Amanda shut off the radio in her head when she saw her mom leaving the store and heading towards her car to go home. She opened the door to her car and Amanda was quick to climb into the backseat. She didn't know if she could open doors without freaking people out so she played it safe and waited for someone else to open the door.

     Her mother let out a sigh and started the trip back to her house.

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'

"Took you long enough. Almost thought you just about died in there or something," Mike commented once Will emerged from the bathroom. Will just shrugged. "So? I drank a lot of water. Gotta keep my hydration up."

     "It almost sounded like you were talking to someone. Does Will Byers have a crush?"

      Yeah, I do. But you'll probably think it's weird, Will wanted to respond, but he didn't dare to because he didn't want to have that conversation just yet. He was already working with the fact that he wasn't entirely into girls, and he didn't want to have a most likely ruined friendship on top of that.

"What? No," he scoffed instead, wondering where Mike was pulling this from. "Were you talking to the wall again?" asked Mike, tilting his head to the side like a confused puppy.

     Will rolled his eyes. "That was one time, okay? One time. Mind you, I'm still recovering."

"You're right," Mike sighed, "sorry."

"It's okay," Will accepted his apology and took a look around the room. "Where's everyone else?"

"They've already headed to Starcourt. I told them I was gonna take my bike with you."

"Oh." Will deflated a little, remembering that they were supposed to have their DnD campaign later today and he hadn't set anything up yet. "Okay."

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'

The second Amanda's mother opened the door to her house, Amanda ran into the living room to see that the memorial was still there, meaning that it's been there since last year. That couldn't have been good.

She was then quick to run up the stairs to her room to see if anything had changed. To her surprise, everything was the same — nothing was packed up, nothing was put away. Everything was the same, just as she had left it. Going over to her bed, she looked at the outfit she had prepared for her presentation on Monday. It was a pirate sort of top with her corduroy pants and her nice boots.

She picked up the top and felt the frills between her fingers. Looking down at her soiled clothes, Amanda wondered if she could change out of them. But before she could test her theory, her mother came into her room and took a seat at her desk.

"Oh, Manda bear," she started, looking out the window and letting out a breath, "I know you're still out there, alive and breathing. It may seem impossible to some people, but you're a fighter. You got that from your dad. You're a real tough cookie."

Amanda went and stood behind her mom and carefully put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing her for comfort. Her mother put her hand where Amanda's hand was and Amanda quickly pulled away in surprise. "Sometimes I feel like you're still here," her mother continued, "I can even smell your Sunflowers perfume from time to time. I miss you, Mandy. Come home whenever you're ready."

Her mother stood to leave and Amanda moved out of her way, a few tears streaming down her face. She was stuck and there was nothing she could do about it. There had to be a way where she could get her body out of the tunnels. There just had to be.

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'

"Why are we here again?" Will asked as they parked their bikes on the bike rack. He, Mike, and Lucas were at the Starcourt Mall. Mike had explained the reason, but he had zoned out.

     "I messed up, Will," Mike answered. "Big time. I blew El off because Hopper threatened me and I need to find a way to make it up to her. Lucas is here to help."

"But what about our DnD campaign? I still need to go home and set it up."

"We can do that later. But first, we need to prioritize. Lucas, where to?"

     "There should be a jewelry store around here somewhere. We should start there," Lucas instructed and Will rolled his eyes. This was going to be a long day.

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'

Amanda walked out of her house and made a break for the forest, making sure to be careful to not fall into the hole again. She stopped when she found her mason jar and flashlight at the edge of the hole. Or, at least, where the hole used to be.

     "No. No, no, no." She got to her knees and began to dig at the ground. It was completely packed up. How could that have happened? It must've happened during the year that she went missing. Someone must've come by and filled the hole up. But wouldn't they have noticed her flashlight? Then that would mean that it wasn't someone that filled the hole, but something.

     She had to get out of the forest because she had a bus to catch.

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'

Getting off the bus, Amanda was greeted by a building that had a sign that read Hawkins Post above it. She figured that if she was going to get answers, this was the best place to start.

Walking in after someone, she made a start for the pile of discarded and dated newspapers on a rack by the front desk. She grabbed a pile of them and got comfortable in a chair to begin reading. Her eyes skimmed over the bold article titles as her hands turned the pages of the newspaper, quickly searching for something, anything, that would lead her to somewhere.

Then, she found it.

It was an article by a man named Murray Bauman that talked about the closing of Hawkins National Laboratory due to "a gate being opened to another dimension and unleashing a monster into our world." The Mind Flayer. It had to be. Amanda continued on reading. "There were these flower-mouthed creatures — dubbed 'Demogorgons' —  that had started to come out of the tunnels and invading the laboratory, eating a few of the scientists on the way, leaving gashes in their throats and stomachs."

     Amanda put a hand to her throat as a reaction to reading that, not realizing that that was one of the ways she could have actually left the world. And no one would have ever known. That's what I saw the night I disappeared, she thought, it wasn't a dog, it was a Demogorgon.

     She kept flipping through the pages when she fell on a picture of Will's missing child poster with the caption "Will Byers, aged twelve, had gone missing the night of November 6th, 1983 (continued on pg. 83)" under it. She flipped one page over and read the rest of the article.

      "Will Byers, aged 12, had gone missing the night of November sixth, nineteen eighty-three," it started, "he was coming home from a friend's house when he heard a noise from the forest. He ran the rest of the way home, abandoning his bike, and hid in the shed. That was when the monster took him. Will's mother Joyce Byers has requested to not have him make a statement at this time."

Amanda got up and put the newspaper back before leaving the building because she had to make a trip to Starcourt Mall. She had a feeling that she would find more answers there.

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'

The hair on the back of Will's neck stood up again when he, Mike, and Lucas were currently in The Gap helping Mike look for a shirt for El that told him he was sorry about lying to her. They had made their trip to the jewelry store but the necklaces there were way out of Mike's price range. So here they were, looking for something that wouldn't melt a hole in his pocket.

While his friends were distracted, Will walked out of the store to look over the banister. He was watching the store patrons walk in and out of the mall when he saw a bus pull up and a girl in really dirty clothes coming out as soon as the doors opened. She was constantly knocking into people, but it didn't seem to make an impact when she accidentally rammed into them.

     Wait. That couldn't be —

Will couldn't finish his thought when Mike turned him around to look at him. "What?" he asked, "did you finally find something?"

Mike shook his head. "Apparently you can't get anything nice when you only have three dollars and eighteen cents in your back pocket. What're you doing out here?"

"Waiting for you two to be done. I couldn't take it anymore and I got bored, so." Will shrugged. "Can we go home now? I'd like to start our campaign while we still have time." It wasn't weird for Will to ask if they could go home (instead of asking to go back to Mike's place), because Mike's house was a second home to him. To him, at least.

"Just a few more stops — " Mike started and Will rolled his eyes, " — and then we'll go home. Deal?"

Will tried his best to suppress a groan. "Fine. Deal."

The two of them were walking back into the store when Will felt the goosebumps again. He turned around and there stood the girl he saw getting off the bus. She was wearing the exact same clothes that were described in Amanda Schwartz's missing child poster. Starting with her shoes, Will's eyes dragged up to meet her face that was covered in dirt smudges.

"Mandy?"

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'

"Mandy?" Will asked.

Amanda nodded as she walked up to him. "I need to talk to you. It's urgent. Meet me in the boys' bathroom."

"But you're not allowed in the — " Amanda gave him a look. "Right. Ghost. Okay, just give me a second." Will went to go find Mike and Lucas to tell them that he was going to the bathroom. Amanda made her way to the boys' bathroom and waited. Once Will was there, Amanda opened a stall and ushered him in, closing the door behind him.

"I need you to tell me what happened the night you went missing and everything leading up to that," Amanda started. "I know it's a lot to ask of you so just tell me what you're comfortable with."

"Why?" Will questioned. "Because I need to confirm what happened to me so I can finally rest in peace or whatever. Who knows? Maybe I'm not actually dead." She shrugged.

"Well, there was this thing called the Mind Flayer that was released into our world that also unleashed these other things called Demogorgons that were smelling blood and eating people alive left and right. They didn't have a face, and their mouths were almost flower-like in a way when they opened? Are you getting any of this?"

Amanda nodded. "Getting it. Keep going."

Will then launched into a tangent and told her what he knew and how much he was comfortable with, trying his best to tell her everything without triggering anything. "Did any of that help?" he asked once he was done. Amanda processed what she heard, trying to fit certain pieces together. "I know I was taken by a Demo-dog," she mumbled, "and I think I was dragged into the Mind Flayer's tunnels. But what I don't get is how I got out or why I'm here."

"Do you have any unfinished business? Are you here to get revenge on someone?"

"No, no. I don't think so. I'm not a vengeful spirit."

"I think I know someone who can help you." Will didn't get to explain who because there was a knock on the stall door. "Will? Are you alright in there?" It was from Mike. "Do we need to call your mom?"

"No. Everything's fine. I just had a lot of water. Again," Will squeaked out the measly lie as he rested his forehead against the stall door.

     "Well, Lucas and I are ready to go, if you still wanna get out of here."

     Will unlocked the bathroom stall door to see his friends, blocking Amanda from their view. "Oh, do I ever."

     "Oh, and thanks. By the way," Amanda said to Will before he left the bathroom. Lucas and Mike stopped in their tracks when they heard her voice. "Will," Mike said, turning around slowly as he did so, "what was that?"

     Amanda slowly stepped out of the bathroom stall as Will introduced her. "Lucas, Mike. This is Amanda. She goes to — or went — to school with us. She's the girl that went missing the same day as me. I went to her memorial with my mom, remember?"

     She waved sheepishly as she saw all the color drain from Lucas's face. "Okay," Lucas said as soon as his soul returned to his body, "she's been missing for two years. What is she doing in the boys' bathroom? Where has she been hiding? Why isn't down at the sheriff's office?"

     "Well, for one, she can't go to the sheriff's office because she's dead," Will explained and Lucas just about fainted at that. "She's a ghost who came back because the Mind Flayer disturbed her."

"Why can we see her?" Lucas asked as if she weren't just standing there. "That's what we're trying to figure out," Will answered, "we think that it's because we've all encountered the Mind Flayer at some point. It's like we're his kids or something."

"Like a club," Amanda piped up. Mike looked at her and then shook his head at what he just heard. "We gotta talk to El about this," he said.

"I thought you guys had issues," Will interjected, making a face.

     "That'll have to wait. And you can still talk to your girlfriend while you guys simultaneously have issues."

"I don't think you can, but alright, I guess."