HEART FLAYER | b. hargrove

CHAPTER 005.

November 3rd, 1984

"El!" Arwen called as she entered the cabin the next morning, throwing her bag onto the floor. "I'm home!"

Her eyes briefly scan the living room, not seeing any sign of her little sister watching television like usual. Maybe she's at a friend's house or with Mike? She shrugged and grabbed a soda from the fridge, cracking it open and making her way to go plop down on the couch and be lazy the entire Saturday. That was when she saw papers littering the entire area; the sofa, coffee table, the floors. 

Scrunching her brows together, she set her drink down and picked up one of the stray papers. One of them was a newspaper with the heading 'TERRY IVES SUING.' It went on to talk about a woman who believed her daughter was taken by... Martin Brenner. She frantically flipped through the other pages, seeing different records and files on the woman named Terry Ives. 

This was El's mom... and she was alive.

Her mind ran at about a thousand miles per hour and her shaky hands carefully organized the files, placing them back in the box labeled 'Hawkins Lab.' She eyed the box cautiously... debating if looking through it further was the best course of action. But she had to know... did that mean her own parents were alive, too? 

Making her decision, her fingers made their way through the box until finding her own file. Finally finding it, she plucked it out of the box and searched the pages. 

'Christopher and Elizabeth Scott. Deceased. The couple threatened Dr. Brenner's life on multiple occasions.'

Arwen's eyes watered as she read the information under their names, but she also felt a small proud smile pull at her lips. They must have absolutely scared the shit out of 'Papa' if he went to such extreme measures... and they must have really loved Arwen. She quickly wiped her tears and stuffed the papers back where they belonged. It hadn't hurt too much to read, considering she'd already been told her whole life that they were dead. Probably the only truth she'd ever gotten while in the Lab. 

But why did Hopper lie about El's mother? 

A long sigh breathed out of her nose and she tucked the box into a closet. Her questions didn't really matter right now because her main concern was to find her sister. She must have gotten upset at the fact Hopper lied to her... probably stormed off to go think or something. Maybe made her way to a friend's house for comfort.

Arwen walked over to the phone and picked it up, dialing the police station to see if she could get ahold of her father. 

"Hawkins Police Station, how can I help you?"

"Hey, Flo. It's Arwen. Is Hop there at all?"

"Hi sweetie! No, I haven't seen him today. If you find him, can you tell him to come into work please?" 

"Sure thing, Flo. Thanks." Arwen hung up the phone with a deep, frustrated breath. 

Where in the Hell was her little family? The empty cabin started to feel suffocating and she quickly picked the phone back up to call Steve. Thankfully, she got him just before he was heading out of the door according to him. He agreed to come pick her up once she'd explained what was going on.

Steve arrived ten minutes later and Arwen hopped into the passenger seat.

"Do you know where Hargrove lives?" She asked urgently.

"Billy...?" Steve looked at her with a bewildered expression as he started driving. "I mean, yeah, but why -"

"Just take me there, please." She urged. "El might have gone there to see Max." 

Steve just nodded, deciding not to fight the girl on it. Apparently he'd given Max a ride or two home before after Billy had left her at the school, so he made his way to the little house easily. 

Arwen jumped out of the car when it was practically still moving - which stressed poor Steve out a little - and jogged up to the front door. She banged her fist on the wood after checking to see that the blue Camaro was in fact there. Billy answered a few seconds later, opening the door quickly as if he was trying to catch someone who wasn't supposed to be here. 

"Is El - I mean, um... is Jane here?" Arwen asked, remembering to use the name that most people know her little sister by outside of their friend group. 

"Who?" Billy asked, quirking a brow and leaning on the door frame. His eyes scanned her up and down and he took a sip of his beer. "You know, most girls don't come knocking at my door looking for -"

"Oh my god, shut up," Arwen groaned and pushed past him to enter his house. She walked quickly down the hall, glancing into the rooms. "She's my little sister and she's friends with Max. I can't find her and wanted to know if she was here." 

"Well, she's not here." Billy said gruffly, following her down the hallway. "It's just me and the shitbird home today."

"Is that so?" Arwen asked him as she gestured to Max's empty bedroom, the window wide open. She raised her brows at him. Billy looked into the bedroom and sighed loudly, throwing his head back in annoyance.

"That bitch... she's going to get me in so much fucking trouble."

Arwen scoffed and shook her head at his words, pushing past him once more to head back towards the front door. 

"First of all, don't fucking call her that. Second of all, you are unbelievable."

"The Hell did I do?!" He shouted, causing her to turn and look at him again with eyes full of fury.

"Because not only is my sister missing, but yours is too! And all you care about is getting in trouble!"