eyes seemed to meet those of Will for an instant. And Will knew what was going to happen.

Then the soldier shot again.

Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam…

With a sickening thud, the sixth projectile hit Mike straight in the back.

And Will screamed louder than he had ever before in his life as the terror overwhelmed him.

"MIKE!"

For a second, Mike still pedaled with all he had, then the bike stopped as his body went limp. His eyes widened in surprise as he slowly tilted to the side.

"NO! MIKE!", Will screamed into the darkness as his best friend hit the ground. "MIKE!"

But there was no one to hear him.

He was all alone.