38. MEMORIES

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Aha sorry for not updating again my friends, this semester is so hard! I have no time (except today is a snow day so I'm taking advantage of it!)

Wattpad is being weird again, so hopefully this works lol

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Natalie gripped on to Jim's shirt tighter as he started heading outside towards the shack Will was in. The frosty wind bit at her exposed skin causing her teeth to chatter loudly. Jim's grip on her tightened and he pulled her closer to him with a sigh.

"How is your leg?" he asked with concern laced in his deep voice.

She smiled at him through the pain, "Totally fine."

Jim scowled and shook his head, holding on to his words because he knew she would not listen to him either way. Even though he loved how strong she was, he knew even this was too much for her.

Natalie flashed him another weak smile and focused on the cabin before them. The wood was splintering and faded due to years of enduring snow, rain, and sun. A light sweat broke out on her upper lip the closer they got, dark questions arose in her mind about Will. Would he make it through this? Would the Mind Flayer use Will to get to her?

Jim opened the door and stepped inside quickly, shutting the wooden door behind with the creak. Natalie squinted her eyes as the adjusted to the harsh yellow light. When she could finally see, she let out a quiet gasp. Will was strapped down to a wooden chair. His hands and ankles bound to the legs with rope. His face was pale and sweaty, and he was muttering something unconsciously.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Natalie asked Jim, Joyce, Mike, and Jonathan.

"He's still in there," Joyce said fiercely and looked back at Will.

Jim sighed deeply, "Okay you ready guys?" he asked.

The group nodded for him to start. Jim set Natalie down in a chair gently and kissed the top of her head before grabbing a box of some chemical to place under Will's nose to get him to wake up.

Will stirred a little and gasped when he woke up, eyes wild and searching the room, "What? What is this?" he said startled, "why am I tied up!"

"Will, we just want to talk to you," Joyce said sweetly.

"We're not going to hurt you," Natalie said quietly and smiled sadly at him.

Will shook his head his eyes widening in panic. He started pulling against the ropes in fierce anger, a growl ripping through the room, "Why am I tied up! Why am I tied up! Let me go! Why am I tied up!" he screamed his voice sometimes dropping a few octaves and returning to a shrill screech.

Natalie flinched and looked back at Jim in horror, "Jim!" she shouted over Will's voice.

Jim nodded at Joyce, "Go, start!" he instructed him and put the morse code clicker behind his back.

Joyce took a seat next to Natalie and smiled at Will, "Do you know what March 22nd is? It's your birthday Your birthday. When you turned eight, I gave you that huge box of crayons. Do you remember that? It was 120 colors, and all your friends, they got you Star Wars toys, but all you wanted to do was draw with all your new colors, and you drew this big spaceship, but it wasnât from a movie. It was your spaceship. A rainbow ship is what you called it. And you must have used every color in the box. I took that with me to Melvald's and I put it up and I told everyone who came in, "My son drew this. " and you were so embarrassed. But I was so proud. I was so, so proud."

Will's eyes softened when he looked at his mother, his mouth opened as if he was going to say something and then he stopped and his expression turned cold and calculated.

Out of the corner of her eye, Natalie saw Will's hand tapping morse on to the chair and she felt her heart swell with relief, he was still in there.

Next, Jonathan took Joyce's place and took a deep breath before talking, "Do you remember the day Dad left? We stayed up all night building Castle Byers just the way you drew it, and it took so long because you were so bad at hammering. You'd miss the nail every time, and then it started raining, but we stayed out there anyway.We were both sick for like a week after that, but we just had to finish it, didn't we? We just had to."

Tears started to build in Will's eyes and he looked like he wanted to say something so badly but couldn't. Tears started to build up in Natalie's eyes as she watched him begin to struggle again.

Mike smiled softly at Natalie and took over from Jonathan, "Do you remember the first day that we met? It was It was the first day of kindergarten. I knew nobody. I had no friends and I just felt so alone and so scared, but I saw you on the swings and you were alone, too. You were just swinging by yourself, and I just walked up to you and I asked. I asked if you wanted to be my friend, and you said yes. You said yes. It was the best thing I've ever done."

Then it was Natalie's turn.

She took a deep breath and looked Will in the eyes, "Will? Do you remember when we got ice cream earlier this year? I was so sad and you were the only one who could cheer me up with all your corny jokes and wise advice. Then on the way there we listened to footloose, and we both danced and sang so horribly, but we had so much fun. We were both so happy," she said with a sad smile, tears rolling down her cheeks.

A lone tear dropped down Will's pale cheek and his dark eyes searched hers. He swallowed thickly and was about to speak when the sound of a phone ringing echoed through the house.

Natalie's eyes widened as Will suddenly snapped back to his cold demeanor and shut his eyes.

"It knows, shit it knows!" she said in a shaky voice.

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