No One Left Behind

Chapter Seven

(Later - Outfit One)

The golden glow from the lamp filled the air around me and the party, including Eleven. Will and Stella's voices were a whole new different type of fear that we hadn't heard from either one of them. I've never heard my best friend sound that afraid of something, or someone frankly. Hazel hadn't gotten back to me on the real reason as to why she was searching for Jonathan Byers.

Mike sat beside me on the couch while Eleven's head rested on my lap, a yellow pillow tucked underneath her head. She played with the hem of my polo, fiddling with loose string.

Lucas sat on the chair across from us with his head in his hands while my brother sat on the stairs, still wearing his favorite baseball cap. Our minds kept thinking about what Stella and Will had stated what the environment felt around them.

Nobody clearly understood what they were trying to explain to us. All that mattered was that Stella and Will were alive and well, but my thoughts still wandered as to where Barbara Holland was; was she alive too?

"What were they saying?" I said, more like thought out loud. The boys stared at the ground in thought. "Like home but dark," Mike spoke, "Like home but dark." He trailed his last words as he repeated them over and over again in his head.

The younger boy stood up from the couch, walking over to stand beside the stairs. He leaned against the banister as he continued to digest the words. "And empty," Lucas thought, looking up from his clasped hands. Dustin sighed and leaned back slightly so he was rested against the wooden stair.

Eleven shifted in her spot so her head was resting against my shoulder. "Empty and cold," I said and crossed my arms. "Wait, did Stella say cold?" Dustin inquired, shifting his gaze up from the flooring up to me.

Mike and I shrugged our shoulders at the boys question. "I don't know," Lucas huffed, "The stupid radio kept going in and out." He used his hands as he spoke, resting them on the wooden arm rests that were apart of the rocking chair. "It's like doing riddles in the dark," Dustin commented adding a heavy sigh in annoyance.

Eleven took a piece of fabric from my jacket, beginning to feel the fabric between her two fingers. She looked up at me and smiled before resting her head on my shoulder again.

"Like home, like his house?" Mike said.

He stopped pacing back and forth, turning around to look at us. Multiple thoughts flew in and out of my head almost like someone was typing things into a database of some sort. "Maybe like Hawkins!" Lucas thought, pointing a figure forward. Dustin and I glanced at one another and nodded in agreement.

"Upside down," Eleven said, speaking the first two words she had said since we arrived at the Wheeler household. She slowly lifted her head, but continued to lean against my arm. "What was that?" I asked, looking down at the girl.

Eleven looked up at me and nodded. She shifted her spot so she was sitting forward, but still kept her shoulders relaxed. "Upside down," Mike repeated, "Upside down!" I furrowed my brows and looked up from the couch as the sound of the boys words. "Elaborate please!" I said, standing up from the patterned sofa.

Mike walked over to the little table where the game board was. Dustin, Lucas and I followed him to the table. The Wheeler boy flipped the piece of cardboard over so the white side was facing the basements ceiling.

"When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board over," Mike explained. "And that's when you figured out Stella was there as well?" I asked with my hands on my hips. He nodded his head and acted out what Eleven had down before.

Mike looked to us and pointed to the black side of the board. "Upside down," he repeated and followed our gaze to the board and up to the three of us.

"Dark and empty," I muttered, sitting at one of the chairs where the boys usually sat. Lucas crossed his arms and plopped down onto on of the wooden chair as well. "Do you understand what he's talking about?" Lucas asked, looking to Dustin and to me. My brother shook his head as an answer.