CHAPTER FOUR
INTERROGATION

     Alex found herself sitting in the armchair beside Mike, Lucas, and Dustin, who had all squished onto the single tiny couch in the Principal's office. They had surrendered the chair to her instantly, each one of them afraid to be in such close proximity to Alex. She glared at the ground in front of her as the boys' voices overlapped in all scrambling to answer the questions that were presented before them. Alex, however, stayed silent. It was a state in which she had become acquainted with recently; she had come to know some of its many faces now, ever-changing, it always loomed somewhere in the distance, ready to swallow the buzzing world.

Finally, tired of the clamor from the boys, the man in khaki — Chief Jim Hopper — threw his hands up, silencing the overexcited boys. "Okay, okay, okay. One at a time, all right?"

There wasn't a lot to say about Jim Hopper; of course, almost everyone had heard the tragic backstory of the gruff police chief. He had once been married and with a daughter, a happy picture-perfect family living up in New York City. That was until his daughter had been diagnosed with cancer. Despite the chemotherapy, she didn't survive and had died sometime later. After a rough divorce, Hopper had turned to alcoholism to cope with his grief and moved to the small town of Hawkins, Indiana in an effort to escape the grim reality in which he lived. Except, in a town like Hawkins, there is no escaping from your past or from your future. News spreads like wildfire in a town like Hawkins, and a spark is only fanned into a flame as whispers travel from mouth to mouth. Privacy is something alien to Hawkins because, in a town so dull and boring, people depend on the misfortune and triumphs of others in order to survive in the mundane town.

Alex's silence had little to do with the presence of the police and what she knew about them, but more about why they were there, sitting across from them. She wasn't still didn't know why she had been taken along with Mike, Lucas, and Dustin; but she supposed it looped back around to the fear theory. They were desperate to find Will, who had disappeared, a concept that Alex was still trying to wrap her head around. They were so desperate to bring Hawkins back to normal, they would question anyone as long as it made the slightest bit of sense; after all, she had the weakest connection to Will out of the four children in the office, but they relied on the hope that even the smallest thing could help bring the boy home. The thought of there actually being such horrors in a town where so little happens would cause an uproar of panic, parents would keep their children under lock and key, people would eye others with suspicion, fingers would be pointed, and accusations carelessly made until the danger passed and Hawkins returned to its innocent, perfect state once more.

"You've been awfully quiet." She felt the eyes of the police chief boring into her as she stared at the spot in between her shoes, and looked up to meet his gaze. Alex only stared back, unchallenged and undaunted, daring him to hold her gaze until the chief finally broke that long stare and looked away.

Alex shrugged, returning her gaze to the ground, speckled with dirt and ghosts of footprints, avoiding the keen gazes of the three boys crammed like a can of sardines on the couch. "I've got nothing to say. I don't even know why I'm here. I don't get why everybody thinks we're such close friends, I don't know Will like they do, and I don't know how he gets home. Mike seems to have a pretty good idea of his route, though."

Hopper's stare lingered on her once more before he sighed and nodded. He pointed to Mike, who perked up in his seat. "You. You said he takes what?"

"Mirkwood," Mike answered.

"Mirkwood?" Hopper clarified. There was a crease between his eyebrows and Alex felt herself mimicking the chief's expression. She knew the town of Hawkins, almost every street name and every stop sign, and she knew that there wasn't a street labeled Mirkwood. Hopper leaned over to the deputy beside him, who was busily scribbling on a notepad. "Have you ever heard of Mirkwood?"

"I have not," the deputy replied. "Sounds made up to me."

"No, it's from Lord of the Rings," Lucas piped up.

"Well, The Hobbit," Dustin corrected.

"It doesn't matter!" Lucas snapped.

"He asked!" Dustin defended.

"He asthked!" Lucas mocked.

Alex continued to glare at the ground. "Is there really that big of a difference?"

Dustin stared at her, aghast, and threw his arms up in their air. "Is there that big of a diff—Harrington, you better be joking right now—"

"Shut up!" Mike hissed.

His patience worn thin by the four students assembled before him, Hopper leaned forward in his chair. "Hey, hey, hey. What did I just say? One at a damn time." He directed his attention back to Mike who involuntarily gulped at the man's suddenly commanding and withering glare. "You?"

"Mirkwood, it's a real road. It's just the name that's made up," Mike explained. "It's where Cornwallis and Kerely meet."

Hopper leaned back in his chair and turned once more to the deputy beside him. "Yeah, all right, I think I know that—"

"We can show you, if you want," Mike offered eagerly, desperate for any chance he could snag to help in the effort to find his best friend.

"I live right around there, I know the area by heart, I can help too," Alex added, perking up. She ignored the small look of annoyance that had flashed across Mike's face. It had only been for a sliver of a second, but Alex shot him her own look of exasperation; this was no time for petty grudges that had stemmed out of nowhere. Will Byers was missing. She made sure to return the gesture, though, showing Mike that she was unfazed by his clear display of disapproval.

"I said that I know it!" Hopper barked back.

Alex involuntarily flinched at the force in which he had snapped; for a long time, nobody had dared raise their voice around Alex Harrington for fear of being the target of her explosion of anger—at least, nobody but her father who had always found plenty of reasons to express disappointment—but Jim Hopper seemed unchallenged and calm in her presence. It unnerved Alex slightly. She had always been on top of her game, confident that nobody dared to interfere with her, but here Jim Hopper was, sitting directly across from her, almost as if he were silently challenging her. Alex Harrington and Jim Hopper were two sides of the same, battered and ruined coin; any conflict between them would surely end in ruins and smoke.

Mike who seemed to have had a silent conversation with himself and remained undaunted by Hopper's sudden hostility and leaned forward, imploringly. Determination shone in his eyes as he repeated firmly, "We can help look."

A chorus of agreements arose from Alex, Lucas, and Dustin, but Hopper merely shook his head. "No. After school, you are all to go home. Immediately. That means no biking around looking for your friend, no investigating, no-nonsense. This isn't some Lord of the Rings book."

"The Hobbit," Dustin corrected without missing a beat.

Multiple glares of irritation were shot in Dustin's direction. He only stared back, unbothered, and shrugged slightly. Lucas, fed up with Dustin's interjections, reached across Mike, who had been wedged between the two others, and punched Dustin in the arm. Dustin, of course, retaliated by reaching across Mike and returning the blow to Lucas's arm. Suddenly, Mike was caught between a childish squabble between the two boys, his arms crossed and an exasperated expression on his face as he slumped in his seat. Alex watched on in amusement, half of a smile starting to tug at her lips as she returned her gaze to the ground despite the dire situation at hand. She supposed this was what it was like to belong to a tight-knit group of friends, having people who were eager to ensure that you were safe, having people to get into petty arguments and reconciling only minutes later.

"Do I make myself clear?" Hopper asked in a low, almost hostile voice once more. Dustin and Lucas ceased in their squabble but did not answer; Mike stared ahead sullenly as if all the life had been sucked out of him; Alex glared harder at the ground in between her feet. They had all seemed to come to a silent agreement not to answer. When none of the four children answered, Hopper stood up from his chair, slowly and menacingly, towering over the four children in front of him, and repeated slowly, clearly, "Do I make myself ... clear?"

"Yes, sir," Mike and Dustin finally answered with slight nods of their heads.

"Yeah," Lucas affirmed.

Alex remained stubbornly silent; her arms were crossed tightly over her chest and her gaze was still downcast. She knew that refusal to answer the ever-impatient Chief was futile; he would make sure that he got a yes out of her, no matter how long it took, but it felt good to revel in her short-lived glory for a few moments. As expected, her lack of reply did not go unnoticed by Hopper who instantly focused his burning gaze on Alex. She once again looked up from the ground to meet his eyes, her gaze just as intense as his, if not more.

"Have I made myself clear enough for you, Harrington?" Hopper questioned.

For a few moments, Alex kept her mouth drawn in a tight line before she shrugged. "Fine. Yeah. Whatever. I hear you. Loud and clear."

"Good."

As soon as the four students had piled out of the office and back into the hallway, now filled with students as they were corralled back in the building from their lunch break, Alex stopped in her tracks and turned to Mike. She glared slightly at the students who brushed into her as they filtered around the two children in the middle of the hallway.

"Let me help."

"What?"

"Will. Let me help find him."

"You heard what the chief said," Mike retorted, gesturing back toward Principal Coleman's office, where Hopper and his deputy still remained.

Alex let out a scoff and crossed her arms. "Come on, do you really expect me to believe that you're going to listen to the chief? Will's in your party, he's your friend, of course, you're still going to look for him, and I want in. I know the place better than any of you. You need me."

"Why do you care so much?" Mike demanded,

Because he's my friend, too, Alex wanted to tell Mike, because he's one of the only people who actually cares.

But instead, what came out of her mouth was: "Listen, do you want the help or not, Wheeler?"

Mike opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, the bell rang throughout the school, urging the students to continue on their way to their respective classes. Alex didn't miss the almost relieved expression on Mike's face before he hastily jerked a thumb over his shoulder and merged with the sea of students before Alex could stop him. She stayed where she stood for a few moments, the sea of students still raging around her and watched as Mike disappeared around the corner.

Saved by the bell, Alex thought bitterly before she turned on her heel and pushed against the wave of students. She wasn't going to sit idly by when she knew that there was something that could be done. She owed Will at least this, he didn't have to care about her, he didn't have to worm his way into her life, but he had anyway. She was going to help find Will whether the others liked it or not.

author's note: mike and alex are.....yeah.  they'll get better i promise but lemon boy by cavetown is definitely their song.  also alex & dustin brotp except it's just alex getting references wrong and dustin correcting her.