Shadows of the Night •a Stranger Things story•

Help Me

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Tina, a pretty and popular junior, stands outside the science classroom after class. She is handing out bright orange flyers to everyone as they leave. "Hey. Be there," she says to Nicole, who looks delighted. "Hey, Nancy," Tina greets her. She hands Nancy the flyer.

"Hey! Thanks." Nancy reads the neon paper quickly, then backtracks. "Oh, could I get one more?"

"Yeah, sure."

Nancy hands her extra over to Jonathan. "You're coming to this." Nancy looks to Chris, who walks behind them. "Both of you."

Jonathan stares down at the flyer. "Come and get sheet faced. No, I'm not."

"I can't let you sit all alone on Halloween. That's just not acceptable." Nancy shakes her head, smiling. Chris shrinks back. Even if she and Jonathan weren't quiet friends anymore, she isn't going to get involved in his conversations with Nancy. She knows he still likes her, and with Steve definitely not on Nancy's mind anymore, Jonathan has a clear shot.

"Well, you can relax," Jonathan assures. "I'm not gonna be alone. I'm going trick-or-treating with Will."

Nancy raises a doubtful eyebrow at her friend. "All night?"

"Yeah."

"No, no way. You're gonna be home by eight, listening to the Talking Heads and reading Vonnegut or something." Nancy reaches her locker.

Jonathan smiles to himself. "Sounds like a nice night."

"Jonathan, just come. I mean, who knows, you might even, like, meet someone."

Chris looks away, noticing Steve making his way over. He's wearing sunglasses. Chris shakes her head, rolling her eyes. Steve smirks, winking at her, he wraps his arms around her waist.

"Hey," he greets Nancy and Jonathan.

The two of them smile and reply back. Nancy looks at Steve, "You're going to Tina's, right? Both of you?"

Steve nods, shrugging. "Sure. Beats watching Christine."

Chris rolls her eyes again, shoving his shoulder roughly. She squints against the bright lights in the school. "I wasn't going to make us watch Christine. Take those stupid things off." Steve smiles, removing his sunglasses. He wiggles his eyebrows. Chris taps him gently on the chest. "Come on."

"Bye," Steve mumbles to the other two, following Chris down the hallway. He puts an arm around her shoulders, trying to keep her upright as Chris stumbles. She puts the sunglasses over her eyes, helping block out the lights. "Library?" he whispers.

Chris nods. "Yeah."

"Tell us what you see, Nine."

Chris inhales quietly, listening to the woman's voice echo through the Void. There's no one around Chris, but she can feel someone else's presence. The nasally-sounding woman speaks again, "Tell us if she's out there, Nine."

Feet splashing through the glassy water, Chris stares down at her reflection in confusion. She sees a pair of small feet standing in front of her in the reflection and looks up. The little boy from last night stands still, soft brown eyes staring at Chris without any emotion. It's hard to tell what he's thinking. The boy, around Will, Lucas, Dustin, and Mike's age, didn't say anything to Chris last night when they ran into each other, but Chris felt as if they were on limited time, then. Now, he looks ready to speak with her.

"Not her," the boy replies.

Chris frowns, knowing right away he's not talking to Chris necessarily.

"Find her," the voice demands, sounding impatient.

Chris puts a finger to her lips. "Can—can they hear me?" she whispers, stepping forward once.

The boy steps back, water lapping at his bare feet. He blinks once. His features are exactly like Robbie's; curly hair and long legs. His eyes are a beautiful dark brown like the twins' and his dimples come from Robbie. His nose is small and slopes upward like Ronald Jones's. Chris's heart aches, but she knows if she says anything to this boy he'll be confused. Now is not the time.

The boy, Nine, shakes his head.

Chris sighs. "Can...can you tell me who you're looking for?" Nine stares at Chris, who knows she might not get a lot out of him.

Nine reaches forward, grabbing Chris's forearm. She shudders, heat spreading through her body. Her eyes flash white painfully and her head spins as memories flash through her eyes. They're her memories; ones of Sara, her parents, Steve when they were younger, the boys, the twins, Jonathan, and Nancy and Barb and El...

Nine lets go of Chris's arm, and Chris understands who he's looking for now. She backs away, pulling her arms toward herself. "You won't find her," Chris snips, her voice shaky. He might, she reminds herself. He might've seen things no one is supposed to see. Her father is going to kill her. "Do you understand me? She's dead. And if you try and touch me again, or bring me back here, or whatever, I'll hurt you," she lies. Her heart thumps in her chest as she stares down at the kid.

"Help me," he mouths, eyes pleading. "Help me, Chris."

Chris holds her breath, feeling as if she's been thrown back to a time where someone else needed her help. Barbara needed her help, and she died while Chris watched. Suddenly, Chris knows she can't let it happen again.

"Okay. Okay...tell me where you are—" Nine starts to smoke away, vanishing from Chris's view. "No, wait..."

Chris feels Steve's hands on her knees as she awakes. His sunglasses slide down her nose, and she reaches forward to readjust them. Steve waits patiently for Chris to recollect herself. Her breathing is uneven, but slow and becoming normal again. Her body radiates with heat, and Steve never remembers her waking up from Shadow Walking burning hot.

"When did this start?" he mumbles, keeping his hands on her knees.

"A couple days ago." Chris sighs, hanging her head. She moves her arm on the leather seat and winces, lifting it up to reveal a tender pink mark on her arm. The exact same spot where Nine touched her.

"I thought you couldn't get hurt in there," Steve states, ignoring the fact that she'd been hiding this stuff for days.

"So...so did I."

Steve takes her arm, carefully examining it. He frowns deeply. "Chrissie..."

"It'll be okay. I just...I just need to put some ice on it." Chris gently pulls her arm from his grip.

"What did you see in there?" he wonders. "What did that to you?"

Chris swallows hard, biting her lip. "Steve."

Steve shakes his head, hair flying in different directions. "No. You don't get to protect me from this anymore. I have a spiked baseball bat and we've been through this. I can handle this."

"And I'm glad that you don't think I'm batshit crazy, but I'm not going to get you involved in this. I don't even know what this is—"

"It's something that can hurt you in there, Chris. What was it?" he presses.

"A little boy," she answers. "He's looking for El, but he needs my help."

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