Illusion ~Stranger Things~ [COMPLETED & UNDER EDITING]

Chapter 9

||Thorn's Discovery||

-The Body part II -

Rrrrrip. The sound was small in comparison to the blabbering of the teacher. A reacquiring one too. Both of them. Hands slowly ripped the corners of textbooks, notes, and assignments. Those hands belonged to Thorn. A nervous habit of his, ripping paper. Realization still nagging at him from the day before. Realization and confusion echoed in his thoughts. Will Byers is dead but, he's not. Is he? He isn't. Joyce says he isn't. He can't be. The night before had been horrendous. He'd heard Will through his radio, talked to him even. Then he'd gone to the Byers house to tell Joyce Byers, Will's mom, only to find out they found Will's body. Will was dead. But then, Joyce claimed to have talked to Will through the lights. How could Will be dead if they both talked to him moments earlier? Nothing made sense. Their theory would be considered nonsense as well because it seemed entirely insane. In fact, Thorn probably wouldn't have believed it if it hadn't happened to him. So, they had to keep it between themselves. Both carried an immense load upon their shoulders but, at least they had someone who believed their outlandish tales. Also, there was something else. Neither had just talked with Will. Another creature was with him. Thorn had only heard it through his radio but, Joyce has seen it. It came out of her wall and chased her. Neither of them knew but, it was the Demogorgon.

The last bell of the day finally rang after what seemed like eternity, tugging Thorn back into reality. He got up and out of the school fast as possible. Out of all the things he was supposed to remember and constantly forgot one thing popped into his head. He'd promised Pine he'd take her to get ice cream because she'd wanted to tell him something, something she'd said was quite important. So, he started on his way to Hawkins Middle, The Rolling Stones humming through his old Honda's radio. It didn't take him long to get to the school. He was supposed to meet her in front of the school at the front steps. Not many kids were left rushing out of the door, Pine should have been easy to spot but, the closer he got, he realized she wasn't there.

"Thorn?" A familiar voice called

"Wha-" Thorn looked up, Dustin Henderson catching his attention.

"Whatcha doing here?" The middle schooler asked

"Uh, I'm supposed to pick up Pine."

"Oh. Well, she didn't show up at school today. Neither did Mike. Probably skipping again or something."

"Oh, ok. I'll check her house. Thanks."

"Sure."

Thorn went back to his car and drove to the girls house, confused. Why would she skip today? He got to her house, she wasn't there. Thorn was starting to get worried. He decided to search everywhere he'd know the kid to be but, she want in any of them. After debating in his head what he should do, he got back in his Honda and drove to Hawkins police.

•*O*•

"Thorn?" Hopper said confused when Thorn walked in his office.

"Uh..." the teenager replied, uncomfortable in his current situation.

"What are you doing here?"

"I- Uh- it's about Pine."

"Pine Knight?"

"Y-yeah. Pine Knight-Johnson."

"What happened?" Hopper leaned forward, his tone getting more serious.

"I think she's m-missing. I dunno. I could be paranoid or something but, I couldn't find her anywhere and Dustin told me she wasn't at school."

"Where's the last place you saw her?" Hopper started typing on a typewriter.

"Um..." Thorn started to think "The night Barbra Holland went missing but, I don't think this was related to Barb at all."

"Ok. What was the last thing you saw her wearing?"

"Uh. I think-"

"I'm gonna need something better than an 'I think' kid."

"O-oh, ok. Well, last I remember, she was wearing a brown bomber jacket, jeans, black converse, a Beetles shirt, and a..." Thorn tried to think "a Star Wars baseball cap."

"Did she ever say anything about running away or anything?"

"No."

"Part of a gang?"

"Well, she's friends with Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Mike. That's probably not the kind of gang you're referring to though."

"Do you think it had anything to do with Will Byers?"

"Well, I don't think she ran away because of it or anything but, I think, whatever happened to Will, really happened to Will. I think that thing that got him, I think it got her too."

"Thorn, Will drowned. Nothing got him."

"But-"

"I think that's all. Thanks for reporting that. We'll start looking."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Make missing posters."

"Ok. Thanks Hop."

Then Thorn walked out the door.

•*O*•

Later that day it was realized, Pine Knight-Johnson was missing. The third child to have disappeared in the past few days. Will Byers, taken by the Demogorgon, Barbra Holland, taken by the Demogorgon as well, and Pine Knight-Johnson, kidnaped by Brenner, the head of Hawkins Lab. Pine Knight was missing and only one person knew where she was and how to help her. Only one person, a person being hunted by the bad men herself. Suddenly Hawkins wasn't so small anymore.