𝑩𝑳𝑼𝑬 - Billy Hargrove [1]

TEN

TEN|HIDING WILL

Bernadette worked silently as she helped the transform a shed into a space they could hold Will, trying to make sure he doesn't know his surroundings.

"Hey." The sound of Nancy's voice made her jump, peeking over her shoulder to see the girl was speaking to her brother. She quickly sneaked out the shed, leaving the pair to talk privately as she checked on the kids.

"Hey, Dustin." Birdie stopped the boy as he began to speed past, grabbing his shoulder to stop him. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." He shrugged off her concern, glancing over to the shed where everyone had gathered supplies.

"If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here." She smiled down at him before following him to the the shed. They finished disguising the interior, everyone but a few heading back inside the house to wait.

Birdie sat back on the couch, watching her brother swing his nail bat around to practice. He glanced over at his sister worriedly, watching her chew on her perfectly manicured nails.

The lights in the house flickered, everyone gathering around the window to check what was going on. Will had awaken, alert and confused. Hopper burst into the home, grabbing paper and pen as everyone gathered around confused.

"What happened?" Dustin questioned with concern, waiting for the older man to give him an answer.

"I think he's talking, just not with words." Hopper explained, sketching down Morse code symbols.

"What is that?"

"Morse code." Everyone answered, encrypting the secret message from Will.

"H-E-R-E." Hopper spelled out the code, putting the pen down on the table as he sighed. "Wills still in there. He's talking to us."

They quickly set up a secretive communication system, sending Wills message back to the group in the house. One by one his mother, brother and best friend spoke of good memories between them and Will.

"Close gate." They read the message aloud, all glancing at each other as they knew what to do. The phone began to ring, startling everyone as they rushed to silence it.

"Do you think he heard that?" Max asked, watching Nancy throw the phone across the room.

"It's just a phone. It could be anywhere." Steve suggested. "Right?"

"I could pick our home phones ring out of hundreds. It's not hard to be able to recognise a small noise." Birdie explained to her brother, biting her lip nervously as she waited for a solution to arise. "I can differentiate people walking up the stairs."

They heard the distant screeches of monsters, knowing they were coming straight to the house. Birdie slipped her hand into Steve's, holding it tightly as the fear started to settle in.

"That's not good."

"Hey, get away from the windows." Hopper warned the kids as he walked back into the house, making sure the door locked behind him. "Do you know how to use this?" He held out a shotgun to Jonathan.

"What?" The boy asked back, not understanding why Hopper had chose him.

"Can you use this?"

"I can." Nancy stepped forwards, taking the gun from the police chiefs hand. The older members of the group stood protectively in front of the kids, keeping their weapons raised at the windows as the monsters circled the house.

The screeching went silent, everyone holding their breaths as they waited for the Demo-dogs to attack. Birdie pushed Dustin further behind her, noticing him curiously peeking around her.

A body flew through the window, a corpse of a Demo-dog laying limp on the floor. Everyone turned to stare at it confused, glancing out the window to catch a glimpse of what killed the violent beast. Hopper slowly walked closer to it, gun raised as he waited.

"Is it dead?" He kicked it's floppy head, earning no response from the monster. The front porches creaked behind them, everyone spinning around scared as they saw the door unlock on its own.

They raised their guns once more, waiting for whatever had manage to get through. The door creaked open, a familiar girl walking through with blood dripping down her nose.

Bernadette let out a relieved sigh, clutching her chest as she watched Mike and Eleven reunite after almost a year. A sad smile made its way on to her lips, knowing this was only a the calming eye in a killer storm.