Here. [ st ]

Lifeless

Ré [Rae]

Joyce's Pov.

Everything was distorted. Every sound, every god damn word.

"A trooper found something in the, uh..water that's at the quarry. Our working theory right now is that Will..crashed his bike. He made his way over the quarry and accidentally fell in. The earth must have given away.. The person who took your daughter, killed her after he.." Hopper and Powell explained. I went back into my senses after hearing my name. "Joyce? Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"No. Whoever you found is not my boy or my girl." I said.

Earlier, Hopper and Powell came with photos. Photos from a burned down cabin not far from Hawkins. It was a photo of a little girl with her wrists and ankles tied, and one with her laying lifeless without her tied up, just blood surrounding her small frame on the cabin's floor. Her face, in the first photo, resembled my Rene, but I knew it wasn't her.

"It's not Will. Not Rene." I said to him. "Joyce." Hop started I cut him off. "No, you don't understand. I talked to him. I felt Rene close. I know it was her and Will. I talked to them both a half hour ago." I move from my place and to the small space where I was earlier.

"He was, he was here. He was talking with these." I sniffle as I held the lights in my hands. "Talking?" Jim asked. I said yes.

"One blink for yes, two for no. And, and I made this," I motion to the wall with the hung up lights, "so he could talk to me. 'cause he was hiding..from that-that thing." I pointed to the wall. I had a feeling that Rene was with Will. "They were hiding from it."

"That thing came out of the wall? The thing chased you?" Jim asked.

"Yeah. Yeah." I said nodding, hoping he understood me. Jonathan interfered. "Mom, come on, please." He sniffled as he told me. The news of Will and Rene just shattered him. "You've gotta stop this."

"No, maybe he's, she's.. It's after them!" I exclaim. "My boy and my girl are in danger. We have to find them! We--" I was cut off. "What exactly was this thing? It was some kind of animal, you said?" Jim tried to understand. "It was almost human, but it wasn't. It..had these long arms and it didn't have a face." Jonathan walked off exasperated. Jim continued to ask. He tried to comfort me while I muttered about the monster.

"Joyce. Listen to me. After Sarah, I saw her, too. And I heard her. I didn't know what was real. And then I figured out that it was in my mind. And I had to pack all that away. Otherwise, I was gonna fall down a hole..that I couldn't get out of." Jim said, being honest with his words.

"No, you're.. you're talking about grief. This is different." I say looking at him. "I'm just saying that you. It's been years since Rene-" I cut him off. "No, I know what you're saying, Hop. I swear to you, I know what I saw. And I know I'm not crazy." I say through tears. He insisted that he wasn't saying that I was out of my mind. I told him otherwise and that I understood. "I need you to believe me. Please."

There was a pause. "Listen. I think you should go to the morgue tomorrow and see him yourself. It'll give you the answers that you need." He said as he told me that I should get some sleep now. After that, he stood up and left the house. I went on my feet and stared at the wall across from me.

Third Person Pov.

Jonathan had his headphones on in bed and cried. He sobbed, hugging himself. He lost the two of the three people he cared about, the most in this hateful place called Earth.