ANGELA [STRANGER THINGS]

seven.

" THEY SAY HOME IS WHERE YOUR HEART IS SET IN STONE. IT'S WHERE YOU GO WHEN YOU'RE ALONE "

—

The monster knew Angela was here now.

It all made the entire expedition harder and more nerve-wrecking than before. At first, it was all still scary for Angela but now that the monster knows she's there and walking around freely, it was hunting her.

She ran from the forest, making it all the way to the Byers' household. It would be the first place to look for Will.

Angela had shot the creature only once, but it only seemed to cause enough distraction for her to run far from it. As long as there was no blood, and she refrained from making noise, she should just get by alive. But then again, this wasn't her world, and there were no rules for that monster.

Angela entered through the front door of the house. She took shaky breaths as she examined her surroundings with her gun held up in front of her torso. If she couldn't save Will from this torture, then she will at least make sure she puts that monster right where it belonged: in Hell.

"Will?" she called softly, lowering her weapon as she found the area to be clear. "Will, where are you?"

She opened the door to the bathroom, only to find it completely empty. She checked Will's room, but found nothing. Was he even alive anymore?

Angela didn't want to think about it being too late, but she couldn't ignore that it was a possibility. This may be all a lost cause, but Angela didn't want to give up just yet. Not until she checked every possible corner of the town.

She pushed open the last door. Jonathan's room lay bare, with the exception of normal bedroom furniture. She walked into the room, careful of where her feet landed. It was deathly silent, but oddly, she felt safer.

"Will?"

It was one last attempt, and when she saw tiny fingers poking out of the darkness from underneath the bed, Angela fell to her knees and helped Will crawl out of his hiding spot.

His skin was cold and clammy, but Angela didn't hesitate to pull him into a tight hug. Will shivered, not having proper warmth in days. He cherished what little warmth he could get from Angela's body by digging his head further into her neck and bringing his arms up against her.

"It's going to be okay," Angela murmured, easing the child in her arms. "I'm going to bring you home."

Angela knew exactly where to go to get home, but she was hoping that there was another route besides the one in the laboratory. To crawl right back into the hands of that horrid man was practically suicide in Angela's mind.

Angela squeezed Will in a form of comfort, but both of them knew that they weren't safe at all. The loud roar in the distance gave that away.

"Will, where else can we hide?"

"Castle Byers."

Will led the way out the back of his house and into the woods. There was a little hut amidst the trees that was camouflaged into the surroundings. Will tugged Angela through the entrance, which was really just a blanket covering a hole. If she were honest, Angela felt safer inside Jonathan's bedroom.

"Normally there's a password, but I'll let it slide this one time," Will said, smiling hopefully up at Angela. She chuckled, pulling him into her.

"Thanks, kid."

Will had his head on Angela's shoulder. Despite not really knowing each other, they were comfortable. They were strangers, but somehow without any word or thought, there seemed to be an unsaid mutual agreement that they were friends. Even if Angela was seventeen and Will was twelve, it didn't matter because they understood each other. Stuck in a parallel universe with a monster that was hunting them down was enough reason to be comfortable with one another. Will didn't care if Angela was the sister to one of his best friends, and Angela didn't care that Will was the brother of a boy that she massively admired.

Angela took the safety off her pistol, staying on guard as she allowed Will to fall asleep against her.

In that quiet time, Angela thought about Jonathan. Was he worried about her? Was he working on saving her?

Angela liked to think that Jonathan was doing everything he could to get her and his brother back.

—

Did any of you guys have homecoming this past weekend? I did. I mean, I didn't go. I was just thinking of a question to ask to be honest. If you went (if you had homecoming), did you have a good time?

By the way, just because I'm doing this in my English class, what do you think makes a good hero? I just want some insight on what other people think about what makes a hero. Not necessarily important to answer, just a little survey on my part.

Hope you liked this chapter, thank you for reading it.

All my love,
mikayla x.