Salt To The Wound (A Stranger Things Story)

Season 3-Chapter 2: 456 Hours Missing(Mikes POV

Mike and El were legally siblings now and all of a sudden she dissapears. Hoppers been distant like he knows something but if he did he'd tell them, right?

Mike was finally done being an outcast, but that was probably the least of his worries. He needed to find out where El was and he was going to, if it would be the last thing he does. He saw Will talking with the other cheerleaders and decided to go talk to him.

"Hey," he said and Will smiled, "hey," Will said back and hugged him. "Wait so like you two are dating?" One of the girls asked and Will nodded. Mike was kinda scared and thought that this would bring his popularity status down.  "That's like really cool," she said and Will rolled his eyes. "You act like you and Melissa aren't together," he said taking some of the books out of his locker. "Yeah but still," she said and Will smiled. "Uhm I will see you later," Will said kissing him and walking away. Mike smiled to himself when Max popped up. "Cheerleaders am I right," she said and Mike smiled to her, "you are definitely right," he said and they walked to class.

"I am aware that you and El just recently became legal siblings before her dissapearance," the investigator asked and Mike nodded. "Maybe you were dealing with this change and might've killed her," she said and Mike's eyes went wide. "I would never hurt El!" He yelled at rhe investigator and she nodded. "Maybe you were in the wrong state of mind," she said and Mike turned to his right then turned back. "El was my bestfriend, I would've never done anything to hurt her," he said and she looked straight into his eyes. "Is there a chance Will could've," she asked and he tried to hide his anger. "Will would never," he said and she inched a little closer. "Maybe you don't know your boyfriend as much as you say you do," she said and Mike grabbed his stuff and left. Will could and would never do anything even close to that, right?

Mike was walking around with Will seeing if they could find something. "Crazy idea but maybe you'd actually look good in a skirt," Mike said and Will turned. "Never said I'd look bad, I just don't want to give you the satisfaction," Will said and Mike glared. "And this is why I'm breaking up with you," he said and Will smiled. "Whatever let's find El," Will said trying to look for clues. Deep down Mike believed that El was a goner. The more time that went by meant the more chance El was dead. He and Will looked around for the next few hours. This was a daily thing but they always came down to nothing. And hope was running out.

Mike went back to Hoppers cabin where he saw Hopper. To most, it seemed as if he didn't care about the whole case but truly he did. He'd stay up all night following hopeless leads. "Hop," Mike said walking up to him, he had his hand on his head devastated. "Listen Hop, she isn't dead okay? She's just missing," Mike said trying to console him. "But she could be, maybe if she didn't go alone, she wouldn't be in  trouble now," Hopper said and Mike hugged him. "It'll be okay, all of us are going to make sure we find her if it's the last thing we do," Mike said and Hopper hugged him back. "Thanks kid," he said and Mike smiled to himself. But truly he was losing faith in himself, his friends, and Hopper. It's been a while since she's gone missing and they didn't even find a single clue to where she might be.

The next day when Mike was walking with Will he saw something on the sidewalk, this is where Max supposedly found the phone. "Uhm what's up?" Will asked and Mike ran over to what he saw. "Will come over here," he said and Will went over. There was a piece of some type of robe. He picked it up. "This has to mean something," Mike said and he turned to Will. "Yeah we should give it to Hopper when we get back from school," Will said and Mike nodded and they continued to walk to school.

Mike couldn't focus as he kept on thinking that he maybe found something, a clue to help get closer to finding El. And he made sure that he didn't lose it. "Hey," Troy said walking beside him. "Hey," Mike said back. "So are you going to practice?" Troy asked and he forgot all about it. "Yeah just let me find Max real quick," he said and he ran up to Max. "Have Hopper disect this to find out if there was any contact," Mike said to Max and she nodded taking the piece of clothing. "Maybe the thing that took her had like a plague doctor outfit." Max said and he was confused. "Like a mask and a robe and gloves, maybe that's the reason why there was no DNA on the phone," Max said and a light bulb clicked in his head. "So that means the thing that took her was smart," Mike said and Max nodded. "That also means that they have a robe because this is definitely apart of a robe." Max said and Mike looked at her. "Maybe if we go around the neighborhood and see if someone has a rove that matches this, then we would be even closer to finding her," Mike said and Max nodded. "I can just skip practice, let's go," Mike said and Max nodded.

They went around knocking on everyone's door and Investigated all of their houses but couldn't find anything, whatever and whoever took El wasn't someone here and so the two decided to call it a day and brought the piece to Hopper, and maybe this wasn't a dead end.