Chapter 3: Christmas Eve

Will

I can feel it creeping up my throat again and I know I would have to make a lame excuse so my mom won't get too worried again. Washing my hands is the one thing I can think about now.

I go inside the washroom and cough it out and though it is not as painful as it was the first time, I still can't get used to the slimy feeling it leaves my mouth. I gargle and wash my face… then it happens again…

Everything around me turned dark and there's no mistake it's a vision of the Upside Down. I could never and will never get used to this. It terrorizes me every time. I have no idea if I'm having just a vision of it, or if I'm actually being transported back to that eerie, monstrous place…

Then just like that, I am back.

After our meal, I feel nauseous again and I rush to the bathroom, unable to make another excuse. I try to prepare myself for another slug. If it is, then this will be the first time ever that I would throw up two of those gross critters in a day. However, instead of what I was dreading the most, I just vomited my Christmas Eve meal, much to my satisfaction, but the bitter after-taste still sent my face to a sour and I have to brush my teeth twice.

"Are you okay Sweetie?"-my mom asks looking worried stiff as soon as I close the bathroom door. "Yes Mom, I'm fine, really. I just ate a lot, I guess."-I say with a faint smile to comfort her, and she starts to relax.

"Okay, well, you go on ahead and sleep now. I'll just fix everything around here while your brother does the dishes, okay?"-my mom says while giving me a hug and ruffling my hair.

"Okay."

I now turn to Jonathan who seems overly perturbed.

"Hey, you okay, Buddy?"-Jonathan says while putting on the apron. It's bright red with a huge print of Santa Claus and his reindeers, and though it doesn't match my brother's usual gloomy expression, I love that it gives him a little bit of color.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Merry Christmas, Mom, Jonathan. Goodnight!"-I say as I make a move towards my room.

"Goodnight, son."… "Goodnight, Will."-my brother says as he stares at me intently.

I lay on my bed and pull up the covers and I can't help but feel guilty. Ever since I was found, my life has never been the same. I always become a source of worry and I do not have the same kind of freedom I used to have. I can't stay out late without Jonathan, I can't be left alone at home. Somebody always has to tend to me and it's getting in the way of my family's normal life. Jonathan has always been the witness to my struggles, and has been my constant companion to the ER and to my medical check-ups. I was diagnosed with Acute Gastroenteritis once and with Amoebiasis just a week ago. Both of which does not require me to stay at the hospital but both were because of my excessive vomiting. I overheard the doctor once saying I have an abnormally high count of white blood cells and something about my platelet? Whatever that means. My mom just said it meant I have an infection.

One thing I can't understand though, is why I don't throw up those mean slugs outside- like EVER. It has been consistently happening once a day for four weeks now and it could be anytime in the day as long as I am here- at home. There must be a reason for that and I might need to tell someone about it sooner or later, but not now. In a week we will be back to school from our Winter break and I have yet to see if there will be any…changes… So as of now, not yet.

The Wheelers

"So Mike, did you like your gifts?"-Karen asks while cutting the last part of her steak. Her son, who is sitting across her on the table beside Nancy has been annoyingly quiet again, as what he'd always be the moment he's not with his friends anymore. Everyone in the table- her entire family, plus Steve, had been enthusiastically eating her well-prepared meal for the Christmas Eve, talking about their plans for the remainder of the holiday, except for Mike, who's completely oblivious to the fact that everybody's now staring at him.

"Mike?"-Karen asks again but this time half-shouting.

"Yeah, I like them… Thanks."-Mike answers while tossing the beans and mashed potatoes around his plate with his fork, his steak half-eaten.

"But you're barely touching your food Mike. Didn't you like it?"-Karen insists.

"No, I loved it. It was just… well, I'm not really hungry" –Mike replies with a blunt affect that seems to infuriate his mother.

This behavior has been going on for about a month now since that "incident", and while Nancy assures her that her son is undergoing some kind of grief, she can't help but feel that it has been going on for quite a long time already and she knows she has to intervene.

"Mike, if this is about…."-she was about to nag at Mike when Nancy suddenly interrupted her.

"Mom"-Nancy says calmly but staring at Karen with her eyes wide as if saying, "Let him be".

"Karen, it's Christmas. Just cut the kid some slack. Mike, if you're done with your meal then you can go upstairs and get ready for bed"- Ted commands, and everyone is astounded at the sudden remark of the man who usually didn't care. However, Nancy totally got it and she motioned her head towards Steve to her mom and Karen now understands that Ted Wheeler is just unconsciously acting like the father that he should be in front of his daughter's boyfriend.

"Thanks Dad"-Mike says sounding genuinely thankful as he slowly gets up from his chair.

"Are you done now, Mike? Are you sure you don't want to have dessert? I baked your favorite cake."-Karen now sounding almost apologetic probably feeling guilty at her tone a moment earlier.

"No, thanks Mom."- Mike says while heading towards the basement… "Where are you going?"

"I'll head down the basement for a while…Umm… I'm just going to read some of my new comic books then I'll go to sleep."-Karen simply nods defeated by her affection towards the poor child as her husband slowly makes his way up from his chair.

"Oh, you too? Well, okay, can you bring Holly with you please?"

"Ok, goodnight kids. Merry Christmas. C'mon now Holly."-Mr. Wheeler says as she slowly lifts the sleepy girl from her high chair.

"Thank you Mr. Byers, Merry Christmas, Sir."-Steve says as he stands up deciding whether to shake the man's hand but then deciding not to, seeing that his girlfriend's father now got his hands full.

"Goodnight Sweetie, Daddy will tuck you in tonight okay?"- Karen says as she plants a kiss on little Holly's right cheek.

"Night Dad, Merry Christmas."-Nancy says not looking at his dad but instead, at Mrs. Wheeler.

"Mom, what was that about Mike? You know you have to let him be in times like these."-Nancy says as soon as her dad was out of earshot.

"Nancy, it's been a month! Sometimes I look at him and I feel like his mind is floating elsewhere. And what bothers me is that he doesn't act like that in front of his friends. When he's with us, he's just not Mike anymore. I don't even feel secure when he's alone, and I have to check on him multiple times every single night just to make sure he's not out and about trying to find that girl again."

"Mom, I understand you're frustrated but please give him more time, we told you every single thing that happened last time right? It's not easy to get over that. It's the same with all of us. It's just that he's-"

"He's way too attached to that girl Nancy. THAT's why. She's probably dead by now and-"

"MOM! Do NOT say that, if Mike hears you, then-"

"Then what? Is that girl more important than us? His family?"-Karen's eyes are welling with tears now and Nancy suddenly felt ashamed of sticking to Mike's side, again.

"I don't know, Mom. But if you keep on doing that you'll turn him away. Let's just be glad knowing that he's safe. I check on him every night too, you know. It seems like they finally gave up on finding her." –Nancy says, the last sentence almost close to a whisper.

Smacking her lips, she asks the question she has constantly refrained herself from asking before because she just wants everything in the past to be laid down to rest. But she feels that that strategy is not viable anymore so she asks Nancy nonetheless.

"What was she like...? That girl?"-Nancy's face lit up upon hearing this. Finally-she thought.

"She has a name Mom. It's Eleven. El for short. I actually kinda like her."

"You only like her because she said you were pretty."-Steve says jokingly attempting to lighten up the conversation.

"What? No." Nancy grins and nudges him on his side with her elbow. "It's just… when we were at the school gym… at the bath… she was so scared yet she was so brave. She was the purest human being I have ever met, Mom. I remember how she clung to Mrs. Byers like a baby. It was a wonderful sight. Mrs. Byers would have been a wonderful mom to her if she was still… you know… if she didn't disappear."-Nancy chooses her words carefully just in case Mike suddenly decides to come up from the basement.

Steve, noticing the despondent look of the woman across the table then says, as buoyantly as he can, with a wide grin on his face, "You'd surely be a good mother to her too Mrs. Wheeler."-and he soon realizes how awkward his remark was when the atmosphere becomes silent. Mrs. Wheeler just started to become interested with Eleven, so she probably isn't "thrilled" at the prospect of being her mother yet. Nancy rolls her eyes at Steve a little irritated with his boyfriend for being the insensible man that he is.

They stay like that for a couple of minutes then Karen stands up and asks, "Okay, who wants dessert?'

Mike

It's been exactly a month now since El disappeared. Chief Hopper and Mrs. Byers told us everything that happened in Hawkins lab a few days after Will was discharged from the hospital. They said we "deserved" to know. The Hawkins Department of Energy is still up and running. Lucas, Dustin and I have made several trips there and in the woods trying to find El.

What we found one time was a small crate full of food and that was about the same time we were busted by none other than the "Chief" himself. We asked him about the crate and he said it was his doing.

"So you were also trying to look for El"- I said. "As a matter of fact, I do. You boys put your bikes on the back of my truck I'll send you all home"-he answered.

"Then why do you think you can find her by doing this? She's not some kind of a wild animal that you can lure out with some… sausages?"… I can feel the heat of anger and frustration rushing up my cheeks. "If you really want to find El you should go back to the lab!"

"Yes, we were thinking that when El disappeared, she wasn't just trying to kill the Demogorgon but was trying to close the gate down for good." Dustin joined in.

"She mentioned before that she was the one who opened the gate. If she was the only one powerful enough to open the gate to the Upside Down, that means she's the only one who can close it down.", Lucas added.

Dustin then rejoined saying, "When she opened the gate, she was in the lab- the Upper dimension, so if she needs to close the gate, this time, she has to be in the Upside Down. She didn't really die but she actually teleported the Demogorgon and herself to the other dimension, and now we need to know if she really closed it down because if not, she could be stuck there and we have to help her."

"Or, she could have made another portal and gone here to the woods. We cannot stop looking for her. Every single day matters."

I sounded desperate that time but it didn't matter, we all were.

"The gate to the Upside Down in Hawkins lab was closed, so there's no reason for you to go lurking around here because it's not safe."-Chief Hopper reveals.

"How did you know that?" I asked.

"How did I know what?"… "That the gate to the Upside Down was closed?"-I answered.

"You do not need to know"…

"Liar… If you know that the gate was closed then you wouldn't go around looking for her here too… You'd probably going to sell her out again just like last time!"… I was shocked with my own words but I was furious.

"You know I did THAT to save Will… Now your parents will know all about this and you will promise not to go back here or the lab because all of you know very damn well that if that gate wasn't really closed at all and if that monster wasn't destroyed… then any or all of you could end up being stuck in that Upside Down"…

I was just staring at the chief but I knew that Dustin and Lucas were exchanging glances.

"You think this is some kind of adventure? Did you see Will's mom when his son was missing? Everybody thought she was crazy! Do you really want to do that to your families? Huh?"

"Mike, I think we need to go home now."- Lucas said, obviously defeated by the chief's words.

"Well I'm not going home with you."- I said to the chief as I jumped on my bike and rushed on the way home. I heard them shouting after me, but in my heart I know there's only one person I would give everything to hear say my name.

…...

We were all grounded for a week after that. I mostly spent that week just working on the campaign for tonight's game of Dungeons and Dragons. Now, I'm alone here, inside the fort that I especially made for her when she was still around. I would have to make some changes here when she comes back. Or maybe I can really just stay here and she can have my room like what I said to her last time. It puts a smile on my face just thinking about it but then I quickly realize that I am here, and she's not, and all I could think about is how worthless I am as a friend.

I even made promises to her that night. What was I thinking? Oh, El. Wherever you are now, just stay alive. We're coming for you. We will never give up.

Next week will be the start of school again after Winter break. And by then, our search will continue. But this time, we will be more careful. This time, we will find her.