Alexithymia | STRANGER THINGS [ON HOLD UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE]

four | the body

Without even bothering to knock on his brother's bedroom door, Mike quickly walked into Matthew's room and said to him, "Get up."

While repeatedly tossing a balled-up piece of paper into the air from where he was lying down on his bed, Matthew replied, "And a good morning to you too, Mike." When Mike didn't respond, Matthew said to him, "I'm doing great this morning. Thanks for asking."

Mike told him, "Cut the bullshit, Matt. I need you to come with me."

Matthew retorted, "And I need you to get lost. I have better things to do than to deal with your bullshit today, Michael."

Mike said to him, "It's about Will."

With a sigh, Matthew replied, "What about him? Last I checked, the kid's dead, Michael."

Mike told him, "But he's not." After watching Matthew slowly turn his head to look over at Mike with a raised eyebrow, Mike said to him, "I'm serious. I was in the basement with El last night, and I heard him over the radio. Her-Her nose was bleeding and everything. I heard Will."

With his eyebrows furrowed, Matthew asked him, "And why the hell are you telling me this? Last I checked, Byers isn't my friend, so I don't see what this has to do with me." When Mike didn't respond, Matthew asked him, "And what do you mean you heard him? How could you have heard him over the radio, if they found his body last night? And what does El's nose bleeding have to do with anything?"

With a roll of his eyes, Mike ran over to his brother and harshly tugged on Matthew's arm, which got Matthew to simply stare at his little brother with a blank look on his face, while Mike tried to pull him off of the bed.

After a couple seconds of just watching Mike do that, Matthew quickly grabbed Mike by the arm and pulled his brother close to himself before he said, "You have exactly five seconds to tell me just what the fuck you think you're doing before I kick your ass, Michael."

With a groan, Mike yelled, "Just-Just follow me! Okay?! Just follow me, and you'll see!"

With a roll of his eyes, Matthew got up off of his bed and reluctantly followed his brother out of his room and down to the basement.

* * *

After some whimpering was heard over the radio, Mike asked his brother and his two friends, "We keep losing the signal, but you heard it, right?"

Lucas replied, "Yeah, I heard a baby."

In turn, Mike said, "What?"

Lucas told him, "Mike, you obviously tapped into a baby monitor. It's probably the Blackburns' next door."

Mike asked him, "Uh, did that sound like a baby to you? That was Will!"

With a roll of his eyes, Lucas said to him, "Mike..."