you are not alone → stranger things

xviii. vanished

Wednesday afternoon
Lucas' POV

"That's weird," I said, jumping off my bike. "I don't see him." Him being Will. He'd been late to school every day lately, but never this late.

Dustin shrugged nervously. "Maybe he's already here?"

"Guys, haven't we been through this exact conversation last time he disappeared?" Mike said irritably, getting off his bike.

"Hey, guys," a voice cooed. I spun, and there was the red-headed angel herself. She had been hanging out with us, and I had talked to her once!

Mike rolled his eyes. "Seriously, Max. Can you leave us alone?"

She ignored him. "Where's Will?"

"We don't know," I said, surprising myself.

Her icy blue eyes swept towards me, and I held her gaze. She was so hot.

"Lucas," she whispered, swaying towards me, "could we talk?" The glint in her eyes was suggestive.

I nodded and, with one big step, crossed the distance and kissed her. Her lips were warm, and she tasted like apples. She slid her hands behind my neck-

I blinked, and the vision was gone. Max was already looking at Mike again.

***

"Finally, we got rid of her," Mike sighed as we walked out of the school.

"So, Mike, how's Eleven?" Dustin teased, nudging him.

I laughed. "Yeah, Mike. Sucking face, are you?"

His face turned beet red. "I am not! Only twice since she's been back!"

Dustin and I sniggered. "But how long was each kiss?" Dustin asked, and I made kissy lips at him.

"Oh my god, guys, come on," he complained. "Shouldn't we talk about how Will didn't show up today?"

The mood immediately changed. "Maybe he's sick?" Dustin offered halfheartedly.

We all looked at each other and stopped walking. "What if..." I began.

"Do you think..." Dustin started at the same time.

"Should we..." Mike asked.

We all stopped and stared in silence. "He can't have... could he?" Mike breathed.

"Anything's possible," Dustin replied grimly.

"Then we have to find him." I stared at the other two. "Right?"

"Maybe we should stop at his house first," Dustin offered nervously. "Maybe it isn't what it looks like."

We all got on our bikes and went straight to Will's house, our minds full to the brim of questions without answers. When we got there, Chief Hopper's car was there- a bad sign.

Jonathan opened the door, stress in every line of his face. "Come on in," he said, assessing our faces and knowing we knew.

Mrs. Byers was crying, with Hopper patting her back. "We'll find him," he said gently.

"He went back to that awful place, I just know it!" she sobbed.

"Mrs. Byers?" Dustin said quietly. Everyone looked at us. "We could look for him again. And if he did go back to the Upside Down, we could just ask Eleven."

Mike clapped a hand over his mouth, but the damage was already done. "Eleven?" Hopper exclaimed, his eyes widening. "She's back?"

"I went out looking for her on Friday night, and in the morning, I..." He paused. What was he talking about? He had told us that she showed up at his house. "Well, I found Will in this clearing, bent over her. I didn't know what he was doing, and I never asked."

Everyone stared at him. "Joyce," Hopper murmured after a moment, turning to her, "has Will done anything strange lately, besides disappearing in the night?"

She shrugged tearily. "He's been angrier lately, I guess. Temperamental. Like he'd pick a fight with you if you even looked in his direction. But other times, when he wasn't like that, he was very quiet. Spacey. He wouldn't register until you waved a hand in his face that you were even talking to him. I thought it was just side effects and it would go away eventually, but..." She buried her face in her hands.

"I noticed that too," I said. "Once, I asked him to borrow a pencil in science class, and he looked at me and I didn't even recognize him. He was pissed. He never used to get angry much, especially not when someone wanted to borrow a pencil from him."

Hopper rubbed his jaw, but said nothing.

Jonathan sighed and slumped lower in his chair. "This is too much. Can't we just have a normal life?"

"Kid," Hopper said suddenly, staring at Mike. "Can you bring her here?"

He shrugged nervously. "If she wants to come."

Hopper stood, looking grim. "She'd better."