G O N E |Harringrove|

6 - Mother knows best

7:50pm

Joyce Byers, a proud and strong mother of two teenage boys. She isn't the picture perfect mother by any means, but she sure tries her damn hardest.

So when neither of her boys returned home that afternoon, she started to worry. The Upside Down left Joyce a nearly broken person. Will was a such a small and innocent boy who deserved the world, her son Johnathan was shy, but had the makings of a great man.

She considered calling Hopper, but the knowledge of the gate lingered in her mind. It was closed, everyone knew it, but their inner anxieties refused to acknowledge it. A power outage could send Joyce into a fit of panic, or anyone else who was involved with the other worldly dilemma. She feared that she was being too jumpy. Sort of like how Steve Harrington, a strong boy, had looked so frightened when one of her kitchen bulbs flickered and blew out. His eyes had darted around the room, tears looking like they were threatening to spill over. It broke her heart to see the teenager in such a state.

Flopping unceremoniously on the couch, she hastily reached for her pack of cigs, despite yesterday's promise to lay back on the deadly addiction. Her hands shook as she pulled the object of her desires towards her ready lips. The same shaky hands flicked on the lighter, igniting the cigarette. Drawing in a deep breath, she allowed the smoke to fill her lungs. As she exhaled, it clouded up in the air, dissipating  quickly as it came.
A series of hard knocks at the door drug her out of the calming sensation of the substance. Joyce turned so fast it made her head spin.

"Johnathan..? Will?? Is that you outside" Pushing herself off the couch, she headed towards the door, opening it and inch to peek outside. A man of large stature stood on the mat, looking like he wanted to be anywhere else. "Hop? Is everything alright? Please don't tell me it's about the kids, oh God Hop I-i can't go through another disappearance. Not again, please."
She begged to him, fully aware of that Hopper had no control when it came down to otherworldly creatures snatching children away.

Hopper grunted in response, smothering a cigarette below his boot. "Sorry Joyce, Jane had felt something off earlier. When she went to check up on it, the kids completely disappeared from the map"

Joyce felt her knees buckle out from below her. Not only had Johnathan and Will disappeared, but the rest of the kids? One kid was enough as it is. Hopper reached out to hold her steady.

"Just wait a minute Joyce. Jane sensed them in Indiana, but right before she reached them, the connection broke. This might have to do with the lab. I'm not too sure, but I think something might be blocking her from reaching out to the brats. Right now her powers here are weak, yet stable." Hopper looked unsure, an emotion that never fitted right on his face.

Joyce pulled herself up, mustering up the bits of energy within her small body. "Well, we-we gotta look for them Hop!"

Hopper groaned and ran a hand down his face, "If I knew where to look, you think I'd be here?"

"Then we have to figure out where to look! Retrace or steps, I don't know. This otherworldly bullshit has messed with me enough. Messed with all of us! Look, uh, why don't we do some investigating, alright?"

Hopper hesitated, shifting from foot to foot, feeling oddly cornered by the small woman. "Urk, fineee, but I'm doing the talking, alright?" Joyce shoved past Hopper in anticipation, power walking towards his pick up truck.

She swung open the passenger door, "Quit standing there Hop, let's gooo" She tapped her wrist, pointing to an imaginary watch. Hopper reached for another smoke. "This woman, I swear–" He shook his head affectionately.