NOVEMBER 6TH 1983 - HAWKINS INDIANA.

HAWKINS WAS A EERIE PLACE, or perhaps it was just strange. Maybe it was the idea of a town that always seemed ordinary, yet also extraordinary in terms of specific and odd things that usually happen.

For most people, they'd say some things bump into the night, or maybe it was just an eerie feeling that most often get when going into the woods, especially if one hitchhikes or, better yet, cycles to one's house. It isn't your typical town without creepy sounds or the fact that Hawkins' in general, is known for its strange occurrences.

In the Henderson home, from her view in the bedroom, it was nothing but pitch black outside. From her view where she sat at her desk, doing her math homework, it was just an ordinary night filled with humid air, and the sounds of birds and owls settling. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

Her mom peeked around the corner to her open door. "Reese? Is Dustin at the Wheeler's again?"

Reese turned her body around, seeing her mother's face, sighing as she nodded. "Yeah, you know he practically lives there."

Claudia Henderson humphed as she shook her head. "That boy. I swear, he hangs there more than his own house," She muttered before shaking her head, looking at her eldest. "Can you go get him?"

Reese glanced at her math homework, not really in the mood to do it, so she turned back and nodded. "Yeah, I'll go get him. Maybe I'll go ahead and wrangle the other boys too. I may be late," She explained, standing up as she walked to grab her hoodie and kissing her mother's cheek to grab her bicycle.

Reese cycled towards the Wheeler's, knowing her younger brother was currently idling, no doubt being his usual self with his three best friends. It was the usual thing they'd do. As she parked her bicycle outside in the concrete pavement, she could hear the voices of Mrs. Wheeler ( or, in her case, Karen ), and she waltzed in without knocking.

"Hey, Karen, is Dustin in the basement again?" Reese asked as she shook her hair, taking her hand and brushing out the loose curls that often tangled from the wind.

Karen Wheeler smiled fondly at the teen, chuckling. "Yeah. Boys!" She exclaimed, turning her head in the direction of the door.

Reese hummed, used to this scenario often. "May I?" She gestured to the doorway.

"By all means, hon," Karen smirked, nodding.

Reese smiled wider, her eyes sparkling as she turned in the direction, clasping her hands as she walked towards the door. Turning the knob, she began to ascend the steps, hearing the boys. She could tell they were undoubtedly playing a game, causing her to roll her eyes in exasperation. She noted the familiar game, idly having listened.

She sat on the steps of the stairs, watching them play. She couldn't count the number of times the boys often played this game, along with them trying to explain it. Honestly, it'd go in one ear and out the other. It was quite amusing to see all of them sitting around the table, with the dividers in between them. She could hear them talking, and then she could hear slams on the table, which oddly was loud.

Plus, she did not know what she just walked into.

"Boom. . . Boom. . ." Mike looked at the table, slamming his hands. "Boom! That didn't come from the troglodytes. No, that. . ." Mike looked at the divider in front of him. "That came from something else."

Mike slammed a plastic Demogorgon toy on the table, causing Reese to jump, swallowing as she eyed the well to her. It looked like a dragon with two deets and two arms, a tail, and minus the wings, a scaly-looking thing. She glanced at the boys, warily eyeing them as if not understanding remotely what was happening in that precise moment. But she knew one thing: she was hungry and wanted food.

"The demogorgon!" Mike exclaimed. The boys all groaned and sat back in their seats.

"Okaaay," Reese muttered from the steps.

"We're in deep shit," Dustin tossed his hand.

"Hey, language," Reese commented, making her entrance as she came around, smacking his head.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"Will, your action!" Mike exclaimed, ignoring Reese, who came into the basement.

Mike looked at them all, including Reese, with wide eyes. "I don't know!"

Lucas looked at Will. "Fireball him!"

"I have to roll a 13 or higher!"

"Too risky. Cast a protection spell," Dustin added in.

"I have a better idea." Reese raised her hand. "End it now?"

"No!" All four boys exclaimed, causing Reese to raise her hands in defense.

"Okay, then," she muttered, rolling her eyes. Boys.

"Don't be a pu,⏤" Lucas began, seeing Reese glare at him. "Wimp. Fireball him!"

Dustin looked at Lucas, shaking his head before turning to Will. "Cast protection!"

Mike slammed his hands down on the table. "The Demogorgon is tired of your silly human bickering!"

Reese looked at Mike, impressed. "I think me and the Demogorgon will get along just fine."

Mike ignored her, making Reese inch back and raise an eyebrow, staying silent.

"It stomps towards you," Mike told them. "Boom!"

"Fireball him!" Lucas exclaimed, gesturing to Mike.

Reese rolled her eyes. "You know what? I'm tired of hearing you four screaming at each other over this silly game," She reached forward, grabbed the dice, rolled it into her fingers, and blew on it before handing it to Will. "Roll it."

Will swallowed as he grabbed the dice from Reese and glanced at his friends. He nodded as he began to shake the dice, rolling it as it seemed to disappear. "Where did it go?!"

Reese rolled her eyes. "Okay, come on, Mrs. Wheeler is waiting on us, and quite frankly, I'm hungry, so beat it," she spoke, grabbing Dustin and Will's sleeves and dragging them towards the stairs.

"Where is it?!" Mike exclaimed, shoveling around chairs and tables.

"I don't know!" Lucas echoed.

Reese groaned loudly. "Thing 3 and 4, let's go!" She pointed towards the stairs. "There's a thing called 'look for it tomorrow.'"

Mike and Lucas glanced at each other before following up the stairs.

The dice landed on a 7 as it lay on the floor.

Reese looked at Dustin, who seemed to retreat to get a pizza box. Reese sighed. "Seriously, Dustin? Pizza?"

Dustin looked at his sister, shrugging as he walked past her. "So?"

Reese rolled her eyes, following the boys up the stairs and shutting the basement door. "Idiots,"

As they left the basement, Reese noted Dustin heading up the stairs, causing her to raise an eyebrow. "Little brother, what are you doing?"

Dustin paused on the steps, raising the pizza box when he turned slightly. "Going to see if Nancy wants the rest of this pizza."

Reese hummed, not fully believing him, besides, she knew the real reason. "Have fun trying."

Dustin proceeded up the stairs toward Nancy's room.

Reese waited a moment before hearing the door slam, causing her to laugh, shaking her head.

The time was only getting later as the boys were slowly exiting the Wheeler's house. She knew that they had curfews at 9, or at least to her, it was 10 pm, but she had always made sure the boys got home on time, regardless or not.

"Come on, you three, time to get you home!" she called, going to grab her bike, seeing Dustin already preparing to leave, though she nodded when he hadn't left yet. Despite their age difference and the idea that he was capable by himself, like the other two boys, Reese had always wanted to ensure they were perfectly intact. Babysitter or older sister, she was protective of them. "Dustin, you go ahead at our turn-off to go straight home. Tell Mom I'm gonna make sure Will and Lucas get home. Lucas, tell your parents and Erica I said hello."

The two boys nodded, and off they went.

However, Will had hung back a bit, causing Reese to frown slightly, though her eyes watched Lucas and Dustin trail off. "Will?"

Will glanced over to see Reese and Mike, who had stayed silent. "Why do you think the Demogorgon chose me in the campaign?"

Reese glanced at Mike before she looked at Will. "Maybe there's something about you they liked?" She questioned him before looking up to the stars. "Or maybe the Demogorgon is a sign of something,"

Will glanced at Reese warily. "Maybe."

Reese sighed, looking at Will as she came closer with her bike. "You know it's just a game, Will; it's not real," she assured him, knowing that's what he was afraid of.

Will sighed. "To us, it's real. We've been playing since the third grade."

Reese rolled her eyes. "Of course, you did and proceeded to drag my baby brother into this; you know, you two are bad as he is." She gave them a look.

Mike and Will laughed. They sat in silence for a moment. Reese looked at the skies. "Come on, Will, I'll lead you home."

"It was a seven," Will told Mike, causing Reese to flick her eyes.

Mike turned to Will. "Huh?"

"The roll, it was a seven."

Reese thought for a moment. From what she remembered from the game. 7 meant that the Demogorgon got a victim, or in this case: Will. She looked at them, her eyes calculating. "Remember what I said; it wasn't real."

Will nodded, turning to Will. "See you tomorrow!"

Reese smiled at Will before turning to Mike. "Goodnight, Mike, see you on the flip side," She reached and ruffled his hair, cackling as she wheeled off.

"Hey! Not the hair!" Mike whined loudly before he laughed at his babysitter.

Strolling through Hawkins wasn't as horrible as anyone believed, not with the street lights that filled their streets with little lights to get their way to their destination. And while to some, it was a soothing ride, to Reese, she knew the bantering had begun.

"Wanna race home?" Dustin asked Will and Lucas, smiling widely as he tightened his grip on his handlebars, glancing back at his sister, who had held back a little bit, allowing him and his friends some fun.

Reese chuckled fondly when they cheered. "Okay, I'll set the mark. Ready?"

Lucas, Will, and Dustin nodded, glancing at one another playfully, before readying for take off.

"Set,"

Reese smirked, chuckling as she watched them eager to race. "Go!"

They three wheeled off as fast as they could, making Reese laugh and catch up.

She followed behind the boys, seeing as Dustin and Lucas had turned off. As she followed Will, she hollered at her brother that she'd be home shortly.

After hearing an okay, she followed Will toward his home.

"You know, you don't have to follow me home, I can get there alone," Will spoke, letting his bicycle guide him with a steady speed.

Reese easily rode up beside him, humming. "I know, but I'm responsible for seeing you get there in one piece. Your mother can be quite scary at times, you know."

Will smiled, chuckling as she nodded. "True, she wouldn't even let me see an R-Rated movie,"

Reese glanced in disbelief. "Will, you're like. . ." She eyed him. "12."

Will laughed as he began to turn past the sign of Hawkins Laboratory, though he did slow to a stop, turning to Reese, who stopped beside him. "You can go ahead and go home. It's not far from here,"

Reese glanced around, something sinking into her gut she couldn't pinpoint just yet. She looked at the young boy in front of him. Young, sweet, and innocent ( when he isn't causing mischief with other boys ). She hated the idea of letting him go without her. Something about this neck of the woods always spooked her, always gave her a foreboding feeling, the same feeling she held at this moment. "You sure?"

Will saw the glances, causing him to glance around, shrugging. "It's not the first time I came home this way in the dark," he explained, giving her this look.

Reese was hesitant before she glanced around once more. "If you're sure, Will," she spoke slowly, biting her lip. "Promise me you'll call me when you get home. So I know you're safe?"

Will nodded. "I promise,"

Reese sighed. "Goodnight, Will. I'll see you next time Dustin drags you into his weird, insane plans," she cracked a joke.

"Goodnight Reese!" Will then pushed on, leaving Reese's feelings to grow even more foreboding.

Reese watched him go, a sinking feeling in her chest, though a movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention. But when she moved to look, it was simply a blur of a shadow; she couldn't quite tell what it was. All she knew it was dark, the sign in front of her reflecting the light from her bike into the dark woods. Though she could have sworn it looked almost dragon-like, or reptile-like. She couldn't be sure.

Then, she blinked, and it was gone. She shrugged herself, thinking it had been a fragment of her mind. She turned her bike around and began to go home.

Bang!

She jumped, causing her head to snap to the direction the loud sound came from. She bit her lip, shrugging as if she knew sometimes the Hawkins Lab had often done experiments with loud bangs and even explosions that were contained within the facility. Though, as she wheeled away from the direction of Will's home. That same sinking feeling still didn't disappear.

It grew even worse when Will never called her as he had promised.

──── ☆★☆ ────

The next morning left Reese feeling uneasy. She couldn't explain to her mother why she was rushing when eating her breakfast or ushering her little brother out the door for school. Maybe it was because of that feeling of foreboding or the concern that rose inside of her when Will never once called the night before. Maybe she was being a little odd; she had every right to when a kid you mostly babysat for never returns a phone call nor breaks a promise.

"Come on, Dustin, let's go!" Reese hollered from the kitchen, a piece of toast in her mouth as she watched her mother go to her recliner in the living room. Her mom often couldn't do much, rather knitting scarves or mittens that she and Dustin often got to keep warm. Even though Indiana was a warm place, it did get cold in the winter, which was merely weeks away.

"Alright, I'm coming, I'm coming." Dustin staggered in with his backpack on his shoulder. "Hold your horses in a twist,"

Reese turned and glared at him before grabbing her bag and going towards the garage.

Dustin stared after her in confusion, wondering what was with her. "Mom?" He questioned her.

Claudia sighed. "Get to school, Dusty."

Reese snickered at the nickname from the door. Truthfully, it had been her who said it first. She had only been about two and a half, maybe three, she couldn't quite pronounce Dustin, ergo shortened to Dusty instead, which drove him nuts.

Reese went out the door to the garage, pulling her bike from the rack and stuffing her bag into the basket. She wheeled it out towards the concrete driveway and turned to see Dustin closing the door behind him and grabbing his bike. "Have you heard from Will?" She questioned him, her voice soft, unlike the yelling from minutes prior.

Dustin hummed, frowning. "No? Why would I?" he asked, confused.

Reese stared ahead as they both trailed, though Reese followed toward the middle school. "Because he didn't call last night as he promised me."

Dustin frowned deeper but knew to wait from the look on her face.

As they approached the middle school, Reese knew she looked odd, as she was in high school, but she didn't care about being stared at. She had one reason, one reason only to be there.

As she saw the other two boys, this caused her frown to grow deeper. "Mike, Lucas, have you two seen Will yet?" she questioned them, tilting her head.

Mike turned to see Will's bike slot empty before turning to Reese. "I was about to ask that, but no. Lucas?"

Lucas shook his head. "No, I haven't seen him. Not since we left Mike's last night."

Reese sighed, shaking her head. She couldn't exactly stay and look for him. She looked at the three boys. "He never called me after I told him to, so if you see him, you know where to find me," she told them, before ruffling Dustin's hair, hearing his exclamation of 'hey!' causing her to laugh. "Have fun, little brother!" she called as she wheeled towards the high school, her feelings growing uneasy.

Arriving at the bike racks, Reese hooked hers at the very end, locking it tight, then turned to see Jonathan Byers standing by his car, his eyes firmly on the camera. Her thoughts trailed back to the night, shuddering as she saw something she probably shouldn't have. It was an eerie feeling she couldn't quite shake off.

The bell rang, snapping her out of her thoughts, before walking inside. Whatever she felt would have to wait. School was a priority.

Hawkins High was no different from any other school. In fact, to her, it seemed to be the worst. There were cliques. . .well, everywhere. You had the jocks, the party people, the stoners, everyone in different places in the school. And, of course, there are people like her, people like Jonathan Byers, which were referred to as the loners. Reese usually fit into this category, but people often saw her be this tough person who fiercely defended her baby brother and his crowd. Everyone also knew everyone in this small town. It was almost like suffocation was at its finest. In a way, it was all dumb to her, to be quite honest, but she didn't quite frankly give a damn.

"Reese!" The girl spun around to see Jonathan catching up with her.

"Oh, hey, Jonathan," she replied, pausing on her heels. "What's up?" She almost felt dumb for asking the question, assuming what he wanted to know from her.

"Did you pick Dustin up from Mike's house last night?"

She frowned, yet took a deep breath. "Uh, yeah, I did."

He nodded in response, gripping the strap of his knapsack. "And Will was there, too, right? When you got to the house, I mean."

"Yup, all four of them were there," she explained, tensing up a bit.

"So, did you see Will go home by chance?" Jonathan's voice became shaky. "He wasn't in his room this morning, and you know how paranoid my mom can get."

Reese bit her lip, seeing the concerned look on his face that caused a knot to form at the bottom of her stomach. Finally, she exhaled and tried to relax her body a bit. "Yeah, I saw him. I told him to call me when he got home, but I guess he forgot."

With some reluctance and disappointment, Jonathan nodded again. "Oh, okay."

"I'm sure Will's okay," Reese tried to assure him. "He'll turn up soon."

"Yeah, I hope so. Thanks, Reese." With that, he gave her a small wave before heading past her down the hall, keeping his head down.

The troubled feeling didn't go away as Reese made it to her first class. Tapping her pencil on the desk, she had difficulty concentrating on what was being written on the chalkboard, thinking about Will some more. There was a part of her that thought she might be worrying over nothing, that maybe Will ran away for some reason in the twelve hours she last saw him. Still, the idea of him just disappearing like that was a concern, something that replayed over and over in her head that only caused more anxiety to her.

And it was when the door opened to her second period and saw the principal staring right at her that the anxious feeling only got worse.

"Reese Henderson?" The principal asked after he had knocked on the classroom door.

Reese swallowed thickly, feeling all eyes on her. Annoyed, she turned to her peers. "Look at the board, you dimwits. There's nothing for you to see," She snarked, grabbing her bag and notebook as she stood up, and walked out to follow the principal. She didn't even care about the scolding looks her teacher gave her or the principal, either. She was just tired, concerned, exhausted, and, more importantly, already on the verge of pulling her hair from her skull with how much emotion she was feeling at that moment.

Inside, the principal's office took Reese back to elementary school, specifically to when she had been in fifth and Dustin in third. She could remember when she punched a boy in the nose, breaking it. Everyone had a laugh except her. The boy had picked fun of Dustin due to his disability he knew he couldn't control, and it often pissed her off. That day, she remembered sitting in a plain office, looking like a kid who held her broken hand to her chest and glaring at the wall, all while one arm was wrapped around Dustin, who sullenly sulked. She could remember every minute of the yelling from her mother and the sighs of defeat from the principal at the time.

This time, it felt. . . different. She couldn't quite explain when she saw the Chief, or she knew him as Hopper. She swallowed as she fiddled with her sweater, her eyes glancing every which direction, idly running in her mind a thousand beats per second. It was just torture, it felt, suffering in mere silence.

Hopper watched the young girl in front of her, he could see that she wasn't a fan of this office, and lord knows why. "I'm sorry to have pulled you out of your class, Reese," Hopper began softly. "I just have some questions about Will Byers."

Reese glanced up at him, a flicker of surprise on her face, but then her mind reflected on Jonathan's approach, and also, knowing Joyce, she could safely assume that something did happen to Will.

"Your brother mentioned to me that you had seen Will last," Hopper started, flipping his notes that he had previously written up from when he came from the middle school. "He also mentioned that you took Will and Lucas Sinclair home."

Reese's mind flashed to the night before, her hands stilling. She could never forget every detail. It was like she had a photographic memory, perhaps she did, though she couldn't forget the sight of a flicker of a shadow that seemed to flash across the reflection of her light or the way that there was a bang and thought nothing out of the ordinary. To her, it had been spooky in a way, like those horror films that she used to watch with her old babysitter, that had been a horror film fanatic. She swallowed thickly once again as her hands managed to move again, fiddling with her sweater.

"I did," Reese spoke softly, almost too quiet. She stared at nothing, dissociating as she was lost in her thoughts. "I always take the boys home, Lucas and Dustin. Our houses are on the same street, close to one another." She took a deep breath. "It was Will who lived farthest out. And I told him I'd follow him, you know, just to make sure he arrived safely." She licked her lips, her voice slightly changing. "He lives close by Hawkins Lab, so naturally, I didn't quite enjoy that route, as it always spooked me in a way that felt odd."

Hopper wrote notes down on his pad, nodding at every word. He didn't pressure her, nor did he pester her. He wanted to take his time, knowing she must've been rattled. He could remember Dustin's words from an hour prior about how his sister always took on heavy shoulders.

Reese looked out the window. "Despite being odd, I wanted Will to get home safely, so when we approached the turn-off, he told me that he could make it the rest of the way and that he'd call me when he made it home. But something told me to follow him." Her words began to crack, her lip quivering slightly as feelings of her guilt crept inside of her. "I–I had this gut feeling that something was going to happen, but I chose to ignore it."

Hopper glanced at his fellow officer, taking a tissue box, and extending it to Reese. "Your gut feeling?"

Reese smiled shakily, reaching for the tissues, though she just held them. "Yeah," she chuckled lightly. "When it comes to those four boys, you tend to follow your gut, knowing they like to cause chaos often."

From stories that Joyce would tell Hopper, he believed her.

"If I had listened..." Reese looked at Hopper. "After hesitating to let him go, I heard a bang, at first. . ." She paused, inhaling. "I didn't think of it initially, so I shrugged it off." She had more to say, but she couldn't quite tell Hopper, for she assumed that he would think she was crazy.

Hopper frowned, his eyes crinkling. "A bang?"

Reese nodded her head. "It sounded like something hit something, though it sounded like an explosion," she explained, furrowing her eyebrows. "It sounded echoey like it was close, yet, it seemed so far. Does this help?"

"What direction was the sound coming from?" Hopper's deputy asked, not quite believing her as Hopper did, though this story seemed unusual.

Reese frowned. "North, maybe?" She questioned in a statement, not quite sure of the direction. "Maybe east?" I–I don't–-"

Her hands shook, her head also trembling as she wanted to not remember it. It was bad enough as it was, but she knew Hopper needed this information. Besides, she might well get admitted into Hawkins Lab for her sanity.

"Okay, I think that's enough questioning," Her principal cut in, seeing as Reese struggled to keep her thoughts together.

Hopper agreed. "I agree." He fished out a card from his shirt pocket. "Call me if you have anything else."

Reese nodded, reaching to take the card, her eyes drawn to the number and his name. Jim Hopper, Chief of Hawkins Police. She closed her eyes before she abruptly stood. "May I return to class now?"

The principal nodded, handing her an excuse note. "Of course, or you can go on home. I can let your teachers know."

Reese nodded. "Yeah, I think I'll do that. Thank you." She gave a small twitch of a smile, before she left the room, eager to get away from those straying thoughts for just at least a while. However, her concern and worry for Will turned into guilt and realization that perhaps, with Hopper questioning, it meant that Will was officially missing.

Right after she had spoken to Hopper, she took the words of her principal and went home. For hours, she hid in her room, staring into nothing, questioning how she ended up losing a boy, a preteen boy under her watch. It made her curl up even more as she began to become paranoid that maybe she really had seen something, she couldn't quite decipher her feelings; it was all muddled together like a Celtic knot, waiting to be untangled.

She didn't know how long she had been in her bed. She was eating cereal out of a box while listening to Fleetwood Mac on her record player. It seemed like a good afternoon until she lost track of time, and her brother's voice calling through the house.

"Reese!" Dustin called, dropping his bag as he raced to his sister's room. Standing at the doorway, he saw a mess that she was in, taking notice of her hair in a scrunchie bun and eyes puffy from crying ( or maybe screaming, Dustin knew she liked to scream ), with the box of cereal in her hand.

"What, Dustin?" Reese spoke, her voice hoarse as she looked over at him, raising an eyebrow. "Either spill or leave me the hell alone."

Dustin opened his mouth, then closed it. He knew she must've had a bad day with Hopper. But right now, he needed her. "We need you to come with us to find Will."

Silence. A complete silence except for the soft tones of the song playing.

"You want me to do what?" Reese asked, slowly setting her cereal on her bed, and sitting up, turning a blank look to her brother. She glanced at her window. "You do know it is night time and we all have a curfew?" She questioned him. Of course, she knew there had been a curfew issued as her mother explained earlier, and also when she left the school, an announcement had been made about it. She looked at Dustin skeptical, debating in her mind.

"We need you to come with us to find Will, please?" Dustin got onto his knees, begging his sister. Mike had implicitly asked for Reese to come, as she was the eldest of the three. "We promise to listen to you, we swear it."

Reese gave him an intense gaze that made Dustin shiver. On one hand, she didn't want to crawl from her warm, cozy bed, however, she felt like she needed to do something, needed to get out and search. She sighed. "Fine, but first, pack a bag, and I need a walkie."

Dustin cheered but then opened his mouth.

"Don't bother lying, I know you got one, so gimme it, or I'm staying put." Reese rolled over and took her covers off. "And while you're on your way out, close my door, brat."

After gathering her supplies, including her very own walkie-talkie, she gave a grin to Dustin as they rode their bikes to meet up with the other two boys. As she approached Mirkwood ( when Reese shot him a confused expression at the mention of the name, Dustin explained to her that it was a reference to The Hobbit ), she stopped for a moment, getting her flashlight situated on her bike. She flicked her eyes to see Dustin impatiently tapping his foot, hearing the gravel crackle underneath two more bicycles heading their way.

She looked over at the two boys before glancing at the sky. "I hope you brought raincoats," she told them, grabbing hers from the bag that she had brought, which held snacks, an extra flashlight and raincoat, and a pair of socks for Will if they were to find them in this dark and wet weather. She placed the raincoat over her body, having braided her hair in her usual French braid. She sighed softly before turning to the three boys.

"I think maybe we should go back," Dustin spoke, looking around them, wiping his cheek.

"Dusty, you dragged me out of my bed for this," Reese pointed out annoyingly as the rain began to pour harder over them. She rolled her eyes. "Look, we are finding Will, okay? You can turn around and go home, but then you'd have to explain to Mom why you and I, when we all are supposed to be home, in bed, are out in this pouring rain. So no, all of us are not turning around, you got that?" Reese rose an eyebrow to her brother and the other boys.

Dustin sighed, shaking his head.

"Just stay close," Mike told them, nodding his head. "Come on."

"Wait," Reese called, before giving them a look. "Look, we need to set rules, do you three have a channel for us to communicate?"

Mike nodded. "Channel 6."

Reese nodded back in response. "Good, now stay close, and make sure that not one of us gets fallen behind. I'd hate to hear your parents scream at me, and I refuse to let you three disappear."

Mike, Lucas, and Dustin nodded their heads, with Mike leading them into the woods.

Reese hummed as she watched Mike, then Lucas follow into the woods. She stared into it for a moment, inhaling a shaky breath. She began to descend into the woods, trailing after them. "Come on, Dusty, let's go."

"Stop calling me that!"

"I will when you boys stop being idiots with your crazy ideas."

As they descended further into the woods, Reese began to feel the same feeling that she had the night before. It returned full force, hitting her like a semi-truck. She couldn't understand it as she could hear the echoes of Will's name being called out into the woods, including her own voice. She glanced around, her flashlight blinking with every bump they hit. She did not like this place, and it began to haunt her mind once more.

"Will!" Reese called out to the woods. "I swear if you're playing a joke, it's not funny, come on!" she added, hiding her true worry and concern when they couldn't find Will still. It began to become harder as they went deeper into the woods. She swallowed thickly.

"Guys, I think we should really turn back!" Dustin shouted over the downpour rain.

Reese rolled her eyes as she shone her flashlight. "Quit being a baby and toughen up," She scanned the flashlight around her. When the light hit something reflective, she froze slightly, blinking her eyes only to see the reflection gone. However, she could hear steps. "Guys!" she yelled through the rain.

She squinted her eyes as she took a few steps deeper into the woods, in front of the boys. She could hear something besides the rain and their puddled steps. It seemed almost like rustling in the bushes. "Will?!" she called out, her voice carrying through the woods. "Is that you?!"

However, it wasn't the footsteps of Will that came behind the bushes. It was a young girl, wearing a yellow oversized shirt, staring at them with wide and fearful eyes.

Reese swallowed hard as she got her brain into gear, and she began to pull the extra raincoat from her bag and placed it over the young girl. "It's okay, it's okay," She soothed the frightened girl, before glancing around them. "We need to leave, let's go to the Wheeler's. Mike, do you have a basement door from the outside?" Mike nodded his head. "Good, here's what we're gonna do. We're bringing this girl back to your house. It's the closest and safest and we are not going to tell our parents, yes?" She gave them a firm look as she held the girl close, trying to warm her up, despite her growing cold herself.

The boys nodded.

"Okay, you three go back to your bikes and head there, I'm gonna bring the girl with me," she explained, before turning to the girl. "Hi, I'm Reese. I'm not going to hurt you, okay?" She tried to console the young girl, guiding her to her bike. "You're gonna ride with me, okay? We're taking you to a safe place."

The young girl looked at Reese with wide eyes, before slowly nodding her head. This girl felt. . . safe to her. She couldn't explain why.

Reese looked at the young girl, shoving down a million questions that currently roamed her brain until it was the right time to ask them. She had to be patient with her. "Okay, I'm going to hop on, and what you going to do is hold onto my shoulders or my neck, and you're gonna place your feet on these bars okay?" Reese explained as she guided the girl on her bike, helping place her feet on the metal bars that stood in the middle of the back wheel. She turned slightly. "Are you okay?"

The young girl shakily nodded, adjusting her grip.

"Okay, it's gonna be a bumpy ride, so hold tight." Reese readied to push her pedal and set off towards the Wheeler home with important questions in her mind.

Who was this girl, where did she come from, and where the hell was Will?