{The Vanishing of Will Byers, Part III}

"Hey, Dusty," Alice called to Dustin as he ran down the steps of the middle school with his AV Club crew. Her arms were sore from doing free throws for all of free period, but being done with school for the day put her in higher spirits.

"Al? What are you doing here?" Dustin asked, furrowing his brow. "We always meet you by the high school's front gates."

"What? A loving big sister can't meet her little brother and his charming friends—"

"Chief Hopper threatened you, didn't he?" Lucas said with a smirk.

Alice gave him a hard look.

"Thanks, Sinclair, for thinking so little of me; for thinking that I don't care about my darling brother—"

"Alice."

The older girl raised her hands in surrender.

"Okay, yeah, he threatened me," she said. "I promised Hopper Dustin and I would go straight home."

Alice didn't tell the boys she was a little shaken up about the whole situation. Hawkins was always considered a safe town, but now a boy was missing? And it just so happened to be a boy she knew? Until things were sorted out, Alice felt better keeping Dustin by her side 24/7.

The four kids biked through town. The bright yellow trees looked like they were on fire as they zipped past. Some businesses in downtown still had their Halloween decorations up. Faded jack-o-lanterns and twinkling orange and black lights in window displays added an eerie feel to their commute.

When Alice and Dustin got home, their mom rushed over to them and hugged them tight.

"Oh, my sweet angels!" she crowed. "I'm so glad you two are all right!"

"Mom!" Dustin coughed. "You're choking us!"

Mrs. Henderson let go, but as soon as she did, pulled her children in close again.

"You need to be more careful biking around town!" she said. She kissed Dustin and Alice's foreheads. "I don't want either of you getting snatched!"

"Mom," Alice said, wrenching out of her iron grip. "We'll be fine. We bike fast."

"Oooh...one last hug!" Mrs. Henderson said, wrangling up her kids once more.

When she finally let them go, Alice whispered to Dustin, "God, she's like a boa constrictor."

Dustin snickered.

"Now," Mrs. Henderson said, clasping her hands together, "Until the police find Will, I want you two to stay indoors and go places together. Got it?"

"Got it," the siblings chorused.

Mrs. Henderson nodded, satisfied at their compliance, and returned to her home office. She was a real estate agent and did some of her work from home with Mews on her lap.

Alice spent the afternoon in her room, working on homework. Her mind constantly wandered to Will, and to his brother, Jonathan. This had to be hard on him. Alice couldn't imagine what she would do if Dustin went missing.

She felt so helpless. If only she could do something worthwhile, something that could help bring Will home. Mrs. Henderson didn't want her joining the search parties. What else could she do...

"Al...Al...Alice!"

She turned her head to her doorway, where Dustin was standing.

"Oh, hey."

"Dude, I called your name for like, ten minutes!" Dustin said. "What's wrong with you?"

"Just thinking," Alice admitted. "My mind wandered."

"Your mind always wanders," Dustin said. "That's why your teachers always write 'She needs to pay more attention in class' on your report cards."

"My mind's always in Wonderland I guess," Alice said, remembering something her adoptive dad used to say. "You aren't much better. Mr. Clarke always gets on you for reading comics in class."

"Only because I already know everything he's going to teach!" Dustin protested. He was sort of a self-proclaimed science genius and could probably skip a grade if he wasn't so bad in gym class. Besides, he could never abandon his party by skipping ahead.

"Did you need something?" Alice asked.

Dustin frowned.

"I'm worried about Will," he said.

Alice sighed.

"I am too."

"So," Dustin continued, "I'm going to go find him."

Alice scoffed.

"Yeah, no," she said, slamming her textbook shut. "That's not happening."

Dustin narrowed his eyes.

"I didn't tell you for you to stop me!" he said. "I told you so you'd cover for me with mom."

Alice stood from her desk.

"Dustin, no," she said. "I promised the Chief—"

"I don't give a shit what you promised!" Dustin said, his voice rising in pitch. "I'm going to go find Will! Lucas and Mike contacted me on my walkie-talkie. We're going to where the Chief found his bike, and we're going in the woods."

"Dustin, I'm not letting you go—"

"Son of a bitch, Al! You're not the boss of me—"

"Let me finish, asshole!" Alice snapped. "I'm not letting you go, alone."

She sat on the edge of her bed and tied her Converse quickly, while Dustin sputtered.

"What?! No!" he said. "You can't come. You aren't a part of our party—"

"Yeah, I am now," she said, inclining her chin as if she was challenging Dustin to say no again. "If you're charging into the woods like a moron, I'm going with you. We told mom we'd stay together, didn't we?"

"Geez, Al," Dustin huffed. "I wish you'd get off my back sometimes."

"Well, that's not gonna happen. You're stuck with me, til the end of the line."

She grabbed her jacket and looked around the room for a weapon of some kind.

She eyed a faded and nicked baseball bat.

"This'll work," Alice said. She slung her backpack over her shoulder. "Let's go."

They tiptoed through the house, avoiding creaky floorboards. Their mom was sitting in the living room with their cat Mews, fast asleep with Jeopardy on in the background.

When they got to their bikes in the carport, Dustin was still pouting.

"I still can't believe you're coming," he groaned. "The others won't like this."

"What channel are they on?" Alice asked.

"Channel six. Why?"

Alice grabbed the walkie from his backpack and switched it on. "Listen up, dorks. I'm coming on your rescue mission. No need to complain, or try to get me to leave, because I'm an honorary member of this party now. Got it?"

There was nothing but static.

Dustin sighed.

"Al, come on, just—"

"Alright, fine, you can come," Mike's voice crackled through the device.

"What?" Lucas' voice shrieked. "No, she can't! She's not in the party!"

"She should," Mike said. "She knows what she's doing."

"Since when?" Dustin said.

"Hey," Alice scowled. "I resent that. I'm this party's official chaperone, starting today. Let's go."

She mounted her bike and zipped down the driveway. Dustin shook his head in disbelief but mounted his own bike and followed as they headed to Maple Street.

The night sky boomed with thunder as they pedaled furiously. The siblings both glanced up.

"Rain?" Alice said, groaning. "Perfect."

"We're not turning back!" Dustin said, determined.

"I didn't say I wanted to turn back. I was just saying it sucks that it's going to rain."

They bickered back and forth all the way to the part of town where the Wheeler and Sinclair families lived. When Mike and Lucas saw them coming, they waved and turned out of the Wheeler's driveway without missing a beat.

The four of them rode in silence as the thunder got louder and lightning flashed in the sky. The air was thick with electricity. A foreboding feeling hovered over the group. Each of them were worried about finding Will.

None of them seemed to notice that as they biked past, each streetlight flickered.

They made it to Mirkwood, where a large piece of police tape blocked the entrance to the woods.

"This is it," Lucas said, dismounting his bike.

The thunder rumbled in the distance, and Dustin frowned.

"Hey, guys, you feel that?" he said nervously. "I think maybe we should go back."

"No!" Mike protested. "We're not going back."

"He's right," Alice said. "We came all this way. Might as well look around. Just stay close."

"Come on!" Mike said, heading towards the woods. "Stay on channel six. And don't do anything stupid."

He and Lucas ran into the woods, and Dustin hesitated.

Alice turned to her brother.

"You good?"

Dustin nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "Hey, guys, wait up. Wait up!"

He and Alice charged into the darkness.

Wet leaves covered the forest floor, making it slick and hard to walk. The four of them gripped their flashlights tightly, calling out, "Will! Will!" Their voices echoed through the trees. If Will was still in the woods, he would be able to hear them shouting.

"Will!" Alice shouted. "Will!"

"Byers!" Dustin said. "I've got your X-Men 134!"

"Will!" Mike screamed, his voice sounding desperate.

After an hour of shouting and searching, Dustin said, "I think we should turn back."

"Seriously?" Mike said, eyes narrowed. "If you wanna be babies, go home already!"

"I'm not a baby," Alice said angrily. "I'm 15!"

"We're just being realistic!" Dustin added, crossing his arms.

"No, you're just being big sissies!"

"Did you ever think Will went missing because he ran into something bad?" Dustin pointed out. "And we're going to the exact same spot where he was last seen? And we have no weapons or anything!"

"Well, except for this," Alice said. She waved her baseball bat around. "I haven't swung a bat since middle school."

"Shut up," Mike snapped, listening intently to the sounds around them.

The wind picked up, and the rain began pelting them all sideways.

"I'm just saying, does that seem smart to you?" Dustin added.

"Shut up, shut up!" Mike said desperately. "Did you guys hear that?"

A twig snapped. Alice, Lucas, Dustin, and Mike whipped around as lightning flashed. Their flashlight beams flickered, but there was no one there. Another twig snapped, and the four of them turned again. Standing before them was a young girl with a shaved head. She was wearing a Benny's Burgers shirt. She looked terrified.

The boys and Alice stared back at the girl, shocked.

"Holy shit," Alice murmured.

{Edited July 6, 2020; Reposted August 28, 2024}