SERENDIPITY | WILL BYERS ³ ✔

The Flayed - [Pt.1]

So, me and the party just slept over at Mike's house, or, basement, really.

Everyone had fallen asleep quickly, but I was awake for the majority of the night.

Well, it's still the middle of the night right now, in fact. It's 5:30.

That scene...

It kept replaying in my head.

El almost died--

Correction; ALL of us almost died.

The Mind Flayer is back, Billy's flayed, we almost just DIED, and everyone still hates me.

Everything's going great, isn't it?

I looked around the basement. Everyone was sound asleep.

I was still in my hoodie, and wearing shorts.

Just remembering everything that happened-- and everything that's just been happening in general-- I just can't.

Everything that happened tonight was scary, and traumatizing, and like, 10x more for El, for having to be choked like that.

It was me who should've been choked.

Then I thought about... how I reached for Will's hand.

Oh, God, should I have done that?

I don't know.

But all I know is that he reached back.

-In the morning-

We were up, and back at it.

El had the blindfold over her eyes, I think, checking on Hopper.

"I found him." She said.

"Where is he?" Max asked.

"Woods." El said.

"Woods?" Lucas repeated.

"He's with... Will's mom."

"M-My mom?" Will stuttered. 

"What are they doing?" Max asked.

"Ill... annoy." El said. Illinois? "They're going to Ill-annoy."

"Mike! Breakfast!" Mike's mom shouted from the top of the basement, through the door.

Wait, did Mrs. Wheeler know we were here?

"NOT NOW, MOM!" Mike yelled at her.

Damn, he's really sassy with her, nowadays.

My parents would NEVER let me shout at them like that.

"Illinois? Illinois, like the state? The state of Illinois?" Mike asked.

"Ill-annoy." El repeated.

-

El and Max were in the bathroom, checking the mark that Billy made on El's neck, and the boys were eating a bit.

I, of course, the odd ball out, had nothing to do, and EL and Max clearly don't want me in the bathroom with them, so I was sitting down on the ground on a wall, bouncing a ball back and forth to myself.

I heard El and Max laughing in the bathroom. I didn't know how I felt.

"Something's not right." Mike began. "I can't get Hopper off my back all summer, now all of a sudden, he's hiking with Will's mom to Illinois? And Dustin's MIA too? I mean, this can't be a coincidence."

I wonder if Dustin ever decoded the whole Russian thing.

"What does it matter?" Lucas asked. "The bottom line is, they're not here. It's up to us."