CHAPTER ONE
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

LEXIE ABERNATHY adored Halloween. It was everything that she loved; movie marathons, candy, and special traditions that she cherished. Not only was it the start of the holiday season, arguably the best time of the year, in her opinion, but it gave her a sense of familiar comfort. That was something the town of Hawkins hadn't had for some time.

Walking down the hallway with her school bag draped over her shoulder, cries of frustration could be heard from the room at the very end of the hallway. "Lexie!" Emily, her sister, shrilled at an almost inhuman pitch.

Lexie stopped dead in her tracks and stepped back, peeking her head ever so slightly into Emily's room. She stood above her Halloween costume that she had spent weeks preparing, a distraught look overtaking her features.

"I need your scarf! That ugly yellow one with the stripes," she told her, her voice lowering and her eyes not leaving the dress that spread across the floor.

"Ugly? If it's so ugly, why do you want it?" Lexie scoffed lightly, taking utter offense to what she had described the item of clothing as. Emily's head snapped up and she gestured to the dress with raised brows, as if it was obvious.

"I can't be Dana Barrett if the costume's wrong! I need the scarf to tie around my waist, duh. I won't match with everyone else!" she huffed out, crossing her arms in utter despair as if it was the absolute end of the world if her costume didn't end up working out.

Lexie left the door frame quietly and ducked into her room, snatching the requested scarf off of the hook and returning to Emily, who looked at her expectantly. Her sister's eyes lit up at the item in Lexie's hand and grabbed it quickly, draping it over the waist of the bright orange dress.

"It's perfect!" she squealed excitedly. "Sorry for being a little...touchy, there." Lexie smiled in spite of herself, knowing perfectly well what it was like to be a thirteen year old girl who wanted to get things just right.

"Don't worry about it, Em," she dismissed as the younger girl picked up her bag and fell into step beside her sister as they descended the stairs. "And Halloween isn't even until tomorrow."

"I know, but I want to be ready. Best night of the year, right?" Emily pointed out with a grin, sharing the same sentiments that Lexie did when it came to the holiday. She had stopped taking her sister out trick or treating a few years previously, but seeing the excitement in her eyes was just enough for her.

The kitchen was already bustling, her aunt and mother filling the space and going forward with their typical morning routine.

"Lex! I picked up some of the really good coffee at the store — here," Aunt Iris announced, handing her a warm thermos full of the caffeinated liquid. Lexie accepted it gratefully with a smile and thanked her.

Her mother, Christine, was attempting to make sure that her sister was properly ready to leave the house, which she seldom was.

"You're going to come right home today, all right? No messing around with those boys, there will be plenty of time for that tomorrow," she warned Emily, much to the girl's displeasure.

"But Mom —" she began to object, Christine's no nonsense look pushing her back into silence.

"Hey, Lexie, come by the bakery after school," Iris brought up, almost completely ignoring the fizzling argument between her sister and niece. "Hopper put in another order and I figured you could pick it up."

Christine and Iris ran the one and only bakery in Hawkins, providing the town with a service they couldn't find just anywhere else. The grocery store did, of course, have baked goods, but nothing could beat the Hawkins Bakery's wonderful treats.

"Yeah, of course," Lexie responded, grabbing one of the recently made muffins from the plate that rested on the counter. "But we gotta go. See you guys later! Love you!"

With Emily on her heels, they stepped outside and began at a steady pace down the sidewalk. Lexie had yet to own her own car, but she hoped it would be soon with the walking talking a bit too long in the mornings.

Walking down the pavement to the end of their street, Lexie took a few bites out of the sweet muffin and savored it. Nothing gave her the exact comfort that her mother and aunt's baking did.

They lived on a street with larger houses, the smaller ones in town not quite accommodating their large family that often housed even more visitors.

Looking over at her sister, she wondered just how detached they could sometimes be from each other. Her preparation for Halloween had only been the tip of the iceberg, the events of the year previous slipping into her mind. Emily had gone through so much, and Lexie had been completely oblivious to most of it until Will was found again.

When they finally reached the main road to the school, Emily bade her sister goodbye, catching up with Lucas — who had just arrived as well — toward the middle school.

She continued on her own way into the rowdy school parking lot seeing nothing other than the usual — reckless teenage drivers flooring their cars into parking spots and groups of people laughing and sneering at others.

It wasn't that she didn't have any friends, it was more so that she was just rather unpopular with some of her peers that had different values than she did.

Some casual acquaintances was all she really needed, or at least that's what she liked to say. It was only that she preferred not to go to raging parties and get blackout drunk on the weekends and flunk classes left and right. And there was very much so a group that was particularly fond of those past times.

The building was in her sight and she walked through the middle of the parking lot, but the sound of tires screeching against asphalt pulled her out of her reverie abruptly.

A blue car was speeding in her direction, the driver not slowing down in the slightest despite her being in the middle of the parking lot directly in his path. Dodging quickly, and almost spilling her coffee in the process, she took a moment to eye the car in question bitterly before moving forward with her day.

The crowded hallways at school weren't exactly welcome to her, but she ignored mostly everyone as usual and finished off her blueberry muffin as she entered the doors.

Standing right near one of the main doorways was a girl Lexie didn't exactly know and often forgot the name of, but she knew she was much more popular than her. In her arms was a large stack of bright pink invitations to her Halloween party, telling almost every person who walked through the door to come.

Lexie, however, was deliberately skipped in this process. She wasn't expecting an invitation, she really wasn't. But sometimes she did wonder what an actual party would be like. The thought floated away from her as she took another sip of her coffee. Iris was right — it was the good stuff.

Distracted by her momentary thoughts on parties and coffee, she almost didn't notice the quiet, timid voice that greeted her. "Hey, Lexie."

Snapping her gaze up to in front of her, she smiled widely and greeted, "Hi, Jonathan."

"How's, uh, Emily?" he asked causally, scratching the back of his neck. The small talk was making her feel awkward too. But she genuinely did like Jonathan and thought he was very nice — they just only spoke because of their siblings.

"She's good. Been out with her friends a lot. How's Will? I haven't seen him around much," she admitted. While the kids went from house to house, Mike's was more of a home base for them.

"He's...hanging in there," Jonathan replied, shrugging. The events of the year previously had clearly taken a toll on all of them, most of all Will.

"Well, tell him I said hi," she said, Jonathan nodding in response. They said a quick goodbye and Lexie immediately launched into a plan on how to make things less horribly awkward between them. A work in progress.

Emily being out with her friends a lot was an understatement. She was more distant, more quiet than usual. But people dealt with things differently. But she just wished they could be as close as they used to be. Also a work in progress.

__________

The bell of the bakery door jingled merrily as she stepped in, smiling at the familiar scent of her aunt's baking.

"Iris?" she called out, peering past the counter after seeing no sign of her.

"Hopper's order is on the counter, hun! Labeled it for him!" Iris called from the back kitchen, momentarily poking her flour covered face out from the doorway and pointing to the location of the box. "Thanks for taking it!"

"No sweat," Lexie told her, picking up the box and walking to the door with a wave she knew her aunt couldn't see. "I'll see you at home!"

The bell sounded again and she was off walking down the sidewalk once again. Most days after school she was working away as an intern at the local police station. It wasn't a hard job, exactly — she mostly just answered calls. And before last year, Hawkins was a place with not much going on.

An autumn breeze ripple through her hair while the leaves scratched against he pavement. She inhaled deeply, enjoying the slight chill in the weather.

When she finally reached the station, she shouldered open the door and made her way to the office for the chief.

Knocking on the door with her foot, she was greeted with a muffled, "Come in."

"Hopper, have I got something good for you today," she announced as she waltzed into the familiar office, smiling mischievously.

The chief of police looked up from the work on his desk and welcomed Lexie in with a friendly smile. Placing the box on his desk, she opened it and presented its contents to him.

"You're such a cliche cop with the usual order," she teased, rolling her eyes in mock judgement.

Plucking a donut from the box and taking a large bite, Hopper simply shrugged. "Does that make this less good? No," he responded simply. "Iris has outdone herself yet again. You gotta bring these by in the mornings."

"I'll have to, if I have the time," she agreed. Her eyes wandered toward the papers on his desk, several of them visibly concerning Will Byers and what had happened to him. "Busy day?"

Hopper looked up to her and back down at the papers as she closed the box of donuts carefully. "You could say that," he answered vaguely, Lexie not quite grasping what needed to be investigated about any of it now.

"I'm going to go put these in the break room. I just wanted you to get the lucky first one," she told him, changing the uncomfortable subject quickly.

"This is why you're my favorite," he smiled, leaning back in his chair as she headed toward the door.

Lexie fake gasped. "Don't say that in front of Flo," she said, referring to the much older far more senior secretary that worked most of the hours during the day and when Lexie couldn't come late at night. Lexie found herself there mostly when Flo couldn't show up.

After putting the box in the break room, she headed to the desk and threw down her school bag, ready to file papers and answer calls for a good few hours. Predictably, the phone rang about ten minutes into her filing.

"This is Hawkins Police..."