STANDING IN FRONT OF THE mirror the next morning was definitely not one of the things Reese should be doing. Today of all days, Reese was not in it. And she had a perfectly good reason why Reese wanted to go back to her comfortable bed, and stuff her face with Will's favorite foods all day. The thought of doing that wanted to make her break down, rip the black dress, and rip her bobby pins she'd often use in her hair and throw them across the room. But she knew she couldn't really do that. She knew she'd face the music and be strong, if not for her, but for Dustin, Mike and Lucas.

"Baby? Are you ready?" Claudia Henderson called from Reese's doorway to her room. She watched her daughter staring blankly in the mirror. She knew how hard this was for her. And it broke her heart to know she was just as affected as her Dusty was.

Reese turned to her mom, her lips twitching the slightest bit, but it came out as a grimace. "As I can be mama," She whispered softly, her eyes flickering to a picture onto her dresser. It was one of those Polaroids that she didn't even remember taking. It had taken the previous summer, before everything went downhill. The photo had two boys on each side of her. Will and Mike on one side, and Dustin and Lucas on the other, with her placed in the middle. All of them had grins on their faces. She could either say either Jonathan (during one of the rare occasions that she, Nancy and him hung together around their siblings), or it could've been Joyce Byers, she didn't know. But it was one of those summer nights where it was actually nice outside in the Indiana weather.

"Reese! Can you come help me with my tie?!" Dustin hollered from his room, trying to straighten it out, but he couldn't quite get it to work with him. He sighed deeply, turning his head to see his sister standing at the doorway. His sister was beautiful, and as much as she annoyed him to no end, she was the best sister.

After snapping out of her thoughts when hearing Dustin's voice. She walked to see him standing in front of his mirror, her arms crossed as she stared at him. Her eyes roamed over him, to see the gray suit that he was wearing, in contrast to her black dress. "Need a little help there baby brother?" She tried to joke, but even at a time like this, jokes wouldn't help.

"Please?" Dustin pleaded, giving her his puppy look. Reese laughed. Dustin sighed. "I'm hopeless,"

"No you're not," Reese walked towards him with a shake of her head, reaching to turn him around, yanking his tie from his neck, straightening it. "You're just a brainless idiot," She teased, winking.

Dustin gaped at her. "Hey!"

Reese smirked before she took the tie, and wrapped it around his collar, fixing it to turn it down, before moving to tie it. "Are you going to be okay?" She asked him quietly, focusing on his tie to watch his expression.

Dustin opened his mouth to say what's on his mind, but he shook his head. "Yeah, I'll be okay," he nodded his head, biting his lip, contemplating his thoughts.

Reese glanced up, seeing that Dustin's lost into his thoughts, frowning as she finally got his tie together, and flattening it out. "What's wrong?" She asked him softly, fixing his collar once again, and getting the wrinkles from his suit.

"I'll tell you later," Dustin muttered, not wanting to get Reese's hopes up. Out of all five of them, the boys knew that Reese struggled with Will's disappearance a lot more than they did. Even remembering that El mentioned that she often carried the look of guilt and sorrow everywhere she went, despite how much his sister tried to hide it.

Reese gave him a look, before nodding his head. "Later," she smiles sadly, kissing his cheek. "Come on, we're gonna be late,"

Dustin smiled, wiping his cheek from the lipgloss no doubt his sister had been wearing.

Reese rolled her eyes. "Wimp, can't take lipgloss can't you,"

Dustin shook his head. "Nope!"

Arriving at the funeral was a bittersweet moment. Death called out to her like an old friend, despite that she didn't know whether or not to greet it in return, or face the music that the little boy who could make her smile was dead, gone. It made her feel uneasy, like something was horribly wrong, like there was something different. She couldn't quite pinpoint what it meant, yet she shook it off when she stood by Dustin, holding his hand tightly, her eyes mist and teary as a couple threatened to fall onto her cheek bones.

She was lost into her thoughts when she heard small laughter, causing her to glance downwards to hear Dustin pointing, and laughing. She glanced at Karen, who she stood next to, and glanced at the girl who was mourning. She nudged her brother, giving him a stern glare, flicking her eyes to his other friends, causing them to glance to see her glare.

They instantly quieten and shut their traps. Reese smirked internally. Glad to have that stern glare down.

She turned back to the funeral, her tears had dried onto her cheeks, causing her to take a handkerchief, and wiping her eyes dutifully, not wanting to ruin her mascara makeup. She sniffled as she closed her eyes, almost imagining the laughter of Will when they played the game that night, and the small voice of Will when she took her home. She was still in utter disbelief that the young boy who became a second ( or perhaps third or fourth after Dustin ) brother to her was dead. Though she couldn't distinct the feeling that something seemed off, or just something was missing.

After the priest had stopped talking, she didn't realize that she was consumed into her mind about Will when Nancy nudged her, or even when Dustin gestured to the yellow rose that she held in her hand. She swallowed thickly, her eyes glistened with tears as she took a deep breath, and carefully approached the open grave, seeing the casket lying inside of it. She stared at it for what seemed hours, when initially it'd only been about two minutes before she felt a hand on her shoulder. She swallowed as she looked up to see Joyce Byers standing beside her. She was aware of many eyes on her, but she couldn't really care less about it. "Joyce, I–"

"Sh, it's okay," Joyce whispered, wrapping an arm around the young girl. She knew that Reese felt guilty over the death of Will, even if she refused to believe that he was truly dead. "It's not your fault. You are not the blame for any of it,"

Reese opened her mouth, then shut it. She closed her eyes as fresh waves of tears cascaded down her cheeks. She licked her lips. "Bu–,"

"No buts," Joyce spoke firmly, gently tugging her into a hug, and gently rubbing her back. "Will is not your fault, sweetie. None of this is."

Reese buried her head into Joyce's shoulders, sniffling as she couldn't really break down. She had lost count of how many she's had in the past week alone, and today was not the day to have another one.

Joyce smiled sadly, gently pulling away. "I'll give you a moment," She squeezed her shoulder, noticing the yellow rose as she turned to the next person to give her condolences.

Reese inhaled deeply, turning to see the casket. She closed her eyes as she leaned forward, gently tossing the yellow rose inside. "I'm so sorry, Will," She murmured, not once opening them as she reached up with her handkerchief.

"Reese?" Jonathan asked her, glancing at Nancy as they approached the young teen. He could see how she was trying not to fall apart. He hoped their plan may help. "It's time,"

Reese turned her head to Jonathan and Nancy, seeing both of them gesturing towards a spot where they could talk privately without being overheard.

As they moved a little ways, she could've sworn she saw something in the distance, making her pause. She stared at the clearing across the graveyard, swallowing as she saw what she thought was a tail flicking, but it seemed like as soon it came, it disappeared, causing her to shake her head. She wasn't aware that Jonathan and Nancy had caught the pausing moment as she took a deep breath, and moved towards where the gates were. "Okay, what's happening?"

Jonathan pulled out the map, and he had circled the area of his house. He looked up at the two girls, though his gaze lingered on Nancy just a tad bit longer.

Reese caught the look, and wiggled her eyebrows in a teasing manner. As much as she loathed Steve with Nancy, something about her with Jonathan just seemed to be the cutest thing. She cleared her throat pointedly.

Jonathan blushed before shaking his head. "This is where it's been, right?" He pointed at the circle, just outside where Steve had lived.

Reese moved forward a bit, glancing down at the map with her eyebrows furrowed. She could see the three marked x's in red ink close to each other. She pointed at the first one. "That's got to be Steve's," Then moving her finger sliding against the map to the second. "Your house?"

Jonathan nodded his head. "And this x marks the spot where they found Will's bike,"

Reese and Nancy looked at each other, then back at Jonathan.

"Whatever it is, it can't be far from these spots," Jonathan implied, looking at the two ladies.

Nancy looked at Jonathan. "You want us to go out there?" She asked him in a slow hesitation. She looked at Reese. "What about you?"

Reese stared at the map, biting her lip as she looked up from the map to the gravesite then to her friends. "Whatever that thing is? It's going to do something else to another person, I–I can't let it be Dustin or Mike, or Lucas or. . . ." She trailed off, her eyes switching back and forth. "We have to find it, one way or another."

"When we do see it, then what?" Nancy questioned her, frowning.

Reese stared at Jonathan, before she turned to Nancy. "I–I don't know," She admits, crossing her arms across her abdomen. She fiddled with her dress sleeve, her mind silently supplying lyrics to her song.

"We kill it," Jonathan spoke up, looking at them.

Reese paused mid-lyric in her mind, snapping her head to stare at her friend wide-eyed. "With what?" She questioned in disbelief. "I don't know about you, but that thing, whatever the hell it is, I–I don't think it can be easily taken down, you know,"

Jonathan held this gleam in his eyes that Reese knew all too well, making her suspect that he too may be turning into a brainless idiot. Jonathan didn't speak as he led the two girls to his father's car.

Reese groaned as she smacked her forehead. "Okay, are we seriously doing this?"

Nancy nodded her head, agreeing with her friend.

Jonathan opened the door and looked at them. "Just give me a second," He poked his head inside and took a knife from his pocket as he tried to pick the lock.

Reese rolled her eyes as she walked around the opened door, reaching in, taking the knife. "I can do it."

Jonathan looked at the teen. "Reese. . ."

She held her hand, gestured to get out, before she climbed into the seat. "If I have to wake up early in the morning to kill this thing, then I'll pick the stupid glove compartment and see what I can find." She muttered as she tossed the knife back to Jonathan before she pulled a bobby pin, thanking herself mentally for extras as a strand fell to her face. She concentrated as she poked the bobby pin into the hole, and with utmost steadiness hands she held, despite that they were shaking due to the fear of getting caught, she heard the click, pulled the bobby pin out, and climbed out of the car. "Whatever you find in there, I swear–,"

Jonathan pulled a shotgun from the opened glove compartment, checking to make sure that it was loaded with bullets.

"Are you serious?" Nancy's jaw dropped as she stepped closer. Reese glanced around them, swallowing.

"I think he is, Nance. I mean, come on, we're going hunting for the boogeyman," She told her, hiding what she was feeling at that precise moment.

Jonathan and Nancy looked at her with confusion, though Reese waved them off.

"This is a terrible idea. Reese, tell him," Nancy exclaimed in a harsh whisper as she hugged herself tighter.

Reese shook her head. "We have to kill the thing, Nance," She told her softly as she tucked the loose strand behind her ear. "We just have to, even if it means killing with a gun."

"Besides, we have to do this ourselves, no one is gonna believe us," Jonathan added in, agreeing with Reese.

"Your mom would, and Reese too," Nancy gestured.

Jonathan shook his head. "My mom's been through enough. She can't know about this, and Reese has every right to shoot it," He looked over at her.

Reese nodded her head. "Ditto, this thing has tortured my brain enough as it is, and as big as this thing is, I only weigh at least 130, and it's my only defense to actually kill it when I get a chance at it."

Nancy bit her lip. "She deserves to know, guys," She tries to tell them.

Reese looked at Jonathan, she had her reasons why she needed to hunt this thing and use hellfire to burn it. She needed this to happen, either way.

Jonathan shook her head. "I'll tell her when this thing is dead and we have proof,"

After making plans to meet in a clearing close by the Byers, Reese heads home to change, and grab a few supplies. Luckily for her, her brother seemed to wander off with his friends the last time she had checked, and so far, she hadn't seen her mother as she went towards her room, and grabbed an old bag to pack necessities for the upcoming hunt she knew she wouldn't be home. She snagged some clean, fresh clothes, and went to the kitchen to grab her flashlight, making sure that the batteries inside were still good. She paused, before she turned around to another drawer, and snagged a few more batteries, before glancing around, before seeing the opened box of cereal. She bit her lip, contemplating something. "Oh fuck it," She reached for it, and stuffed it into her bag. She didn't care if it spilled. After all, it was only dried cereal she always ate from the box.

Once she made sure she thought she had everything, she went towards the garage where the big waters were at when she ran into her mom.

"Baby girl, what are you doing?" Claudia asked, clutching her bag close as she began to walk inside, frowning at her daughter.

Reese walked to grab the bottles of water from a big case, before turning to see her mother's frown directed towards her. "I'm going hunting with Nance and Jonny boy, though I should be home later," She stuffed the waters inside the bag.

Claudia frowned deeper, tilting her head. She opened her mouth to speak, though her daughter cut her off.

"No time to talk, Mama. I'll see you later," Reese turned, walked to her mother, placing a kiss on her cheek, before waving to her.

Claudia sighed, shaking her head, not bothering to question what both of her children were up to by this point. She went inside the house.

Reese began to go towards her bike, before pausing, turning to the car, remembering her mother kept a rifle inside. She hummed silently to herself, before shrugging, reaching for the driver's side door, opening it, and feeling under the seat, the ammo, and the rifle, before she pulled it out from under, and whistled with a smirk. "Time to hit the jackpot,"

Remembering which clearing wasn't easy at first, as there were many of them. Hawkins was surrounded by forest trees in every direction. Though the sound of a gunshot was prominent as she darted to the direction it came from. As she approached the clearing, she saw Nancy shooting at the cans with flawless aims, and the cans knocked down. She whistled in proudness that overcame her features. "Badass Nance!" She called as she approached them, her mother's rifle over her shoulder, and her backpack in hand.

Nancy blushed, before placing the safety on the shotgun, before handing it over to Jonathan, who seemed shocked. "What?"

Jonathan shook his head, smiling sheepishly. "You knocked three of them over,"

Reese hummed. "Without even trying, mind you,"

Nancy blushed deeper at their complements. "Let's see you try it,"

Reese shrugged, dropping her bag on the ground, and she grabbed the ammo from her jacket pocket, and she began to load the ammo. "Mom's gonna kill me if she finds this missing,"

Jonathan chuckled. "Your mom carried that everywhere?"

Reese scowled at the reason why. "When you have a single mother raising two children all alone, she has every right to defend herself," She shrugged as she aimed for one of the cans, ready to shoot.

Jonathan and Nancy both looked at each other, shrugging. Jonathan could relate. "The same with my mom, though I don't see her carrying a gun,"

Reese smirked. "I wouldn't be surprised with your mom Jonny boy, she's fierce to be reckoned with. And that is a very good thing," Everyone knew Joyce Byers held a protective streak for her children, and Will's disappearance proved that.

Jonathan scrunched his nose at the nickname, hearing Nancy's giggle.

Reese closed her left eye, furrowing her eyebrows as she readied the loaded rifle, aiming it for the standing cans, and with a jostle to her shoulder, she shot the can.

Bang!

The can knocked off the pole.

Reese winced as she hissed, her shoulder throbbing as she lowered the rifle, turning to see the two of them staring at her with impressed faces. "What?"

"Where'd you learn to shoot like that?" Nancy questioned. She knew she was an okay shooter, but to her, Reese seemed to have perfect aiming, and very good timing as the wind was slightly picking up.

It was Reese's turn to blush. "Well, mama used to teach me the basics when I was younger, in case, well, you know something had happened."

Jonathan nodded his head in understanding, while Nancy seemed confused.

Reese sighed, rolling her shoulders, hissing at the pulled muscle. "Fuck,"

Jonathan frowned. "What happened?"

Reese shrugged him off. "The rifle is pretty hefty, it's your typical rifle."

Jonathan gave her a wary look.

Reese smirked. "Don't ask, mama found this bad boy someplace I won't even know the name of," She mused, her eyes trailing across the clearing, though she blinked as she narrowed her eyes. There in the distance into the forest trees was another glimpse. It was the second one of that day, and this began to grow unsettling into her bones.

"Reese?" Nancy questioned her, though to her, Reese seemed to be in a daze, as she nudged Jonathan.

Reese gathered her bag, gripping the rifle tightly as she followed the skittering shadow, frowning as she chased after it into the woods, not realizing her friends calling her name in distress.

"Come on, we gotta chase her," Nancy gripped Jonathan's wrist, and ran after their fellow friend.

In the depths of the woods, as the skies darkened into the night time, Reese didn't know where she was. All she knew was that this thing wouldn't leave her alone, moving her body in autopilot. It felt like possession in a way, but at the same time, she could control her body, hear, see, touch, smell and taste everything around her, yet it made no sense. She felt compelled to chase after this monstrous thing that continued to taunt her with hallucinations, basically telling her it was her fault that Will disappeared. She wondered where it was leading her to, or moreso of what she was getting herself into. Her mind screamed, begging to stop walking after what seemed hours.

And finally, she did. She snapped out of the daze, her hands shaking as the light shone around her from the flashlight she held in her hands. She blinked, adjusting to the darkness that overshadowed the woods. She swallowed thickly as she scanned around her, turning around and hearing the same sounds she had heard before. The static, the low growling sounds she knew all too well. It scared her. She let out  a shaky breath as she began to slowly move, her body shuddering with fear but also acceptance that whatever had happened when she was mentally screaming, it seemed to be fruitless. And she realized that she was alone, completely alone.

Bang!

Reese snapped her head towards the direction she heard gunshots. She swallowed as she ran towards the direction, idly noting her bag was firmly on her back, the rifle tucked in between her back and the gun with her bag strapped to secure it. She ran towards the direction, screaming their names, hoping they'd hear her. "Nancy! Jonathan!"

Nothing. Absolutely fucking not a single sound. Except the sounds of something close by. The low growling. It was faint, but also at the same time so close as if it was directly next to her. Reese shuddered as she licked her lips, unconsciously tapping her fingers to the hum of her song. And as she scanned around her, her eyes caught something, no, more like a figure in the distance. Without thinking, she ran towards it.

But it turned out to be Nancy, to which Reese sighed in relief. "Nancy!" She called out, her voice panicked and worrisome. She couldn't grasp the fear she felt, but also the relief that her friend was unharmed, and safe. But that relief turned into panic as she got closer to her. Nancy was crawling inside of a tree trunk. "Nancy!"

Nancy never heard her, so she ran faster. She swallowed as she saw something unique, but strangely off. It reminded her of blinking lights, though she could've sworn it seemed to do it on its own. She casted a glance around her, unable to find Jonathan anywhere. She cursed out loud as she dropped her stuff on the ground, and began to ascend into the tree, shuddering at the strange feeling overcoming her. As she crawled through the tree stump, she noticed that the atmosphere seemed to change. She coughed as the dust particles seemed to get closer to her with each further crawl she made.

"Reese?" Nancy asked, swirling around to face her, sighing in relief as she ran to her friend, snatching her up, and hugging her. "Thank God you're okay! Jonathan and I were trying to find you when you ran off! What happened?"

Reese couldn't speak. Her eyes trained on the thing behind Nancy. She swallowed thickly as her heartbeat sped up. Her eyes scanned the monster from a distance. She had been right. The thing held no face, or at least from the angle she was staring at. It didn't. It had two arms, two legs and a tail. And it was scaly looking. She clutched Nancy tighter, not realizing she had spoken. "N—Nancy," she stuttered, seeing the monster snap its head up, and hissing at them. "We have to go. We have to go right now."

"Reese?" Nancy asked, before her eyes followed Reese's eyesight, and widening her eyes. A hand clamped over her mouth as Reese shushed her quietly, hissing not to move.

"That's the thing," Reese hissed to her friend, her voice above a whisper. "That's the thing that's been haunting me." Her eyes never strayed from the monster as it rose up, and growled loudly at them. She could feel Nancy jerking in her arms, eyes wide with panic. But Reese had to be strong. She closed her eyes, remembering her baby brother, and how he called her the strongest woman he knew. Being raised with a single mother and an older sister, Reese knew that he looked up to her more than anyone. And if she could face the demon that continuously haunted her mind, she could face the demon in reality.

"Whatever you do, you don't scream. Just slowly back away from the thing and get your ass through that tree and you find Jonathan," Reese told Nancy firmly. Nancy shook her head.

"No, no, no, I can't⏤," Nancy protested.

"Yes, you can and you will," Reese whispered.

A crunch on the ground was heard, making the two girls wince as Nancy had stepped backwards. The monster began to ascend.

"Run!" Reese pushed Nancy towards the tree stump, before she glanced around, picking up a stick and ran another direction. Reese logically knew that because there were two of them, the monster had to choose one as its prey. Naturally the Demogorgon seemed to gravitate towards Reese, as she began to run the opposite direction.

As she continued to run, she hid behind a tree, casting a glance around her. She couldn't hear Nancy, so Reese naturally assumed she ran to the tree. She held the stick tightly in the position of a baseball bat. From when she was younger, she had played t-ball, as well as Dustin. Her mother spoke that sports gained stability and momentum. Clearly it would be useful for this situation. She closed her eyes as she breathed heavily, tightening the grip as she heard the low growls.

"Hey, you!" Nancy's voice caused Reese's eyes to open in shock, and spun to see the monster facing Nancy, who clearly did not leave this dreadful place like she had assumed. But as quickly as the thought came, she whacked the monster, causing it to snarl.

Reese ran towards Nancy, as she ran towards the tree stump. "Nancy Wheeler! Have you lost your damn mind?" She snapped at the teen as she pushed the girl in front of her. "Go, go, go!"

Reese swirled around, holding the stick firmly still in her grasp, the monster targeting them, now seeming pissed off more than ever. She wished she had a platinum bat so she would smack the thing and beat it to its death. As cruel as the thought was, this damned monster haunted her so she had every right to whack it like a whack-a-mole arcade downtown. "You wanna play whack-a-mole?" She taunted the thing, her back to the tree stump, hoping Nancy would actually listen to her. She aimed for the beck, and swung it hard, causing it to roar, as she stepped backwards.

"Reese!" Nancy's echoing voice called out, yet Reese didn't let it distract her as she breathed in, and aimed for the head, which was weird considering it held no head at all, it looked like an octopus shaped with razor-like teeth all around the little testicle thingy. She swallowed. "Reese!" Jonathan's voice called out this time in worry. She knew her friends were waiting. She dropped the stick down, and turned swiftly to duck, and aim for the trunk. She began to crawl inside of it.

The monster reached its hand out, and snatched Reese's leg. Reese turned, finding a rock miraculously inside the trunk, and aimed it for its closed head, causing it to roar, letting go of her leg. She pushed herself to crawl faster, and not caring to scratch her legs against the roots. She was breathing heavily; her body weakening as if the energy drained out of her now that the adrenaline finally seeped out of her.

Once she was on the other side, she was covered in dirt mud, tree sap and grime from crawling, but also coughed as the dust particles still remained in her system; she breathed deeply as she felt hands pick her up. She could feel Jonathan and Nancy's arms wrap around her torso, and hugging her close to them. Her body sagged with relief and horror that the thing was actually real. She couldn't believe it. It had been real.

"We got you," Jonathan told her, seeing the dazed look on Reese's face, sharing a look with Nancy, who had quickly explained to the boy what happened. Jonathan and Nancy both knew this wasn't the end of it, and they'd be there to fight with Reese. They knew they needed a better plan to get rid of it, once and for all.