Joey Hopper//Will Byers -Book two-

Will the wise: Part four

Mike and I stand over the phone as it endlessly rings.

"Hey," I hear a voice and perk up. "You've reached the Byers. We're sorry-"

Mike just slams down the phone.

"Darn it," I mumble.

I look over to the others who are sitting on the stairs not so far from us.

Lucas yells, "anything?"

Mike and I share a look before running back towards them. We've been trying to call Will all day, every chance that we get. Unfortunately he hasn't picked up once. If I was already unsettled this morning, then I'm full blown thinking the worst at this point.

We reach the stairs and Mike says, "we need to talk. Av room, right now."

They all start to pack up their things as we walk to the doors.

"Party members only." I hear Mike say and I turn my head to see Max holding her skateboard in her hands.

Dustin sends him a look. "Come on Mike."

"No," I say. "He's right. Max, believe me you don't want to know."

"This is non-negotiable." Mike finishes.

With that Lucas and Dustin apologize to Max and the party walks in. I feel for Max, I really do. I wasn't lying though. She's better off being left in the dark. She's only seen a little of our lives so far and I'd like to keep it that way.

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We all sit around the Av room table.

"Will didn't want us to tell anyone." Mike starts. "But on Halloween night he saw a sort of shadow in the sky."

"A shadow? What kind of shadow?" Lucas questions

I shake my head. "We're not entirely sure."

"All we know is that it scared him," Mike states.

I bite my lip. "Yesterday on the field. I don't know if it was the same one...but when I touched Will it was like I could see it too. It- I don't really know. I think it was trying to get inside of him. It surrounded us but when I would breath it in the shadow would try to get out of me. Like I was killing it or something. For some reason it wanted Will. Only Will"

"And if Will really has true sight." Mike says. "Then maybe he was seeing into the upside down."

"So that's why he was frozen like that?" Dustin asks resulting in me nodding my head.

Lucas asks, "can it hurt him? I mean, if this shadow thing isn't from our world..."

"I'm not sure," Mike shakes his head. "Dustin?"

"Well, if you're in another plane you can't interact with the material plane. So theoretically, no the shadow cant hurt him."

I sigh, "but that can't be true. The shadow literally threw me, it made me pass out."

"Maybe that's not even what's happening then." Mike says. "This isn't D&D. This is real life."

"So what do we do?" Lucas asks

I shrug but Mike says, "we acquire more knowledge. I'll go to Will's after school. See what's going on. You guys stay here and find Dart."

"Dart?" Dustin asks, "what's he gotta do with this?"

"Will heard him in the upside down. I don't know how yet but he's gotta be connected to all this. He's gotta be. If we find Dart, maybe we can solve this thing. Maybe we can help Will."

"I'll go with you too Mike." I say, thinking back to my limited options of places to stay.

I also can't just sit here while Will is out there hurting. I have to do something. Anything.

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The final bell rings just as I'm walking out with my backpack. Mike got held back with our English teacher so we decided to just meet each other out front. I walk amongst the crowds of other kids and finally reach my bike. I unhook it from the rack and go to turn around when I hear a voice.

"Joey."

My eyes go wide in shock and I face her. "El? What are you doing here?"

"Momma," she says.

I arch my eyebrow. "What are you talking about-you know what it doesn't matter. Come on."

I leave my bike and grab her wrist, forcing her to follow me into the woods by the side of the school. We walk through the leaves and don't say a word until we're far enough away that we're out of ear shot.

"Now tell me, why are you here?" I ask again.

She grabs a piece of paper out of her pocket and brings it towards me. "Momma."

I take the paper in my hands and realize that it's a copy from an old newspaper. Right at the top it reads: INDIANA WOMAN SUES D.O.E. CLAIMS CHILDREN WERE STOLEN.

"What is this?" I murmur.

She hands me another one that says: TWINS, JANE AND MARY TAKEN WHEN THEY WERE BABIES, IVES CLAIMS.

Then on top of it all she places a photo. In it are a man and a woman walking side by side.

El points to the man. "Pappa."

I look closer at the woman and a realization hits me. "Momma..."

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EDITED