November 7, 1983

Jim Hopper snorts as he wakes from his drug-induced coma. He grunts and groans as he squints at early morning light. His head was killing him as well as his back when he realizes he passed out on his couch...again. Checking his watch, he grunts as he drops his head on his pillow, realizing that he was late for work. As usual, he gets up, goes outside to have his first cigarette of the day at the rise of the sun. Building up his mood to deal with the day. He lights up his cigarette, dressed in his jeans, unbutton with his off-white underwear peeking out for the world to see. But who could see? He didn't care. Nothing mattered.

It's been four years since he has moved back down to his hometown. After living in the big city with his ex-wife, losing his daughter, Sarah...his heart clinches in pain as he thinks about her. How life was when he was a detective. He had a great life. Then...it went to shit. With a bitter grunt, he tosses his cigarette on the ground and turns to get ready for the day. He gurgles under the shower head, scrubbing himself as clean as he could. Washing his hair and briskly drying it with a towel till his hair sticks up in frizzes.

Once he combs his damp hair back, he works on his teeth, rinsing his mouth out with stale beer he left out. Spraying his body down with his cologne. Lighting up another cigarette, he inhales deeply and looks at his ugly mug. With a scoff, he exits the bathroom and gets dressed. Leaving the tv on as he slams the door shut.

Inhaling deeply, Jim sighs out a cloud as he drives through town, making brief waves at the welcoming citizens. He leans his elbow out the window and drives up near the station but sees the 'Sweet Talk' drawing closer. He looks towards the shop, eying that owner with a curious eye. Since that day when he first met her, he finds himself drawn to the shop. But every time he faces that woman the wrong things come out of his mouth. There was something about her that nags him to the bone. She was just too...nice. Too trusting. No one should be that trusting. He scoffs at himself. He had to stop thinking about that woman. It was getting on his nerves. She's constantly on his mind.

When she walked out of the shop, time slowed down for Jim as he watches her carry the black board and set it up in front of the shop. She was wearing a long skirt that carried different colors of brown, orange, and tan. Also, she wore a long sleeve white shirt that hugged her body right. Showing off her curves. The wind blew gently around her, making her hair dance in waves. She brushes her hair away from her face and pushes it over her shoulder, her lips puffing out in a cute way. He snaps out of his thoughts and focuses on the road. What is with him about this woman? He just met her and he's already acting like a horny 13-year-old. He scoffs at his stupidity. She had to be what? 10 years younger than him? Maybe even younger. He had to forget about getting involved again. His heart already lost one love and more...he can't experience that...not again.

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Amelia looks up as she watches the Sheriff's truck drive by her shop. She sighs softly and runs her fingers through her hair as she sends Sherrif Hopper a wave, but he never waved back. As if he was trying to ignore her.

"Hmmph. Can't get rid of me that easily." She scoffs and grins as she turns back to head inside.

Theo meows softly and hops on the counter.

"I know, Theo. Hard-headed. You know as well as I do, no one can fight fate." She sighs and leans on the counter. "Sometimes I hate knowing more than I should." Meow... "Sure, there are some advantages, but not when it comes to my own life." Meow... "I am not!" Meow... She arches a brow at him, "Did you forget who's the one who feeds you?" She scoffs. Meow... Her mouth drops in offense, "Where did you learn that word?!" She exclaims.

Suddenly, a dark, eerily chill rushes through the shop, blowing the door wide open and sending evil clutch around Amelia's heart. Even Theo was bothered by the breeze. He hisses loudly and growls in alert. Amelia gasps in shuddering breaths as she clutches on to the counter.

"Oh, my god." Her voice wobbles in terror.

She gasps and jumps as her phone rings loudly. She rushes towards it and takes a deep, calming breath. Settling her nerves.

"Sweet Talk Shop, this is Amelia. How can I make your life sweeter?" She greets the caller professionally.

"Amelia, it's Joyce."

Amelia freezes, her heart squeezes again, "Joyce, how are you?" She asks.

"Uh, have you seen Will?" Joyce stutters as she sighs shakily, "He was supposed to come home last night from his friend's, Mike, but..." She stops and sniffles. "He never came home and I'm calling everyone I know who could have seen him. Has he stopped by the shop this morning or rode his bike nearby?" Joyce's voice cracks with worry.

Amelia sighs in distraught, "Oh, my gosh. No, I'm sorry, I haven't seen him since Halloween when the boys came by for trick or treating. Calm down, Joyce. I'm sure wherever he is, he's ok and safe. You'll find him." She tries to sooth Joyce's worry, but how can you calm a worried mother. "Why not ask Chief Hopper for help?"

Joyce scoffs, "I'll try. I don't know what to do. I'm scared and I have a terrible feeling something happened to him."

"I know. Try to calm. He'll be ok. Just talk to Hopper, maybe he'll find a way to help. I'll keep my eyes out for Will for you." Amelia sighs out.

Joyce sniffles and exhales, "Thank you, Amelia. I'll talk to you later. Please call me if you find out anything."

"I will. I promise. Trust me, he's ok." Amelia says and sighs as the call cuts. She hangs up the receiver.

Meow...

Amelia looks at the curious cat and sighs deeply, "What? Even I don't know where he is and that's a first. Do you?" She scoffs at him.

Theo lets out a confused meow and looks around, letting out a worried whine. Amelia sighs and pets him, calming him down.

"I know. I know." She gently picks him up and holds him in her arms, "There's something very wrong here." She gives his head a gentle kiss, worried for Will. With a wave of her hand, she forces the door to slam shut.

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"Good of you to show." Flo scoffs at Hopper as he finally makes his appearance known at work.

"Oh, hey, morning, Flo." Jim's voice slurs as he heads towards the coffee pot for a fresh cup of coffee. "Morning, everybody." He turns to his other deputies.

"Hey, Chief."

"Damn! You look like hell, Chief." Callahan exclaims.

"Oh, yeah?"

Callahan chuckles, "Yeah." he says as he continues his card game with Powell.

Hopper walks and looks at his cards, shifting one to another to show him what hand he had, "Well, I looked better than your wife when I left her this morning." He remarks.

The officers all burst into laughter.

"While you were drinking or sleeping, or whatever it is you deemed so necessary on Monday morning, Phil Larson called. Said some kids are stealing the gnomes out of his garden again." Flo says as she goes over the messages the town left for their Sheriff.

"Oh, those garden gnomes again. Well, I'll tell you what, I'm gonna get right on that." Hopper nods as he takes a bite of his donut. "Mmmm, Amelia's again?"

"I swear that woman is a gift from God." Callahan sighs out.

"On a more pressing matter, Joyce Byers can't find her son this morning." Flo adds.

Jim didn't seem bothered about it and he just nods as he heads towards his office, before he begins his duties, he just wanted some time to himself. "Mm. Okay, I'm gonna get on that. Just give me a minute." His voice is muffled from the donut.

"Joyce is very upset." Flo points out.

"Well, Flo, Flo, we've discussed this. Mornings are for coffee and contemplation." Jim states as he takes his coffee and donut with him to his office.

"Chief, she's already in your..."

"Coffee and contemplation, Flo!" Jim cuts her off.

Flo throws her hands up, leaving him to the issue that was waiting for him in his office. When Jim got to his office, he freezes at the doorframe, seeing Joyce rising from her seat, looking like she was ready to cry as she carried worry and fear in her eyes as they fill with tears.

Jim sighs as his headache grows, he wasn't high enough to deal with this. Joyce was a friend, and he knew her kids well. At first, he didn't think Will was actually missing, but Joyce was very insistent and a worried mother. After downing some more of his pills, he decided to take his deputies and start with the school to interrogate Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, and Lucas Sinclair.

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Amelia walks into the police station with a box full of donuts in one hand and coffee cups in a carrier in the other. She greets the people with a warm smile. Flo looks up in surprise.

Flo exclaims, "Well, I'll be! Don't tell me you're in need of help with the police." Her smile drops to a look of worry.

Amelia giggles, "Only help I need right now is someone to grab this before I drop it."

Callahan and Powell both rush to help her once they heard her voice. Callahan grabs the donuts as Powell saves the coffee. They both showed her they way towards the main part of the station and their snack table.

"You're wonderful, Miss Holloway." Callahan exclaims and practically shoves his nose against the box to breathe in the mouthwatering scent that steams out of the cracks. He moans in bliss.

"Good god, man. Calm yourself." Powell scoffs in disgust.

Amelia giggles, "I'll take that as a compliment. Something told me you all were running low, so I decided to pop in and say hi." She smiles at them all and frowns as she points outside, "I saw Joyce Byers' car outside. Is she talking to Hopper?"

Flo sighs gently, "Poor woman is so worried for her son. But if Hopper is listening, which I sure hope he does. I mean the man is a father himself, he should sympathize." She says as she leads Amelia away as Callahan and Powell pig out on her donuts and coffee.

Amelia frowns, "A father? I didn't get the vibe that he was married." She says.

"Oh! I'm sorry, dear, I keep forgetting you're not local. You see, Hopper is from the big city but moved down here after he and his ex-wife split. They had a daughter." Her voice drops to a whisper as she sits at her desk, leaning in closer so the men wouldn't hear. "Little Sarah. He sometimes talks about her, but how he lost her...oh!" She sighs sadly.

Amelia frowns, "'Lost her'?" She asks.

Flo sighs, "She died, sweetie. Cancer." She says and moves to answer the phone as it rings again.

Amelia sighs softly, "That explains the sadness in his eyes." She whispers to herself. When they first met, first thing she noticed, besides his grizzly height, was his eyes. They carried such grief and overwhelming sadness and pain. No wonder he hardens his shell. And it explains the hair tie.

Amelia looks up as she sees Joyce storming out of his office, "Just find him, Hop. Find him, please." Joyce's voice cracks and she turns to leave. She looks up and stutters her steps as she sees Amelia. "Anything?" She asks with hope.

Amelia sighs and shakes her head, "No. Did you talk to him?"

Joyce scoffs, "This close to tearing his ears off and practically scream inside them to get him to listen." She squints her fingers together.

Amelia scoffs out a laugh and takes her hands in hers, "Hey, he'll come home. It's going to be okay." She says softly and gives her a hug.

Joyce shudders and hugs her back, praying that she's right.

Soon, Hopper comes stomping out, but freezes when he sees Amelia hugging Joyce. Amelia lets go of Joyce and lets her leave, whispering softly in a soothing voice.

Joyce nods and turns as she sees Hopper, giving him a bitter look that says he better do his job and she means now before stomping out of the station. Amelia sighs and gives him a friendly wave.

"Morning, Sheriff."

"What are you doing here?" He scoffs at her and lights up a cigarette, but she walks over towards him and snatches it out of his mouth. "Hey! I'm allowed to smoke in here, it's my building." He glares down at her.

"Not while I'm in here." She holds up the cigarette and snaps it in half as she throws it into the well-used ashtray. "Again, those things will kill you." She smiles and moves away as he continues to give her a scowl. "I was just dropping off some more donuts and coffee." She sighs and gives him a worried look, "Joyce called me this morning. About Will. Please tell me you're going to give that woman some relief and look for her son."

"Lady, I don't tell you how to do your job, don't try to tell me how to do mine." He scoffs at her.

She tilts her head and sighs at him, "Just curious. And Joyce is a friend." She walks over to him, studying him as he frowns down at her weirdly. "Hmm, learning more about you every day." She smiles and turns to leave but leans on the door. "Better hurry and get yourself a donut before looking for Will. I see there's only two left over." She grins as she gives him a brief wave and bids Flo and the deputies goodbye as she leaves.

Flo grins as she bids Amelia goodbye and smirks at Hopper with a knowing grin.

Jim ignores Flo and stutters, completely speechless, "That woman..." He mutters and walks over towards the snack table, opening the carrier box that had donuts. She was right. There were only two left. It wasn't bear claws this time. It was some sort of eclair looking donut but bigger.

"How did she...?" He'll never understand how that woman knows so much. He munches angrily on a donut as he glares at the door but winces in delight at how good the donut tastes. "Damn that woman!" He exclaims and grunts in amazement.

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"Will!" Joyce shouts out in the woods. After leaving the station, she felt that she couldn't wait on Hopper. So, she called Amelia for help and together, with Johathan, the three of them decided to look around in the woods for Will.

"Will!" Johnathan calls out.

"Will, where are you?" Amelia calls out.

"Will!"

Amelia sighs and continues to look through the woods with Joyce and Johnathan, but deep inside she knew he wasn't out there. Where was he? Where could he be?

"Will!" She calls out again.

Joyce rushes towards a man-made fort that had a sign that read 'Castle Byers'. She snatches the cloth that covered the entrance but nothing.

"Will, answer me!" Joyce cries and covers her trembling lips. "Will!" She screams for her son.

Amelia moves away from them both, walking deeper into the woods. She sighs as she looks around. Struggling to feel anything.

Taking a deep breath, she spreads her arms out wide and calls forth for the Earth to answer her. Loud creaking was made around her as her eyes flutter once she feels the energy around her. Darkness takes over her, the smell of decay was strong around her nose. A cold feeling of fear rushes up her spine as if someone poured iced water down her back.

"Mom!" A distorted voice calls out.

Amelia snaps her eyes open with a gasp and pants heavily. She could have sworn she heard him. The cold feeling was gone and the dark cloud broke. She frowns in confusion. She never felt such dark power like that before. As if something was stopping her from seeing beyond. She frowns at this. She needs to come back and try again.

"Anything?" Joyce and Johnathan walk up towards her.

Amelia turns with a sigh, shaking her head, "Nothing." She looks over her shoulder, "Hopper is here. We should get back to the house."

"How do you...?" Joyce stutters and looks as she sees police cars driving by. She waves it off, assuming maybe Amelia heard the cars approach. She turns as the three of them head back towards the house.

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After sending Mike, Lucas, and Dustin home, Jim decided to check out the road Mike was talking about. Mirkwood. He scoffs at that word. He sighs as he takes the point while Powell and Callahan follow behind him.

"Will!" He calls out.

"Will Byers?" Callahan calls out as he walks with Powell.

"Will!" Powell yells out.

"Will Byers?"

He walks around, scanning the area. He sighs heavily as he thinks how rude he was to Joyce. He understands how it is to be a parent. Losing Sarah...he grunts as his heart clenches in pain. He needed a drink and his pills. He hated this feeling, and he knew this was probably what Joyce was feeling right now.

"Come on, kid!"

"Will?" Powell calls out and whistles.

Jim sighs heavily and reaches into his pocket to discreetly grab his pills. He manages to grab one and swallow it, but soon, something catches the corner of his eye. A shine of metal glimmering in the evening light.

"Hey! I got something." He calls out to the other deputies.

Jim rushes to the ditch, Powell and Callahan running towards him. Callahan grabs his hat, making sure it doesn't fly off his head...again. Jim slides down the small ditch and picks up an abandoned bike. He recognizes it. It was Will's.

"That his bike?" One deputy asks.

"Yeah."

"You think he got hurt in the fall?"

Jim kneels to look at the ground, seeing tracks, "Not so hurt he couldn't walk away. Bike like this is like a Cadillac to these kids. He would've walked it home." He says as he notices how far they were from the Byers house.

"If he went home, then where is he?"

"Good question." Jim asks as he grabs the bike and heads for his truck. They needed to check the house. Something didn't feel right. He wasn't sure how he was going to tell Joyce about this, but she had to know, and he needed to check out her house.

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Amelia sits on the couch with Johnathan, rubbing his back in comfort as Joyce continuously tries to call her ex-husband, Lonnie, but she managed to talk to his new girlfriend.

"Cynthia!" Joyce's voice raises in a high pitch as anger continue to course through her veins as she argues with the woman on the other line. "Cynthia, this is Joyce. Lonnie's ex-wife. I really need to speak to him-" She grits her teeth when the woman continues to interrupt her. "Can you please put...No, not later. Now! Can..."But the line was disconnected, telling Joyce that Cynthia hanged up on her. Joyce angrily slams the phone back on the handle, "Bitch!" She yells.

"Mom."

"What?!" Joyce scoffs.

"You have to stay calm." Amelia tries to sooth her, but she was pissed. "Deep breath. Calm." She says softly.

She chuckles humorlessly and mutters angrily as she calls Lonnie's number again. The phone rings but the answering machine picks up instead. She scoffs in disbelief and impatiently waits for the beep, "Lonnie, some teenager just hung up on me." She scoffs into the phone, knowing that the woman was screening the calls, "Will is... is missing. I don't know where he is." Her voice begins to break, she was scared, angry, she needed help, "I need...I just need you to call me back, please, just--" But before she could finish her message, the answer machine beeps and cuts her off. "Damn it! Damn it!" She yells and slams the phone again.

Amelia gets to her feet and paces towards Joyce, grabbing her by her shoulders, "Joyce, Joyce, calm. Breathe."

Joyce sobs and buries her face in Amelia's shoulder. Amelia sighs and rubs her back in comfort.

"Where is my little boy?!" She cries.

Amelia swallows back her tears, how she could help this woman so badly. How badly she wanted to tell her that she could help but what proof could she give without making her snap?

Jonathan looks up as he hears a car approaching. He sees it was the Chief and the two other deputies.

Joyce continues sob against Amelia's shoulder till, finally, she sighs deeply, still so angry with her ex-husband for avoiding her during this time of need. She wipes away her tears.

"Mom?" Jonathan says as he eyes the police outside.

"What?" She turns towards her son.

"Cops." He says.

Joyce rushes out of Amelia's arms and towards the door while Jonathan and Amelia follows her. They watch Jim carrying Will's bike towards them. Joyce's heart drops to her stomach at the sight.

Jim explains where he found the bike and begins to look around in the house with Callahan and Powell.

"It was just lying there?" Joyce stutters as she tries to understand what he was telling her.

"Yeah. Cal?"

"Did it have any blood on it, or-" Joyce's voice trembles with fear.

"No, no, no, no, no...We just found it. We think he did crash his bike, but there wasn't any blood. So that tells us he was unharmed and well enough to walk." Jim explains. "Phil?"

"If you found the bike out there, why are you here?" Joyce frowns, confused with all of this.

"Well, he had a key to the house, right?" Jim turns and asks.

Jonathan nods, "Yeah."

Joyce stammers, "You think I didn't check my own house?" She scoffs at them.

Jim shakes his head and moves towards the back door, "I'm not saying that." Jim says and eyes the small dent on the wall. He opens the door and measures the doorknob with the dent. It was a perfect fit. "Has this always been here?" He asks.

Amelia moves to see what he was looking at, "Hard enough to slam the knob against it." She looks over towards Joyce, "Maybe he slammed the door against it?"

"What? I don't know. Probably. I mean, I have two boys. Look at this place." She scoffs as she gestures at her messy home.

Jim looks over his shoulder, "You're not sure?" He asks.

Joyce throws her hands up, shrugging as she sighs in impatience. She couldn't understand why they were in her home while they should be out there, looking for Will. Amelia moves over towards her and rubs her arms in comfort.

Jim frowns and turns when they hear the family dog, Chester, barking outside. He moves to walk outside to see Chester barking towards the shed.

"Hey. Hey, buddy." Jim kneels next to Chester and rubs his neck, hearing the poor guy whine as he keeps his eyes on the shed. "Hey, what's up with this guy, huh?" Jim asks as he eyes the dog, wondering why he was so worked up over a shed.

Joyce scoffs and moves to grab the dog by his collar and drag him back into the house, "Nothing, he's probably just hungry. Come on." She mutters.

Jim eyes the shed and walk towards. Jim opens the door and walks inside. Jim flicks the lights on. He notices that bullets were spread out on the table. He looks up and sees the door opening and Amelia walks inside.

"What are you doing?" He looks at her in disbelief and scoffs.

"Sorry, she's constantly asking me 'what's he doing? what's he doing?'. So, I'm checking out what you're doing." She sighs and walks inside. "Anything?" She asks.

He sighs and begins to feel a headache coming, he rubs his head and looks around and notices that she sees the bullets scattered all over the table.

"Looks like someone was in a hurry to load up a gun." She frowns. "Does Joyce have a gun?" She asks.

Hopper didn't answer her and watches her give him an impatient glare, "I'm not gonna stop bugging you. Can't get rid of me that easily." She scoffs at him.

He grunts in annoyance and rolls his eyes, "You're telling me." He mutters.

Amelia tilts her head and arches her brow, "Watch it, Sheriff." She holds up a warning finger and looks around with a loud sigh, "Well, from what I can see since you're not going to tell me...Joyce had a gun..." She points at the gun holder rack that was nailed to the shed wall, "But looks like someone who was scared enough decided to grab for it. And managed to load it up." She points out as she counts the bullets. "Each box carries carries up to 50 rounds. It's 5 bullets short." She says.

Hopper stood speechless at all the facts she pointed out perfectly, he frowns at her knowledge.

Amelia shrugs, "What?"

"Are you sure you're just a baker?" He asks.

"Like I said before, Sheriff, I read easily." She smirks and looks.

"Could have fooled me." He scoffs and continues to look around to see if he could find any more clues, even though she's a civilian, she might can catch something he'll miss.

Suddenly, the light fizzes and shuts off, leaving them both in the dark. He reaches on his belt and grabs his flashlight, shinning it around. He frowns when he hears something in the dark corner. He kneels close as he hears the soft squelching. He tries to look closer in the darkness. He could almost see it. Something moving. Something slimy. He could smell it. It smelled...like death.

"Hey!"

Jim yell in fright and turn to see Callahan shining his light on them, "Jesus!" Jim shouts as Amelia screams, covering her mouth as she sighs in relief.

"What are you, deaf? I've been calling you." Callahan scoffs.

Jim exhales and walks out of the shed with Amelia.

"What's going on? Hello?" Callahan calls out to him.

Amelia turns, "Next time, Phil, knock before scaring people shitless." She sighs and grunts as she's slammed into tall, grizzly body. She would have lost her footing, but large hands grab her upper arms before she could fall. She looks up and sees Jim holding her steady.

"Careful." He says softly.

Blushing beet red, she clears her throat, "Thanks." She says as he gently lets her go and turns to pace away, this dark feeling churning in his gut was getting worse.

"Are you sure you're okay, Chief?"

"Listen, I want you to call Flo. I want to get a search party together, all right? All the volunteers she can muster. Bring flashlights, too." Jim states his orders.

"Hey, you think we got a problem here?" Deputy Callahan asks.

"I think something happened to Will. Why would he just leave home when he's a walk away? Why leave his bike if he fell? Why run out the back door if he was safe in a locked home?" Jim asks as he points out the questionable signs that were all around them. "Unless someone got in."

"Without breaking the lock? I don't know, Chief." Deputy Powell gives him a wary look.

"I've seen people break in homes with lousy locks with just a hair clip. And the intruder could have locked the door after leaving. Will could have made his way towards the shed and grabbed a weapon to protect himself." Jim says. "Will could have gotten to the gun. But there weren't any reports of gunshots in this area, right?" Jim asks.

The deputies shake their heads, "Flo never mentioned anything."

"Then he never used it." Jim says.

"That's a good thing, right?" Callahan asks.

"Is it?" Jim asks and sighs. "Get the search party together now. Comb the woods." Jim demands as he heads towards his truck with his men.

Amelia frowns as she managed to catch everything that was said. If she was going to do her thing...she needed to do it before the party gets out there.

"Joyce, Johnathan?" She calls out as she walks back towards the house. "I'm gonna head towards the woods and help out with the search, but I'll be back tonight if I find out anything new. Okay?" She calls out.

"Okay. Be careful out there." Johnathan calls back as Joyce continues to cry softly. Amelia sighs and rushes back to her car to get to her house.