THE FOUR STARED at the mysterious girl in wonder as she sat silently on Mike's couch, his giant rain jacket draped over her shoulders. She refused to meet any of their questioning eyes, her hard gaze glued to the floor and her breaths coming out as heavy pants.

"Is there a number we can call for your parents?" Mike asked, his loud voice startling the girl. She looked at the raven-haired boy, puzzled by his words.

"Where's your hair? Do you have cancer?" Dustin demanded.

Jasper whirled around and slapped him on the arm, sending him a warning look. Dustin giggled, but nodded to show he understood.

"Did you run away?" Lucas questioned.

"Are you in some kind of trouble?" Mike inquired.

"Is that blood?" Lucas murmured, reaching out his arm to touch her.

Jasper's hand lashed out and wrapped around his arm, causing him to freeze. "Can you guys stop with the questions? You're freaking her out."

"She's freaking me out!" Lucas fired back.

"I bet she's deaf," Dustin theorized, looking at her strangely. He held out his arms and clapped loudly, causing her to recoil in shock. "Not deaf," he shrugged lightly.

"Seriously Dustin?" Jasper glanced over at him with a disapproving look.

"Sorry," he apologized timidly, letting out a light chuckle.

"That's enough, all right? She's just scared and cold," Mike held out his hands, stopping the other two boys.

Jasper walked away from the others, digging through a bucket of laundry. "There's got be something..." she mumbled to herself.

"Jas, what are you doing?" Mike asked curiously, his eyebrows furrowing together.

"Getting some dry clothes for her, genius," she spoke over her shoulder, pulling out a pair of pajama pants and a sweatshirt that belonged to Mike.

"Here," she gently handed the clothes to the confused girl. "These are clean, okay?"

She shyly accepted the clothes from her, feeling the fabric with her cheek. Slowly, she threw the jacket off her shoulders and stood, beginning to peel the wet shirt off her skin.

The boys relapsed, spinning around in disgust and shouting a string of "No's" and "Oh my God's". Jasper held out a hand, blocking the girl from removing the shirt more. "Can you guys chill the fuck out?" Jasper hissed, eyeing the boys.

The girl's dark eyes examined Jasper, looking her up and down. It wasn't hard to see the overwhelming fear in her gaze.

"Come with me," Jasper gently took the girl's feeble hand. When she flinched away, the redhead only sent her a comforting look. "It's okay," she held out her hand again, allowing the girl to take it by choice this time.

The three boys watched as Jasper led her to the bathroom. "You can change in here. For, you know, privacy," Jasper gave her a crooked smile.

The girl observed the bathroom, her eyes floating around the small space.

Jasper grasped the doorknob and tried to close it, when she felt the girl's hand slam against the wood to stop it. "You don't want it closed?" she asked.

The girl hesitated, before opening her lips. "No," she murmured.

"Oh, so you can speak," Jasper discovered, giving the girl another reassuring smile. "All right, how about..." she slowly closed the door until there was a crack left between her and the girl. "...we keep the door like this? Is that better?"

The girl nodded her head gradually. "Yes."

Jasper slowly walked away, leaving her to change. "You guys really need to take it down a notch or two," she scolded the boys, folding her arms. "If I was in her situation, I'd be damn near terrified."

"We don't even know her situation!" Lucas defended himself, casting a sour glance at the bathroom.

"Well, at least she can speak. She said 'no' and 'yes' to me," Jasper informed the boys.

"This is mental," Dustin said with a shake of his head.

"Well, like Jas said, at least she can talk!" Mike exclaimed hopefully.

"She said 'no' and 'yes'! Your three year old sister says more," Lucas snapped.

"She tried to get naked!" Dustin pointed out.

"There's something seriously wrong with her," Lucas lowered his voice. "Like wrong in the head."

"She just went like..." Dustin raised his arms over his head, mimicking the action of taking his clothes off. He even managed to knock his own hat off.

Jasper sighed heavily, scooping up the hat and handing it back to Dustin. "We don't know where she came from." She spoke softly, licking her gaze intently with the blue stare of Dustin. If anyone could understand her in this situation, it had to be him.

"I bet she escaped from Pennhurst," Lucas muttered thoughtfully.

"From where?" Mike questioned.

"The nuthouse in Kerley County," Lucas explained.

Dustin cast a smirk at Lucas. "You got a lot of family there?" he teased lightheartedly.

"Bite me!" Lucas spat at the curly-haired boy. "Seriously though, think about it. That would explain her shaved hair and why she's so crazy."

"Why she went like..." Dustin raised his arms again, repeating the same mocking action of taking his clothes off.

"She's an escapee is the point," Lucas continued. "She's probably a psycho."

"Like Michael Myers," Dustin breathed, looking at Lucas with huge eyes.

Jasper and Mike both rolled their eyes and let out a sigh, tired of the boys' nonsense.

"Exactly! We should have never brought her here!" Lucas exclaimed.

"So you just wanted to leave her out in that storm?" Mike challenged.

"Yes! We went out to find Will, not another problem," Lucas declared, glaring at Mike.

"Remind me that next time I try to do something a decent human being would do," Jasper snapped at the Sinclair boy, anger and impatience coating her voice.

"I think we should tell your mom," Dustin advised, his eyes on Mike.

"I second that," Lucas agreed.

Dustin began shuffling towards the stairs, most likely to go tell Mike's mom. Jasper stepped in front of him, placing her arms around him and blocking him. "Bad idea, Dusty."

"How is that a bad idea?" Lucas narrowed his eyes at Jasper in annoyance.

"We weren't supposed to be out tonight, in case you forgot." Jasper charged over to the dark-skinned boy, meeting his eye challengingly. "Unless you want to be the one to explain to everyone's parents and Ruby why we broke the rules?"

"Oh man," Dustin gasped in realization.

"Our houses would become Alcatraz if we told them," Lucas's face softened.

"Exactly! We'll never find will," Mike nodded, showing his agreement with Jasper.

Dustin shook his head, looking at Jasper and once again mimicking removing his clothes. "Stop," she lightly slapped him, even if she couldn't help but smile at his quirkiness.

"All right, here's the plan. She sleeps here tonight," Mike began.

"You're letting a girl—"

"Just listen!" Mike snapped, interrupting Dustin's paranoid speech. "In the morning, she sneaks around my house, goes to the front door and rings my doorbell. My mom will answer and she'll know exactly what to do. She'll send her back to Pennhurst or wherever she came from. We'll be totally in the clear! And tomorrow night, we go back out. And this time, we find Will."

Dustin and Lucas exchanged uncertain glances. "Why can't she just stay with Jasper?" Lucas asked.

"In the house of the police chief's assistance? Great idea," Jasper mumbled sarcastically, shaking her head in disagreement. "We stick with Mike's plan."

The two boys nodded and finally accepted the plan. "This better work," Lucas snarled, getting his backpack as they prepared to leave.

The girl wondered out of the bathroom, looking lost and scared still. Jasper moved over to her, blocking her view from the other boys to calm her. "You're going to stay here tonight, okay?"

The girl looked at her for a small moment before nodding. "Okay," she replied, as if she was trying out the word for the first time.

The boys behind her let out small gasps at the sound of her voice. Jasper raised one hand slyly behind her back, giving them the finger in hopes of silencing them.

"And by the way, I'm Jasper," she stuck out her hand. "But you can call me Jas."

The girl paused, trying to remember what to do, before taking her hand and shaking it. She had learned a handshake previously from the nice man named Benny.

Jasper turned around again, looking at the three boys. "Well, we better get home. Ruby will actually murder me if she finds out I left," Jasper groaned, heaving her backpack onto her shoulders.

"Make sure she settles in okay. And don't do any of that weird boyish crap that'll totally freak her out," Jasper murmured in Mike's ear, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"'Weird boyish crap'?" He echoed in puzzlement, but Jasper was already heading towards the stairs with Lucas and Dustin.

The three all clambered up the stairs, stopping to cast one last look at the girl as she sat down in a makeshift fort. "You really think she's psycho?" Dustin spoke, his question directed at Lucas.

"Wouldn't want her at my house," he grumbled.

"Well, today's your lucky day, because she's not staying with you," Jasper replied harshly. "It doesn't surprise me that you don't contain a single empathetic bone in your body."

Lucas sent the redhead one last questionable look before jogging up the stairs.

Dustin and Jasper stood their silently, watching as Mike helped her settle in. Jasper couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for her.

Dustin, however, only sighed. "Mental," he murmured. That immediately broke Jasper out of whatever trance she had fallen into.

"Come on," Jasper shoved him up the stairs lightly, letting out a dry laugh.

"Hey, wait," Dustin stopped her just as she hopped on her bike. His hand reached out and settled on her shoulder gently. Her eyes slowly strayed down to his palm against her shoulder, which lead to his hand flinching away awkwardly. "What was that thing with the blood all about earlier? Before, in the woods."

Jasper sighed, relaxing on her bike. "It's weird, Dusty," she shook her head, recalling the way she had reversed time. "Somehow, I was able to go back to last night. The night that Will was taken."

"Taken?" Dustin echoed. "Wait, you were able to go back?"

Jasper sighed, looking at him with the most serious expression she ever had before. "Tonight, I discovered I could control time."

"Control time?" Dustin shook his head in disbelief. "No way! That's mental. You sure you didn't hit your head or something? Maybe that freak girl has already rubbed you the wrong way."

Jasper scoffed, raising an eyebrow at him. "I'm not crazy, Dustin. I know what I saw." Her eyes slowly looked the boy up and down, a pang of hurt racing in her heart. "I told you because I thought—as my best friend—you'd believe me." She kicked the break up and began pedaling down Mike's driveway, Dustin desperately following suit.

"Hey, wait up! I believe you! Jas! What...what did you see?" Dustin asked cautiously, as if he was afraid to know the answer.

"I saw him, Dusty," Jasper breathed, focusing on the dark street ahead of them. "I saw Will. And I saw this...thing."

"Thing?" Dustin repeated, growing nervous.

"A monster. It was going after Will. A-And he tried to shoot it, but...it took him. It was weird. Like, he was in his shed one moment. Then, there was a bright flash of light and he was gone," Jasper explained, becoming emotional as the memories replayed in her head.

"And then what?" Dustin asked, occasionally glancing at her as they continued to ride.

"Then I sped up time and I was back in the woods with you guys. I don't know what all of this means but...I'm not crazy," Jasper concluded with certainty. "You have to believe me."

Dustin glanced at her with his huge eyes, his gaze shining blue even in the darkness. "I believe you Jas." His hand, drenched with raindrops from the precipitation, slowly grabbed hers. For a moment, she'd forgotten about the storm, now turned into a light rain. "I'll always believe you."

"Thanks, Dusty." A warm smile tugged at her lips, reaching up towards her eyes as she squeezed his hand. "I know I went back in time," Jasper nodded, moving to grip the handlebars of her bike tightly. "I just don't know if I can do it again."

"Well...try," Dustin encouraged her, turning his bike and stopping, scraping the pavement as he did so. "Try right now."

"In the middle of the street? While it's raining?" Jasper exclaimed, mostly hoping the excuses would be good enough. Good enough to protect her from having to delve into whatever strange powers she now possessed.

"Just try it!"

Jasper halted, letting out a small sigh. She nodded, closing her eyes and focusing. "Fine. But only for you." Knowing Dustin, her words probably caused a huge, toothless grin on his face.

She imagined a clock in her head, its minute and hour hand completely still. The second hand moved clockwise, and she squinted her eyes as she tried to imagine it turning the opposite way.

Something inside her snapped as she felt power surge through her. "Hey!" Dustin's shout caused her to stop.

She looked up and realized he was far behind her now, pedaling hard to reach her. "What the hell was that? You just...you just teleported!" his eyes grew wider. "Did you do that with your powers? Did you reverse time?"

Jasper took a few small breaths, nodding and meeting his shocked gaze. "Yeah, I did that." She couldn't help but glance down at her callused palms, amazed by what she was capable of.

Dustin sat back in his seat, looking at her in amazement. "That is awesome! My best friend has superpowers!" he gave her another grin.

She giggled, lightly punching his arm, but she was too surprised with herself to be amused. "I wonder was else I can do," she murmured, continuing to look at her hands as if they held the answer.

"Maybe you can freeze time!" Dustin suggested, becoming more interested in her secret "powers".

"Can I freeze time with you?" Jasper pondered aloud, eyeing the curly-haired boy.

His smile fell into a confused frown. "What do you mean?" he questioned.

Jasper hopped off her bike, approaching Dustin. "Let me try something," she theorized. Her hand wrapped around Dustin's, surprising him a little.

Closing her eyes, Jasper imagined the clock again, only this time it was completely frozen. The hands didn't move at all, stuck in stillness. Using her touch with Dustin, she imagined the two stuck alone, together in a world with frozen time.

"Holy shit!" Dustin exclaimed, his eyes aimed at the sky. "The rain just stopped!"

She opened her eyes to find rain drops frozen in midair, never reaching the ground. Above, the clouds didn't move. Nothing moved except the two of them.

"My best friend, Jasper Marrow, has time control powers. My best friend's a fucking superhero! That's so fucking cool!" Dustin cheered, wrapping his arms around her as a result of his  sudden excitement. "Think of all the pranks we can pull now!"

Jasper laughed, hugging him back. "I gotta get home, Dustin. Please don't tell the others about this. I'll let them know when I'm ready."

"Yeah," he chirped happily, smiling from ear to ear. "Of course."

Jasper returned his smile, unfreezing time and allowing the rain to fall again. "I'll see you later, Dusty. Bye!"

"Bye Jas!" he called after her as she turned into her street.

Jasper went home that night with a newfound feeling of confidence. She had powers. She could manipulate time. Whatever these powers were, and wherever they came from, they were good.

She was going to use them to find Will.