suıʞʍɐɥ oʇ ǝɯoɔlǝʍ sƃuıɥʇ ɹǝƃuɐɹʇs

Chapter Four: The Body

ʎpoq ǝɥʇ
ɹnoɟ ɹǝʇdɐɥɔ

November 10, 1983

The next day I stayed home with Dustin while mom went to work. He was currently in his room just laying on his bed. He didn't want to come out so I had ended up taking his breakfast to his room. When I walked back the hall and stood outside his door I heard him talking to Lucas on his radio. They were making plans to go over to Mike's.

I knocked and I heard him mumbling a bye before yelling for me to come in. "Hey. What was that about?" I asked. "Nothing," he said. I nodded my head and crossed my arms over my chest, "Get your stuff and I'll take you to Mike's. Someone needs to make sure you three don't get into trouble," I said and walked down the hall to my room.

I put Dustin's bike in my trunk. My trunk was small and it was always a bit of a struggle to get it in there but I managed. Dustin walked out the front door, closing it behind him and got in the passenger seat. He has his backpack that he always carries around full of things like batteries, his walkie talkie, flashlights, anything a kid would need for a random adventure. I got in the driver's side and backed out of the driveway. Mike didn't live too far down the road so we got them pretty quickly.

I stood while the boys sat in the basement around the fort Mike had made for Eleven. She had a walkie talkie in her hands and we listened to the static from it. "We keep losing the signal, but you heard it, right?" Mike asked. "Yeah , I heard a baby," Lucas told him. There was a faint cry or whimpering that came through with the static but that could be anything. Mike was trying to convince us that Will was still alive and El knew where he was.
"What?" Mike asked.

"Mike, you obviously tapped into a baby monitor. It's probably the Blackburns' next door," Lucas said. Mike looked at him in disbelief, "Uh, did that sound like a baby to you? That was Will!," Mike said. "Mike."

"Lucas , you don't understand. He spoke last night. Words! He was singing that weird song he loves. Even El heard him!" Mike said. "Oh , well, if the weirdo heard him, then I guess—" Lucas said until Dustin cut him off. "Are you sure you're on the right channel?" He asked. "I don't think it's about that. I think, somehow, she's channeling him."

I didn't know what to say or do. They were obviously grieving their best friend. I know they understand death but I'm not sure if it's kicked in just yet for them that Will isn't alive. At least it hasn't for Mike. It's understandable that they don't want to believe their best friend is dead. But I feel like I should say something.

"Like... like Professor X," Just said. Mike nodded his head and smiled, "Yeah," he whispered. "Are you actually believing this crap?" Lucas asked. "I don't know, I mean... Do you remember when Will fell off his bike and broke his finger? He sounded a lot like that," Dustin said. "Did you guys not see what I saw? They pulled Will's body out of the water. He's dead!" Lucas yelled.

"Okay, guys. Calm down," I told them. I knelt down beside Dustin and sat back on my heels. This was getting to be a little too much. These poor kids saw their friend being dragged out of the water last night. It was going to be burned into their memories for the rest of their lives. "I know this is hard you guys–" Dustin cut me off before I could finish. "Well, maybe it's his ghost. Maybe he's haunting us," he said. "It's not his ghost," Mike told him. "So how do you know that?" Lucas asked. "I just do!" Mike snapped. "Then who was in that water?" Lucas asked.

"I don't know! All I know is Will is alive. Will is alive! He's out there somewhere. All we have to do is find him," Mike said. Static came from the walkie talkie again and we looked at Eleven to see her messing with the channels. "This isn't going to work. We need to get El to a stronger radio," Mike said. "Mr. Clark's Heathkit ham shack," Dustin smiled. "Yeah," Mike smiled back. "The heathkit's at school. There's no way we're gonna get the weirdo in there without anyone noticing. I mean... look at her, " Lucas said. The boys looked at me and I sighed. "Fine! Start looking for stuff for her to wear and I'll take you to the school," I said. I was always giving into them.