HIDDEN !¡ MIKE WHEELER

11. ✰

THE NEXT DAY, Mike had a plan to pretend to be sick to stay home from school and he carried it onto Mabel. Even though Jess was confused on why Mabel hadn't brought home Eleven with her that day, she left the girl alone. She was really understanding. Jess lightly knocked on the door before opening it, smiling when she saw Mabel sitting up on her bed awake. "Hey, honey. You doing all right?" she sat down next to the little girl.

Mabel already had her lines prepared as she looked out the window, pretending to cry. "Just a lot of emotions I'm feeling right now," she spluttered, playing with her fingers. "Will?" Jess frowned, rubbing the girl's shoulder. Mabel nodded, setting her head down on Jess' shoulder. "I'm not really feeling well today. I-is it okay if I stay home? Just for today?" she looked up at Jess. "Cal and I will both be at work today, so we can't be here for you," Jess told the girl. "It's okay, really. Think I just need to lay down. I have a huge headache from Mike and I's cry sessions last night," Mabel lied, sighing.

"Okay, baby. Call us if you need anything, our work numbers are in the phonebook under the coffee table," Jess leaned in, kissing Mabel's forehead. Mabel nodded as Jess stood up and left the room. Once the door closed, Mabel wiped her fake tears off her cheeks and grabbed the walkie-talkie Mike had lended her last night. "Mike, Jess is leaving now. When do you want me to come? Over," Mabel whispered into the walkie-talkie as she heard Jess grab her car keys and yell at Cal to hurry up. "Come as soon as possible. Lucas and Dustin are already here. Over and out," Mike replied. Once Mabel heard the car door slam and drive off, she threw on her Chuck Taylor's and jumped out the window.

It took her only fifteen minutes to reach Mike's house. She knocked on the door, Mike answering it quickly. They went downstairs and joined Dustin and Lucas, sitting in a circle around El's blanket fort. El switched through the channels, catching some quiet whimpering.
"There. We keep losing the signal, but you heard it, right?" Mike chirped, looking at the three kids. "Yeah, I heard a baby," Lucas drawled. He was not convinced at all that the almost-silent whimpering on the walkie-talkie was his pronounced-dead best friend.

"No, Lucas. When we were here yesterday, he was singing. It was his voice. You have to believe us," Mabel looked into Lucas' eyes. "Jesus, everyone's going crazy. First, Will's mom. Now, you guys. You obviously tapped into a baby monitor. It's probably the Blackburn's next door," Lucas rolled his eyes.
"Yes, Lucas, because a baby can sing. How could you be so dense?!" Mabel argued with him. "Mabel," Lucas groaned, throwing his head back. "He was singing that weird song he likes. Even El heard him," Mike chirped, butting into Mabel and Lucas' conversation.

"Are you sure you're on the right channel?" Dustin spoke. "It's not about that, no. El is channeling him," Mabel aired, watching as El kept switching the channels on the device. "Like... like Professor X?" Dustin asked as he smiled. Mike nodded excitedly. "Are you guys actually believing this crap? How is that even possible?" Lucas rolled his eyes. "It's just what people with powers do," Mabel smirked, resting her hand on her sister's knee and winking to make her smile. "Well, I mean... remember when Will fell off his bike and broke his finger? He sounded a lot like that," Dustin shrugged, referring to the whimpering.

"Did you guys not see what I saw? They pulled Will's body out of the water. He's dead!" Lucas bolted. It got silent as everyone stared at Lucas, wondering why he had gotten so mad. It was possibly because he was in the anger stage of grief. "Maybe it's his ghost. Maybe he's haunting us," Dustin looked back and forth to each person in the tight circle. "It's not his ghost," Mike reported. "So how do you know that?" Lucas shook his head. "I just do!" Mike defended himself. "Then what was in that water?" Lucas asked. "I don't know! All I know is that Will is alive. I know it, Mabel knows it and especially El knows it. He's out there somewhere. All we have to do is find him," Mike told the group.