you are not alone → stranger things

vi. searching

Friday evening
Mike's POV

As soon as Nancy closed the basement door, I jumped up and grabbed my supercomm. "Lucas, come in. It's Mike. Over."

A moment passed, then I heard rustling. "Mike? What-"

"Listen, I'm going to go out tonight to find El. And I'm not coming home until I do. Are you in? Over."

He was silent. "Mike, listen, okay? She's dead. Eleven is dead. You need to get over it already and go back to normal like the rest of us. Over."

I stared at the supercomm for a moment, then threw it to the ground. If no one else can see the truth, I'll go by myself and prove it to them. I'll find El. I know I will.

"Mike?" Lucas' voice was still blaring from the supercomm. "Are you still there? Over."

I ignored him and grabbed my bag. I had everything I needed- compass, binoculars, flashlight, army knife, hammer, sleeping bag, and Lucas' spare wrist rocket. All I needed was food, and I would have to sneak that from the kitchen.

I quietly opened the door about two hours later and looked around. Everything seemed quiet. Mom and Dad still weren't home yet, and Nancy was probably up in her room doing homework or something.

I walked out and quickly grabbed a ton of random snacks like apples, Nilla Wafers, and Pringles. I didn't know how long it would take to find her, so I brought as much as I could carry.

"Mike? Is that you?" It was Nancy.

"Yeah, just hungry!" I yelled back. I quickly tried to stuff all the food in my backpack.

I heard her coming down the stairs. "I can make you something, if you want!"

"No, that's okay! I'm going back down to the basement now anyways!" I swallowed and prayed she wouldn't come.

I heard her pause. "Okay!"

Since she was there listening, I had to go back down to the basement. I stashed my stuffed backpack on the side of El's fort.

Later, Mom came to check on me, and I pretended to be asleep. She kissed my cheek, then left. I waited a minute after she left, then jumped up and carefully slipped out of the basement. I shut the door to the house a little loudly, but I luckily didn't think anyone inside had noticed. I hopped on my bike and rode towards the school, squinting to see in the darkness. I was going to find her. I had to find her.

I'd finally realized that me sitting in the basement moping wasn't going to help El. So I was going to look in the last place I had to look- Mirkwood. Maybe this time, I'd find her.

I searched all night in the woods by Mirkwood, but found nothing. I set up my sleeping bag underneath a tree just as the sun was rising and yawned. Hopefully Mom and Nancy wouldn't worry too much about me.

I had just closed my eyes when I heard a scream from nearby. It sounded oddly familiar.