"you have to help him, momma!"

this is chapter 1 obviously ^^ but where it's so long i think i'm gonna split it up and i may do that for every chapter like make a part 1 and then a part 2

—

"something is coming. something hungry for blood." one of erin's best friends, mike, says. "a shadow grows on the wall behind you, swallowing you in darkness." he continues as dustin wipes his nose. "it is almost here."

will leans forward eagerly. "what is it?" he asks.

"what if it's the demogorgon?" dustin speaks up looking around the group. erin's eyes grow wide knowing it could be a possibility. "oh, jesus, we're so screwed if it's the demogorgon." he moans, putting his head in his hands.

she moves her attention to the game board in front of her and thinks for a second before returning her eyes to mike. "it's not the demogorgan." lucas persists.

"an army of troglodytes charge into the chamber!" mike says, slamming the troglodyte piece in the middle of board. erin breathes out in relief. lucas waves his hand around in an, 'i told you so' way.

"troglodytes?" dustin asks.

"told ya." lucas says, chuckling, causing the group to chuckle as well and dustin to snort. erin giggles in her seat.

"wait a minute." mike says softly, looking around. "did you hear that?" he asks. "that... that sound? boom... boom... boom!" he then yells, slamming his hands on the table causing erin to jump and become wide eyed again. "that didn't come from the troglodytes. no, that, that came from something else."

they glance around each other before looking at mike. he slams a piece in the middle. "the demogorgon!" everyone groans loudly.

erin rubs her head while sighing as she starts getting a headache from something making noise behind her. not like it's real, though.

"we're in deep shit." dustin exclaims.

"will, your action!" mike yells to him.

"i don't know!" he replies.

"fireball him!" lucas tells him.

"i'd have to roll a 13 or higher!" he argues.

"too risky. cast a protection spell." dustin suggests.

"don't be a pussy. fireball him!" lucas belts out.

"cast protection." dustin argues back. will looks worriedly at erin, wanting her count because he can trust it.

she just shrugs. "do what you think is best." she tells him. she smiles comfortingly.

"the demogorgon is tired of your silly human bickering!" mike booms. "it stomps towards you." he says, looking around at the group.

erin looks around the basement, shivering at mike's tone. she really needed to start taking her medicine earlier. she had taken it late that day because of the campaign.

"boom!" he exclaims and erin jumps backwards again, looking over at will.

"fireball him!" lucas shouts.

"another stomp, boom!" mike shouts.

"cast protection." dustin yells.

"he roars in anger!" mike shouts. dustin and lucas scream at each other over the board.

"fireball!" will screams suddenly, throwing the dice.

the dice clatters off the side of the table. erin falls to the ground, looking for it.

"oh, shit!" will whispers, getting up quickly.

"where'd it go?" lucas shouts.

"i don't know." will says. "is it a 13?" dustin asks to no one in particular.

"i don't know," will repeats.

"where is it?" lucas asks, picking up everything on the floor.

"i don't know." will stresses.

erin crawls around the fallen chair, inspecting the ground. "guys, what happened to it?" she asks as dustin brings his hands up to his temples and starts pacing.

"oh, my god! oh, my god! oh, my god!" he mutters worriedly.

"mike!" a voice yells from upstairs. he doesn't reply. "mike!" the voice repeats louder.

"can you find it yet?" lucas asks.

"no, i can't find it!" will agitatedly replies.

a few seconds after that, mike's mother, karen - the voice, opens the basement door. "mike!" she shouts at him and he looks up quickly. he raises his hands up.

"mom, we're in the middle of a campaign!" he says. when erin looks up from the floor to see what's going on, she doesn't notice will at first. his head runs into hers.

"oh, shit." she whispers.

"sorry." will's cheeks grow warm.

"it's okay." erin replies, glancing over to the side. his eyes stay on her before he quickly looks to the ground. he sighs and stands up.

"oh, my god. freaking idiot!" lucas groans.

"why do we have to go?" will whines.

erin peers under the table and on the opposite side.

"there it is!" will looks to where she's facing. will dashes for them and turns back, looking at his friends.

"does the seven count?" he asks lucas.

"it was a seven?" lucas replies. "did mike see it?" will shakes his head. "then it doesn't count." everyone dashes for their coats and puts them on quickly.

erin starts up the steps behind will when dustin speaks. "yo, hey, guys." the three kids turn to him, he's holding out their almost empty pizza box. "does anyone want this?" he asks and they all reply with a 'no'.

-

erin yawns, snuggling into her jacket. she stands next to will and contemplates about cuddling up to him in warmth.

erin suddenly feels a ringing in her ear and her face automatically scrunches up at the loudness. will glances at her swiftly. she smiles soothingly at him. "it's not bad this time." she tells him. he nods and turns back to the wheeler's door.

the boys know of her schizophrenia and tried to learn how to deal with it when they first found out. they try to help her, but it's not easy. lucas used to have watch that went off at the times when she was supposed to take her medicine daily, but it went missing a few months ago. he suspects his sister is at play.

she doesn't like telling people because they automatically think she's was crazy. hell, she's often the main topic of sherri hicks' gossip. people in hawkins refuse to understand or tolerant the abnormal.

she took medication daily, and would for the rest of her life. the medicine lowered the chances of hallucinations significantly, almost making them non-existent.

her sister tells her she hates her in her head often, which hurts a lot. with the type of schizophrenia erin, has, she hears loved ones say the worst things.

but it's not just that, it's just the random noises, like the dogs barking, the people talking, the crying, the scrapes of chairs against floors, it's all there. until she takes her medicine. erin's still a kid, but she's always been dependent on everyone around her.

dustin walking out brings her out of her thoughts. "there's something wrong with your sister." he states.

"what are you taking about?" mike asks as dustin walks past him to his bike.

"she's got a stick up her butt." he says, turning around for a second. erin scoffs to herself.

"yeah," lucas agrees. "it's because she's been dating that douchebag, steve harrington." erin looks at dustin strangely.

"she's always been nice to me." she says.

"that's because you're one of them!" dustin shouts and erin flinches back in annoyance. "them?" she asks.

"you're a female, erin, have you noticed?" dustin asks sarcastically. erin shoves at his arm, trying not to smile and failing.

"and because you're elizabeth's little sister." he continues, referring to erin's older sister who's coincidentally best friends with nancy as are erin and mike.

erin lets out a small laugh. "you guys are just mad because you don't look like steve harrington." she says, hoping over her bike. will looks at her strangely. "plus, his hair is bigger than me." erin had had a big crush on steve harrington for as long as she could remember.

the boys chuckle at her joke as dustin continues. "but, yeah, she's turning into a real jerk." he finishes, getting on his bike and turning on the light as do the others.

"she's always been a real jerk." mike argues.

"nuh-uh, she used to be cool," dustin replies. "like that time her and elizabeth dressed up as elves for our elder tree campaign." he says.

he starts biking away with lucas in tow. "four years ago!" mike yells.

"just saying." dustin replies.

lucas just shakes his head and says, "later." erin lags behind, staying with the other boys and takes a deep breath.

"just the dark. same as the light, just different times. there's nothing there. nothing will hurt me." she whispers as her dark hair falls in front of her face. although talking to herself makes her look like more of a weirdo than she already feels, her therapist had suggested it. speaking aloud can help if she can tell how her voice sounds.

"it was a seven." she hears will say.

"huh?" mike says.

"the roll, it was a seven." will replies. "the demogorgon, it got me."

will grunts. "see you tomorrow." he says, kicking on the pedals. she sniffs and starts pedaling after will. but, seeing the garage lights flash in her peripheral vision, she stops.

"you should get that fixed, mikey!" she yells at him and then hears his chuckle. the duo bike along until they catch up with the other two boys. after that, it was silence until they get to the fork in the road.

"good night, ladies." lucas tells dustin and will as him and erin start to turn down their street. erin rolls her eyes at his words.

"kiss your mom 'night for me." dustin says in return.

"'night, airheads." erin says to them. will just waves awkwardly causing her to giggle.

"race ya!" erin then calls to lucas as she starts pedaling hard. the other boys laugh as lucas starts shouting at her about unfairness. she laughs as she turns into her driveway. "see you in the morning." she yawns, laying down her bike.

"see ya." he says, walking towards his house. her cheeks are red and flushed from the cold and when she opens the door and walks into her kitchen, it feels like heaven.

"hey, mom." she says, seeing her mom in the kitchen talking to her older sister, elizabeth.

"hey, sweetheart, how was mike's?" michelle asks her.

"not good. will was taken by the demogorgon." she says, walking past them and shuddering at the thought of will being gone. her sister and her mother exchange a glance at her weird words but just smile quietly.

erin stops at the kitchen counter and digs into her coat pocket. she produces a small white pill bottle and shakes it. there's a small clattering sound since only four pills are left. two for tonight and two for in the morning. michelle will drop them off to the nurse at school on her lunch break tomorrow.

"i need a refill." she tells her mom. michelle smiles at how responsible her youngest is.

"okay. leave it on the sink and i'll take it in the morning." she says, walking over to her.

"i'm tired so i'm just gonna go on to sleep." erin yawns. elizabeth smiles at her. "'night, sis."

"sweet dreams, sweetie." michelle kisses her on the cheek.

once erin changes out of her clothes, she puts on her cotton pajamas and stands in front of her bathroom mirror and stares at herself. her hair is messy and she has a splattered array of freckles across her nose and cheeks. she pats at them with her fingers, thinking about how prominent they'll become during the summer once she gets a tan. she opens up the pill container and drops out two of the big, white pills into the palm of her hand before setting one in her mouth.

picking up the glass of water, erin swallows it, gagging. they make her mouth feel dry. she does the same with the other and then flips off the bathroom light. she walks to her room and flicks on her tiny lamp that lightly illuminates the room. she lays down, closing her eyes, sighing softly.

-

will whimpers, holding up the gun.

erin's like a fly on the wall. she tries to reach out to her best friend but finds herself unable to move.

"will?" she asks.

he whimpers again as erin tries to get a hold of him, but is unable to. he can't see her.

"will! will?" she yells.

will trembles as he points the gun at the door before it bursts open in rage.

erin bolts up from her bed, screaming. the medication is supposed to work. why didn't it work?!

she gasps for breath as images of will with the gun are fresh in her mind. she screams again as the door bursts open. she jumps off of her bed and starts to crawl along the side of it.

michelle walks quickly to her and kneels down next to her daughter, taking her face into her hands quickly. erin's throwing her hands and kicking, trying to get out of her arms.

her scream is strong, like it's never going to stop. "no! NO! NOOO! momma, momma, please." she sobs holding on tightly to her arm.

"i know, baby. i know." she tells her, rubbing her hair. her sister comes running in, holding a glass of water.

"will. will. he's not okay." she cries.

"he's fine, erin. he's asleep at home. you'll see him tomorrow, okay? let's get you back to sleep, all right?" her sister attempts to soothe her.

"no, no. no!"

"you have to help him, momma! please!" the small girl shrieks, her voice cracking. "it's not safe! you don't understand."

—

okay, so that is half of chapter one!