Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
CINDY HARRINGTON SLUMPED into the Byers' couch, her arms wrapped around her body, pulling her polyester ski jacket closer to her body as an attempt to keep warm. The Byers' house wasn't freezing, but the heater that occupied the home was old, occasionally shutting itself off and leaving the home lingering with a cold chill.
She leaned her head against the back of the couch, watching as Steve swung the nailed bat a few times in front of him, the sound of the bat's swooshes cutting through the deafening silence that hung over the home.
Hopper, Joyce, Jonathan, and Mike had taken Will into the shed, which was now covered from floor to ceiling with an assortment of tarps and other trash that wouldn't give away their location. Now all the rest of them could do was wait.
The sound of a door opening pulled Cindy from her thoughts, and she sat up, peering into the kitchen to see Hopper pacing around the small room, grabbing a notepad before pulling up a chair to the table.
"What happened?"
Dustin was the first to speak, standing over the man's shoulder and looking down at what he was writing on the paper.
Standing, Cindy treaded quickly into the kitchen with Steve following behind her. She fell into place at Dustin's side, standing on her tiptoes in order to see over Hopper's large frame.
"I think he's talking," Hopper sighed, gripping the pen in his hand tighter, "just not with words."
Cindy's eyes followed his hand, brows creasing as he scribbled down a series of dots and dashes onto the notepad. Steve placed his hand where her neck met her shoulder, peering over her short frame, and squinting down at the scribbles on the paper.
Steve shook his head, unaware to what the police chief was talking about. "What is that?"
As if they had planned it, the boys' voices rang out in sync. "Morse code."
Hopper moved below the dots and dashes, studying them silently before beginning to spell out a word.
"H-E-R-E."
"Here," Cindy let the word tumble from her lips, her voice meshing into the chorus of her friend's voices in the anxious silence that bloated the room.
"Will's still in there," Hopper lifted a finger to his lips, letting it rest there as he gazed down at the word, "He's talking to us."
And so, another plan fell into place. Hopper, Jonathan, Joyce, and Mike would be in the shed with Will, using stories of the past to bring back memories, using Will's belongings to bring him back to the real world.
