^^^^^^^^^^JACE HOPPER

November 7, 1983

The sun just began to rise from the hills, welcoming it's bright smile through the cold air.  Alerting the town that another day has begun.  First stop for the bright rays was the home of Jim Hopper.  Hawkins very own town Sherriff.  Originally moved from the big city, after a messy divorce, Hopper decided to settle back down in his home town.  But he carries a broken heart he hides from everyone he knows.  Only a few knows what is hidden behind that harden glare.  

To numb his pain, he keeps himself medicated and drunk from the countless beers he drowns himself in every night and sometimes mornings.  While he lies passed out on the couch of his messy, double wide trailer, the TV blares in the background, drowning out his soft snores.  

"And that's it for News Center this morning.  Thanks for joining us.  Let's hand off now to Liz at the news desk."

"All right, thank you, Donna. Turning now to local news, we're getting reports of surges and power outages all across the county. Last night, hundreds of homes in East Hawkins were affected, leaving many residents in the dark. The cause of the outage is still unknown. We reached out to Roane County Water and Electric, and a spokesperson says that they are confident power will be restored to all remaining homes within the next several hours."

Suddenly, knocking erupts at the front door.  A man mumbles softly to himself as he kneels on the ground.  His shadow casting over the smudge glass.  He straightens up and keys rattle in his hands.  

"Always the same spot." He mutters.  

Peeking inside, Jace Hopper walks inside his uncle's house, carrying a bag of donuts and a carrier of hot coffee.  Wearing his freshly ironed deputy uniform.  Now, being a deputy wasn't his dream job.  He just graduated from High School in June of this year.  He had big plans to go to college at John Hopkins to become a doctor.  But, sadly, his stepfather picked the same time to ditch his mom with all of their money.  So, now, he's stuck paying the bills till he can afford to get into college.  

"Yo, Unc."  He calls out and sets his coffee cups down and the bag of donuts.  He sighs as he frowns at the sight of pill bottles scattered all over the coffee table.  He shakes his head and begins to collect the pills.  Once he had them separated and back in the bottles, he takes them back to the medicine cabinets.  

Jace knew how bad his uncle has been lately...ever since losing Sarah.  Jace's mom has placed his uncle's well-being in his hands and it was up to him to make sure Uncle Jim didn't overdose.  He walks back into the living room and grabs a donut out of the bag.  Whiffing it under Hopper's nose.  

Hopper snorts as he jolts awake.  He grunts as he squints at the sight, "Do I see an angel before me?" He mutters as he eyes the donut. 

"Sadly, Unc, far from that." He places the donut in Jim's hands and sit on the coffee table.  He hands Jim his coffee.

Groaning softly, Jim looks at his watch, groaning softly at the time.  He hated getting up so early.  He sits up and takes the coffee and gets up off the couch.  He walks out of his house and lights up a cigarette as he stands on his balcony.  Dressed in nothing but jeans, unbuttoned to expose his off-white underwear.

Jace joins him for a smoke and sighs out a cloud, "Just another beautiful day in paradise." He mutters sarcastically. 

Jim scoffs, "Yeah." He sips his coffee.  "You know, you don't always have to keep an eye on me, Jason." 

"You know mom would never let me hear the end of it if you screw up." Jace mutters. 

Jim frowns at him and sighs bitterly, "That's your mom.  Nag till you want to tear your ears off." He mutters. 

"That's family, sadly." Jace sighs out another cloud.  

Jim snorts and laughs, "So, how are you settling in so far?" He asks.  It's been a few months since Jace has moved to Hawkins from Philadelphia and Jim was the one who helped him get the job at Hawkins PD.  

Jace shrugs, "It sure beats Pittsburgh.  I like the quiet." 

"But?" Jim asks as he raises his eyebrows at him.  Knowing his nephew too well.  Ever since Sarah passed and his wife left him.  He spent some time with his sister till he was well enough to move back to Hawkins. 

Jace shrugs,  "I don't know." 

"You'll get in, Kid.  You got all the time in the world.  Don't give up." Jim states and flings out his coffee into the lake, crumbling the cup in his hands and walks into his house to shower and dress for work.  

Jace scoffs, "Yeah.  All the time in the world." He takes in one last drag and exhales sharply before flinging the cigarette out of his fingers.  He fears if he waits too long, in a blink, he'll be too old to go to college.  He wanted to get started as soon as possible to begin his life.  Make something out of himself.  Not be stuck in debt. 

Jim showers and grooms himself in the bathroom.  Brushing his teeth and taking a few pills with some beer before beginning the day.  He lights up another cigarette and inhales deeply.  Exhaling as he looks at himself in the mirror.  He dresses in his sheriff uniform and grabs his hat before he leaves. 

"What about the TV?" Jace asks as he holds the door open. 

"Leave it." Jim says as he walks to his truck.  

Jace sighs and throws his hands up as he shuts the door to head to his own truck.  

"In other news, you might wanna stay home tonight or at least pack an umbrella. We turn to everybody's favorite morning weather guy, Charles."

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

Meanwhile, at the Byers' resident, Joyce Byers and her son, Jonathan, both get ready for the day.  Joyce searches throughout her house to find her keys but every spot she looked was a failure.  Jonathan was busy cooking breakfast for Will and himself. 

Birds chirping their morning song mixed with Joyce's annoyed voice as she continues her search through the rooms and obvious areas where her keys could be. 

"Where the hell are they?" She mutters. "Jonathan?" She calls out for help.

Jonathan was busy with the hot stove as he scraps the scrambled eggs off the frying pan and on to the plates.  

"Check the couch!" He calls out.  

Joyce rushes to the couch, "Ugh, I did."  She reaches under the cushions and laughs in relief as she finally found them.  "Oh...Got them. Okay, sweetie, I will see you tonight." She says as she heads back into the kitchen to say good-bye to her children.  She gives Jonathan a kiss on the cheek. 

"Yeah, see you later." Jonathan says as he leans in for the kiss and continues to fix the breakfast.  

Joyce turns to give Will her morning rub on his head and kiss him goodbye, but her hand grips on to air. She frowns as she doesn't see Will sitting at the table.  

"Where's Will?"

Jonathan turns in guilt, "Oh, I didn't get him up yet. He's probably still sleeping." He says. 

Joyce sighs in disappointment, "Jonathan, you have to make sure he's up!" She exclaims. 

"Mom, I'm making breakfast." He points out. 

"I told you this a thousand times." She says as she moves towards Will's room, clapping her hands loudly.  "Will! Come on, honey. It's time to get up." She walks into his room as she opens the door wide and frowns when she sees a messy bed, but no Will.  She looks around the room and...nothing.  He wasn't there.  

She walks out of room and back into the kitchen as Jonathan was placing hot toast on the plates and sets them on the table.  

"He came home last night, right?" She asks him.

"He's not in his room?"

"Did he come home or not?" She frowns at him, catching the guilty look on his face. 

"I don't know." 

"You don't know?" She exclaims in shock. 

"No." Jonathan stammers nervously as he tries to explain himself, "I got home late.  I was working."

"You were working?" She scoffs at him. 

"Eric asked if I could cover.  I said yeah. I just thought we could use the extra cash." He tries to get his mom to see his side, but she was disappointed with him for not watching out for his brother.  

"Jonathan, we've talked about this." She sighs in disbelief and moves to the phone to call Will's friends.  

"I know, I know."

"You can't take shifts when I'm working."

"Mom, it's not a big deal. Look, he was at the Wheelers' all day. I'm sure he just stayed over." 

Joyce shakes her head, sighing again as she turns the rotary to dial the Wheeler's residence, "I can't believe you. I can't believe you sometimes." She listens and hears the phone ringing.  Hoping she catches Karen in time.  

At the Wheelers, the family sits together at the breakfast table.  Nancy scrunches her face in disgust as she watches Mike cover his eggs with syrup. 

"That's disgusting." Nancy says. 

"You're disgusting!" Mike mocks her and laughs at her face. 

Carrying her youngest, Holly, Karen heads to the phone and picks it up, "Hello?"

"Hi, Karen. It's Joyce."

Karen smiles, "Oh, Joyce, hi."

Mike moves and covers Nancy's eggs with syrup, making her jump and glare at him in annoyance, "What the hell, Mike?" Nancy exclaims in disgust. 

"Hey!" Ted scorns them.

Karen looks over her shoulder and frowns at her children, "Quiet!"

"Language." Ted warns Nancy. 

Nancy scoffs, "Are you kidding?"

"Was that Will I heard back there?" Joyce frowns as she hears kids talking in the background.  

"Will? No, no, no, it's just Mike." Karen shakes her head as she puts her attention back on the call.  

"Will didn't spend the night?" Joyce asks, worry begins to grow in her chest. 

"No, he left here a little bit after 8:00. Why? He's not home?" Karen frowns in concern.

"Um, you know what? I think he just left early for... for school. Thank you so much. Bye." Joyce quickly ends the call.  Not wanting Karen to invade in her business.  Knowing that Karen can be the town gossip at times. 

"Okay. Bye." Karen says and hangs up.

Joyce looks over to Jonathan as both of them begin to worry where Will could be.  Joyce tries the Sinclairs and the Hendersons...nothing.  Where is Will?

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

At Hawkins Middle school, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas all arrive on time, but Dustin  frowns when he doesn't see Will's bike in it's usual spot as they park their bikes at the parking rack in front of the school.  

"That's weird.  I don't see him." Dustin says as he holds on to his bookbag.  

"I'm telling you, his mom's right. He probably just went to class early again." Lucas waves him off. 

Mike nods and walks towards the school with his friends beside him, "Yeah, he's always paranoid Gursky's gonna give him another pop quiz." He scoffs. 

All three of stop as they hear the voice of their bully, Troy and his friend, James, call out to them with their daily mockery. 

"Step right up, ladies and gentlemen. Step right up and get your tickets for the freak show." Troy announces and laughs with James.  "Who do you think would make more money in a freak show?  Midnight, Frogface, or Toothless?" Troy scoffs.

James pretends to think about it and smirks as he points at Dustin, mimicking Dustin's speech, "I'd go with Toothless." 

Dustin sighs and rolls his eyes, "I told you a million times, my teeth are coming in. It's called cleidocranial dysplasia."

Mimicking him more, James laughs at him, "'I told you a million times.'"

Troy chuckles, "Do the arm thing." He commands. 

Dustin remains still and Troy glares at him with James. 

"Do it, freak!" James says. 

Dustin sighs, knowing he can't win the fight.  He takes off his jacket and bends his shoulders till they were nearly touching each other.  

James and Troy both wince and groan in disgust at the sound of Dustin's bones crackling, "God, it gets me every time." Troy says and moves to shove into Mike's shoulder.  James shoves into Lucas' and together they head off to their classes. 

Mike glares at the back of Troy's head, imagining taking a rock and throwing it at his head, making it explode.

Dustin places his jacket back on, "Assholes." He mutters.

"I think it's kinda cool. It's like you have superpowers or something. Like Mr. Fantastic." Mike says as they head inside. 

"Yeah, except I can't fight evil with it." Dustin mutters bitterly, hating that he allows Troy to control him for his pleasure. 

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

At Hawkins High, Nancy walks through the halls with her best friend, Barbara.  Smiling as they chattered back and forth about Steve Harrington.  The King of Hawkins High.  Gorgeous jock with great hair as the girls would say about him.  But she could see another side of him that others couldn't.  

"So, did he call?" Barbara asks with a sly grin.

Nancy looks around, making sure no one heard her.  Last thing she wanted was to be the school's latest gossip news.   

"Keep your voice down." Nancy says in a hushed voice.

"Did he?" Barbara asks with a grin. 

"I told you, it's not like that. Okay, I mean, yes, he likes me, but not like that. We just...made out a couple times." Nancy says as she begins to open her locker.  

"'We just...made out a couple times.'" Barbara mimic's Nancy's tone and voice.

Nancy blushes and laughs at how silly that must how sounded. 

"Nance, seriously, you're gonna be so cool now, it's ridiculous." Barbara says with a smile, but hides her disappointment that her friend was gaining popularity and becoming one of the clones of Hawkins High.  

Nancy scoffs and shakes her head, "No, I'm not."

"You better still hang out with me, that's all I'm saying. If you become friends with Tommy H. or Carol--" 

Nancy cuts her off with a groan of disgust, "Oh, that's gross! Okay, I'm telling you, it was a one-time..." Her voice trails off as Barbara gives her the 'seriously?' look. "Two-time thing." Nancy corrects herself and opens her locker, but before she could grab the rest of her stuff, she spies a folded note and opens it.  It was a note from Steve.  Asking her to meet him in the second floor girl's restroom.  

Barbara's smirk grows as she watches Nancy's blush turn into a deeper shade of red.

"You were saying?"

Before Nancy knew, she finds herself in the girl's bathroom, making out with Steve Harrington.  As much as she was enjoying it, but she didn't want to be caught or seem like an easy person like Carol was.  Even though Steve was an amazing kisser, she needed him to stop.  

"Steve..." She mumbles against his lips. 

"Mmm-hmm?" Steve mumbles back as he continues to make out with her and moves his lips to her neck.  Nibbling her flesh.  

"I have to go."

"In a minute."

But the warning bell begins to ring out it's alert that class was about to start.  Nancy gently pushes him away with a smile. 

"Steve. I really, like... Seriously, I have to go." She says as she begins to grab her bag, but Steve stands in her way.  Not ready to let her go till she agrees to see him again later.  

"Wait, wait, wait. Let's...Come on, let's do something tonight, yeah?" He asks. 

"Uh... No, I can't. I have to study for Kaminsky's test." She protests. 

Steve scoffs, "Oh, come on. What's your GPA again? 3.999..." He grins.

Nancy rolls her eyes at him, "Kaminsky's tests are impossible."

"Well, then, just let me help." He offers. 

Nancy gives him a disbelief look, "You failed chem." She points out.

Steve shrugs, "C-minus."

She scoffs and laughs, "Well, in that case..."

"So I'll be over around, say, like, 8:00?" He asks. 

Nancy gives him a mortified look, "Are you crazy? My mom would not..." 

Steve cuts her off with reassurance, "I'll climb through your window. She won't even know I'm there. I'm stealthy, like a ninja." He grins. 

Nancy laughs, "You are crazy." She shakes her head and moves to leave, but he stops her once again.

"Wait, wait, wait. Just...Okay, forget about that. We can just...We can just, like, chill in my car. We can find a nice quiet place to park, and..." He grins, thinking of dirty things they could do together.  

"Steve... I have to study. I'm not kidding." Nancy states in a serious tone, but she couldn't hide her smile. 

"Well, why do you think I want it to be nice and quiet?" He points out with a grin. 

Shaking her head, "You're an idiot, Steve Harrington." She says and moves to walk out of the bathroom, but sighs and turns to face him, "Meet me at Dearborn and Maple at 8:00. To study." She states at the end and leaves for her class. 

Steve grins and throws up a fist in triumph before leaving the bathroom.  Soon, Nancy will be his.

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

Jace and Jim finally show up for work.  Jace pats Jim's back as they walk into the office.  Jace chuckles as Flo gets up to give them their daily scorns.  

"Good of you to show." Flo scoffs and moves to Jace, giving him a hug.  "Hey, handsome." She says.

"Good morning, Flo." Jace smiles and lets her go to head to the snack table with Jim.  He fixes himself a cup after Jim gets his own. 

"Oh, hey, morning, Flo." Jim's voice slurs as he heads towards the coffee pot for a fresh cup of coffee.  "Morning, everybody." He turns to his other deputies. 

"Hey, Chief."

"Damn! You look like hell, Chief." One exclaims.

"Oh, yeah?"

The deputy chuckles, "Yeah." he says as he continues his card game with the other deputy.  

Hopper walks and looks at his cards, shifting one to another to show him what hand he hand, "Well, I looked better than your wife when I left her this morning." He remarks.  

The officers all burst into laughter and Jace nearly spits out his coffee.

"While you were drinking or sleeping, or whatever it is you deemed so necessary on Monday morning, Phil Larson called. Said some kids are stealing the gnomes out of his garden again." Flo says as she goes over the messages the town left for their Sheriff. 

"Oh, those garden gnomes again. Well, I'll tell you what, I'm gonna get right on that." Hopper nods as he takes a bite of another donut.  

Suddenly, the town's local doctor storms into the building.  Gloria Stein.  55 years old with fire in her veins.  She sighs deeply as she moves inside and stands before them all with a scoff as she throws her hands up.  

( I see my character Gloria played by Lin Shaye.  I'm a HUGE fan of her work and love her movies)

"Sheriff, you have got to control that man." She says sighs in distraught. 

"Morning, Glory." 

"Morning, my ass.  Last thing either of us want to deal with these out of town weirdos." She scoffs.

"Who's bothering the great and powerful Gloria Stein?" Hopper asks in a dramatic tone. 

"Murry Bauman. Who else?  He's hounding my patients, putting nonsense in their heads.  Saying that vaccines had tracking device made from Russians." She scoffs.  "Can you please do something about him before I run out of patients.  I've had 3 cancellations because of that man!" She exclaims.  

One deputy frowns, "Weren't you and Bauman on friendly terms?" 

The other deputy chuckles, "Friendly might be one word." He says as he makes an 'O' with one hand and begins to bring a finger towards it.

Gloria walks up to him and smacks him across his head. 

"Ow! Gloria, that's assault!" The deputy states. 

Gloria holds up a warning finger, "Remember, I helped brought you into this world, I can take you out." She turns to Hopper, "Jim, please?" She begs.

Jim sighs, "Ok, I'll take care of it."

Gloria sighs, "Thank you.  Now, you can enjoy your donut.  But..." She reaches and grabs an apple off the snack table and hands it to him.  "You're due for a physical soon.  So, lay off the donuts until then." She pats his gut and moves to Jace. "Hey, sweetie." She hugs him and kisses his cheek.  

"On a more pressing matter, Joyce Byers can't find her son this morning." Flo adds.

Jace frowns as he hears that, he knew the Byers well.  He grew up with Jonathan and Will over the summers he spent in Hawkins.  His grandparents lived in Hawkins and during Summer Vacations he would spend time with them while his mom and dad would try to work out their marriage.  

Jim didn't seem bothered about it and he just nods as he heads towards his office, before he begins his duties, he just wanted some time to himself.  "Mmm. Okay, I'm gonna get on that. Just give me a minute." His voice is muffled from the donut.

"Joyce is very upset." Flo points out.  

"Well, Flo, Flo, we've discussed this. Mornings are for coffee and contemplation." Jim states as he takes his coffee and donut with him to his office.  

"Chief, she's already in your..."

"Coffee and contemplation, Flo!" Jim cuts her off.

Flo sighs and throws her hands up in surrender, leaving him to find out for himself.  Jace rubs his mouth as he watches his uncle makes his way towards his office.  He turns towards Flo and places a hand on her back.

"She's back there, isn't she?" He asks, but he knew the answer already. 

"Yup." Flo nods and looks up at Jace's worried look.  She taps his chin, "Keep worrying like that, you'll get wrinkles before your uncle does.

Jace scoffs and gives her a crooked smile as he leans down and kisses her cheek.

"How's the big guy doing?" Gloria asks as she walks with him to his desk.

"Same as always." Jace sighs as he grunts in his chair.

Gloria sighs and pats his hand, gripping it gently in comfort, "Hey, you're a great kid and it's wonderful you watch out for your family.  But you have your own life out there.  Don't let it get in the way of your happiness.  You should be out there...dating.  Mingling with people.  Have you met anyone yet?" She asks. 

Jace shakes his head, "Don't really have time to date.  And girls around here don't really like authority." He scoffs. 

"You're time will come.  Soon, you'll be a great doctor and you'll have a hell of a time keeping those ladies off you." She chuckles and sighs, clapping her hands.  "Ok, pop quiz.  A phlebotomist collects a light-blue-top, lavender-top, and gray-top tube from an inpatient. Respectively, which of the following additives do the tubes most likely contain?" 

Jace thinks, "Citrate, EDTA, sodium fluoride." He answers. 

"Heparin prevents blood from clotting by..."

"Inhibiting thrombin." Jace says.  

"Name an example of secondary prevention." Gloria says.

"Providing cervical spine immobilization." Jace states. 

"Because...?"

"Secondary prevention attempts to limit the effects of an injury or illness that cannot be prevented." Jace says and smiles. 

Gloria claps, "That brilliant mind!" She exclaims and grabs his head to kiss his forehead.  "You are ready to be a doctor." She sighs as she watches his smile fall.  "Hey, turn that frown upside down.  You'll get there." 

"I'm not even close to affording the tuition." Jace scoffs.  

"Maybe a miracle will happen.  Until then, if you keep frowning..." She gets up and sighs, "As your doctor, I recommend you a night out in the city and meet a nice girl with a great tuchus." She jokes and pats his shoulder.  Jace spies Gloria's arm, seeing the old branding of numbers on her arm.  He remembers her telling him about when she was one of the few who escaped from the clutches of the Nazis.  She was just 10 years old.  She lost her parents but found family in America.  

Jace chuckles and scoffs.  

"Have fun.  Maybe you'll meet the woman of your dreams." She smirks and winks at him before leaving.  

Jace sighs and scoffs silently.  He has tried dating some of the local girls here in the past.  But none of them were his type.  Too much hairspray.  Too much gum.  Too much...ugh.  Everyone was just too much for his liking.  He gets up and heads towards Jim's office and hears Joyce Byers give him an earful. 

"I'm going out of my mind!" Joyce exclaims worriedly as she stands before Hopper, who sits as his desk.  Typing up a missing person's form.  

"Look, boy his age, he's probably just playing hookie, okay?" Jim says, trying to calm her down, but it wasn't working. 

Joyce shakes her head as she paces the small office, "No, not my Will. He's not like that. He wouldn't do that."

"Will's missing?!" Jace exclaims as he walks in.  

Joyce snaps her head to him as Jim sighs as he rubs his eyes, tired and becoming very hungover as the pills were wearing off.  

"Mrs. Byers, what happened?" Jace hugs her, trying to calm her down.  

Joyce sighs and pulls away, "Will never came home last night.  He went to the Wheelers to play with his friends and Karen said he left at 8:00.  Will would never..." She stammers. 

Jace holds his hands up, stopping her and tries to calm her, "Breathe, Ms. Byers.  Breathe." 

"Well, you never know. I mean, my mom thought I was on the debate team, when really, I was just screwing Chrissy Carpenter in the back of my dad's Oldsmobile, so..." Jim mutters. 

Jace scoffs at him and Joyce shakes her head, "Look, he's not like you, Hopper. He's not like me. He's not like...most.  He has a couple of friends, but, you know, the kids, they're mean. They make fun of him. They call him names. They laugh at him, his clothes..." She says.

"His clothes? What's wrong with his clothes?" Jim asks frowning.  

"I don't know. Does that matter?" She scoffs. 

"No." "Maybe." Jace and Jim both say.  

Joyce scoffs and moves towards Jim's desk, "Look, he's...He's a sensitive kid. Lonnie..." She sighs at the bitter memories she has had with her ex-husband and how he treated her sons, "Lonnie used to say he was queer. Called him a fag." She whispers the last word. 

"Is he?" Jim asks. 

"For Christ's sake." Jace mutters.  

"He's missing is what he is." Joyce states strongly. 

"Ok." Jace turns her gently to face him.  "I know Will would never just skip school or just disappear like this.  But let's rule out the usual suspects.  Think, when was the last time you heard from Lonnie?" He asks. 

Joyce scoffs, but Jace cuts her off with a look, "I know.  I know.  But please answer the question." He says softly. 

She sighs, "Uh, last I heard, he was in Indianapolis. That was about a year ago. But he has nothing to do with this." She protests.  

"Why don't you give me his number?" Jim asks. 

Joyce turns back to face Jim, "You know, Hopper, he has nothing to do with this. Trust me."

"Joyce, 99 out of 100 times, kid goes missing, the kid is with a parent or relative." Jim points out. 

Joyce stammers, "What about the other time?" She asks. 

Jim frowns, "What?"

"You said, '99 out of 100'.  What about the other time, the one?" She asks. 

"Joyce." Jim tries to calm her but she cuts him off as she holds up a finger. 

"The one!" She shouts.

Jim scoffs, thinking still that Will wasn't missing and Joyce was blowing up over nothing, "Joyce, this is Hawkins, okay?"

Joyce sighs and rolls her eyes, and Jim continues to speak.

"You wanna know the worst thing that's ever happened here in the four years I've been working here? Do you wanna know the worst thing? It was when an owl attacked Eleanor Gillespie's head because it thought that her hair was a nest." He says. 

Joyce throws her hands up in defeat and slumps in her chair.  "Okay, fine. I will call Lonnie. He will talk to me before he talks to..." She stutters as she gestures at him. 

"What, a pig?" Jim scoffs. 

"A cop!" She corrects him.  Tears begin to form in her eyes, " Just find my son, Hop. Find him!" She begs.

Jace kneels to meet her height and rubs her back, "Hey, we're going to find him.  I promise." Jace says. 

Joyce nods and sighs as she rubs her head.  She was so worried for her boy.  Out there all alone.  What if he was hurt?  What if someone took him? Where was he?  Where was her boy?

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

Dr. Martin Brenner makes his way through Hawkins lab.  Walking towards the entrance of the lower labs.  

"Dr. Brenner." A man greets him and leads him towards the lab that was sealed off.

"This way, gentlemen.  The entire east wing will be evacuated within the hour.  We've sealed off this area following quarantine protocol." A scientist states as he opens the biohazard tarp for Dr. Brenner and several men.  

They walked towards the changing areas to dress in protective gear and arm themselves with uzies as they walk into the elevator.  The elevator hums as it moves, taking the people where the lab lies.  As the doors open, they're welcome with sight of flecks of strange substance floating in the air.  They were warned that the air was changing, which is why they were earing protective cover and oxygen.

They make their way to the familiar lab, but at the same time, it was different.  There, they find strange biologic growth spreading, originating from a mysterious fracture in the wall.  People walk around, taking samples and measuring levels of radiation or whatever they could test for it to determine what it was.  

"This is where it came from?" Brenner asks as he eyes the large pulsing fracture that dripped with slimy ooze.  Low growls and snarls were made from the fracture.  But no other creature came out...besides the one that killed the people last night and escaped.  

"Yes." A man confirms. 

"And the girls?"

"They couldn't have gone far." A scientist says. 

More growls erupt from the fracture as it continues to pulse before them.  Almost as if it was growing.

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

Walking through the woods, dressed in dirty hospital gowns, Eleven and Five stood barefoot as they look beyond them.  After running all night for miles, escaping the horrible lab and the monster, they finally find another building...and people.  A small restaurant stood before them with huge words that read 'Benny's'.  A man walks out from the back door to take out the trash.  

Five sniffs the air and closes her eyes at the wonderful smell.  Her stomach growls loudly with Eleven's as they could smell food in the air.  They haven't eaten since yesterday before the tests.  Five takes Eleven's hand and guides her down the small hill to head towards the building.  They cautiously sneak into the back, through the kitchen.  

Five places a finger over her lips as they could hear people chattering in the front.  The same man who took out the trash was chattering with his customers.  

"All right, and one more."

"Hey, Ben. What do you think about that, uh..."

Five and Eleven walks through the kitchen and spies some sort of food in a plastic basket.  Five frowns and picks up a French fry.  Eyeing it with a frown.  She sniffs it and slowly brings it to her lips.  Her eyes widen as she chews.  She nods at Eleven and together they lean over the basket to grab handfuls of fries and shoves them into their mouths.  Gobbling down the food.  

Benny, the owner and chef of Benny's turns and spies two kids chowing down on his food.  He frowns at them. 

"Hey!"

Five and Eleven snap their heads up in shock.  Eleven grabs the basket of food and runs with Five towards where they snuck in. 

"Come here! Hey, come here!" Benny says as he chases after them.  He cuts them off through the kitchen and grabs both of them by their arms.  

"You think you can steal from me, boy?" He glares at Eleven.  But he frowns when he looks at them both closely.  Thinking it was a boy he caught with a girl.  But...it was really two girls he caught.  He eyes them up and down.  Seeing the dirt covering their skin.  The fear in their eyes.  He looks at Five's arms, seeing the scars from ropes across her skin.  "What in the hell?" He mutters in concern.