CHAPTER FIVE
v. DISAPPEARING ACT

(     ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*      )

✧･ﾟ A STREAM OF GOLDEN LIGHT peeked through the thin opening of Stef's sage green curtains. The repetitive buzz of an alarm rang throughout the room, and Cassidy woke to Bambi lying across her neck. Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem, but Bambi was a pretty hefty cat, and the ball of fluff was making it pretty hard for her to breathe.

With a slight wheeze, Cassidy lifted Bambi from the spot under her chin and placed her on her lap. A few long hairs took to the air as Bambi flicked her tail. Cas then glanced over to her right. Stefanie was snoring away, wrapped in the thick blanket that she'd snatched in the middle of the night.

Because Stef was her ride and she was too tired to drive her home the night before, Cassidy slept over. Due to that, coupled with the fact that her friend was practically night blind, it was probably the safest option.

Cas gave a gentle scratch to the top of Bambi's head. The feline gave a contented purr from her spot on the teenager's lap. She then reached over and aggressively patted the blanket hog awake with her free hand. "It's time to get up."

Stef groggily groaned and threw her forearm over her eyes. "Dad, you're so annoying."

Cassidy raised her eyebrow, and her satin headscarf rubbed against the creases on her forehead. "I'm gonna let you rethink that sentence."

She threw what was left of the covers off her legs and got out of bed to crack her back. She winced when she noticed an ache in her side; Stef had a serious sleep kicking problem since they were kids. She padded over to the window and drew the curtains, bathing the east-facing room in a warm glow.

Stef pulled the blanket over her head as Cassidy threw a pillow at her; she screamed into the cushioned void with the energy of a demon being exorcised. Such a baby.

"You'd better be awake when I get out of the shower." Cassidy yawned and rubbed her aching side.

She left the room after disarming the alarm clock and stumbled tiredly into the connected bathroom.

Her eyes felt a bit strained; she'd ended up staying awake until three o'clock. For only one night of studying, the girls had made pretty good progress, and she was confident that Stef could make at least a D on her Spanish test.

She rubbed her sleepy eyes with a groan. Cassidy was aware that she needed to get her sleep schedule back on track; she'd been pushing it over the past week and hadn't been getting nearly enough hours of rest. She was functioning fine for now, but migraine attacks liked to creep up on her at times like this.

After gathering what she needed from the linen closet, Cassidy took a quick shower while she waited for Stef to fully wake up.

She rummaged around in the overnight bag that she kept in the bathroom for something to wear—Stef had an identical one at Cassidy's house—and dressed in a pair of black mid-rise baggy jeans with an old band T-shirt that her father had given her a few years ago. She then headed to her friend's bedroom to look for a jacket.

Stefanie rushed past Cas and into the bathroom, presumably realizing that she didn't have very long to get ready.

Cassidy opened the white folding doors and flipped through the articles of clothing that hung on Stef's green plastic hangers. The metal support pole squeaked as the plastic of the hangers slid across it. She abruptly stopped when a familiar piece of camel fabric caught her eye.

"I've been looking for this sweater everywhere. I thought I lost it."

Stef peeked around the corner to see what she was talking about. "Oh, yeah. I snatched it the last time I slept over at your place. It's legally mine now."

Cassidy rolled her eyes and rustled through the closet before waving one of her friend's many zip-up jackets. "Then, I'm snatching this."

"That's not how snatching works, Bub," Stef replied. She smeared some dark eyeshadow on the outer corner of her eye and headed back into her bathroom. "It's not a snatch if you tell me you're taking it. You're supposed to be a weaselly little bitch about it."

Cassidy just shrugged and pulled the warm fabric of the forest green sleeves over her arms just as the light grey telephone rang from atop Stefanie's dresser. Stef shouted for her to answer it as she got dressed through the now closed bathroom door.

Cas sped over to pick up the receiver, immediately growing tired of the repetitive ringing, and held it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Cassidy?" The teenager furrowed her eyebrows when she recognized Joyce Byers' voice over the telephone speaker. "Have you or Stefanie heard from Will today?"

"No. He's not with you?" Cassidy switched the receiver from one ear to the other. "We stopped by the Wheelers' last night around seven-ish, and he said he'd be home soon. I told him to call if he needed a ride, but he never did."

A stressed sigh sounded from the other end of the phone and Cas started to worry. "Is there something wrong, Ms. Byers?"

"No. No need to worry, Hon. He probably just headed to school early with his friends."

"Okay. I'm leaving for school really soon, but if you need anything, just call my dad. Alright?"

Joyce gave her a rushed goodbye after promising to call Grant if any issue should arise.

Minutes later, Stef came out of the bathroom in a short, royal purple dress that she'd layered over a pair of distressed pantyhose and slouchy leg warmers. She bent down by the bed to slip on a pair of black platform boots. "Who was on the phone?"

"Ms. Byers."

"Really? What did she want?"

"She asked if we've heard from Will today."

Stefanie finished lacing her shoes and stood up. She furrowed her eyebrows. "He probably went to school with Shithead-Mike and forgot to tell someone."

Cas sighed, "Yeah, you're probably right."

Cassidy brushed off her doubts and quizzed Stef on infinitives as they headed to the kitchen. She was itching for a sip of her usual morning coffee, but the Blanchards never had any. Stef's father, Nicolas, was a bit of a health nut when it came to caffeine and wouldn't allow coffee in the house because he claimed it was 'just as bad as smoking a cigarette.' The coffee ban was probably a good call, though, because the beverage made Stef act out of her mind every time she drank it.

She settled for a cup of ginger tea and heated some of the chocolate chip waffles that the Blanchards always kept in the freezer for her. Stef filled Bambi's bowl with kibble and pumpkin purée; the cat sat impatiently in the chair beside Cassidy's until her food and fresh water were lowered to the ground.

Mr. Blanchard trotted down the stairs in his work attire; he tightened his solid black tie as he made his way down and came to a stop at the bottom. His curly hair was tousled as if he'd just rolled out of bed and was running late. "I have to get going soon. If you want a ride, I'll drive you, but you've got to be ready to leave in ten minutes."

Cassidy shoved down her breakfast and the girls zipped around the house to get ready before Nicolas left. They made it to the car in record time and sat together in the back seats. Stef noisily munched on her dry, store brand Lucky Charms during the drive while Mr. Blanchard and Cassidy exchanged small talk about their current reads.

The teens thanked Stef's dad before heading inside, where they parted ways at the entrance. There wasn't much time to linger and talk. Stef was off to fill out an application at the tutoring center, and Cassidy wanted to borrow few books from the school library for an upcoming history project.

Cassidy passed Nancy and her friend, Barb, on the way to the library. Nancy had some dreamy grin on her face while Barb looked annoyed, which, these days, probably meant that she was talking about Steve. Something about the two of them together really got under the girl's skin; maybe it was because of how much of a jerk he'd been to her in middle school, or the fact that she knew Nancy Wheeler could do so much better. She realized that she'd been staring a bit too long when Nancy turned to look at her; they made eye contact for a fraction of a second before Cassidy averted her gaze and sped off. It was really none of her business anyway.

Her class periods went on routinely and uneventfully, but Cassidy couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Stef hadn't seen Jonathan in the dark room that morning, and he hadn't shown up at their usual table during lunch; she was beginning to grow concerned.

About half an hour into one of her last classes of the day, her father showed up at the door during their test. It wasn't so unusual for Grant Steele show up at school; he dropped off homemade lunches on occasion as a way to check up on his daughters during his shifts, but it was particularly odd because he didn't have to work today, yet there he stood in his deputy uniform.

Her French teacher silently motioned that she was allowed to leave the room. It wasn't a big deal; while most of her classmates were still scribbling away at their papers, she'd already turned in her test ten minutes before. She quickly gathered her things and headed out the door. Her father led her into the hallway and delivered some troubling news.

Her suspicions were worse than she'd thought. Will Byers never made it home last night.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Cassidy left class early with her dad, who drove her to the middle school right down the road. She would have wondered where Stef was, but she had a habit of skipping her last few periods to hang out with some of the stoners behind the school.

She stepped out of the back of Grant's department-issued police cruiser, leaving her belongings on the cracked padded leather of the back seats. Cassidy lifted her gaze upward as her father slammed the driver's side door; the overcast sky was a bleak shade of grey, and thick clouds covered the once-beaming sun. She pulled the dark green jacket that she'd taken from Stef closer around her midsection as a gust of cool wind blew at the lapels. She tucked her body closer to her dad as he draped a heavy arm over her shoulders.

Grant let out a deep sigh and stroked his daughter's hair before he began to walk. Cassidy's steps seemed to take a lot more effort than usual; her feet felt as if they were encased in cement as she and her father entered the brown brick building of the middle school.

The pair walked silently through an empty corridor and made the first left turn toward the main office suite. They stopped by the entrance.

Kennie sat outside the closed door atop a padded bench, and the teen could see the Chief of Police, Jim Hopper, through the tall window as he interviewed a group of boys. Dustin Henderson's signature baseball cap and Mike's haircut could be seen from behind in the window. Cassidy deduced that Lucas was probably to Mike's left, where the edge of the glass panel no longer extended.

With a peck on the temple and one last squeeze, Grant instructed his eldest daughter to sit next to his youngest. She assumed they were to be called in next.

Kennie's eyes were glued to the tiled floor when Cassidy plopped down beside her. She wished nothing more at that moment than to wrap Kennie in her arms, but the smallest Steele daughter had never been fond of being embraced, kissed, or held in any affectionate manner.

Cassidy gave her little sister a kind, gentle nudge with her shoulder. Kennie, with her gaze still elsewhere, nudged her back, and the sisters waited together in silence.

After a while, the Police Chief stood up and headed for the door, which he opened to let Dustin, Lucas, and Mike leave. They exited loudly, and Cassidy overheard the boys promise not to interfere with the police department's investigation. They rolled their eyes at Chief Hopper and stormed out into the walkway where Grant stood, waiting to escort each of them back to class. The three passed Cassidy and Kennie on their way out; the girls went unnoticed as the bench they resided on was tucked into the far corner of the office suite.

Cassidy studied the boys as they left, discouraged by the adults around them when they only wanted to help search for their missing friend.

Chief Hopper grabbed her attention by clearing his throat and ushered the girls into the room. They sat on the plaid sofa where the boys had just been while the older man pulled on the heavy door behind them. The thick wood of the door let out an audible thud as he slouched back down into his chair. Officer Callahan sat beside him with a small notepad.

They looked up at the Chief; his familiar face was somewhat comforting given the circumstances.

On late nights, when Cassidy wasn't old enough to be left alone by herself, Naomi would drop her off at the station, and she'd do her homework beside Jim at his desk until Grant finished patrolling. Kennie would accompany her on occasion, but would always end up falling asleep before their dad arrived. He never seemed to mind that he was essentially being used as a free babysitting service. It had been a little while since she'd paid him a visit.

The bags under Jim Hopper's eyes were prominent in the lighting of the office, and Cassidy wondered if he'd been getting much sleep lately.

Officer Callahan scribbled away while Jim began to question the girls. He wanted Cassidy to confirm what Joyce Byers told him about the night of Will's DnD campaign. Chief Hopper then continued the interview by asking if there were any places Will would have gone, as if the boy had decided to run away for the hell of it. Kennie gave him short, whispered answers as her sister zoned out. Cassidy snapped the elastic string of her beaded bracelet against the inside of her wrist with her index finger. Reality had finally begun to sink in.

Cassidy didn't know what to think or how to describe what she was feeling. Questions raced through her mind. Where could Will have gone? Did he get hurt on his way home? Was he kidnapped? Her fingers started to twitch as her bracelet snapped harder against her skin; the flesh of her wrist turned an irritated shade of red. She wondered where Jonathan had been all day and how Joyce was doing.

Cassidy was lost. For one of the few times in her life, a complex puzzle was presented to her and she was afraid to solve it.

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