· 。ﾟ☆: *.☽
˚ ₊ ♡ ❰  𝚃𝙷𝚁𝙸𝙻𝙻𝙴𝚁  ❱ ˖⋆࿐໋ ⋆ ✰
CHAPTER ELEVEN ━━
hello darkness my old friend

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ZERO FELT UNCERTAINTY COURSE THROUGH HIS body as he was instructed by Joyce to sit on a chair and not to move. His gaze was focused on the floor, but he could feel her eyes on him every so often, like she was scared he would just snap and attack them all.

Zero felt also sadness, knowing that he was viewed as a monster, and even if he didn't remember his past, it didn't mean he lost completely who he was. Especially when he found the almost bald girl in a closet once upon a time.

The boy talking to that girl wasn't zero, it was someone else, locked away in a cage, his ribcage. That unknown, yet familair person deep down escaped every so often but the doctors in the lab didn't tolerate such nonesense and were quick to put it back where it belonged according to them.

In a dark corner where it would never escape.

But that little person inside him was quite determined and now more than ever did it try to break free from his mind, but Zero wouldn't let that happen, because he too, like the doctors drilled into his mind, became afraid of it.

From the corner of his eye, Zero could see Joyce study the drawings spread over the wall in confusion and the boy went to stand up but held himself back, not sure what Joyce would do if he disobeyed her.

But it seemed like Joyce noticed the movement as she turned to face him. The blonde held his breath, anxiously awaiting whatever was coming.

"Are your tired?" The brunette finally asked after a second. "You can go to bed if you want."

"You said sit. Don't move." The boy spoke softlt, eyes averting towards the room where Will and the boy named Mike went into. "He not save."

Joyce approached the boy carefully and she crouched down in front of the blonde. "Hey, look at me." When he didn't move at first, Joyce gentle took a hold of the boy's trembling hand.

His head snapped towards her, his own doe brown eyes stares right into hers. "Will is safe. You had a tiring day Mi-" Joyce quickly caught herself. "Zero. You had a tiring day Zero. You should get some sleep, honey."

Slowly, the blonde nodded before standing up and turning back towards the room he had woken up in. Dragging his feet over the hardwood floor, Zero glanced at the mother of Will with uncertainty. But the woman only gave him an encouraging nod.

sluggishly, Zero pulled the duvet aside and laid down on the soft matress. He could hear Joyce close the door, and darkness again consumed him whole.

For a moment he held his breath, waiting for something bad to happen, until he reminded himself he was save.

A loud gasp entered his ears, and within seconds, Zero shot up in his bed, eyes wide and scared he looked around for the source and he blinked furiously. The normal world and the Upside Down appearing in a blurred mess in front of him.

He felt a chill run up his spring, when he heard the familair sound of the shadow like monster in the omnious blue world before he aggresively rubbed his eyes. The cold disappeared and he could feel the warmth of the sun hitting his face from where it shone through the curtains.

Walking towards the door, Zero almost reluctantly opened the door to see Joyce sitting in the middle of the room. But still he couldn't find the source that made him feel completely dreadful.

Then, the door to Will's room opened and the two boys came out. Zero could easily picked up Will's distressed stature as the boy approached his mother. "Mum." He called out but Joyce seemed to be in some kind of daze. "Mum." The boy called out again, reaching down to touch her shoulder.

Whatever trance she was in, was broken as the brunette looked up to face her son. She too, could see the distress written on his face and slowly, Zero inched closer, curious to find out what was wrong.

"I saw him." The boy whispered, blue shirt drenched in sweat as he focused on his mother.

"You saw who, baby?" She furrowed her eyebrows.

"Hopper." He breathed out. "I think he's in trouble."

Suddenly, Zero could place the dread in his stomach. But he didn't understand why. Why would he be afraid for this man's life.

The blonde didn't even notice as everyone in the room turned to look at him, like they all knew why he would care about the safety of the man called Hopper.

And then Joyce focused back on her son, who looked about ready to faint with how pale he looked at the moment.

"I think he's going to die."

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THE WHOLE HOUSE WAS IN A STATE OF FEAR, ZERO COULD feel it as everyone became frenzied and scared by Will's statement and he could feel their stare burning in the side of his head as she sat on the ground of Will's room, legs crossed and hands folded neatly in his lap while the boy sat at his desk, furiously drawing on paper as Joyce and Will watched.

The constant harsh scribbling noise came to a halt as Will leaned back in his chair and Joyce leaned over his shoulder, looking at the array of dark colors on the paper. "Hey, is this where you saw him." She stuttered, "is this where you saw Hopper?"

"I think so. Yeah." He replied softly, gaze soley on his drawing before Joyce grabbed it and turned around to look where it belonged until she suddenly noticed Zero stand up, walking passed them into the hallway in some kind of daze.

"Zero?" Joyce called out. "Honey? Where are you going." Everyone followed the blonde out of the room but they looked confused as the boy wasn't in the hallway. Like he just disappeared in thin air.

Walking a bit faster, Joyce entered the living room only to see nothing but the drawings scattered over the place like before.

"He's here!" Mike suddenly called out as he pointed to the kitchen where, like the raven haired boy said, Zero stood.

"Zero? What's wrong?" Joyce asked unsure as the boys gaze remained on their fridge.

"Here."

"What?"

"He is here." Zero repeated as he pointed towards one of the drawings taped on the fridge.

Confused, Joyce looked at the picture on the fridge and to the one in her hand to see they were exactly the same. "H-how? How did you know?" She asked dumfounded as she tapped the new drawing on the fridge.

"Just knew." Zero replied with a shrug and stepped away.

Joyce shook her head, pushing it to the back of her mind. Their main goal was to find Hopper. This could wait. At least she hoped it could wait. "Okay, so... so Hopper is here?" She crouched down in front of the drawing.

"Yeah. Now we just need to find out where here is, right?" Mike nodded in agreement, leaning down a bit to get a good look at the picture.

"Right." The brunette confirmed.

"Did he say anything? I mean, before he left?" Mike asked.

"Uh, some thing about vines." She sighed. "and... and to keep and eye on Milo" she added the last part softer even though she knew the blonde wouldn't recognise the name Milo as his own.

As they turned to look at the boy, the sound of a car approaching caught their attention. "Hopper." Joyce breathed out hopefully as she rushed to the door.

But it wasn't Hopper like she hoped as she spotted Bob outside. "Oh no.."

"What is wrong?" Zero asked confused, looking at the man stepping outside a rusty red car.

"He can't see this." The brunette stated as she quickly pulled on a coat and went out the door.

Zero blinked, before glancing at Mike and Will who stared outside with wide eyes.

The blonde could only think one thing.

Trouble.

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edited