Chapter Six

Dead

Ronnie stood farther back from the crowd that surrounded the quarry. The red and blue lights of the police cruisers back casting around her in a glow. Her hands nervously fidgeted with each other as she watched people moving around frantically. It was less than an hour ago that Joyce got the frantic call, causing them all to rush out of the house and down towards the abandoned quarry on the edge of Hawkins. Something was sitting heavy in the pit of her stomach as she saw three men carrying a small body from the cold water. She knew that wasn't Will. She also knew that Papa was the reason for the body in the water. She saw Will on the other side, the dark and cold side, and knew he wouldn't easily be found like this.

"Seven." a voice spoke to her right, causing her head to turn quickly and see Jonathan standing beside her. His shoulder slumped as he looked down towards her. Even in the dark light she could see the tears streaming down his cheeks. "Why don't we go home."

"Home?"

Jonathan nodded his head before gently placing his hand on her back and guiding her back towards the car. Jonathan couldn't stand there and watch them pull his little brother from the water any more. He needed the get away from there. The moment Hopper called them, his mother answering the phone, he knew it wasn't good news. Joyce dropped the phone from her ear before Hopper even fully got the words out of his mouth. The two walked back towards Jonathan's car and Ronnie slipped into the passenger seat and pulled the over-sized coat she was wearing around her body more. Jonathan sat there for a few seconds, reaching up to wipe his falling tears, before starting the car and driving away from the scene.

Most of the car ride was ridden in silence between Ronnie and Jonathan. Her eyes stayed glued out the window watched the trees as they passed by them. Her hands continued to fidget with each other, the heavy feeling now traveling to her chest, and dread filling the car.

"That wasn't Will." Ronnie spoke softly as Jonathan pulled into the driveway of the Byers home. He paused for a moment, turning the car off, before turning towards her. Her back was still slightly turned towards him as she stared out towards the woods surrounding the home.

"W-what did you say?"

Ronnie stayed still for a moment before turning back to face Jonathan more. "That wasn't Will...i-in the water...not Will."

"There is no one else it could be." Jonathan sniffled and shook his head. "You don't know Will. You wouldn't know."

"He's...he's on Other Side."

Jonathan scuffed, not meaning to sound rude but not really being able to help it with his current emotions. "Of course he is. He's dead."

"No."

Before Ronnie could say more Jonathan ripped open the car door and got out quickly, slamming it behind him. She couldn't help but jump from the sudden noise and let out a soft whimper noise, her eyes following Jonathan's tall frame as he walked towards the house. Ronnie sighed and looked down towards her hands, staying in the car for only a moment longer, before opening the car door and getting out. When she walked into the house music was blaring from Jonathan's bedroom – loud enough the entire house felt like it was vibrating from the music. She slowly walked towards the bedroom and stood outside the door. Her hand reached down and grabbed the knob but found that it was locked.

"Go away." Jonathan called out from the other side of the door, the music drowning him out, but she was still able to hear him.

Ronnie frowned before stepping away from the door and walked back towards the front of the house and moved to take a seat on the couch. She brought her knees up towards her chest and played with the frayed edge of the rip on the knee of the jeans she was wearing. After a while, Ronnie closed her eyes and rested back against the sofa, feeling the vibration of the music that surrounded her. She could feel it flowing through her, her heart settling, and mind focusing. She could feel herself in Jonathan's bedroom. Visioning where the bed was, the photos on the wall, and the desk pushed in the corner. She felt the warmth over taking her body starting at her toes and making it's way up her body. Her heart rate began to pick up rapidly and soon her body was falling in the abyss. It was cold and dark. But it didn't last long till she felt the soft plush carpet of his bedroom.

Jonathan jumped back when he looked down and saw Ronnie lying on his bedroom floor. He let out a scream of surprise causing her to open her eyes and look up towards him. Slowly she sat up from the ground and looked towards him. The sadness from before now replaced with shock and bewilderment as he looked back down towards her.

"H-How...How..." He panted and looked towards her, scrambling away as she moved to stand from the floor. "No! No!"

Ronnie looked towards him with a mask of hurt covering her face quickly. A small trail of blood falling along her upper lip from her nose as she looked back towards him.

"Jonathan?" Her voice was small.

"H...How did you do that?" Jonathan spoke with a panic.

"Jonathan...please..." She whimpered

He stared at her with wide eyes before moving quickly and exiting his room, slamming the door tightly behind him. Ronnie stood there with tears streaming down her eyes in the middle of his bedroom.

Jonathan walked around the funeral home, feeling as if he was moving on autopilot, as he listened to the director talk to him. He hadn't gotten much sleep the night before on the account of his little brothers body being found, on top of the incident with Ronnie – Seven. He thought for a moment he was hallucinating when she appeared in his bedroom. If it wasn't for the loud pitched ringing in his ear shortly after she appeared into the room.

"C-Can I have a moment?" Jonathan spoke interrupting the director as he spoke. "I-I just need a moment."

The director gave him a sympathetic look before nodding his head once and walking through the archway and down the hallway. Jonathan stood there for a moment in his own thoughts before he heard a soft knock behind him. When he turned around he half expected his mother to be standing behind him – hoping that she would come to term that Will was dead. But instead he saw Nancy Wheeler. She gave him a small smile before nervously walking further into the room.

"C-Can we talk? Please?" She spoke. He nodded his head before following her towards the small bench that sat in the hallway of the funeral home. "Sorry to interrupt. Just your mom said that you'd be here."

"It's ok." He spoke softly looking down towards his feet and leaning his elbows on top of his knees. "What's up?"

"I-I wanted to ask you about...the night of Steve's party...um...Barb is missing and I was wondering if you saw anything out there?"

Jonathan's mind instantly went to Ronnie. But he quickly shook his head and turned to look up towards her. "No. I-I didn't see anything."

"Did you see Barb leave?"

"No." Jonathan spoke and shook his head. "I left shortly after you all got into the pool. I didn't see where she went."

Nancy sighed heavily and rubbed her hand over her face and frowned. "She just disappeared and it's like there isn't a single clue of where she could've gone. Well...except for...some guy." Nancy shook her head and stood from the bench. "Never mind...forget it."

Something caused Jonathan to stand and look towards Nancy with a confused look. "What guy?"

"Just...i-it wasn't really a guy...I-I can't explain it." She sighed "He...He had no..."

"No face?" Jonathan asked, remember his mother's babbling about monsters in the walls shortly after Will disappeared and right before Ronnie was found. He brushed it off to something that his mother made up and was losing her mind from the situation.

"How did you know that?" Nancy asked

"I gotta show you something."

Jonathan reached down and grabbed Nancy's hand, pulling her out of the funeral home, and towards his car parked at the far end of the parking lot.

Ronnie sat on the couch and watched as Joyce paced back and forth in the living room of the house. All the lights were turned off and the only source of light was the sunlight coming through the blinds in the windows. Joyce reached up and gripped tightly to her short brown hair and let out a frustrated scream.

"Come on! I know you're there!" She shouted up towards the ceiling before dropping her hands down to her sides. "Will! Please...I know you're there..."

Joyce quickly rushed towards the radio that was sitting on the coffee table and turned it on to full volume, playing the song that she knew was his favorite – ever since Jonathan played it for him. Ronnie recognized it as the song that Jonathan was blasting last night till he ran out of his room scared. She hadn't seen him all day and the worry sitting in her chest was enough to make her feel sick. Ronnie gripped tightly to the couch cushion beneath her and looked back up towards Joyce as she began to pace.

"Seven...c-can you do what you did before?" Joyce bent down in front of her as the music continued to play. "With Will...I-I know he's out there." Ronnie stared down towards her. "Can you find him?"

Ronnie nodded her head slowly and reached slowly, and hesitantly, grabbed onto Joyce's hand. Once again she sat there and let the vibration of the music go through her body as she calmed herself. Her head fell back against the aged brown couch, as her mind used the radio as a tool to find the missing boy. Joyce watched as the girls face fell into a state of serene peace as she closed her eyes. Joyce silently prayed as she watched and waited for any sign of her boy. They both sat there for a long while, the sound of the music the only thing between them, till the lights began to flicker around them rapidly. Ronnie's breath became more and more rapid, her grip tightening on Joyce's hand, as the sound of banging could be heard. Joyce looked around in confusion, not understanding where it was coming from, before her attention turned towards the wall beside the front door.

"Mom?" Will's voice came from behind the wall, causing Joyce to gasp and quickly move from her place in front of Ronnie.

Ronnie held onto her concentration as the radio was turned down and Joyce ripped the wallpaper off the wall. Her eyes snapped open as she reveal a red flesh like substance from where the wall once was. From afar Ronnie is able to hear to soft growling coming from the other side as Will cried out to his mother. The fear soon gripped up Ronnie's spine as the growling grew closer and closer.

"Mom...it's coming..." Will cried from the other side of the wall, his form only that of a shadow through the milky wall.

"Run baby! I'm gonna get you! But run and hide for me ok?"

Joyce gasped and jumped back as slowly the wall turned back to the concrete it was before and Will disappearing behind it. The loud and high pitched ringing sound ripped through the house before fading away. Ronnie slumped forward and whimpered as she moved to lay on her side. Joyce cupped her hand over her mouth and began to cry as she looked towards the wall.

"My boy." She cried before turning around towards Ronnie, tears streaming down her face, before she moved towards the younger girl.

"Will," Ronnie whispered softly as she stared up towards Joyce with hooded eyes. "Other side."

Joyce nodded her head and sniffled as the tears continued down her cheeks. "He is sweetie. Thank you. Thank you."

Joyce brushed back the hair that had fallen into Ronnie's eyes and bent down to kiss her cheek. Ronnie relaxed to Joyce's touch and closed her eyes.

"Mom." Ronnie whispered softly, catching Joyce's attention and causing her heart to break as she looked down towards the girl.

Gregory Gray walked down the hallway of his home and brought the beer his his hand towards his lips before taking a long drink. The soft buzz of the alcohol coursing through his veins. He felt like his entire body was overtaken by hot anger as he walked towards the living room. The soft sound of the nightly news playing as he took a seat on the couch. Upstairs he could hear his wife moving around their daughter's room as she placed her to bed. He scuffed at the thought and took another drink from his beer. The phone rang from beside him causing him to quickly reach for it to answer.

"Gray." He spoke, his voice and tone slurred due to the alcohol.

"It's Brenner." The voice spoke from the other end.

"Ah," Greg spoke and finished off his beer and set the empty bottle on his counter top. "I'm guessing we have a deal since you're calling me?"

"We've been watching your family. Seeing if what you have been saying is legit." Dr. Brenner spoke "I think we both can get what we want out of this. I get the girl, and you stop raising another mans baby."

"How do you know about that?"

"We say her meeting with him at the park on Sunday."

That statement alone made the anger that had been growing within Greg even more. His grip on the phone tightened to the point of his knuckles turning white. The sound of steps caught his attention for a moment and he could see his wife coming down the stairs, turn at the bottom, and head towards the kitchen. She smiled towards him as she passed the archway that led into the kitchen.

"How soon can we do this?" Greg spoke as the fake smile he placed on his face as she passed fell,

"We'll take care of it, you act as normal as you can." Dr. Brenner spoke. "One morning you're going to wake up and she wont be in her bed."

"Then you've got yourself a deal."

AN: please leave a review! Love seeing your thoughts, theories and reactions!