𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓, ˡᵘᶜᵃˢ ˢⁱⁿᶜˡᵃⁱʳ ¹

09

𝟬𝟵
𝗺𝗶𝗿𝗸𝘄𝗼𝗼𝗱

    𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐈𝐑 𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐓 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐃, and Tessa's whole being was alive with a nervous energy, her senses on high alert. She was ready—every fiber of her being was coiled, prepared to spring into action, ready to step into the dark unknown with the boys at her side. Her flashlight lay within reach, an old, metal casing that held an extra bulb just in case. Her sneakers were laced, dirt-streaked and rugged, the way she liked them, her feet itching for the familiar earth beneath the trees.

    She had anticipated the trees and shadows, the twisting branches clawing at the sky like skeletal hands, and the eerie quiet that would have swallowed their every footstep. Every moment since Will went missing had felt like one long, drawn-out heartbeat, pulsing in her veins with something she could only define as an uneasy thrill, and Tessa was poised to plunge into it headfirst.

    Which is why, instead, she was restless in her home.

    The plan was to be out, searching for Will. 

Will.

    She just hadn't seen the particular group of boys that were crucial for the search since they parted, so she stood, stuck in the house. Stuck in the house, unlike Lena. 

    Lena.

    Lena was social, Tessa knew. She was probably out with new friends, chugging some beer, not caring about anything else. She was like that. 

    The house was painfully quiet without Lena, a silent, stifling prison compared to the vast, haunted unknown of the forest where Will had disappeared. She paced the room, glancing out the window as if it would change, as if somehow her restless mind could pull her beyond those four walls by sheer force of will. She checked her watch, then glanced at the landline, half-expecting it to ring.

    Just then, a shrill sound split the silence, slicing through her anticipation. Her heart jumped as she reached for the phone, snatching it up with a hand that barely shook.

    "Tessa," Lucas's voice crackled through, his tone slightly breathless.

    "Lucas!" Relief washed over her, but his quick, urgent tone stopped her from relaxing completely.

    "Tessa, listen," he started, his words tumbling over each other, and she could practically see his brows knit in that way they always did when he was serious. "You missed a lot."

    "Missed what?" she asked, already feeling the knot of regret twisting tighter in her chest. She was aware that they were called to the principal's office with Hawkins' Deputy. Police's presence would be filling the room with a kind of authority that even she, in her stubbornness, wouldn't have dared to challenge. "Tell me everything."

    "The Chief of Police, Jim Hopper was there," Lucas said, lowering his voice as if afraid of being overheard even over the phone. "He said we're supposed to stay at home, not go looking for Will. Says he'll handle it."

    Tessa was taken aback. Of course the chief would want them safe, but why order them to stay indoors?

    "Right. A missing kid... makes sense he'd want to control things." She replied, more to herself than to Lucas. "But then... why are you calling me?"

    There was a pause, just long enough for her stomach to drop. She heard Lucas take a breath.

    "Because we're going anyway. I'll meet you by Mirkwood," he said, his voice carrying an edge she hadn't heard before, one that ignited something deep within her, reigniting the embers of anticipation.