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"DUSTIN!" A FEMININE voice called, and Jackie turned to see an older woman with shoulder length hair and rumpled clothing approaching. Jackie recognized her from the hardware store, but that was hardly relevant now. Both Will and Jonathan shared distinctive features with her, and it wasn't hard to put the two together. This must've been their mother. "What's going on? Where's Will?"
"Mrs. Byers?" Dustin asked, his brows raised in confusion as he stepped closer to her, brushing past Jackie.
The back door banged open, and Lucas appeared. His eyes were widened, he looked like he'd just seen a ghost. As animated as Lucas usually was—or the few times Jackie had talked to him—he never looked like this. He swallowed as he noticed Mrs. Byers. "The field."
After sharing another brief, confused look with Max, the four of them took off sprinting after Will's mom. She had no idea what "the field" entailed, or where it even was, but that was the last thing on her mind as they rounded a corner and stumbled across the scene in front of them.
Jackie's jaw dropped when she saw Will standing there, his eyes closed, his body shaking, almost as if he was possessed or something among the sort. Max clutched her sister's hand in fear as they watched the scene unravel before them.
"I think he's having another episode!" Mike yelled, the fear clear as day in his voice.
Will was shaking, his body stuck in place and thrashing, like he was fighting some invisible force within. Mrs. Byers ran up to her son, taking him by the shoulders. "Will! Sweetie wake up! It's mom! Wake up! Can you hear me? Sweetie, please!"
Heart pounding, all Jackie could do was watch. Yeah, sure. This was exactly how she wanted to spend her afternoon after school, watching a kid fight off a possession. She glanced to Max as if her sister had any answers, but she stared straight ahead with the rest of them, awestruck.
"Wake up! It's me!" Mrs Byers's voice cracked at the end, and Jackie swallowed the lump in her throat. Finally, Will let out a gasp, and his eyes flew open.
A sense of relief settled through the group, but Jackie was still too stunned to stop herself from saying: "What the fuck?"
The five of them trailed silently after Will and his mom, all stopping once they got to the front of the school. Jackie watched as Mrs. Byers carefully helped settle Will into her car, a good fifteen feet away from where they were standing. "Okay that totally freaked me out," Max admitted, looking back to their group. "Did that not freak you guys out?"
"Two episodes in two days. It's getting worse," Lucas mused, as if he hadn't heard Max at all, staring after Will when he got into the car.
"This has something to do with what happened to him last year, doesn't it?" Jackie questioned without thinking, remembering Jonathan's words from the party. He'd looked so fearful after confessing it to her, but she didn't dare think press the matter. It wasn't her business, but now she was way too invested to keep her mind off of the entire thing.
