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The moments following their discovery of the state of the house were jarring, Jonathan sprinting around the hallways calling out for his mother. However, no response followed. They were completely alone. As far as Sloane could see, the peculiar drawings covered every inch of the walls and floor and she wondered if maybe it was a map of some sort. What kind of map could it possibly be, though?
After a few moments of Jonathan looking through rooms while Nancy and Sloane stayed in the main room, Jonathan came out with something in his hand. In lieu of a greeting, he stated, "I don't shoot polaroid."
"What?" Nancy questioned, looking over at Sloane in confusion before her eyes darted back to the boy.
"It's not mine," he tossed the piece onto the kitchen table, "Someone else has been here."
The way he said those words was daunting, the three of them looking over at each other with concerned expressions. The silence was heavy, but none of them really knew what to say. Although Nancy and Jonathan had been through something like this before, this was completely uncharted territory for Sloane and she was sure to get lost.
"Jonathan, can I use your phone?" Sloane asked out of nowhere, waiting for the boy to nod. When he did, she turned and grabbed the device off the wall, dialing in her home phone number and waiting.
"Hello?" her mother's voice came through the receiver. Damn, not who she was hoping to catch. "Who's calling?"
"Mom, it's Sloane, uh, is Elliot home?" she asked, praying she could get a hold of her brother. It had been days and she wanted to make sure he was steering clear of this shit. It seemed to have a way of sucking them in and the last thing she wanted was for her older brother to be in any sort of danger. She may be the baby of the family, but they had to watch out for each other.
Her mother hesitated but withheld any questions she had before answering her daughter's, "Uh, no, he's not. Some boy named, uh, Steve, I think? Steve and some random child picked him up, something about a school project. Why do you need him?"
"Oh, just wanted to double-check some plans for tonight," she lied through her teeth, silently cursing to herself, "Guess this is his way of canceling on me, thanks, mom. Uh, I'm, hanging out with Nancy still so not sure when I'll be home."
The woman sighed, but it wasn't like Sloane cared. "Fine, just be smart and be safe."
"Yeah, okay, bye," she said before slamming the phone down to hang up the call, huffing in frustration before turning to Nancy and Jonathan, "Okay, so on a scale of 1-10 what's the likelihood of Steve and a small child not being involved in the same level of shit we are?"
Nancy and Jonathan shared a look before Nancy sheepishly shrugged and answered, "Of not being involved? A strong one, maybe a two."
"Shit, fuck, shit," Sloane muttered to herself, "I hate this stupid town. No offense. Why the fuck would Steve involve my brother? I didn't even know they were friends. Ugh, if he gets hurt I am so murdering Steve Harrington."
