There's No Place Like Hawkins//Stranger Things. SH

THIRTY THREE

Dig Dug

"It's like... It's like I feel what the shadow monster's feeling." Will told Mike and Cat. Cat sat next to Will and wrapped an arm around the young boy, pulling him into a sort of side hug. "See what he's seeing." Will continued.

"Like in the Upside Down?" Mike asked as he followed the trail of paper around the room.

Will nodded slightly. "Some of him is there. But some of him is here, too."

"What do you mean?" Cat asked him.

"Here, like, in this house?" Mike asked, just as confused as Cat was.

"In this house and... in me." Cat pulled Will closer to her, not knowing what to say. She glanced over at Mike as he took a seat on the other side of Will. "It's like... It's like he's reaching into Hawkins more and more." Will explained. "And the more he spreads, the more connected to him I feel."

"And the more you see these now-memories." Mike added, understanding what his friend was getting at.

"At first I just felt it in the back of my head." Will explained, raising a hand to the back of his neck. "I didn't even really know it was there. It's like when you have a dream and you can't remember it unless you think really hard. It was like that." He began shaking and Cat held onto him slightly tighter, hoping to provide the boy some sort of comfort. "But now it's like... Now I remember. I remember all the time."

"Maybe... maybe that's good." Mike suggested and Cat nodded slightly, although she was unsure where Mike was going with this.

"Good?"

"Just think about it, Will. You're like a spy now. A superspy." Mike explained.

"Yeah." Cat agreed. "You can tell us what the shadow monster's doing and where he is."

"Exactly. If you know what he's seeing and feeling..." Mike added. "Maybe that's how we can stop him. Maybe all of this is happening for a reason."

"You really think so?" Will asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I really do."

"We don't know why it's happening, but I promise you, Will. We are gonna figure this shit out." Cat told him, running her fingers through his hair. The boys looked down at Will's drawing of the shadow monster and Cat followed their gaze.

"What if he figures out we're spying on him?" Will asked. "What if he spies back?"

"He won't."

"We'll make sure of it."

"How do you know?"

Mike placed a hand on Will's shaking one. "We won't let him."

***

Will shot up in his bed, gasping. Cat shut her book, her attention turning to the boy. "You okay?" She had been unable to sleep and so had been up all night reading.