𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝘆𝗲𝘀, ( 𝗺𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿 )

[11] PRETTY

MARIELLA KNOCKS ON THE DOOR, tapping her leg with her finger impatiently as she waits for one of the boys to open the door. 'This better be good', she thought to herself, rubbing her puffy eyes.

She could hear shuffling behind the door and finally it swings open, revealing Mike who didn't even greet her. Instantly grabbing her hand, pulling her into the house and shutting the door.

"What? What's so important that you dragged me out of the house?" She asks, as he pulls her down the basement steps.
He ignores her once again, going faster down the stairs.

"Mike—! Ow! Michael!" Mariella groans as he pulls her down too hard and causes her to skip two steps and land incorrectly on her ankle.

"It's Will," He mumbles, dragging her over to the makeshift fort Eleven resides in. She sat in the middle while Dustin and Lucas sat in front of her, Mike sitting down as well, Mariella following in suit — wondering why the air was so tension-ridden and why Lucas and Dustin sat silently and why Mike seemed to be anything other than grieving.

She notices how Eleven grips Mike's walkie and twists around with the knob carefully, static crackling and eyes closed

"What's..." Mariella starts, before she's shushed by Mike and she sighs softly before going silent.

A whimper goes off through the walkie, quietly for a split second. Then it stopped.

"We keep losing the signal, it you heard it, right?" Mike asks while turning his head to the others.

"Yeah, I heard a baby," Lucas responds, as if the answer was obvious.

"What?" Mike says, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"Mike, you obviously tapped into a baby monitor. It's probably the Blackburns' next door," Lucas says, voice dull and using his hands for emphasis.

"Uh, did that sound like a baby to you?" Mike scoffs, shaking his head. "That was Will!".

"Mike..." Lucas trails.

"Lucas, you don't understand. He spoke last night. Words! He was singing that weird song he loves. Even El heard him," Mike bickers back, voice confident.

"He was singing?" Mariella mumbles, looking up from the piece of carpet she had been pulling at. She already knew which song Mike was talking about.

"Oh, well, if the weirdo heard him, then I guess—" Lucas starts with wide eyes and sarcasm dripping from his lips.

"Are you sure you're on the right channel?" Dustin asks, curiously.

"I don't think it's about that. I think, somehow, she's channeling him," Mike answers, staring down at the walkie.

Lucas looks at Mike brows furrowed deeply and shakes his head.

"Like... Like Professor X," Dustin says, eyes wide with excitement.

"Yeah," Mike smiles, pointing at Dustin in agreement.

"Are you actually believing this crap? Ella, are you believing this?" Lucas asks, shaking his head over and over while looking to Mariella who sat with her head down and hair fallen into her face.

All heads turn to her, Mike out of instinct bunching her hair out of her face and pushing it to the back while she looks up and shrugs.

"It doesn't make sense. We saw... We saw..." She starts, stumbling over her words as she struggles to utter 'his body' out. It made it feel too real.

"Remember when Will fell off his bike and broke his finger? He sounded a lot like that," Dustin comments, his eyes lit up and smile tugging at his lips.