"if I was ever in a life or death situation I would definitely call you and your stupid hair spray, harrington."
in which two teenagers find out they needed each other all along or where they fight a supernatural monster with a spiked bat. you choos...
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CHAPTER NINE: THERE ARE WEIRDER WAYS TO LEARN ABOUT DEATH
LILY HUGGED HER BOOKS TO HER CHEST AND MADE HER WAY DOWN THE HALLWAY. Everything seemed slightly discolored, ever since they saw Will's body last night. She had spent the night in Dustin's room, holding him until he fell asleep. Her heart hurt for the loss of Will; he had meant so much to all of them.
"Lily!" A familiar voice called after her. "Nancy! Nancy, wait!" Steve shouted after her, but she linked arms with Lily and pulled them forward. "How are you holding up?" She asked her friend, a sad look on her face. Lily sighed. "I'm ok. It was just seeing the body with the boys last night; it broke something in me. Will's dead and Barb's missing, like what is this town anymore?"
Nancy squeezed her arm as they stopped in front of Lily's locker. "Look, I went by Steve's house yesterday." Lily sighed. "Now is not the time to hear about your sex life Nance, even though I'm sure it's glorious." Nancy blushed. "No, Lily! That's not what I meant. I mean I went there to look for signs of Barb." Lily closed her locked and leaned against it, playing along. "And? Did you find anything?" "Well, kind of." She lowered her voice. "I saw this man, or this thing I don't know. He was really huge though and it seemed like he had a mask on or something."
Lily frowned. "I'm not following, you saw a man in the woods. Are you sure it wasn't Steve's dad?" Nancy shook her head. "No, his parents are still out of town. And it wasn't a man. It, I don't know, it seemed like it didn't have a face, like it was some kind of...I don't know, monster." Lily was about to start laughing, but after the past twenty-four hours, she couldn't muster it. Plus, did Nancy's story seem that far-fetched? A girl had literally moved Lily with her mind yesterday. There could be more they didn't know about.
"Ok... and you think this man-" "Monster." "Monster, right. Took Barb?" Nancy shrugged. "I don't know. But there's been weird stuff going on, would it be crazy to say maybe?"
Any day a week ago, Lily would have said yes. Yes, it was impossible and utterly crazy that a monster was in Hawkins. Especially if the said monster killed Barb. But now? With everything she had learned in the past few days, it could be true. Barb was here a week ago and now she was gone. Didn't she deserve for them to search for her until they saw her smiling face again, or worse, her dead body? She did deserve that much.
"No, no it wouldn't be crazy." Nancy could have fallen over in relief that her best friend believed her. "So, I'm assuming you have a plan." Because even if Hawkins had been turned upside down, Nancy Wheeler always had a plan.
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"I'm going to puke." "Lily, you're fine come on." "I cannot go in here, I heard they have dead people just lying around on the counter!" "What? They literally don't." Lily was still unsure as Nancy pulled her into the funeral home. Nancy's plan apparently centered around Jonathan because of the photo she had found. But Lily was still confused and could only see a blob in the corner of the photo. Jonathan spotted them and asked the caretaker to give them a moment. Lily shuddered. He was a caretaker of the dead, and Nancy wasn't creeped out?
"Uh, hey guys." He said hesitantly. "Hey!" Nancy said as Lily smiled. "Your mom told us you'd be here." Lily supplies and he nods. "I just-" Nancy sighs, five seconds away from losing her nerve. "Can we talk for a second?" Jonathan could see her nervousness and frowned. "Sure." He told the girls and led them over to a bench. Lily plopped down by him as Nancy shoved the picture into his hand. He gave it a confused look before making eye contact with Nancy. "Look, I know I was being an asshole this night but you don't have to rub it in my face. I'm sorry, Nancy, what I did was wrong." Nancy shakes her head furiously. "No, I don't care about that. Well, I do and it was shitty, yes, but that's not why we're here." She pointed at the thing she saw in the corner of the photo, hoping he would see what Lily didn't.
"Do you see that there? It's like a man but, not really?" Jonathan squints down at it. "It looks like just a perspective distortion...but I wasn't using the wide angle. It's weird, I don't know." "Are you sure you didn't see anyone else out there?" Lily asked him once he looked up. Jonathan shook his head. "No." "And she was there one second, then gone the next?" Nancy asked next. He shrugged. "I figured she bolted." Nancy stepped back and leaned against the wall opposite them with a sigh.
"The cops think she ran away." Lily shook her head. "But they don't know Barb." Nancy nods. "And I went back to Steve's, and I thought I saw something. Some weird man or...I don't know what it was. I'm sorry." She sighed. "We shouldn't have come here, I'm sorry. Come on, Lily."
Before Lily could follow her, Jonathan spoke up. "What'd he look like?" Nancy turned, "what?" "This man you saw in the woods, what'd he look like?" "I don't know. It was almost like he didn't, I don't know." Nancy looked about five seconds away from bursting into tears, so Lily stepped in. "She said it had-" "No face?" Jonathan supplied. The girls whipped their gazes to him. "How did you know that?" Nancy asked and felt her chest lift that not only one person, but two now believed her. "Come on, I'll tell you guys on the way."
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Lily poked Jonathan in the arm. "What are you doing exactly?" He swatted her hand away and placed a picture into the water. "Brightening, enlarging." Nancy hummed as she looked over Lily's shoulder. "Did your mom say anything else? Like where it might have gone to, or..." "No, just that it came out of the wall." Lily needed to sit down before she passed out, because what the hell? She spied a chair in the corner of the room and took a seat as Jonathan let out a sigh.
"How long does this take?" Lily asked him. "Not long." He told her, causing her to groan. Nancy, however, was interested in what Jonathan was doing. "Have you been doing this for a while?" "What? Photography?" He asked, looking back to her. "Yeah." He nodded. " I guess I'd rather observe people than, you know, talk to them? I know, it's weird."
Nancy shook her head in protest but Jonathan kept going. This was possibly the most Lily had heard him speak at one time. And they had been friends for years. "It's just, sometimes people don't really say what they're thinking. But you capture the right moment, it says more."
"What was I saying?" Nancy asked him. "What?" "What was I saying when you took my picture?" Jonathan's face dropped and Lily let out a snort.
"I shouldn't have taken that. I'm sorry. It's just-"
"That's it!" Nancy exclaimed, pointing down at the picture. Lily leaped up and looked at it, seeing exactly what Nancy had been talking about. Jonathan let out a small gasp. "My mom...I thought she was crazy cause she said that's not Will's body, that he's alive." "And if he's alive..." Nancy said. "Then Barb." Lily whispered. She had to be alive too.
