Alice the Amazing ⇒ STRANGER THINGS

[8] Burn Baby Burn

{The Body, Part I}

That night, Alice didn't sleep at all. She tossed and turned, seeing Will's waterlogged body whenever she closed her eyes.

Mrs. Henderson told Alice and Dustin they could stay home from school that day, because of the upsetting news.

Alice planned on staying in her room all day, but the static from Dustin's walkie talkie made her emerge from her bedroom to tell his friends to shut it.

She lifted her fist to knock, but Dustin opened the door before she could.

"Shit, Al! Don't scare me like that."

"Dustin, enough with the walkie talkie—wait, why are you dressed? Aren't you staying home today?"

"Oh, um...no?" Dustin said, grinning weakly. "Look, it sounds crazy, but Eleven did something weird with a walkie talkie, and she and Mike heard Will's voice. He's still alive!"

Alice wrapped her arms around herself, biting her lip to keep the tears from falling.

"Dustin," she said, "I'm so sorry, but Will is gone. Denial is one of the stages of grief—"

"Al, seriously, thanks for trying to be supportive, but I don't need it."

Alice felt like she had gotten slapped in the face. She cleared her throat. "Oh."

"Look," Dustin said, "I know you don't believe me, but I think Will is still out there." He began walking towards the front door. "I'll be at Mike's. If Mom comes home from the house showing early, cover for me, okay?"

"Sure," Alice said, nodding. "Um, good luck. And take this bag of my old clothes for Eleven."

"Thanks!" Dustin grinned and fake-saluted, loading the clothes into his backpack. "You're the best."

He ran out of the house and hopped on his bike, zipping down the street towards Maple. Alice watched him ride away, sighing.

"Oh, Dusty."

She turned and headed to the kitchen, figuring if she cooked something she could distract herself.

She turned on the stove and searched the refrigerator for something to eat.

The phone rang while she was looking.

"Hello? Alice speaking," Alice said, trying to sound professional and not like she had had five mental breakdowns throughout the night.

"Al? It's me," Nancy said. "Something happened to Barb."

"Nancy? What do you mean—"

"I went to Steve's house, and there was something in the woods. It looked like a tall man in a mask, but...he didn't have a face."

Alice rubbed her forehead.

"Nance," Alice said, "this doesn't make any sense."

"I know, but trust me," Nancy pleaded. "Please, Al. We need to figure this out."

Alice sighed.

"I'm sorry," she said, twisting the phone cord with her finger. "I want to help you, but I'm not going to school today. I'm, um, sick."

There was a pause on the other line.

"Alice, you can tell me the truth."

What was she supposed to say to that? That she saw the troopers pull Will's corpse out of the water, and how she was never going to be the same again? Or was she supposed to say that her little brother and his friends had a deluded daydream that Will was still alive, and were going to get their hearts broken?

"I am being truthful," Alice said lamely. "I feel nauseous."

"Is this because of Tommy and Carol and their Annie comments?" Nancy said. "Don't worry, Steve chewed them out for that. They shouldn't bother you anymore."

The image of Steve breaking Jonathan's camera flashed in Alice's memory.

"Well, isn't Steve just a fucking gem?" Alice snapped.

Another pause on the other end.

"Okay, I don't know what your problem is—"

"Will is dead!" Alice exploded. "And Barb is missing! And I'm not anywhere closer to finding my birth mom, which sucks because—holy shit!"

"What's wrong?!"

Forgetting the stove was on, Alice had absentmindedly placed her palm on its surface while talking to Nancy. Her hand was firetruck red, and the top layer of skin was blistering.

"I—I burned my hand," Alice said. "Sorry, Nance, I have to go."

"Al—"

Alice hung up the phone quickly and began running her hand under cold water. The cold water helped a little, but then something weird began to happen.

Her hand began to feel warm, but not burned-to-a-crisp hot: a comfortable warmth. She felt her nose begin to bleed again and watched as the redness on her hand faded almost instantly.

Alice held her hand up to the light, inspecting every skin cell.

"What the shit," she mumbled.

She quickly wiped away the nosebleed and turned off the stove. She had lost her appetite.

Something strange was happening. And she needed to figure out what.

Alice began pacing in the living room, and the family cat Mews hissed at her when she sat down on the sofa. Mews darted away, giving Alice the stink eye.

"Screw you too," Alice told the cat.

If cats could talk, Mews would've thrown a range of colorful expletives at Alice.

Alice watched Mews get settled by the television and got an idea.

Alice stood slowly and tiptoed towards Mews. She grabbed the cat and yelled in its ear.

"Me-ow!" Mews hissed, extracting her claws and giving Alice a new collection of red scratches.

Alice cursed and dropped Mews, who ran off into Mrs. Henderson's office. Alice's plan had worked, however. She watched in awe as the scratches from Mews faded until they were imperceptible, and blood dripped into her mouth.

"Wicked," Alice muttered. Now that she had run an experiment, she could conclude that, yes, she definitely was some kind of freak.

The only thing she could do next was push the images of Will out of her mind, and head to the library for some research. It was time for a curiosity voyage.

{Edited July 7, 2020; Reposted September 26, 2024}