HIDDEN !¡ MIKE WHEELER

19. ✰

"HEY, WHAT'D WE talk about?" a deep voice made Mabel open her eyes abruptly. She groaned at the thought of the voice interrupting her thoughts. "No signal," her sister replied. "What?" the voice muttered. "She said no signal," Mabel replied, combing her fingers frustratedly through her hair. She climbed off her bed, looking in the mirror on the wall. Her hair was nearly past her shoulders now. She smiled at the thought of her hair growing long again. She wanted it down to her back soon.

"It's 8-1-5. You're late," El spoke. "He's late again?" Mabel asked, turning to face her curly head sister. El nodded, getting up and leaving their room, causing Mabel to follow her. "Yeah, I lost track of time. I'll signal next time, all right? Uh, and it's 8:15. It's not 8-1-5," Hopper told El as she sat down across from him. "Sit down, Mabel," Hopper motioned towards the empty seat. Mabel rolled her eyes and sat down, resting her head on her palm. She almost laughed when she saw the half-eaten Eggo El had ate earlier sitting in front of her. This is what Hopper was talking about.

Hopper had taken in the two girls after finding them alone in the woods months ago. They had lived with him ever since. Hopper was a good person, always making sure they would eat, would bathe themselves and made sure they had clothes. But he had strict rules. Mabel was the only one who understood it was for their safety because the government was still looking for them. But the young girl was slowly dying inside. She was locked in the house with her sister and hasn't been able to see her other friends in almost a year. See, she loved her sister a lot. But El could be irritating when she was bored. Very irritating. So, Mabel found ways to entertain her without breaking Hopper's rules. What Mabel had been doing before that Hopper had interrupted her from was looking for Mike. She's been looking for him in the void for a while, but she never seems to find him. She could hear him every time he spoke to her through the void, but she couldn't respond. And she hated herself for that. She wanted to leave the house so badly to see Mike, but she couldn't.

"You okay?" Hopper pulled Mabel out of her thoughts. She took her head out of her hands as she looked up, slowly nodding. "Now, El, what did we talk about? Dinner first, then dessert. Always. That's a rule," Hopper smiled a bit, referring to the half-eaten Eggo. He rolled up his sleeves and slightly leaned in. "Yeah?" he asked El when she didn't respond. El nodded. "Yes," she spoke. Mabel tore away the tinfoil from her small TV dinner, handing the trash to Hopper. The three of them began to eat quietly.

When they were done eating, Mabel yawned, getting up to throw her tray away. "I'm going to bed," she told Hopper, making her way to her bedroom. "What's gotten you so tired these days, Mabel?" Hopper asked, getting up from his chair at the table. "Nothing. What are you talking about?" Mabel giggled, winking at her sister when Hopper turned away. The truth was, the girl looked for Mike through her mind. Every night. "Yeah, alright. Goodnight," Hopper nodded. "Come on, El," Mabel smiled. El got up and skipped to their bedroom, both of the girls bursting into giggles when the door closed. "Little does he know," Mabel whispered, throwing her head back.

MABEL WOKE UP to the smell of french toast and bacon trailing throughout her nostrils. She sat up and almost screamed when she saw her sister standing next to her bed with a sheet over her body, two holes cut out for her eyes. "God, El! You need to stop standing next to my bed waiting for me to wake up. It's even scarier when you're dressed like a ghost," Mabel clutched her heart, it beating faster than usual. "Help me," El breathed, standing still. "With what?" Mabel asked, furrowing her eyebrows. "I want to go trick-or-treat," El slowly sounded out the words.

Mabel scoffed, swinging her legs over her bed and shot up. "Yeah, right. Like Hopper will let you see daylight, let alone moonlight. You know we're not allowed to be outside," Mabel reminded her sister, brushing her hair in the mirror. "Please. Ask him," El begged. "No, El. Last time I tried to break a rule, I got into a screaming match with Hopper and lost my voice for two days. Do it yourself," Mabel rolled her eyes, walking out of the bedroom. She could hear El groan and follow her slowly.

Mabel sat down in her usual chair at the table, Hopper not turning around as he put pieces of bacon on three plates. El walked up behind Hopper and quietly stood still. Mabel reached for her glass of orange juice that was already set on the table and took a large sip of it, knowing El was gonna scare the shit out of Hopper. The older man turned around, jumping when he saw El. "Oh, Jesus!" he groaned, realizing it was her. "Ghost," El informed. "Yeah, I see that," Hopper turned back to the french toast on the stove.

"Halloween," El followed Hopper as he began to put the french toast onto the plates. He looked up and saw Mabel, sending her a smile as he continued. "Sure is," he nodded. "But right now, it's breakfast, okay? Come on, let's eat," Hopper picked up the plates. "They wouldn't see me," El said. "Who wouldn't see you?" Hopper questioned, walking over to the small table. "The bad men," El answered. "What are you talking about?" Hopper asked as he sat down. "Trick-or-treat," El walked up to him.

Hopper stared at her, furrowing his eyebrows. "You want to go trick-or-treating?" he asked. El nodded. "I told her it was a bad idea asking you, Hop, she should just go and not tell you—" Mabel began as Hopper cut her off. "Mabel," he shot her an icy glare, signaling her to shut up. "What? Just sayin'," Mabel smiled mischievously, shrugging her shoulders. "You know the rules," Hopper began to stand up. "Yes, but—" El started as Hopper put his hands on her shoulders. "Yeah, so you know the answer," Hopper nodded.

Mabel watched the scene unfold as she dug into her breakfast. "No, but they wouldn't see me," El argued. "No. Hey. I don't care," Hopper shook his head. "But they wouldn't see me," El repeated. "I don't care, all right? You go out there, ghost or not, it's a risk. We don't take risks. All right? They're stupid, and..." Hopper looked at Mabel and then back at El, wanting the girls to finish his sentence. "We're not stupid," they chorused together, El's voice coming out harsher than Mabel's.

"Exactly," Hopper nodded. "Now, you take that off, sit down and eat. Your food's getting cold," Hopper told El. She lifted the sheet off her head and plopped down into her seat with an annoyed look on her face, not eating. Hopper sighed in frustration. "All right, look... since Mabel is clearly the only one who's alright with staying in the house for Halloween, how about I get off early tonight, and I buy all of us a bunch of candy, and we can sit around and get fat and watch a scary movie together? How's that for a compromise?" he suggested to the two girls.

"I was okay with staying here and sleeping all day, but that works too," Mabel nodded with a mouth full of food. "C—Compromise?" El questioned the big word. "C-O-M-promise. Compromise," Hopper spelt it out for the girl. El looked away, sighing. "How about that's your word for the day? Yeah? It's something that's kinda in-between. It's like halfway happy," Hopper explained. "By 5-1-5?" El asked. "5:15. Yeah, sure," Hopper nodded. "Promise?" El whispered. "Yes. I promise," he leaned in, locking in his word.

"Halfway happy," El muttered, picking up her fork and stabbing it into her french toast. "Mabel?" Hopper looked over to the quiet redhead. She smiled and nodded with a piece of bacon in her hands. "Halfway happy," she replied, holding a thumbs up. Hopper smiled, reaching out to Eleven and ruffling her hair. They all laughed as El fixed her hair and they began to eat together. The two teenage girls did not know Hopper was going to break his promise.

author's note !
yall get on my nerves stop being ghost readers ITS BORINGGGGGG interact w my story pls it gives me motivation