01| WILL BYERS IS MISSING

[ Chapter One ]

❝We should be looking for him.❞

[Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers]

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"This job is literally going to be the death of me," Bethany mumbled as she pushed a few loose strands of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail, behind her ears. She looked around the store and grinned when she noticed almost all the customers were gone. Her eyes then flitted over to the clock on the wall which indicated that the store would close in fifteen minutes and then all she'd have to do was clean up and wait for her twin brother to come pick her up as she was still saving up for her own car or motorbike.

"We will be closing in fifteen minutes. Please make your final purchases." Bethany announced before leaning on the counter. The remaining customers slowly made their way to her check-out lane. It was already almost nine o'clock and Bethany knew how much homework she had to do. Her best friend Nancy had asked her to come over in order to work on homework but Bethany had an evening shift tonight.

She smiled at the customers while she checked out their items and neatly put the money in her cash register. One of the customers even let her keep the change which she always appreciated.

As soon as the last customer left, she counted the money in the register and locked it up before taking it to the back office and locking everything up there. She swept the floor the best she could but didn't take too much time on it as she was told that there was someone coming in early to clean. When she heard a car engine in front, she quickly grabbed her stuff and made sure the lights were off before she locked the front door of the store.

She grinned as she saw her brother Jonathan sitting in the drivers seat outside and she went and slid into the passenger seat, "Hey, Jon."

Jonathan gave her a small smile, "Tough night?"

She sighed, "Not really. I have a ton of homework to do though so tonight was not a good night for me to be called in on a night shift."

"Need help?" He asked.

"No. That's okay. I'll just stay up late. Could you give me a ride to school tomorrow?" Beth asked biting her lip. She didn't normally get him to drive her to school, instead opting to ride on her bike.

"Yeah. Of course." Jonathan nodded before slipping in a mixtape he'd made. His mixtapes were always way better than whatever they were playing on the radio.

Beth grinned at her brother, "That's more like it!" Beth put her feet up on the dash and drummed her fingers on her leg as she sang along to the music. Jonathan laughed before joining in.

"Are we supposed to pick up Will tonight?" Bethany asked.

"He's supposed to be biking home but he'll probably end up staying over at Mike's." Jonathan answered her as they stopped in front of their house and turned off the ignition.

Beth nodded at him and got out of the car before heading up to the door and unlocking it. She went and washed her hands before heading to the kitchen and grabbing something to eat. She didn't have time to have a proper dinner as she knew how much time her homework would take.

She spread out all her work over her bed and pushed a cassette tape into her CD player moving her head to the slow and melodic music that came out of it. She tackled her chemistry homework first, knowing that it was the most problematic for her.

Beth finally finished when it was close to midnight. She put her homework away and washed her face in the bathroom before climbing into bed. Sleep came easily that night which was good because her mom woke her the next morning by barging in her room.

"Beth! Bethany! Wake up!" Her mom pulled her covers off of her, "Have you seen Will?"

"No. He stayed over at Mike's." Beth groaned, rubbing her eyes, "What time is it?"

"Time for you to go to school." Her mom announces, "And I don't think he was at Mike's, honey."

"I'm sure he's fine mom." Beth sighed and sat up in her bed before padding off to the bathroom. She had forgotten to lay out her clothes the night before so she just picked out a sweater and a pair of jeans from her dresser drawer. She shuffled into the kitchen after getting ready and looked at her anxious mom and brother, "Will's fine, right?"

"Did he come home last night, Beth?" Her mom asked.

Beth shot a look at Jonathan, "I thought he was staying over at Mike's, mom."

"Where were you two last night?" Her mom asked them.

"I had to take a night shift, mom. And Jonathan was also working. He picked me up and we got home a little after nine." Beth grabbed an apple from the table.

"You were working?" Her mom asked, sounding exasperated.

"Yeah, Eric asked if I could cover." Jonathan nodded, "I thought we could use the extra cash."

"Jonathan. We talked about this." Her mom sighed, "You can't take shifts when I have to work."

"Mom. He was at the Wheelers' all day. I'm sure he just stayed over." Jonathan said and looked at Beth for help.

"Mom. Calm down. Just called them and if they don't answer I'll check with Nance at school." Bethany sat down at the table.

Her mom called the Wheelers' but they hadn't seen him since last night. Joyce looked at her two kids with worry and Bethany ate her breakfast in silence as her mom left.

"Jon. You can still take me to school, right?" Bethany asked her brother, thinking that he'd probably not want to go to school.

"Yeah, yeah. Of course." Jonathan looked worried but grabbed his stuff, "Come on."

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"Hey Nance, Barb." Beth walked over to her where she was chatting with Barb, "How was your night?"

"Fine. How was yours?" Nancy asked her, biting on her lip.

Beth grinned, "Wait a minute. Did you talk to Steve? Or better yet, make out?"

"It's not like that, Beth." Nancy blushed.

"Oh it so is." Barb playfully shoved Beth who burst out laughing.

"It was a one time-" Nancy started and then saw the look on both of her friends faces, "Two time thing."

Beth leaned against the lockers next to Nancy and smirked at her friend, "Then what's that?"

Nancy picked up the note that was sitting in her locker and blushed reading it.

"You were saying?" Barb grinned and Nancy smiled shutting her locker and retreating to the bathroom.

"That girl is one hundred percent going to leave us for Harrington's crew." Beth sighed looking at Barb as they walked over to Beth's locker.

"Unfortunately, I agree with you." Barb answered, "So, you had to pick up an extra shift at work yesterday?"

"Yeah. You know how it is." Beth sighed, "Mom got mad that both Jonathan and I were working last night but I'm trying to save up for a new set of wheels. I'm so tired of asking Jonathan for a ride everytime I need to go somewhere or riding my bike."

"Yeah, I get that." Barb nodded, "Hey, do you want to do homework together after school, or do you have to work?"

"Yeah, of course." Beth nodded, "Chemistry's been kicking my butt lately, so I'd appreciate another person to help me. Nancy is probably going to be busy sucking face with Harrington though and she's really good at this stuff."

"So are you, Beth. You're just struggling a little." Barb answered her as Beth slammed her locker shut.

"Yeah, yeah yeah I know." Beth answered her, "Let's just get through this day."

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As soon as school was over, Jonathan met her outside, "We have to go."

"What are you talking about? I have plans with Barb tonight." Beth insisted.

"Will's missing, Beth." Jonathan told her.

Beth went still with shock. Will Byers, their little brother who was innocent in every way was missing. Missing. Beth's eyes widened and she looked at Jonathan as she uttered, "What?"

Jonathan ran as shaky hand through his hair and he nodded, "Um. He wasn't at school and no one knows where he is. Mom apparently went to the police."

"Shit." Beth bit her fingernails which was a nervous habit that she wished she could stop, "Shit. We should have picked him up."

"Yeah..." Jonathan didn't know what to say. He opened the car door, "Come on. We'd better go home."

Beth shook her head, "Shouldn't we be looking for him or something?"

"Well the police are..."

Beth interrupted him, "The police aren't going to find shit and I know it, Jon. We should be out looking for him."

"We have to go home, Beth. Before mom goes out of her mind thinking she's lost three children." Jonathan told her.

Beth tried to protest but she looked at Jonathan's face and Jonathan shook his head at her. Beth sighed and got in the passenger seat next to her twin.

When they got home, their mom was busy trying to contact their dad but he never answered. Beth settled herself on the couch where she saw abundance of stuff settled on the table, "Jon. Did you not go to school today?"

"I did but not the whole day." Jonathan answered her.

"You should have told me. School was a bore. I should have been out looking for him." A tear fell down Beth's face when Jonathan suddenly looked out the window.

"Mom. Mom." Jonatahn tried to get their mother's attention, "It's cops."

Joyce Byers ran and opened the door, Jonathan and Beth following her. Sheriff Hopper got Will's bicycle out of his car and they all made their way inside.

"So, it was just lying there?" Joyce asked, almost ready to burst out in hysterics.

"Yeah." He nodded, "Cal?"

"Did? Did it have any blood on it, or anything?" Joyce asked.

"No. No no no." Hopper shook his head.

"If you found the bike out there, why are you here?" Jonathan asked.

"Well he had a key to the house, right?" Hopper asked.

"Yeah." Jonathan nodded.

"Wait a minute." Beth connected the dots herself, "You think my brother is hiding in our very house?"

"You think I didn't check my own house?" Joyce sounded exasperated.

"No. I'm not saying that." Hopper answered and looked at a mark on the wall, "Has this always been here?"

"Probably. I mean I have two boys. Look at this place." Joyce answered and looked at Beth, "Right?"

"Yeah. It's often a mess." Beth nodded as she watched Hopper go outside, followed by Joyce. Beth turned to her brother, "This is hopeless. We should be looking for him."

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That night, once the police had come and gone and Beth had called Barb saying she couldn't make it, the three remaining Byers family members sat on the couch looking through Jonathan's photos.

"Wow. You took these?" Joyce asked her son, "These are great."

"Yeah." Jonathan nodded.

"I know I haven't been there for you. For both of you. I've been working so hard and I just feel bad. I don't even really know what's going on with the two of you." Joyce said, looking at her children.

Jonathan started crying softly and Beth wiped a tear from face before leaning her head on her brother's shoulder.

"Hey. What is it?" Joyce asked.

"It's nothing." Jonathan dismissed it but Joyce insisted and he sighed, "It's just. I should have been there for him."

"No. Oh no. You can't do that to yourself." Joyce insisted and looked at Beth, "Both of you. You both can't do that to yourself. It's not your fault. He is close. I know it. I feel it in my heart. You just have to trust me."

Joyce reached across Jonathan and grabbed Beth's hand as well. Beth then started shaking as she turned her head and started crying into her brother's shoulder.

Joyce picked up a photo of Will and laughed, "Look at this one."

Jonathan laughed, and Beth took her head off of Jonathan's shoulder to look at it, "Aww. He's so cute."

"That's it. That's the one." Joyce laughed and then the phone rang. Joyce jumped up and Jonathan pulled Beth up as well.

"Hello? Hello?" Joyce asked and then started crying, "Will? Will?"

Jonathan and Beth exchanged a look, "Mom? It's Will?"

"Who is this? What have you done to my boy?" Joyce yelled into the phone.

"Mom?" Beth cried, "What's going on?"

Suddenly Joyce dropped the phone and Jonathan rushed to pick it up, "Hello?"

"Mom? Who was it?" Beth grabbed her mom's hands. Joyce was crying and shaking her head. Jonathan hung up the phone and turned to look at them.

"Look at me. Mom? Was it Will? What did he say?" Jonathan asked.

"He didn't say anything. He just breathed." Joyce said.

"How do you know it was him?" Beth asked, tears running down her cheeks.

"Was someone else there?" Jonathan asked.

But their mom didn't answer and instead repeated, "I know it was his breathing."

Jonathan wrapped his arms around both his sister and his mom and they all sunk to the floor. Tears were running down all of their cheeks and Joyce and Beth were shaking. Beth didn't know whether it was her little brother on the phone but she, like her brother and her mom were determined to find him, no matter what.

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Word Count: 2283

Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. If you didn't already know, this is going to be a Steve Harrington fic. I am still working on a good update schedule but I think this will be updated either every Wednesday or every Thursday!

(The gif at the top was made by me. Please do not steal it.)

What did you guys think? Do you like Beth so far? What about her relationship with her brothers?

I love you all and will see you soon for chapter 2!

POSTED ON:

10. 1. 20