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 laying across her neck. Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem, but Bambi was a pretty chunky cat and the ball of fluff was making it pretty hard for her to breathe.

With a slight wheeze, Cassidy lifted Bambi from her spot under her chin and placed her on her lap, a few long hairs flying 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 cat giving a content purr from her spot on the teenagers 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, the pale pink fabric of her satin headscarf rubbing against the creases on her forehead. "I'm gonna let you rethink that sentence."

She threw what was left of the covers on her legs off and got out of the bed to crack her back. She winced when she noticed an ache in her side; Stef's 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 screamed into the blanket that she pulled over her head as Cassidy threw an extra pillow at her.

Cas yawned and rubbed her aching side, "You better be awake when I get out of the shower."

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

Cas' eyes felt a bit strained, she'd ended up staying awake until 3 am. 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.

After gathering some of her friend's extra wash cloths and towels, 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 closet 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 grey band T-shirt that her father had given her a few years ago. She then headed to her friend's closet to look for a jacket.

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

Cassidy opened the white folding doors and flipped through the 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," Stef replied, smearing some dark eyeshadow on the outer corner of her eye and heading back into her bathroom, "It's not a snatch if you tell me you're taking 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 the heard Joyce Byer's voice sound from the speaker. "Have you heard from Will at all?"

"No, he should've been home by now," Cas switched the receiver from one ear to the other, "I stopped by the Wheeler's last night around eight 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. 'Did something happen with Will?'

"Is there something wrong, Ms. Byers?"

"No. No need to worry, honey. 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?"

"I will, sweetie. Bye."

Minutes later, Stef came out of the bathroom in a short, dark green dress that she'd layered over a pair of tights and slouched white leg warmers. She bent bent down by the bed to slip on a pair of black platform shoes. "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 of her doubts and quizzed Stef on infinitives as they headed to the kitchen. Cas really wanted coffee but the Blanchard's never had any. Stefanie's dad, Nicolas, was a bit of a health nut and wouldn't allow any in the house because he said 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.

Cas 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.

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

Cassidy shoved down her breakfast and the girls zipped around the house in order 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 a bag of dry Lucky Charms during the ride.

The girls thanked Stefanie's dad and went inside, parting ways at the entrance.

Cas passed Nancy and her friend, Barb, on the way to class. Nancy had some dreamy grin on her face which probably meant that she was talking about Steve. Something about the two of them together really got under Cassidy's skin, maybe it was because of how much of a jerk he'd been to her in middle school — he and his friends liked to pick on the nerdy girl with asthma — or the fact that she knew Nancy 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 split second before Cas swiftly turned away and went to class as usual. It was really none of her business anyway.

Her class periods went on routinely and uneventfully but Cassidy couldn't shake of the feeling that something was wrong. Stefanie 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 dad showed up at the door during their test. It wasn't so unusual for Grant Steele show up at school, he liked to check up on his daughters from time to time during his shifts, but it was particularly odd because he didn't have to work today, yet here her father was in his deputy uniform.

Her French teacher silently motioned that it was alright for her 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 gathered her things and headed out the door. Her father lead 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 early from school with her dad who drove her to the the middle school right next door. She would have wondered where Stef was but she had a habit of skipping her last period class to hang out with some of the kids behind the school.

She stepped out 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 Stefanie closer around her midsection as a gust of cool wind blew at the lapels and tucked her body closer her dad as he draped a heavy arm over her shoulders.

Grant let out a deep sigh and stroked the top of Cassidy'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.

They walked silently through the empty corridor before turning toward the main office suite and stopping by the entrance.

Kennedy sat outside of the closed door on top of a padded bench and the teen could see the Chief of Police through the tall window sitting across from a group of boys. Dustin's signature baseball cap and Mike's haircut could be seen from behind in the window. Lucas was probably to Mike's left where the edge of the glass panel no longer extended.

Grant pecked Cassidy on the temple and instructed her to sit next to her sister; she assumed they were next to go in the room.

Kennedy leaned her head on Cas' shoulder. The two looked over to the room as the group's muffled shouts sounded through the waiting area.

The Chief stood up and headed for the door, opening it to let out the young boys. They rolled their eyes at him, promising not to interfere with the police department's investigation, and stormed out into the walkway where Grant stood waving them over. The three passed Cas and Kennie. They probably hadn't noticed them due to how far their bench was tucked into the back corner of the office suite.

Even though Mike Wheeler and Cassidy Steele didn't have the smoothest history, she could still tell that he was torn up about Will's disappearance. His slouched shoulders, clenched jaw, and pink tinged cheeks were all the evidence she'd needed.

Jim cleared his throat and ushered the girls inside of the room. They sat on the short 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 himself 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 wanted to see her dad, 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 would even show up. It had been a little while since she'd payed him a visit.

The bags under his eyes were prominent in the lighting of the office and Cas wondered if he'd been getting much sleep lately.

Callahan scribbled away while Jim began to question the girls. He asked if there were any places Will would have gone, as if the boy had simply decided to run away for the hell of it. Kennedy 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. Her mind raced.

Cassidy didn't know what to think. 'Where could Will have gone?' 'Did he get hurt on his way home?' 'Was he kidnapped?' Her thin fingers started to tremble as her bracelet snapped harder against her skin, the flesh of her wrist now an irritated shade of red. She wondered where Jonathan was and how he and Joyce were doing.

She felt helpless in the situation; for one of the scarce times in Cassidy's life, something just didn't make sense to her.

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