CHAPTER 1
THE VANISHING OF WILL BYERS

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   Mondays were the worst for the Byers family. Most of the time after the weekend settles in, then suddenly everyone has to get up before the sun even rises, nobody is prepared. Friday, sure, everyone's on time and in a good mood. Mondays were always a nightmare. But for some reason, this monday wasn't so bad. But Laurel never understood that this morning was the calm before the storm.

Laurel left her room in a jean skirt, a yellow floral sweater and a barrette that matched. Even if they weren't the richest family on the block, her mother Joyce always insisted Laurel bought the things she most loved. Laurel finally took it upon herself to get a job to buy her own things.

Leaving her bedroom, she walked into the kitchen and watched Jonathan, her twin brother, fix up some scrambled eggs and toast. No one made eggs like Jonathan Byres; Laurel always seemed to burn everything she cooked. So it was always she who set the table, as she did in that moment.

"Where the hell are they?" Her mother Joyce questioned. It was pretty common for her mother to lose her keys, as both the teens knew what she had lost even though she didn't tell them.

"Jonathan, Laurel!" She shouted from the living room.

"Check the couch," they answered at the same time. Laurel smirked at him, Jonathan always got annoyed when she said the two of them had 'twin telepathy'.

"I did!" Joyce replied in a stressed tone. Laurel then began placing cutlery on the table, fixing her hair (as it always seemed to fall out without proper placement of the barrette).

A sound of jingling keys were heard, and Laurel knew she had found her keys. "Got them!" She exclaimed excitedly. Laurel snorted.

"Alright guys, I will see you tonight," Joyce said while rubbing Jonathan's shoulder and kissing Laurel's head. Laurel watched in anticipation as Jonathan poured some scrambled eggs onto their plates.

"See you later mom," Laurel replied, hearing her stomach grumble from the breakfast she was about to have.

"Where's Will?" Joyce suddenly questioned, but Laurel knew her younger brother was still probably sleeping.

"Oh, I didn't get him up yet, he's probably still sleeping," Jonathan explained, voicing Laurel's thoughts. Laurel knew he'd get in trouble for not waking him up.

Their mom let out an exasperated sigh. "Jonathan, you have to make sure he's up!"

"Mom, I'm making breakfast," he defended, "why aren't you blaming Laurel, she wasn't doing sh-"

"Hey! I was getting ready, it's your job," Laurel interrupted before smacking him lightly on the top of his head. Laurel leaned on the counter, watching their mother checking for Will.

"I told you this a thousand times..." Joyce mumbled before calling for Will.

The toast popped out of the toaster, and Jonathan finished putting them on the plates. The young girl finally sat down, ready to eat with her two siblings.

"He came home last night, right?" Joyce asked them. Wait, Will wasn't in his bed? Laurel furrowed her eyebrows in thought.

"He's not in his room?" Laurel asked, her voice muffled by the food that was already in her mouth.

"Did he come home or not?" She asked again. Laurel and Jonathan shared a look of worry.

"I-I don't know," he stuttered.

"You don't know?" Joyce asked again.

"No, I-I got home late, I was working." The problem was when Jonathan left work. Laurel left work with him. So when he took the late shift, Laurel waited to walk home with him.

"You were working?"

"E-Eric asked if I could cover, and I said yeah, I just thought we could use the extra cash."

"Jonathan we've talked about this!"

Laurel moved her head side to side from her brother and mother, watching the conversation unfold.

"You can't take shifts when I'm working!" Their mother continued.

"Mom, it's not a big deal, he was at the Wheelers all day," Jonathan explained, glancing at Laurel knowingly. Jonathan was the only one who knew about Laurel's little crush. Well, it wasn't a crush; Jonathan always called it that to annoy Laurel. She liked to use the word infatuation or interest.

"I'm sure he just stayed over," Laurel interrupted their conversation.

"I can't believe you two," their mother mumbled while walking to the phone on the wall.

"Hey, whenever he has a late shift I walk with him, it was Jonathan's fault," Laurel continued while stuffing her mouth with toast. He simply rolled his eyes.

Laurel ignored most of the conversation her mother was having with Nancy's mother, she was mostly interested in her food. One thing her mother said stood out to her though.

"Will didn't spend the night?"

That made Laurel's stomach churn. This was Hawkins though, the worst thing that's ever happened was that incident with the owl in that old lady's hair; he was probably already at school.

The twins took another worried glance at each other. Laurel wanted to believe Will was fine, but she wasn't sure if she was lying to herself or not.

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"Ok, seriously you should do something with it," Laurel stated loudly over the hallway chatter. They were finally at school and the twins always walked in together.

"What do you mean?" He asked, the two talking about his photography skills. Both enjoyed taking photos, it was also Laurel's hobby; the difference between them though was the fact that Jonathan was better at it, and to him it was more of a passion.

"I mean, you should take a job with photography after high school," Laurel continued, "like the newspaper, or journalism..."

Jonathan shrugged. "Maybe, I'm not sure yet though."

They walked up to Laurel's locker, which was her favourite place in the school. Why? Because Nancy Wheeler's locker was on the other side of the hallway. God, if she told Jonathan that he wouldn't live it down.

Laurel glanced behind her as her locker opened, watching Nancy and her friend Barbara talking. She let out a deep sigh, watching as a smile crept onto Nancy's face. She wondered what they were talking about; probably Steve Harrington. She loathed Steve Harrington. Maybe it was the fact that he had freakishly good looks, or that he'd been closer to Nancy than Laurel had ever been, or ever would.

Laurel's thoughts were interrupted by Jonathan waving his hand in front of her face. She shook her head, turning to Jonathan. He turned his gaze to where she was previously looking, and laughed quietly.

Laurel smacked his arm. "What was that laugh for?" She asked, biting her lip to stop a smile from stretching across her face.

He laughed again. "Of course you were looking at her, I didn't even have to look to guess," he answered. Laurel shook her head, taking another glance at Nancy. The problem was, this was a one-sided relationship. Was this even a relationship?

Nancy probably wouldn't even recognize her.

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Laurel was biking home from work, it was around 8 pm, and it began to rain. She shook her head in annoyance, hearing thunder above her. Biking faster, she saw her house in the distance. While she was at work, she had pinned up many of the posters Jonathan had made for Will, which read HAVE YOU SEEN ME?

It worried Laurel, but she knew Will couldn't have gone far. The sound of thunder was heard behind her again, and she quickly got off her bike while placing it beside the steps. Running up them and into the house, she pulled off her wet jacket and walked down the hall.

"I'm home!" Laurel yelled, and her mother replied with a hello. They seemed to be in the living room.

The phone on the wall suddenly rang, and her mother quickly asked for her to get it. Laurel hoped it was the police, since Jonathan had phoned her work today telling her about the police finding Will's bike in the forest.

Laurel ran to the yellow phone on the wall, and picked it up. "Hello?" Laurel asked, but nothing was heard. Her mother moved from the living room to the kitchen, beginning to clean up the dinner they probably had while Laurel was gone. All Laurel could hear from the other line was static, it was strange.

"Hello?" She asked again, and weird whooshing sounds were heard. "Who is this?" Laurel continued, not knowing what sound was happening on the other side. Suddenly, she could heard breathing.

It sounded like a child breathing.

Jonathan ran up to where Laurel was standing, wondering what was on the other line. All of Laurel's worries and anxieties for Will was built up from today, but in that moment it came crashing down.

"Will, Will!" Laurel screamed to the phone, her voice cracking at the end. All she wanted was her baby brother to be okay. Jonathan kept asking what was going on, but Laurel couldn't explain the sounds.

Strange, bubbly noises erupted from the speaker, and Laurel whimpered slightly. She was afraid for Will, and what was happening on the other line.

"What is this, who are you?" Laurel screamed into the speaker, the sound getting louder and louder.

The sound wasn't human like.

A flash of blue light struck the phone, the sound of thunder erupting outside the house. Laurel instantly screamed, the lightning shocking the phone in her hands, dropping the phone immediately. It hung on the cord, Laurel whimpering in pain while inspecting her hands. Her breathing became sporadic; she needed her inhaler.

Jonathan quickly picked the phone back up. "Hello? Who is this?" He asked into the speaker, but Laurel knew the other side had hung up, or the lightning had broken the line completely. Her shaking hands reached in her pocket as she pulled out her inhaler and took a deep breath while pushing the pump. Her breathing was still staggered, but it was better.

Laurel let out a muffled sob, breathing harshly with her hand clamped to her mouth in a confused, shock state.

"Laurel?" Jonathan asked while turning around, facing his distressed sister. Joyce ran from the kitchen after hearing the scream, watching her children.

Jonathan lightly held Laurel's arms. "Who was it?" He asked again.

"I-I think it was Will," she let out, tears rolling down her cheeks while taking another breath from the inhaler.

"What did he say?" He continued, trying to calm Laurel down from her irregular breathing.

"He just breathed," Laurel answered through choked sobs. Everything she built up came flooding out, all the worries and endless thoughts of what could have happened to Will

Jonathan quickly embraced Laurel, her head leaning on his shoulder. He rubbed her back, trying to regulate her breathing. Laurel closed her eyes, concentrating on the movement of her lungs.

Sometimes she hated him, but she was glad she had a brother like Jonathan.

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four days guys, so excited!!! brought this book back especially for the possibility for a plot for season 2 :)