Raining Hellfire

RH1: Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Vanishing of Will Byers

What did you do?

Oh my god Y/N!

WHAT DID YOU DO???

You woke up with a pounding heart, sweat soaking the bed. It had been a while since you had that dream.

The alarm clock on your bedside table read 8pm, meaning your well-thought out power nap has lasted 8 hours. All the sleepless nights you spent studying seemed to have caught up with you.

"Fireball him!"

Your head spins to your window, noticing that you had left it open before sleeping. Bed creaking, you walk over, grabbing at the handle while hearing the busy chatter of young boys.

Living next to the Wheeler's house meant that you had your very own commentary of the events that unfolded in their basement. Mike and his friends usually played D&D down there, something you never knew existed until you moved to Hawkins and got to know the family next door. Mikes friends were as annoying as they were loud, happily interrupting your day as you came home to drone on about their campaigns. Personally, you didn't truly mind. While you'd rather walk into your uncles house in peace, it was sweet that they saw you as someone they could talk to. All because you and Nancy had grown close over the past 2 years. You thought being the new Freshman in Hawkins High School would at least give you a fighting chance. Until you learnt that everyone already knew each other since they had grown up there, and you felt just as lonely as you looked. Nancy being assigned as your tour guide was blessing sent from the big man himself, she not only showed you around but began inviting you to lunch with her friend Barb. Admittedly, it was probably out of pity at first but after you got to know each other, there was an instant connection. You count yourself lucky to live next door to a family that welcomes you as if you were one of their own.

Slamming the window shut, you quickly adjust your look in the mirror. Even though you had been here two years, your room was still pretty bare. You hadn't taken much with you in the first place, leaving most of your things in California since you left so quickly. There wasnt much reason for you to decorate. Your plans to leave as soon as you graduate were set in stone. No matter how long you stay here, it isn't ever going to feel like home.

You make your way into the living room, noticing the beer bottles that had been abandoned on the kitchen counter as you walked past. You live here with your uncle, an arrangement your parents had made since the event. Its not that you hated your uncle, but you certainly didn't like him. You understood how inconvenient it all must have been, especially since your aunt had died three months prior to your arrival. But rather than just talk, he liked to drink. A lot. So did your mother in all fairness so it must run in the family.

The living room was filled with pictures of your aunt. Mostly from when she was younger but your uncle loved taking photos when she was alive, taking any opportunity to snap a picture when he thought she looked beautiful. It was something that was quite bittersweet now. Even the chair that sits untouched in the corner as if it is waiting for its owner to return. Bittersweet.

A note was stuck to the dining table.

'Out with a few people from work. Try not to get into trouble.'

You sigh. It wasn't an uncommon note for him to write. The notes he left were always short and snappy and always left out any possibility for you feeding yourself.

Grabbing the note and ripping it in half, you venture into the kitchen, swiftly grabbing the bottles to take with you as you exited through the back door toward the metal trash-cans. The air was much colder than you realised as it attacked your bare legs. Clearly this wasn't the weather for comfy shorts.