･ ｡ﾟ☆: *. ☆彡ﾟ.
13| The Ray of Sunshine
･ ｡ﾟ☆: *. ☆彡ﾟ.

𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝙃𝙖𝙬𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝘾𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙮

-"FEAR NOT FOR I AM WITH YOU." Pastor Charles read aloud from his black hard cover book. Steve stood next to Joyce during the burial. He had seen Stella's "body", and without a word, walked out of the Coroner without signing any papers. He trusted Joyce about that. One thing that amazed him, was that his parents were partying in "who-knows-where", didn't know about any of this. He shook his head at the thought of them having a good time on sunny beach, far away from Hawkins.

"Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand....."

The Pastor continues on, but Steve starts to tune him out. He thinks back to the day when he saw his sister, alive, and well, not well. He couldn't have imagined it. His imagination could never make up anything that detailed and different.

He looks over at Joyce who's staring harshly at her "sons" casket. He places his hand on her shoulder and gives it a light squeeze. Jonathan looks over at him in confusion, but Steve doesn't look in his direction. Joyce places her hand on top of his and squeezes it. She felt comforted to know, that someone believed, even if it was, the King of Hawkins High himself, Steve Harrington.

"-and to surround Will Byers, and Stella Harrington's families....."

-"Just wait till we tell Will and Stella that Jenifer Hayes was crying at their funeral."

Dustin whispers to the boys in a hushed tone. None of them felt any real signs of sadness, because they knew that their friends were alive. An adult shushes them before they can say anymore.

( • • • )

-"Mr. Clarke?" Mike asks his teacher at the reception.

-"Oh, hey there." Mr. Clarke smiles down at the Wheeler boy.

"How are you boys holding up?" He asks them with sympathy. The boys look amongst  themselves and immediately go into their "mourning act".

-"We're....... in........ mourning......" Lucas puts his head down as he takes another bite of a Nilla wafer.

-"Man, these aren't real Nilla Wafers." Dustin shakes his head after eating another cookie. The boys continue to munch on their food while Mr. Clarke sits at their table a bit uncomfortably.

-"We were wondering if you had time to talk," Mike Says politely, with his hand folded on the table.

-"We have some questions," Lucas adds.

-"A lot of questions." Dustin puts emphasizes the word "a lot".

-"So, you know how in Cosmos, Carl Sagan talks about other dimensions? Like, beyond our world?" Mike asks before licking his dry lips.

-"Yeah, sure. Theoretically." Mr. Clarke strokes his chin as he speaks.

-"Right, theoretically." Lucas adds with a nod.

-"So, theoretically how do we travel there?" Questions Mike while surprising his teacher a bit.

-"You guys have been thinking about Hugh Everett's Many-Worlds Interpretation, haven't you?" Mr. Clarke asks with a small smile. He then continues.

"Well, basically, there are parallel universes. Just like our world, but just infinite variations of it. Which means there's a world out there
where none of this tragic stuff ever happened."

Says the teacher with a bigger smile this time, hopping that he was able to cheer up the sad boys.

-"Yeah, that's not what we're talking about." Mike shakes his head. The other boys do the same.

-"Oh....."

-"We were thinking of more of an evil dimension, like the Vale of Shadows. You know the Vale of Shadows?" Dustin asks his teacher.

-"An echo of the Material Plane, where necrotic and shadow magic....."

-"Yeah, exactly."Lucas cuts straight to the point.

"If that did exist, a place like the Vale of Shadows, how would we travel there?" Mike asks. The boys stare at their teacher with patience. Mr. Clarke begins to grow a tad bit uncomfortable and shifts in his seat.

-"Theoretically." Dustin reminds their teacher so that he doesn't grow suspicious or uncomfortable.

-"Well..." Mr. Clarke takes a deep breath before continuing. The boys look up at him with curiosity dancing in their eyes as they wait for him to answer their question. Mr. Clarke clears his throat before answering.

"Picture... an acrobat..." he starts, grabbing the boys attentions immediately.

"standing on a tightrope. Now, the tightrope is our dimension."
He grabs a paper plate and pulls a pen out of his pocket. He proceeds to draw a "tightrope and an acrobat.

"And our dimension has rules. You can move forwards, or backwards. But, what if... right next to our acrobat, there is a flea?"
He pauses to draw a flea next to the acrobat.

"Now, the flea can also travel back and forth, just like the acrobat."

-"Right?" Mike asks while processing this information in his head.

-"Right. Here's where things get really interesting. The flea can also travel this way... along the side of the rope."
Mr. Clarke draws a wave above the tightrope.

"He can even go... underneath the rope."
He draws another wave underneath.

-"Upside down." The boys says aloud in unison whilst nodding and eating more Nilla Wafers.

-"Exactly." Mr. Clarke nods, happy that his students are catching on quickly.

-"But we're not the flea, we're the acrobat." Mike thinks aloud, slightly disappointed that he and his friends weren't the ones to save Will and Stella.

-"In this metaphor, yes we're the acrobat." Mr. Clarke nods.

-"So we can't go upside down?" Lucas confirms

-"No."

-"Well, is there any way for the acrobat to get to the Upside Down?" Dustin asks, trying to look on the bright side.

-"Well... you'd have to create a massive amount of energy. More than humans are currently capable of creating, mind you, to open up some kind of tear in time and space, and then... you create a doorway." Mr. Clarke stabs the paper plate with his pen, creating an opening.

-"Like a gate?" Mike asks, growing hopeful.

-"Sure. Like a gate." Mr. Clarke nods.

"But again, this is all...."

-"Theoretical." The boys say in unison.

-"But... but what if this gate already existed?" Dustin asks while leaning forward in his seat.

-"Well, if it did, I... I think we'd know. It would disrupt gravity, the magnetic field, our environment. Heck, it might even swallow us up whole."
He chuckles lightly. The boys think about Will and Stella, and how they could have been possibly "swallowed up whole", by this said "gate".

"Science is neat." Mr. Clarke continues. This time he brings his conversation to an end.

"But I'm afraid it's not very forgiving.........."

𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ʇɥǝ 𝙣𝙙𝙨ı𝙙ǝ 𝙙𝙤ʍ𝙣

-"YOU THINK, THAT THEY THINK THAT WE'RE DEAD?"  Stella asks aloud while looking through the door of Castle Byers. The two tweens had sat in silence for some time, and it felt eerie, just like Hawkins 2.0.

-"What?" Will looks up, completely taken off guard. He was playing around with a smiley face pin that he had found in Stella's bag. He remembered back to when he gave her that pin when they were eight.

-"I said do you think that they think we're dead?" The girl repeats herself while turning to face him.

-"I don't know. I mean, my mom knows I'm alive, Steve knows you're alive, and people believe your brother. They just don't know were to look for us. I wouldn't even know where to look us!" Will stands up from the makeshift bed and places the pin on Stella's bag.

-"My pin! You found it!" Stella exclaims in excitement while rushing over to her bag to hold the little ray of sunshine in her hands.

-"Yeah, it was in the bottom of your bag. Yellow side facing down." Will answers humbly with a thin and small smile pressed across his lips.

-"Thanks! I've been missing this guy for a week! Who knew he was at the bottom of my backpack!"
She smiles her signature cute smile and shrugs with a little laugh. She did this all to make light of the situation, knowing that it (hopefully) would relax and cheer Will up a bit.

She stares down at the little pin that's in the palm of her hand with anxiety. Anxious for she and Will to leave. Anxious for Steve hurry and find them. Anxiety, for that they might never be found. She pushes those anxious thoughts aside and tries to stay positive. It's important not to panic, too much, in situations like theses. Not that she's been in one like this before.

"I uh, have an idea!" The girl looks up from her pin to Will.

"How about, this becomes our Ray of Sunshine? So when one of us is sad, you pin it to you! I mean, that yellow smiley face has to make you happy..."

-"Stella, it's a good idea but I'm not a baby. And nor are you." Will interrupts. His face dead serious and hint of annoyance could be seen in his eyes.

But Stella wasn't finished, and wasn't going to be interrupted.

-"I wasn't finished, and I know you're not a baby. But anything I can do, to keep you mentally stable, physically happy, and hopeful, then I'll do it! I-...."

She stops, why should she worry him more with her anxiety? That was her problem, not his. And she was determined to get rid of it all. 

"All I'm trying to say is (don't change!!!) whatever happens, we need to stay positive and strong. A family member of ours, will find us. They know where we are, and miss us! Steve cried, when I saw him! He's never cried for me before! Don't you see? They're going to find us! But for now, we need to stay hopeful and keep ourselves from withering away."

She pauses to pin the smiley face on to Will's vest. Will looks down at the pin and runs his finger along the rim of it.

-"Your right, I'm sorry." The boy hangs his head low, but then picks it back up.

"But...."

He pauses, still not quite convinced that a little yellow pin was going to be the "light" in his life at the moment......

𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙤𝙣

THE BEETLES HIT SONG, TWIST AND SHOUT, played at a low volume in Steve's car as he drove home. It sure had been one heck of a day. Number one, thanks to Hopper, his parents where clueless about Stella's disappearance. Number two, according to the state, she was "dead". And number three, they just had a funeral for nothing but two cotton stuffed dummies.

Well, shake it up, baby, now
Twist and shout
Come on, come on, come, come on, baby, now
Come on and work it on out
Well, work it on out, honey
You know you look so good
You know you got me goin' now
Just like I know you would

His emotions and thoughts were all over the place. He didn't know if he should be sad, or happy, or angry. He didn't wanna bother Joyce with his problems. That wasn't right, especially since she was having so many of her own. The times when he was younger, and he would treat his sister poorly, haunted him. He sighs before making a left hand turn onto the next street.

The somewhat happy tune wasn't quite what Steve wanted to hear at the moment, so with a quick press of a button, the song was changed. Billy Joel then started to sing "Piano Man", and he changed it again. Every song that came on wasn't what he was in the mood for. The Clash "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" started to play, and he immediately skipped that. He stoped skipping when the familiar tune Joy Division's "Atmosphere" could be heard.

Walk in silence
Don't walk away, in silence
See the danger
Always danger
Endless talking
Life rebuilding
Don't walk away

The lyrics started to sink in a little, and Steve listens to them closely. Trying to find the subject of the song.

Walk in silence
Don't turn away, in silence
Your confusion
My illusion
Worn like a mask of self-hate
Confronts and then dies
Don't walk away

Even though he already knew that most 80s music didn't make much sense in reality, he still listened intently to the song. Hoping to find some comfort out of "Don't Turn Away In Silence".

People like you find it easy
Naked to see
Walking on air
Hunting by the rivers, through the streets, every corner
Abandoned too soon
Set down with due care
Don't walk away in silence
Don't walk away

Whatever that song meant, it seemed to put Steve into a different mood. He felt a feeling that he had never felt before. He was quiet for the rest of the way home. He tried to think of a word to describe how he felt. But none came to mind. It frustrated him a bit, but then again it didn't bother him entirely. He liked the idea of having a mystery to solve, all on his own.

About ten minutes later, he pulls into his driveway. He swings his car door open, then shuts it before walking up the steps and into the house. The tired teen goes strait to the bathroom for a shower, feeling the need for a rinse, and hoping that all of his troubles would be washed away.

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *. ☆彡ﾟ.･ ｡ﾟ☆: *. ☆彡ﾟ.

I'm terrible at updating, and I'm sorry.

Man that was short, but don't worry, I've got some "Real Big Plans" for chapter 14!

Don't forget to vote and comment!

Thanks for reading!

<3 Catherine✎