Steve's Girl

Chapter 14 : Will Byers is dead

I cannot believe Jonathan didn't let me see what was past the clearing, and that he didn't even think to look at the ditch I told him about. 

"I don't understand why I couldn't see what you saw." 

"Sofie, just leave it already. It's better if you don't know." 

"Jonathan, come on! Tell me!" I laughed. 

"No!" He laughed back. 

We were finally driving home. I'm kind of nervous that mom beat us home. 

"Do you think mom beat us home?" 

"Honestly, I think she might've." 

"Jonathan!" 

"What! I thought we would be back before her!" 

"If she finds out that we were gone, I'm blaming you." 

"Fine." 

We fell silent for a little and we were already on the road that led to the house, when suddenly Jonathan breaks. We both jerked forward.

"What the hell Jonathan!" I shouted before I looked out the window and saw the reason he stopped. "Mom!" 

We both got out of the car and ran towards her. 

"Mom, what's wrong!" 

"Mom, what happened!" 

"There was a- and Will- and the wall..." 

She wasn't making any sense. She was nervous and she was stammering, but more than anything she looked scared. 

"Mom. Mom, take a deep breath and tell us what happened." 

She look from me then to Jonathan. She took a shaky breath then began again. 

"A monster came out of the wall! I swear I'm not crazy! I know what I saw! You have to believe me!" 

She started panicking again. 

"Mom, it's okay! It's okay! Get in the car and we'll go back to the house. I'll check that everything is alright, okay?" 

I was looking into her panicked eyes. 

"Mom? Please say something." Jonathan spoke up. 

She started nodding her head and spoke, "Let's go."

We got her into the car and started to make our way back to the house. Once we got to the front yard, I took a deep breath and reached out to open the car door. Jonathan held onto my other hand, and I looked over at him. 

"Are you sure you wanna go in there alone? I could go with you." 

I looked into the rearview mirror and looked at Mom. She looked terrified. I believed every single word she said. I know somethings just don't feel real right now, but I've seen some crazy shit in the last few days. 

"I'll be okay. If there is something in there, I have my powers to protect myself. You don't. Just... stay here and watch her, okay?" 

"Yeah, just don't take long." 

"I won't, I promise." 

I got out of the car and shut the door quietly. I slowly walked towards the open door of the house. All the lights were on, but it was quiet. I stepped in and looked around. There were Christmas lights all over the house. Mom had painted the alphabet on the wall with black paint. I looked throughout the house and there was nothing. 

I walked back towards the door and looked towards where Jonathan and Mom were now. He was hugging her while sitting on the hood of the car. Her back was to me. I looked at him and shook my head. There was nothing here. Everything looked fine, besides our house looking like the Christmas section of a store in December. 

They both made their way over to me and walked inside. We sat Mom down on the couch. She was shivering. 

"Jonathan, can you get her a glass of water? I'm gonna go get her a blanket."

We both walked away and got what we needed before returning to the couch. Mom was staring at the wall behind us. I looked over my shoulder and stared at the wall. It looked perfectly normal. 

"Mom? Can you tell us what you saw?"

"It was li-"

She was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. All of our heads whipped around towards the door. Before any of us could make our way to the door, someone was already pushing it open. 

Hopper stepped inside. We were all just looking at him. He walked over to us and stood there not saying anything. 

"Can we help you?" I asked, very confused. 

"There's something I need to tell you guys."

He stopped and looked at us once more. There was something in his eyes. There was just something about the way he was looking at us that didn't seem right. 

"There were some guys from the state out by the quarry. What we have gathered right now is that Will crashed his bike, wandered over and fell in by accident." 

I felt the whole world stop around me. Like there was no more air. I looked over at Jonathan and saw him already looking at me. My eyes were watering and so were his. 

I looked over at Mom and she was still staring at the wall. She wasn't even listening. 

"Joyce, do you understand what I'm saying?"

"No, no." 

"Joyce, I'm so sorry."

My world was falling apart. My little brother was dead. The Byers trio was now a duo. 

"No, Hop you don't understand! I talked to him!"

"Joyce, Joyce! Calm down. When I first lost Sarah, I saw her everywhere. I heard her. It never goes away, but it does get better."

"No, I know what that is Hopper. That's called grief. That's not what I'm talking about."

"A monster? What did it look like?" 

"It was human but not. It had long arms and legs and it was white and tall. It didn't have a face." 

My head snapped up. 'It didn't have a face.' I knew exactly what monster she was talking about. It was the same monster I had seen take Will. I felt my chest getting even tighter thinking about what I had seen. 

I tuned back into what Hopper and Mom were talking about. She was upset. She didn't believe him. Jonathan rushed forward and pulled her away from Hopper. I also rushed forward to pull Jonathan away from her. 

"Mom, listen to what he's saying! Don't you understand?!" 

"Jonathan stop!" 

He took two steps back before rushing towards his room at the end of the hallway. 

I finally let everything sink in. The monster, Will, Hopper, Mom, Jonathan. I felt myself begin to choke up.

Will was dead.