𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 ➪ 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚢𝚎𝚛𝚜

Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ Tᴡᴏ

𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝙵𝚘𝚞𝚛
╔═══════════════╗
𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚜
╚═══════════════╝

That morning, Genie was awake first. The grey around her scar was gone but the scar itself still remained a solid black line.

Will stayed fast asleep for about an hour later than she. His condition was getting worse, as was hers. He was her biggest concern. If she could choose to get just one of them out alive, she would choose Will. Mainly because she couldn't live with herself anyway if she let him die in this horrid place.

Even after he was awake, Will didn't seem like he wanted to get up. He was exhausted and his hair was sticking to his head due to a mix of sweat and the humid air.

Though she'd rather stay with him, Genie decided to go out and explore a bit. She wanted to know where she was going if she was going to find them a way out of there.

After a coughing fit that made her throat hoarse, Genie threw her jacket over Will and left to begin her search. If the Woods were the same then she'd be able to find the Byer's house within a few short minutes.

Those few short minutes turned into very, very long minutes. Genie dragged her feet as she walked, too exhausted to do anything else. It was really cold and she almost regretted leaving her coat with Will. She's be no good to either of them if she died of frostbite or hypothermia or whatever the hell it was that would kill her.

Finally, she found the Byer's house. She crept in and found something different. There were still lights everywhere.

"Will!" A very faint voice shouted. It was Joyce. Was she here?

"Joyce!" Genie called out, scrambling around the house in search of her. To her dismay, the house was empty and Joyce's voice didn't return.

There was a loud screech from somewhere in the woods and Genie figured she should get back to Will. She ran out of the house and back into the woods, picking up a pointy stick from the ground. She knew it wouldn't do much against the flowerheads but it made her feel safer than without it.

As expected, a flowerhead jumped out at her and screamed, opening up its face menacingly. Genie had grown used to these things and she felt less scared around them when she learned that she could control them.

Without hesitation, she screamed back, forcing any fear she could find in her head into the flowerhead. It stumbled back but then came charging at Genie who was taken by surprise. She wasn't expecting this.

The flowerhead swiped at her but she threw the stick at it's open mouth, holding it open. Unfortunately, it chomped down on the stick easily but Genie still took her chance to run away. Then she stopped and closed her eyes. She was scared now. Terrified, even. And she used that to her advantage.

She imagined balling up her fear and throwing it at the flowerhead that shortly after screeched and ran away. Her nose bled and she knew it wouldn't be long before they found her. They loved blood.

Genie ran as fast as her legs would carry her wiping the remaining blood from her nose. When she reached Castle Byers, she was out of breath and covered in sweat.

Will slowly sat up from the spot he lay down in and looked at Genie.

"You okay?" He asked. His voice was quiet. Genie sat down across from him and rested her face in her hands. She was trembling and she couldn't stop it no matter how hard she tried.

When Will received no response, he just scooted closer and embraced the girl. Genie knew this place was doing something to her usually tough demeanour. Will didn't seem to mind, though. He knew her far too well.

That night they fell asleep each wrapped in a hug. Genie's face began to take on a sunken, skeleton-like shape. Will was paler than Genie had ever seen him. They were both sick. It would be a miracle if they both made it home alive.

When they awoke, they were still embracing. It was warm so neither complained.

"I want to go exploring with you today." Will said suddenly. Genie lifted her head from his shoulder to look at him.

"It's dangerous, Will."

"If it's that dangerous than stay here with me." He was stubborn. Genie pulled out of the embrace, sitting cross-cross applesauce.

"Will-"

"We need to learn more about this place whether we like it or not. Exploring might be our only shot at escaping." Will reasoned, propping himself up on his elbows.

"It's not safe, I barely got back last night." She argued.

"I know, you should've seen yourself. Please let me go once and if we have any near death experiences, I'll stay here next time." Will attempted to negotiate. Genie refused to look him in the face. "Please, Genie?"

Genie came to the realization that Will would stop unless she gave in so she sighed and nodded. "Fine."

Will hugged her tightly and pulled away quickly so he could slip on his coat and give her hers. "Let's go!"

Genie chuckled as Will pulled her out of Castle Byers and into the creepy outside world. She could feel the happiness emitting from Will and that made her smile. It was almost comical how full of joy the small boy could be considering the circumstances.

They walked through the trees, stumbling occasionally over a stray root sticking up from the ground. The fog was especially thin today making breathing an easier task than usual.

"This must be the nicest day this place has ever had," Genie heard Will say.

"Yeah." She mumbled.

"We're you reading my mind?" Will automatically asked. Genie knit her brows when she realized Will didn't actually say anything aloud.

"I-yes." She nodded, accepting it fully. It's not like she could get rid of the power so she might as well start taking responsibility for it.

Will laughed but stopped quickly. "Shoot, I forgot something at the fort. Can you wait for me here?"

"Do you want me to go back with-"

"No, no I'll be right back." He assured, hurrying in the opposite direction.

Genie leaned up against a tree and exhaled. It was almost completely silent, aside from the loud voice from nowhere that made her jump.

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Thought it was high time I update

It seems a lot of people peaced out after part one chapter one so uh yikes

Chile anyways so...

Y'all ready for plot twist number two?

Hope you are cause it's coming soon. Next chapter is probably gonna be really short so I'm apologizing ahead of time.

This is really fun to write, at this point I don't care how many reads I get on this book

See you in part five<3