Disclaimer: I do not own or profit from Stranger Things or its plots or characters.

CHAPTER 4: WILL THE WISE

"Where is Will?"

Nobody knew. Mike could feel the apprehension building inside him because he knew with everything that was going on with Dart and Will acting weird earlier that he might be having another episode.

In a hurry, they split up to look for the smallest member of their party; Dustin and Max took the school, Mike and Lucas focused on outside. It didn't take long for Mike to spot him though.

There in the middle of the field was Will, standing stock still, his face upturned towards the sky, and his eyes rolled back into his head, eyelids fluttering. Fear gripped Mike's chest as he and Lucas sprinted to their friend, calling out his name, but he gave no response or acknowledgement that they were there at all.

Not knowing what else to do, Mike grabbed his friend's shoulder and shook him, lightly at first and then a little more roughly, all the while shouting his name. Meanwhile, Lucas had noticed that Mrs. Byers' car had screeched to a halt in front of the school, and he had ran back towards the school to get help. Mike was solely focused on helping his friend, even if he had no idea how to do that.

Then, all of sudden, Mrs. Byers, Max, Dustin, and Lucas were all running towards them.

"Will!" Mike continued shouting, before turning to Mrs. Byers, "I just found him like this! I think he's having another episode!"

"Will! Will! Will! Sweetie, wake up! It's mom, Will," Ms. Byers pleaded with her son, but it was like he wasn't even there. Mike stepped back to give her some room. Mike had never seen anyone have a seizure but this is what he imagined what someone having a seizure standing up would look like.

And then with a sharp inhale Will seemingly snapped out of it, his eyes flashing open.

They all kind of stood there in shock, unable to formulate a coherent sentence, and they didn't really have a chance anyway because Mrs. Byers hurried him away. They followed them through the school and back out the front doors where they stopped to watch them both drive away.

"Okay, that totally freaked me out. Did that not freak you guys out?" Max asked, looking at them for validation.

"Two episodes in two days," Lucas stated, almost in disbelief. All of them were thinking the same thing: what was happening to their friend? He hadn't been the same since he had gotten back from the Upside Down last year but this felt different.

"It's getting worse," Mike concluded.

"You think it's True Sight?" Lucas asked, and Mike's eyes snapped to him.

Despite the fact that they were all still reeling from what they had just witnessed, Mike couldn't believe he brought up their private conversation with Max there. She wasn't a member of the party. She didn't know that Will had been lost in the Upside Down last year. She didn't even know about the Upside Down, and that was for the best for everyone involved. Will didn't need his business made known to a stranger, Max didn't need to be put in unnecessary danger, and the party didn't need another member.

"What's True Sight?" Max asked, but Mike's stare never left Lucas. He shook his head just slightly at his friend to get him to shut up. Luckily, he got the hint because he replied shortly, looking away from the red head,

"It's nothing."

That night Mike went home, his thoughts full of what had happened to Will and Dart but also something else too. Ever since Max had fallen off her skateboard in the gym, Mike's couldn't stop thinking about how strongly he had felt El's presence. He had been so sure that she was there with him again.

Trying and failing to put thoughts of El out of his mind, Mike ate dinner in relative silence, asking to be excused early after only a few bites of his meatloaf. He didn't know how to explain why, but he just felt… off. It was almost as though he had felt so close to El and then further than ever. He knew he was being stupid again.

Nevertheless, Mike went to sit in El's fort for his usual routine. Crossing his legs, Mike picked up the Supercomm and pulled up the antenna. Mike lifted his right wrist and checked his watch, running his fingers over the band. Memories of fastening it around El's narrow wrist last year floated to the surface of his mind; it gave him the push he needed to speak.

"It's Day 354…," Mike began, holding the talk button. Today, he felt cold and alone, nothing like the reassuring warmth he usually experienced that made him feel like she could actually hear him. He was just going through the motions at this point, but he just needed this. He knew no one was listening to him tonight, but he continued along anyway,

"I was in the gym today… it made me think of you and that night. I thought- I thought I felt you there. I know it's ridiculous, but weird things are happening again with Will and the Upside Down and I just know that if you were here you'd know what to do."

He released the button, but he didn't strain his ears to listen with bated breath for a response amongst the white noise. Mike could feel his throat closing up and tears prickling his eyes. He was sad and angry and he still couldn't force himself to just let her go and end this suffering. He just couldn't do it.

Pressing the Supercomm hard against his forehead, Mike cried, silent tears streaking down his cheeks. Eventually, he could no longer support himself so he laid down in the fort, crushing his eyelids shut and begging for sleep to take him so he wouldn't have to feel this pain anymore.

Eleven walked more slowly back to the cabin, not keen on returning to her prison quickly. She cut back through the woods the way she came, those same leaves crunching under her feet, but now she almost reveled in the sound as it gave her something to keep her grounded.

There were a lot of ways Eleven had imagined seeing Mike again would go but seeing him smiling at another pretty girl wasn't one of them. Her chest felt cold and empty as if her heart was devoid of life. She was numb to all pain now. If you couldn't feel then you couldn't hurt.

One thought just cycled through her mind as if on an endless loop:

Mike likes someone else now.

Maybe he even took her to the Snow Ball, as he called it. Maybe he danced with her. Maybe he had even kissed her.

But why had he kept calling her for 353 days then? He said he missed her…but maybe he only wanted her back as a friend now. Whatever the reason, it was over. She would leave Mike alone to live his life and be happy. But now that she didn't even have the hope of Mike, Eleven just knew that she would never be close to happy again. Not even half-way happy. How could she when her heart would always be with Mike?

As she neared the cabin, Eleven's eyes drifted upwards to see a dark silhouette standing on the porch smoking a cigarette. The one night he came home on time…

She paused looking up at him. She hoped he could see her glare in the darkness. She knew he was going to be mad and she was ready for this fight. She had nothing left to lose at this point, or so she thought.

As she walked past him and inside the little building, he put out his cigarette and she heard him follow her in, his heavy footfalls punctuating his anger. The door slam loudly behind her.

"Friends don't lie!" he used her words against her, it was just another reminder of Mike that she didn't need right now. "Isn't that your bullshit saying?"

Mike's saying wasn't bullshit.

The cold, numbness was thawing out quickly. She was starting to feel again and that wasn't good. All the pain and sadness and fear and anger were starting to rush into her heart all at once, so she attempted to retreat into her room.

"Hey! Hey!" He yelled after her, but she walked right into her room, only turning once inside because Hopper had caught the door and flung it back open. "Don't walk away from me!"

Adrenaline was beginning to course through her, stoking the flames of her fury. His tone insinuated that he held some power over her, but she was done with men telling her what to do, controlling her. So, Eleven dared him with her eyes to try and do something. She had already lost everything today, what else could he do? Did he even know what she was capable of? She could snap his neck with one jerk of her head, he may need a reminder of who was the one in control here.

She could tell her look must have taken him aback a little because he literally leaned back into the door frame as she removed her jacket calmly.

"Where did you go on your little field trip, huh?" Hopper asked accusatorily, "Where? Did you go see Mike?"

The name alone made it feel as though she were being ripped to shreds. So much for being numb. She really debated whether she was going to answer him or not, pacing slightly in the small space of her room. She took several calming breaths against the rage building inside of her, but that left her with the pain. After a long pause, she gave him a sideways glance and said softly, "He didn't see me."

For once, she just wanted him to understand. Couldn't he see how being away from Mike had tore her apart from the inside? And now, Hopper making her wait all this time had lost her Mike.

"Yeah, well, that mother and her daughter did, and they called the cops," he shot back with that condescending tone he always used, making her feel stupid and small. Then, Hopper stepped further into her room, violating her space by getting right into her face. "Now, did anyone else see you? Anyone at all? C'mon! I need you to think!"

"Nobody saw me!" she snarled back, getting right back into his face. In response, Hopper stood straight and walked away from her, a frustrated hand on his forehead, before he came to lean against her dresser on the other side of the room.

"You put us in danger. You realize that, right?" he said in the calmest voice he could probably muster. This only stoked the fire in her chest. What right did he have to blame anything on her? Nothing happened. The bad men weren't looking for her. And she wouldn't have had to leave without him if he had just kept his promises and let her see Mike every once in a while. But no. And now Mike had moved on.

"You promised I'd go," she began angrily, trying to get control of her temper but it was no use. Her voice broke and it made her even more mad and she only got louder and louder as she continued, "and I never leave! Nothing ever happens!"

"Yeah, nothing happens, and you stay SAFE!" Hopped yelled, punctuating his words with a slam of his palm on her dresser. It startled her a little and she couldn't stop the slight flinch. This entire time she had been with Hopper she had never been afraid that he would hurt her physically, but this was the maddest she had ever seen him.

The man leaned his elbow on her dresser, holding his forehead, eyes crushed shut. What did he have to be upset about? It was her life and she was beginning to feel like he was just keeping her like some kind of pet, manipulating her so she wouldn't leave.

"YOU LIE!" she screamed at him.

"I don't lie! I protect, and I feed, and I teach!" he straightened up from the dresser to growl this at her. "And all I ask of you is that you follow three simple rules. Three rules, and you know what? YOU CAN'T EVEN DO THAT!"

She wanted to cry but she did everything in her power not to show how upset she was, to do so would be weakness. The longer their fight went on the smaller and smaller she felt.

He stomped out the room and she kicked the dresser he had just walked away from as if he could feel it. It was the only release she had because she really didn't want to hurt him with her powers. It would be so easy but hurting people never made her feel better. She knew it, but her anger was making her forget that.

"You're grounded! You know what that means?" he yelled from the other room. "It means no Eggo's…," she heard him open the fridge, then the sound of boxes hitting the floor before he slammed it shut as he continued, "and no TV for a week."

He made to move the TV, but she was too fast for him and she used her powers to hold it firmly in place. It was her only way to see Mike. Yes, she had told herself that she would let him live his life without her, but she had to keep seeing him with her mind visits. There was no way Hopper was taking that from her too.

Hopper stood up and turned to her, in a slightly breathless voice he demanded, "All right, knock it off. Let go."

He seemed to have forgotten she wasn't just a regular kid. Eleven could feel the familiar trickle of blood on her lip but she just shook her head, refusing to release the TV.

Hopper did the same thing again, he leaned over and strained to move the TV, but she held strong and he turned and threatened, "Okay, two weeks."

He tried again.

"Let GO!"

But she just shook her head.

"A month!"

"No." she told him calmly.

"Well, congratulations. You just graduated from no TV for a month to no TV at all," he growled as he ripped the cord out of the wall. The picture flicked off instantly.

"NO!" Eleven shouted in disbelief and ran towards it, her heart sinking in dread, and begging for it not be broken, "No! No."

Her hands fumbled with the antenna, but she knew it was no use. He had destroyed her only connection to Mike.

"You have got to understand that there are consequences to your actions," he said tiredly from behind her. She spun around and screamed at him,

"You are like Papa!"

"Really? I'm like that psychotic son of a bitch?" Hopper said, running a hand through his thinning hair before threatening her coldly, "Well, all right. You want to go back to the lab? One phone call and I can make that happen."

He wouldn't do that, would he?

"I hate you!" she could feel herself losing the battle against tears, but Hopper didn't stop there.

"Yeah, well I'm not too crazy about you either, you know why? Because you're a brat. You know what that word means? How about that be your word for the day, huh? Brat. Why don't we look it up? B-R-A-T. Brat," and then he picked up a dictionary off the shelf and tossed it at her.

She stopped its forward momentum and just held it there for a second. She was done. If he wanted to control her and treat her like a dog then she would fight back like one, so she used her powers to throw the dictionary back at him. He was able to deflect it away, but she could see the shock in his eyes, and maybe a slight glint of fear.

"HEY! What the hell is wrong with you?" he began to approach her aggressively. So, she pushed the couch into his legs to slow him down. He wasn't going to put hands on her. She wouldn't allow bad men to do that to her ever again.

Eleven stomped across the living room, throwing down a shelf on her way and then walking straight into her room as he bellowed behind her, "HEY! HEY! HEY!"

But she didn't care, she stomped straight into her room and slammed the door shut with her powers. Almost immediately she could hear him ram it and struggle with the handle, trying to gain entry.

"OPEN THIS DOOR! OPEN THE DAMN DOOR! YOU WANT TO GO OUT IN THE WORLD? YOU BETTER GROW UP! GROW THE HELL UP!"

Eleven fell raggedly against the far wall and slid down to the floor, unable to keep herself upright any longer. Rage and excruciating pain blinded her to everything and all she wanted was to be away from him and this place.

With a guttural scream, she shattered every window in the cabin. When she was done, all she was felt was hollow and alone, sobbing uncontrollably in the furthest corner of the room.

Day 355.

"Michael! Come up and eat breakfast or you'll be late for school!"

Mike awoke to the sound of his mom yelling for him. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up slightly disoriented, and a loud crash sounded next to him. He looked at the source of the sound and saw that his Supercomm had fallen. He must have gone to sleep with it resting on him and his sitting up had just dislodged it. The memories from last night hit him and he realized that he had fallen asleep down here again. If he was going to get through another day he'd have to shove these thoughts to their place in the back of his mind. With a sigh, Mike pushed himself up from the floor and made his way up to his room to change his clothes quickly before heading to the kitchen for breakfast.

He typically didn't interact much with his family anymore but Holly was sitting there humming as she ate and it brought the smallest of smiles to his face to see her so happy and carefree. Holly was one of the few people he still got along with, but she was a toddler so that didn't mean much.

"You like those grapes, Holly?" Mike asked his little sister and she nodded emphatically, shoving some more in her mouth.

But then his ears caught Nancy's conversation with mom and he couldn't help but listen.

"Hey, Mom. I was thinking about staying the night at Stacey's tonight. We were gonna have a girl's night. Romantic comedies, do our nails, gossip," Nancy said off-handedly as she got up to get her toast, but Mike saw right through that bullshit.

"Sure, that sounds like fun," his mom replied though, and Mike couldn't believe it. She really bought that load of crap. But whatever. Who cares?

Mike finished getting ready for school and rushed out of the house, remembering he and Lucas had agreed to go looking for Dart before first period. As usual, as he pedaled by Lucas' house, his friend came riding out to meet him and they biked there together. Though today, Dustin didn't join them, but they just figured he'd be along a little later, probably slept in, same with Will.

They put their bikes up on the rack as Max approached them. The dumpster seemed like the most logical place to start looking for Dart since Dustin had said he originally found Dart in his trash outside his house. So, Lucas stole some straws from the cafeteria and they cut them to various lengths to see who it would be to go in there looking for Dart.

Max held them even in her hand and Mike picked first, normal length. Max picked next, looked to be about medium length, but Mike suspected she knew that since she was holding them but he didn't care. That left…

"Stop being a baby and do it all ready!" Mike shouted up at Lucas as he paused on the edge of the dumpster. Lucas had to be reminded that this was the rule of law before committing to doing it.

"This is so disgusting, is this really necessary?" Max sneered with distaste.

Then, their curly haired friend came jogging around the corner, a look of utter bewilderment on his face.

"What the hell's going on?" Dustin asked, squinting at them against the bright morning sunlight.

"What do you think? We're looking for Dart," Mike replied snidely, leaning against the wooden broom handle he'd found to poke through the garbage.

Lucas threw two trash bags high into the air and over the side of the dumpster, causing Dustin to jump back in surprise.

"Geez!"

Lucas appeared over the edge of the dumpster and lifted himself up, hopping down to the pavement.

"Well, well, well," Lucas pointed out sarcastically, "Look who finally decided to show up after I drew the short straw. Real convenient."

"You stink," Max stated the obvious, crinkling her nose, and walking around him to stand a little further away, which just happened to be closer to Dustin.

"Hi, Max," Dustin greeted her with a smile. Mike would've laughed if he wasn't still annoyed that these guys were letting Max in their party.

"…hi?" she replied slowly.

"Where's Will? Dustin asked, turning his attention back to him and Lucas.

"He'll be here," Mike said with confidence he didn't feel.

"Are you just gonna stand there?" Lucas asked, throwing one of the wooden sticks at Dustin, "Or are you gonna help?"

They had no luck finding Dart and eventually the bell rang and they all rushed off to Mr. Clarke's class. Mike lost himself in his favorite teacher's lecture, but it did nothing to keep his mind off of El as he had hoped it would.

"All living things, from complex mammals to single celled organisms, instinctively respond to danger," Mr. Clarke told them. "Expose a bacterium to a toxic chemical and it will flee or deploy some other defense mechanism."

Mike glanced sideways at the empty seat next to him, hoping Will was okay. After the episode on Halloween he had come to school, so what was going on today? Maybe his mom had taken him to the doctor to get checked out again?

Mike turned his attention back to Mr. Clarke who continued, "We're very much the same. When we encounter danger, our hearts start pounding, our palms start to sweat. These are the signs of physical and emotional state we call fear."

Mike knew all about fear. He felt it every time the idea of never seeing El again crossed his mind. As if on cue, his heart began to race at the mere thought of it, and Mike decided he hated this lesson.

Day 327

Eleven awoke to the sound of loud banging, so she rolled out of bed and opened the door just enough to see what Hopper was doing. When he turned to look at her she slammed the door closed again. She wasn't ready to talk to him yet, not after all of the hurtful things he had said to her last night.

But she heard his footsteps nearing her door, so she stood there and listened as he spoke.

"Hey, kid, listen, uhm, about last night, I-uh," Hopper began softly, but then his voice hardened, "I want this place cleaned up by the time I get back and maybe I'll consider fixing the TV, you hear me?"

Anger coursed through her again at his refusal to apologize. So, she stepped away from the door and flopped back on her bed, folding her arms across her chest in defiance.

Beginning to get worried about his friend the further in the day Will didn't show, Mike decided during recess he was going to call the Byers' house to check in on him. But something didn't feel right. Dart shows up, Will has an episode the day before, and then he doesn't show for class? It all seemed connected somehow.

Mike listened as the phone rang and rang until the Byers' voicemail message began to play. Hanging the phone up in frustration, Mike turned and jogged back to where his friends were congregated, Lucas calling to him before he even made it back,

"Anything?"

"We need to talk! AV Room! Right now!" Mike demanded, running past them and up the stairs to head inside the school. The boys and Max got up to follow, but Mike glanced backwards at the red head, shooting over at her, "Party members only."

"C'mon, Mike," Dustin implored, seeing Max's slightly hurt look, but Mike didn't care. It was for her own good not to know anyway.

"No, this is non-negotiable," he said firmly and the other two seemed to begrudgingly accept it.

"Sorry, Max," Dustin apologized first, followed by Lucas, "Sorry."

They hastily made their way to the AV Room, locking the door behind them, not like it stopped Max last time, but still.

"Will didn't want me to tell anyone, but on Halloween night he saw some sort of shadow in the sky," Mike reported to them after hopping up on the table, the other two sitting in the chairs in front of him.

"A shadow?" Lucas asked, unsure. "What kind of shadow?"

"I don't know, but it scared him. And if Will really does have True sight, I mean really see into the Upside Down maybe he saw that shadow again yesterday," Mike explained his theory. It seemed logical, but it only made him worry more for his friend.

"So, that's why he was frozen like that," Dustin posed thoughtfully.

"Maybe," Mike agreed.

"I mean, can it hurt him? If this shadow thing isn't our world," Lucas asked, always the logical one.

"I'm not sure," Mike admitted, but the member of the party with the most D&D knowledge was…, "Dustin?"

"Well, if you're in another plane, you can interact with the material plane so theoretically no, the shadow can't hurt him," Dustin explained, staring down as if lost in thought.

"Yeah, if that's even what's happening. This isn't D&D… this is real life," Mike said solemnly.

"So, what do we do?" Lucas asked.

"We acquire more knowledge. I'll go to Will's after school, see what's going on. You guys stay here and find Dart," Mike suggested, feeling like the leader of the party again.

"Dart? What's he got to do with this?" Dustin asked, a little defensively.

"Will heard him in the Upside Down. I don't know how yet, but he's got to be connected to all this. He's gotta be. And if we find Dart, maybe we can solve this thing, maybe we can help Will," Mike posited, looking from Dustin to Lucas and back.

There was still a part of him that felt like El would have all the answers and that if Will really did have True Sight then maybe he could find her. But right now, they needed to focus on helping their friend.

As much as she was trying to let Mike go, Eleven just couldn't let her mind visits go. She needed to know he was okay, but it was more than that. If she was completely honest with herself, she would never be able to let him go.

So, Eleven spent some time trying to fix the TV herself, but the cord was destroyed.

What if Mike had called last night and she wasn't able to hear him? The thought ate through her. So, much so that she was willing to swallow her pride and actually do as Hopper said and clean up the cabin to get the TV back.

As she swept she saw a piece of glass stuck in a rather large hole in the floorboards. She shoved the chair out of the way and saw the door in the floor. Eleven opened it up and stared down into it, noticing the various boxes. Rushing to find a flashlight, Eleven made her way back over and laid on the floor, sticking her head down into the space.

Eleven swept the light over the boxes, looking at the labels: Dad, New York, Vietnam. Luckily, she could read somewhat now, but some of the words she still didn't understand.

Then she saw a box labeled 'Hawkins Lab.' Those were words she recognized. Her curiosity got the better of her, so she pulled it out and began to read. There wasn't a rule against that yet.

Eleven felt like she had gone through hundreds of pieces of paper, throwing them on the floor when she was done with them. She came across a blue file that was slightly thicker than the others, it had black handwriting on it.

"Ives…Terry," Eleven read aloud, opening the folder.

There were several newspaper clippings and pictures inside, fastened and paper clipped in various ways. Her eyes found one in particular that read: 'Indiana Woman sues D.O.E Claims child was stolen.' And yet another that said, 'Daughter Jane taken when she was a baby, Ives claims.'

"Jane," Eleven said to herself, the name feeling both foreign on her lips and strangely familiar.

She came across a black and white photo and she swore she stopped breathing.

"Papa," she whispered, because no matter how old this photo was, no matter how young Papa looked, she would never mistake those cold eyes.

All of the pieces were beginning to fit together…Papa with Terry Ives…Daughter Jane…stolen.

Now, he breaths came in short gasps as she tried to process the amount of information her brain was taking in, but she knew what this all meant.

Terry Ives was her Mama.

Hopper had said she was gone though. Eleven had to find out for herself though.

The TV was shot, it wouldn't help her right now, so Eleven scanned the room with her eyes, searching for anything that she could use to make the right sound. Her eyes fell on a radio. That would have to do.

Eleven fiddled with the dials on the radio and found the white noise she needed. She brought her blindfold up to her face, keeping the picture in her lap as she did so. When she was ready, Eleven held the picture in her hands, focusing as hard as she could on finding Mama, and taking several calming breaths to steady her nerves. It was taking a little more of her powers without the TV but she was stronger now. She brought the picture to her chest and focused until she was there.

In the distance, Eleven spotted her, in a rocking chair facing away from her and mumbling to herself. She approached slowly, her shoes slapping against the water's surface.

"Rainbow…450…Three to the right, four to the left," the woman continued to ramble off nonsensically as Eleven neared and came to a stop facing her.

Then all of a sudden the woman noticed her, looking right in her eyes, she said, "Jane."

Eleven could feel her heart racing in the real world but she kept her mind completely on the woman. Eleven could feel it. This was her...

"Mama," Eleven replied softly, hesitantly placing her hand over her Mama's cold one. And then, like any time she touched someone in the mind visit, Mama disappeared, dissipating like smoke. Eleven futilely grasping the air, calling out to her in agony, "Mama! MAMA! MAMA!"

She didn't even bothering removing her blindfold at first, just sobbing into the fabric as was becoming her new norm. Her heart felt like it was being stomped on over and over again. She had lived her whole life thinking she had no one, only to realize now she had a Mama, who was alive. Not only had Hopper kept her from Mike and her friends but also her Mama...

Her Mama wasn't gone. Hopper lied. Again. Why?

Eleven couldn't even form coherent thoughts as she finally pulled the blindfold off her head, allowing the tears to streak down her face. Her body shook with the power of her sobs. She couldn't figure out if she had just lost something or gained something, maybe a little bit of both. Either way this revelation was excruciating. Eleven didn't even know who she was anymore. Eleven...El...Weirdo...Kid...Jane...

After school Mike biked over to the Byers' house, anxious to see how Will was doing after yesterday and not coming to school today. As he neared, Mike dropped his bike to the ground and rushed up the porch to the front door.

"Hello? Will? Mrs. Byers?" he called through the wooden door, banging his fists on it loudly. Eventually, Mrs. Byers' answered looking like she hadn't slept at all in days.

"Hey, Mike," she greeted with a tired smile.

"Is Will here?" Mike immediately asked, skipping pleasantries. He knew it was rude but he was worried about Will.

"Now is not really a good time," Mrs. Byers told him regretfully, but Mike wouldn't be deterred. He could tell something was wrong and he was going to find out what it was and help his friend by any means necessary.

"Is he okay?" he asked impatiently. Mrs. Byers' glanced back into the house for a second before stepping more fully onto the porch and closing the door behind her.

"You know, he's not feeling well, he's laying down, so I'll tell him you stopped by, okay?" Mrs. Byers slipped an arm around his shoulders and began guiding him across the porch towards the stairs, but he spun around and decided being blunt was the best way to go.

She had been there last year. She was a strong lady. She could take it. So, Mike asked flat out,

"It's about the shadow monster, isn't it?"

A/N: Thank you guys so much for the awesome reviews! I had no idea that anyone would like a season 2 novelization since it's not a whole lot of Mileven scenes, especially in the upcoming chapters. These will be significantly shorter but I hope I can keep them interesting for you all!