twist of fate.
CHAPTER SIX

' That's the objective. Find the X. '

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     Cindy Newby hated playing games.

No really, Cindy hated playing board games. They always took too long to get to the end and playing with her dad meant that she was destined to lose. Even when Bob tried to let Cindy win, she would find some way to mess up and would still end up losing. She was a smart kid, but that intelligence just couldn't seem to translate into playing games of any kind.

Cindy always tried to find an excuse not to play if Bob suggested they break out one of his favourite brain teasers, and over the years he picked up on Cindy's distaste. But Cindy knew how much her dad loved to solve puzzles and every once in a while she would accept his offer to play — ultimately losing, but that was inevitable for her.

After Cindy had returned home from school after her weird study session with Steve, she noticed Bob had set all of his favourite games on the kitchen table. Cindy expected the worst, but Bob reassured her they weren't for them to play but rather for Will. Bob informed Cindy that Will was sick — that's as much as he knew — and so he planned to visit the Byers home the next day to try and cheer Will up a bit. Cindy thought it was a good idea and wanted to tag along to check in on the boy which is why the two Newbys were now pulling into the driveway of the Byers' home.

Bob stopped the car and both himself and Cindy climbed out. Cindy wasn't planning on staying long as she had arranged to meet Steve on Saturday's at the library in town so they could get some extra studying done. Cindy only wanted to stop by and see how Will was before making her way into town. She hadn't seen him since his episode and was worried about him. The strange looks and whispers from those around her definitely made her even more concerned for the boy.

The two Newbys spotted Joyce step out of the front door and close it behind her, clearly not wanting them to come inside.

"Surprise. I would've called, but you said not to clog up the line," Bob said cheerfully as he walked towards the entrance of the house, Cindy following close behind.

"You know, I... We're fine, we don't need anything," Joyce said, looking at Bob as she tried to find a nice way to ask the pair of them to leave.

"When I was sick as a kid, and I was sick all the time as a kid, nothing made me feel better than focusing on these brain teasers," Bob continued, despite Joyce's protest to them being there.

Joyce looked down at them. "Those are great. Ah..." she said, awkwardly.

"I could teach him how to play, right Cindy?" Bob said, looking back at his daughter who had been gazing at the windows of the house in bewilderment. She could barely see inside anymore as they appeared to be almost covered by sheets of paper. The whole time she had been stood there, she had been trying to figure out what was on the pages hanging from the panes.

     Were they blue squiggles?

Cindy's attention snapped back to her father and Joyce. "Hmm? Oh, right, yes. He's very good at them. I'm sure Will would love it," she said, trying to be enthusiastic for Bobs sake.

Joyce gave a sympathetic smile. "You know, he's sleeping," she said which finally made Bob give in.

"Okay," Bob said with a slightly disappointed sigh. He really was just trying to make Will feel better and show Joyce how much he cared for her and her family. Bob paused for a moment as an idea popped into his head. "We could wait with you?"

"Listen, it's just not a good time," Joyce replied. Cindy could tell it was hurting Joyce to have to push them away like this, especially Bob, but she was only doing it for their own well being. "But, um, you know what? I'll call you, okay? Thank you," she added as she gave Bob a kiss on the cheek and smiled over at Cindy who was still intrigued by the window situation.

     Was that crayon?

"Well, have him call me. They don't call me Bob the Brain for nothing," Bob joked as he turned around to head back towards the car.

"Tell Will I said hi," Cindy said, smiling at Joyce before turning away to follow her father. She would be lying if she said she wasn't happy to not be going inside for two reasons — one, she could now get a lift into town instead of walking all that way, and two, she hated playing games!

Just before Cindy could open the car door, Joyce shouted "Bob!" drawing their attention back on the woman who was now stood at her front door.

A smile crossed Bobs face. "That's my name."

Joyce beckoned them to follow her inside so Bob walked up to the door. Cindy debated just leaving, but curiosity got the better of her and she lightly jogged up to the house to follow Bob and Joyce into the quiet home.

     Steve wouldn't mind if she was a few minutes late, right?

     "No questions," Joyce stated as they entered which piqued Cindy's interest even more.

Once inside, Cindy's mouth dropped open. The entire house was covered in drawings from floor to ceiling. It was kind of incredible and yet it gave Cindy an uneasy feeling. She stood in the centre of the room, all of the furniture having been pushed out of the way to create more space for the many — yep, crayon — drawings that littered the place creating a long blue line that weaved its way around the house.

Will and his friend, Mike, who Cindy had briefly meet at the school when looking for Dustin's freaky pet, entered the room after hearing Bob and Cindy enter the house. "Woah," Cindy muttered to herself as she carefully took a few steps, being careful not to rip any of the pages.

"Huh," Bob said. It was the only thing he could seem to get out as he marvelled at what Cindy was also witnessing. Bob turned back to look at Will. Cindy was only now seeing how unwell Will actually looked. He was paler than usual and yet his cheeks were rosy, like he was burning up. She felt sorry for him. Being sick sucked.

     "You drew all these yourself?" Bob asked and Will nodded. "Why, exactly?"

     "I... I told you the rules. No questions, okay?" Joyce reminded him. "We just need you to help us figure out what..." Joyce continued to explain as she walked to the other side of the room, expecting Bob to follow but he was too mesmerised by what he was seeing to notice Joyce had left. "Bob? Bob? Over here."

     Bob snapped out of his trance and followed Joyce to the refrigerator where he watched as she began drawing a red 'X' on one cross section of the bizarre drawings. Cindy looked over at Will and placed a hand on his shoulder. He lifted his head to look at her.

     "Hey, you feeling okay?" she asked him. Now that she was really looking at Wills face she realised he didn't necessarily look sick, he looked... scared?

     Will quickly nodded his head, trying to convince Cindy that he was okay, but she knew better than that. He looked far from okay.

     "We need you to help us figure out where this is," Joyce said, pointing to the area she had marked.

     "That's the objective. Find the X," Mike added.

     "Yeah? What's at the X? Pirate treasure?" Bob asked, chuckling at his own joke, but no one else in the room appeared to find his comment humorous.

     "Bob, no questions," Joyce repeated once again. Bob slowly nodded his head before asking to speak to Joyce in private away from Cindy, Mike, Will. The two stepped back into the living room, leaving the others in the kitchen in silence. Cindy took it as an opportunity to give Will a present she had brought for him. She slipped her bag off of her shoulder and reached inside, pulling out a comic book.

     "I got you something," Cindy said and Will turned his attention to her. Cindy held up the comic book with a big smile on her face. She had picked it up a few days ago, specifically for Will. It had just been released and she figured as he hadn't been well, he wouldn't have had time to get it himself. Will and Cindy had often spoken about comic books and so Cindy knew this was one of the ones he would like. On any normal day, Will would have been ecstatic by the gift, but this wasn't a normal day and it took everything in him to even crack a sliver of a smile.

     Will took the comic book from Cindy's hands, his eyes scanning the shiny cover. "Thank you," was all he could muster and it broke Cindy's heart seeing him this way. She was sure this would cheer him up, but it didn't appear to be working. Whenever Cindy was sick as a child, Bob would always buy her a new book or a comic book to read while she was stuck in bed and it always made her feel better. Cindy thought the same trick might work on Will, but this situation didn't seem to call for new reading material. It was going to take a lot more than a comic book to make Will feel better.

     Cindy opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off as Bob entered the room.

     "Okay, I get it. That's Lake Jordan. And if that's Lake Jordan, then you can probably find... Yeah, that's uh, Sattlers quarry. And then if you just follow it naturally... it moves to... the Eno River. And there it is. That's the Eno, do you see it? Okay, so the lines aren't roads. But they act like roads. And they act like roads 'cause when you follow 'em, you'll see... they don't go over water. And that's the giveaway. That's the giveaway. Ha!" Bob told the group as he walked around the house pointing out parts of the drawing. Everyone, including Cindy, looked confused at what Bob was talking about and he noticed this. "Don't you get it? It's not a puzzle, it's a map. It's a map of Hawkins. Right, Will?"

Cindy watched as Joyce and Will's eyes widened at Bob's words — Will looking even more scared than he had before.

"Is this like a scavenger hunt or something then?" Cindy asked, not knowing why they had a giant map of Hawkins covering their house. Joyce, Will, and Mike all looked at each other for a moment.

"Yes, some... something like that," Joyce stuttered as she left the group to find a smaller version of a map of Hawkins. Cindy didn't exactly believe what Joyce had said, but the thought of having to solve this puzzle gave her a headache and she had somewhere she needed to be.

"Okay," Cindy replied, dragging out the vowel in her answer. "Well, as fun as this sounds, I have to be going."

"Don't you want to stay and figure it out?" Bob asked, an excited smile on his face. He really did love puzzles.

Cindy shook her head. "I think you can handle it on your own. And like you said, they don't call you Bob the brain for nothing." She smiled as she walked over to her father and wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a hug. "I'll see you tonight, Dad. Love you."

Bob seemed slightly disappointed, but didn't take it to heart. He knew his daughter had plans and didn't want to force her to be a part of something she didn't enjoy.

"Okay, honey," he said with a smile. "Don't stay out too late. I love you."

"Bye, guys," Cindy said to the others in the room who were too preoccupied with the map to notice the blonde leaving. She gave Will's shoulder a light squeeze before walking past and heading to the front door. "Good luck with your game."

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