013

8.7K 284 22
                                    

NEWS OF the discovery of Will Byers' body monopolized all news media that night, while neighbors met on street-corners to speculate over how such a tragedy could come to pass in their quiet, safe, little town

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.


NEWS OF the discovery of Will Byers' body monopolized all news media that night, while neighbors met on street-corners to speculate over how such a tragedy could come to pass in their quiet, safe, little town.

Ana had only known the boy for a short time, but his death still caused a grief to settle upon her nonetheless. So, she drank and cried in the privacy of her own home that evening. Feeling more alone than ever before.

The untimely death of anyone is a loss to the world. The demise of someone so young, though, isn't just a loss of life-it's a loss of potential. The things they could have grown to be, what they could have added to the world around them, the mistakes they could have made and learned from, all gone in an instant.

The following day was a shit show. The assembly was a joke, one she skipped witnessing altogether. And, to top it all off, someone had tripped the fire alarm causing all students and staff to evacuate the premises. Ana had ended up back home that night wondering why she'd even bothered with the day to begin with. Her earlier, casual evening of burgers at Benny's and drinks as the pub seemed like a lifetime ago, a different existence entirely.

Having every intention of repeating her previous evenings means of coping, Ana had barely settled into her couch with a drink in hand when a loud knock sounded on her front door.

She wasn't surprised by Hopper's presence at her home, but the frantic look in his eyes gave her pause.

"Are you alone?" He questioned frenziedly, looking around the obviously empty house.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She had asked back,  perturbed by his shifty demeanor. No one came here but him. Well, except...

Hopper quickly shut the door behind him, clicking the deadbolt into place and rounded on her then, grabbing onto both Ana's shoulders a bit rougher than intended. "None of it's been real. It's all been a lie." He was leaning down then, so they were eye to eye, hardly a breath separating them.

"Slow down," she said, placing her hands over his in an attempt to loosen the firm grip he held on her shoulders. "Explain what's going on." But, then she felt them, the already forming scabs on his knuckles. Holding his hands in her own, she inspected them further, brushing her thumbs over the red and raw skin she found there. "How did this happen?"

Honestly, Ana could guess how the marks came to be, but there were apparent details that she was missing. Questions with answers that only Hopper could provide, but he wasn't in the right frame of mind to articulate them to her just yet.

"Will Byers' body was a fake. It's all been a setup," he whispered with eyes blazing into her own.

It's not that she didn't believe him, but he needed to help her understand. "How can you know for sure?"

"I cut open the body." Ana's eyes nearly bulged out of her head, becoming the size of dinner plates. She instantly dropped Hopper's hands and backed away from him in shock.

STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED_JIM HOPPERWhere stories live. Discover now