𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐁𝐘𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏 𝐓𝐑𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃. That morning, she woke up early because she would have to help Dustin get ready.

When the boy got up, she was already dressed, with her makeup on and hair done. She had already picked out his clothes and was waiting for him to come to her room so she could do his hair. Then, a light knock sounded on her door, and Dustin walked in with his tie in a complete mess and wild hair. "Oh, Dusty. Come sit." She waves him over, then sets him on the chair at her vanity."Do you seriously not know how to tie a tie?" 

He scoffs, making her laugh, "No dad to teach me, remember?" A small laugh comes from him, but she starts quietly while grabbing the products she uses on his hair. "Why'd you go so quiet? Don't be sorry for me now." 

She laughs while fixing his curls. "Looking spiffy, Dusty." He smiles at her, showing his missing front teeth, and she hugs him tightly, then kisses his head. "I still have no idea how you haven't made a girl swoon already."

He rolls his eyes before getting off the chair. She kneels to his height and ties his tie quickly with a small smile, "There you go, now you look like a prince." 

Dustin scoffs at her comment, "Are you capable of anything other than compliments?"

"Yes, but I would rather not bruise your ego this young. Be thankful, Honey." She walks out of her room with him following right behind her. "Come on; Mom is probably already in the car." She says, grabbing their jackets when she notices their mother isn't in the living room like she was earlier.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Laurie will forever thank God that she didn't have to go to many funerals growing up. The event alone is sad, a life is gone, but the people at the event make it even worse. Breakdowns, old stories, and silence. Silence might be the worst part. The crying can be solved by going to another room, and stories lighten up everything just a tiny bit, but silence...it follows. That's what makes Will's funeral so tense: the silence.

The actual event takes place at the graveyard, with fantastic weather. Lucas, Mike, and Dustin would usually ride their bikes outside like normal children. But not today; they're mourning the passing of Will.

Laurie and Nancy are side by side as the pastor reads through his prepared eulogy. The eldest Henderson notices that none of the boys seem upset, but more amused. Joyce isn't crying but almost pissed, while Jonathan and Lonnie look to be in their sad little worlds. "Just wait until we tell Will that Jennifer Hayes was crying at his funeral." Karen shushes him as Laurie sends a warning look to the boy.

The funeral ends, and everyone gives their condolences to the family. Laurie gives her quickly to Lonnie, then sends a small smile to Joyce as Nancy pulls her away from the group. "Ah! Nance, what the hell?" She is quickly silenced as they walk to a more private area. 

"Look, I have a lot to catch you up on, but I think Jonathan and I have a clue as to what happened to Barb and Will."

"But Will –"

"Will isn't dead, and neither is Barb. Some type of monster took them, and we are trying to figure out what took them and where it could be." A picture is taken out of Nancy's purse and given to Laurie. 

"Look at the edge of the photo. Do you know what that thing is?" Her eyes look over the photo closely. It's from the party at Steve's, and the only person in the picture is Barb, who is sitting on the diving board. 

"What the hell is that?" She asks when she sees the monster in the image.

"We don't know," Nancy says simply. The look in her eyes is almost pleading. She was begging for her friend to know something. Praying for her help to help figure out what happened to Barb and Will—praying for her just to be there.

"What can I do to help?"

"Jonathan and I are still trying to figure out what exactly is going on. He's waiting for us over not too far from here." The girls join hands as they quickly set off to find Jonathan. When they do, the three teens duck down behind a headstone.

Jonathan pulls out a small map with three Xs on them, "This is where we know for sure it's been, right?" he asks while both girls are looking at the small paper. 

"So, that's..." Nancy points to the X at the top of what looks like a small triangle.

"Steve's house. The woods where they found Will's bike and my house," he says, pointing to the bottom two Xs. 

"It's staying close to where Will was," Laurie says, observing the clue in front of her. 

"Yeah. Exactly." Jonathan agrees, "I mean, it's all within a mile or something. So whatever this thing is, it's not traveling far."

"Do you think there is a reason for that? Like, after it took Will, it can only go so far or something? It's bound to that area?" Laurie looks at Jonathan and Nancy, who both shrug. 

"You want to go out there," Nancy says, looking at the boy next to her, and he gives her a slight nod. 

"We might not find anything." Laurie can't help but notice a new tension between the two of them. It's weird.

"I found something. And if we do see it...then what?" Nancy looks at both of her friends, who have suddenly turned silent. Only the calm wind of the November air and the lingering people are the noises that can be heard. 

"We kill it," Jonathan says suddenly, and Laurie looks at him, shocked. 

"How do you plan to do that, Byers?"

The next thing she knows, she and Nancy are standing guard while he is picking at the glove compartment of his dad's car. "What are you doing?" Nancy's voice is concerned and curious. 

"Just give me a second." Both girls look at each other, then look back at the Byers boy when they hear him pull something out.

"Jonathan, what the hell?" She asks, looking at him, surprised as Nancy looks over. 

"Are you serious?" Nancy questions as he grabs a box of ammunition and stuffs it in his jacket pocket. 

"What? Do you want to find this thing and take another photo? Yell at it?" He closes the glove box and then closes the car door. 

"This is a terrible idea." Laurie nods, agreeing with her best friend as both girls cross their arms.

"Yeah, well, it's the best we've got." She huffs at his words. 

"I know that we already told the police, and they didn't believe us and probably think we are some kind of wack-a-doos. Maybe we could tell our parents. Joyce seems to be on board, and maybe your mom would be too Nance." Laurie says.

"My mom has been through enough. You can go and tell Karen Wheeler that there is some weird monster thing that took my brother. I can guarantee you it will be the last time she approves of you being around Nancy." Jonathan says, his words stinging with truth.

"Laur, he's right about my mom. You know how strict she is with things, but she's also right because your mom needs to know, Jonathan." He looks frustrated at both girls as his jaw clenches. 

"I will tell her...when the thing is dead." Both girls sigh as the wind picks up. The cool chill makes Laurie shiver as she walks away with Nancy to find their families.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Laurie looks over the photos on her wall with a slight smile. The light floral scent in her room brings comfort as she waits for Nancy. The smell is mixed with the cold chill of wind from her open window.

A small smile makes its way onto her face as she finds an old photo of her and Nancy at the now-abandoned karate studio. It was the start of her journey into the fighting style, which got her to a black belt before it shut down last fall. Nancy didn't stick with it; she was more of a supporter.

She freezes when she hears feet land on her floor. Someone crawled through her window, and usually, she wouldn't care, but there was some monster killing people, and she was on high guard. A roundhouse kick lands perfectly when a warm hand touches her shoulder before she squeals, seeing who she hurt, "Oh, my god! Steve! What the hell are you doing here?" She scolds, walking over to the boy groaning in pain on her floor. 

"I was coming to check on you, fuck, that hurt." He holds his abdomen while rolling on the floor. 

"You should have knocked! Why were you sneaking in through my window anyway? My mom is at the reception with Dustin. Plus, she likes you better than the rest of my friends anyway, except for Nancy."

A pained laugh comes from the floor as he slowly picks himself up. "I should have known better than to sneak up on you, especially after the broken arm last time." He jokes, and her jaw drops.

"Once again, all on you. You shouldn't have tried to play attack me or whatever bullshit excuse you came up with after I broke your arm."

"You're just jumpy, is all. Using your kick-ass karate mojo to beat up innocent bystanders." 

She rolls her eyes, "Or idiotic jerks trying to play a prank." He smirks as she walks by him to sit on her bed. She lays on her bed upside down and looks up at the Harrington boy, whose cocky expression has turned into amusement. "May I ask what the pleasure of your being here is?" He sits on the floor in front of her, and they are at eye level.

"How are you doing, Laur? I know you cared deeply about Will, and that this must be hard for you. I mean, you also have to comfort your brother and his friends, but how are you doing?" It was moments like these that she genuinely appreciated. Steve Harrington may be the king of Hawkins High, with a cocky attitude and a reputation for acting like a jerk.

But, that's the Steve that the public knows, and that's what he wants them to think because the true Steve Harrington is saved for special people. The kind, airheaded, and loving Steve Harrington is only held for Laurie Henderson and Nancy Wheeler.

That's why she doesn't hold back tears when she starts to feel the familiar stinging. "It's been hard. God, Dustin has been so heartbroken, and he's just not himself. I can't imagine how Joyce is feeling, and everything is just-" Her voice breaks as the sinking feeling of knowing that Will Byers is gone hits again. 

Steve quickly pulls her into his arms as she cries into his shoulder. An arm is wrapped around her middle to keep her close while he plays with her hair. One of the things he's picked up over the years is ways to comfort her. Those small things like that make Laurie truly understand how lucky she is to be someone Steve loves and trusts. Even if it isn't the way she dreamed of.

"It's going to be okay, Laurie. He's safe now." He whispers into her hair as she wraps her arms around his neck. The only sounds coming from her room are the soft hum of her fan and her sobs. That's how they stay. They stay like that for what seems like forever, but truly is only about five minutes.

Her head turns towards her window when she hears a honk outside. "That's Nance. I gotta go." 

Steve grabs her wrist as she starts to pull back and wipes her tears. "Where are you two going? Maybe I can come, and we can make it like a hangout or something. Go see a movie; All the Right Moves is still playing." His wording is kind of awkward, which is different from how he usually talks about hanging out with Nancy. 

"It's a girl thing, Harrington. Not everything can be about you and your amazing hair." She boops his nose with a small, sad smile, and his cheeks get red, "Plus, I don't want it to turn into me third wheeling."

"You wouldn't be a third wheel." He stands up, and their height difference is now very apparent. 

She looks up at him as he towers over her, "Yeah, I would. You and Nancy can't stay off each other. Now, go. I don't want her to get suspicious." He rolls his eyes before turning to her window. 

"Don't get into trouble. I'd rather not have to bail you out, so your mom doesn't find out. Hopper hates me enough." A small laugh slips from her lips as he slips out of her window, which makes him feel better. 

"Whatever you say, sasquatch." He rolls his eyes before jumping to the ground since her window isn't too far.

She watches to ensure he leaves okay, and Nancy honks her horn again. Laurie heads out before something comes to mind. She's going off to try and fight some kind of monster, and she can't go unarmed. 

Her feet quickly go to the garage, which catches Nancy's eye. "What are you doing? Jonathan is waiting on us!" She says, frustrated, as she gets out of her car. As Nancy walks close, she notices the current state of her best friend, "Laur, are you okay? You look like you've had a crying fest. Did the funeral just really hit you?" 

Her best friend looks her over as she tries to smile, "I'm fine, still trying to process everything. Plus, we can't fight this thing unarmed. Jonathan has a gun, and I have something else that we can use. It's more close range, but it's better than nothing."

"Actually, I have the gun, and Jonathan has a bat." Laurie looks at her best friend, then shakes her head. 

"Okay, I don't care; just be safe with it." She squats down to the bottom shelf in the garage and then pulls out a box. 

"Your daggers? When did you go through your whole Peter Pan phase?" Nancy questions in shock that the girl still has them. 

"Yep, I was pretty good at these. Almost went off with the circus." The girls laugh as she grabs the holder her mom got her when she finally accepted that her daughter likes to throw knives. Carefully putting them in place, she smiles and looks over at Nancy. "Let's go save Will and Barb."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Pat Benatar plays softly on the radio as Nancy drives down the backroads of Hawkins. The girls are meeting with Jonathan to find this monster and hopefully kill it before it kills them. "So, why was Steve coming out of your room?" Laurie looks over at Nancy quickly when the question comes out. 

"Oh, uh." She starts to stutter as the Wheeler girl laughs. 

"Look, you don't have to worry about me being a jealous girlfriend. I'm not even sure if Steve and I are truly dating. You two have been friends for years. I was only wondering out of curiosity,"

A wave of relief flooded through her body when Nancy told her that. "He came over to see how I was doing." Both girls have shy grins on their faces.  Laurie looks out the window as the song on the radio changes, but she couldn't care less about it. "He comforted me. He knows how to help someone in need. You're very lucky, Nance." She looks at the girl with a small smile as they pull into some woods.

Laurie quickly finds Jonathan, who is leaning against his car. "I always thought you and Steve would get together." Nancy so casually says as if it's nothing. 

Quickly, Laurie looked at her, shocked, "Really?" Her voice is breathless from the shock of the comment. 

"Yeah, you two have always been close, and I swear that our Freshman year, he could not keep his eyes off you. I figured he never had the guts to ask you out; who knows." She looks over at the girl, who is gazing at the floor, seemingly lost in her own world. "Laur?" She calls out quietly, bringing the girl back into reality from her daydream. 

"Sorry, I was just...we should get going. It's going to get dark soon." Both girls get out of the car, and the three teens head off into the woods.

The three stay silent for a good amount of the walk until Nancy decides to strike up a conversation with Jonathan. Laurie tunes them out as she keeps a close eye on the woods surrounding them, hopeful they will find Will or Barb alive. 

She looks behind her to see them arguing and clears her throat, "Excuse me, I know that this has been a rough couple of days for us all, but now is not a good time to turn on each other. It would be best for all three of us to look instead of two or one. Now, whatever your little argument is about, whether it be about the whole party photo thing or some entirely new thing, I do not know nor care because I tuned y'all out. So put it aside and get to stepping; this is for Will and Barb. Not us." Jonathan and Nancy look at her, not saying a word for a moment before Jonathan starts to walk again and deeper into the woods. Nancy soon follows as they all continue their journey as the sun begins to set.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Night soon falls as the three teens bring out their flashlights to explore the area. It's been quiet for a few hours; they've been focusing on the task at hand, and trying to converse earlier didn't work out too well.

Nancy stops, which catches the attention of Laurie and Jonathan. "What, are you tired?" He asks, annoyed, and receives a punch to the shoulder from the girl beside him. 

"Shut up." Nancy's words are quick as she keeps looking around. Almost as if she heard something. 

"Everything okay, Nance? You hear something?" Laurie whispers, looking at the girl concerned.

"Yeah," Nancy goes quiet again as the two in front of her focus on listening and soon hear some whimpering. They follow the whimpering sound with Wheeler leading the way, Laurie right behind her, and Jonathan coming up the rear.

"Oh god." Nancy looks down at the dead deer in front of the group. The whimpering from the deer tugs at her heartstrings. The poor thing needs to be put out of its misery. All three of the teens squat down to get a better look at the damage. 

"It got hit by a car. How did it get so deep in the woods, though?" Laurie ponders while looking at the poor animal. Both girls look ready to cry as Nancy looks over to Jonathan. 

"We can't just leave it." He sighs, looking over to the still whimpering animal.

Nancy looks at the gun in her hand and tries to do something with it, but can't. 

"I'll do it," Jonathan says softly, holding his hand out for the gun. She gives it to him, and everyone backs up. The two girls hold onto each other as Jonathan pulls back the hammer. Then, suddenly, the deer is dragged away by an unknown force. Everyone gasps as they fall back a bit more, not breaking eye contact with the spot where the deer lay, but it is now gone.

Terrified is the only emotion going through their minds and bodies as they try to figure out what just happened. 

"What was that?" Nancy asks, her eyes still on the spot. They soon follow the trail of blood where the figure dragged the deer away, stepping carefully around everything, hoping not to get dragged away.

As they enter an opening in the trees. The blood seems to disappear. "Where did it go?" Laurie whispers, looking around, up the trees, between trees, and trying to see if just maybe the blood started to blend in the leaves, but there is nothing. Like the deer just poofed out of existence.

"Do you see any more blood?" Jonathan asks, keeping his gun raised with his flashlight. 

"No," Nancy says before they all look at each other and, with their eyes alone, agree to split up. Jonathan goes one way, Nancy goes another, and Laurie another.

The two girls don't stray too far from each other, just in case. As Laurie looks around, she cannot help but feel like she's being watched. After a few minutes of the feeling, she leaves to find Nancy.

While looking around, she notices an opening in a tree. As she walks away, she hears Nancy scream, and it's coming from the opening. "Nancy!" She yells before quickly climbing into the opening. When she emerges on the other side, she finds Nancy in front of her and some kind of monster.

Nancy sees her best friend and grabs her hand before they run off into the unknown place they arrived at.