{Holly, Jolly, Part II}

They made it to the power lines and saw Eleven staring at a feral cat.

"El!" Mike called. "You okay?"

She nodded.

"Hop on," he said, gesturing to his bike. "We only have a few hours."

Eleven climbed on after him, and they were off.

🚲 🚲 🚲 

They walked along the railroad tracks in the woods, keeping their eyes peeled for Will. Mike pushed his bike and Eleven walked next to him. Dustin, Lucas, and Alice pulled their bikes along, listening to their conversation.

"Why did they hurt you?" she asked quietly, pointing to a scab on Mike's chin.

"What? Oh, that. Uh, I just fell at recess," Mike said, blushing.

"Mike?"

"Yeah?"

"Friends tell the truth."

Mike sighed.

"I was tripped by this mouth breather, Troy, okay?"

"Mouth breather?" Alice asked, the same time Eleven did.

"Yeah, you know, a dumb person. A knucklehead."

"Knucklehead?" Eleven asked.

"What he means to say is," Alice cut in, "Troy is a major asshole."

"Al!" Mike hissed. "Don't teach her bad words!"

"Oh, come on," Alice scoffed. "Like you guys don't say all the same stuff I do."

"I don't know why I didn't tell you," Mike said to Eleven, still glaring at Alice for being a bad influence. "Everyone at school knows. I just didn't want you to think I was such a wastoid, you know?"

"Mike?" El said softly.

"Yeah?"

"I understand."

Mike nodded and smiled softly.

"Oh. Okay, cool."

They continued through the forest, mostly walking in silence. Alice tried to ignore the thoughts creeping into her head, ranging from worrying about Will to wondering why she had been given up by her birth mom in the first place. She tried not to let Tommy and Carol's insults bother her, but they really did. They hurt a lot. And Nancy wasn't stopping them, either. At least Steve would tell them to stop. But he wasn't some hero or knight, he was King Steve, kind of a jerk.

The longer they walked, the darker it got. Alice was so distracted with her thinking, she didn't even realize how late it was getting. She was surprised when Eleven said, "Here."

They were standing in front of the Byers house.

"Yeah, this is where Will lives," Mike explained to Eleven.

"Hiding."

Mike frowned. "No, no, this is where he lives. He's missing from here. Understand?"

Lucas huffed.

"What are we doing here?" he said, scrunching his eyebrows.

"She said he's hiding here," Mike said, sounding curious.

"I swear," Alice said with a groan, "if we walked all the way out here for nothing—"

"That's exactly what we did!" Lucas said with a groan. "I told you she didn't know what the hell she was talking about!"

"Why did you bring us here?" Mike asked Eleven, desperate for a real answer.

"Mike, don't waste your time with her!" Lucas snapped.

"What do you want to do then?" Mike asked, exasperated.

"Call the cops, like we should have done yesterday."

"We are NOT calling the cops!" Mike said with a groan.

In the distance, sirens began to wail.

"Hey, guys?" Dustin said, trying to bring their attention to the sirens.

"What other choice do we have?" Lucas continued, ignoring Dustin.

"Guys!" Dustin said louder, as a fleet of cop cars flew past the Byers house.

That many cop cars was not a good sign.

"Oh, no," Alice said, stomach sinking. "Oh, shit."

"Come on!" Mike said, mounting his bike with Eleven. "I bet they found Will!"

Dustin and Lucas followed, but Alice knew what was happening.

"Guys, wait!" Alice shouted. "Don't follow them! I-I don't think they found Will—"

They all made it to Sattlers Quarry and hid behind a firetruck. Alice felt like she was going to throw up when she saw the state troopers fish a limp body out of the water.

"It's not Will, it can't be," Mike said, eyes watering.

"Everyone, look away," Alice demanded. The boys ignored her, and she ignored her own advice. She couldn't tear her eyes from the gruesome sight.

"It's Will," Dustin said quietly. "It's really Will."

Tears began to roll down his cheeks, and Alice enveloped him in a hug.

"Mike," Eleven said, but he was furious.

"'Mike'? 'Mike,' what?! You were supposed to help us find him ALIVE." Mike's voice cracked as his eyes watered, tears threatening to fall. "You said he was alive! Why did you lie to us?" He began to shout. "What's wrong with you? What is wrong with you?"

Eleven looked so defeated. She didn't know what to say.

"Mike," Alice said, but he mounted his bike and began to ride away.

"Mike, come on," Lucas said, wiping tears out of his eyes. "Don't do this, man."

"Mike, Mike!" Dustin said. "Where are you going?"

"Mike!" Alice shouted, trying to keep tears from falling. "Come back here!"

It was too late. He was gone.

"All right everyone," Alice said, taking in a shuddering breath. "Let's go home."

"Just stop!" Lucas said, wheeling on her. "Stop acting like you're in charge, stop acting like you're a part of our party, and stop acting like you even care about Will!"

"Lucas—"

"Screw you!" Lucas shouted. "Come on, Eleven. I'll give you a ride home. I live near Mike."

Eleven looked between Lucas and Alice, not sure what to do.

"Go on, El," Alice said quietly. "He'll take you home."

Eleven nodded, and sat behind Lucas on his bike. They rode off into the night, leaving the Henderson siblings alone.

"Are you going to yell at me, too?" Alice asked, wiping his tears away with her thumb.

Dustin shook his head. "No. I just want to go home."

"Let's go."

As they rode through Hawkins, Alice was reeling from what she had seen. How come someone so sweet, and so young, have something so horrible happen to them? It just didn't seem fair. Will deserved better than that.

When they made it home, Dustin threw his bike in the carport and stomped inside, tears rolling down his cheeks.

Alice felt sick. She followed him in and saw him push past their mom.

"Dusty! What's wrong?"

"It's Will," Alice said as Dustin stomped into his room and slammed the door. "He—he—"

The news station their mom had been watching announced the finding of Will's body, and Alice let out a sob.

"It's not fair!" Alice said, crying hard. "It's just so damn unfair!"

"Oh, sweetie!" Mrs. Henderson said, wrapping Alice in one of her bone-crushing hugs. This time, though, Alice didn't mind.

{Edited July 7, 2020; Reposted September 24, 2024}