"I swear, if I'm dying tonight because of you, I'm gonna haunt your ass so hard, Harrington!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah! I'm gonna go full Poltergeist and shit!"
"Then bring it, Graveswood."
"Challenge accepted."
***
In which after years of suppressing their...
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Chapter Sixteen: Contact
(The Body, Pt. 5)
***
Alistair slammed the door behind him after they practically sprinted into the AV club room. Once the door was closed and locked, he joined his friends who were gathered around the Heathkit, with El sitting in the chair in front of it.
"Now what?" Dustin asked.
"She'll find him, right El?" Mike answered, looking at the girl in question.
She didn't say anything, only closing her eyes as the radio buzzed with static, the frequencies going in and out of tune. Alistair held El's shoulder, offering silent support as he whispered, "You got this, Jean Grey."
Again, El didn't say anything as she focused on contacting Will with the radio. Nothing happened except for the static still coming from the radio, with no other sign El was visibly doing anything to find Will—and yet, Alistair could feel it, a shift in the air, of something preternatural happening right now. That El was actually finding Will, wherever he was.
"She's doing it. She's finding him!" Mike exclaimed, excitement that El truly was finding Will clear in his voice.
"This is crazy," Dustin whispered, looking at El in awe.
"Calm down. She just closed her eyes," Lucas muttered, rolling his eyes, ever the rational one.
Alistair glared at his friend.
"Give her time," he muttered, looking back at El, brow creased in concern. He hoped that whatever she was doing, to contact Will, it wouldn't affect her badly.
However, a second later, Alistair let out a gasp as the light went out and a clanging sounded over the radio and it's static.
"Holy..." Dustin breathed as the noise intensified, eyes growing wide and nervous. "What is that?"
Alistair shook his head, having no idea what it was, but having a feeling it wasn't good.
The radio started getting in tune while the clanging continued. But underneath it was someone whimpering.
Then, a familiar voice spoke.
"Mom?"
All eyes snapped to the radio, large and huge.
"No way!" Lucas exclaimed.
"Mom..." Will said again, his voice thin and choked with tears, with desperation, but it was him. It was Will's voice, it was Alistair's best friend, it was Will, scared and alone but alive, he was alive.
Immediately, a chorus of yells began.
"Will!"
"Will, it's us! Are you there?"
"Can you hear us? We're here!"
"Will! Will, can you hear us! Talk to us! We're here! We're right here! Will!"
But Will only said, his voice distorted by the crackles of the radio, "H-hello? Mom?"
Like he hadn't heard a single word his friends had said.
"Why can't he hear us?" Lucas asked.
"I don't know!" Mike snapped, just as confused as Lucas was about why it seemed to only be one-way.
Alistair was silent, staring at the radio in disbelief, as Will's voice kept coming over the radio.
"Mom? Mom! Mom... Mom it's coming!" Will yelled, and Alistair's heart missed a beat.
Alistair was certain it fully stopped beating when Will's tear-choked voice came through after a second of silence.
"It's like home, but it's so dark... It's so dark and empty! And it's cold! Mom? Mom! Mom, please!"
And then the Heathkit exploded.
They all yelped as the radio went up in flames, popping and spitting sparks like a dragon breathing fire and brimstone, as the light flickered back on. Alistair immediately dragged El away before she could get burned as Dustin smothered the flames in fire extinguisher foam, a shrill alarm ringing overhead.
The brown-eyed boy looked at El, who was dazed, blood trickling from her nose.
"El, are you okay?" Mike asked, immediately coming to her side. "Can you move?"
El didn't respond, her head lolling. Alistair looked at his friend.
"I... I think that took a lot out of her," he told Mike, who's eyes widened in concern.
Looking at Dustin, Lucas and Alistair, he said, "Here, help her up."
Working together, they helped El up and got out of the AV club, Mike shouting, "This way!" as they followed after the dark-haired boy, Alistair shooting looks of concern at El, his mind spinning with what had happened.
El had gotten in contact with Will.
Will was alive, and in a place that was like Hawkins, but not. Someplace dark, empty and cold. With something after him.
And despite the terrifying thought of his friend being someplace that wasn't home but looked it, that wasn't safe, with a creature that must be what El used the Demogorgon figure for, Alistair felt a smile stretch on his face, a laugh threatening to escape from his mouth, because of one simple, relieving, hopeful thought.
Will was alive.
Will was alive.
***
AND NOW THE BOYS KNOW WILL IS DEFINITELY ALIVE!!
Sorry for the short chapter! This one was a bit more script-heavy than the past chapters. That, and since El's flashback scene/the scene with Joyce and Will probably wouldn't happen here, logically, so it had to be shorter
But Alistair can stop worrying for a little bit, because he knows Will's alive and he won't have to fear seeing Will's ghost (for the moment)
Next chapter will be soon! And I promise it will be longer than this one!
