AT LAST, I COULD BREATHE | billy hargrove

close sesame.

chapter song: Back in Back - AC/DC

close sesame.

Once the shed was finished and everything was in place, Jonathan carried in Will Byers and sat him in the cardboard chair. Max, Nancy, Steve, Dustin, Lucas, and I went back to the house to wait for further instructions while those closer to Will stayed in the shed.

Dustin stayed looking out the kitchen window into the backyard until he got antsy and took his hat off, heading into the dining room. Nancy was leaned up against the kitchen wall and Steve was in the living room, swinging the bat around. I was seated at the kitchen table, my crossed legs laying on top of it while I played with the bowstring of the compound bow in my hands. Lucas and Max sat in the hallway, across from each other, conversing about who knows what.

A minute or so passed and the light above the table began flickering, as did every other light in the house and all of us immediately scrambled to look out the window to see what the hell was going on. Nothing happened but we were all on high alert until the backdoor swung open and Hopper, Joyce, Jonathan, and Mike came barging in.

Hopper grabbed a piece of paper from the pile next to the door and sat down at the table. "I think he's talking, just not with words."

His pen etched a series of dots and dashes on the paper and began translating it into letters. "What is that?" Harrington asked.

"Morse code," the boys and I answered together.

The message translated to "HERE" and we all let out a collective sigh. Maybe this would work.

Hopper grabbed a walkie-talkie to convey the message to the one we had at the kitchen table. Dustin wrote the message down and Lucas had the Morse Code in front of him to tell Nancy which letter to write down.

"CLOSE GATE," we all cited. All of a sudden, the wall phone rang extremely loudly.

"Shit. Shit," Dustin cursed, running over to the phone, picking it up and slamming it back down. It rang again and Nancy ripped it off the wall to silence it altogether.

"Do you think he heard that?" Max asked us, eyes wide as mine.

"It's just a phone. It could be anywhere, right?" Steve answered her.

"There's no way he doesn't know what phone that is," I told him. "I mean, think about your phone at home. Don't you know the exact ring?"

"He knows," Dustin whispered fearfully. Max looked like she was about to hyperventilate so I took her shoulder under my arm in an effort to calm her down.

'Way to fucking go, Bo. Send the children into full panic. You'll make a great mom,' My conscious scolded.

Not a minute later, Jonathan put an unconscious Will back on the couch followed by Nancy and Joyce. Hopper grabbed a shotgun from the backyard (I figured it was in the shed before we tore it to pieces) and rushed back into the living room, where we all stood.

"Hey! Get away from the windows!" He yelled at the kids who were perched on the couch staring out the front of the house. They jumped away from the glass quickly and I slung the sheath of arrows over my body and rested one on the bowstring. The Chief held out the shotgun to Jonathan. "Do you know how to use this?"

"W-What?" He stammered, clearly answering no to his question.

"Can you use this?" Hopper asked with a sense of urgency in his voice.

"Um—"

"I can!" Nancy informed him, gesturing with her hands for Hopper to throw her the gun. She loaded it and pointed it towards the door telling us she meant business. Steve was next to me and twirled the bat around with his wrist like you would do if you were getting ready to step up to home plate. I pulled the arrow back to my cheek and tried to keep my breathing as steady as possible despite the pounding in my chest.