EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE | Stranger Things.

III. Grudges Built Like Walls

THERE WAS A DISTINCT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO HUGO SISTERS.

And it wasn't just the fact that Daisy looked more like their mother and Frances looked like their father — almost exact replicas of the two.

Whilst Daisy was out doing God knows what at Steve Harrington's house, Frances was in the forest with her tightly clutched flashlight. It was after the assembly and she planned to go through with her signature to volunteer to find Will Byers. There were other things she could be doing at home such as studying for that upcoming Algebra test but Frances knew bringing a kid back home to his family was much more important than some damned test she would have the opportunity to retake.

They found near to no clues as to where Will's whereabouts were and that scared Frances. It scared her to the point that when she got inside the comfort of her own home she thought there was something eery going on, maybe a child kidnapper. The thoughts ran through her head like an ongoing loop, she wondered how Joyce was dealing with this entire thing. Frances could guess that the woman was in despair and trying to grasp any information that could lead her to figure out how her son had disappeared.

Frances's eyebrows furrowed upon hearing the window in the next room slide open, a small grunt of 'shit' leaving her sister's mouth. She could already imagine her preparing what to do next when the hallway light turned on — Frances always taught her to listen intently for the hallway light because it could be anyone, but at midnight it was more than likely Laura Hugo.

She exhaled and got out of her bed when she heard the small shut of the door to her parent's bedroom close shut, along with the hallway light. Frances put her socks on to try and lighten the sounds of her footsteps.

The eldest didn't even knock when she came in and saw a shocked Daisy scramble to put the leather jacket under the covers. The eldest Hugo frowned and closed the door behind her.

"Why are you hiding my jacket?" Frances whispered, walking towards the bed.

Daisy shook her head and within the blink of an eye, she had her hands around her knees. "You're going to hate me forever." Her voice was small yet it held an undertone of softness. "I didn't mean to."

Frances reached over and pulled the jacket out from underneath, not bothering to disguise the disappointment she saw when it looked less shiny than before and like its fabric was diminishing away with every second she held it within her grasp.

"It's my fault," Daisy said. "We were messing around and I slipped and fell in the pool and— and it was too late when I realized-"

"Daisy shut up," Frances whispered and put a finger to her lips, her eyes creepily calm.

Daisy backed away from her. "Are you possessed? Why're you staring at me like that?"

"Did you seriously just ask me that?" Frances squinted her eyes and let her jaw drop.

"I believe the words left my mouth," Daisy nodded, her arms still secure around her knees. The two girls were in a tense silence, each one just staring at the other waiting for something to be said.

"Well?"

Daisy shrugged confusedly, sighing when Frances's jaw tensed up. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen.." She sighed and looked back up at her sister. "You don't have to forgive me, but I really am sorry, Francie."

Another tense moment of silence and she could see Daisy getting more tired as time went on, so she stood up off the bed and walked to the door.

Frances turned around and said, "We'll talk more in the morning."