Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
Terry finally arrived at the middle school, parking her car and marching right to one of the entrances of the school. However, she suddenly heard a car going fast, making her stop and quickly look back to see...Joyce's car drive right into the grass and stop there, being surprised. The brunette got out of the car, looking just as surprised as she was for seeing her and walking towards her. "Terry?" she asked.
"Joyce?" she also asked. "What are you doing here?"
She sighed. "W-Will hasn't come home yet, so I called the school and they said that AV Club was cancelled, so I'm getting worried about him."
Oh right...it was after-school time. They both got into the school, the dirty-blonde-haired woman lying, "Well, I was actually going to pick up my daughter because she hasn't come home yet." She knew she could trust Jane to go home on her own unless it was late, but why tell her the real reason she was there?
"Then we both know what to do." She nodded at her, the two heading towards the AV Club room.
When they arrived there, Terry opened the door, her and Joyce seeing that no one was there. That actually made the two worry even more.
"Wait, Jane, slow down," they both heard Dustin say not too far from where they were. They both looked back and got out of the room to follow his voice. "Where are you guys and what's going on with Will?" The brown-haired woman looked more worried than before, the two finally seeing him, Lucas, and Max. The three saw the two mothers, looking surprised.
Jane took a deep breath, one hand shaking her auburn-haired friend while the other held her walkie-talkie. "W-we're at the field outside...I think Will's having another episode because he just ran, stopped, yelled, and then just froze," she stated in horror.
"I've been trying to break him out of it, but he wouldn't budge." That made Joyce worry even more about her son. The rest of them, even Terry, looked worried too.
"Stay there and don't move, but keep trying," the curly-haired boy told her.
"Roger."
He looked at everyone and said, "Follow me." They all did, running towards the nearest exit door and exiting out of the school.
When outside, they saw Jane shaking Will and yelling his name. They all ran to him, the girl looking back at them and moving out of the way for Joyce to do the same as she was doing. She looked puzzled when she saw her mom, standing next to her and muttering, "Mama?"
"Hey, sweetie..." Terry also muttered, looking just as scared as the others for Will.
"Will, it's me, sweetie, it's Mom!" Joyce said to break him out of the episode. Like with Jane, he wouldn't budge. "Will, wake up! Can you hear me?" She lightly slapped the side of his face. Jane looked the most scared and worried out of her friends while Terry nearly had the same expression. She thought he must have been so deep in his post-traumatic episode...despite her not knowing the truth. "Please, Will, just wake up!" Joyce was getting just as distressed as everyone else. "It's MOM! It's ME!" Still no response. "WILL!"
Finally, he opened his eyes and gasped loudly, his eyes as wide as plates. "Will?!" asked a distressed Joyce, making him look at her. "Are you alright, sweetie...?" He didn't answer her, shaking a little because...what Bob told him to do...didn't work...and now, he felt so...strange.
His mom hugged him tightly, almost about to cry. He looked at everyone else, seeing their scared and worried faces for him...Jane's saddening him even more. He didn't know what happened when he tried to ask her out, but...
This was the worst day of his life.
...
Everyone, now at the main entrance of the school, saw Joyce and Will go back to their car. "Okay, that REALLY freaked me out," Max told everyone. "Didn't that freak YOU guys out?" They did feel the same, but didn't answer her.
"Two episodes in two days..." Lucas said solemnly. "That can't be good." Will had TWO episodes in TWO days? That made Terry more worried about his health than before.
"It's getting worse for him..." Jane replied, also solemn and looking absolutely worried for him.
"Do you think it's True Sight?"
Both Terry and Max looked confused. "What's True Sight?" the red-haired girl asked.
The kids were silent, Lucas shaking his head. "It's nothing."
Everyone heard the car start and the two driving off. Jane deeply sighed before looking up at her mom. "Why are you here, Mama?" she asked Terry. "You don't pick me up often."
Now she had to lie to her own daughter about why she was there. She gently grabbed her arms and answered, "I just...I just felt like I should check up on you. I'm sorry." The girl frowned at her, making her heart feel like it crumbled a little. "You can just ride back home as usual, I'll just-"
The tomboy shook her head. "No, actually..." She felt so worried and scared for Will that... "I don't feel like riding back home today."
That surprised the woman, but this was her own daughter. "Do you want me to drive you home?" She nodded at her as a reply. She was going to find Mike, but considering this situation and her daughter...she nodded back. "Go get your bike. I'll open the trunk."
"Okay, Mama." The two then left, Jane going to get her bike, leaving only Lucas, Dustin, and Max.
"Not to break the mood or anything..." Max said, the two boys looking at her. "But she calls her mom 'Mama'?"
They shrugged, Dustin answering, "Yeah, always did. Dunno why." She thought that was weird, but she'll let it go since Jane was NOT in a good mood, obviously.
In the car later, with her bike in the trunk, Terry drove Jane home, the curly-haired girl looking out of the window with the solemn look still on her face. Not only had Will gotten probably the worst episode he's ever experienced, but also MIKE caused it to happen. She couldn't feel more upset and frustrated like she was now.
"Do you wanna talk, Jane?" Terry asked her. She looked at her a little, but looked back out the window and didn't reply. She sighed and said, "I'm sorry you had to see Will go through that. Poor boy." Jane deeply sighed again, still not responding. Just one question, one question to ask her and she'll be done talking to her. "By the way...have you seen anything strange?" That was the best and the least suspicious question she could ask her about Mike.
That made the girl stiffen up. There was Dart...and Mike, though she didn't exactly SEE him. She looked at her mother. "Why are you asking, Mama?"
"I...heard some strange things were happening in this town. I was just wondering if you saw anything strange."
Should she tell her about Dart? No, he was missing now and telling her wouldn't help find him. What about Mike? Would she even believe her? Besides, she only saw that ability he had used on Will...why use it on him? She shook her head and replied, "No, I haven't."
"Are you sure?"
She nodded. "I'm sure, Mama." She looked back out the window, not wanting to talk anymore. Terry felt a little relieved to hear that Jane hasn't seen Mike in any way, shape, or form. Still...her search for him wasn't done. She needed to find him before it was too late.
"Okay. I'm going to be out for a bit."
Jane gave her a weird look. "Again?"
"I thought we need new clothes, so I'll be going shopping for them. When we get home, Kali is in charge, so you know the drill."
She sighed. "Yes, Mama." The woman knew what happened to Will was bothering her, which made her not want to speak any more. She didn't blame her, so the two just stayed silent for the rest of the trip.
...
They have arrived at their home, seeing a familiar car parked on the driveway. Both of them looked puzzled as the woman parked the car on the driveway to unbuckle and go out. With the keys in her hand, Terry went to the back of her car and used her keys to open up the trunk for Jane to get her bike. Just as she did, they both heard the door open and saw Jonathan come out of the house. He spotted the two, looking surprised.
"Ms. Ives, Jane," he greeted, having a friendly smile on his face.
Terry smiled back while Jane just carried her bike to the garage. "Hey Jonathan," she greeted back, closing the trunk. "Are you studying with Kali?"
Wow, she caught up with the lie he never told quick. "Yeah, I was just...getting some stuff from my car."
She nodded. "Okay. Can you tell Kali that I'll be going shopping for new clothes now, so she and you, probably, should look after Jane?"
Seriously? He thought she was just grocery shopping and that's it. However, he nodded at her since babysitting Jane wouldn't be that much of a problem for him. "Yeah, sure."
"Thanks." She then went back into her car and started it up, backing out and driving away. He saw Jane get inside instantly, wondering about why she was quiet. He sighed before going into his car and getting his backpack.
He then went inside, got up the stairs and right back into Kali's room. The black-haired girl asked, "Is my mum back home?"
He shook his head. "Actually, she told me to tell you that she'll be shopping for new clothes and that we should look after Jane."
Kali gave him a weird look. "Really?" She knew she had plenty of clothes. Maybe she was shopping for herself and possibly Jane.
He nodded at her. "Yeah. Does she not do that?"
She shook her head. "It's not like that. It's just rare that she's out of the house for nearly an entire day." He nodded again, understanding. Kali was getting suspicious about what her mother was doing, but decided to let it go for their plan.
All day.
All day Terry was looking for Mike.
And she didn't succeed.
Where the hell could he have gone?
Feeling completely defeated, she decided to drive back to the secret cabin in the woods. She felt so awful for letting him escape so easily. What the hell would Jim even think of this?!
Oh, and speak of the devil...
She saw Jim's police car parked. She decided to park her car right next to it. She sighed heavily as she unbuckled herself and got out of the car, walking towards Hopper, who was waiting outside and smoking a cigarette. She looked very frustrated, walking up to him on the porch and saying, "Jim, I'm so sorry."
He looked at her with his eyebrows arched up. "Sorry for what?"
She deeply sighed. "I...the coffee didn't wake me up entirely this morning, so I took a nap. When I woke up, I saw that the curtains were open and the door unlocked. I then noticed that Mike wasn't in the cabin, that he escaped while I took a nap, so I drove to Jane's school because he'd probably want to see her there. Then I didn't see him, so I dropped her off back home and then tried looking for him again, but..." She shook her head, looking at the ground and feeling completely awful. Her voice sounded very troubled and sorrowful. "I couldn't. I couldn't find him, Jim." The man looked sorry for her. "I'm sorry."
He decided to give her a hug and say, "It's okay, Terry. It's not your fault. You had no way to know this could happen." Though she couldn't forgive herself, he had a point. Besides, when she was alone with Mike on Thursday, he still wouldn't leave, even if she decided to take a nap.
"Doesn't get rid of the guilt, but thanks." He chuckled a little before letting her go and the two looking right into each other's eyes. "What should we do about him?"
Jim sighed and leaned on the wooden railing. "I was just standing here waiting for you and Mike to come back. Since you're here, you can wait with me."
She leaned on the wooden railing as well. "What makes you think he'll come back?"
"Where else would he go?" Right. "Plus, there's Jane. He's gotta be after her, right?"
She nodded as he smoked his cigarette. "Yeah, that's why I went to the school first."
"Best bet is that neither of them saw each other and he's coming back."
She nodded, especially since she indirectly asked Jane about Mike. "Let's hope." The two then just continued to stand there on the balcony, waiting for the freckled boy to come back and talking more about what they should do when he comes back and what happened today.
...
When dusk turned into night, the boy walked through the secret path to the cabin again. He spotted the cars before seeing the two of them talking. He deeply sighed as the two then looked at him, locking their eyes with his. Jim had just smoked a new cigarette while Terry looked both shocked and upset to see him again. He knew they were mad at him and he wasn't exactly in the mood to deal with that right now.
As Jim ashed his cigarette, the boy walked towards the cabin, Terry getting off of the porch and walking towards him. "Michael," she called to him sternly. As they got close, he managed to slip right past her before she could grab him. "Mike." He didn't answer her as he went inside, the two adults following right after him and slamming the door closed.
"Listen to when an adult's talking to you, kid," Jim told him in a strict voice. He still didn't respond, storming right into his room. He took his hat off and yelled, "Hey! Hey!" He was about to slam the door on the two, but the police chief swung it back open. "Don't walk away from us!" He stopped and glared daggers at the both of them.
While the man leaned against the doorway, the woman went a little further, stopped, crossed her arms and asked sharply, "What did you think you were doing, Michael?" He didn't answer, still having that sharp glare. "You have no right to get out while I was sleeping!" He rolled his eyes at her, offending her. "Don't you roll your eyes at me, young man."
"Yeah, Mike," Jim chimed in. "Terry thought you went to Jane's school on your little field trip. Is that where you went?" He looked shocked that they knew it, which was enough of an answer of the two of them. "Did you see her? Did you see Jane?" He didn't answer, looking away from them and placing his hands on his hips. "I asked you a question and that means you must answer it."
Maybe she didn't see him, but still... "Answer him, Mike. Did you really see her? Did you really see my daughter?"
"She didn't see me..." he mumbled.
Jim scoffed and told him, "What was that, kid? I think neither of us heard you."
He looked at them again and said loudly, "She DIDN'T see me!"
Terry sighed. "Well, I can confirm that. I asked her when I drove her home." At least...though he still felt awful.
"Well, guess who saw you, bud?" Jim stopped leaning against the doorway and walked with Terry as they got close to him. "That mother and daughter you encountered. You know what they did? They called the cops." Now Mike crossed his arms, looking at the two frustrated adults and their teary eyes. "Now, did anyone else see you? At all?" There was that strange girl, but he would never mention her.
"Mike, we need you to be honest with us," the dirty-blonde-haired woman asked him, her voice sounding strained.
"You need to THINK!"
He yelled at the two of them, "NO ONE SAW ME!"
"DON'T YELL AT US!" Terry and Jim both rubbed their faces, feeling so angered and frustrated by him. "Do you know how long I've been LOOKING for you?! Do you know how WORRIED I got for looking for you?! Do you know that you SCARED THE HELL OUT OF ME when I saw you weren't here?! DO YOU?!" She would never lose her cool like this, but this was her life and others on the line. Plus, he made a terrible decision. Jim knew that too. Mike just became stiff and gripped on the sleeves of his sweater tight, trying to hold back the tears welling up in his eyes.
"Do you even know that you put us all in danger?" Jim asked him sharply. "Do you even realize that? Not even just you, but me, Terry, even Jane..."
Just hearing her name made him feel more terrible than before. He pointed at him. "You..." He then pointed at Terry. "And you...told me that I can go." He paused to point outside before putting his hand down aggressively. "But I NEVER DO! NOTHING EVER HAPPENS!"
"NOTHING HAPPENS AND WE ALL STAY SAFE!" Jim yelled, slamming the wall and making him and even Terry tense up, though she thought it was warranted.
She pointed at him, saying, "I keep telling you again and again that you should never be in contact with Jane! I keep telling you that it's for your own SAFETIES!"
Now something in Mike was snapping into pieces. "SHE MISSES ME! YOU ALWAYS LIE TO HER ABOUT ME!" That made her blood run cold and her wanting to cry. He looked at both her and the police chief. "YOU BOTH ALWAYS LIE TO ME!"
Jim looked like he was about to cry as well, but he kept yelling, "We don't LIE TO YOU! We PROTECT, FEED, AND TEACH YOU!"
Terry sobbed into her mouth, but kept holding her tears back. "Mike...all that we asked of you was to follow three rules." She held up three fingers. "Three simple rules. Three is not a lot..."
"And you know what? YOU CAN'T EVEN DO THAT!"
"You can't even follow THREE rules! Three rules that even a YOUNG CHILD would follow!" Mike could break down into tears right now, but he tried to keep a stiff upper lip to prevent that from happening. Besides, he was so angry at them right now, it could rival when the doctor tried to take Jane last year.
"I love her..." he muttered, sounding like he was about to break.
Hopper looked surprised at that, but Terry kept her angered look at him. "That's not an excuse," she replied rather coldly, shaking her head.
The man nodded and said, "Yeah, she's right. So what if you love Jane? That doesn't mean you should go out and put us in DANGER because you have feelings for her! That's STUPID!" The boy seriously looked like he was about to break, but what's done was done.
They got out of his room, making him slam the wall with his hand in utter frustration. Terry then announced, "We both decided that you'll be grounded!" Knowing what that means thanks to Terry in the past, he felt like he was crumbling.
"We decided for no more Eggos and ice cream..." Jim added, taking the Eggos and ice cream tubs out of the fridge and throwing them in the trash. Mike felt like he crumbled more. "And no TV for a week." That got to him completely. No TV? How else was he supposed to do when he was bored?!
He got out of his room when he saw Terry about to pull the cart. He tilted his head down and used his power to keep it in place when she pulled. She looked at him with an agitated face, demanding sharply, "Let go." His nose was bleeding and he shook his head.
Jim got next to her, looking at him and saying, "Come on, buddy, knock it off." He gestured Terry to move, in which she did, and tried to pull it away as well. However, it still got stuck in place by the boy's power. "Let go." He shook his head again, making the two adults exchange glances before looking back at him. "Okay, then two weeks." He tried again and that didn't work, much his and Terry's irritation. "Let. GO!"
"No," he coldly replied.
"Then a month!" Terry shouted at him.
"No!"
She scoffed at his behavior, looking at Jim. "Should we...?" she whispered to him.
He sighed. "He won't seem to listen, so..." She nodded before the two looked at him once again.
"Fine, Michael. You want to be like that?" She gestured Hopper to do what he must to the TV. "Then you won't have any TV AT ALL!" He pulled the cords, permanently shutting it down and damaging it.
He looked completely shocked that he did that, exclaiming, "NO!" They both walked away from the TV as he ran to it, trying to see if he could fix it. "No...no..." It was damaged...they really meant no TV at all. He hated that.
"You need to learn that there are consequences to your actions, Mike," Jim told him.
"We're teaching you how to LIVE in the outside world," Terry added. "And that is the most important lesson of them all!"
This only made him more mad than before. He pointed at the two of them, yelling, "YOU TWO ARE JUST LIKE DAD AND THE DOCTOR!"
That made their blood run cold and their hearts crumble.
Jim leaned against the wall, rubbing the bridge of his nose, while Terry looked down and covered her mouth again, aghast at him saying that and feeling like she was going to cry again. She looked at him and said meekly, "You don't mean that."
"I do." That hit them both like a ton of bricks.
"We're REALLY like those psychotic sons of bitches?" Jim asked.
He nodded. "Yes, you are."
Terry scoffed before she stormed to him. "Did they give you a warm and comfortable bed? Good food? Television? HOSPITALITY?!" He froze up at that statement just as she got close to him. "No, they didn't. They treated you like an object, like you're nothing more than a damn lab rat!"
He decided to retort, "But you two keep me here, like they do."
"For your own safety!"
"You two NEVER let me do what I want!"
"Stop acting like a little BRAT!"
"Shut the hell up, Terry!" Both her and Jim gasped at him saying that. Where the hell did he got that phrase from?! Without a second thought, she slapped him across the face, making him hitch his breath and release a couple of tears. His cheek hurt from that, affecting the rest of his face. His breath became shaky as he looked up at her with his teary eyes. The woman realized what she had done, making her gasp once again and feel more awful than before.
"I'm so sorry, Michael." She pulled him into a hug, but he was quick to shove her off.
"Get off of me!" That broke her heart more than before, seeing him yell that while tears streamed down his face.
Jim didn't like what she did, but comforted her a little by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Listen, what Terry did was bad, but she didn't mean it," he told him. She was glad he understood, but the boy looked unconvinced. "You need to get your act together, young man! You don't talk to any of us like that and you don't shove either of us!"
Mike sniffled and wiped his tears away. "I hate you both!"
That made Terry release a tear, making Jim sad for her and more mad at him. "You keep thinking that, buddy. It'll get you nowhere! You know why? You're what Terry said, a BRAT!"
The dirty-blonde-haired woman thought now he was just rubbing salt on the wound, so she said, "Jim-"
He grabbed a dictionary from the counter and said, "How about that be your word of the day? Brat? B-R-A-T." He tossed the dictionary to the boy, but he used his power to stop it in mid-air. Shocking them both, he used it to throw it to the man aggressively, making him grunt a little.
"Hey!" Terry yelled at him, the two walking towards him. However, he then shifted the couch to hit Terry's leg, making her scream a little.
"Terry!" the man exclaimed, but the woman tried to regain her balance.
"I'm fine." They both saw Mike storm right back to his room, the two trying to chase after him. "MICHAEL!"
"MIKE!" The boy used his power to knock down the bookshelf, much to their frustration. "HEY!"
"THAT WAS COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY!" The boy got in his room and used his power to slam the door shut and lock it. Hopper tried to turn the knob and it didn't work, leading him and Terry to pound on the door. "OPEN THE DOOR, MICHAEL!"
"OPEN THE DAMN DOOR, MIKE!"
...
Inside, he leaned against the wall and sunk into the floor, continuing to cry as they both yelled at him to open the door. As if this day wasn't bad enough, these two had to remind him of how his dad and the doctor treated him. They might have given him more than them, but that didn't excuse their behavior towards him now and what they've been doing ever since they found him. He just wanted to see Jane again...he just wanted to get away from here...
...
"Michael! I didn't mean to slap you, but you still need to fix your attitude!" Terry yelled through the door. "You are NOT going to survive out there if you keep it!"
"Yeah, you need to GROW UP!" Jim added just as loudly. "You wanna go out in the world?! THEN GROW UP! GROW THE HELL UP!"
...
That was it.
He couldn't take it anymore.
Michael just let out his frustration, sadness, and anger by screaming from the top of his lungs.
...
That made all the windows instantly break apart. Terry screamed a little, both her and Hopper trying to shield themselves from the flying pieces of glass. When the flying glass stopped, they both looked around, seeing the complete mess Mike created. They both wanted to yell at him for it, but that was just rubbing more salt on the wound.
...
The boy covered his face with his hands, crying and sobbing. This was the worst day of his life. Everything went so wrong...he hated it...he hated Will, he hated Jim and Terry...he hated everything right now.
...
Hearing his crying and sobbing from behind the door made the two adults begin to cry, Terry sobbing. She couldn't believe herself. She couldn't get her daughter to behave well at school, then she always lied to her whenever Mike came up, then she yells and even slaps Mike tonight, and now he was breaking down...
What the hell was she doing? She made him so upset...so frustrated...
Jim hugged her for comfort as she cried into his chest. She hugged him back, the two needing the comfort after a messy argument like that. They didn't mean for this to happen...
What kind of parent figures were they?
Is it bad that I wrote this all in one go? What does that say about me...? Anyways, how was this chapter? Any typos or mistakes I might've missed?
Poor Will...and poor Mike. Both boys had the worst day of their lives...
So...the argument. I figured it'd be a bit more longer and intense with Terry around, so I hope it was. Watching the canon scene always made me feel uneasy because of how messy it became, so writing it with Terry in this AU was no exception. Just...damn...
Anyways, review, follow, favorite, and I'll see you guys in the next chapter.