Shadows of the Night •a Stranger Things story•

I Will Find You Again

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Chris finds herself standing in front of the Byers house yet again. It's not like before, where everything was covered in dust and gray and cold. The light is on inside, and when Chris walks in, she sees Joyce asleep in an armchair. The chair is placed in the center of the room so she can still reach the phone, which is on her leg.

Chris puts her hand on the back of the armchair, searching the living room. "Joyce?" she questions. No response. Chris puts a hand on Joyce's arm just as the phone rings. It startles both of them.

Joyce answers the phone, rising to her feet. "Hello? Hello."

To Chris it sounds like she's on the other end of the phone. She hears Joyce, but not as well as she hears the warbling sound of someone or something trying to speak into the phone. "Who is this? W—" Joyce is cut off by someone breathing into the phone.

The noise echoes in Chris's head and it pounds like a drum.

Joyce's eyes widen a bit. "Will? Will, it's me." Joyce begins to sob.

The lights flicker once, submerging Chris into darkness. When the lights flicker on again, Chris is back in the other place. The shadow place. She shivers, staring at the spot where Joyce just was. "Talk to me," Joyce says, her voice crackling through the phone. Chris moves toward the landline, following the cord toward the hallway. "I'm here."

The breathing grows louder, if it's Will's or not at all his. Chris swats at the dust floating through the air, wondering if this place, breathing in this air is causing the headaches.

"Just tell me where you are, honey," begs Joyce. Chris inhales sharply when she reaches Will's bedroom door. "I can hear you. Please."

Chris tries to pry at the bedroom door. The lights begin to flicker again, more anxiously than the last time. Chris's heart picks up speed as she struggles with the door.

"Mom?" Will's voice floats through the cold air, sending a shockwave through Chris's body.

"Will!" Joyce cries, relief flooding her. "Yes, it's me. It's me."

Something snarls behind Chris just as she gets the door open. "Will!" she shouts.

"Where are you? Where are you?" Joyce questions into the phone.

The phone sparks in Will's hand just as it does in Joyce's shocking the both of them. Chris lunges forward. "Will! Will, oh my God!"

"Chrissie?" he asks, muffled by her shoulder as they collide with each other. The noise of the lights flickering and electricity crackling causes Will to flinch and pull away from Chris. "You have to go!" he demands.

"What?" wonders Chris. "Will? What are you talking—where are we? Where have you been?" she demands.

"He'll hear us!" hisses Will. "You have to go! Before he comes."

"Who?"

"The—the Demogorgon."

"The Demogorgon?" she repeats, tilting her head in confusion. Chris shakes her head, understanding that the Demogorgon is a part of Dungeons and Dragons. Will, Lucas, Mike, and Dustin love playing that game. Chris has tried to play with them before, but she's too restless to sit and play a campaign for ten hours on the weekend. "Will, D&D—"

Will springs to his feet, pushing play on his stereo. "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" by The Clash plays on full blast.

Chris presses a hand to her ear. "Will—"