resonance

7

"I said Dr. Sam Owens," Hopper's irritated tone floated through the Byers' house once you popped back into the living room, damp boots and hunting knife in hand. You startled Nancy, who was hovering nervously in the hallway, giving Jonathan space while he sat with his unconscious brother.

Giving her an apologetic smile for the fright, you headed to the kitchen and nodded at Steve, who was leaning against the counter. "Did I miss much?" you muttered and began braiding your damp hair.

"What, was I supposed to count the bodies?" the older man growled into the receiver, shaking his head angrily. "I don't know how many people are left alive in there!"

"Not really," Steve replied. "Chief's been on the phone since you left," he gave your blood-free outfit a glance and coughed. "Could be going better, though."

"I am the goddamn police!" The man in question yelled. "I'm fuckin' Chief Jim Hopper!"

"They didn't believe you, did they?" Mike asked Hopper when he eventually slammed the phone, fuming.

"We'll see," he hedged before nodding at your clean state. "That was a quick shower. You get any blood on my floor?"

"We'll see?" the boy cried before you could reply. "We can't just sit here while those things are loose!"

Raising your eyebrows at his attitude, you remained silent and finished your elaborate braid, flicking it over your shoulder. You looked knowingly at the man. "I teleported into the bathtub, so no." You swallowed, thinking of how much red had went down the drain. "Clean as a whistle."

Choosing to ignore Mike as well, Hopper asked as nonchalantly as he could. "Is the cat inside?"

Plopping onto the hard tile floor, you set to work drying off the boots with a dish towel, sending a nod to Max when she shuffled over to sit next to you. "Nope." El appeared to be sleeping on a bus, for reasons unbeknownst to you, heading back to Hawkins from God knows where. She appeared safe in the void, but seemed to have gotten a makeover since she'd been gone.

"It's still weird that you two live together," Dustin shook his head.

Hopper's condensed version of how you met when you arrived at the Byers' earlier left something to be desired, simply telling the group that he had rescued you in the forest. No one asked questions.

You all had other things to worry about, after all.

"Can we please focus on the problem?" Mike burst out. "Why aren't we going to do anything?"

Hopper visibly resisted snapping at him, sending a tired glance your way. "We're going to stay here and wait for help."

You cleared your throat at the deflated look the boy wore and tipped your head towards the hallway, looking back at Hopper. "Have you checked on her?"

The man shook his head. Sighing, he trudged down to the room where Joyce had remained inside since your group arrived, lightly knocking before entering.

"Did you guys know that Bob was the original founder of Hawkins AV?" The younger Wheeler asked the group (mostly Dustin and Lucas) after a few moments of silence. He was fiddling with a box in his hands.

You felt your throat tighten, flashes of the man's body flickered in your mind against your will. Your eye twitched and you continued to wipe at the shoes.

Dustin hummed. "Really?"

"Yeah," Mike said, looking sadly at a stack of puzzles on the table. "He petitioned the school to start it and everything," he smiled wistfully. "Pretty awesome, right?"