Stranger Things: Beyond the Silver Rainbow

[11] (Mike)

Mike checked over his shoulder repeatedly as he wove through the twiggy woods behind Will's house, keeping his direction by the tree-slatted glow of Steve's headlights. Compasses still didn't work around here.

The snow had stopped falling ages ago and little of it remained on the ground. Miniature drifts curled around the bases of trees, outlining their roots in white, and clumps of it gathered within the concave husks of dried fallen leaves. There were so many white lumps, isolated, each waiting to melt and die alone. Mike kicked his way through them with satisfying irreverence whenever he had enough clearing to do so.

A mourning dove cooed far away, strange for winter and even stranger for night time, and then a cloud slid away from the moon. Five steps later, Mike spotted the dark outline of the Byers' shed, and then a window, honey colored, slid into view beyond it.

Will's room was in the front right corner of the house. Coming from the back, Mike went left, to where it was dark and he would be hidden, and tapped his fingers on the glass. If he couldn't be loud he would be annoying.

Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap--

The bedroom light came on. The windowblind dipped and lifted. Will's round eyes softened from fear to joy and with an open smile he ran back to close his bedroom door. Pushing his heavy old window up was always a struggle. Mike helped him.

"Hey! Wanna be my player two? My mom's been passed out since after supper."

"Is Jonathan here?"

"He would but he's not feeling well. Why? Don't you want to?"

"When did you last see him?"

"Uh." Will was clearly confused. "I dunno."

"Could you go check his room, see if he's still in there?"

"Okay..."

"Trust me, just check."

Will was not gone very long. "He's definitely not here," he said.

For a moment Mike felt like his feet were sinking into the ground. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, he left his light on and everything. Maybe he had to work tonight. Is there a late matinee on? I haven't really been paying attention. What do you want him for?"

"My sister's just been looking for him, that's all."

"Oh."

It was time for Mike to go back and give his report, but he didn't want to say goodbye. "I think Elle's dead," he said. The faraway dove cooed again.

Will shrank a little into himself. "Why?"

"She sucks at hiding. Sucked at hiding."

"Didn't she hide in that fort in your basement for a week?"

"Yeah, but she didn't know when to stay there. She came upstairs when we were eating and my parents almost saw her. And she was kinda claustrophobic. And there's that time she stole from the grocery store." Mike put his elbows on the windowsill to rest his face in his fists. "I think she's dead, Will."

Beside him, Will stuck his head out the window and looked around. "How did you get here? Where's your bike?"

"Steve's car."

"What's going on?" Will's voice had gotten very tiny.

Mike hadn't thought this far ahead. He traced the cracks of the windowsill's peeling paint with his eyes. "I went into the upside down. It's still here. Er, there."

Will wheezed. He looked like he might be sick. "It is?"

"I found a body."

"Like a dead body?"

"Like a dead body."

Will whispered, "Was it her?"

"No! No no no, it wasn't her, I know that for sure. But... I just..." Mike didn't know how to finish the sentence. It hurt to try. Trying felt empty.

"Doesn't she have superpowers? Maybe that's why she sucks at hiding. You don't need to know how to hide if you have superpowers."

Mike picked at the paint, catapulting chips into the dark. Then why hadn't she come back yet? She had used her powers to leave, so why couldn't she use them to come home? Chip chip flick chip flick. Why wouldn't she use her powers to come home? The Snow Ball was already over, but the next one was less than a year away. Mike uncovered a big patch of bare wood. She could be anywhere by now. Maybe she never really liked him. "Yeah, I guess. She probably just doesn't care." It would be better that way, if she just didn't care.

"How did you get to the upside down? Is... is..." Will's breath jittered through him. "Hn. Is there―is there―another Dem-demog-gogo―?"

Mike sympathized. He hit Will on the shoulder to steady him. "It's cold. Get a blanket, huh?"

"Right! Thanks." Will tore his blanket from his bed, a trick like removing a tablecloth without disturbing a set table: only two of his new comic books slipped off it to the floor. His face swam in a navy mountain of airplane-patterned cotton. "So is there?"

"No, at least I don't think so. I haven't seen one. But in the mouth, y'know, of the body? There were all these..." It was gross to think about. Mike lifted his elbow from the sill to rub it. "It was this..." His face was curling, and Will was staring. "This... worm, thing. Like a leech. One of them got me."