𝟎𝟏𝟎 ᵐⁱᵏᵉ ʷʰᵉᵉˡᵉʳ ˣ ᵒᶜ

004

**Edited: August 4th '24

"MOUTH BREATHER"

"A trooper found something in the, water that's at the quarry.Our working theory right now is that Will crashed his bike, he... made his way over the quarry and, uh... accidentally fell in" Chief Hopper explained to the family.

Delilah sat on the couch, her tears still streaming as Jonathan held her hand tightly, rubbing small circles on it with his thumb. Joyce stared at Hopper with a blank expression, like she wasn't comprehending what he was saying.

"Joyce? Do you understand what I'm saying?" Hopper asked.

"No" she trembled "Whoever you found is not my boy. It's not Will".

"Joyce" he tried again.

"No, you don't understand. I talked to him a half hour ago. He was... He was here. He was talking with these" she held up the lights to show the man. Del looked up at Jonathan at the mention of the lights but he just looked down at the ground, his eyes squinted.

"Talking?" Hopper asked.

"Uh-huh. One blink for yes, two for no. And... And, uh... And then I made this so he could talk to me. 'Cause he was hiding from that... that thing" she pointed at the wall where she had painted out the ABC's and strung Christmas lights over it.

"Mom, come on, please. You've gotta stop this" Jonathan spoke.

"It's after him! He's in danger. We have to find him"Joyce stressed.

"What exactly was this thing?" Hopper asked her "It was some kind of animal, you said?".

"Uh, no, it was... It was almost... human, but it wasn't. It had these long arms and... it didn't have a face" she told him.

"It didn't have a face?" He asked in confusion.

"Joyce, listen to me. Listen to me. After Sarah...
I saw her, too. And I heard her. I didn't know what was real. And then I figured out that it was in my mind. And I had to pack all that away. Otherwise, I was gonna fall down a hole... that I couldn't get out of" he explained softly.

"No, you're talking about grief. This is different" she shook her head.

"I'm just saying that you.." Hopper tried.

"No, I know what you're saying, Hop. swear to you, I know what I saw. And I'm not crazy" she insisted.

"I'm not saying that you're crazy" Hopper told her.

"No... You are. And I understand, but God, I... I need you to believe me. Please" she lowered her voice "Please".

"Listen...I think you should go down to the morgue tomorrow and see him for yourself.It'll give you the answers that you need" Hopper stood up "But tonight...I want you to try to get some sleep, if you can".

Del was in the kitchen trying to grab a glass of water with her shaky hands when Hopper was preparing to leave, he smiled at her softly and sadly.

"Everything will work out, eventually" he nodded "you know that though, I know you're a smart kid". With that Hopper left and the girl couldn't think of anything to do other than to try and sleep this all off.

The next morning came quicker than anticipated and with hardly any sleep, Delilah sat on her bed with no clue on what to do. School was out of the question. Her mom and brother had gone to the morgue and Jonathan wouldn't let her go to see the body even if she wanted to, which she didn't.