Stranger Than Normal

Chapter Twenty-Four

When we got there I immediately starting crying out of frustration, desperation, and sadness. El also immediately held me close to her with her arm across my back and she held my head to her chest.

Eventually, I stopped crying and wiped my face. I zoned in, to the cabin to make sure that Hopper was gone before grabbing El's hand and teleporting back to the cabin. I let go of her hand and let her wander off, telling her I was fine. I numbly walked back to our shared room while El sat down on the couch and started watching Halloween movies.

I closed the door behind me and slid down it to the floor where I pulled my knees to my chest and silent tears rolled down my already puffy cheeks. I decided to get over myself. Will knows I'm alive and well. He just doesn't know where I am.

I guessed that the boys were all already at school by now so I zoned in to find Will. He was still at home but he was wearing his costume and Johnathan was taking pictures for Joyce. I wasn't listening to their conversation but made a mental note to teleport there when the house was empty and take one of the pictures when Johnathan eventually got them made.

I made sure he got to school safe and then zoned out. I didn't want to watch over Will today. But I sent a message into Mike's head because he and Will are best friends. Please make sure that you take care of Will and that he's safe. I zoned in to him and saw him jump slightly. He nodded to himself and then stepped closer to Will.

I zoned out now that I was sure Will would be taken care of. I went into the living room and sat down next to El and we watched movies. I later checked on Will while he was in class and then zoned back out where El started flipping through the channels.

"How does it feel? Like pouring pure silk onto my skin," The lady on the TV spoke. El nudged her head to the side and the knob on the TV also turned, changing the channel. "Inhuman. Relentless. Arnold Schwarzenegger is... The Term--" A man said before El flipped the channel again.

"Well, I'm stunned. I don't know what to think." The woman exclaimed. "Don't you love me?" The man asked. "Of course I love you," She replied, "It's just that it's so sudden. I mean, it's not like you," She continued.

"Erica, I am this way because of you," The man told who I assumed was Erica. "Me?" Erica and El asked at the same time. I looked over at her and she was very invested in this show and was even acting as if she were a character on it. "You have made me wild and impetuous, just like you," The man said. "Impetuous," El copied him, probably not knowing what it means.

"People are going to be aghast." The woman said. "People are going to be aghast," El mimicked her. "They're gonna love it," The man laughed. El then turned around to look at something outside, I just assumed she heard something and then went into a flashback when she walked up the window at a squirrel.

I decided that since it was still kinda early in the morning I would take a quick shower. I went into the room I shared with El and grabbed some clothes. I walked into the bathroom after grabbing an old towel and closed the door behind me. I looked in the mirror as I passed it and took the time to look at my mess of a self.

My (Y/E/C) eyes had lost their spark that I knew was once there. It had dimmed more and more each year but now it was gone and my eyes were dull (Y/E/C). I had bags under my eyes from lack of sleep throughout the months' I'd been stuck in this hellhole. My hair hadn't been properly brushed in a long time and it was all tangled and knotty. I sighed a long and deep sigh before stripping and stepping into the hot water.

After having a small breakdown, I got out of the shower I dried myself off before putting my clothes on and stepping out into the living room. As I passed by the clock I saw that I had been having my breakdown in the shower for a little over an hour. I sat down on the couch next to El and checked up on Will. I also noticed that Will was going home with Johnathan so it was a lot later than I thought. I zoned out and told El to wake me up at around six o'clock since that was when they usually went trick or treating and then went into our room and took a nap.

El came in and woke me up a bit before seven so I went ahead and got up. I stayed in our room because I tended to have my eyes open when I zoned out and was told it's very creepy. I zoned in on where Will was and saw him and Joyce getting ready for Will to go trick or treating. She was helping him put his costume on while Johnathan and Joyce's new boyfriend, Bob, talked about Bob's camera.

"Listen. Stay close to your brother, okay? And listen, listen, listen... If you get a bad feeling or anything, you tell him to take you straight home. You promise?" Will kept saying "Okay" and gave Joyce a thumbs up. "Are you ready, bud?" Johnathan asked Will, walking over towards him. "Yeah," Will said before him and Johnathan walked out the door towards the car with Joyce yelling from behind, "Be safe." Bob was trying to be funny by saying, "I hope it doesn't suck!" in an accent. It only made me cringe but I guess he thought it was funny since he laughed and was dressed up as Dracula.

Will and Johnathan were in the front seats of the car and even though I wasn't actually there, I was still somewhat there. Like, I could touch stuff, kinda like a ghost although I can go through things if I want to or just be solid so I sat in the backseat. I planned to go trick or treating with them even though I couldn't actually get candy or go to people's houses.

"I just don't get what she sees in him," Johnathan randomly stated. It was so random I jumped a little since before it was dead silent. "What?" Will asked, just as confused as I was. "Bob," Johnathan said with a face of dislike. "At least he doesn't treat me different. I mean, I can't even go trick or treating by myself. It's lame." Will said, staring out the window. "What? You think I'm lame?" Johnathan asked, only slightly teasing.

"No, but it's not like Nancy's coming to watch over Mike, you know? And after what happened with Six, Mom keeps treating me like I can't do anything myself. She thinks I'm insane. Everyone does." Will said, sighed before turning to look out the window again. Johnathan also sighed while my heart broke, again. Even though I was alive and well, which Will knew, everyone's been treating him like he's lying. And after he was in the Upside Down everyone's been treating him like a baby. It makes me feel better only a little bit because they are taking care of him but at the same time, its hurting Will which in turn goes back to hurt me.

Eventually, we pulled up to the front of Will's house and the other three boys were outside also in their costumes with pillowcases for the candy. "Will! Hey!" Dustin shouted, waving at Will. Johnathan honked the horn at them in greeting and Dustin shouted something at somebody before Johnathan pulled over to the curb. Just as Will was about to open the door Johnathan spoke up.

"Hey, listen." I swear to God this family needs a new catchphrase instead of "listen". "Yeah?" Will asked, turning towards Johnathan. "If I let you go on your own, you promise to stay in the neighborhood?" Johnathan asked Will.

Will was a bit shocked so it took him a second to answer. "Yeah! Yeah, yeah, totally." Will said. "And be back at Mike's by nine," Johnathan told him. "Nine thirty?" Will asked hopefully.

"Nine," Johnathan told him with a small smile. "Yeah." "Deal?" "Yeah, deal." "All right." Will opened the door and got out of the car but before he could leave Johnathan called him back. "Hey, Will. Don't let any of your spazzy friends use this, all right?" Johnathan said handing Will Bob's video camera.

"I hope it doesn't suck," Johnathan told Will while impersonating Bob who was impersonating Dracula. They both laughed and Will closed the car door and ran over to his friends. I got out of the car and slowly made my way towards the boys while Johnathan eventually pulled away.

The boys started walking towards one of the houses so I jogged a bit to catch up to them. I could tell this was gonna be a great night. Even if I couldn't actually be there.

I'm so sorry this took so long but, Happy Stranger Things Day!!!