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chapter four:
the body
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THE NEXT MORNING, Evelyn was about to head out to go to school before she decided to see how Dustin is doing. Dustin decided he didn't feel that well to go to school just yet so after convincing their mom to let him stay home, he's been laying in his bed all morning either reading a comic or playing with his walkie.

She knocked on his door before hearing a slight come in. She smiled as she walked in. "Hey bud, I'm heading to school now. If you need anything don't hesitate to call mom so she can call the school and get me out" She told him.

Dustin nodded his head. "Don't worry, I will! Be careful please" Evelyn smiled before giving him a kiss on the head. "I will! Love you"

"Love you too" Dustin called back to his sister before she smiled at him one last time and closed his bedroom door. She said goodbye to her mom and made her way to Sabrina's house. She did call Nancy a head of time too see if she will like a ride but Nancy told her that she was getting a ride from her mom.

There was also no current news on where Barb is at but Nancy did tell her last night over a phone call after Dustin got home that she told her mom and Barb parents about Barb missing. She just hopes the police will find Barb because even though they weren't close, she couldn't bear losing someone else.

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Nancy Wheeler decided that once she got to school she will tell Steve what she saw and she did.

"So, wait a sec. I don't understand. You went back to my house? " Steve questioned Nancy even though he was completely confused on why Nancy would even go to his house without him being there.

"To look for Barb" Nancy stated. "Yeah, okay, but why didn't you just talk to me? That's crazy" Steve told her as he placed his hands in his pocket.

"I don't know, I..I was scared" Nancy admitted. She still felt a little scared after witnessing something in Steve's backyard yesterday.

"You seriously think you saw a guy in a mask just hanging out in my yard?" Steve questioned Nancy.

"I don't think it was a mask" Nancy was confident that it wasn't a mask. She knows what she saw. She just hopes Steve will believe her.

"But he had no face?" Steve was confused about what Nancy was telling him. He was more confused on why someone will be hanging around in his backyard.

"I don't know, I just.. have a terrible feeling about this" Nancy told him. She saw that Steve was thinking about something, she was hoping he was thinking about helping her find Barb. Maybe if she told him Evelyn was helping her, even though Evelyn isn't, that he will help.

"Oh, this is bad. This is really bad" Steve kept muttering as he rested his back on the brick wall in where him and Nancy were at. Nancy was confused what Steve was trying to say. "What?"

Steve looked up at Nancy who stared back at him with confusing laced on her face. "The cops.. they're gonna want talk to all of us now. Tommy, Carol, Sabrina and even Evelyn. Everybody who was at that party"

"So?" Nancy questioned softly trying to calm Steve down, seeing that he was getting anxious about the cops being involved. "My parents are gonna murder me" Steve snapped.

Nancy couldn't believe that Steve cared more about what his parents think instead of Barb who was actually missing.

"Are you serious right now?" She questioned. "You don't understand. My dad is a grade A , asshole" Steve told her.

"Barb is missing! And you're worried about your dad?" Nancy couldn't believe Steve at the moment.

"Okay, just, when you talk to the cops, just don't mention the beers and also don't mention that Evelyn was there or Sabrina. It's just going to get us both in trouble and I don't want to see Evelyn getting in trouble for my mistake on throwing a party, okay" Steve told Nancy.

Nancy started to realize that maybe Sabrina was right about Steve and Evelyn. Well expect for the whole fate thing, but seeing how Steve didn't want Evelyn to get in trouble all because of a party he had made Nancy feel like Steve cares more about Evelyn than helping her find her best friend.

"It's just gonna get us both in trouble and Barbara's got nothing to do with it, okay?" Steve told her as he saw that Nancy was getting annoyed by the conversation.

"I can't believe you right now " Nancy scoffed. " I can't believe you" the last thing Nancy told him as she walked away, she ignored her name being called  by Steve.

Steve watched her walk away. "Great" he whispered softly. First Evelyn was mad at him, now the cops are getting involved in the case of Barbara missing and now Nancy is mad at him. Just great.

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After talking with Nancy, Steve decided to talk to Evelyn, just to warn her about the cops. He wasn't sure if Nancy told her but he felt that she deserves to know.

Steve saw Evelyn by her locker putting books away. He sighed and rubbed his hands together, he was nervous to talk to her. The last time they spoke was yesterday after the whole Jonathan incident. He was hoping she wasn't still mad at him because if she was than he will do anything to make sure she forgives him and he mean anything.

"Hey, Eve! Can I talk to you for a moment?" Steve softly questioned the young girl. Evelyn looked away from her locker to look at Steve. Steve knew she didn't want to talk to him.

"I have to get class" Evelyn told him as she shut her locker and started walking towards her next class. Steve lightly grabbed her wrist before tugging her along to an empty room.

"Steve, what the hell?" Evelyn stated as Steve locked the room and turned the light on. "You can be mad at me all you want but please just listen to what I have to say" Steve softly told her.

Evelyn sighed before nodding her head. "Did you know that Nancy went to my house after school to look for Barb?" Steve questioned but by the look Evelyn's face, indicates that she did not know.

"And not only that but she claims she saw someone in my backyard with no face?" Steve continued and Evelyn was getting more and more confused. "A guy with no face?" Evelyn questioned.

Steve nodded his head. "Yea, no face. Plus she told the cops" Steve told her. "Steve, Barb is missing? Of course she will tell the cops" Evelyn stated to him. If Sabrina or Dustin ever went missing and the last they were seen was at someone's house than she would of done the same thing Nancy is doing.

"Yea but Evelyn, you could get in trouble" Steve told her. Evelyn eyes softened a little bit. Steve was worried that she was getting in trouble and for some reason it made her stomach do a turn and not a bad turn. "I'll be fine" Evelyn softly told him as she grabbed his hand and gave it a little squeezed.

Steve looked down at their interlocked hands and gave her a tiny squeeze back. "As long as you are okay than everything is fine" Steve told her.

Evelyn and Steve gazed at each other for a couple more minutes until the bell rang and Evelyn looked away. "I should really get to class but thank you Steve for telling me" She told him as she began turning the door knob so she can re-enter the hallways.

"Always, this is a janitor closet by the way" Evelyn jokingly told Steve. "Oh I'm sorry that I couldn't take us to some luxurious place so we can talk" he told her jokingly.

Evelyn laughed and that laugh made Steve heart skip a beat and bring a smile to his face. "I do also want to say I'm sorry about yesterday" he told her before she can fully leave. "I'm not the one you should be apologizing".

Steve watched as she left the janitor closet leaving him to be by himself in the empty room. He was about to leave before the door opened up to reveal the janitor. "Again? Really? Get to class" Steve hurried out and began walking to class as the janitor kept muttering to himself about the students using his room as a make out spot.

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Evelyn sat in her chemistry class writing down notes so she can study for the upcoming quiz her teacher decided to give the students even though they already taken one last week.

She heard the classroom door open but didn't pay much mind too it as she was to focused on the study guide. "Evelyn Henderson" She heard her principal call out to her. "May we borrow you for a minute please" Evelyn nodded her head and got out of her seat and gathered her belongings before heading towards the principle.

She ignored all the looks she was getting plus the snickered that she heard from Carol. "What's this about?" She questioned the principle as the moved away from the classroom door and out of everyone earshot.

"Police will like to talk to you about Barb, that's all. Your mom is already waiting with them in the cafeteria. Everything will be okay" her principle reassured her.

They walked into the cafeteria where she saw her mom with Officer Callahan and Officer Powell but no Chief Hopper in sight. "Mom!" Evelyn called out as she gave her mom a hug.

"Hi sweetie, Officer Callahan and Officer Powell would just like to have a few words with you" her mom told her as the all sat down to discuss the matter at hand.

"Where's Chief Hopper?" Evelyn questioned, she really thought Hopper would of joined since Barb disappearance is almost the same as Will's disappearance.

"He's currently busy with the Byers family at the moment" Officer Powell told her. Evelyn nodded her head as an understanding.

"Now, we have to ask you about Barbara Holland" Officer Callahan stated. "Okay, what about?" Evelyn questioned.

"Nancy Wheeler mentioned something about a party at Steve Harrington's house, whose her boyfriend" Officer Powell started stating before Officer Callahan interrupted. "Actually, thought he was your boyfriend but carry on Powell"

Officer Powell shook his head in disbelief at his partner statement. "Steve and I aren't dating, we actually aren't even friends" Evelyn told them.

"Really? So why would a girl who's claiming she's not friends with the boy who threw the party actually attend his party?" Officer Powell questioned. Evelyn looked between the two officers and to her mom, who looked confused by the situation.

"Nancy invited me. She's my friend so I went. I barley talked to Steve" Evelyn told them even though it was partly a lie since her and Steve did talk but that was about Queen.

"Okay, now Nancy told us that you followed Barb into the bathroom after she cut her hand, is that correct?" Officer Powell questioned. Evelyn nodded her head as she remembered exactly what happened that night.

"Yea, she cut her hand on a broken piece of the chair that Steve has in his backyard so I offered to go check on her and found her bandaging her wound but she told me that bandage kept getting loose so I fixed it back up so no blood will leak out anymore " Evelyn lied to the two officers. She wasn't sure if they believed her not. She wasn't sure what Nancy told the officers. She's not sure if Nancy told the full story or made up a lie like she did.

"Did you see her after that?" Officer Powell questioned. "No, I left after wrapping her bandage. I said goodnight to her and I left." Evelyn told them.

"Why didn't you stay with them?" Officer Callahan questioned. "Because I didn't want to. I wanted to come home and be with my little brother" Evelyn stated out. She saw her mom smile at the mention of Dustin. She knew her daughter and her son had a very special sibling bond.

"Okay, understandable. Now Nancy claims she saw someone or something in Steve's backyard that she believes might have taken Barb . Has she mentioned anything to you about that or did you happen to go with her and she just didn't want to tell us that you went." Officer Powell questioned.

"No, I didn't even know she went back to Steve's. Did you guys find Barb? Is she okay?" Evelyn questioned. She was growing more worried for the teenage girl.

"Nope, she wasn't there. There was also nothing behind Steve's house that Ms.Wheeler claims she saw and Barbs car was gone" Officer Callahan told her.

Evelyn got confused when they told her Barbs car was gone. "So is she home? Since her car isn't there anymore?" Evelyn questioned sincerely.

"No, we believe she ran away. Even though you two weren't close do you think there could somewhere or someplace that Barb would go to?" Officer Powell questioned.

"No, she hasn't ever said anything to me about running away." Evelyn told the two officers.

"Okay, we believe you are good to go Ms.Henderson. Thank you for your time" The two officers stood up from their seats a bid a farewell to the mother and daughter.

"Evelyn, get your things sweetie, I'm taking you home." Her mom told her as she grabbed the car keys from her daughter hand.

Evelyn didn't say anything. The only thing on her mind was did Barb really run away? And what did Nancy see while she was looking for Barb?

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Evelyn sat in her room, thinking about everything that has been happening in the past week. Queen music softly playing in the background as usual. She was going to talk to Dustin when she got home but according to her mom, he decided he wanted to go to school today.

Evelyn heard a knock on her bedroom door. "Come in" she softly spoken. Her door opened to reveal Nancy Wheeler.

"Hey" Nancy said as she slowly walked into Evelyn's room. Nancy noticed the queen posters on her wall and a bunch of cassettes tapes lying on her desk. She also noticed a polaroid picture of her and Sabrina plus her and Dustin.

"Hey, Nancy. What are you doing here?" Nancy snapped out of her little trance once she heard Evelyn. "I need to show you something" Nancy stated as she sat on Evelyn's bed and pulled out a ribbed up photo that had been taped together out of her bag.

"What is this?" Evelyn questioned as Nancy handed her the photo. Evelyn looked closely at the photo, she saw Barb sitting on the diving board holding her wrapped up hand. But what caught her eye the most was the thing standing behind her.

"Nancy, what is that?" Evelyn questioned as she handed Nancy back the photo while also pointing at the figure. "I don't know what it is but it's the same thing I saw while I was at Steve's. Evelyn, I think this is what took Barb" Nancy told her.

Nancy was hoping Evelyn will believe her. Even though they aren't close, Nancy found a little comfort in Evelyn after Barbs disappearance. She found it in both Evelyn and Sabrina. Even though she feels like Sabrina doesn't like her.

Evelyn sighed, not knowing what to do as she was too busy looking at that thing behind Barb. She looked at Nancy who had a tiny bit of hope in her eyes. "I believe you".

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After discussing everything, Evelyn and Nancy well mostly Nancy decided to find Jonathan and talk to him about it since the photo was taken on his camera. But first, Evelyn insisted on bringing Sabrina along.

"Are you sure Sabrina would want to come?" Nancy questioned as they pulled up into Sabrina's house. Evelyn noticed that Sabrina's parents weren't home, which means Sabrina is home by herself. "She will, just wait right here. I'll be right out" Evelyn told her as she turned her car off and got out.

Nancy watched as Evelyn walked up the pathway towards Sabrina's door before looking back towards the photo of Barb and the thing behind her.

Evelyn rang the doorbell that was connected on the side of Sabrina's front door. The front door opened up after the second ring. "Evelyn, hey! Where did you run off too earlier. I tried to find you after school but apparently you left school early. Are you okay?" Sabrina rambled on as she hugged Evelyn.

"I'm fine, I promise. Are you doing anything at the moment?" Evelyn questioned as they pulled back from the hug. "Not really, I was about to call your house to see if you were okay" Sabrina told her.

"I need you to come with us" Evelyn stated. She watched as Sabrina's face turned into confusion. "Who's us?" Sabrina questioned. Evelyn moved to the side and pointed to her car. Sabrina eyes moved away from Evelyn to the car, to find Nancy sitting in the passenger seat.

"What is sunshine doing here?" Sabrina questioned as she turned back towards Evelyn. "It's complicated but I promise we will explain on the way that is if you are in?" Evelyn questioned, hoping that Sabrina will join in on this very mysterious yet horrifying adventure.

"You know if you are in than I am in" Sabrina stated as she grabbed her jacket off the rack by the door and closed her front door. "But you two better explain to me what is going on".

Evelyn smiled. "Don't worry we will, now let's go. We have to visit Jonathan" Evelyn told her as the started heading towards her car. "Jonathan Byers? Why? What does he have to do with it" Sabrina questioned, she was getting more intrigued with what is going on.

"We will explain on the way. Now let's go" was the last thing Evelyn told her before they both got back into her car. "Hey, sunshine" Sabrina told Nancy as Nancy waved at her.

"Now, someone tell me what the hell is going on" Evelyn and Nancy looked towards one another. Both hoping that Sabrina will believe what they was about to tell her.

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Sabrina in fact did believe what they were saying. She automatically believed because she knew Evelyn would never lie to her. Was she scared? Yes but that didn't stop her from backing out in order to hopefully find Barb before it was too late.

After finding out from Joyce that Jonathan wasn't home and that he was at a funeral home looking for a good casket for Will. The three girls pulled up out front into the funeral home to find Jonathan's car parked on the side.

They all got out of the car and started heading inside, after a minute or two they found Jonathan in the room talking to someone, most likely helping him.

Jonathan stopped walking once he found Nancy, Evelyn and Sabrina standing in front of the door. "Can you just give me a second?" Jonathan asked the man. "Of course" the man told him as Jonathan walked towards the three girls.

"Hey" he told them but it felt like it was directed mostly towards Nancy. "Hey" Nancy said back as Evelyn and Sabrina just slightly waved.

"Your mom, um...she said you'd be here" Nancy told him. Jonathan lightly stiffened at the mention of him mom since the last time they talked was early this morning. "Can we talk for a second" Nancy questioned as she pointed at the hallway, so they can all talk more privately.

They all walked back into the hallway as Nancy and Jonathan sat on the bench while Evelyn and Sabrina stood across from them. They watched as Nancy pulled out the photo of Barb and handed it to Jonathan explaining what they saw.

"It looks like it could, be some kind of perspective distortion, but I wasn't using the wide angle" Jonathan told them as he looked more closely at the photo. "I don't know. It's weird" He handed the photo back to Nancy.

"And you're sure you didn't see anyone else out there?" Nancy questioned as she held onto the photo. "No, and she was there one second and then um..." Jonathan started stating out before Sabrina interrupted him. "She was gone"

Jonathan looked up towards where Sabrina and Evelyn was and nodded his head. "Yea, gone. I figured she bolted" He told them.

"The cops think she possibly ran away" Evelyn told him. "They don't know Barb" Nancy stated. Nancy knew better than anyone that Barb would never run away especially without telling her.

"I went back to Steve's.. and I thought I saw something. Some..weird man or I don't what it was" Nancy told Jonathan. But by the look he was giving her made her lose hope that he didn't believe her.

"I'm sorry. We shouldn't have come here today. I'm so sorry" Nancy sincerely told him as she grabbed her bag and started heading towards the door.

"What'd he look like?" Jonathan questioned eagerly. The three girls stopped walking and looked towards one another. Nobody knew the answer besides Nancy.

Nancy turned back towards Jonathan. "What?" She questioned. "This man you saw in the woods. What'd he look like?" Jonathan questioned again but this time less eagerly.

"I don't know. It was almost like he didn't have " Nancy started telling him before he finished the sentence. "Didn't have a face?"

"How did you know that?" Evelyn questioned as she saw that Nancy was confused on Jonathan knew that. "Because my mom claims she saw the same thing" Jonathan told them.

Everyone looked at one another not really knowing what to say. "Are we about to become our own Scooby-Doo gang? Because this sounds like a mystery we should solve?" Sabrina jokingly questioned trying to lighten up the atmosphere in the room.

"I guess we kinda are" Nancy lightly stated. Either way, little did they know that after tonight, things were just about to become even more crazier.

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author note:
chapter four is here!!!
not gonna lie this chapter kinda gave
me writers block as I was trying to figure
out how to incorporate Evelyn and Sabrina
in. Plus I hope you all get the parallel
in the Steve and Evelyn scene :)
if you know you know!!