Veronica Harrington and her best friends go on an adventure of a lifetime when one of their friends turns up missing. While on their search for their friend they meet a mysterious girl with and even more mysterious background who helps them find the...
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The next day, Roni was running late. Steve didn't wake her up for school or give her a ride. She rushed down the stairs and grabbed an apple and put it in her mouth. Still running, she heads to the garage for her bike and pedals as fast as she could to school.
Meanwhile, Lucas and Dustin look at Mike's and Roni's empty seats. "Oh, this is weird. He's never this late. Roni, maybe, but Mike, never," Dustin says, taking off his backpack.
"I'm telling you, his stupid plan failed. And now it got Roni in trouble," Lucas speaks in a frustrated tone.
"I thought you liked his plan."
"Yeah, but obviously it was stupid or he'd be here. They'd both would be here," Lucas explained, holding his hands out in slight anger. As class begins, students filed into their seats and start to flip open their books. The school bell rings one last time.
Mr. Clarke opens his mouth to begin the class. Suddenly, Roni bursts in the room panting. Her hair fell over her face.
"Oh, nice of you to join us, Veronica. Please take a seat," Mr Clarke gives her knowing look.
Roni nods apologetically and drops a book on the ground. "Sorry, Mr. Clarke," She picks up the science book and flops in her seat. She puts a hand on her head in frustration. Dustin and Lucas look at her and mouths, 'What happened?'
She mouths back, 'Steve.' They nod and turned back to the lesson. Roni tries to pay attention but her thoughts fall to the girl in Mike's basement. She looks at Mike's surprisingly empty seat and wonders where the boy is now.
After school, the guys decided to head to Mike's house to check on him and to see if his plan worked. As their pedaling, Roni rants to them about her brother. "The jerk didn't even have the decency to drive me to school. Now, I have yet another tardy on my record."
"I thought you said that caring about your record is for nerds and teachers," Dustin recalled. Roni sighs loudly.
"Yes, but then the school will let my parents know and I really don't feel like hearing a dumb stupid speech about 'responsibility,'" She lets go of the handle bars and puts quotes around the word. The boys chuckle at her words. "My brother cares about nothing but himself." They couldn't argue that what she said wasn't true.
Steve Harrington has a record for dating girls and then dumping them when he doesn't care about them anymore. But even with that record, he's still the most popular person at the school.
Roni cared about her brother, somewhat. But as most siblings, he irritates her. And through all her irritation, Roni craved attention from her real family and especially her brother.
But as usual, she was disappointed.
At least she had her friends. They would never abandon her.
*****
They pedal up Mike's driveway and lay their bikes on the ground. They enter the home and head up the stairs to Mike's room. Their eyes widen as they look at El in shock.
Lucas immediately blew up at the sight. "Are you out of your mind?" He's hands ball up into a tight fist. Roni stays quiet. Lucas' anger was justified. They made a plan and Mike should have stuck to it.
"Just listen to me. She knows about Will," Mike spoke. That caught Roni and Dustin's attention. She glances at El who was sitting calmly on Mike's bed.
"What do you mean she knows about Will?" Dustin asked, his face shocked.
Mike grabs the picture of Will and the boys at the Science Fair. Roni didn't join in, she left all the science-y stuff to them. But if they needed to beat down a kid, she was there. "She pointed at him, at his picture. She knew he was missing. I could tell." Mike explains.
"You could tell?" Lucas taunted.
"Just think about it. Do you really think it was a coincidence that we found her on Mirkwood, the same place where Will disappeared?" Mike looks between the three of them. Roni twirled her hair, thinking for a moment.
"There are no coincidences," Roni muttered quietly. But Mike heard, he gestures towards the girl.
"That is weird," Dustin spoke, he looked at Lucas. But he looked like he didn't believe anything.
"And she said bad people are after her. I think maybe these bad people are the same ones that took Will. I think she knows what happened to him," Mike theorized.
Lucas folds his arms over his chest, thinking. "Then why doesn't she tell us?" Roni furrows her eyebrows.
They walk up to El, but Lucas practically stomps up towards her. "Do you know where he is?" He grabs her shoulders and yells louder in her face. "Do you know where Will is?!" Roni pushes him away.
"Hey! Stop yelling at her! You're scaring her. You know yelling doesn't solve anything when it comes to her," Roni stands in front of her.
"She should be scared," He stares Eleven down from over Roni's shoulder. "If you know where he is, tell us!" El stays quiet, her eyes begin to water. Roni sits on the bed next to her.
"It's okay, he just wants to find Will. We all do," Roni speaks softly. "Please, if you know anything about where he is or if he's safe, tell us." Eleven stays silently but she's no longer about to cry. Something is holding her back, but what or who?
"Mike, what kind of danger?!" Dustin yells, breaking Roni from her thoughts.
"Danger, danger," Mike enunciated. He puts two fingers in the shape of guns and points them at Dustin's head and then Roni's face, but when he goes to point them at Lucas, he slaps his hand away hard.
"No, no, no! We're going back to plan A. We're telling your mom," He heads for the door and starts to open it. Roni jumps up to stop him. But as he's opening the door, its immediately shut, hard. No one touched it. The desk next to the door shakes and Mike's action figures along with it.
He tries to open it again, but it slams close. It shakes the whole room. And it locks. They all slowly turn towards El, staring at her in shock.
With a dark expression and blood dripping from her nose, she mutters darkly, "No."
"Oh, my God," Roni gasped. Before they could say anything to her, Mike's mom slammed the front door of the house making the group flinch.
"Don't tell anyone," Mike stated firmly, looking at Lucas. The boy nodded blankly, staring at the girl. She wiped her nose with her sleeve. Dustin gapes at her.
