The Next-Door Down

AV Club

"Now what?" Dustin asked once everyone was sat down.

"She'll find him." Mike says determinedly, looking at Eleven with high hopes.

"And if not, Y/n can have a go." Lucas added.

You shook your head vigorously, "I'm sure it was just chance that I came across Will on the radio, El knows what she's doing."

All eyes were fixed on the girl from the lab as she squeezed her eyes shut and focused on the radio static.

"She's doing it. She's finding him!" Mike remarked.

"This is crazy." Dustin muttered.

"Calm down, she's just shut her eyes." Lucas admitted. You thought he was being grumpy so you decided to say something about it.

"Come on, stop being so pessimistic Luca-"

Suddenly, the lightbulb above you smashed and you had to cover your head to prevent the falling glass from slicing your skin.

"Holy shit..." Dustin whispered.

The sound of footsteps echoed from the radio, the four of you leaned closer to the machine.

They didn't sound human.

"What is that?" Dustin asked, sounding almost afraid.

"The.. The monster.." You muttered under your breath. You didn't know if anyone heard you.

"...mom?"

The radio.

There was a voice on the radio.

"No way!" Lucas' eyes widened.

The voice was definitely Will's.

"Mom... please..." It continued. Everyone just stayed silent, jaws dropped, just listening.

You decided you should try and communicate. You pressed a couple of buttons and leant into the mic. "Will? Is that you? Can you hear us?"

The others joined in, shouting stuff into the mic.

No response.

"Why can't he hear us?" Lucas asked.

"I don't know." Mike replied.

Horrifying noises filled the room. The sound of snarling and louder footsteps.

"Mom, it's coming!!!" Will yelled, sounding close to tears, "It's like home.. but it's so dark.. it's so dark and empty... and it's cold."

Will kept on shouting, whimpering and crying until suddenly, the fuse on the radio blew.

You all screamed as the radio set on fire and the alarm began to blare. Luckily, Dustin put it out with an extinguisher.

"El, are you alright?" Mike spoke.

You'd only just realised how drained Eleven looked. Her eyes were red and puffy, her veins were popping out and her nose was bleeding.

"Can you move?" You asked her.

The four of you carried a weak Eleven out of the school and onto the playground where the rest of the school regrouped for the fire alarm.

But after that, the five of you snuck out from school early. Since you couldn't go to Mikes basement because his parents would notice he was off school, you offered that everyone could go to your house.

"Are you sure Y/n?" Dustin asked, "Your parents wo-"

He stopped, remembering that your parents were dead.

"It's fine." You give him a reassuring smile, "It's good having you all round, it'll make the house less empty."

A/n- Was just going through all my books and found I had a chapter unreleased. I thought I'd publish it but idk if I'll write anymore. If you're still interested let me know and I will but if not it's alright.