In case you don't live forever

Chapter 7: Fear

Peter's Pov:

The five of us ran around the school looking for Will. It was like when we were looking for Dart but this time we were looking for our best friend. Mike, Lucas and I ran outside and saw Will standing in the middle of the field, seemingly frozen. I shook him a few times "Will. Will please wake up" I was so scared. Lucas ran inside to tell the others and soon Joyce, Dustin, Max and Lucas came out of the school and came running towards us. "I just found him like this. I think he's having another episode" Mike told them. Joyce rested her hands on Will's shoulders and shook him gently "Will! Will! Will! Sweetie, wake up! Its Mom." He didn't wake up so Joyce tried again. "Will. Will, wake up. Can you hear me?" No response. We all looked at each other, scared. "Will, please, just wake up. Please, wake up! Its mom! Its me" Joyce sounded like she was going to break at any moment. Will's eyes fluttered a little before opening wide.

Joyce and Will exited the school with the rest of us following. "Okay, that totally freaked me out. Did that not freak you guys out?" Max asked us and we didn't answer. "Two episodes in two days" Lucas said. "It's getting worse" I spoke. "You think its True Sight?" Lucas asked. "What's True Sight?" Max asked us, very confused. Mike looked at Lucas and shook his head a little, signaling that he didn't want him telling her about True Sight. "Its nothing" Lucas told Max. We turned our attention to Joyce and Will and watched them drvie away from the school.

Time skip brought to you by Wyeet Olaf

Me and my family sat at the breakfast table. Its the first time we've actually eaten breakfast together. It is usually just Steve and I because my dads normally go to work early. My dad, Harry has been working nights with Hopper lately for some reason and my other dad, Chris got a promotion at work so his hours changed slightly. I sat quietly poking at my food, tired due to my lack of sleep last night because of how worried about Will I was and still am. "Is something wrong, Peter?" My dad, Harry asked. "No... Nothing's wrong" I told him and faintly smiled. I looked down at my watch and saw the time. "I should probably leave for school. Mike wanted me to come early to help him with something" I said and got up from the table. "Bye. I love you guys" I spoke before going to the door to grab my backpack and fanny pack. "I should probably leave for school too" I heard Steve say and ran up behind me. "Can I drive you to school" He asked and I nodded a little. He grabbed his bag and we left the house. We both got into his car and he pulled out of the driveway. "Is everything okay?" Steve asked me as we drove and Killer Queen by Queen played softly in the background. I nodded a little "Yeah." He glanced at me for a second. "You know you can talk me if anything's wrong, right? I'm your big brother, your hermano mayor, your grand fry" He told me and I giggled lightly. I knew he was trying to say big brother in French. "You're failing French aren't you?" I asked him. "Yup" He said, bluntly. We finally arrived at the school and I got out of the car, thanking Steve for the ride and he got out to go to the high school. I saw my friends standing at the back of the school so I ran over to them. Mike and Max were standing outside the garbage bin with sticks and Lucas was inside the bin. "Lucas have you ever heard of a Staph infection?" I yelled as I approached them. "Yes, I have Peter. You have told me about them and lectured me on them many many times" Lucas yelled from the bin and I rolled my eyes. "Okay now Max, stop being a baby and do it already" Mike told Max, gesturing for her to get in the bin with Lucas. "This is so disgusting. Is this really necessary? And like Peter said 'Staph infections' I don't want a Staph infection" Max complained. "What the hell's going on?" Dustin came around the corner. "What do you think. We're looking for Dart and Peter's screaming at Lucas about Staph Infections" Mike told Dustin and Lucas pushed some trash out of the bin to the ground and I gagged. He swiftly jumped out of the bin and landed, smelling like shit. "Well, well, well, look who finally decided to show up. After I drew the short straw. Real convenient" Lucas ranted to Dustin, annoyed. "You stink" Max told Lucas and went to stand beside Dustin. Dustin looked over at her "Hi, Max" Dustin smiled like a dork. "Hi" She replied. "Where's Will?" Dustin asked going from looking at Max to looking at Mike and I. "He'll be here" Mike told him and he nodded. "Are you just going to stand there? Or are you going to help?" Lucas asked Dustin and threw him a stick. Max, Mike and Dustin started poking the garbage and Lucas kicked it a little. I kept my distance not wanting to get any weird illness or disease that could be lingering in the garbage.

"All living things, from complex mammals to single-celled organisms instinctively respond to danger. Expose a bacterium into a toxic chemical and it will flee. Or deploy some other defense mechanism. We're very much the same. When we encounter danger, our hearts start pounding. Our palms start to sweat. These are the physical and emotional state we call... fear" Mr. Clarke explained to the class. Mike and I looked over at Will's empty seat in the classroom and we both got worried. He barely ever missed school. Something was seriously wrong.

I stood beside the phone as Mike tried to call Joyce. The phone rung on the other end a few times and Joyce didn't answer. Mike slammed the phone against the stand and we both ran back to the rest of the group. "Anything?" Lucas asked. "We need to talk. AV room. Right now" Mike told them and I followed him up the small staircase leading to the door. Dustin, Max and Lucas all stood up and Mike noticed Max stood up. "Party members only" He told her. "Come on, Mike" Dustin said to him. "No! This is non-negotiable" Mike told Dustin and Mike and I went inside. "Sorry Max" Dustin said to her and went inside We went to the AV room and sat in the room, Mike and I facing Dustin and Lucas. "Will didn't want us to tell anyone, but on Halloween night he saw a sort of shadow in sky" Mike started. "A shadow? What kind of shadow?" Lucas asked. "I don't know but it scared him. And if Will really has True Sight... I mean, if he can really see into the Upside Down, maybe he saw that shadow again yesterday" Mike told him. "So that's why he was frozen like that?" Dustin said. "Maybe" I looked at Dustin. "Can it hurt him? I mean, if the shadow thing isn't from our world..." Lucas asked. "I'm not sure. Dustin?" Mike looked at Dustin. "Well, if you're in another plane, you can't interact with the material plane, so theoretically no, the shadow can't hurt him" Dustin explained. "Yeah, if that's even what's happening. This isn't D&D. This is real life" Mike said. "So what do we do?" Lucas asked him. "We acquire more knowledge. Peter and I will go to Will's after school. See what's going on. You guys stay here and find Dart" Mike told Lucas and Dustin. "Dart? What's he gotta do with this?" Dustin asked. "Will heard him in the Upside Down. I don't know how yet but he's gotta be connected to all this. He's gotta be. If we find Dart, maybe we can solve this thing. Maybe we can help Will" I said, determined.

Mike and I rode our bikes beside each other to Will's house. When we got there we placed our bikes on the ground and ran up to the door. Mike knocked on the door a few times. "Hello? Will!" He said, knocking. "Mrs Byers?" He knocked again. The door unlocked and Joyce stood at the door not fully open. "Hey Mike and Peter" She said and I gave her a small smile. "Is Will here?" Mike asked her. "You know what? Now is not a really good time" She told us. "Is be okay?" I asked. She came outside, closing the door. "Yeah. You know he's... He's just not feeling real well. He's laying down. I'll tell him you boys stopped by, okay?" She spoke and went back to the door, just about to open it. "Its about the shadow monster isn't it?" Mike asked her and she turned around looking at us with wide eyes.

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