November 9th, 1983

Off Mirkwood

Once the group and I had made it to Mirkwood, we made our way down a path, just off the road and into the woods. While El never told us exactly where she was leading us, she seemed oddly confident in where she was going, since I assumed that she hadn't been in these woods since the night that we found her.

Mike and Eleven walked ahead of Dustin, Lucas, and me; the two talking quietly between one another, with Mike blushing slightly and smiling down at the confused girl who seemed to not understand most of what he said.

"Looks like someone has a crush." I whispered to the two boys who walked on either side of me with a teasing smirk. Lucas scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Whatever." He muttered in response while Dustin laughed at the comment. "We've already asked him and he keeps denying it but it's so obvious." Dustin's lisp broke through slightly while Lucas grew more annoyed, "It's gross and annoying. She's all he talks about, I mean she's just a girl. No offense, Nell."

I shrugged my shoulders and looked down at Lucas, "None taken, but did you ever stop to think that maybe you're just jealous." Lucas scoffed but stayed quiet. "Will disappears and she shows up, that's just weird. Plus the things she can do-"

"Lucas!" Dustin cut him off and reached around to hit him on the shoulder. "Ouch, what the hell?" Lucas glared at Dustin who just stared at him as if his glare would stop him from speaking. The two stared at each other for a few more seconds before Lucas seemed to catch on to whatever Dustin was getting at. "Things she can do?" I questioned and looked between the two boys who shared an awkward laugh and started to walk ahead of me.

"Yeah, she's like scary good at Dungeons and Dragons." Lucas stated and threw me a nervous smile, "Yeah, we're thinking she can be our Mage." This time Lucas hit Dustin and the two quickly turned back around and ignored my confused glances between the two of them.

Rolling my eyes I continued to follow the group. The further we got down the path, the darker it began to get outside. The area slowly started to become increasingly familiar. "Is El still leading the way?" I called out to the group before they turned around to face me with confusion written over their expressions while El continued to walk in the same direction we'd been going for an hour. "Of course, why?" Mike asked and allowed me to catch up with him.

"The area is just really familiar..." I mumbled and he nodded in agreement before going back to the front with El.

Once the sun had almost completely set over the horizon, Dustin looked down at his watch begrudgingly. "Guys, my Mom is going to be so pissed if we don't wrap this up soon." He stated but we continued walking nonetheless until we reached a clearing out of the woods. El slowly came to a stop before slowly turning around, "Here." She stated softly with a small smile but all that stood behind her was the backyard of my house. Groaning I placed my head in my hands as Mike spoke up.

"No, this is where Will lives." He stated and looked down at El, "Hiding." She stated and looked around the yard. "No, not hiding. This is his house. He is missing from here, understand?" Mike groaned out and turned away from the confused girl.

"What are we doing here?" Lucas questioned, not hiding how annoyed he was with the situation while Dustin dropped his bike next to him. "I swear if we walked all the way out here for nothing..." Dustin started but was quickly cut off by an angry Lucas. "We did! I told you she didn't know what the hell she was doing!" He stated, "Lucas, calm down." I placed a hand on his shoulder as Mike turned to Eleven. "Why did you bring us here?"

"Don't waste your time with her." Lucas stated and moved my hand away. "She obviously knows something Lucas, she has never been here before. How could she know how to get here, or that Will even lives here." I tried to reason with the boy.

"What do you want to do then?" Mike pushed Lucas with a frown, his voice rising slightly. "Call the cops like we should have done yesterday." Lucas stated simply, crossing his arms over his chest. "We are not calling the cops." Mike replied, stepping up to Lucas. "What other choice do we have?" Lucas asked.

"Hey, guys?" Dustin called out suddenly, slowly walking away from us and towards the driveway, "Guys!" He yelled again, finally grabbing all of our attention. "Cops." He stated and pointed down the road where red and blue flashing lights drove past the block, quickly followed by an ambulance.

There was a chance that we'd have no involvement with what was happening, but if the odds were in our favor, we knew exactly who that ambulance was for. "Will..." I whispered and without a second thought, I grabbed his bike from off the ground and quickly hurried down the road to follow the cop cars with the party not far behind me.

As we raced down the road multiple scenarios flashed through my mind of what we would find. Maybe we would find Will with the authorities; safe and sound. Or would we not find Will at all but instead just some small accident by the creek? Ignoring the thoughts before they could form into something worse, the cops drove onto the off-road that led to the quarry's shoreline. And ignoring the better half of me that was screaming to turn back down the road, I continued down to the shoreline with the party close behind.

Dumping my bike behind the now parked and abandoned emergency vehicle, I hurriedly scanned my eyes over the scene. Unable to focus my eyes on anything as officers, firemen, and paramedics block most of the area in front of the quarry's shoreline. That was until I noticed movement further out in the water.

Slowly gliding out of the black abyss was two Search and Rescue men. Whatever it was that they had found out there, the water would continue to obscure our view as they swam closer. Moving out of the small hiding place that we crouched in, I took a few hesitant steps forward to get a closer look at what they were about to pull out of the water.

My breath caught in my throat; freezing in my place, I watched as the men slowly lifted a body out of the water. It was a child... A child wearing a bright red jacket, just like the one I had put on Will before he disappeared. Only they weren't moving.

I felt like I had just crashed into a wall, all the air was knocked out of me yet at the same time I was gasping down whatever I could get as I felt warm tears form in my eyes. The men put the child's body onto a raft and carefully brought it to the shore. Once Hopper was able to get a clear look at who was on the raft he started to walk away, obviously not pleased with the discovery.

"Hopper?" I called out to him, my voice breaking as I slowed my pace, now scared to see if the red jacket belonged to who I thought it did. "Please tell me it isn't him?" I cried and he quickly ran up to me, blocking my view and preventing me from looking past him.

"What are you doing out here? Why did you follow us out here?" His tone was angry at first but it slowly dissolved once I began to push him out of the way to look at the body. "Tell me it isn't him!" I cried out and pushed Hopper again, causing him to grab my arms and force me to look at him and away from the water. "I'm sorry, kid..." He whispered and that was all I needed to hear before my knees gave out. Hopper held me up as I cried into his chest, trying to catch my breath.

"It's all my fault..." I whispered shakily, holding onto him tightly. "Don't say that, Nell." He whispered and rubbed my back as I continued to cry. "It is... I was supposed to protect him, and now he's gone!" I yelled and pushed myself away from Hopper and ran back to my bike, not stopping to take notice that the party had already run off as well.

"Eleanor, wait!" Hopper yelled after me but I raced down the same path that I had hoped just a few moments earlier would lead to a different ending, rather than this harsh reality.

~~~

After what felt like almost an hour of biking I crashed down in a random yard, I had exhausted myself physically but it didn't feel like enough. Rolling onto my back, I stared up at the sky and allowed the tears to continue rolling down my face, and then I ran into the same deadly cycle. I would begin to feel my breathing get back under control and for a moment, I'd lie and tell myself that it was gonna be okay. But then I reminded myself... Of the fact that Will was gone. That he wasn't out there just lost and waiting for us to find him anymore. Maybe he never was...

Gasping for air, I slowly stood up. Placing my head in my hands, I tried to shake away the thoughts that ran through my head and collect myself. Looking around at my surroundings, I quickly realized that I was maybe a little over a block from Harrington's. Meaning I was about an hour away from my own home or even Nancy's.

Swallowing my pride I slowly made my way towards the house and up the driveway before knocking lightly on the front door. Though it was late, a light turned on from somewhere in the house before a voice spoke from behind the door.

"I swear to God if this is another prank, I will end you brats." Steve threatened from the other side of the door, while I stayed frozen, sniffling quietly in my place on his doorstep.

Slowly the door opened to reveal a tired-looking Steve in a loose robe that covered his body. Steve looked shocked to find me standing at his doorstep and rubbed the sleep from his eyes when he realized it was actually just me. "Nellie? What- What are you doing out here so late?" He questioned, looking past me and down the road to see if anyone was with me before noticing the tears that stained my face.

"H- Hey, what's wrong? Did something happen?" He questioned me slowly, noticing that I was barely holding myself back from breaking down. Moving aside, he slowly led me inside, putting an arm around me, and slowly led me up the stairs and towards his room while I remained silent. "Nellie... What happened?" He asked and squatted down slightly to be at eye level with me.

"They found him," I whispered, my throat feeling raw from the sobs that I had fought to hold in but ended up releasing earlier. "He's dead, it's my fault." I continued and broke down again, feeling the air drain from my lungs.

Sitting me down on the bed, Steve brought me in for a hug and rubbed my back, letting me cry on his shoulder in silence. "I'm so sorry, Nellie." He whispered into my ear and cradled the back of my head as I tried to slow my breathing but the tears continued to fall. "Why didn't you go home or to Nancy's?" He asked quietly but continued to hold me. "I can't look my mother or Jonathan in the face...it's too soon, and Nancy... She wouldn't understand." I whispered and slowly pulled myself away from him.

"Why would it be too soon?" He asked and lightly placed a hand on my shoulder. "I know my Mom. She'll deny that he's gone, that he's not still out there... and I don't have the heart to tell her that I saw him." I tried holding back my tears again but a quiet sob left the back of my throat. "I promised him that I'd protect him, Steve. That'd I'd find him and bring him home--" "Hey, don't do that to yourself." He whispered and looked me in the eyes apologetically. "What'd I say the other day?" He whispered and lightly moved his hand to push my hair away from my face. "That I wouldn't let anything bad happen to him." I muttered, looking down at my lap ashamed.

"No... The other thing," "That I can't blame myself." I whispered as he brought his hand under my chin to make me look him back in the eyes. "Exactly, just breathe, Nell. It's going to get better." Steve whispered and the two of us just sat there staring into each other's eyes.

Slowly he leaned in and lightly pecked my lips and carefully I leaned into the kiss before the two of us pulled away slowly. "Shit..." I whispered, eyes widening as I slowly slid down the bed and away from Steve. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking." Steve's eyes darted around the room, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's okay, nothing happened. Means nothing." I stated, rubbing away the soreness in my eyes. "You should... You should get some rest, come on... I'll take you home in the morning." He whispered, just as quick to ignore what just happened.

Leading me around the bed, he carefully tucked me in before turning to leave the room. "Stay with me?" I whispered to him, catching the sleeve of his robe before he could leave. Slowly, Steve nodded before awkwardly laying on the other side of the bed, not bothering to get under the covers.