Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
*Fun Fact: This was actually supposed to be combined with Chapter 1 since it's one episode, but I thought it was too long, so I split them apart. That's why there's another chapter after a day, because it was practically pre-written. Anyways, as I said, enjoy!*
Back in Hawkins Middle, the school bell rang as the children got their things and began to leave. The teacher, Mr. Clarke, announced their homework and talked a little about the test before they all left. In front of his desk were Jane, Lucas, and Dustin, having him face them. They all looked at him eagerly. "Is it here?" the tomboy asked.
He frowned at the kids. "Sorry kids, but..." he replied, making their eager faces slowly disappear. However, he smiled and continued, "It's here." Their faces lit up in excitement.
...
They went to the AV room and saw the set they were asking for, looking very happy and excited to try it out. They put down their backpacks and went to it, Jane sitting in front of it. "The Heathkit ham shack," Mr. Clarke stated.
"Awesome..." Jane murmured before putting on the headphones.
"I know, isn't she a beaut?"
Dustin began to turn the knob of one part of the set as he said, "I bet you can talk to New York with this thing!"
"Think bigger."
Lucas turned to him. "California?"
"Bigger..."
Jane thought of another country and asked, "Australia?" He nodded as the trio exclaimed words of sheer joy.
"Will is going to blow his SHIT when he sees this!" the dark-haired boy stated.
The science teacher glanced at him in disapproval. "Lucas," he said to him sternly.
The boy realized what he did and replied, "Sorry." The kids then set up the settings for the Heathkit. Jane decided to press the button on the microphone and try on her best Australian accent.
"'Ello, this is Jane Ives," she spoke into it. "I'm the president of the Hawkins AV Club." The curly-haired boy then took her headphones and wore them, making her finger get off of the button as she laughed. "What are you doing, Dustin?"
He pressed it and said in his best Australian accent, "'Ello, this is Dustin Henderson, the press secretary and treasurer of the Hawkins AV Club! Do ya eat kangaroos for breakfast?" The children laughed together, having a good time before he took off the headphones to give it to Lucas.
However, the fun and games ended when the principal entered into the room, the happiness dying off as he asked, "Excuse me, but can I borrow Dustin, Jane, and Lucas for a minute?" They all looked confused and even a little scared. What did he need them for?
...
In his office was the town's police chief, Jim Hopper, and another cop with a notepad. He was asking them where Will might have gone. All of them were talking over each other, making him stressed. "Alright, alright!" The kids stopped talking. "One at a time, okay?" He then looked at the curly-haired girl. "You." She nodded. "You said he takes what?"
"Mirkwood," she answered.
He looked confused. "Mirkwood?"
She nodded again. "It's, um, where Cornwallis and Kerley meet. We call it that because it's from Lord of the Rings."
"Actually, the Hobbit," Dustin corrected her, her glaring at him in irritation.
"Does it matter?" asked Lucas before the two began to argue.
"Guys, can you shut up?" Jane asked, though the two didn't listen to her.
"Hey!" shouted Hopper, making them silence themselves. "I told you already, one at a damn time." He looked at Jane again. "Cornwallis and Kerley, you said?"
"Yeah. We can show you if you wa-"
"No, I know where it is."
She sighed, looking worried. "But we can help look." The two other boys nodded in agreement.
"No. After school, you are all going home immediately. No biking around for your friend, no investigating, no nonsense like that. This isn't some Lord of the Rings book."
"The Hobbit," Dustin corrected him, making him more annoyed than before.
"Stop it!" demanded Lucas, hitting his chest.
"No, YOU stop it!" he shouted, making them fight a little and bicker.
"Guys, hey!" shouted Jane. "Both of you stop it!"
"HEY!" Jim repeated louder, silencing the kids once again as he stood up in front of them. "Do I make myself clear?" The kids didn't answer. They didn't want to just sit around and have their friend being missing out there. "I said, do I make myself clear?"
They all didn't want to piss off the chief, so they all answered, "Yes, sir." Though that came out of their mouths, they weren't exactly telling the truth.
Back at the diner, the man cooked up a hamburger and some fries for the mysterious boy. The boy was now wearing a clean yellow shirt with the diner's logo on it. The man sat with him and saw him eating the food like he wasn't fed for weeks. The child thought that the burger was super delicious.
"Jeez, kid," the man muttered. "Did your parents forget to feed you?" He looked up at him and didn't answer, continuing to scarf down his food. "Is that why you ran away?" No answer again. "They hurt ya?" Still no answer. "You got into the hospital, got scared, ran off, and wounded up here, right?" The boy then looked down at his food and continued eating it, completely ignoring his questions.
The man was trying to sympathize with him, but he wouldn't seem to answer, so he decided to take his burger and fries away from him. His eyes widened in surprise. "I will give these back to you, but you have to answer my questions, alright? After that, you can have as many as you want, even some ice cream." The boy looked irritated and felt desperate, needing the food so bad. But since the man had them, he nodded.
The man nodded back. "Alright, then let me start easy." He reached his hand out to him and greeted, "My name's Benny, Benny Hammond." The boy looked at his hand with a perplexed expression, so Benny got his hand and made him grab it. "See? Like this." He was weirded out, but he reassured, "Don't worry, I got ya." He then shook his hand. "Nice to meet you. What's your name?" He didn't answer because he didn't want to.
Benny sighed and let go of his hand, but not before seeing a tattoo on his left wrist. The tattoo had the letter "M" with the number "11" on it. The boy tried to hide it from him, though he had seen it. The man asked, "M-Eleven? What does that mean?" He didn't answer, looking down at the table. "What does it mean, kid?"
He shook his head and murmured, "No..."
The man smiled a little. "Well, he can finally speak," he said to himself before raising his voice for the boy. "Why no?" The boy looked at the food again, wanting it more and wanting the questions to end. Benny clicked his tongue and brought the food with him to head to the kitchen. "Alright, I guess you don't need any more food then."
The boy felt scared, needing them so bad. He reached his hand out and answer, "M-Michael." The man turned to him with a slightly surprised look on his face.
"Michael? That's what the 'M' stands for?" he asked him, Michael nodding. "And the eleven?"
He pointed to himself. "Eleven," he answered, tapping his collarbone multiple times. "Michael...Eleven."
Benny nodded, though feeling unsure. He gave the boy back his food. "Here ya go." Michael then went back to ravaging the food once again. "Easy there, kiddo." Only one question ran through his mind...who was he?
...
Later, Benny went to the phone to call for help while Michael still ate the food, eating another back of fries. He heard the fan rattling, making him stop and look at it. The sound was annoying him...he needed it to stop. He tilted his head down, but kept his eyes on the fan. He began to focus on it and then, it suddenly stopped. He felt thankful that his nose didn't bleed for that to happen. He continued to eat his food.
In her home, Jane was having a family dinner with her mother and older sister. The meal was meatloaf with peas and potatoes, but she wasn't eating it, more like poking it. Ms. Ives sternly looked at her. "Jane, eat your dinner," she commanded.
She heavily sighed, thinking about her missing friend. "I want to go out there and find him..." she muttered.
Her mother sighed. "Listen Jane, I know you want to help find him, but the chief said-"
She replied a bit aggressively, "I don't care. I want to find him."
Her stern expression was back. "Jane, attitude."
She looked at her worriedly. "But-"
"You're not going. End of discussion." The tomboy exhaled deeply, still poking her food. Silence roamed around the room, the others still eating their food.
Kali decided to ask, "Hey, Mum. Is it alright if I go to Barbara's to study tonight? She feels nervous about the test and-"
"No," Ms. Ives answered, her adoptive daughter's eyes widening.
"What?! But Mum-"
"You can discuss the questions over the phone, alright?"
The teenager groaned and slouched back at her chair. "It's not...good enough, Mum!"
Now the stern look was directed at the teenager. "Kali, lower your voice."
Kali huffed and looked at her little sister. "This is just great. Now with your stupid friend missing, we're under house arrest."
Jane got really mad at those words, standing from her seat and yelling, "So this is Will's fault?! Because it isn't!"
Kali stood up as well, looking at her angrily. "Then how did he get lost, hmm? Only an idiot would get lost here." Jane clenched her fists, wanting to punch her for what she was saying.
"Kali!" shouted Ms. Ives, getting her attention and making her skin crawl. "You take that back, now."
"Yeah!" the curly-haired girl added. "It's not his fault that you can't hang out with STEVE!" Kali's eyes widened in utter shock that she even dropped his name.
"Steve?" asked their mother with a raised brow.
She nodded at her. "Kali's new boyfriend."
She gasped. "Jane, you little shit-"
Ms. Ives gasped and shouted, "Kali, language!" The teenager groaned again as she stormed up to her room. "Kali! KALI, get back here!" Both of them heard the door open and slammed shut. Ms. Ives heavily sighed as well as her young daughter.
"Drama queen," Jane muttered under her breath.
Her mother faced her with a sharp glare. "Jane, what she said was despicable, but you're also getting out of control-"
She turned to her quickly. "Out of control?! KALI-" She pointed up the stairs. "-was out of control! I'm the only one being concerned about Will! He's my best friend!"
"Jane!" Her mother slammed the table, making her jolt back a little. "Everyone is concerned about him! Why else would there be a search party for finding him?"
The girl put a hand on her chest. "But I can't be in that search party?!"
"You have school!"
"Screw school! I want to find Will!" Before her mother could do anything, Jane stormed away to the basement to grieve. She couldn't believe this. She couldn't find her own friend?! What was wrong with the adults in this town?! She wouldn't stand by with one of her friends missing, she had to do something!
Meanwhile, Ms. Ives was alone at the table, staring at the plates left by her daughters. She placed her hands on her temples and took a deep breath. She was just trying to protect her children, her only children. She didn't want to be like Will's mother, Joyce, who was a friend and a single mother just like her. She wouldn't even fathom if one of her children goes missing, especially Jane. She sobbed a little, feeling depressed at the thought. She then suddenly remembered something.
"Terry," said her ex-husband. "Terry, you're overreacting-"
"Overreacting?! OVERREACTING?!" she replied angrily at him, entering through the door and scaring the babysitter, who was on the phone. "Any sane person would see what I saw back at work and react the same!"
"Terry-"
"What?" she asked coldly. He didn't answer. "I said, WHAT?!" She shoved him, though he didn't flinch and had that same apathetic expression on his face. She scoffed solemnly and stated, "That's what I thought." She then stormed upstairs, not even bothering to pay the babysitter.
Ms. Ives began to cry at that flashback. That argument...the days after...that one night...they all stuck with her, but she had to deal with it. She had to...for them.
...
Downstairs, Jane paced around the basement, her walkie-talkie in her hand. She was fuming, mumbling, "Stupid, stupid, stupid mama, stupid chief..." She then began mumbling her thoughts about how Will might have gone missing. Could it be an animal, like a bear, chasing him off? What if he saw someone dangerous and ran away from them? He should have gone home and shielded himself from that danger.
And just like that, she came a realization. He didn't go home for protection for what he might have seen...that was it!
She sat on the couch and turned on her walkie-talkie to talk to Lucas, since he was a next-door neighbor. She wanted to tell him what she thought might have happened. "Lucas, are you there? Come on, it's me, Jane."
"Yeah, this is Lucas," her best friend replied through his own walkie-talkie.
She sighed in relief. "Okay, just say 'over' when you're done talking, alright? Over."
"I'm done. Over."
She then sighed again in worry. "I'm really worried about Will. Over."
She heard him sigh as well. "Yeah, I know, pretty crazy. Over."
"I was thinking of something...like how he could have casted Protection last night, but he didn't. He casted Fireball instead. Over."
There was a short bit of silence. "And your point? Over."
"My point is that he could have made himself safe, but he didn't. He tried the offense to protect the party instead. Over."
After a few seconds of thinking, Lucas replied, "Meet me at ten. Over and out." She nodded as she disconnected from him and packed a flashlight to help her find Will. She found a coat she left in the basement and slipped it on, since she heard from the news this morning that it would be raining tonight. She went out the back door and found her bike. She hopped onto it and began to ride away.
Suddenly, she spotted somebody trying to reach up to her sister's room. She stopped and got a good look at the figure. Of course it was Steve. He spotted her and tried to look cool, as if he's done nothing wrong. She groaned and rolled her eyes at him as she rode away. He wasn't the problem right now, Will's disappearance was.
...
Kali was in her room, studying her flashcards while listening to a pop radio station. She had already changed into her lavender-colored night gown. She looked pretty stressed until she suddenly heard knocking on her window. She turned her head to see that Steve was right out there. Her breath hitched in surprise, standing up and approaching him.
As she opened the window for him, she whispered, "What are you doing? I told you, I'm practically under martial law in this house."
He shrugged nonchalantly. "I just figured that we'd study here," he whispered back.
She shook her head at him. "No way, Steve."
"Oh, come on. You're a good student. I can't have you..." He paused to climb into the room, his girlfriend moving out of the way. "...failing this test." He finally stood up in the room, looking around the purple, girly room. He looked at her with a reassuring and cute smile. "What did I tell ya? Ninja."
She smirked and quietly mouthed, "Idiot." She then closed the window so they wouldn't have anything distract them...
In the diner, Benny began washing the dishes while Michael sat on one of the tables in the kitchen, eating spoonfuls of delicious mint ice cream. The jukebox was still playing some music in the background. He looked over at the shaved-haired boy, smiling at his enjoyment of the icy treat. "You really do like that ice cream, huh?" he asked him. The boy looked up to him and smiled a little. "A smile looks good on ya." His smile dropped when he said that, confused. "Ya know, a smile?" He shot one at him, the boy trying to imitate it. The man chuckled. "There ya go, kid."
Michael felt...happy, at the moment. This man was unlike the other adults he was around with in that bad place. Perhaps not all adults were bad, after all.
There was a sudden knock on the door, the two looking at it. Michael turned to Benny with a nervous look on his face. The man gave him a reassuring expression as he wiped his hands with a hand-towel. "It's alright. Whoever's at the door, I'll tell them to shoo, to go away. Is that alright?" The boy nodded as he left the kitchen. He decided to look at what's happening to see.
Benny opened the door and a woman appeared before him. Apparently, she was part of "Social Services" and she was there to pick him up. Benny told her that he hadn't told him that she was coming, being a bit skittish, and that he was in the kitchen. He let her in, closing the door. "Sorry I was going to turn ya away there," he stated to her.
"Oh no, it's okay," she replied.
His back was then turned to her as he walked to the kitchen. "Say, your voice sounds different from the pho-" Suddenly, when he turned his head to her, she got out a gun with a silencer and shot him at the head. Michael gasped, tensing up in horror. She wasn't a nice lady...she had to be one of them.
He immediately hopped off of the table with the tub of ice cream and began running for the storage door. He suddenly stopped and dropped the tub when he saw two men come out of the backdoor, guns pointed at him. He was scared, absolutely terrified, but he had to do something, something to make them go away for good.
As the woman put her gun away, Dr. Wheeler and Dr. Brenner came in, looking to find the young boy. They heard the jukebox become static before hearing two men thudding in the storage room. They arrived there to see those two men dead and bleeding, the door open. That meant that M11 escaped before they could even see him.
Mr. Wheeler decided to go outside and scan the area to look for him. He couldn't find him anywhere. That boy...that stubborn little boy...
The three friends were biking to the forest, the flashlights on their bikes on. They spotted a stopper that was white and orange, making them stop and mount their bikes there. "This is it," Lucas stated. All of them got off of their bikes before feeling a bit of rain dropping on them.
"Uh, guys?" Dustin asked, wiping a raindrop from his forehead. "You feel that? Maybe we should go back."
"No way," Jane replied as she got out her flashlight from her backpack and pulled up the hood of her coat to her head. "We're here now, so stay close." She then walked over the stopper with Lucas and added, "Come on. Stay on channel 6 and don't do anything stupid." The curly-haired boy let out a deep sigh before joining them, feeling worried about this...
In Kali's room, Steve held up a flashcard his girlfriend made and read out loud, "'The polymers that occur naturally are-'"
"Starch and cellulose," she answered instantly.
He nodded and went to the next flashcard. "'In a molecule of CH4, the hydrogen atoms are spatially oriented towards the center of the-'"
"Tetrahedrons."
He smiled at her, making her smile back. "Wow." He then looked at all the flashcards she made. "Christ, how many of these did you make?"
"Enough to help me pass the test." She crossed her arms, tilting her head to the right. "You said you wanted to help me study."
He chuckled a little, believing that he couldn't win that battle. He then thought up of something. "How about this: you get something right, I take a part of my clothes off, but you get something wrong-"
Kali knew where he was getting at, scoffing and replying with, "Nooo, absolutely not!"
He shuffled himself closer to her. "Come on, it'll be fun."
"No it wo-"
He started reading one of her flashcards. "'During fractional distillation, hydrocarbons are separated according to their-'"
"Melting point," she answered confidently again.
He looked at the back of the flashcard and raised his eyebrows. "Ooo, sorry, Kal, but it's the boiling point."
She stared at him in disbelief and crossed her arms, not believing she was actually wrong. "I meant that."
He shook his head, grinning. "No you didn't." He gestured her to take off her dress, making her turn away from him and give him the hand.
"Ugh, no!"
He scooted even more closer to her and asked, "Aw, why not?" He then embraced her from behind, making her face heat up.
"It's...cheating! I'm only wearing panties under this!"
He smiled in a seductive manner. "Wow...really?" His voice was sultry, making her heart race and her face heat up even more.
She looked back at him and murmured, "Really." The two of them had their faces close to each other, so they closed the gap by kissing. The more they kissed, the more they wanted each other. Kali turned her body towards his and placed one hand behind his head to keep him from breaking the kiss. He then set her on the bed, continuing to make out with her.
As he slowly grabbed the bottom of her night gown and lifted it up, she suddenly realized something and broke their kiss. He looked puzzled. "What?" he asked. "Your mom's not here, right? Didn't you say she works a night shift too?"
She pushed him off of her and sat up, scowling at him. "Was this your plan all along? To come to my room and...seduce me or some shit?"
He shook his head. "What? No, no-"
"Steve." He stopped shaking his head. "I'm not Laurie, or Amy, or that slut Betty."
He chuckled. "Right, you're Kali," he answered, making her chuckle a little at his stupid answer. "A smart, beautiful, sexy..."
She looked away from him, becoming insecure. "Indian..."
"Hey." She glanced at him as he began to caress her face. "My mom always told me that beauty comes in all colors. You are no exception to that." She smiled at him again. That sounded cheesy, but sweet to say. He playfully frowned and got her teddy bear. He put on a high-pitched voice for it as he said, "'Bad Steve...don't do seduce Miss Kali like that. You'll make her upset at you...'"
She began to laugh, now enjoying his company again. "Steve Harrington, you're an idiot." She kept her smile though.
He smiled back at her once again. "Kali Ives, you're beautiful." Both of them decided to keep studying, so Steve picked up the flashcards to quiz Kali again.
It began to rain hard outside. Thankfully, the kids were wearing jackets to shield them from the rain with their hoods. Their flashlights were on, wandering around the woods to look for their friend. "Will!" shouted Jane.
"Byers!" shouted Lucas.
"I got your X-Men 134!" shouted Dustin. The kids felt like they were looking for him for too long, especially the curly-haired boy. "Guys, I REALLY think we should turn back!"
"Are you kidding me, Dustin?!" the dark-haired kid asked in an annoyed tone. "You wanna be a sissy, then go home!"
"I'm just trying to be realistic!"
"No, you're just being a big, fat sissy!"
"Hey!"
"Shut up, you two!" Jane yelled at them, stopping their argument. She normally doesn't yell at her friends a lot, especially in one day. That was because her patience was thinning and her worry was increasing a lot.
After a moment of silence, Dustin asked, "Don't ya think that maybe Will ran away because he saw something bad? And we're going to the spot where he was last seen? With no weapons or anything?"
While he was talking, the tomboy heard a rustling noise, making her focus on it. However, Dustin's talking was making that difficult making her shout, "Dustin, shut up!" He shot back.
"Jesus...am I the only reasonable one here?!"
"Shut up!" she shouted again as she stopped, making the two other boys stop. They all heard a rustling noise not too far from them. They became a little scared and looked around.
"Wh-what is that?!" Dustin exclaimed. The rustling noise sounded closer, so the trio shined their flashlights at the one behind the noise.
They saw a boy around their age with a shaved head and freckles across his face, wearing only a yellow, oversized shirt. He was all wet and he was shivering, both from the cold and the fact that he was caught by them. Jane's eyes widened at the sight of him. For just a second, she thought it was Will, but he wasn't. Even so...
"Uh, that's not Will..." Dustin stated.
"Ya think?" replied Lucas. "Who are you?!"
Michael, on the other hand, could barely see through the light shining at him. He couldn't decipher what the people with those lights were, but they didn't sound like adults. Maybe they were with the bad people? Or maybe they are nice, like Benny? He didn't know, but either way...he couldn't move.
Done! What do you think? Any mistakes or typos?
Thank you guys for the reviews, especially PlaidDino with the criticism! I'll take it to heart. Keep the reviews coming, follow, favorite, and I'll see you in the next chapter!