tw! mentions of a panic attack
"please, will, it's me, talk to me."
rory shuffled out of her sheets and tiptoed down the hall, overhearing her mother's voice. she cracked open will's door and saw her mom sitting at the end of will's bed, all the lamps from the house surrounding her.
"mom?" rory asked, rubbing her eyes. joyce shot up and turned to the door.
"rory! come here, come here." her mother said, ushering her daughter next to her. she had tears streaming down her cheeks as she struggled to find the right words.
"what is this?" rory asked, looking around confused at all the lights.
"come here, come here." she repeated, sniffling. rory sat down next to her mother, who seemed close to hysterics.
"what's going on?" rory questioned as joyce repeatedly grabbed her arms.
"it's will, it's will, he's- he's trying to talk to me." her mother choked on her tears, her eyes darting around from lamp to lamp.
"he's trying to talk to you?" rory said, trying to understand what her mother was saying. joyce's breath trembled, "yes, through... through the lights."
"mom-" rory started to say, shaking her head, but got cut off by her mother.
"i know, i know," she said sternly, moving her hand. "just... just watch."
her mother leaned forwards and rory watched closely, "will, your sister is here, can you show him what you showed me, baby." she pleaded, her eyes threatening to overspill with tears.
one of the lights flickered, but only for a half second. even though rory had met a girl with real life superpowers, half a second of light wasn't enough to convince her.
"did you see that?" her mother jumped forward, pointing her shaking finger at the light.
"it's just the electricity mom." rory said, on the verge of tears.
"no, it's not the electricity," joyce sobbed, begging her daughter to listen. "i just know that will is here."
"no, mom." rory pleaded.
"maybe if i get more lamps?" joyce stuttered, starting to stand up.
"no, mom! you don't need more lamps!" rory cried, placing her hands on her mom's arms in an attempt to calm her down. "you need to stop this!"
rory backed out of her brother's room as joyce returned to sobbing at the lights. she knew how dangerous it could get loosing someone, eventually you can spiral in your own thoughts and once you get stuck there, there's no getting out. like a fly caught in the centre of a spider web.
~
"just tell your parents we have a/v after school, that should give us a few hours for operation mirkwood." mike explained to the group who were huddled around the table in the wheeler's basement.
"my mom won't notice i'm gone, she's too busy talking to the bloody lights." rory mumbled, unfortunately loud enough for mike to hear.
"huh?" he questioned, puzzled. rory sighed before answering.
"i woke up this morning and caught my mom in will room, with all the lamps in the house. she said he was talking to her through the lights and even tried to show me. one of them flashed but only for a second, it probably just short circuited." rory explained, hoping the others wouldn't think her mom was too crazy.
"jeez, i didn't even think how bad this would be effecting her, she must be worried sick." dustin said, sympathizing for the byers woman.
"yeah..." rory trailed off, glancing behind her at el, who was resting on the couch playing with the static on rory's walkie talkie. "hey mike, is it okay if i stay here with el, try and see if she can help us get any closer to finding will?"
"yeah sure." mike responded, smiling at the older byers twin.
rory sat back next to el, who smiled at her before returning to her static radio.
dustin and lucas were showing off the supplies they had brought for the afternoon, lucas lecturing the other boy for bringing snacks instead of weapons like he had.
as they walked up the basement stairs, mike turned back around,"meet us after school at the powerlines out the front, okay?"
rory nodded and the boy left to go catch up with the others. rory and el sat in silence until karen and ted left. el wandered upstairs with rory following behind her.
"hey el, can you help me find will, please?" rory asked, hoping eleven would agree and they'd get closer to finding the lost boy.
eleven didn't respond, instead she sat down in mike's la-z-boy and picked up the phone, mimicking the dial tone.
rory groaned in frustration and stomped back downstairs. she collapsed on to couch. she was never going to find will. she was never going to get the cuddly, caring and happy version of her mother back. she was going to be all alone forever.
her chest tightened and her eyes welled up. no, no, no, not again, please, no. her peripheral turned black and what she could see, blurred. her breathing quicken and she grabbed at her chest.
a hand gently rested on her left cheek, while another rested over her hand on her chest. it was strangly comforting. her breathing returned to normal, and her chest no longer felt as if it was enclosed in rubber bands. her vision cleared and sitting in front of her was eleven, eyes closed and a trickle of blood running from her nose.
she opened her eyes and smiled at rory, "i can try help." rory nodded a thanks and pulled herself up.
the two tried to find will for hours, until eventually it became too exhausting for el to the point where she almost blacked out, so for the rest of the day, they watched tv or pigged out on the snacks dustin had left on the table that morning.
when it was finally time to meet mike out the front of his house, rory helped eleven up and packed a bag full of snacks and things that could be used as defensive weapons.
rory had her back pressed against the wooden pole as eleven walked up to the fence, a stray cat wandering on the other side.
it hissed at her and she was back in the lab. it was in the cage and she wouldn't hurt it, she couldn't. papa didn't like that, so the guards took her back to the small closet-like room.
they threw her against the floor but before the door shut, she scrambled to her feet and lowered her head. the door flung open, and with a simple lift and tilt of her head, the guards lay dead on the floor.
"hey guys!" mike chirped, happily, pulling eleven out of her memory, dustin and lucas following behind him."oh rory, mr clarke said to give you this but understands if it's too much considering everything that's happening."
the boy pulled out a worksheet from his bag and passed it to rory, she stuffed it in her pocket and walked over to get her bike.
she wheeled the bike around the corner and narrowed her eyes at the scene in front of her. a funny feeling bubbled in the pit of her stomach as eleven sat on the back of mike's bike. el was supposed to ride with rory, not mike. it was rory, her arms were supposed to wrap around, not mike. she pushed off on thr gravel and pedelled away from them.
out of sight out of mind right? but as rory added distance between herself and the party, the feeling in her stomach deepened. why was el with mike? why didn't she tell mike that she was going to ride with rory? and why did she look so happy?
VIV'S THOUGHTS: 🎶jealousy, jealousyyy 🎶
i accidentally deleted this chapter and had to re write it 😭
i also realized if i wanted to do a book for season 4 (if i am motivated to write 2 more books then another one) i'd somehow have to find a way for eleven to say in hawkins so if you have any ideas as to how i could do that please lmk!
hope you're enjoying the story so far!!
YOU ARE READING
cardigan𓏲
Fanfiction"ʸᵒᵘ ᵈʳᵉʷ ˢᵗᵃʳˢ ᵃʳᵒᵘⁿᵈ ᵐʸ ˢᶜᵃʳˢ" rory has never felt so alone since her twin brother, will went missing but when her and her friends stumble upon a girl with strange powers in the woods, everything changes. rory and el become closer and closer, but...
