Chapter Nine: Adventure Time With Jim Hopper
We were sat right outside the Roane County Coroner's office. Despite how much I argued with him, Hopper had made me wait in the car. I had told him everything that had happened to me in the last week (well, almost everything). Saying he was skeptical of it all was an understatement. From what he said, he flat out didn't believe me. He said Joyce had gotten to me, and what I was really feeling was remorse for Will and guilt from what Jonathan had said to me. Of course, he was wrong, and I knew that, but forcing someone to believe me with no proof to show was proving to be a bit more difficult than I had planned for it to be. I had tried showing him anything I could, whether it was making a light flicker or forcing a sliver of power out of my fingertip, but it was impossible. I prayed that something would kick in before he was able to take me back home.
I didn't want to go home, obviously. There's no doubt Hopper would tell my uncle I had shown up at his house after skipping school for the day. That was exactly why I had spit out my medication this morning. It was obvious that it was dulling whatever powers I had. I had hoped that all it needed was a good twenty-four hours to leave my system, but evidently that wasn't the case. I felt like I was screaming and no one was listening anymore. I knew I had to keep pushing it though. Will was out there somewhere. He wasn't sitting in the freezer at the morgue. He was alive and hiding.
Just then, my attention was brought back to reality as I saw the office door swing open, Joyce storming out of the building with a fierce expression. Trailing right behind her was Jonathan, puffy eyed and distraught. For a second, I swore that he had seen me, but I ducked down quickly enough to hope he hadn't thought anything of it. I heard his car door slam, followed by the roar of the engine, and then silence. My head popped back up just in time to see Hopper heading back to the driver's side of the car, his face now clouded and harder to read than it had been when I had first talked to him an hour ago.
"There's been a change of plans," he said just as the door closed behind him.
"Does that mean you believe me?"
He reached down to turn the car key as I scrambled to fasten my seat belt again, feeling a little relieved. "Not yet. There's someone I want to talk to."
"Who? What happened? Did you see the body?"
"No, I didn't see the body."
"Then what's going on?"
"I don't know."
"But why—"
"Look kid," he interrupted, seeming just a little agitated, "you talk too much. I know just as much as you do. Stop asking so many questions."
Taken back, I gave him a small nod. I had never been told that I talked too much. It was always the other way around. "Okay, but can I ask one more question?" He let out a groan but gestured for me to continue anyway. "Is Jonathan okay?"
He paused for a moment before finally turning away from me to pull out of the parking lot. "This kind of thing is hard on everyone," he replied. "He seems like he's holding it together." I nodded, my heart tugging just a little bit as I felt my face fall. Hopper must've noticed, because I saw him turn to give me a soft eye. "He'll get over it, you know?"
I looked over at him, unsure of what he meant. "What?"
"He's going to forgive you eventually. Right now, you just have to let him deal with this on his own."
"How do you know he'll forgive me?"
"Because I've known you two since you were kids. You'll work it out."
I smiled a little at his reassurance. "Thanks, Hop," I said as a comfortable silence fell upon us.
The county coroner sat before us, and by us, I meant Hopper. He had all but shoved me to the side as soon as we set foot in the police station. He had fed the receptionist some lie about how the school had sent me over to job shadow him. I didn't think it was very believable given that I have never had a single interest in anything pertaining to law enforcement, but luckily, it was enough to get me through the doors.
"So, Gary," Hopper addressed as I started scribbling in a notebook behind him, pretending like I was too busy to hear the conversation, "tell me about these troopers that brought in Will."
His question had made me perk up a little, zoning in a little bit more. I noticed the coroner glance over at me for a split second. I was worried that he would end up kicking me out, but he answered the question regardless. "I'd say it was about six of 'em."
"And they're all Staties?"
Staties?
"Yes, sir. I've never seen that many troopers come in with a body before."
"And they told you they were going to take care of the autopsy?"
The coroner nodded his head, totally oblivious. "Yeah, claimed jurisdiction and kicked me out. It all seems a bit over the top to me, considering…" he trailed off.
"Considering what," Hopper asked, a little skeptical.
"Considering this was Will Byers and not John F. Kennedy."
Hopper let out a frustrated sigh before looking back at me, in which I quickly got the hint and lowered my head back towards my notebook. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him stand back up and put his attention towards the television that had been sitting on a filing cabinet diagonal from me. "Thanks for stopping by, Gary," he said.
"Sure thing," the coroner replied as he started making his way out of the office.
When he was gone, I turned my attention back to Hopper, who was now incredibly focused on the television. I inched forward from my spot and placed the notebook down to get a better look at what he was watching. It turned out to be a news report from a local channel. "…let the people know that, uh, the troopers are on duty and everyone should be safe. We think this is just an isolated incident…"
Hopper quickly switched the television off once he realized I was gravitating towards it. His eyes trailed over to mine. "Okay, fine. Something is going on."
"So you believe me?"
"Not yet."
"So then what are we doing?"
"We aren't doing anything. I'm going to take you home, and you're going to go to school tomorrow and be a normal teenager."
"A normal teenager? What part of this is normal?"
"None of it, which is why you aren't going to be a part of it."
I let out a dramatic groan and rolled my eyes. "I'm already a part of it. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't even know what was going on right now."
"I would've figured it out."
I crossed my arms at him, knowing that we both knew that wouldn't have happened. Since when were the police not totally oblivious? "Even if that was true, it would've been too late. We need to find the trooper that called it in, and we need to find out how he knew where the body was."
"Daisy," he groaned. "You're going home. End of story."
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are."
"Nope"
"Yes"
"No"
"Yes"
"No"
"Ye—This isn't up for discussion," he interrupted, his voice rising. I wasn't scared of him though. I had always felt too comfortable around him to be even the slightest bit intimidated. "Now grab your stuff and get in the car."
I shook my head and crossed my legs, leaning back to let him know he would have to drag me out of here with his own two hands if he wanted me to leave. "Even if you take me home, I'm just going to try to find you again, and by that time I'm probably going to get lost, and if another kid turns up missing on your watch, can you imagine what everyone's going to think?"
He let out a heavy sigh and rubbed his temple in frustration. "Fine." I beamed at him with a victorious grin. "But you're staying in the car." And just like that, the smile was wiped clean off my face.
"Can I please just go inside for a couple minutes? I won't even talk to anyone."
"You're sixteen."
"Yeah, but you're the Chief of Police."
"Being the Chief doesn't mean I can change the law, Daisy."
"So…" I trailed off. Okay, so maybe he had a point.
"So, I'm going to go inside, and you're going to—"
"—wait in the car, I get it," I said with an eye roll. "This guy better give us some good information."
With that, Hopper was already climbing out of the car. The two of us had managed to track down the name of the trooper that had called in Will's body, which didn't prove to be very hard since his name is in every newspaper in the area right now. The hard part was finding him. It took Hopper a few hours of sifting through names and gathering as much information about him as he could from each person he talked to. Eventually, he was able to find out that he was a regular at one of the bars in town. I was a little bit amazed at how much he was able to piece together on his own. Maybe he didn't need me after all, but I would never admit that to him.
We had found out that the quarry was owned by a man named Frank, who had also controlled various other quarries throughout Indiana, meaning that the state had no control over the area. The state troopers had lied with the intention of covering something up, presumably that the body wasn't Will's, but there was no proof of that yet. I kept picturing Will's face the last time I saw him in my vision. I hated that I didn't have more control over what was happening. If I knew what I was doing, there's no doubt that I'd be able to save him somehow, but I didn't even know what was going on with me in the first place. I just needed somebody that could help me.
I let out an absentminded sigh and stared out the window. As much as I wanted to help, the best thing I could do was wait for Hopper to come back, so that's exactly what I was going to do. The parking lot was almost empty except for a single black car that lurked just a few feet away. I had thought nothing of it until now. When I saw it, it had looked oddly familiar. That was until I was able to remember seeing it turning the corner as Hopper and I had left the station. Come to think of it, I had also seen it circling around a few times when we were driving through Hawkins. And when we had pulled into the bar.
About twenty minutes had passed now, and the car hadn't moved. The tint was so dark that I wasn't able to see if anyone was inside, but judging by the running engine, it was safe to say someone was watching me. I got a little nervous thinking back to what Dr. Owens had told me. Maybe these people were the bad people he was talking about and they had found out that I blabbed about everything. Or maybe I was overreacting so much that I had put these thoughts in my own head. Either way, I had a bad feeling about the whole thing.
It was nearing an hour now, and though the black car had eventually shut its engine off, it hadn't moved, and nobody got in or out of it. I was now totally convinced that it all had something to do with me, though I wasn't sure what. If these people were here to kidnap me or something, they weren't doing a very good job of it. Hopper would be back any second now, and we'd be gone. Hopefully he was able to get some information out of the trooper inside while not getting completely wasted.
As if on cue, my head snapped up at the sound of the bar doors swinging open and Hopper dragging another man out with him. There was no doubt in my mind that something had gone very wrong, and watching Hopper throw a punch straight into the man's jaw immediately confirmed it. "Holy shit," I gasped as I threw open the car door and stumbled out after them.
By the time I got over there, he had had the man pinned up against the side of the building. "Okay," he panted, "Let's try this one more time. Who told you to be out there? And what were you doing out there?"
"I don't know! I don't know. They just told me to call it in and not let anybody get too close."
"Get close to what," Hopper shouted.
"The body," the man answered, his bloody gaze drifting behind Hopper and falling onto me with wide eyes. "Clearwater," he muttered, just barely audible.
Hopper didn't waste any time throwing him back up against the wall. "Why do you know her name? Who do you work for? The NSA? Hawkins Lab?" At just the mention of the lab, the sputtering of an engine came from the same black car that had been lurking in the parking lot. "Who is that," Hopper asked.
"You're going to get us all killed," the man stammered.
"Who is that," he repeated, letting go of the man to chase after the car. "Hey! Hey!"
The tires screeched in front of him, the car peeling out just as I saw him pull a loaded pistol out of his pocket. My body started to feel cold and clammy as soon as I saw the silver barrel. "Oh my god," I panicked, ducking to the ground when he started shooting. It was only a few shots, but it was long enough for both the car and the man to escape. I looked over at him with furrowed brows and wide eyes. "What the hell, man? You can't just shoot at people!" My head was now starting to feel much heavier as my vision doubled. My legs felt as light as feathers, and the last thing I saw was Hopper diving towards me as I swayed forward.
The atmosphere was cold and melancholy. I didn't even need to open my eyes to know where I was. It was the same world that I had been running away from all this time, but this time I was determined to stand my ground. I looked around me, expecting to see a silhouette of the bar behind me, so it came as a pretty big surprise when I realized I was surrounded my nothing but trees and scary tentacle vines. My heartbeat sped up, and every nerve in my body was telling me to hide, but I didn't listen. I stood up, slowly, and tried to figure out exactly where I was.
The trees definitely seemed familiar, but all trees seem familiar when you're lost in the woods. I closed my eyes and took slow breaths to calm myself down. The last thing I needed right now was a panic attack. I tried to listen for anything around me, but just like before, the world was silent. It only made me more anxious, but I had to remember why I was here. I thought about Will, and I thought about Jonathan and Joyce. I couldn't just cower in the corner while they suffered. I remembered what Jonathan had said to me, that I couldn't ever just leave things alone. I laughed ironically about it. He was right. I couldn't keep myself out of situations like this. Well, not situations exactly like this, but ones I didn't have any business being a part of. I always shoved myself into it anyway.
I thought back to the first time he had told me that. It was the night that Joyce and Lonnie had gotten divorced. Will had drawn out what he called 'Castle Byers' just weeks before, and Jonathan wanted to do anything he could to distract him from everything that was going on. We spent the entire night building Will's castle. Jonathan had wanted to use a quilt to put over top of the castle, claiming that it was thick enough to hold off any rain and warm enough to survive the winter. Any sane person would know that that's a terrible idea, but when I suggested covering it up with a tarp, you would've thought I had insulted his entire family. It wasn't until it had started pouring down rain that he finally admitted I was right, joking that I didn't always have to butt in on things. I smiled as I remembered each detail, from the hair that clung to his forehead as we got soaked, to the light in Will's eyes when it all came together. And that's when it hit me.
My eyes snapped open. I knew exactly where I was. I whipped around, trying to find the same trees we had shared our lives with that night. A few turns and twists later, I was right there. Castle Byers. I paused for a second, trying to feel the sounds of the wind. It didn't feel exactly safe, but it also didn't feel like anything dangerous had found me yet. I looked around one more time before ducking into the makeshift fort. That's when I saw him, shivering with skin that was even paler than mine. He cowered away when the sheet covering the door had moved. I couldn't say anything, but he knew I was there. His eyes met mine for a split second, and he had already scrambled towards me, nearly knocking me off my feet.
Will, my heart ached. I hugged him as tightly as I could. He felt cold and fragile, but I couldn't help myself. One hug didn't feel like enough. I missed him so much, everyone did. I couldn't hear what he was saying to me, but I knew he was talking about how scared he was and how much he wanted to go home. He wanted me to bring him home with me, and I cried. I cried not only because I missed him, but because I couldn't save him. At some point, I was going to vanish, and he would be left there all alone again. I didn't pull away. I was afraid that if I did, he would disappear into thin air. I held him so tightly.
That was the moment everything changed. In just a matter of seconds, I felt it. The monster had found us, and it was coming. Its hunger echoed through the trees as I felt the soundwaves from its claws ripping into the tarp over top of us. I quickly threw Will to the ground and shielded him underneath me. That was when I came face to face with my biggest fear. It didn't immediately hurt me. It was like it had stopped to get a good look at me before sinking its teeth into my limbs. It was only a few seconds, but it was enough that I was able to memorize each detail, from the distorted flower bud that its face formed to the slime dripping off of its skin. To be honest, I was pretty terrified, but I wasn't going to let this thing get to Will.
It was a longshot, but I had to try it. With one arm wrapped around Will, I raised the other towards the monster, my fingers grazing its rough skin. I opened my mouth to scream, but it was silent. My eyes closed. I thought of Will. I prayed that this would work, because it was my last resort. My hand started to heat up, and I felt that same surge of power coursing through my veins. It was like my entire body was putting all of its might into a tiny sliver of white. The monster's skin disappeared from my touch, and when I opened my eyes, I let out a silent gasp. Right in front of me was this terrifying creature with wispy, ribbon like strands of white wrapped around its body. Was I doing that? I looked back at Will, who seemed just as surprised as I was. The monster's body started to move under my grasp. When I turned back, it was trying to claw its way out. I wasn't really sure what I was doing, but I knew I had the upper hand. I raised my arm, and like I had expected, the monster and all of the ribbons moved with it.
The atmosphere had changed. What was once cold and terrifying now felt warm and powerful. I glared at the monster, contorting my face to show every emotion I had been feeling since the first time it popped into my life. It had already destroyed so much, and it hadn't even been a full month yet. I made sure to look right into its creepy little face as I raised my other arm towards it, shooting out the same white slivers that wrapped itself even tighter against its scaly skin. Power coursed through my body as I wedged a finger towards it, a handful of slivers piercing its torso. My head started pounding like I was in the middle of a marathon, but I couldn't stop. I would lose consciousness soon, and there's no way I was leaving Will to fend for himself against this thing. I shot one last look at Will, hoping he knew I wanted him to run as soon as I was gone. He nodded, still wide eyed, but with much more life in him this time. I looked back towards the monster and started prying my hands apart, watching its body rip in two as a white light erupted from its chest. It was blinding, but I never looked away. I made sure that thing was dead before I dropped its corpse onto the cold, hard ground and let myself drift away.