· 。ﾟ☆: *.☽
˚ ₊ ♡ ❰  𝚃𝙷𝚁𝙸𝙻𝙻𝙴𝚁  ❱ ˖⋆࿐໋ ⋆ ✰
CHAPTER FIVE ━━
living ghost, dead memories

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      HE WAS IN THE GRIP OF SILENT PANIC, WILD EYES AND heart racing, beating so fast he worried it would break through his ribcage any second. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, turning all his senses on high-alert, like the drugs he had to digest in Hawkins Lab every so often. His brain was on fire, like every thought about Will was like throwing gasoline in the flames.

      He had to help- no needed to help the Byers' boy as soon as possible.

      With a rasping throat, leaden feet, and heavy legs he ran through the cold autumn air, unseasonably cold against his exposed skin that it made him shake with every step he took. His boots pounded against the leaf covered forest ground, eyes darted around him.

      His ragged breathing, echoed throughout the woods, alerting only the wind of his presence as no soul was out in the woods. His white shirt was riddled with dirt and stains it obtained over the course of the last couple of months. He looked like a wild animal with his blemished skin, tousled hair and his malnourished lanky figure.

      A small road came up ahead, the same one he once followed toward the abandoned cabin he resided in. The sun was already slowly setting behind the trees, reminded the blonde boy of the Upside Down and it send an unvoluntery shiver down his spine.

      Zero took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing nerves down, his chest heaving up in down in a quick pattern. He followed the road, leaves and branches crunching beneath his feet.

      Slowly, the dirt path led him to the edge of the forest and onto a real road, the grey pavement a stark contrast to what he'd seen the last few months.

      So there he was, a lone boy standing on the side of the road in the dark, only some stars shimmering above him, illuminating the darkness. His tattered boots squeeked against the road but it was all white noise in his ears.

      His mind was filled with all kinds of scenarios, all kinds of possibilities on what could have happened to Will. And as the time slowly ticked by, a lone board stood out ahead like a beacon of hope.

      welcome to Hawkins!

      he broke out in a sprint again, the taste of victory in the air. He was close, he was almost there, he had to be.

      He didn't pay the board much attention as he passed it, his feet smacking against the pavement, the force sending an unpleasant jolt through his leg.

      The streets looked abandoned, stores were closed and the only sign of life was light coming from some of the houses above the said stores.

      So there he stood in the middle of the road, with no clue as to where hawkins middle school was or even what a 'hawkin middle school' was in the first place.

      He tried to focus his thought on will, to try and feel if he was back in the Upside Down but he did not sense such thing. He felt nothing, like there wasn't even a Will anymore at all.

      He let his feet carry him to the east, the street lanterns illuminating his way as he trudged through the town. His eyelids felt heavy, and fluttered shut for a moment.

      Zero blinked rapidly, shaking his head to try and muster up the strenght to stay awake. His feet dragged over the sidesteps, but like some unvisble force beckoned him to follow he continued to move his feet.

      The wind howled loudly in the cold October air, passing through his tattered clothes and over his cold skin, goosebumps erupting on his arms as he wrapped them around himself in a futile attempt for heat.

      But by some kind of miracle, the blonde teenager laid eyes on the exact same grassfield from the Upside Down, and a grin spread across his face.

      He picked up his speed again, hoping that Will was still there, but to his defeat he found not a single soul close to the field.

      His eyes drifted towards the building, the one Will came running out of, terrified and breathless. His feet moved on their own accord as he stepped closer to the door. He reach for the doorknob, pulled but it didn't budge.

      He tried again, harder this time and with strength he didn't know he had, he ripped the cold metal knob off. His eyes widened at the sight but something was calling for him, he felt it.

      And in some kind of trance he dropped the metal knob from his hand and it hit the concrete steps with a loud clank.

      Zero pushed the door open, his feet carrying him further inside the building, while the door behind him closed, engulving him yet again in the darkness he was so familair with.

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      IT WAS A BITTER COLD NIGHT IN HAWKINS INDIANA AS Jim Hopper sat in front of a grave he had grown familair with. His police cruiser close by, only a couple feet behind him.

      He had made a routine of this for years now, after every night shift or patrol where he did something good or had a great story to tell he would come here and talk about it, like he would have as if Milo was right there with him.

      It was the only thing really keeping him in Hawkins after Sara passed away and his wife packed her bags, not able to deal with the loss of another child.

      Despite the fact the the grave was empty it was the only place left in the memory of Milo. His boy, his little rascal.

      "You wouldn't believe this kid." Jim chuckled hoarsly, adjusting his brown sheriff's hat a bit as he crouched down in front of the small grave. "You remember Mrs. Mcknight? The old lady from across the street who would keep an eye on you from time to time?"

      He paused for a moment, envisioning his boy, the way he would respond to his question before he continued.

      "I got a call tonight form her neighbour, said she saw someone break in. Of course I didn't waste a minute to go there, but it seemed I wasn't neseccary." Hopper shook his head, the snow continuing to fall down.

      "So I get there and I knock on the door, hoping it might startle the intruder. "He halted for a moment, reliving the strange memory of the night. "So Mrs. McKnight comes out, still dressed in her pink nightgown, and she says,

      "I was about to call you, this bloody boy tried to steal my china collection! I can't believe the nerve of these kids these days!"

      "I couldn't believe my ears as I followed her inside and there was the kid, unconscious on the ground." Jim laughed softly. "She apperantly knocked the boy down with a frying pan."

      Jim sighed, as silence followed, he missed the sound of Milo's jubilence laughter that used the echo through the Hopper household as he tried to make his little sister laugh or when he told him stories like this before the blonde boy had to go to bed.

      Now there was nothing but the howling of the wind that nipped at his face.

      "I love you kid." He whispered in the air, preparing to leave and get home when his radio went of inside the cruiser.

      "Chief, you there?"

      Pushing himself up, Jim opened the door and grabbed the radio. "I'm here."

      "Sorry if you were headed home, but the alarm at Hawkins Middle School went off. You should check it out."

      Jim rubbed his temple in annoyance. "I'm on it." He put the radio back in its place before getting back in his car and glancing on last time at his son's grave.

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