Jailbird || Stranger Things

twenty ➵ this is thriller

Hammering in the last board, Teresa placed down the tool as her dad finished up also. She let out a sigh as she looked around, finding the cabin even more miserable than before.

    "Maybe I should stay home today," she told him as he put the tools away.

    "You have school."

    "I couldn't sleep again last night. I can't keep throwing back coffee. I make good grades, I've already missed the first two periods, I can afford to miss a full day," she shrugged.

    "Did you sketch it again?" he asked, Teresa nodding and reaching for her new sketchpad, handing it over so he could look through it.

    One in particular caught his eye, the drawing awfully familiar. Joyce had shown him something like it. Will was still drawing, and Teresa's illustrations of her dreams were starting to look more like Will's, the more time went on.

    "Reese—" he stopped himself, Teresa watching her father with interest. Although she didn't tell him what she found the day before, she knew her father was also starting to have his suspicions. If he wasn't going to stick to their promise, neither was she.

    "Do you mind if I take it?" he asked, holding onto the pad.

    "Take the whole thing," she shrugged. "Now, about the tv—"

    "If she cleans up, you can fix the TV," he nodded, walking over to El's door to relay the deal. "Go to school," he told Teresa, watching as she picked up her jacket and bag.

    With a soft knock on the girl's door and a goodbye, Teresa followed her father.

    Unfortunately for her, she was a changed woman.

    "Dad, I have to talk to you."

    "Can we do this later, Reese—?"

    "No," she stopped him, putting a hand on his car's door. Narrowing his eyes questioningly he turned to her. "Did you know mom was part of the same stuff her mom was?" she pointed a free hand back towards the house.

    "What—?

    "I read the file Murray gave me. It's an almost copy of the one you showed me when you first brought me here last year," she watched for his reaction. "Same drugs, same everything."

    "What are you saying, that— That you're like—"

    "That maybe the dreams mean something, dad," she tried, watching as his mind kept whirring as it processed the information. "Maybe they're not because of Hargrove, maybe they're because of Hawkins."

    Jim opened his mouth to reply, when his radio buzzed to life in the car, and the half open window of the cabin let Flo's voice drift through to them.

    "Chief come in. Joyce Byers has called eight times already this morning. Eight times. For my sake, please deal with her!"

    His response was immediate, opening the driver's side door in a hurry. "Get in the car!"

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Teresa was trying to process the information as soon as possible.

    Having become good enough friends with the Byers that she felt just as responsible and worried about Will as everybody else, she had ignored Joyce's questions and instead pushed herself towards the boy's room. Jim had already caught her up on everything he'd missed, their communication once again managing to work just a little bit better than in the few days prior.

    The anniversary effect struck a chord with Teresa. Not only because of the June ambush of horrible nightmares and headaches, but because she knew it was coming up to the day the boys lost El.