Real Life Cleric

Chapter One

Chapter One

Will couldn't sleep. Not that he regularly could. He lay on his back staring at the ceiling of the Wheeler's basement. He let Mike take the couch, well, let probably isn't the right word. He forced Mike to take the couch after some light bickering. Begrudgingly Mike gave in giving Will a small smile, making a night of suffering worth it, in Will's opinion. The floor was hard, with just a thin sleeping bag for a cushion, but Will didn't mind. It wasn't like he was going to get any sleep tonight anyway. Not that he didn't try, it was just that every time he tried to close his eyes thoughts and urges clouded his brain.

Check the lock.

It's coming for you.

Don't breathe so loud it might hear you.

Did you hear that?

"If I go there will be trouble..."

Would that vase smash if you threw it?

That's why Will had been so excited about his and Mike's sleepover. He always felt safer with his best friends next to him. The comfort of another person seemed to ground him in the "real" world, especially Mike. Or, at least, that's the reason he told himself he was so excited. He refused to let his mind wander on the subject.

It had been over a year and a half since he had originally stepped foot in the upside down. But his flashbacks, thoughts, and memories were much stronger and more frequent lately. Specifically at night when he was trying to sleep, which made sense with nothing to distract him but his mind. But he suspected that wasn't the only reason.

He noticed it a bit after he returned home but chalked it up to coincidence or trauma. But lately, it was harder to ignore the way the light flickers with an increased heart rate. Or how his walkie-talkie would be on before he even picked it up to call his friends, even when he swore he had turned it off the last time he used it. And the occasional nose bleeds that followed.

Yet in the last couple of months, this thing that was happening to him was getting stronger. For instance, the last time he was at the roller rink. He stepped onto the carpet souronding the rink and hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings. Before he could so much as look for where he had left his sneakers a wheeled mop-bucket had flown in front of him at the last second. But, miraculously, it stopped right before it had the chance to collide with Will. Not even spilling a drop of dirty water on the floor. A frantic employee ran up to him out of the single-stall bathroom.

"Shit, shit, shit! Sorry, dude! You good!?"

"I-uh, uhhh" Will looked at the man, his thin hair covered mostly by the base-ball hat the Rink required him to wear. Black with an ugly orange roller skate on the front. He was out of breath from the short run from the bathroom and clearly hadn't gotten enough sleep the last couple of nights.

"Geez, dude your nose is bleeding. Want me to get you a napkin?" He straightened his back pointing to the bathroom behind him. 

Still, out of it, Will's hand found its way up to his face, feeling the warm red liquid slowly running down his upper lip. Seeing the blood on his hand snapped him back to reality.

"Oh, um, yeah, no I'm okay, thanks," he stuttered, without making eye contact,  skating in the direction of the bathroom. Leaving the rink worker to finish his job with a shrug.

That's when Will knew it was no longer a coincidence. He wanted to tell someone. Tell his mom. Tell El. Tell Mike, for christ's sake! He even imagined telling Mike tonight but chickened out at the last second.

What would I say? Hey, Mike looks like I have powers! I'm stealing El's signature look nose bleeds and intense facials! He thought to himself, sitting up in exasperation.

Will looked around the room until his eyes landed on Mike. His best friend since he was five. He wished he could talk to his friend and say what was on his mind like he did when he was younger. He should be able to simply talk to him, it was probably weird he couldn't talk to his best friend. But he had felt a shift in his and Mike's friendship and he didn't think Mike had noticed. Or if he had he hadn't let on that he realized anything was off. Will didn't let himself think about it though, his heart rate would pick up, he'd get nervous, and often the lights would flicker. Stressing him out even more.

Mike's mouth was just slightly hanging open and his breathing was slow and deep. Will watched Mike's chest rise and fall for what could've been hours or five minutes, time moves weird when you're entranced. Will slowly exhaled. Mike looked so calm, peaceful, and inviting, lying there fast asleep with a hint of blush on his cheeks from the heat of the blanket on top of him. Will went to move it when Mike suddenly turned over. Pushing the blanket off himself and faced the opposite direction of Will. Startled, Will jumped back a bit. Spiking his adrenaline and causing the ceiling fan to do a quick couple of loops. Blowing a gush of air on Will's neck and sending a shiver down his spine.

Squeezing his eyes shut, the boy took a deep breath and started the make his way towards the bathroom to calm down. Will made it halfway there before he stubbed his toe on a wooden chair causing it to screech across the floor. Holding his breath, he turned to look back at Mike. Will scanned the boy's face checking for any signs of disturbance. Satisfied he didn't wake his friend, Will finished his journey to the bathroom. He closed the door before turning the lights on and stared at himself in the mirror, placing his hands on either side of the sink. His eyes looked frightened, tired, ashamed and thousands of other emotions he couldn't place. His eyebrows were furrowed and his face looked paler than it usually did.

Not that it wasn't pale, to begin with, Will thought morbidly to himself.

He needed to get this under control before he exposed himself or hurt someone. If someone he loved got hurt, because of him?  Will couldn't bear the thought. He needed to practice, and find a way to stop these glitches from taking over his life. He knew El had gotten her training with crazy scientists but that was out of the question. Half of them died at the massacre at Hawkins Lab. Not that he wanted to grow up a lab rat. It just meant that this was up to him. Maybe he could practice making lights flicker. That seemed easy enough, he had done it in the upside down but assumed that had more to do with dumb luck than "magic". But who knew? Demagorgans weren't supposed to be real so maybe he really was a Cleric...

No time like the present, Will thought, taking a shaky breath. He shifted his gaze to the bathroom light and focused on the electrical pulse vibrating through the air.