Null woke groggily, thanks to the bickering. She panicked, being surrounded by things unfamiliar. That is, until her gaze landed on a mirror, next to the bed. She still had her hair, she was in yesterday's clothes. She looked at her hands, trying to put one through the other. It didn't work. She wasn't lost in her own mind, she was fine... for now.
She screamed in horror, scratching at her skin, begging for it to stop.
"000, it's alright, I'm right here," a familiar voice echoes.
"000," a sickening voice laughed. "You don't really think you can hide, do you?"
Crippled with fear, Zero used the bulk of her raining energy to put herself in what Papa called a 'happy place.' It was a dark starry night, on a beach she didn't know the name of. A fire was burning next to her, warming her.
"So you do think you can hide?" The sick voice asked, menacingly. It laughed. "Hide as much as you want, I'll find you in this illusion, and the next, and the next, and the next..."
"Null?" Jonathan asked, forcing Null to whip her head around.
"Hey, what time is it?" Null asked, trying to sound casual, as if she didn't just sleepover at a strangers house. But she supposed she was doing that often, nowadays, at least.
"Time for you to leave," Jonathan retorted, before realizing what he said. "I didn't mean it like that. I- it's just my mom. She's been acting a bit unusual since Will's disappearance-"
"Which is understandable," Null interrupted.
"Yeah but she's like," he sighed, debating on how much he should tell his attractive new friend. He decided on the truth. "She thinks she can communicate with Will through the lights."
Null's eyebrows knitted in confusion. "Through the...?"
"Yes, through the lights," Jonathan sat down on his bed next to her. "Listen, I'd really love for you to meet my mom, but I right now really isn't the best time-"
"Maybe I can help," Null suggested.
"I don't think-" Jonathan started, but Null was already leaving his bedroom.
She didn't recognize the house as she stepped into the hallway. It was as if the night prior was all a blur. Bits and pieces came and went, like her brain was a subway station. A small group of people exited at one of the stops, but the subway kept on going. A small amount of memories she could recollect immediately, but the others were simply out of reach.
She spotted a brunette in distress, in the living room. "Hello, Ms. Byers?" Null asked tentatively.
"Oh hello," Ms. Byers, said in response, sniffling and quickly combing through her hair, as if to make herself look more presentable.
"I'm Null, one of Jonathan's friends," she introduced.
"Jonathan doesn't have many of those, you must be the only one," Ms. Byers said automatically, as if she said the first thing that came to mind.
Null laughed. "Yes, I don't blame the rest of the world for avoiding him. It seems only freaks like us can stand his company."
The ghost of a smile rest on Ms. Byer's lips. "Please, call me Joyce."
"It's nice to meet you, Joyce," Null responded.
Just then, Jonathan entered the living room, joining them. "Jonathan, I didn't know we had a visitor," Joyce said.
"Yeah, about that," Jonathan started.
"I was just on my way out," Null promised. "See you around Jonathan, nice meeting you Joyce."
Null closed the door behind her, crouching low and looking through the windows, watching as Joyce was showing Jonathan the light situation. Nothing was happening. Null felt that something was off with the whole thing, though she wasn't sure as to what. Null concentrated hard, and made it appear as if the light flickered near Joyce.
"See?" Joyce exclaimed, loud enough for Null to hear outside the house.
Hope, Null had decided, was an important thing to have in times as trying as these.
~~~~~
Null decided to go to the high school, observing the atmosphere. She was but a fly on the wall, invisible to everyone around her. And yet the only piece of useful information Null was able to retrieve was that Barb wasn't at school, and that Nancy had no idea where she was. Null winged at the idea of the monster's close proximity to Barb. Did it do this?
As the school day ended, Null decided to catch up with Jonathan, to tell him what she found out. She was visible as she walked towards what seemed to be a standoff between Jonathan and the group they'd watched the night before, minus Barb.
"That's the thing about stalkers," Null heard Steve say as she walked closer. "It's hardwired into them."
"What's going on?" Null asked, unafraid of the group.
"Oh look, Byer's got himself a girlfriend," Tommy laughed.
Null ignored him. "Are you okay?" Jonathan nodded.
"How sweet, the concern she has for you. Would she feel the same if she knew you take pictures of other girls?" Steve asked, showing her the picture of Barb.
"I'm glad you're concerned about my relationship's security, Steve," Null said, playing up to their assumptions. "But I already knew about this picture, it's for his art project."
"Have we met before?" Steve asked, confused on how she knew his name.
"Not formally," she replied.
"So you're not concerned about him being in the woods randomly then? The whole stalking aspect of this doesn't bother you?" Steve questioned.
Null shrugged. "I was with him, looking for Will. We stumbled upon drunken, foolish idiots instead. Why not watch the circus and entertain ourselves, instead of coming home empty handed."
"You little-" Tommy's girlfriend started towards Null.
Null laughed. "What're you gonna do? Slap me? Tell me I'm a piece of shit? Do it, maybe I'll like it, and think about you late at night when-"
"Freak!" Tommy yelled.
Null laughed even harder, before winking. "That's an oddly fitting term you picked out there, Tommy."
"Ugh!" Tommy's girlfriend wheeled around in disgust, shortly followed by Tommy.
"Off you go, Harrington. Don't you have gossip to spread about how crazy Jonathan's girlfriend is?" Null asked.
Steve looked conflicted, before finally just pulling Nancy away from them, leaving Jonathan and Null to themselves.
"Why did you do that?" He asked, picking his stuff up off the ground.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"I don't need protecting," he snapped, shoving his things into his bag, before slinging it over his shoulder.
"Sure," Null agreed. "Neither do moms who live in suburbs, yet they still add extra locks to their doors and have husbands with guns. My point is, it never hurts to have someone in your corner."
"We're not even together," Jonathan muttered.
"News to me," Null teased. "Come on, babe. Let's leave this shithole."
Jonathan tried to fight the smile creeping to his lips, but it was a fight he lost. He drove them back to his house, and they tried to make things easier on Joyce by cleaning up the house a bit, and making dinner. Null didn't mind. Eventually, Null left to head back to the Wheeler house, to check in with El.
After a night of riding bikes trying to find Will, they found him. Or what used to be him. His body, to be more precise, getting pulled out of the lake.
YOU ARE READING
zero || eddie munson (UNEDITED!!!)
Fanfiction*UNDER EDITING* EMPHASIS ON THE EDITING. SOME CHAPTERS WILL NOT MAKE SENSE BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT EDITED YET. THE CHAPTERS THAT ARE WILL BE MARKED WITH (edited) IN THE TITLE!!! "You don't like me, do you?" Eddie asked. "On the contrary. I'm quite int...
