Not Just Another Number

We call it a Demogorgon

Sarah's POV

I wake up to the sound of a door opening. I look over to see Jonathan opening the door. Next to me is Mom, huddled over a lamp. Last night, we tried talking to Will, but after a while he just stopped responding. Mom tried to get him to respond, but I eventually fell asleep.

"Mom?" Jonathan asks, gaining Mom's attention. She quickly stands up and gestures for Jonathan to come closer. I push myself up into a sitting position, waving him over as well. Just like she did to me, she pulls Jonathan onto the bed to sit beside her.

"It's Will, he... he's trying to talk to me." She stammers. Jonathan shakes his head. "He's trying to talk to you?"

"Th-through the lights."

"Mom-"

"I know. I know. Just...just watch." She says shakily. I lean forward and put my hand on her shoulder. "Will, your brother's here . Can you showed him what you showed me and Sarah, baby?" She asks.

Nothing happens for a few seconds, but the lamp suddenly lights up for only a second. "You see that?" Mom says, pointing at the lamp. Jonathan grabs her hands and makes her face him. "It's the electricity. It's acting up. It's the same thing that fried the phone."

"No! It is not the electricity, Jonathan. Something is going on here. Yesterday, the wall-" Mom freaks out, but I stop her. "What about the wall?" I ask.

"I don't know!"

"Mom, first the lights, then the wall?" Jonathan yells. Mom starts to tear up as she keeps talking. "I just know that Will is here. Maybe if I get more lamps-"  Jonathan interrupts her again. "No, Mom. You don't need more lamps, you need to stop. He is just lost. People are looking for him, and they are going to find him."

Mom sniffles, but nods her head. I hug her as she cries a little. "Mom, why don't you get some sleep, huh?" I suggest. She nods her head and sniffles. I let her go and get off the bed. I leave the room and enter the kitchen.  I grab my bag from the living room, which I left there last night, but I hear Jonathan enter the room.

"Why didn't you help me with Mom back there?" He asks as I stand up. I shrug. "Maybe because I believe her. I saw the light too, and I have faith. Jonathan, I need to get to school. Tell Mom that I left?" I say. I walk over to the door, ready to go to school, but Jonathan stops me again. "I'm gonna be looking for Will, you can come with me if you aren't busy hanging out with Harrington." He says before I walk away.

What does he mean by that? I walk over to my car and climb in.

Time Skip

I park my car in front of the school, when my walkie-talkie goes off. Already, what trouble is going on now? I pick it up and answer. "Hello, what's going on?" I ask.

"Hey, it's Dustin, we have a plan to look for Will after school, and we want you to come with."Dustin says.

"What's the plan?" I ask, watching other kids arrive.

"We head out to Mirkwood and look for him. We're bringing weapons and provisions in case we encounter the demogorgon."

"The what?!?" I ask suddenly.

"Oh yeah, it's the thing that Eleven thinks is chasing Will." Demogorgon....she doesn't mean that monster with no face, does she? It's a much easier name, that's for sure.

"O-okay, what time do we meet up?" I ask, trying to get back on task.

"Right after school, 3:15." He says.

"Okay, got it. I'll meet you guys then, but you guys need to head to school. See ya then." I say before signing off. I place my walkie-talkie on the passenger seat and get out of the car.

I quickly walk into school and start navigating my way to my locker. I put my bag away and grab my math textbook. I look over to see Nancy walking over to me, without Barb. That's weird, they're usually together. I close my locker and turn around to face her. "Hey Nance."

"Hey Sarah." She shyly says. She seems nervous. I place my hand on her shoulder and make her look at me. "Hey, are you okay? What's wrong?" I ask.

"It just feels like everyone's watching me, like they know that I..." She says, trailing off, but I get what she's trying to say. I laugh a little, hiding my pain, and take my hand away. "Don't worry, nobody knows, nobody would tell."

She laughs a little, but fixes her bag, still nervous. "Hey, do you know where Barb is? I didn't see her this morning." She asks. I just shake my head, feeling bad. "Sorry, I haven't. I was actually gonna ask you that too." I say, running my hand through my hair. First Will, now Barb, she couldn't be there too, could she?

Suddenly, the bell rings. We look at each other and chuckle. "Welp, I gotta head to math, see you in science, Nance." I say, turning a little. She says goodbye as well and we part ways.

Time Skip

I walk out of the building, ready to meet up with the party, but someone calls my name. "Hey Sarah, come get a look at this!" It was Tommy. He, and everyone else, were surrounding Jonathan. I quickly rush over. What are they doing to Jonathan this time?

"What's going on?" I ask. Steve's holding his backpack, while Nancy is holding some pictures. "Your brother here was taking some sneaky pictures of us at the party." Tommy says, taking the pictures from Nancy. It's just pictures and pictures of us lounging around the pool. "Jonathan, what is this?" I mumble.

Steve takes the pictures out of my hands and walks up to Jonathan. "You can see that he knows its wrong, but here's the thing about perverts, its hardwired into their heads." He says, tearing the pictures. "So, we'll have to take away his toy." He says, dropping the torn pictures.

He walks back over to his bag and pulls out Jonathan's camera. "Steve..." Nancy and I say, her in a pleading tone, mine in a warning tone. Tommy goes to push Jonathan away from getting his camera, but Steve stops him. "Hey, it's okay. Here you go man." He says, holding out the camera.

Jonathan goes to take it, but Steve tips it out of his hand, letting it fall to the ground. It shatters as soon as it hits the ground. Tommy and Carol laugh, but Steve keeps a serious face. I groan and cover my face. "Come on, let's go. The game's about to start." Steve says, walking away.

I sigh and crouch down to pick up the broken camera, and I could see Nancy pick up the picture scraps. I clean up the glass and the peices that fell off, and hand him the camera. "Here, I'm sorry. If you still wanted to look for Will, you could dome help me later." I suggest, but he just shakes his head.

"Alright." I sigh and stand up, leaving him and Nancy alone. Dammit Steve, what the fuck was that?! I walk back over to my car and get in, ready to forget about what just happened and ready to look for Will.