Imagines and Preferences: Book 1

Less Scary | Will Byers

Summary: You're trapped in the Upside Down when you find Castle Byers.

QOTP: Johnathan or Steve?

Word Count: 5670

Your eyes are unfocused, staring at nothing. Blurred shapes you've studied for who knows how long, having nothing else to look at.

You won't go outside.

You can't.

There's nothing of use out there, anyway.

An unearthly snarl meets your ears, one you're familiar with. Before, it terrified you, made you stop in your tracks, eyes wide as you looked for the source in the dark. You don't even react now.

You're a caged animal, and you have been for quiet some time.

At first, you ran.

This place looks like your home, only dark, dilapidated, and overgrown. You thought there was something here. A way out. You searched for food and water, but mostly, you searched for people. You found none.

It's been months, though it feels like longer, and you've forgotten what people look like - the ones you want the most. Your parents, your friends. You'll settle for anyone, though. Loneliness is crippling.

After you searched the whole town of Hawkins, you began to lose hope and headed for the woods.

That's where you found it.

It was made of sticks, lined up and tied together like a child's fort, but impressively bigger - a tree house on the ground. There was an American flag staked on top. Back home, it'd be blowing in the wind proudly. Here, it hung down, as sad as the rest of this place.

The door was a bed sheet hanging in an opening in the sticks. Over the door, three signs were hung, written in neat, yet child-like handwriting:

CASTLE BYERS

HOME OF WILL THE WISE

ALL FRIENDS WELCOME

Will Byers.

The name sounded familiar, but you couldn't remember what he looked like. He went to your school, but you didn't have any classes together. You thought he was in AV club with those boys he always hung around with. Their names were lost on you.

You'd never really spoken to Will, just seen him around. Hawkins wasn't a particularly big town.

You looked up at the sign again.

ALL FRIENDS WELCOME

You weren't friends, but maybe you could've been. You stepped inside, pushing the sheet back.

You could see the surrounding woods through the gaps in the sticks. Drawings were posted up on the makeshift walls, scattered all over. There were three small tables next to a low bed made of a tattered mattress, a gray comforter, and a single pillow.

One table sat to the upper right, holding art supplies. Another was near the door, empty. The last was on the left of the bed, and a lamp sat atop it. You tried to turn it on, but it didn't have a bulb.