The Scholar & The Bard [Sequel to Bookworm & Toothless] (Stranger Things AU)

[18]

Jess glanced at Bob as he looked at the drawings up on the wall, nervously waiting for his reaction.

It's not often that they allow someone to know a bit of what goes on in their crazy lives.

"Huh."

Mike looked at Jess, her hand reaching for her arm, quickly grabbing it and squeezing it gently, preventing her from scratching it.

"Hmm."

He turned to Will.

"You drew all these yourself?"

Will nodded.

"Mm-hmm."

Bob made a face Jess couldn't really read properly.

It was a mix between being impressed and confused.

"Why, exactly?"

"I...I told you the rules. No questions, okay?" Joyce says, looking at him.

"Yeah."

"We...we just need you to help us figure out what..."

Jess follows Joyce as she walks towards the other room, turning back when Mike didn't follow her.

"Mike!"

Mike turns and walks towards her.

"Bob? Bob?" Joyce says, getting his attention.

"Over here."

They all follow Joyce as she marks the place where Hopper supposedly is.

"Where...where this is."

"That's the objective. Find the X." Mike says, Jess nodding.

"Yeah? What's at X? Pirate treasure?" he says, chuckling.

"It's not funny!" Jess snapped, Joyce, placing a hand on her shoulder.

For a second, she could have sworn that the heat had risen a bit, (which made Will flinch) until it decreased back to its cold weather.

"Bob, no questions."

Bob nodded, noticing how Jess snapped at him, as if she was really upset over something and her patience was really thin.

"Okay."

He sighs before turning to the boys and Jess.

"Let me talk to you for a second. Hang on, guys."

Jess sighed as they left, clutching her shirt, completely unaware of the fact her nose was bleeding, or that something was growing in her clenched hand.

Mike did though.

"Jess?"

She looks up at him, furrowing her eyebrows when he walked up, wiping her upper lip, revealing the blood.

She looked at her hands and gasped, a Cosmos flower in her palm.

She sent a scared, panicked look at Mike, shaking her head as she crumbled it in her fist.

"Hey, relax. Maybe this something from your past that isn't explained yet. I mean, you knew El before we all met her last year, maybe it's the same with this power." Mike says, pulling her to a chair at the table, sitting next to her.

She nods, only to jolt when Bob suddenly came and;

"And if that's Lake Jordan, then you can probably find...Yeah, that's, uh, Sattler's quarry."

She furrowed her eyebrows as he turned around.

"And if you just follow it naturally...it moves to...the Eno River. And there it is. That's the Eno, do you see it?"