daydream believer // stranger things

003 | the doctor lewis journal

SOMETHING STRANGE HAD BEEN GOING ON IN HAWKINS FOR QUITE SOME TIME NOW, DAWN NOTICED. for starters, almost no one had pumpkins on their stoops, which was strange enough for a suburban paradise in the fall. the locals said that there was issues at the produce farms, and they were all mysteriously dying. dawn wasn't too sure how that could happen at every single farm, but that's what everyone said.

then of course, there was the universal pesky little feeling of being watched any time you were alone. the girl couldn't explain it, but every time she was going anywhere alone, she felt the hairs stand on the back of her neck as if someone or something was following her. she knew it was universal because she had heard plenty of other people cite the same sort of feelings.

and, as a girl who thoroughly enjoyed her own company, this was quite difficult to handle.

dawn was used to being on her own - even before she moved to hawkins. her and her brother had lived in a little town in upstate new york - another suburban paradise. pumpkins littered the steps in the fall, nobody felt the need to lock their doors, and she even often went on walks by herself. however, ever since she had moved to hawkins in the beginning of the school year, she had seen minimal pumpkins, and would never dare of leaving the door unlocked, or going on a walk by herself.

i mean, sure, she had to walk places by herself, but she always had a destination, and a time she'd be back by. she knew that if she ever wasn't back in time, aaron would find her right away. she could never just leave, and come back whenever she felt like it - not in hawkins.

which was why it was even stranger when on the walk to the middle school to pick up will from av club, dawn noticed that she didn't feel like anyone was watching her. it just felt like she was going on a walk - like everything was normal.

almost too normal.

as she approached the school, she noticed a boy in the distance, just standing completely still on the field. she could've recognized that bowl cut anywhere.

"will?" she called out to him. the boy didn't answer, or make any movement to suggest that he had heard her. "will!" she called, even louder. but still, no response.

joyce's voice rang through the girl's head - telling her about how he would sometimes be in a trance like state, and how she would need to act fast to get him out of it.

her heart dropped into her stomach. "holy shit, he's having an episode." she whispered to herself, before taking off into a run to wake him.

her legs felt like jelly as dawn ran closer and closer to the boy, finally noticing how completely still he stood, with the exception of his eyes rolling to the back of his head. she threw her backpack off her shoulder and grabbed his arms - but still, no luck.

two boys around will's age came running out of the school, shouting for will. "he's over here!" dawn yelled back, and though she didn't know the boys, she hoped that they could help her.

"what happened?" the one boy asked, his voice cracking in anxiety.

dawn felt will's forehead, thinking he maybe had a temperature, but it instead was cold to the touch. "i don't know, he was like this when i got here." she told the boys, before pointing to one of them. "you," she started, fishing a quarter out of her jean pocket. "take this, go call his mom, the number is -"