you are not alone → stranger things

viii. el

early Saturday morning, January 5, 1984
Will's POV

I blinked my eyes open blearily. There was a really bright light in my eyes. I must have left the overhead light on... but why was it so bright?

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. My room smelled weird, too- like wood or something.

I opened my eyes to the sunrise. My back was wet, like I had laid in the morning dew.

Why was I outside in the middle of the woods? The last thing I remembered was eating dinner. Weird.

I stood up and looked around. My pajamas were covered in mud. There wasn't anyone else around.

Wait. Something moved.

A breath caught in my throat as I remembered it. I knew it was watching me from a distance, had been ever since I left its home. Could it be here now?

I cautiously walked towards it. "H-hello?" I stammered. I brushed past a bush, and it rustled loudly-

There was a loud scream, and a girl toppled out of a tree where I had seen movement. She hit the ground with a loud thud and lay there motionlessly, whimpering.

I stared for a moment, then approached her slowly. I knelt next to her, and she looked up at me.

A jolt shook my brain as soon as her deep brown eyes met mine. I knew those eyes.

"I can help you," she whispered, smiling weakly. "if you bring me back with you."

I snarled at her. "Why shouldn't I kill you now?"

I saw a flash of fear in her eyes, like a caged animal. The strange feeling inside me purred in satisfaction at the sight of it.

"Will?" Suddenly Mike was there, mud spattered across his cheek and shirt. I snapped out of my trance and looked at him. "Why are you out here?"

"Why are you out here?" I countered, uncertain what to reply. Why was I out here?

He opened his mouth to reply, then saw the girl. A look of shock overtook his face. "No."

"I don't know her," I said guiltily, as if I had lied. But I hadn't, had I? Those weird visions were... well, I didn't know.

Mike didn't reply for a moment, frozen. Then he suddenly rushed to the girl, pushing me aside. "El? El, it's me, Mike. El, wake up. Wake up."

I stared in bewilderment. El?

The girl stirred. "Mike?" she whispered.

He smiled at her, nearly in tears. "Yes. I'm here. We're gonna get you home, okay?"

"Mike." When he didn't reply, I yelled, "What is going on?"

He looked up at me finally. "This is Eleven."

"I thought she was dead," I said, confused.

Mike squinted at me, annoyed. "Obviously not! What have I been telling you guys? Here she is!" He turned back to her and took her hand, something that surprised me. "El, no, wake up. El. El!" he cried, shaking her when she didn't respond. He lifted her in his arms and rushed past me. "Go home!" he yelled over his shoulder. "See you tomorrow!"

As I followed him out of the woods and back home, thoroughly puzzled, I thought about all I knew about Eleven. What a weird coincidence, I thought, that she finally shows up the night Mike looks for her again.. and I happened to be there, for some reason.

She's backkkkkkkkkkk! *cue dramatic music* but does Will want to eat her?

NOT LIKE THAT. OH MY GOD YOU DIRTY MINDS OUT THERE. I have no idea where this story is going lol