Mystery Shack {Stranger Things}

•channeling•

"All I know is Will is alive."

"Mabel, do you copy?"

The voice was vivid. It pulled Mabel out of her dreamless sleep. She was lucky it was dreamless. Her dreams were quite real and scary these days. They were nightmares.

She sat up in her bed, the light shining through the blinds into their shared room. She rubbed her eyes.

"Mabel? Dipper?"

There is was again. She looked over at the nightstand. The twin's shared walkie talkie was sitting there. Mike had given it to them when the first became friends, just in case Mabel ever needed him. He assured her he'd be there in a heartbeat. She reached for her walkie talkie, putting it up to her mouth.

"Mike?" She asked, her voice breaking.

Her throat was sore from the sobbing and screaming last night. She swallowed, trying to combat the pain.

"What is it, Mike?" She asked into the walkie, "Over."
"It's about Will."

What could Mike possibly need to talk about regarding Will? Did he finally figure out Will was still alive? Had Eleven been able to convince him?

"What about him?" Mabel asked, sitting on the edge of her bed now.

Dipper was still fast asleep. He'd stir every once in a while, but his eyes remained glued shut, tear trails still evident on his face.

"Just-Just get over here stat, and bring Dipper. Lucas and Dustin are gonna meet us here too. Over and out," Mike quickly told her, going dead on the other end.

Mabel sighed, placing the walkie talkie back down onto the nightstand. Guess she'd have to wake Dipper up now.

__________________________________

The kids reluctantly joined Mike in his basement, sitting in a tightly knit circle surrounding Eleven, who had a walkie talkie in her small hand. She was twirling the knobs, a small whimper was emitting from the walkie, but static seemed to take over.

"We keep losing the signal, but you heard it, right?" Mike asked, scanning the room with hopeful eyes.
"Yeah, I heard a baby," Lucas stated, clearly not believing that Mike had heard Will.
"It did sound like a baby," Mabel shrugged, "But Will does whimper like a baby, so."

Dipper smacked her arm. It clearly wasn't the time to be joking.

"What?" Mike asked, looking a Lucas.
"Mike, you obviously tapped into a baby monitor," Lucas explained, "It's probably the Blackburns' next door."
"Uh, did that sound like a baby to you?" Mike asked, clearly becoming irritated, "That was Will."
"Mike..." Mabel whispered.

She didn't want him to get frustrated and yell at anyone. She didn't want to lose her friends.

"Lucas, you don't understand," Mike interjected, "He spoke last night. Words! He was singing that weird song he loves. Even El heard him!"
"Should I stay or should I go," Dipper mumbles, knowing how much that song meant to Will.
"Yes! That's the one!" Mike agreed with a excited nod.
"Oh, well, if the weirdo heard him, then I guess-"
"Are you sure you're on the right channel?" Dustin asked, interrupting Lucas.
"I don't think it's about that," Mike replied, looking down at the walkie talkie in El's hands, "I think, somehow, she's channeling him."

Lucas rolled his eyes. He didn't believe a single word of this. He looked over to Dipper, who was usually skeptical as well, but his eyes were glazed over. He held his knees tightly to his chest. He wouldn't be any help to Lucas's cause today.

"She's like Professor X!" Dustin stated with a smile.
"Yeah," Mike smiled back.
"Are you actually believing this crap?" Lucas asked, looking at Mabel and Dustin.
"I've always believed that Will was still alive," Mabel stated a matter of factly.
"I don't know, I mean... do you remember when Will fell off his bike and broke his finger? He sounded a lot like that," Dustin replied.

Dipper remembered that day vividly. It was the day he realized he'd do anything to keep Will safe, and he had failed to do so.

"Did you guys not see what I saw?" Lucas asked, looking around the room at his friends with a frustrated tone, "They pulled Will's body out of the water. He's dead!"
"He's not dead, Lucas," Mabel interjected, hoping to not make him any more angry.

Lucas turned to the brunette, fiery in his eyes.

"Well, maybe it's his ghost," Dustin muttered quickly, hoping to diffuse the situation, "Maybe he's haunting us."
"It's not his ghost," Mike stated.

Mabel nodded. It was more likely they were apart of a government conspiracy and Will's death was faked rather than him being a ghost. Both which were highly unlikely.

"Oh yeah? How do you know that?" Lucas asked, turning towards Mabel and Mike, who sat next to each other.
"I just do!" Mike yelled.
"Then what was in the water?" Lucas questioned.

The body of Will Byers did look real, even Mabel could agree on that, and she knew Will wasn't dead. She could still feel him. She could feel him everywhere. She could feel his soul.

"I don't know," Mike said, "All I know is Will is alive."

Mabel sucked in a breath.

"He's out there somewhere. All we have to do is find him," Mike finished, hope evident in his chocolate brown eyes.

Eleven fumbled and toyed with the walkie talkie, once again trying to channel Will. It was useless. They weren't gonna contact him on that tiny thing.

"That isn't gonna work," Mabel stated, looking down at the small handheld radio, "We have to get El to a stronger radio."
"Mr. Clarke's Heathkit ham shack," Dustin suggested with a smile.
"What do you think, Dip? Could that work?" Mabel asked, turning to her brother.

He'd always been clever when it came to that kind of stuff.

"Yeah, that should be good," He nodded, his eyes still glassy.
"One problem," Lucas intervened, "The Heathkit's at school. There is no way we're gonna get the weirdo in there without anyone noticing. I mean... look at her."

Mabel smiled, clapping her hands suddenly, spooking all the boys. Even Dipper jumped, and he was used to his sister's antics.

"Makeover time!" Mabel exclaimed, grabbing Eleven's hand, running upstairs.