Will the Wise

Chapter 7

Immediately after they stepped inside, the kid slumped to the ground, and sat there with his back against the wall. He didn't say anything. Dale stood in the doorway for a moment, unsure what to do. How to deal with all of his emotions, while still making sure this kid was okay. How to deal, period. Eventually, he pulled out a chair and sat down. He told himself that it – him sitting down, finally admitting defeat - was because the kid was probably in shock, and that might need a moment to process what had happened, which was mostly true. What he was ignoring was the sudden wave of dizziness that had overtaken him. His stomach, too, felt as if it was being stabbed from the inside out. "God," he muttered, clutching it. How had he not noticed his until now? "Kid," he said, and the kid jumped a little, as if he had forgotten Dale was there.

"My name is Will," The kid – Will - said, but not unhappily. Not happily either, of course, but definitely not angry, or upset.

Dale, for a reason even he couldn't name, ignored the kid. "Do you have anything to eat?"

"No... I haven't been able to find anything that's not moldy." The kid sounded ashamed, and Dale had a sudden flashback to another kid, years and years ago, who'd felt responsible for more than he should have as well. Dale pushed the thought away and focused on Will, in front of him. What could he say? That it wasn't his fault? That none of this bloody awful, stupid shit was his fault? That it was awful that a kid Will's age was in a situation like this?

He wished he'd spent more time with kids lately. "Ah..." he said awkwardly.

"Have you seen it before?" Will said, after another pause.

"What?" Dale asked.

"The monster – have you seen it before?"

"Yeah. Once – just before I passed out. Just before this," Dale waved his hand vaguely around the house, "freak storm or whatever."

"Freak storm? I thought –" Will cut himself off. "Never mind."

"What?"

"I, um –" Will seemed to change his mind about something. Dale considered pointing it out, but decided not to. "Did you see them disappear? The monsters."

"Monsters?" He looked sharply at Will. "What do you mean?"

"There was a shadow... thing. Didn't you see it?"

"Just a shadow?" Maybe the kid was hallucinating after all.

"I was...probably imagining it." Dale didn't press him. The kid was freaking out, and besides. It's easy to see things, especially when you're young and afraid. The kid had probably just imagined it. He thought for a few moments longer, and then stood up roughly. He was antsy.

This was ridiculous. One minute he's dizzy, and then hungry, and then he just feels awkward. Now, he was antsy. He was acting like a kid. Actually, looking at the kid in front of him, he was worse than one. At least Will was keeping it together. He wasn't dizzy, light-headed, jolting from one emotion to the next. What was wrong with Dale?

He paced over to the window, then back to the door. He needed to avoid these spirals. He needed to do something. "Will," he said.

Will stood up, and Dale couldn't quite tell if he was reluctant or not. "Yeah?" Will looked up innocently at him, and Dale felt a sudden little stab of anger, because he didn't deserve this, the kid didn't deserve this, Henry didn't deserve it, and goddammit he was spiraling again, and he needed to speak. Do something. "You said that you'd seen the monster before. The – the humanoid sorta one." He gestured (uselessly.)