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CHAPTER 𝐢: VANISHINGS ALL 'ROUND
SET IN CHAPTER ONE: THE DISAPPEARANCE OF WILL BYERS
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NOVEMBER 6th, 1983.
THE WHEELER RESIDENCE.

  NICK JACKSON GAZED ON IN FEAR, OBSERVING AS MIKE'S WORDS GREW DARKER. Nick gulped, right hand clutching his empty water bottle as Mike drearily rambled on.

  "Something is coming. Something hungry for blood."

  Nick took a glance around the table he was currently seated at, watching as Will's eyes were as wide as an owl's, Lucas' hands drummed on his right thigh, and Dustin's feet were tapping softly on the wood floor.

  "A shadow grows on the wall behind you, swallowing you in darkness. It is almost here."

  "What is it?" asked Will curiously, as he leaned forward in his chair slightly.

  "What if it's the Demogorgon?" Dustin questioned eerily, sending a nervous look towards the group. "Oh, Jesus, we're so screwed if it's the Demogorgon."

"Ah, come on, we've been safe this whole time. It can't be the Demogorgon," Nick reassured the party. Though if he was being honest with himself, he wasn't 100% confident the Party was out of the crossfire.

"Yeah, Nick's right. It's not the Demogorgon," Lucas seconded, giving Nick a confident nod that Nick quickly returned.

  "An army of troglodytes charge into the chamber!"

  Nick let out a quick, but not too noticeable sigh of relief. They'd been at this for hours, and Nick had no plans of screwing up and dying now.

  "Troglodytes?" Dustin said, looking very unimpressed.

  "Me and Nick told ya!" Lucas reminded, sounding proud as he nudged Nick in the shoulder.

  "Yeah, dumbass, of course. You guys worry too much," Nick prodded, laughing along with the Party.

"Wait a minute."

Nick's head snapped over towards Mike, brows furrowing as he watched Mike turn to the side and look ominously over his shoulder.

"Did you hear that? That...that sound? Boom...boom...BOOM!" Mike slammed his hand on the table, causing gasps to erupt from the group in surprise. "That didn't come from the troglodytes. No, that...that came from something else..."

  "THE DEMOGORGON!" Picking up the Demogorgon piece, Mike crashed it down onto the board, causing Nick and the three other boys to let out groans of annoyance, all four throwing their hands up in anger.

  "Shit!" Nick yelled, accidentally squeezing his water bottle too tight, causing it to crunch up. He tossed it aside with his backpack that was thrown messily on the floor; it didn't matter though, the Wheeler house was basically a second home for him, Will, Lucas, and Dustin. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler didn't care—and Nancy—well—Nancy doesn't seem to care much about anything other than boys and her school work. Nick thought it was stupid, but whatever. She was bound to abandon them one day.

  "We're in deep shit!"

  "Ya think? We're not just in deep shit, Dustin, we're in humongous shit!"

  "Will, your action!"

  "I don't know!"

  "Fireball him!" Lucas suggested loudly.

  "I'd have to roll a 13 or higher!" Will reasoned, eyes widening in the sudden stress just thrown upon him.

  "Too risky!" Dustin spoke up. "Cast a protection spell!"

  "Don't be a pussy. Fireball him!"

  "Cast protection!"

  "The Demogorgon is tired of your silly human bickering!" Mike yelled from behind the D&D manual, slapping his hands roughly on the table and rattling the pieces on the playing board. "It stomps towards you. BOOM!"

  "Alright, I'm gonna have to agree with Lucas—fireball him!" Nick yelled out, blue eyes widening as his gaze rested anxiously on Will's stressed figure.

  "Another stomp, boom!"

  "Will, it's getting closer—"

  "Don't listen to them! Cast protection!"

  "He roars in anger!"

  Nick, Lucas, and Dustin continued to uselessly clamor, before Will made his decision.

  "Fireball!" Will said firmly, before rolling the dice on the table with a shaky hand. The dice then unluckily rolled right off the table and onto Mike's floor. Nick immediately sprang up to search for it; he'd lost many things in this basement, and he'd never found any of them. Maybe it was his own idiocy, but he preferred to think that the Wheeler's basement was just some sort of vacuum. It was just a cooler thought.

  "Oh, shit!"

  "Where'd it go? Where is it?"

  "I don't know!"

  "Is it a 13?"

  "I don't know!"

  "Well clearly he doesn't know, guys! Stop asking stupid questions and start finding it!" Nick yelled out, trying to calm everyone down.

  "Oh, shut up, Nick! You can't speak on that! All you do is ask dumb questions!" Lucas retorted back, causing Nick to roll his eyes. Technically, he was right; but it still stung a bit.

  Nick definitely wasn't—the brightest of the Party. In fact, he was more of the dumb, funny guy who had his moments (However brief.), but for the most part just walked around with half a working brain. Nick didn't mind though. Every group needed its designated idiot, and he was happy to fill the role.

  Really, how he'd ended up with then was quite odd to most. Nick was a weird case. He wasn't overly nerdy, nor overly sporty either. More so in the middle—maybe even more—if he would try in P.E. Nick was even considered mildly attractive—at least by some of the girls in his school. So how he'd ended up with the so-called losers he called best friends was a mystery to most, but to him, it was easy.

He'd befriended Mike Wheeler in first grade on some random day. Supposedly, Nick had left his crayons at home and since they were working on a coloring sheet (According to Mike—he didn't really remember.), he needed some. So he'd reached over and tapped Mike on the shoulder, enthusiastically asking him if he could share his. Luckily, Mike had said yes—and the rest was history. Ever since then Nick had been apart of the Party—and he had no want to leave any time ever.

  They were his group. His boys. His brothers. His family. And you don't ever abandon your family.

  "MIKE!"

  The sudden but all the more assertive shout of Karen Wheeler boomed from the top of the staircase as she burst through the door. Nick's head jerked from his friends scurrying worriedly around the room to the annoyance ridden face of Mike's mother.

  "Mom, we're in the middle of a campaign!" Mike protested while on his knees searching for the dice.

  "You mean the end? Fifteen after," Mrs. Wheeler said with finality, turning around and walking off.

  Nick heard Lucas and Dustin yell a few more times as he saw Mike rush upstairs to bargain with his mother.

  "Why do we have go?" Will said sadly.

  "Probably because it's a school night. I dunno," Nick answered from the table which he currently leaned back on as he watched.

  "You gonna help clean up or just stand there like a dumbass, Nick?" Dustin asked annoyedly, walking over and collecting his things with a scowl.

  "I think I'll be the dumbass, Dustin. It suites me," Nick replied, sarcasm icing his voice like a freshly iced cake. He didn't feel like cleaning, so he just let them handle it instead. Besides, why work harder when you can work smarter?

  "Whatever, Nick—"

  "Oh, I got it!" Will's smaller voice erupted from behind Lucas. "Does a seven count?"

  "It was a seven?" Lucas asked, now packing his things up. "Did Mike see it?"

  Will shook his head, his brown hair whipping around with it.

  "Then it doesn't count."

  Nick smirked and finally stopped stalling, grabbing his father's old leather jacket and throwing it over his shoulders, also picking up his crumpled water bottle off the floor afterward. He hadn't brought much over, since he wasn't really the type that lunged a lot around. Mostly because he didn't have much to lung and that he simply didn't like to.

  He was halfway up the stairs before Dustin called out to them, holding their pizza box they'd destroyed earlier. "Yo, hey, guys. Does anyone want this?"

  "Nah," Nick said in chorus with Will and Lucas as they rushed upstairs; not even sparing a look backwards.

Before Nick knew it they were all outside, with Nick having disposed of his empty, plastic water bottle and now seated on his black bike.

"There's something wrong with your sister," Dustin said as he burst outside through the door, looking dejected.

He must have tried with Nancy again. Nick thought. Poor guy is really down bad. It was no secret to anyone who knew Dustin Henderson that he had a slight crush on Nancy, and had since he'd first met her. It was a hopeless, silly crush that even Dustin knew was stupid—but still kept up nonetheless. Nick honestly felt quite bad for him. Falling for the wrong person was always tough—he'd seen it firsthand with his own parents.

"What are you talking about?" Mike asked in clear confusion, black brows upturned.

"She's got a stick up her butt," Dustin said with a noticeable sting in his voice.

"Yeah," Lucas agreed, "it's because she's been dating that douchebag, Steve Harrington. Jamie said Harrington's been bragging about it at practice."

"Oof. I feel bad for Jamie. That must be awkward," Nick commented, remembering Jamie and Nancy's interesting history. Jamie was Lucas' older and (In Nick's opinion.) cool-as-hell brother who played on Hawkins' high school varsity basketball team as point guard. In Nick's eyes, he was the easily the best player—though Steve freaking Harrington seemed to be most peoples' pick. Anyways, Jamie and Nancy both used to have the biggest crushes on each other in elementary school all the way up to freshman year of high school, before they had a big falling out that Nick still has yet to get the context of. All he knew was that they barely talked anymore and that Jamie still has feelings for her—at least from what Lucas has told him. So yeah—not the best situation.

  "Yeah, she's turning into a real jerk," Dustin said as he climbed on his bike.

  "She's always been a real jerk," Mike said firmly from behind them, sounding mildly disgusted.

  "Nuh-uh, she used to be cool," Dustin disagreed. "Like that time she dressed up as an elf for our Elder tree campaign."

  "Four years ago!" Mike yelled as Dustin and Lucas began to peddle away, with Dustin leading the two.

  "Just saying!"

  "Later!"

  Nick turned towards Will and Mike, sitting up on his bike as he waited for Will to start peddling.

  "It was a seven."

  "Huh?" 

  "The roll, it was a seven," Will said, a tone of shame seeping in his words. "The Demogorgon, it got me."

  "Will—you weren't supposed to tell—"

  "See you tomorrow," Will cut Nick off as he biked away, leaving Nick alone with Mike.

  The lights outside the Wheeler's house oddly flickered as the brown haired boy peddled away, his backpack bouncing slightly as he biked.

  "I better go going too, Mike. See you later," Nick said before pushing his right foot down on his peddle and setting off, hearing a faint "Bye, Nick," as he peddled off into the dark, weirdly eerie night.

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NOVEMBER 7th, 1983.
HAWKINS MIDDLE SCHOOL.

  THE SUN BLARED IN NICK'S FACE AS HE FOLLOWED BEHIND LUCAS WITH HIS BIKE. Normally, Nick would be in the front leading the pack, but this morning had gone fast—too fast for Nick's liking. Something about today just felt off for Nick Jackson, and he wasn't exactly sure it was a good off. Really, he felt it was a very very bad off.

As they passed herds of bustling kids and bright, yellow school buses, Nick felt his stomach heave a nervous jolt; anxiety bubbling like an active volcano. What the hell is wrong with me today? Nick thought in confusion and concern, gripping the handlebars to his bike tighter. He almost never got or had anything to be anxious about—so why was today any different?

  Nick sighed, choosing to ignore the anxiety bubbling in stomach. If he just pretended it didn't exist, then maybe it would go away. He hoped so, at least.

  Nick slowed down his bike as he jumped off, carefully pushing his bike into his usual spot on the bike rack. He adjusted his backpack so it wouldn't slip off his shoulders and turned to the boys.

  "That's weird. I don't see him," Mike said in confusion, squinting forward. Nick realized who he was talking about: Will.

  Will Byers never missed a day of school—at least without telling them first. So him not showing today made the bubbling in his stomach even worse. Maybe he just went to class early again. He tried to convince himself. He hoped Will just decided to go to class early—but some nagging part in him told Nick that wasn't the case.

  "I'm telling you, his mom's right," Lucas tried to reason, sounding sure of himself. "He probably just went to class early again."

  "Yeah, he's always paranoid Gursky's gonna give him another pop quiz," Dustin chimed in from behind them.

  "I don't know, guys. I mean—Will usually likes to bike with us—" Nick tried to say, before he was rudely cut off.

  "Step right up, ladies and gentlemen," sounded the forever annoying voice of Troy Walsh, a boy who just loved to bully and harass Nick and his friends. His best friend, James Dante was just behind him, as per usual. Nick was convinced James didn't have a spine, since he followed Troy around like a lost puppy. "Step right up and get your tickets for the freak show."

  Nick rolled his eyes, crossing his hands against his chest and stepping forward in front of his friends. Nick often found himself in the role of the protector, since he was the most physically strong among them. There were many times he'd had to use his physicality against Troy and James. Actually, the last time they'd gotten a nice punch to the face—so it was odd to him that they were trying again so soon. Dumbasses. Nick thought, clenching his jaw as he glared daggers at them.

"Who do you think would make more money in a freak show?" Troy said sneeringly, stepping forward to try and push Lucas, but being stopped by Nick.

"I don't know, Troy. Maybe you, since you can't seem to use your one brain cell," Nick said angrily, brows furrowing dangerously. "Do you remember what happened last time you messed with us, or are you just too much of a dumbass?"

"Oh, this isn't about you, Macho Man. This is about Midnight, Frogface, and Toothless. Step aside, Jackson," Troy said threateningly, attempting to shove Nick, but only pushing him a little to the right.

  "That's all you got—"

  "I think Toothless wins. I'd love to see those teeth in action," James jeered, smirking wildly. Nick wanted so bad to punch that smile off of his face, but he reframed. He didn't want to get another discipline referral—it would look too bad on his record.

  Dustin huffed, anger clear on his face. "I told you a million times, my teeth are coming in. It's called cleidocranial dysplasia!"

"I told you a million times," James mocked Dustin, only pissing Nick off even more. They'd way overstepped the line now, and Nick was having none of it.

"Oh shut the hell up, Double Chin—"

"What did you just call me?"

"Double Chin. Do I need to say it again, Double Chin?"

"Oh, you're gonna get it, Jackson—"

"Alright! I think we're running late for class—come on, Nick. Let's go," Mike suddenly grabbed Nick's arm and pulled him back, nodding his head to let Dustin and Lucas know they were leaving.

  Nick let Mike drag him away for a bit before removing Mike's grip from him.

  "Nick, you can't do that! You'll get in trouble again and you really don't need another referral," Mike lectured, dark brown eyes gleaming with annoyance at their situation.

"Yeah, I know. But they were messing with us and I wasn't just gonna let that slide," Nick defended himself, panting a bit. His friends had a habit of letting people—bullies—walk all over them, and Nick could never understand why. Maybe it was the way he was wired, but he could never just stand there and take it like Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Will. He had to defend himself—defend them. It was simply in his nature.

  Mike sighed. "I guess. Just don't be too much of a hero, Nick. You'll outshine the rest of us," Mike said fondly, nudging Nick with his shoulder.

  "I thought I already did," Nick teased with a clearly manufactured smirk.

  "Not a chance, Jackson!" Lucas boomed, causing the group to burst into laughter.

Smiling, Nick walked into Hawkins Middle, that nagging feeling of anxiety now less, but still there.

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A FEW HOURS LATER, THE BELL TO NICK'S SCIENCE CLASS FINALLY RANG, AND NICK STAYED IN HIS SEAT AS THE REST OF THE KIDS RUSHED OUT. He and the boys had planned to stay later, to see if their special delivery had come in yet. Nick wished Will was here to see it, but he guessed they could show him another day.

  "Remember, finish chapter 12 and answer 12.3 on the difference between an experiment and other forms of science investigation," Mr. Clarke, the Party's favorite teacher (And their science teacher.), reminded from the front of the classroom as he students walked out, rudely ignored him. "This will be on the test, which will cover chapters 10 through 12. It will be multiple choice with an essay section."

  Nick met Mike's glowing eyes as he jumped up, surveying the room and finding that they were the only ones left. Nick hurried to Mr. Clarke's desk, leaning his elbows on the surface.

  "So, did it come?" Mike asked excitedly, getting right to the point.

  "Sorry, boys," Mr. Clarke said sadly. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news but. . .it came!"

  Whoops of happiness erupted from the boys as they took off, whirling to Mr. Clarke's study where their awaited surprise was.

Nick's stomach lurched happily as he gazed upon their Heathkit ham shack, a high tech radio they'd been waiting for months to have for the AV Club. His grin was bright as he watched Mike and Dustin immediately begin toying with it, personally preferring to stand back and watch. He didn't completely understand how the thing worked, so he just settled for observing his friends. They were the more techie, after all. Nick was never really inclined to that stuff.

  "I bet you can talk to New York on this thing!" Dustin exclaimed, his eyes wide with glee.

  "Think bigger," Mr. Clarke said, while smiling.

  "California?" Lucas guessed, quirking a dark brown eyebrow.

  "Bigger."

  "Australia?"

  Mrs. Clarke nodded, and the boys' grins only grew wider.

  Nick placed his hands on Lucas and Mike's shoulders. "When Willy sees this, he's gonna freak the hell out!"

  "Nick!"

  "Sorry, Mr. Clarke," Nick apologized, his smile not fading. He turned his attention back to the radio, where Mike was messing with a few buttons and then leaned into the speaker.

  "Hello, this is Mike Wheeler, president of Hawkins Middle AV Club—" Mike imitated an Australian accent, before getting his headphones stolen by Dustin.

  "Hello, this is Dustin, the secretary and treasurer of the Hawkins Middle AV Club! Do you eat kangaroos for breakfast?" Dustin imitated and sent them all into bursts of laughter, in till their principle knocked on the door with a solemn face.

  Nick's eyes widened as the chief of police, Jim Hopper, or just Hopper, walked in behind, looking startled. Nick's stomach dropped quicker than a cheetah could run.

  "Sorry to interrupt, but, uh, may I borrow Michael, Lucas, Dustin and Nicholas?" their principal asked, pointing to each of them.

  "Of course. Go on, boys. I'll catch you later," Mr. Clarke urged, and Nick and the boys had no other choice but to listen.

  Following their principle, Hopper, and another cop that had come along, they made it to the principle's office, where a not so pleasant surprise was awaiting for them. Sitting on the rugged sofa was Cece Wilson, dark, glaring eyes and all. Nick scowled, nose scrunching up in disgust.

  The Party hated Cece Wilson, and has ever since she moved next to Will and became his best friend in third grade. Cece was rude, judgement, and not to mention snarky. Nick had no clue why in the world Will liked her or even put up with her. He certainly didn't. Cece took up their time up with Will, and they didn't like that at all. He would go off with her randomly and never come back, saying that they got "carried away" or something stupid like that. But Nick wasn't dumb—at least sometimes. He knew that Will sometimes enjoyed her company more than theirs, and it pissed him off to no end. What did Cece Wilson and her evilness have that the Party didn't? Nick had no clue.

  "You have got to be kidding me," Cece scoffed, burrowing closer to the side of the sofa with a frown.

  "Trust me, we're not happy about this either, Wilson," Nick sneered, settling in awkwardly beside the dark haired girl, trying desperately to be as far as possible.

  "Okay, settle down. This isn't recess, alright," Hopper projected loudly, and Nick got a closer view at the very noticeable bags under his eyes. "Listen, I'm just gonna get straight to the point. Will Byers went missing last night. We know all of you are good friends of his, so, with that in mind, any useful information you can give us?"

  Nick froze. The world felt like it was spinning. Will Byers had gone missing. Missing. He couldn't believe it. Will got home safe. He had to have. Nick's breathing picked up as he gripped the edge of the sofa for some resemblance of support. The gasps and yells of the others on the sofa with him drowned in his overwhelming fear; Nick felt like utter and complete shit. If he would have only checked on him—

  "You," Hopper's stern voice cut in into Nick's worrying, and Nick's eyes finally peeled off of the floor. "You were quiet, unlike the others. So, what do you got, kid?"

  Nick gulped, trying to keep the tremble out of his voice, but failing. "He normally takes Mirkwood, sir. T-that's really all I got."

  "Mirkwood?"

  "Yes."

  "Have you ever heard of Mirkwood?" Hopper leaned over and asked the other cop.

  "I have not. That sounds made up to me," the other cop replied, narrowing his eyes at them.

  "No, it's from Lord of the Rings," Lucas explained, his hands crossed close to him.

  "Well, The Hobbit," Dustin corrected.

  "It doesn't matter!" Lucas shot back, clearly annoyed.

  "He asked!"

  "He asked!" Lucas mocked rudely, earning a shove from Cece.

  "Hey, how about you assholes just shut up, alright? The cops are trying to interview us on Will, not whether or not you two can out-dumb each other," Cece cut in angrily, scowling. Surprisingly, it shut them up.

  Hopper looked appalled. "So it takes a Wilson to shut you up, huh? I'll keep that in mind." He flashed a quick, small smirk at Cece that Nick was sure the others missed, but luckily he caught.

  Nick guessed that Hopper was in cahoots with the Wilson's because of Cece's older brother, Jackie. Jackie was a real trouble maker—some would even call him a juvenile delinquent. He always got into fights and stole and even supposedly drugs a few times. Nick was smart enough to make the assumption that they weren't well off, but that still didn't justify his behavior. Or Cece's, even though she was "better." To Nick, she was even worse. At least Jackie was upfront about his idiocy, but Cece tried to act like she was just perfect.

  Of course, Nick couldn't go without mentioning Cece's and Jackie's father, who was a well known delinquent with a real knack for drugs, alcohol, stealing, and not to mention abuse. Nick has always just assumed Mr. Wilson's behavior had rubbed off on them. They definitely acted like it. But he guessed judging people based off their parents wasn't exactly fair; besides, he wouldn't like people judging him based on his mom.

  "Alright, you," Hopper said, nodding at Mike expectantly.

  "Mirkwood, it's a real road. It's just the name that's made up. It's where Cornwallis and Kerley meet," Mike explained, fidgeting with his hands nervously.

  "Yeah, all right, I think I know that—"

  "We can show you, if you want," Mike offered, dark eyes blinking up at Hopper with hope.

  "I said that I know it!" Hopper's voice raised a bit, brows furrowed in annoyance. Clearly, the chief of police wasn't the biggest fan of kids.

  "We can help look," Nick spoke up, getting nods of approval from the boys, and even Cece, which confused him.

  "Yeah. I'm his next door neighbor. I know him and his habits quite well, so I think I could be of help—"

  "No," Hopper said firmly, specifically looking at Cece. "After school, you are all to go home. Immediately. That means no biking around looking for your friend, no investigating, no nonsense. This isn't some Lord of the Rings book."

  "The Hobbit."

  "Shut up!"

  As Nick, Mike, and Cece let out sighs, Dustin and Lucas began to bicker again, before Hopper's authoritative voice broke through.

  "Do I make myself clear?" he asked as he stalked over, placing his hat atop his head. "Do I make myself. . .clear?"

  Multiple "Yes Sir's" followed Hopper's chilling words, and before he left he turned to Cece:

  "Especially you, Wilson. Make sure your mom and Jackie don't go out either. We still have no clue what the hell happened to Will, and we don't need you going missing too," Hopper said softly, with a sort of fondness that Nick hadn't seen from him with anyone else. He then walked out, his deputy following soon after.

The air in the room was tight as they exited, and Nick's anxiousness seemed to reflect it. He'd felt something was off and had been right. The statement made him wonder; what other anxieties of his were about to come true? What other nightmares and terrors were about to spring to life, right before him? He guessed he'd just have to wait and see.

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NOVEMBER 7th, 1983.
BENNY'S BURGERS.

THE LEAVES CRUNCHED BENEATH SEVEN'S DIRT-CURSED FEET AS SHE WALKED BESIDE ELEVEN. Since escaping, the world she once knew to be so small was now so big, she couldn't even fathom. There were all kinds of things she'd never seen before. Like the trees, bushes, grass, the blue blue sky, and even the sun, in its blazon glory. It was like she'd just opened her eyes for the first time again. Everything felt new.

  Seven had always wanted to see the great outdoors. She'd always felt deeply connected to the sky, sun, animals, water, and whatever else lie out in this great, big world of awe. She felt like an unknown, hidden part of herself had just broke free; a part that had been oppressed beyond belief. Seven finally felt alive, and she wouldn't trade it for anything.

Listening to the crunching leaves and black and red birds' early morning cries, an odd, natural serenity set in. Seven was in heaven. Her grin was wide as she turned to Eleven, chocolate-colored irises dancing with joy as she met Eleven's. Eleven was grinning as well, her hazel eyes bright with curiosity and happiness.

"It's peaceful," Seven said in her quiet toned voice, kinky curly dark brown locks bouncing as she walked. Eleven's shaved head nodded, not responding. She didn't need to. They could understand each other without words. Actually, they understood each other better without the strain of words, since it was neither of their strong suites. That was one of the many curses that the lab had blessed them with.

  Another was the signature shaved head that most of the subjects held. Well, all expect Seven. Seven was an oddity among oddities; a monster to the monsters. Her abilities were—different—to say the least. She could do extraordinary things, that most people couldn't even comprehend. That she couldn't even comprehend. Seven could host fire, water, ice, air (wind), and their most recent discovery, nature, in the palms of her hands. It was an ability never seen before, which lead to her being treated specially, to be nice about it. She barely visited the Rainbow Room, barely interacted with anyone but Papa and his goons, almost never left her quarters or the many testing rooms, and had never had her head shaved. The latter may not sound too bad; actually, it sounds good, but it didn't serve Seven that way.

  You see, being different wasn't easy. Especially if you were different to people who were different themselves. Seven was different than the rest of them. She was thought to be more powerful, more dangerous, more riveting, and whatever other mores you could come up with. But that didn't mean she was respected, no, that means she was resented, disliked, and possibly even hated by the others. All expect Eleven, of course. Eleven never hated her. Seven was convinced she never could. At least she hoped she never could. That would break Seven more than anything the lab had done to her.

  Eleven had been Seven's rock since they were little, naïve girls, still shielded from the true horrors of the lab. Eleven was the only one who didn't hate her, the only one who understood her. She was Seven's everything, but after all, Seven really didn't have anyone else. But who needed anyone else when she had Eleven, right?

  Speaking of Eleven, Seven's attention suddenly shifted to Eleven as she stopped, eyes narrowed forward at something in the distance.

  Seven frowned, brows furrowing as she followed Eleven's gaze. Seven's eyes landed on a white building just through the grasses, and a chubby-looking man carrying some big, black bag. Tilting her head in confusion, she met Eleven's gaze once again.

"What is that?" Seven spoke up softly, eyes blinking in a cool gust of wind.

"Don't know," Eleven replied quietly, staring ahead in curiosity. She then began carefully picking her way down the hill they were atop, now having her sights on the building. Seven had no choice but to follow, and was care not to slip and fall on the weeds sticking out from the grass.

Eventually, the two young girls made it down and climbed up the small set of stairs with ease. Now, Eleven was creaking the door open, with Seven flinching slightly at the groan of the door.

  The room they entered was cramped, with boxes and shelves full of all sorts of things that Seven didn't know the name of. As she turned the corner, she was met with a larger room, filled with people mingling and eating. Seven immediately turned away from that room, grabbing Eleven's frail hand just to make sure she didn't go either. Instead, they went into another, more calm room, with all sorts of trinkets and gadgets that Seven, once again, did not know the names of. The only thing she recognized was a smell, the smell of food. Her stomach suddenly grumbled at this revelation, and she realized just how hungry she was.

  Gravitating towards the scent, she and Eleven finally met the owner of the savory smell on a counter, which belonged to a basket full of little, yellow sticks. Seven was intrigued, so she reached a small hand into the basket and took one, biting down on its soft surface while Eleven did the same. Her tongue danced with joy at the flavor, and Seven found herself grabbing for more.

As she and Eleven dug into the mysterious food, they did not notice the chubby man from earlier eyes' upon them, but when a yell boomed from beyond the room, they knew they had to book it. Grabbing the basket, Seven dashed, pushing open the swinging doors and bolting through the hallway, trying to get away before being yanked backwards and spun around, eyes being met with the angry eyes of the man.

Her shoulder ran into Eleven's as she gulped, shivering and feeling tears beginning to spill from her cheeks as the man yelled at her and Eleven. "You think you two can steal from me?!"

  She watched in horror as he looked on at them in surprise and confusion, his pupils dilating by the second.

  "What in the hell?"

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' . ' . ANNA SPEAKS . ' . '

Honestly that is what I deserve after the NEGLECT this poor book got lmaooo

Anyways,,, that was the first chapter of BBM!! It was definitely hella long and took me way too long to write—but it is finally out and that's all that matters lol. Hopefully, the rest of my Stranger Things series will be out soon, so look out for that!! Anyways, thank you for reading besties and I hope you enjoyed,,,bye!!