EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE | Stranger Things.

XXX. Not Mine to Lose

ERIN SAT ON THE TOP STEP NEAR ONE OF THE MAIN DOORS.

The party was currently waiting for Mike to come back as he was calling the Byers' house in an attempt to get in contact with Will. When he didn't show up to school it wasn't hard to get worried — Will was their friend and after yesterday there was fear pooling in the bottom of their stomachs.

Erin's arms were crossed over her chest as she listened to the song playing on her Walkman; Rebel Rebel by David Bowie. Her head rested on the back of Dustin's head, luckily the hat he wore saved her face from being tickled by the fluff of hair that spilled out from the sides.

She lifted her head to see Mike running back to them with a worried expression that never once faltered during his sprint. "That doesn't seem good."

"He's pale," Max added, her hand coming up to shield the sun away from her eyes, giving herself a better chance at seeing Mike clearer.

"He was born that way — you should see his sister." Erin shrugged.

"Anything?" Lucas called out to Mike.

The boy spoke while running, saying, "We need to talk. AV room. Right now." Mike demanded and the group was quick to clamor after him. "Party members only." He said coldly to Max.

Erin scoffed. She felt bad that Max was being excluded — whatever vendetta Mike had against her was beginning to become ridiculous. "Are you serious?"

"Come on, Mike."

"No! This is non-negotiable." He yelled back at them, not even sparing a second glance at Max.

Erin truly had no choice left other than to follow after them, her lips forming a tight-lipped smile that looked forced at Max. There wasn't anything else she could give the girl so with that small thing she disappeared inside of the school alongside the rest of the party members.

She walked silently behind Mike, being the second one to enter the AV room and the first to sit down on one of the chairs that they brought around the table.

Mike leaned on the table behind him and stared at his three friends who were sitting in front of him in confusion. Of course, none of them knew what this was about but it seemed urgent considering Mike doesn't usually pull this abrupt shit out of nowhere.

"Will didn't want me to tell anyone, but on Halloween night he saw a sort of shadow in the sky," Mike said.

"A shadow?" Lucas asked. He and Mike stared at each other for a moment before he asked again, "What kind of shadow?"

Mike shrugged. "I don't know. But it scared him. And if Will really has True Sight... I mean, if he can really see into the Upside Down, maybe he saw that shadow again yesterday."

"That's obvious — you can't go into a trance out of nowhere." Erin nodded and leaned back in her chair. "It took a while before he could be brought back from.. whatever that was."

"So that's why he was frozen like that?" Dustin asked quietly.

"Maybe."

"Can it hurt him?" Lucas piped in. That question got all of them thinking and half of those thoughts weren't good ones. "I mean, if this shadow thing isn't from our world..."

"I'm not sure," Mike answered. "Dustin?"

The boy in question sighed. "Well, if you're in another plane, you can't interact with the material plane, so theoretically, no, the shadow can't hurt him."

"Yeah, if that's even what's happening." Mike scoffed. "This isn't D&D. This is real life."

"We don't even know how he's doing — or even what actually happened," Erin said, her lips forming a deep frown with every word that fell from her lips. Her hands held her head tightly, a headache already beginning to form as the seconds passed.