Billy's gone.
Ruby Buckley's world ended with him.
But Hawkins isn't done with her yet.
When strange deaths begin again, Ruby is pulled into the heart of the storm. Between shadowy nightmares, the town's newest outcast, and someone she was never s...
( songs for the chapter ) behind blue eyes // the who bigger than the whole sky // taylor swift
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The tension was back.
That stomach-turning, anxious weight that presses into the air until it's hard to breathe.
The kind that seeps in without permission, gliding between everyone, wrapping tight around the silence.
In the passenger seat, Ruby's leg wouldn't stop bouncing. The muscles in her thigh ached from it, but she couldn't make herself stop. A lump sat heavy in her throat, cutting her air short.
She knew where they were headed, she was the only one who did, but the others didn't, and their unease only fed her own.
When the people she loves are tense, she can't relax either.
Steve kept glancing at the rearview mirror every few seconds, eyes flicking from the road to the backseat, checking on Max, making sure Dustin wasn't mouthing off, making sure everyone was still in one piece. One hand on the wheel, the other cupping his jaw, his finger pressed to his lips. The picture of silent worry.
Ruby caught herself smiling faintly behind her hair. He didn't even realize how much he'd started acting like everyone's overprotective mom. It was sort of adorable, in that exhausted, Harrington way.
"Turn here," Max said suddenly.
"Here?" Dustin asked, confused. His eyes darted between Max and the windshield, as if double-checking.
Max nodded once. Her reflection met Ruby's in the mirror for half a heartbeat, then she turned back to the window.
Ruby's breath came out shaky. The corner they were turning felt like muscle memory, a reflex she wished she didn't have. And then she saw it:
ROANE HILL CEMETERY
The thoughts came without warning then. It's almost unfair. How cemeteries are always so aesthetically pleasing.
Beautiful tall trees, thick branches that can stretch for multiple yards, giving necessary shade in days where the sun can sometimes be too brutal, too bright. Giving the mourners a break under their wooden arms or simply a supportive surface to lean on when it all became too much.
The never ending blankets of green grass, that could make the darkest of places seem a bit more soothing.
Cemeteries are always so tranquil and quiet, as if even nature itself won't dare to disturb the resting dead lying beneath the surface. Giving them the peace they deserve after, hopefully, long, full lives.
It's probably why most people won't step foot in them unless they have to.
They're so quiet it's eerie. But for some people, comforting. Giving them the necessary environment to just...be.
