syzygy ♠ stranger things

20.0

"It can cut you like a knife- if the gift becomes the fire, on the wire between will and what will be"

-

I woke up in such a strange, curled position in such an unfamiliar place that I felt as if i were still stuck in a fever dream. The silky pink curtains of Nancy's room were still against her vent, sunlight pouring through like melted snow running to gutters. The room was equally as cold. I brought my jacket closer before realizing it was the arm of a stirring Jonathan Byers.

His eyes, wide with fright, took in the scene around us, then relaxed when I smiled awkwardly in his direction.

"Oh god, the lovebirds are awake." I heard from the bed. Nancy and Jade sat, hair suck up in bits of lightning, satisfied smirks on their faces. My eyes flickered to the blanket bed we'd made the night before- barely shifted.

"Whatever you say." I returned the evil grin, making redness creep into their cheeks.

"Anyways," Jade coughed, hand on a page in one of the books spread over the bed. "We have something to show you."

I leaned over the side, still next to Jonathan, and studied the page they'd spread out in front of me. A large shark was sketched in it's corner, mouth agape.

"We think we have a bit of an idea of what this thing is."

I read the sections Nancy had written beside: 'Ate deer= corkscrew', 'Lots of teeth', and 'Smell blood= trap?'. The words and notes clicked together like a puzzle in my mind.

"So it's a shark- thing, huh?"

"Precisely." the eraser of Nancy's pencil tapped the page softly.

I felt a rock slide down my throat from my swallow deep in the pit of my stomach. Jonathan glanced over before speaking.

"So- we're going to test it?"

No one responded, looking down at the page. The shark's teeth did look massive, even in an illustration.

I clenched a fist. "And if it works?"

"We'll know what's coming." Nancy spoke in a hushed tone.

My vision clouded, a dark lens placed over the edges of my sight, the shark's mouth gaping wider and wider-

The sharp jiggling doorknob startled me so badly that I fell back on my heels onto Jonathan, who hit the floor with a grunt. Jade's hand went to Nancy's, all of us barely breathing.

"Nancy?" Mrs. Wheeler called. "Are you awake?"

The girl shut her eyes softly. "Yes, I-I'm getting changed."

"Alright, well, I'm making pancakes!"

"I'll be down in a few minutes!"

As her footsteps faded from the door, Nancy squeezed Jade's hand tightly and Jonathan's arm tugged me into a small hug.

"Let's get out of here." I nodded to my friend, and she pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a large sweatshirt from her mom. I, still dressed in yesterday's clothes, pulled her bag over my shoulder and cracked open Nancy's window.

"Let us know when you want us to meet- you have our number?" I called out to Nancy, halfway out the window. She nodded and waved us away. Jade, last to leave, held a big grin on her face as we headed back home. The morning was warmer today, with the lack of wind and the Sun gleaming down at us softly. There was a bounce in my step, whether or not the weather was bringing my mood up or the thought of finding Will and Barb, or that Jade was happier too, I did not know. I was glad the feeling stayed as we passed my house- it almost looked like the shell of what it used to be- dark and glaring at the rest of the world.