In case you don't live forever

Chapter 8: Its a map

Peter's Pov:

"It's like... It's like I feel what the shadow monster's feeling. See what he's seeing" Will told Mike and me. "Like in the Upside Down?" Mike asked Will. "Some of him is there. But some of him is here too" Will said. "Here, like, in this house?" I asked.  "In this house and... In me. Its like... Its like he's reaching into Hawkins more and more. And the more he spreads, the more I feel connected to him.." Will sounded so broken. I want to help him but I really had no idea how. Mike and I sat down on either side of Will. "And the more you see these now memories" Mike said. 

"At first I just felt it at the back of my head. I didn't even really know it was there. Its like when you have a dream and you can't remember it unless you think really hard. It was like that. But now its like... Now I remember. I remember all the time" Will told us "Maybe that's good" Mike said. "Good?" Will asked him. "Just think about it, Will. You're like a spy now. A superspy. Spying on the shadow monster. If you know what he's seeing and feeling... maybe that's how we can stop him. Maybe all of this is happening for a reason." Mike explained to Will. "You really think so?" Will asked. "Yeah. Yeah, I really do" Mike told him. Will looked at his drawing of the shadow monster and Mike and I followed his gaze. "What if he figures out we're spying on him? What if he spies back?" Will asked, sounding on the verge of tears. "He won't" I said looking at Will. "How do you know?" He asked me. "We won't let him" I placed my hand on top of his hand.

I laid inside a sleeping bag on Will's floor next to Mike. "Peter? Peter?" I heard someone whisper. I sat up to see Will standing next to me. "What's wrong?" I asked him quietly, trying not to wake up Mike. "Can you... Can you sleep in my bed with me?" Will asked me, hesitantly. I gave him a soft smile and I nod. I got up out of the sleeping bag and Will walked to his bed. I laid down on his bed on one side and he laid on the other side. Gently, I wrapped my arms around him and the two of us fell asleep.

I woke up to the sound of heavy breathing and Will shot up. "Will, what's wrong?" Mike asked him and he just continued to breath heavily. "Will, is everything okay?" I sat up beside him and rubbed his arm a little. He got up and started to walk out of the room. Mike and I followed him to the living room. Joyce was sitting in the middle of the floor with a phone beside her. "Mom? Mom? Mom?" Will gently put his hand on his mom's shoulder. She turned her head to face Will. "I saw him" He told her. "You saw who, baby?" She asked. "Hopper and Harry. I think they're in trouble. I think they're going to die" Will explained to Joyce and I lost my breath and my eyes opened as wide as they physically could. My dad. I don't want my dad to die.

Will drew harshly on a piece of paper with a dark blue crayon. "Is this where you saw them? Is this where you saw Hopper and Harry?" Joyce asked him. "I think so. Yeah" He told her. Joyce took the paper from Will and started looking around the house at all of Will's drawings to find the place where the piece belonged. Mike and I did the same. "Here!" Mike yelled and Joyce ran over to him. I followed her. "Okay so... so Hopper and Harry are here" Joyce held the paper up against the wall. "Yeah. Now we just need to find out where here is, right?" Mike said. "Right" Joyce replied. "Did they say anything? I mean before they left?" Mike asked, looking at both me and Joyce. "Uh, some... something about vines?" Joyce told him. A car pulled up to the house and Joyce got up and started walking towards the door, Mike and I followed. I looked through the window to see that it was Bob's car. Joyce went outside to talk to Bob while Mike, Will and I stayed inside.

The five of us stood in the middle of the living room, staring at all Will's drawings. "You drew all these yourself?" Bob asked Will and Joyce nodded her head. "Why exactly?" Bob asked. "I.. I told you the rules. No questions, okay? We just need you to help us to figure out what... Bob? Bob? Over here" Joyce called running into the kitchen a little. Bob slowly followed Joyce and Will, Mike and I trailed behind. "Where... Where this is" Joyce drew a X in the middle of Will's drawing of where he said Hopper and My dad were. "That's the objective. Find the X" Mike told Bob. "Yeah? What's at the X? Pirate treasure?" Bob chuckled. "Bob, no questions" Joyce said. We went into an awkward silence for a moment until Bob said something. "Let me talk to you for a second. Hang on, guys" Bob said taking Joyce into a different room.

After a few minutes I heard Bob's voice again. "Yeah, That's uh, Sattler's quarry and if you just follow it naturally it moves to the Eno river. And there it is. That's the Eno, do you see it? Okay, so these lines aren't roads. But they act like roads. And they act like roads 'cause when you follow 'em, you'll see... They don't go over water. And that's the giveaway. That's the giveaway. Ha! Don't you get it. Its not a puzzle, its a map. Its a map of Hawkins." He spoke, following the drawings and ending in the kitchen where Will, Mike and I were. "Right, Will?" Bob asked him. Will sat there in silence.

Word count: 1019