Say Anything | Steve Harrington |

Ch. 7 Operation Mirkwood

November 9th, 1983
Off Mirkwood

   Once the group and I had made it to Mirkwood, we made our way down a path, just off the road and into the woods. While El never told us exactly where she was leading us, she seemed oddly confident in where she was going, since I assumed that she hadn't been in these woods since the night that we found her.

   Mike and Eleven walked ahead of Dustin, Lucas, and me; the two talking quietly between one another, with Mike blushing slightly and smiling down at the confused girl who seemed to not understand most of what he said.

   "Looks like someone has a crush." I whispered to the two boys who walked on either side of me with a teasing smirk. Lucas scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Whatever." He muttered in response while Dustin laughed at the comment. "We've already asked him and he keeps denying it but it's so obvious." Dustin's lisp broke through slightly while Lucas grew more annoyed, "It's gross and annoying. She's all he talks about, I mean she's just a girl. No offense, Nell."

   I shrugged my shoulders and looked down at Lucas, "None taken, but did you ever stop to think that maybe you're just jealous." Lucas scoffed but stayed quiet. "Will disappears and she shows up, that's just weird. Plus the things she can do-"

   "Lucas!" Dustin cut him off and reached around to hit him on the shoulder. "Ouch, what the hell?" Lucas glared at Dustin who just stared at him as if his glare would stop him from speaking. The two stared at each other for a few more seconds before Lucas seemed to catch on to whatever Dustin was getting at. "Things she can do?" I questioned and looked between the two boys who shared an awkward laugh and started to walk ahead of me.

   "Yeah, she's like scary good at Dungeons and Dragons." Lucas stated and threw me a nervous smile, "Yeah, we're thinking she can be our Mage." This time Lucas hit Dustin and the two quickly turned back around and ignored my confused glances between the two of them.

   Rolling my eyes I continued to follow the group. The further we got down the path, the darker it began to get outside. The area slowly started to become increasingly familiar. "Is El still leading the way?" I called out to the group before they turned around to face me with confusion written over their expressions while El continued to walk in the same direction we'd been going for an hour. "Of course, why?" Mike asked and allowed me to catch up with him.

   "The area is just really familiar..." I mumbled and he nodded in agreement before going back to the front with El.

   Once the sun had almost completely set over the horizon, Dustin looked down at his watch begrudgingly. "Guys, my Mom is going to be so pissed if we don't wrap this up soon." He stated but we continued walking nonetheless until we reached a clearing out of the woods. El slowly came to a stop before slowly turning around, "Here." She stated softly with a small smile but all that stood behind her was the backyard of my house. Groaning I placed my head in my hands as Mike spoke up.

    "No, this is where Will lives." He stated and looked down at El, "Hiding." She stated and looked around the yard. "No, not hiding. This is his house. He is missing from here, understand?" Mike groaned out and turned away from the confused girl.

   "What are we doing here?" Lucas questioned, not hiding how annoyed he was with the situation while Dustin dropped his bike next to him. "I swear if we walked all the way out here for nothing..." Dustin started but was quickly cut off by an angry Lucas. "We did! I told you she didn't know what the hell she was doing!" He stated, "Lucas, calm down." I placed a hand on his shoulder as Mike turned to Eleven. "Why did you bring us here?"