─── ❪ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄: 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐉𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐘❫ 𖦹

"...Jonathan?" Killian groaned, his voice shaking with the pain of falling back and his muscles rigid with the horror creeping up on his back. He jumped forward, locking his fingers on the taller boy's skinny wrist, and tried to pull him forward with a few grunts. "Jonathan! I think I saw something, we have to-" His words came to a halt when he turned around to see if the tall figure was still following him down the path, but there was nothing there.
"Killian!" The Byers' boy's face became more concerned as he observed the tan-skinned boy's terrified expression, while staring forward with glazed eyes and stiff eyelids. "You saw something?"
"I... I think so, yes... but it's no longer here." He stuttered, his lungs panting for air, and the chilling sensation of being followed lingered in the air. Jonathan quickly swept a stray strand of brown hair out of his way, then placed his long fingers on Killian's tense shoulders, gently grasping the fabric covering it, with a twist of his wrist.
"Killian, you've got to tell me what you saw." Jonathan's vision lit up with a faint ray of hope as his black eyes focused on the shorter boy's deep brown iris, daring to hope that the thing that Killian, who wasn't quite himself, saw was his little brother, whom Jonathan would give anything to get back.
"I didn't really see it because it happened so quickly... I'm not sure if it was a person or an animal, but it was very tall..." He winced as he remembered the scene from a few seconds before, the creature that burned in his mind like a deep black hole burst up in his head, still feeling its presence, making his body shudder.
"But I'm not sure if it really was there or if it was just my imagination... I swear I've been imagining things since I've been there, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's just a hallucination. " As he continued talking, the boy's breath froze in his throat.
"Hey, Killian!" Jonathan yelled, lightly touching the boy's body. "Can you please calm down?" As he faced the boy who was still out of his mind, the Byers boy replied, his face serene but the lines around his eyes tensing up. "All right, let's go back. I think you should get some rest and then we can discuss this later, okay?" Killian nodded, his eyes hazy, as he followed Jonathan, whose hand was now dragging him by the wrist. Killian closed his eyes, laying his head against the foggy car window, his brain dizzy and stuffy from the emotions stacking up in his mind, as he sat in the grey car next to Jonathan.
"Here, take this." Jonathan murmured as he placed his denim jacket on the boy, who was hugging himself to stay warm. "Your sweater is... bloody." s As he turned to start the engine, he added, looking at Killian from the corner of his eyes.
"Oh, I've got a nosebleed earlier." Killian told Jonathan, biting his lower lip.
"When we get back, I'll give you some fresh clothes." With a cough escaping his mouth, the brunette added.
"I think I should return to the Wheelers... I promised Karen that I'd be back by ten o'clock."
"Well, it's already eleven o'clock, also, you're drunk, and I don't think Karen would like that..." a sneer curled out on the boy's lip as Killian palmed himself in the face, reality striking him.
"Fuck, you're right..." he murmured, his eyes narrowing. "Were you looking for your brother?" He spoke quietly, looking at the boy who was focusing on the road.
"I was looking for signs as to where he may be, but I couldn't find anything." With a knot in his throat, the boy said. "But I did hear a scream, and I was hoping it was him, that I might finally find him... but it turned out to be Carol Perkins'." He huffed, an irritated wrinkle across his mouth stiffening.
"You heard her scream?" The unpleasant sound of the girl's laughter still rang in Killian's ears as he chuckled.
"I'm guessing you were there too...? I didn't expect you to be friends with Steve Harrington." Jonathan said with a bitter tone.
"No way." Killian huffed, his eyes rolling. "I'm not friends with him, I don't even know him. I just went with Nancy." He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.
"Good then, Steve is a jerk." Jonathan chuckled, his gaze falling on the boy slumped in the seat next to him.
"Yeah, but... Nancy really likes him." Killian's brows wrinkled as he thought about the couple.
"She truly does..."

With the faint lights reflecting on the Byers' house, Killian opened the car door, and got out. A smile curled on his lips as he remembered the summer of 1975, when he would spend afternoons with Jonathan Byers in the inflatable pool Joyce had gotten from her workplace, and when they got tired, they would sit down in front of Will's tiny bed, and watch the toddler draw figures and shapes, which he would later give to his brother and friend, and Killian would stuff it into his pockets so that when he missed his friend, he could remember him. These were memories that Killian had no idea he had. And the thing with Killian Wright was that he was frequently confused. He didn't trust his brain since he never knew if they were true memories or if his brain was playing a trick on him and convincing him that they were.
"Let's get inside, you'll freeze to death." Killian's curly haired sprung up in surprise when the boy poked him in the side.
"Jeez, don't do that again, I'm very sensitive here." He shrieked, his arms curled over his side.
"Then don't doze off." He turned away from the boy and opened the front door, giggling.

He shut the door behind them as they entered the teen's room, and Jonathan put his belongings on the bed.
"Y'know..." Killian's words were unclear due to his drunkenness as he stood dazedly next to the door. "I used to love visiting this house. You were the only one who wanted to be my friend." As he caught the blue shirt Jonathan threw at him, he shook his head with a grin on his face.
"I used to love it when you'd come over, after all, you were my only friend too." As he placed a blanket on the floor next to the bed, the boy chuckled. "I was sad when you returned to Cincinnati, but I was also happy when you were able to see your mother again. You'd talk about her all the time." With a shrug of his shoulders, he said.
"Oh..." Killian sighed and slumped against the wall. "Thinking about how much I loved her makes me crazy..."
"Did something happen between the two of you?" says the narrator. Jonathan asked, a little nervously.
"Aside from her abandoning her family? Nothing really." He sarcastically shook his head, his brown furrowed with melancholy, as if he didn't understand why he felt the way he did.
"Shit, I'm sorry." Jonathan sighed as he considered how similar they were. "Do you remember Lonnie?"
"Uhh... your asshole father?" Killian replied, seemingly unfazed by the words he used.
"Yeah." With a scratch on his temple, the other boy laughed. "He also left us. I don't miss him, though. Without him, this family is so much better."
"Not everyone should be allowed to have kids." Killian muttered under his breath, his head resting on his arms. "Many parents don't deserve their children." With Jonathan coughing and Killian raising his head to stare at the boy whose face was illuminated by the moon's pale light, the quietness that followed this sentence was broken.
"You can sleep on the bed." Jonathan motioned in the direction of the furniture, and Killian nodded back, too tired and wasted to resist.

⌗ CHAPTER THREE ' – HOLLY JOLLY ᵎᵎ

Killian's eyes snapped awake when he heard a thud. His exhausted eyes scanned the empty room, kicking the blanket from his chilled body and put his blood-stained pants on. He dragged his feet to the kitchen and saw the boy, who was even more fatigued than he was when they went to sleep a few hours before, holding two mugs in his hands.
"Hey..." Jonathan looked up, flicking a brown lock out of his eyes, as Killian yawned.
"Good morning. I made some coffee." His voice was hoarse as he replied.
"Thank you." Killian responded, taking one of the boy's mugs and sipping the coffee while attempting to ignore the pulsating sensation in his skull. "Can you tell me what time it is?" He coughed, his throat feeling dry and groggy from waking up.
"7.15" Jonathan replied, his elevated eyes glancing at the tan boy's sharp jawline hidden by the white mug he was holding.
"Shit." Killian mumbled as he finished his coffee and wiped his lips on his forearm. "I'll be late for school. I'd better get going."
"I don't have my first class, but I can take you there." After putting the empty mugs in the sink, Jonathan turned around and offered.
"No, it's okay! I'll walk." He smiled as he shook his head. "I'll wash your shirt and give it back to you later." He sighed and gestured to the blue fabric.
"All right." Looking at the boy, Jonathan whispered as Killian slipped on his shoes and the strange-looking green sweater top over his blue shirt.
"Jonathan, Thank you for letting me stay here." Killian smiled as he walked out the door, closing it behind him.

⌗ CHAPTER THREE ' – HOLLY JOLLY ᵎᵎ

He intended to walk past Nancy to get to his first class, which he didn't even have any books for, but the girl called out his name as she closed her locker.
"Killian!" She took a step closer to him, a troubled expression on her face. "Where were you?"
"At Jonathan's house." He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.
"At Jonathan's house?" Her brows furrowed as she repeated after the boy. "You should've told me sooner! I was worried about you, I had to tell mom that you were staying with Natasha, and Rose had been staring at me strangely all morning!" Her hand tensely pointed as she began rambling.
"I'm sorry. I'll apologize to Karen as well." Was all he said as he turned around.
"Hey!" Nancy raised her voice. "Did you happen to see Barb?"
"No?" With a confused expression on his face, he asked. "Why?"
"Nothing." She grumbled and turned around to walk to her lesson, carrying her books in her hands.

Killian slumped down into a random seat in the back as soon as the bell rang, hoping that the teacher wouldn't notice that he didn't have anything with him.
"'Sup." A pink notebook slid across the desk in front of him, followed by a high-pitched voice.
"Hey, Nat," I said. He mumbled, his arms on his lap, his face resting on his shoulders.
"I heard from Rose that you stayed the night at my place." A smirk crept up her face as she tilted her head toward the boy. "We're you hiding in my closet?"
"Yeah, I was watching you all night, didn't expect you to snore so loud." He laughed and reached into Natasha's pencil case, snatching a pencil.
"Thank God it was just you, I was afraid the creepy neighbor broke in." She joined in the giggling, but she paused when she noticed the blood on his sweatshirt. "But, more importantly, where the hell were you? I didn't even see you at the assembly."
"You'll never guess." He chuckled as he stared at the blank piece of paper that Natasha had placed in front of him. "I was at Steve Harrington's." In a sardonic tone, he said.
"Wow," Natasha exclaimed, falling back dramatically and squeezing the pastel purple sweater she was wearing, her face deceived. "I can't believe you betrayed our friendship like this." Natasha said as she started to fake crying.
"I'm sorry." He said, trying to contain his laughing. "I don't think I can talk to you anymore, since I'm one of the cool kids now."
"You and Steve Harrington are an unexpected pairing."
"Well, we weren't expecting to see each other either, but he offered me a cigarette yesterday, so we're technically besties now, even if the only reason he's probably friendly to me is because Nancy is my cousin." He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.
"I'd like Steve Harrington to give me a cigarette, he's a hottie." Killian guffawed and rolled his eyes in response to Natasha's joke.
"Unfortunately, we're both taken."
"You're what now?" Killian laughed and smiled as he looked at Natasha.
"Okay, so I was waiting for Rose yesterday, and some guy a year above us came up to me and started flirting with me and shit, I think his name is Liam or something, and he wanted to hang out with me today, and I said okay." Natasha began chattering, excitedly biting down on her long nails.
"So you're taken because he asked you out on a date?"
"Technically, no, but the moment he came up to me I already planned our whole life ahead, so hopefully yes, I'll be taken soon." The girl's explanation made him giggle. "How did you ended up at Steve Harrington's?" The girl asked, resurrecting the subject.
"Long story short, Nancy told me we were going to the assembly, and then I found out we weren't." He gave a straightforward response.
"So you were just third wheeling there? It sounds a little depressing." She remarked while looking from the corner of her eyes at the boy, who was staring at a teacher he didn't even realize was there.
"It was more like fifth-wheeling. Tommy H. and his girlfriend was also there. They're so obnoxious that I was seriously considering drowning myself." He groaned, his eyes wide as he remembered the couple's ugly attitude.
"It must be pleasant to spend your final moments in a warm pool." She sighed and swallowed the laugh that was ready to escape her lips.
"It must be much better if it's your own heated pool." Killian faintly laughed, attempting to write down what the teacher was writing on the board with an ugly hand writing.

⌗ CHAPTER THREE ' – HOLLY JOLLY ᵎᵎ

Killian was walking next to Natasha after the school bell rang, and she was gushing about how excited she was about her approaching date.
"Hey, jerk." He turned around after receiving a strong punch on the shoulder and saw her sister, who had an irritated expression on her face and a few strands of hair hanging loose from her ponytail on top of her head.
"You look cute." Killian chuckled and raised his arms to poke his sister in the nose, only to have it smacked away by Rose's powerful hands.
"Fuck you." She mumbled and rolled her eyes. "I haven't seen you since yesterday, how was the party with Carol, Tommy and Steve?" Her smile trembled as she asked.
"Why did you tell her, Nat?" Trying not to roll his eyes, the boy scoffed.
"Why not? You don't have to keep your new friends hidden from me." Rose rolled her eyes.
"They are not my friends. I swear to God, their only personality trait is making fun of others for no fucking reason." He furrowed his brows in concern as he walked out of the school, catching a sight of Nancy standing close to Steve and his friends, a worried expression on her face, looking at something in her hand.
"Go ahead, I have to talk to Nancy about something, I'll catch up." He said as he walked over to the teenagers who were standing close to Jonathan's car.
"But hurry, Karen will be mad if you're late, and she said she wants to talk to you about something." He walked next to Nancy and looked around at the teens, turning his head away from the two girls who had already begun to walk away, his body tensing up at the sight Jonathan, who was gazing down at his feet with a guilty expression.
"What's going on, Nancy?" He asked the brunette girl warily, but his blood was boiling with rage at the sight of Steve Harrington possibly bullying Jonathan. Nancy, on the other hand, simply glanced up at her boyfriend, her hold on the piece of paper tightening as the blood beating in her ear became more audible.
"Killian! You've arrived just on time." Steve stepped forward, a strained smile on his face, holding a photograph in his hand, in front of the shorter boy. "Here!" Steve pushed the stack of papers onto Killian's chest, sending him tumbling backwards.
"What are you doing? What the hell is this?" He took the paper from Steve, intending to return it to Jonathan, but Steve's firm arm moved in front of his, preventing him from doing so.
"Take a look at it. Your friend Jonathan decided to be a creep, and he stalked us last night. He made some shots of you too." When he saw the hazy, printed images of himself from the previous night, the rage in his chest shifted to disappointment.
"What the fuck, why did you do this, Jonathan?" He asked, hoping for a response from the boy, but when he simply glanced away, the hope he held in his heart became thorns, picking the throbbing ticker over and over again.
"See, you can tell that he knows it was wrong, but..." With a snap of his tongue, Steve took a step closer to Jonathan. "Man, that's the thing about perverts... it's hardwired into 'em. You know, they just can't help themselves."
Steve shredded the images he was carrying into small bits with a flick of his hand, dropping them to the ground. "So..." he said as he reached inside the boy's backpack and pulled out a camera. "We'll just have to take away his toy."
"Steve..." Nancy muttered, attempting to get her boyfriend to stop, despite the fact that she was still hurting inside, that she had been captured in a vulnerable and intimate moment she didn't want anybody to know about.
"No, please, not the camera..." Jonathan looked up, panic flashing in the corner of his eyes, his trembling mouth opening slightly, but Tommy leapt in front of the boy, shoving his chest with his hands before he could reach the camera.
"No, no, wait, wait... Tommy, Tommy."Steve motioned his friend to stop, with his hand raised. "It's okay. Here you go man." The boy held out his hand to return the camera, but as Jonathan was about to take it away, Steve's grip on it loosened, the object crashing to the hard pavement, the lens shattering into shards, and a cobweb forming in the glass. "Come on, let's go, the game's about to start..." he said as he brushed past Nancy and walked toward the school, his friends trailing behind him. Still standing by Nancy, Killian's mouth trembled as he opened it to say something, but the disappointment felt like a thousand needles pricking the insides of his throat, so he closed his mouth and shook his head.
"I'm going home." He exhaled and turned away from the sight, a glance at Nancy in the corner of his eye as she leaned down and gathered up the paper fragments.

The fire of feelings that began in his heart and extended throughout his body, a fire that demolished the wall that had been protecting him from memories, that memory, that felt all too familiar to this situation, the memory he never wanted to happen to anyone at all. But it happened again, and this time it was similar. A wild teenage party with teenagers who only wanted to get wasted, hormones running high, and things being photographed that weren't supposed to be photographed. However, the outcome was different this time. A full year. He spent a year fighting to put out the fire that drove his rage and despair so that he wouldn't blow up, all for the sake of Rose. So she could forget, so she wouldn't have to go through the torment she had to go through because of a foolish mistake she made on a stupid night.
"Killian!" He was called by a high-pitched voice. Nancy was steadily walking toward him with frightened expression on her face, as he turned his head around.
"Nancy? Is everything okay?" He stopped to allow the girl to catch up to him.
"I need your help." With tension twisting in her fingers, she exhaled deeply, her long nails plucking at her sweater.
"Sure, what is it?" He asked, his heart pounding with dread as he watched the girl's worried expression.
"I need to check a few things at Steve's house... I..-" the girl exhaled deeply, her lips twitching. "I think Barb has vanished."
"...what?" The boy spoke in hushed tones, his face dropping.
"She wasn't in school today!"
"Maybe she got sick."
"No, Killian! I called her mother, and she didn't even go home yesterday." Her voice sank, and a small gasp escaped her lips. Killian took a nervous breath and nodded, biting the insides of his cheek with his teeth.
"All right, let's go."

They arrived in the place where they partied the night before after thirty minutes of walking.
"Oh my gosh..." cried the girl, her feet quickening as she approached Barb's car. "Her car is still here." She inspected the insides while leaning near to the window, her heart racing. "She's not inside..." Nancy turned to face her cousin, a worried expression on her face.
"Barb? Barb!" Nancy called out, hoping for a response from her best friend.

They stepped within the gate that was twice as big as Killian after walking to Steve Harrington's residence.
"Barb!" Nancy yelled out, scanning the area for any indication that her friend was still around. When Killian's ears picked up a faint sound coming from the woods, he was blowing hot air at his frigid hands.
"Nancy! I think I heard something." Without thinking, the girl turned her head in the direction where the boy was looking and approached the rustling sound. Killian was nervously holding his breath as he followed the girl, carefully treading on the crunchy leaves.
"Barb?" Nancy came to a halt once more to have a look around. The silence that followed was shattered by a rustling sound and the appearance of a dark figure in front of them for a brief moment. Nancy inhaled deeply, horrified, and immediately turning around to run, but her legs became hooked in a branch, and she fell down. Killian squatted down, hastily seizing the girl's wrist, sprinting out the gates, and pausing only when they were far away from the Harrington mansion. Killian put his palm on his knees to catch his breath, pausing for a few seconds because he wasn't used to running this quickly.
"What the hell was that?" Nancy sobbed, her breathing quickening and her hands clutching her hair at her temple in a panic.
"I don't know, I'm not sure..." Killian shook his head, looking up at the girl, tears streaming down her face. "But I think I saw it yesterday too..."
"What did you see?"
"This thing, or whatever it is!" He took a deep breath and rummaged through his curls. "I saw it for like a millisecond on my way home, but I became scared and ran."
"Did it follow you?" Her lips hung open as she asked.
"I don't think so." He shook his head.
"We need to tell mom about Barb."

⌗ CHAPTER THREE ' – HOLLY JOLLY ᵎᵎ

The teenagers' minds were scrambled with millions and millions of thoughts during the thirty-minute walk.
"Hey! You're home early! How was the game?" Karen asked as she mixed something, not looking up to after hearing the door shut. When Nancy silently approached her mom, Karen's face froze as she saw her daughter with crying eyes and her nephew, who appeared to be a tots mess with black rimmed eyes, messy hair, and filthy clothes.
"What happened to you two, Killian?" She asked as she pushed the bowl aside.
"It's Barb..." Nancy cried as threw her bag to the floor. "I think... something happened..." she sighed, her cheeks flushed with tears. "Something... terrible." Karen embraced her daughter in a tight hug, gently twirling her brown hair up and down.
"I'm going to call Barbara's parents." After Nancy cried even harder, she squeezed her back and murmured. "Killian!" She called out to the boy, who raised his eyes, expecting his aunt to be enraged, but instead received a kind smile. "We need to talk, alright? But first fix yourself up."

After taking a shower, changing into fresh clothes and taking care of the wounds that he got yesterday, he walked down to the living room, where Karen was sitting on the couch, a tense and depressing atmosphere surrounding her.
"Is everything okay with you, Karen?" He spoke softly, his gaze falling on the woman holding the letter.
"How about you take a seat?" Her voice, hoarse from stress, she patted the spot next to her. He slid next to Karen and sat down, his fingers clinging to his shoulders and his nails digging into his flesh. "Barb's parents and the cops just left, and they said they'll have to ask you a few questions tomorrow." Karen spoke first, her voice smooth and soothing, calming the teen boy's inner turmoil.
Killian nodded and pressed the flesh on his palm beneath the damaged area. Karen fought back tears as she said, "And... Will's body was discovered."
"...what?" His mouth was dry and his eyes were moist as he murmured, the shock coursing through his body.
She continued, "They found him in the quarry's lake." The boy shook his head, wanting to scream, and dug his skin up to turn it inside out, seeking to relieve the pain that was welling up inside him at the thought of Will Byers, the unfortunate boy who would never see his family and friends again. With his mouth trembling, he caught a glimpse of the envelope through the corner of his eyes. "This envelope..." says the speaker. Karen kept it in place. "We can talk about it later so you don't become too overwhelmed."
"It's fine." He sniffled, the tremendous emotions racing inside of him stinging his flesh and ripping old scars as well as creating new ones.
"Uh... Your father left two short notes in there," The brunette woman started by taking out two small papers and placing them in Killian's hand. "One is for how to get into a bank account he has set up for you and Rose, and the other is a contact information." Killian cocked his brows at the phone number, turning the paper to see if there was anything else on it, but it was just blank.
"Whose it?" He asked, looking at the woman who was smoothing her dress out, to keep her trembling hands calm.
"I called it this morning, and it was answered by a woman." Killian's heart had ceased beating. The hope he buried as a child reappeared, but the hope he saw at the end of the tunnel soon transformed into wrath, and a fire surrounded him.
"Is it Dolores?" His fingernails were nearly breaking into his skin as he questioned, agitated.
"No, honey," When Karen shook her head, the adolescent grew even more enraged for reasons he didn't understand. "She said her name is Charlotte and that she's a close friend of your father's." She gulped and cleared her throat.
"She said that she works in the foster care system. Your father called her a month ago and asked her that if she receives a call from me, she must ensure that you are placed in my custody." His internal clock had finally stopped counting back to his explosion, and tears began to stream down his cheeks.
"Why would he do that?" His stupid father who disappeared a lot, for weeks sometimes, and he would get drunk and say stupid things and Killian would hate him for it, but his stupid father would never give up on them. He'd never let go of the only thing that was still binding him to Dolores.
"She said she wasn't sure either, but she claimed he sounded almost like..." the word froze in Karen's throat, and the thought of his brother, whom she hadn't spoken to in a year, turned her stomach upside down. "Like, he was certain..."
"That he's going to die? Is that what you're trying to say?" As he stood up from the couch, he exclaimed. "He's completely insane! He used to say thing like this all the time! That he'll be kidnapped because he's being chased by the fucking government." The boy listed, recalling what his father would say to him when he was dazed out of his mind. "He even talked nonsense about commies taking him to fucking Russia, but he never said anything about him dying for sure!" He sniffled, an angry chuckle leaving his mouth.
"Try to calm down, honey, we'll figure this out!" Karen stood up, too depressed to care about Killian's cursing. She put her cold hands on the back of the boy's neck and pulled him into a hug, which Killian sank into, crying into his aunt's shoulders, feeling angry, safe and loved as he'd never felt before.