MY TEARS RICOCHET 𛲕 STRANGER THINGS

7. There's Something Funky About Hawkins Lab

CHAPTER 7: There's Something Funky About Hawkins Lab

Never be so kind, you forget to be clever
Never be so clever, you forget to be kind
— Marjorie, Taylor Swift

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

November 8th, 1983: Davenport Home

THE SUN WAS STARTING TO SET ON HAWKINS AS DAPHNE watched from the back of a squad car, Meera close to her side. Officer Callahan and Officer Powell had been enlisted to drive them home after another hushed conversation between them and the Chief. Daphne's brain was whirring. Something about Mirkwood had caught Hopper's attention, and suddenly he had started taking them a whole lot more seriously.

After another forty minutes of questioning that felt more like an interrogation to Daphne, they had been placed under strict instructions to not leave their house again that night. Daphne was half glad that her dad was out of town this week, so she didn't have to explain to him why she was being taken home in a police car.

When they pulled up outside Daphne's house, the officers turned around in their seats to face them. "Now, you girls know better than to go out again tonight, right?" said Powell.

"That means no trips to see your boyfriends, either," added Callahan. "Not until we've found these kids."

Daphne shared a look with Meera, which made it quite clear that neither of them was willing to follow the Chief's instructions. Daphne made eye contact with Callahan, who she had deemed the more witless of the two, daring him to lie to her. "Does the Chief think Fern's disappearance is connected to Will Byers'?"

Callahan's eyes widened, looking slightly like a gutless fish. "You girls don't need to worry about that—"

"She's our friend," Daphne continued. "We have a right to know if you think something's happened to her. Something to do with Mirkwood, maybe?"

Daphne had always been too observant for her own good, but she would have had to be blind to miss the way Hopper's face changed when she mentioned Mirkwood earlier. She'd instantly figured out it was important, and now she was going to use it to find out what she wanted to know.

Callahan glanced over at Powell desperately, but the other man just shrugged. Looking defeated, Callahan turned back to Daphne. "Look, kid, it's all just speculation at the moment. The fact that two kids have gone missing in the space of a couple of days is definitely weird, but as far as we know, Fern and Will didn't know each other. It's probably just one helluva coincidence."

"Your friend will probably show up safe and sound, and you'll wonder why you even worried," added Powell.

Daphne could tell he was trying to reassure her, but it only sent ice through her veins. She knew continuing to question them was pointless, so she gave him a tight smile and opened the car door. "Thanks, officers."

Meera followed her up the porch to her house and into the sitting room, watching as her friend made her way to the far side of the room. "So that's it, then? We just sit here and wait for the police to do their jobs?"

"No," said Daphne firmly, starting to rifle through the cabinet near the fireplace. Meera watched in confusion as she pulled out a torch that her dad used for going down to the basement. "We're going to Mirkwood."