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❝ STRANGE THINGS IN HAWKINS.❞
THE CRISP, BROWN leavescrunched underneath Max Mayfield's feet as she trudged through the woods with her friends, the hot sun beating down through the trees. The woodland air was moist and humid, her shirt clinging uncomfortably to her skin.
"Remind me again why we're in the woods right now when we could be spending our time at the pools?" Lucas asked with a tinge of annoyance.
"Because we do that every Summer," replied Will Byers, leading the unenthusiastic group deeper into the woods with determination in his stride.
"I heard Steamtown Mall just opened up a few days ago. Let's go there," suggested Dustin, trying to do anything to get out of being in the woods. The last time they had been here, they were still kids. And now they were teenagers, virtually on the cusp of early adulthood.
"The mall is boring. There's nothing to do at malls," said Will.
Nothing to do at malls. Max stifled a cough, the painful memories swelling up at the back of her throat like a bad taste she couldn't swallow. She saw Starcourt Mall, the bright flashing lights illuminating the empty plaza as though it were a neon party; she saw the monster, large and terrifying as it approached them; she saw her brother's dead body in her arms, the thick blood seeping from his wound. The memories came to her in bursts like flashes of a camera, each image so vivid and raw. No matter how hard she tried to forget, it would always be there, imprinted at the back of her eyes. Three years ago today.
"I'd rather go to the mall than spend my Summer in the woods. It's creepy as shit in here," said Dustin.
"We always do all the stuff that you guys want to do!" Will complained. "Why can't we do something that I want for once?"
"What do you want to do, Will?" spoke Eleven softly, her voice tender and naturally hesitant.
Will smiled at her proudly; she had gotten so fluent at speaking. The softness of her tone made him enthusiastic to continue. "Do you remember Castle Byers?" he asked the group.
Mike furrowed his brows. "I remember you destroyed Castle Byers."
"Actually, I hit it a few times with a bat and tore some stuff off," Will corrected simply. "The structure of the castle should still be there."
