After discovering Benny's dead body, Hopper decides to call in people who were the last to see Benny alive. To see if anything was out of the ordinary or if anyone saw anything or heard anything. For Benny to just...do that, something was telling his gut that it wasn't suicide. He needed to talk to Earl and the boys.

Earl, one of Benny's regulars and good friends, sat in a chair by Callahan's desk at the station. He places a cigarette in his mouth with shaking hands, but his lighter wasn't working.

"Just doesn't make any sense, Chief." Earl says sadly as he struggles with his lighter.

Jim, sitting in a chair in front of him, grabs his own and helps Earl light it. Once Earl was calm and enjoying his smoke, Jim took that as a sign to start asking.

"You, uh, notice anything...odd about him the last few weeks?" He asks.

Earl shakes his head, "No, we're fixin' to go fishing down the Etowah next Sunday. I mean, he was lookin' forward to it. I know that."

Jim nods, "He got any enemies you might know about? I mean, people who might not want him around?"

Earl sighs out a cloud of smoke, "The exes didn't like him much. That's for sure, but...nah." He shakes his head.

"When was the last time you saw him?

"Yesterday. Lunch, same as always."

"Just you and the boys?"

"Yep. Me and Henry and..." Earl sighs again as he exhales sharply, thinking about anything that could help. One thought came to mind, "Well, there was this, uh, this kid. No kid did this." He shakes his head.

Jim's brows lift in curiosity, "Kid? What are you talking about?" He asks.

"Yeah. At lunch, uh, there was this boy that, uh...he was trying to steal food out of Benny's kitchen. Can you imagine that?" Earl scoffs.

"What'd he look like?" Jim asks cautiously, hoping that maybe Earl saw Will.

"Well, he was about yea high. You know, tiny like. I didn't get a good look at him, though. He was back in the kitchen." Earl says.

Jim looks over towards Callahan and silently asks for Will's picture. He grabs the picture of Will and shows it to Earl, "He look like this?" Callahan asks.

Earl takes the photo and shakes his head, "Oh, no, that's...That's Lonnie's missin' kid. No. This was a different kid. This one had really short hair. I mean, it was buzzed nearly down to the scalp."

Jim sighs in disappointment, but he wasn't going to give up, he stands up as he points at the picture, pushing Earl to remember, "Yeah, well, let's...You know, let's forget about the haircut. I mean, if this kid had a buzz cut...could it be Lonnie's kid?" He asks.

"Well, I...I didn't get a good look at him. About the right height, though. I mean, could've been. Yeah, that's...Could've been." Earl shrugs.

Jim sighs heavily, and believing Will was here...but...what happened?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Night was falling fast, and everyone was growing tired. The coffee helped, but most of the party had to go home to be with their family. Some stayed behind to keep going. Amelia sat in her car with the heat blasting for comfort. The temperature was dropping by the hour. She couldn't get over that poor boy's voice calling out to her and that creature. What in the world was it? The further this situation grew, the more questions began to build. What is going on in this town?

Soon, she perks up when Hopper's truck pulls up next to hers. She gets out to meet him as he hops out of his truck.

"Hey." She says softly.

"Hey. Everything ok?" He frowns at her, seeing the fear in her eyes, but she quickly shakes it off.

"Yeah, um, just...just really worried for Will." She sighs out. "What happened at Benny's?" She asks.

He sighs heavily and moves away, not answering her.

"Chief, I'm a big girl. I know it was bad, but how bad?" She says as she paces to catch up with him.

Voices of the party continues to call out to Will, almost drowning out his voice as he speaks.

"Will!"

"Better come out, buddy."

"Will, where are ya?"

"Just a situation. Don't worry about it." He grunts out.

"I'm sensing that Benny was a good friend of yours...right?" She asks.

Jim sighs deeply and scans the area, "Yeah. Yeah, he was." He grunts as he feels a tiny, warm body wrap around his own. He looks down and sees Amelia giving him a gentle hug around his arm and moves away.

"I'm sorry."

He shakes his head, waving her off, "It's life. When it gets too bad, some just give up." He says, giving her the hint that his friend killed himself.

Amelia could hear the doubt in his voice, "But you don't believe that." She says.

He scoffs, he almost forgets at time that she can easily read people, "No. I don't." He sighs, not wasting his time denying it. "Another friend of mine, Earl, he knew Benny as well and he saw Benny before..." He hardens his jaw, "He said he saw a kid. I think he saw Will. Something bothers me though. Earl said the kid had a shaved head." Jim sighs.

"Do you believe it was Will?" She asks.

Jim shrugs, "I don't know. I want it to be, but honestly, my gut says otherwise. But it's a clue. And I'm going to follow it."

Amelia reaches and grabs his jacket, making him turn towards her, stopping him in his tracks, "Just be careful. Okay?"

"What? Got a bad feeling?" He snorts.

"Actually, I do. Promise me, you'll be careful." She says in serious tone.

He couldn't help but scoff down at her, "Lady, I'm a cop. My job is always dangerous. Don't worry about me." He turns to leave, but she yanks him back.

"And I'm a friend, Jim. I care about my friends. Which includes you."

"Oh, I'm a friend?" He snorts.

"Even though you can be a bit rude and crude, you're a nice guy. And yeah, a friend. Nice guys like you are hard to find." She gives him a crooked smile.

Jim scoffs, she certainly does not have a filter with that mouth. He liked that. She says what she wants and not ashamed of it.

Callahan paces over to Jim with a frown, "Hey, you think Earl really saw Will? I mean, what's he doin' with a shaved head? And stealing food from Benny?" He asks, confused with how it sounds.

"Tell you what, when we find him, we'll ask." Jim remarks at him, not in the mood for Callahan's stupid questions as he continues to scout with Amelia.

Callahan scoffs, "Can't ask a corpse questions."

Amelia's jaw drops and she yanks Callahan's arm, "You are on thin ice with me, Phil. I thought you were a nice guy, but that...that was way over the line. If you so make one more remark about that poor boy or his family, I don't give a flying fuck if you are a cop, I'll smack you so hard, you'll be pissing through a tube for a month!" She shouts at him, making him flinch at her tone. She turns and huffs, "Asshole." She grits her teeth and storms away.

Callahan stutters in guilt and watches Jim pace to catch up with her.

Amelia mutters, mocking Phil's voice in an angry, annoyed tone, "Who the hell does he think he is?" She scoffs to herself and snaps her head over her shoulder as she sees Jim walking fast towards her then slows down to meet her speed.

"What is going on with you?" He asks with a frown.

"I'm sorry I snapped, I'm just..." She sighs.

"No, he deserved that, but seriously..." He gently grabs her arm to stop her and stands in front of her. "What's wrong?"

Amelia sighs shakily, "I'm just cold, and tired and scared for Will. I want to help him come home and be safe."

He sighs, "I know. It's okay." He gently pulls her into his arms and rubs her back, helping her get warm. At least that was what he was telling himself, but honestly, he just wanted to feel her. Just to see what it could be like, just once. He shouldn't have done it...now he was addicted.

Amelia snuggles in his warm embrace and smirks, "I so called it." She whispers.

"What?" He frowns and pulls away.

She giggles, "Sorry. I was just thinking about when I first saw you peeking through my window. You know what the first thing that came to my mind?" She asks, "Teddy bear."

Hopper scoffs and rolls his eyes as she laughs at his face.

Suddenly, they both jump when they hear a whistle blowing. Meaning someone found something. Maybe Will! Jim and Amelia rush towards the whistle.

"Hold up!" A volunteer shouts out.

The two of them rush and find Mr. Clark kneeling next to a small storm drain.

"Hey, what do you got?" Jim asks as he kneels next to Scott.

"Not sure. Maybe nothing. I found this. In there." Mr. Clark says as he holds up a torn piece of cloth. It looked like it came from a hospital gown.

Jim takes the piece and studies it. Powell kneels down to look in the storm drain with his flashlight guiding his sight. Jim follows his eyes.

"No way a kid crawls through there." Powell scoffs.

"I don't know...a scared enough one might. His brother said he was good at hiding." Jim says. "I have a feeling if he was desperate enough or scared enough...he would."

"Then what scared him enough to go in there?" Amelia asks.

Jim looks up at her, not sure how to answer her question. In fact, it was another that filled his mind. What did scare Will enough to run?

Amelia moves away from the crowd and walks around the pipe. Jim looks up and follows her, scanning the area with her.

"Where does that pipe go to?" She asks.

"The Department of Energy." Jim frowns.

"Think he went there?" She asks.

"Maybe." He sighs and tightens his jaw, "I'll pay them a visit in the morning." Jim had a strong feeling that something was going on at that place. What was Will doing in the drain? Did he see something there? He turns towards the crowd, "Okay, People, listen up! We possibly have a clue to Will's whereabouts. I want everyone to go home and rest up. I'll let you know if another search party is needed. Go home, get warm, and wait for my word." He calls out to the crowd and turns towards Amelia. "You go home, too and rest."

"Think you're gonna need me?" She asks innocently.

"No." He glares at her.

"Oh, come on! You're gonna need someone to read those people. And you know already how good of a reader I am." She smirks. "Trust me, you're gonna need my help."

Hopper hovers over her, "No, go home and stay there." He grits his teeth.

Amelia tilts her head, "Hmm, nope." She pops her lips and heads towards her car. "See you in the morning, Sheriff. Don't be late."

Hopper's jaw slacks and tightens, "Jesus, this woman!" He growls softly as he rubs his head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Amelia's Home)

Amelia strikes a match and throws it into the fireplace, watching the flames roar to life as she sits on the floor with a metal bowl in front of her. The reflection of the flames danced eerily in the bowl, casting harsh ripples around the metal.

She reaches and takes a white candle nested in a black candle stick with a gargoyle holding it. She sticks the candle in the fire to light the wick and sets it down by the bowl. She breaks off a sage herb and tosses it into the fire, making smoke pour out around her and casting a thick cloud inside and outside her house. Thank God there were no neighbors around. She lived at the edge of town.

With a large black tourmaline handle, she gently runs it over the bowl edges, making the metal softly rumble.

"As I chime this bowl, I call upon the sacred power. Ring the bells far and near, sacred goddess, settle here." She whispers softly. "Every chime that I make, banish the evil and let the power wake. I ask you now, Goddess Ozark. Hear me now." She slowly removes the tourmaline and holds it tight in her hand.

"O Goddess, protect my loved ones every day" Her voice distorts as the powers flow through her. She lightly taps the bowl, making a loud chime ring throughout the house.

"As they sleep and as they play." CHIME!!! "Help them through the evil night and keep them safe in your loving light." CHIME!!! "Protect them from harm and from all they fear, for they are the ones I hold dear." CHIME!!!

She looks up at the ceiling and her eyes dilate till they were black, "Protect the innocent Will Byers from the creature that hunts him in the underworld. I call you, Sacred Goddess. Hide him from the harm that waits for him. Protect Jim Hopper..." She swallows a lump in her throat as fear swells in her heart for him. "Protect the one you have chosen for me. Holy goddess. Protect my friend, Joyce Byers and her son...Johnathan. Cover them with your veil of protection. Watch over Will's friends, for their bravery and friendship for Will shall lead them to the danger that awaits them."

She inhales sharply as her body was forced to rise; she spreads her arms out to welcome the Goddess in her presence.

"I thank the Goddess for helping me as I trust in her aid. So, mote it be!"

Lighting strikes blindly above her house as she feels the Goddess listen to her pleas. She grunts as her body thuds against the rug. She sighs as she feels the powers leave as her message is safe in Ozark's hands.

Suddenly, the flames roar again, and she sits up to look inside. She hears Joyce's voice calling out, screaming in terror.

Her eyes widen, "Joyce!" She quickly gets to her feet and runs out the door. As soon as the door slams shut, the fire dies out as the flame of the candle blows out by the invisible puff of wind.