Just friends?

Chapter 12 : It's a map of Hawkins

It was the next morning. The boys were still sleeping, but I was up early. Jonathan didn't come home once again. I was starting to get worried, but I'm pretty sure he's fine. 

Mom was up too. She was making breakfast but the boys weren't even awake yet. 

"Sofie, don't forget to call the station. If they don't have anything just start calling his house. We can't wait around. I have a feeling that something happened."

"Yeah, I'll do that right now." 

I walked over to the phone and sighed. This is my life now. Calling police stations. I put in the numbers and listened to the line ring. 

"It's Flo."

"It's Sofia. I know you're tired of me but I really need to talk to Hopper. Did he call you or did he come into work today?" 

"I haven't seen him since yesterday morning. I'm sorry Sofia but he's not here." 

"Alright, thank you anyway Flo." 

I started dialing Hopper's house. The phone rang but he never picked it up. I listened to the voicemail over and over. Each time I called, there was no response. 

I walked back into the kitchen and found Mom. 

"Mom, they haven't heard from him. The phone rang at his house but there was still no response." 

"Sofie, what are we gonna do? We can't do this alone. I just wish we could see where he is. I feel like something is wrong. Something just doesn't feel right."

I started thinking about it. I haven't done it in a long time...

"Mom, what if I look for him. In my mind." 

"Sof, you don't have to."

"Mom, I think there's something wrong. I won't be able to find him completely, but I'll be able to see him. Know if he's okay." 

"Do it. We need to know something. Even if it's just a little bit." 

I nodded my head and turned on my heel. I walked into my room and gathered the things I needed. I messed with my small radio for a little until the static started. I picked up the bandana I had stolen from Jonathan's room and covered my eyes. I took a deep breath and waited.

I felt the familiar feeling in my mind. I opened my eyes and was there. I looked around and saw nothing. I walked forward and looked around again and there was still nothing. 

"Shit!" I heard Hopper's voice behind me. 

I turned around in relief and saw him. 

"Hopper." I whispered as I hurried over to where he was. 

He was dirty and coughing. He was in the same clothes from the last time we saw him, but he was all dirty. I couldn't piece together where he was. 

He looked lost and dirty. He looked scared. 

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped out of my state of mind. I pulled off the bandana. 

"Mom, you scared me." I let out a shaky breath. 

"Did you find him?"

"I did, but I don't know where he is. He looked scared. He was dirty but in the same clothes from yesterday. Mom, I think something is definitely wrong."

Mom took me out into the living room. She had been up longer than me and she had finished putting Will's drawings on the walls. 

I ate some breakfast and sat down on the couch. I was talking to Mom when the boys burst into the living room. 

"Mom, I saw Hopper!" Will announced as he stepped in front of us. 

"What?" We both asked, shocked. 

He started heading to his room and sat down at his desk he started drawing. 

"Where did you see him? How did you see him?" I asked Will. 

"He saw it in his now memories." Mike answered as he watched Will. 

Will stopped drawing and turned around with the piece of wrapping paper he had drawn the picture on. We were all out of paper and this is what we had left. 

"He's here."

"Where is 'here'?" Mom was confused. 

I looked down at the drawing then all around the walls of the room. 

"I think we have to find this place from the drawings on the walls." 

We all started running around the house trying to find the spot. It took hours, but we found it eventually. 

"Okay we found the spot, but where is this? What is this? These drawings. We don't even know what they are. We have to figure out what this is first before we can even try to find Hopper. I can keep an eye on him in my head, but it won't matter if we don't figure out what this is." I concluded. 

We all tried taking guesses about where this place was. What this was. Our closet guess that made the most sense was that they were streets. But streets where? There was still so much we didn't know. We needed to figure things out quicker. Hopper's life depended on it. 

"Any other ideas, boys?" I asked as I laid on the floor with them. 

"No." They both responded at the same time. 

I stared at the ceiling for too long because I started to feel drowsy. I jumped awake again when I heard a car engine. I groaned and sat up. I stood from the floor and walked towards the window. 

"Mom! Bob is outside!" 

She rushed out from the hallway and went outside. I stayed inside with the boys and tried to keep them entertained while also trying to figure out where Hopper was. It was getting later and we still had almost no leads to what the hell was going on. 

The front door opened. Mom and Bob stepped through. 

"Woah. What is all of this?" Bob asked as he looked around the whole house. 

"This is a part of the game. No questions." Mom explained. 

We all tilted our heads in confusion. What game?

"The object of the game is to find this." Mom walked over to the spot Will had said Hopper was. 

"Find the X." Mike added. 

"What's at the X? Treasure or something?" Bob joked. 

"Bob, no questions." I reminded. 

He nodded his head and looked over at Mom. 

"Joyce, can I talk to you over here for a second? Hang on guys." He pulled her away into the hallway. 

"Is he gonna help?" Mike asked me. 

"I don't know." I responded. 

Mom had eventually convinced Bob to help us. He walked around the house and tried connecting things together. 

"I got it! It's a map!" 

"What?" Mom asked. 

"It's a map of Hawkins! Right Will?"