lost love

chapter 33

-november 2nd 1984-

-356 days without eleven-

-reader's pov-

the party, minus max who I thought was basically in the party now but apparently wasn't according to mike, were huddled up around the AV room table.

"will didn't want me to tell anyone but.." mike chose his words carefully as he announced this new information to the group, "on halloween night he saw a sort of shadow in the sky, he didn't say what kind of shadow but-"

"was it shaped like a spider?" I suddenly asked, interrupting mike's speech.

"what?" mike said whilst all eyes fell to me.

"the shadow will saw.. I think I've seen it too.." I told the boys, "it comes to me in my dreams, or nightmares, whatever.."

they all shared an uneasy look before turning back to me and mike began to question me, "when you sleep?.."

"yeah.." I answered, "it's massive.. and in the sky of this empty place that I think is my mind almost?.. I dunno but it has a deep voice and apparently has many forms.. it also asked me to join him.. it wanted to take control of something, probably conquer the world seeing as this shit is so crazy-"

"it talks?" mike interrupted, I nodded in response, "and does it cause you harm.. in your dreams?"

"no, I don't think it can because it's only in my head but with will it could be different seeing as it's true sight for him, not dreaming." I replied.

"yeah.. when will sees this shadow thing he's in another plane and when you're in another plane you can't interact with the material plane so theoretically the shadow can't hurt him." dustin added.

"true, but only if that's actually what's happening, this isn't D&D, this is real life." mike said.

"so what do we do?" lucas asked.

"we acquire more knowledge." mike answered, "I'll go to will's after school, see what's going on. you guys stay here and find dart."

"dart?" dustin perked up, "what's he gotta do with this?"

"will heard him in the upside down," mike replied, "I don't know how yet, but he's gotta be connected to all this. he's gotta be. if we find dart, maybe we can solve this thing, maybe we can help will."

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the end of the school day had arrived and mike was on his way to will's whilst the everyone else and I simply just made our way home. as soon as I got through the door I remembered to take my usual call to eleven, the receiver line being blank as always.

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-november 3rd 1984-

-357 days without eleven-

seeing as it was now the weekend, I packed a few essentials into my backpack before heading out of the front door, in search of eleven.

as I took these walks throughout the year, I noticed how the weather and temperature drastically changes. it was now autumn, so it definitely wasn't the warmest time of the year and the leaves weren't lush green colours anymore. they were all shrivelled up and painted with an orangey brown colour.

I took my final steps on the concrete footpath before taking a turn and heading into mirkwood. a privilege about walking around all the time is that I now know every nook and cranny about mirkwood, so I definitely could no longer get lost.

but then knowing every nook and cranny meant I had to search in every nook and cranny. it got a little tiring after a while and the same thoughts wouldn't leave my head, 'if I did find her she'd be dead after all this time' and 'she's not here.' I tried to push them away but it almost felt impossible to do so.

the sun raised up into the sky, behind the clouds, as the day went on. yet it was now starting to set, signalling the end of my search. I turned on my heels, I was approaching the edge of the woods anyways, before making my way back home.

the sun started to set faster and faster which caused me to increase my walking pace until the sun was completely replaced by the gleaming moon and the sky went dark.

I might've known my way around mirkwood in sunlight, but not moonlight. shit, I was lost.

I reached into my backpack to retrieve my flashlight, the light flickered on with a buzzing noise as soon as I flicked the switch. I shone the light around a bit to only find trees, they all looked exactly the same as one another, it was as if I was trapped in a huge maze.

alas, I trudged on desperately searching for at least some sign of human life.

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according to my watch, I had been walking loops in mirkwood for a good 9 hours now. I was exhausted and honestly, I thought I was gonna pass out until a glimmer of hope came into view in the distance. it was the sun, thank god for that, I might actually be able to escape this looping hellhole.

I stuffed my flashlight, which was almost drained of it's batteries, into my backpack before marching through the woods, in the direction of the rising sun.

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after a short 20 minute walk, I was approaching a road, if only it was this easy last night.

my eyes were focused on my filthy shoes as I walked, meaning I didn't realise I was on a main road. then the next thing I knew was a burgundy BMW 733i was about to smash into me and more than likely kill me.

my eyes widened in fear as I stood like a deer in headlights as the car grew closer and closer. the driver wasn't stopping, he was obviously distracted by whoever was in the passenger seat. I had to act fast else I'd be as good as dead, I'd be roadkill.

I shot my hand out in front of me and squeezed my eyes shut, praying that my powers would kick in. thankfully, they must have because the next thing I heard was the sound of tires skidding to a halt. I peeled my eyes open to find that the car had a light dent on the bonnet and was less than an inch away from me.

two familiar brunettes left the car as my arm fell back to my side.

"y/n?" they exclaimed.

"dustin and... STEVE THE HAIR HARRINGTON?!" I yelled back in astonishment.