Rachel Hopper, daughter of Jim Hopper, chief of police, friend of Jonathan Byers and Robin Buckley, founding member of the Hawkins High drill team. Her whole life gets thrown upside down so to speak when Will Byers is officially declared missing and...
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Rachel went to Robin's house after she ate breakfast and knocked on her door a few times before using her key and going in. They were best friends, so she was allowed to have a key as long as she didn't throw any parties. Robin was still asleep so, she woke her up.
"Will Byers was found dead." Rachel said.
"Am I tired or did you really just say that?"
"Probably both. I'm really not feeling going to school today, but I kind of have to if it will make my dad happy. The autopsy and funeral are today."
"I'll try and be there for you." She said.
Rachel walked into the school and everyone stopped and stared at her for what seemed like an eternity. She was putting stuff in her locker when she heard people whispering about her. It was a strange situation to be in. People never really talked about her.
"Meet me after school." Steve whispered to Rachel when they were in chemistry. She glanced down and he passed her a folded piece of paper. Details for their rendezvous were on the paper, so she put it in her pocket and went to her seat.
"What was that about?" Robin asked.
"Don't worry about it."
During her free period, she decided to go to the middle school. It was at the other end of the parking lot, so she walked. She placed her headphones around her neck once she was walking into the office so that she could hear the secretary better.
She got her visitor sticker and Dustin was called down to the office not too long after that. He didn't like that Rachel was there. He didn't even like the fact that he was there. He just wanted to be left alone.
"I know you're upset. My dad is at the autopsy and you will know as soon as I know. It's too early to know what happened for sure, okay? I just want you to know that no matter what, if something happens to you, you call me or come to the house. Jonathan and Will are like brothers to me, and you're like a brother to Will so, technically, that makes you my brother, too." She explained. Rachel tried not to get too emotional as she spoke because she didn't want to trigger Dustin.
"Why don't you talk about Will in past-tense?" He asked.
"Because I know that I will always have him. My sister passed away when I was 7, and I talk about her as if she was still here today. I know that in my heart, I will always have a sister, so, talking about her like that seems wrong.''
"Can I go back to class now?"
"Only if you give me a hug first." Dustin gave Rachel a hug and she left after she saw him walk away.
She went back to the high school for her drill team practice, feeling a little better that she had just spoken to Dustin about her feelings. She changed out of her drill team clothes at the end of the day. The note that Steve gave her told her to meet him at the diner. It didn't come as a surprise because realistically speaking, Steve Harrington wouldn't be caught dead in a library unless he was with Nancy. Nancy had her own things to worry about, and they had already gotten into an argument over Barb's disappearance.
The diner was starting to fill up with customers getting their dinner, so Rachel sat at a table that was close to the door. She did this so that she could leave fast if she needed to and so that Steve could see her. She was eating french fries when Steve walked in, and he sat directly across from her.
"I came to apologize." He said.
"You shouldn't be apologizing to me. You should be apologizing to Jonathan and Nancy. Especially Jonathan. Technically, you didn't do anything to me. But breaking Jonathan's camera for trying to find his brother is not okay. The least you could do is give him money for a new camera. I might not be the brightest bulb in the box but I know that 250 bucks is not gonna put a huge dent in your bank account."
"In my defense, he took pictures of Nancy."
"Yeah, and in his defense, he didn't realize that the outline of Nancy's body was in the photos until after he developed them. I understand that you care about Nancy or whatever but you crossed a line. All you really had to do was ask him to dispose of the pictures. You didn't have to be so violent about it."
"Thanks for the advice. You should probably go if you want to make it to Will's funeral on time."
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She was able to go home and get changed into more formal attire before she went to the funeral home. The kids were talking to Mr. Clarke and she was just looking around. After a while, she left because she did what she needed to do. By the time she walked into the house, Hopper got up from where he was sitting.
"Hey, dad. How did the autopsy go? Did they find anything?"
"That's what I need to talk to you about. Joyce said that the body was Will's, which makes sense. It looks like him, and he had the same birth mark on his wrist. When the medical examiner left and no one was looking, I went in there and I cut the body open."
"Dad, what the hell? You think I wanted to know that?"
"No, but you might want to know what I found. His body was filled with stuffing. Like stuffed animal stuffing. You can't tell a soul."
"Are you implying that Will isn't really dead? Because if you are, I believe you. I thought about the circumstances around his disappearance and things don't add up. Like he's a smart kid, so why would he end up dead in a lake? And when I was with Joyce, some really weird shit went down at the house. Like sci-fi movie weird. It was fucking terrifying and I think we both could've died. The lights were being weird and you know Joyce thinks that Will is talking to her through Christmas lights."
"Weird like how?"
"Weird like they were flickering and the power went out. But that wouldn't make sense because I know they pay their bills and there wasn't a storm. Plus I asked Steve if he lost power and he said no, because they live on the same power grid."
After Rachel made her case, the phone in her room started ringing. She went to answer it, and Dustin was telling her to meet them at the Hawkins Middle School gym the following evening. Hopper also got the message, and it confused both of them. But if it would bring them one step closer to finding Will, Rachel was all for it. As dangerous or stupid as it may have been.
