— THE VANISHING OF WILL BYERS —

the lawn sat under the dark sky and the water of the small rotating sprinkler. meanwhile, four boys sat in the basement of the wheeler household and played D&D.

"something's coming. something hungry for blood." michael, or mike, wheeler narrated the storyline while his friends sat in anxious anticipation around the table. mike peeked over the book that he held between his two hands. "a shadow grows on the wall behind you, swallowing you in darkness." mike was a brilliant narrator and never failed to make the dungeons and dragons experience thrilling for the young boys.

"it's almost here," he continues. william, or will byers speaks up, leaning over the table. "what is it?" dustin henderson cuts in, "what if it's the demogorgan," causing will to sigh and lean back in his seat. "oh, jesus, were so screwed if it's the demogorgan." emphasizing his words by holding his hands out, lucas sinclair butts in, "it's not the demogorgan!" almost immediately, mike slams a game piece on the board as he speaks. "an army of troglodytes charge into the chamber!" the boys all sigh in relief with smiles on each of their faces. dustin questions, "troglodytes?" lucas throws up his right hand saying "i told ya," and dustin sends a grin his way immediately receiving one in return.

will grinned, his shoulder shaking in a laugh. mike's smile drops slowly as he reads on. "wait a minute. did you hear that? that- that sound." the laughter has died down by now as the boys nervously listen to the narration. mike continues. "boom... boom... boom!" he slams the table making the others flinch. "that didn't come from the troglodytes. no, that- that came from something else." if you were seated in this room there is no doubt that you would nearly be able to smell the nervousness. mike slams another game piece onto the board. "the demogorgan!" the others groan in irritation, leaning back into their seats and shaking their heads. "we're in deep shit," dustin whines. mike sits up higher, " will, your action!" they begin rambling over each other.

"i don't know!"

"fireball him!"

"i'd have to roll a 13 or higher!!"

"too risky. cast protection!"

"don't be a pussy, fireball him!"

"cast protection."

mike slams the table- again. "the demogorgan is tried of your silly human bickering! it stomps toward you. boom!"

"fireball him!"

"another stomp, boom!"

"cast protection!"

"he roars in anger!"

"fireball!!!"

will makes his decision. "and... fireball!" the die all roll off the table and god knows where on the floor. the boys rush to search for the dice in hope that the roll was at least a 13.

"oh shit!"
"where'd it go?"
"i don't know!"
"is it a thirteen?"
"i don't know!"
"where is it?"
"oh my god. oh my god. oh my god."

mike's mother yells over the chaos. "mike!" he runs to the stairs to answer. "mom, we're in the middle of a campaign!" he says, raising his hands as he spoke. "you mean the end? it's fifteen after," she says as she taps her watch as if to emphasize her words. the boys are still rambling over the dice and mike runs up the stairs to compromise with his mother. "mom, wait, just 20 more minutes!" she doesn't budge saying; "it's a school night, michael. i just put holly to bed. you can finish next weekend." mike, being as persistent as he is, continues to whine. "but that'll ruin the flow!"

"michael-"

"i'm serious mom. that campaign took two weeks to plan." he paused before continuing. "how was i supposed to know it was gonna take ten hours?" she looks at him in disbelief as she questions, "you've been playing for ten hours?" he stares for a few seconds then turns to his father. "dad, don't you think that 20 more-"

"i think you should listen to your mother." michael stares as his father continues to make no progress with the static on the tv. "dang, dumb piece of junk," he says smacking the tv. meanwhile downstairs, will finds the die. "it was a seven," he says holding out the die. "did mike see it?" will shook his head. "then it doesn't count." the boys gather their things and throw on their coats and run up the stairs to head home after rejecting the last slice of pizza, offered by dustin.

dustin, goes up to offer it to nancy who, while talking to her friend barb, closed the door in his face causing his bright smile to falter. he walked down the stairs and out the door to bid his friends goodbye. "there's something wrong with your sister," he sighs. mike looks his way, "what are you talking about?" still walking, dustin speaks. "she's got a stick up her butt," which earns a 'yeah' from lucas. "it's because she's been dating that douchebag, steve harrington."

"yeah she's turning into a real jerk." michael cuts in loudly saying; "she's always been a real jerk!" as they settle on their bikes."nuh-uh, she used to be cool. like that time she dressed up as an elf for our elder tree campaign."

"four years ago!"

"just sayin'!"

lucas manages to get in a "later" and he and dustin start to head off. only will stays behind momentarily. "it was a seven," he said softly. "huh?"

"the roll, it was a seven. the demogorgon, it got me." mike gives him an odd look, maybe shocked at will's honesty or even confused that he didn't take that chance to get a good roll. mike's eyes follow will as he settle onto his bike. will grunts slightly and says "see you tomorrow." and just as he rides off the lights above mike's driveway flickered causing him to look up and furrow his eyebrows, but nevertheless turn it off and walk back into his house. as the boys all ride home, they split up on the way. as lucas rides off the road toward his house he says "goodnight ladies," earning a "kiss your mom 'night for me" from dustin as he pulled in his driveway.

"race back to my place?"
"winner gets a comic."
"any comic?" "yeah."

will gets a head start and laughs as dustin speads after him, yelling. as dustin nears his house, well after will, will yells back to him without stopping, "i'll take your x-men 134," and headed home. he slowed down later on, riding in the dark. he looked down at his bike handles for a few and when he looked up, a dark tall silhouette appeared before him, causing him to ride off the road. after falling off his bike he slowly but surely got back up and ran through the trees toward his house. his breathing was heavy as he ran into his home and locked the door. his dog ran with him around the house barking loudly as he called for his mother and his brother.

"mom? jonathan? mom?" he checked every room and every bed but ended up finding no one home. he ran to the window and lifted the blinds to scan his surroundings, which may or may not have been a horrible idea as the silhouette was now outside his house. he sprinted to the phone, maybe to call 911, maybe to call his mom's job. whichever it was it didn't matter, the line seemed to be dead and the only sound he got out of the phone was static and the sound of a creatures high, terrifying shrieks. he stepped away from the wall, getting a view of the front door. the large figure was in front of his door, growling and will stared in shock as the chain lock slid on its own, leaving him vulnerable and unprotected. he dropped the phone leaving it hanging from the cord and bolted out the back door to the shed behind his home.

he slammed the shed door and ran straight for the shelves grabbing a shotgun off one and shakily picking up bullets. he stood for a bit aiming the gun at the door. it was only a matter of seconds before he heard growling directly above him. he turned around, lowering the gun, breathing shakily. the light above him brightened intensely and when it finally dimmed will byers was nowhere to be found.

————————————————————————

The girl made her way into a small store, her bangs hanging over her forehead, and the blood dried on her cheek and above her lip. if you didn't know any better you'd think she was attacked and left the hospital before being treated. she slowly made her way into the store and looked around at the people that filled the little building. she noticed that what they were wearing was very different from what she was wearing. she felt odd being shoeless in a clean but wrinkly hospital gown, yet she didn't notice the stares she had been getting since she walked in. she walked over to the clothing racks and stared. a man walked up to her with a concerned look, but tried not to sound judging as he began to speak to her.

"hi... young lady. can i help you with anything?" the girl whipped her head around, and the man immediately took pity, obviously not knowing where the blood had come from. he stuttered out a few syllables which utterly confused the girl making the conversation more awkward than it should have been. she looked at him, at the clothes and down at her own hospital-like gown. something must have finally clicked in the man's brain, because he jumped and let out an "oh! i see," causing the girl to flinch and straighten her posture, preparing to defend herself. the man finally got his words out. "if you don't mind me offering, i could get you an outfit for the time being."

this time the girl was completely clueless. not even one bit of an idea what he was talking about. "o-outfit?" her eyebrows raised and her lips parted before pursing as her eyes shifted. the man slowly made his way around her and picked out a rainbow sweater, a pair of faded blue cuffed jeans and a dark blue bomber jacket. she tilted her head and decided she liked what she saw and the ends of her mouth curved upward in such a subtle way that even she didn't notice she was smiling. he pushed the pile of clothes at her and she jumped for the hundredth time before she took the clothes in her arms. this man seemed to be very energetic as oppose to the dull men and women that trained and examined her her entire life.

the man the pointed to a sign that read "restroom" telling her that if she went into one of the stalls she could change into her new clothing. what she didn't know what that this man also worked in the store. it isn't often you meet staff willing to help a bloody barefoot child in a hospital gown. in fact, it's not often that you even see a bloody barefoot child in a hospital gown. she went into the first empty stall she found and slipped on the sweater, struggling at first, then the pants, then the jacket. she stepped out of the sky blue stall and looked in the mirror, kind of shocked at how different she looked. she sat the wrinkly gown onto the end of the sink. she turned the faucet and brought her face down to the sink as she cupped her hands under the water. she brought her head to her hands and rubbed the blood away from her face. she looked up at the mirror once again, feeling like a completely different person.

she made her way out of the bathroom without picking up the gown. she wanted to leave all parts of her past behind and she didn't want it slowing her down. so, still barefoot, she walked slowly toward the man at the front of the store who held out a pair of white sneakers and socks when he saw her coming. now, the shoes were a doozy for her. she tried putting them on her hands, she tried tying it to her legs, and finally, after being done assisting another costumer, the man told her to have a seat on one of he empty shelves. he pulled the two socks apart and handed them to her.

"these go on your feet first, then the shoes." he chuckled and watched her slowly slip on the socks, then the shoes. to him she seemed to have amnesia, a head injury which might explain some of the blood or some sort of post-procedure confusion. so although it was odd that she didn't know things like how to put on shoes, or tie them he tried his best to understand what he thought to be her situation. the girl stood from the shelf as a smile grew on her small face. her eyes were soft as she thanked the man gratefully, with genuine appreciation. "do you know how to get home?" the man had been oddly caring, which was surprising to the girl. 'papa' had always told her that the world was dark and terrifying. he let her believe that he was doing her a favour by keeping her locked in the laboratory. the girl pulled a small memory of the lab men talking, and used a phrase she remembered to respond to the man's query.

"i think i'll do just fine."

————————————————————————

dustin, mike and lucas ride as a group to hawkins middle school the next day. after stuffing their bikes into the bike rack mike speaks up in confusion. "that's weird. i don't see him," he says squinting as he scans his surroundings for none other than will byers. lucas doesn't seem to want to look on the negative side just yet. "i'm telling you, his mom's right. he probably just went to class early again," he figured, straightening his backpack on his shoulders as they started for the building. "yeah, he's always paranoid gursky's gonna give him another pop quiz," dustin added. what they didn't see was a short girl in a rainbow sweater wandering the lot of the school, having no idea where to go. she sees a group of boys, and seemed to be drawn to them. whether it be a sixth sense or that fact that one of them had an awesome hat, she had no clue, but she decided to go up to them as they did seem pretty harmless. she was about five feet away before more boys who carried themselves like there was no removing them from up off their high horses strolled toward the group. one of them spoke loudly, allowing her to hear exactly what he said.

"step right up ladies and gentlemen. step right up and get your tickets for the freak show." the three boys stared at the other two, clearly unamused as they continued to ridicule them pointlessy. "who do you think would win more money in a freak show? midnight, frogface, or toothless?" the boy hit each of the other boys as he named off their 'freak show titles'. his friend pondered before replying; "i'd go with toothless," clearly mocking his lisp. the boy with the awesome hat doesn't hesitate to retaliate verbally. "i told you a million times, my teeth are coming in. it's called cleidocranial dysplasia." he was very visibly annoyed, and the girl took note of this and decided that the two boys weren't very good people. she finally decided to slowly walk toward the group of boys in case anything happened. she stood behind the three boys, watching the other two with a cocked eyebrow, and prepared herself to use yet another word she'd learned from a lab worker.

one of the boys mocked the kid with the hat once more, "i thold you a million thimes," before laughing with his friend. the girl found them disgusting and would very much enjoy giving them a little shock but didn't want to risk exposing herself to any potential mad scientists in the area. "do the arm thing," one said. and when dustin stood, and did nothing, the other chimed in. "do it, freak!" the boy slipped off his coat and backpack and gave in. he pulled his arms outward, his shoulders touching, and his bones cracking. the two boys groaned before walking past the three in the girls direction. "oh god, it gets me every time!" before the two past the girl, she spoke finally. "bastard." was the only word to escape her mouth before the two boys' arms and necks began jolting slightly, only experiencing minor pain. the three boys looked at the girl whose right eye bled only a little along with her left nostril. they watched as she quickly wiped it on her sleeve and looked up at them. they were shocked by how gorgeous the girl was and wondered why she stood awkwardly in the school lot, and why she was totally unfazed by troy and james' sudden jittering. it slipped their minds as she began to walk their way slowly. and though she looked around like a lost puppy, they had no clue that she had absolutely no gathering of where she was or what do do there. now standing next to the boys, she spoke softly. "why are they... rude?" without taking note of the girls slow talking, mike answered with a tilt of his head. "they think they're better than us. they're the bullies in the school." the girl rotated her neck slightly and furrowed her eyebrows. she had absolutely no idea what a bully was. she did have an idea of a school because back in the lab 'papa' locked her in the room with the glowing man. he wore a shirt that said 'university' which of course she didn't know about. he talked to her about what school was and what they did and she became quite good friends with the man over time. still she questioned what a bully was and for fear of confusion asked what it was.

"a- a bully?" the boys looked at her, then back at each other. "yeah, a bully. have you never met one, or something?" lucas sounded confused which he was. he wasn't sure he had heard of anybody who hadn't encountered or been victim of a bully. and yet, to their surprise, the girl slowly shook her head. "well you're lucky," dustin said. "we have to deal with those sons of bitches every day." mike nodded. "maybe they'll leave you alone, but you have much less a chance now that you're talking to us," he said starting to walk toward the building with the others. "you're new right? the name's dustin. dustin henderson." he held out his had for her to take, and confusedly she did and he shook her hand up and down. she instinctively pulled away after less than three seconds, eyebrows raised. "i'm mike, which is, uh, short for michael." the slightly pale, dark eyed boy didn't look back her way as they walked. something about mike told her that he wasn't exactly friendly, which she unhappily took note of. "and i'm lucas. the brain of the group," the darker boy nodded to himself holding a smirk on his face as mike scoffed and dustin let out a laugh. "yeah right! aren't you the reason the demogorgon got to will?" at this, the girl's heart pounded and hear ears ached. "i was the one saying 'cast protection.'" lucas scoffed, then turned to the girl. "wait, you never told us your name." the girl kept her head faced down and muttered her 'name' in hopes it would mask her nervousness. finally, she mumbled lowly, glancing back at lucas for only a second. "ten," she said softly.

dustin put his hand on her shoulder making her look up from her sneakers and at him as he spoke. "well, nice to meet you then, tez."

--

"remember, finish chapter 12 and answer 12.3 on the difference between an experiment and other forms of science investigation. this will be on the test, which will cover chapters 10 through 12. it will be multiple choice... with an essay section..."

the girl, or tez as the boys now called her, had followed lucas around all day. she had no idea where she was going and figured it valid to be in all of his 'classes' since he had been nice to her. she got up with the boys as they stood before mr. clarke's desk in excitement. "so, did it come," mike asks. with a straight face and a glum voice mr. clarke replies, "sorry boys. i hate to be the bearer of bad news, but... it came!" tez follows the boys, or the party as they called themselves down the hall and into a small room. mike immediately took the only seat in the room as the rest of his friends crowded around the table that held the heathkit ham shack. "ain't she a beaut," mr. clarke said, contently watching them awe over the heathkit. "i bet you can talk to new york on this thing." tez was at a loss for words. she had seen adults work with odd machines like this so it was weird seeing someone her age be so interested. but in her defense, it was weird seeing someone her age in general.

"think bigger," mr. clarke held his arms out as if to act out his words with his hands. "california?"

"bigger."

"australia? to this mr. clarke nodded which excited the boys even more. "oh, man," lucas exclaims, a huge smile on his face. "when will sees this, he's totally gonna blow his shit." to this mr. clarke folded his arms. "lucas!" lucas looks back toward him sheepishly. "sorry," he says with a slightly apologetic smile, and clear excitement shining in his eyes. "hey, tez, get over here," dustin said as he was still raving over the ham shack with his friends. dustin pulled the headset away from mike and stuffed them over tez's head. "dustin what are you-" dustin cut him off before he could object while grabbing tez's shoulders and guiding her to the ham shack. "don't you think the newest member of the AV club and party should get first serve?" he turned to tez. "i mean- if- you don't have to- just it'd be pretty cool if you did-" he was cut off by a small laugh, coming surprisingly from tez. she smiled at him and turned toward the hamshack. she slowly leaned toward it and went to touch something. her finger was barely an inch away from the dial when the veins starting at her wrist began to glow. she hadn't experienced this before, so before pulling back she watched as a small bolt of electricity ran from her finger to the dial. suddenly static ran through the headset and the sounds began coming from the hamshack itself.

"mom? jonathan?"

it cut off when she pulled her hand away, dropped the headset to the table and wiped the bit of blood that ran down her cheek. she looked to the boys and backed to the corner of the room before they processed what had just happened. she noticed mr. clarke eye her and she looked up once she was sure the blood was gone. it was for the most part aside from a thin smudge that rested below her eyelid. "do you uh- need the nurse?" mr. clarke pointed to the door as the boys spoke through the hamshack in what were supposed to be australian accents. she shook her head and looked to the floor once again.

just before lucas got his turn on the hamshack a man in a suit walked in the door, with a sheriff behind him. the chief. "sorry to interrupt, but, uh, may i borrow michael, lucas and dustin?" he pointed at them as he spoke and their smiles faded quite quickly. tez peeked through the door at the man in the tan uniform. she stared a deep stare until he met her eyes causing her to straighten her posture. she'd seen men in those uniforms and didn't want to take any risks. as the boys began to leave the room mr clarke whispered to him, then the man signaled for her to come with him as well. she stood slowly and followed the boys out.

--

tez was sat next to dustin on the end of the long chair as they spoke over one another. it was difficult to understand a word they said, and to be completely honest, the man looked one hundred percent uninterested anyways. he began to grow clearly impatient and finally spoke up.

"okay, okay, okay. one at a time, alright." his voice was loud and the agitation thickly coated his loud words. "you. you said he takes what?" mike nodded as he was acknowledged and the others were silenced. "mirkwood." the mans face scrunched in confusion as he repeated the boys words. "mirkwood?" michael nodded once again before softly saying; "yeah." he then looked at the man next to him in the blue uniform. "have you ever heard of mirkwood?"

"i have not. that sounds made up to me." lucas chimed in calmly. "no, it's from lord of the rings." before giving the chief a chance to answer, dustin cuts in as well. "well, the hobbit."

"it doesn't matter."
"he asked!"
"he asked!"

mike and tez both sat quietly now, tez being confused and mike annoyed. "shut up, guys," he said finally. the cheif was also now getting fed up and leaned forward in his seat. "hey, hey, hey! what'd i just say? one at a damn time. you." mike sat up and spoke again. "mirkwood, it's a real road. it's just the name that's made up. it's where cornwallis and kerley meet." leaning back, the man says; "yeah, all right, i think i know that-"

"we can show you if you want."
"i said that i know it!"
"we can help look."
"yeah."
"no."

and again, the boys were babbling on over one another. the man sighed. "no. after school, you are all to go home. immediately. that means no biking around looking for your friends, no investigating, no nonsense. this isn't some lord of the rings book." inappropriately, dustin corrected him. "the hobbit," he said once again. "shut up!" lucas reached over mike, slapping his friend. eventually they're just hitting each other as mike and tez remain completely unamused. "do i make myself clear?" the boys calmed down, and when they didn't answer the man stood up and repeated himself.

"do i make myself... clear?"

"yes sir."

as the kids got up to leave, the man sat back down before stopping tez. "no, you, you stay." she looked at the boys and lucas raised his brow at the man before saying, "i might be able to get them to wait for you." you smiled and turned your back to him, facing the man. she slowly walked over to the chair and sat back down. he sighed and didn't say a word for a minute. maybe he was just composing himself or getting ready to yell at you. you prepared yourself for the worse as you sat in silence. "i'm the chief. jim hopper. your teacher tells me there's something up. uh he says first you show up out of nowhere, not even on his roster. then you get some- voices on the radio? look this all sounds a little bit out of normality to me, so how about," he leaned forward, "you explain."

the girl sat bewildered. she had exposed herself and they still had no idea what was going on. she closed her eyes, thinking of what to say next. the man, jim hopper, spoke before you could. "are you even registered into this school?" she still said nothing. she didn't know what to say. her mind was on a wild goose chase for words she didn't know, and explanations she didn't have. it took everything in her to say what she knew best. "not from here."

hopper sighed, maybe relieved she spoke or confused as to where she had moved from and why she wasn't registered. "where are you from? we really can't have you roaming around without permission. it's just... it's unethical." she didn't know what that meant but she didn't show it. "bad, bad place," she said with emotion that was only clear in her voice. she put on a very good mask and was never an open book. before he could question further she shook her head. "can i go?" hopper sighed and sat back in his seat once more as she rushed out of the room and nearly ran into the boys. "i have to go," she muttered rushing past them. "what, where?"

"find will."

---

tez had been walking around the woods, attempting at a plan. how she would get there and how she would get back out. how she would make sure he was safe permanently and how to make sure no one else was taken. she sat under a tree, sighing in defeat. she had never tried to open or close a gate so she didn't know how. nor did she believe her powers were strong enough to kill off the monster yet. maybe they would have been strong if she complied to the torture and the exhaustion. maybe she would have been trained enough. right now she didn't know what to do. without realizing she had even fallen asleep, she jolted up to the sound of yelling. she scrambled to her feet, her eyes darting back and forth to scan her surroundings. she made her way toward the sound, the cries overlapping, which confused her entirely. when she reached the sound she was surprised to see a large group of people calling for none other than will byers. large crowds such as this one made her uneasy but she swallowed her fear just this once. she ran over to a woman in a blue uniform near the front of the group. the small figure took her by surprise and she was confused for a second thinking it could just be will. but when she realized it wasn't she sighed and put her hand over her heart. tez walked backwards to remain face to face with the woman who asked "what are you doing out here kid? you need to go home."

hearing this, one of the men in the front of the group turned around. "dear god." she turned around to see the chief running his hand down his face. she opened her mouth and started to back away. "ah ah, nope. you're with me now. let's go." she sighed and made her way up next to him. a man she didn't know suddenly followed suit and began to make conversation. "he's a good student." hopper looked at him, slightly confused. "what?"

"will. he's a good student. great one, actually. i don't think we've met. scott clarke. teacher, hawkins middle. earth and biology." hopper, seemingly unamused, responds with, "i've always has a distaste for science." mr. clarke was unmoved and simply suggested he had a bad teacher. she tuned out their voices, and stopped in her tracks. she didn't have much of a choice being as though all she could hear was a high pitched frequency racking the depths of her brain. a voice rang through her head like a reverberated telephone ringing in an empty cave. a voice whispered so lightly that it seemed to soak through her mind and leak back out of her ears leaving her to piece together whatever she was left with. it was dark, so she couldn't do much to hide her glowing veins at this point as she dropped to her knees and covered her ears. the voice had whispered "find him," and the latter she couldn't piece. her veins lit up and seemed to glisten in the dark, alerting almost the entire search party. they crowded her not knowing exactly what to do, thinking maybe she was sick or diseased.

"hey, hey, everyone back away keep it moving. we've got a kid to find here." hopper kneeled down next to the girl. "kid, you alright?" she didn't respond. tears ran down her face and her skin almost sizzled. he was confused, utterly confused, but tried to help nonetheless. the girl started groaning. a pain began to spread through her entire body and her veins flickered, like a weak bulb. her groans turned into wails, which turned into shrieks. pain filled yells bounced off the trees and through his head almost weakening him. and as if he weren't already surprised enough, the longer she screamed, the brighter his flashlight got. soon he could see the streetlights rays from the edge of the woods and it almost resembled daylight. and if lightning is the icing on the cake that is rain, there was merely icing. shards of lighting shot out of the sky. all around her. except instead of retreating back to the sky, or disappearing like normal, they circled her, connecting to her skin. and what mortified hopper was that when her screams died down and she fell unconscious, she was completely unharmed minus a bloody nose.

then as if she'd been converted to a surveillance system, three point of views sat in the back of her mind, and all of them were running.