𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐌𝐀, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧 | 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐧𝐞

chapter three; the call

꒰꒰・┄┄・𓆩♡𓆪・┄┄・꒱꒱

"HOW'S THIS?" Jonathan hands a piece of paper to Summer, the words 'have you seen me?' written across the top in big black letters. The two of them had spent the early afternoon working on posters they wish they didn't have to while Joyce continued to ring up the phone bill.

She had been trying to call Lonnie, the boys' father, but was rudely hung up on by his apparently incoherent girlfriend. She had even cursed at the younger woman and slammed the phone down, which shocked both the older teens. It wasn't like her to be so forward and touchy, but anyone would be the same if one of their children had gone missing.

With Joyce so worked up and Jonathan still making the posters, Summer had taken it upon herself to help clean up around the house. She'd scrubbed the sink full of dishes and put away the overloaded basket of clean washing while throwing on another load. She had even cleaned up the mess Jonathan had made earlier, placing all of his books back on the shelf. She brushed her finger idly over the spines of the long-abandoned ones once she had finished when a photo poking out at the end piques her interest.

Pulling it from the shelf, she takes in it's rough edges before turning it over to see that it's a photo of her with the two Byers' boys. It was from Will's last birthday, and he was sat in the middle with icing on the tip of his nose, a courtesy that Summer had given him, as the older two hugged him from either side.

They had the biggest smiles on their faces and Summer could still hear Will's contagious giggling ringing in her ears after she had wiped the icing on his nose only for him to get her back and wipe some across her cheek.

"Hey, Mom's off the phone..." Jonathan stops as he enters his room, seeing Summer holding the photo of the three of them. "I forgot I had that."

"Look how happy he is," Summer smiles weakly, her finger tracing over Will's face. "Is it okay if I have this?"

"Yeah." He nods, patting her on the back softly before leading her out of the room.

The two re-join Joyce in the lounge as she frantically paced back and forth across the carpet. She'd been waiting to hear back from Jim Hopper, the chief of police, but until then it was a matter of waiting around which only made them feel useless. Joyce wanted to be out there looking for her twelve year old more than anything and sitting around doing nothing was eating away at her.

It was hours before Hopper finally showed up in the driveway, his Chevy catching the attention of the three immediately as it lit up the house. Joyce rushed out the door with Jonathan and Summer right behind her as they watched the man pull something from the back of his vehicle.

It was something big. With wheels. A bike?

Will's bike.

Joyce ran to the man in uniform as he held her youngest son's transportation. "We found it dumped in the woods, not far from Mirkwood," Hopper informs her and then gestures for everyone to head inside, Callahan and Powell following his lead.