Shadows and Monsters- A Jonathan Byers/Stranger Things fanfiction

Chapter 8: Searching

    Jonathan and I left the school and drove to his house. His mom wasn't home, and Jonathan didn't know where she was. She was probably with Chief Hopper, doing the same thing we were about to do. It was starting to get late and I was sitting in Jonathan's room while he was putting together somethings he thought we would need.  With his Evil Dead poster right in front of me, I looked around his room like he did in mine, but before I could dig around Jonathan broke my train of thought.

"Ever shot a gun before?" He asked, as he loaded the cylinder of the small handgun with bullets.

    My dad kept a handgun just like Jonathan's in our kitchen drawer. He told me to use it in case anyone tried to break into our house while I was inside and he was out working. I knew the basics of it, but I only shot once a couple of times at some soup cans outside in our backyard. I only successfully shot two of the four. My father laughed at me, saying it was good enough. 

"Yeah, but only a couple of times. Does your mom know you have a gun?" I asked.

"Does your dad know that you smoke cigarettes?" He teased.

"Touché." He was quick.

"What our parents don't know won't kill them." He added, though in this case it actually could. I saw a baseball bat placed in the corner of Jonathan's room and grabbed it and brought it back to where I was sitting.

"I think I'll stick with the bat." I joked.

"You've shot a gun before, and I haven't in a long time, so I'll take the bat." He took the bat from my loose grip and traded it for the gun that he placed in my hands instead.

   I held the gun in my hand, examining it's cold, metal, no nonsense vibe I got from it. This was getting more and more serious. I was hoping I wouldn't have to kill anything, but if it was to save Will Byers, I would do whatever it takes. 

  Jonathan packed a couple flashlights, his camera, and some extra bullets in his bag. We left the house at about six or seven o'clock. The sky was a bright orange before it would turn black slowly yet surely and soon. We were blindly walking into the woods where Jonathan's brother went missing with no one knowing where we were, minimal weapons, and maximum danger. I was nervous, but I hid it well so that I could be strong for Jonathan. I wanted to help him in anyway I could.

   We walked closer to the back woods of the street where Will was reported last seen. The sky had officially turned black and Jonathan handed me a flashlight. I liked being outside and I liked the woods, but the darkness made the slightest noise scary. We kept walking and looking for any type of answer or clue as to where Will was, when we unexpectedly heard a loud bloodcurdling scream.

"C'mon." Jonathan whispered to me and we quickly ran to the source of the scream. We crouched down in the dirt and leaves to find that we were behind Steve's house and the scream was from Carol who was screaming at Tommy who was picking her up and teasing her about kicking her into Steve's pool. 

"Wow." I whispered, Jonathan turned to me with a confused look. "Nancy invited me to this party."

"Really?" Jonathan asked surprisingly. "You're friends with Nancy Wheeler?"

"Were." I corrected him. 

  Jonathan pulled out some binoculars that he must've slipped into his bag without me noticing and watched Nancy, Barb, Tommy, Carol, and Steve having a drunken night by the pool. I couldn't help but watch too, although it was pretty boring. Jonathan pulled out his camera and started taking pictures.

"What are you doing?" I asked him, but he didn't say anything. I didn't really care, I wasn't going to suddenly take the side of Steve and his idiot friends.

  Nancy, Steve, Tommy, and Carol were all in the pool throwing and splashing each other around when I noticed that Barb wasn't there. I figured she went inside the house, away from everyone else. Maybe we were more similar then I thought. Then everybody went inside, leaving only myself and Jonathan to ourselves.

"Should we keep looking else where?" I pulled on the arm Jonathan's jacket, finding what we were doing seemingly pointless.

"Hold on." He pointed his camera and took pictures of Steve's pool.

  I got into a more comfortable position of kneeling on the ground when out of the blue, Barb came back outside and sat on the diving board. Jonathan took a couple pictures of her  with her feet in the water. We watched her for a few minutes until we heard a noise that sounded behind Jonathan and I, and it sounded close. We both turned around to see if someone had caught us spying, but it didn't seem to be anything but wind. When we turned back around to our view of Barb, she was gone. 

"Where did she go?" I asked Jonathan.

"I don't know, maybe she left." He suggested.

"Let's go back. It's getting late." I started to walk back into the woods and far away from Steve Harrington's house. Jonathan joined behind me.

"That was kind of weird, right?" He asked me, making me a little nervous.

"I mean, a little. But I'm sure she just went home." I told Jonathan, trying to be in denial of how I really felt, as usual. He nodded and we walked back to his house. 

   The Byer's house had it's lights on inside and a another car in the lot, therefore meaning Mrs. Byers was home. I had to get my backpack that I left in Jonathan's room, so Jonathan and I quietly unlocked the front door to see Mrs. Byers sleeping in her chair with the phone in her lap. Jonathan put his pointer finger in front of his lips, signaling me to be quiet. I nodded, and we quietly walked around Mrs. Byers to get into Jonathan's room. It was about ten o'clock. Jonathan handed me my backpack.

"Thanks." 

"C'mon, I'll drive you home. You can't walk home by yourself this late." This wasn't an offer, it was a command, but it was because Jonathan had my best interest at heart. I nodded and smiled and we quietly went behind Mrs. Byers again back out to Jonathan's car, and back into the darkness.

**I hope you guys are still okay with me switching around some of the events of the show for Julia and Jonathan's sake, bear with me! Thank you guys for reading, it literally brightens my day! Love to all x**