· 。ﾟ☆: *.☽
˚ ₊ ♡ ❰  𝚃𝙷𝚁𝙸𝙻𝙻𝙴𝚁  ❱ ˖⋆࿐໋ ⋆ ✰
CHAPTER NINE ━━
darkness lives here

═════ ∘◦ 👻🔦🧸.༄ ◦∘ ═════

SILENCE, COMPLETE UTTER SILENCE FOLLOWED AFTER and in those moments seconds seemed to last forever, unbearable hours slowly ticking by. No one dared to move and it looked like everyone is holding their breaths, waiting for something to happen. Even the woods fall silent at that exact moment in time. Trees stop swaying in the wind, the rustling of leaves ceased and the birds chirping pause at the notable tension growing at the front of the Byers' resident.

Then Jim, with shaking hands and wide eyes took a step forward as everyone focused on the two to see what would happen.

Zero pressed his body further against the tree like he hopes to disappear, the rough bark piercing through his clothes and against his skin. There is no ounce of recognisation in his eyes as Hopper took another step closer, like the man is afraid he might run the boy off like a scared animal.

There is only pure terror in Zero's eyes and the blonde feels like he's caged in with no where to run. His body is quaking in fear for the man and it is another voice that breaks through the thick tension looming over the group.

"Mom?" It is Will Byers looking through the door that snapped everyone out of their daze for a moment as Zero seemed to cower away from everyone.

And Jim doesn't know what to do. He is absolute, completely one hundred percent sure that blonde in front of him is his son, his little rascal. The boy he lost so many years ago sitting in front of him.

Milo is so close but yet so far all at the same time and Jim doesn't know how to handle it when every viber in his body is shouting at him to wrap his son in the biggest of hugs. But something in the back of his minds makes him unable to move.

"What's going on?" Will's voice cracks slightly as the boy wraps his blanket tighter around his thin figure. "Why is everyone shouting?" The young boy is walking outside but he froze the moment his eyes land on the familair brown ones of Zero.

Again there is a pause where everyone holds their breath in anticipation. "Y-you're alive." The words barely leave his mouth before the boy is barreling himself towards Zero.

Instead of cowering away like everyone expected, Zero welcomes Will's embrace with open arms, wrapping his thin and pale arms around the younger boy. "You're back." Only Zero can make out the hushed words and the blonde only holds the boy tighter. "I'm back."

It is also then that Zero reminded himself why he is here and with trembling fingers, the blonde pushed Will a bit away from him to take a closer look at the boy. "Danger." He whispered only barely audible for everyone to hear. "You are in danger." He managed to get out in shaky breathes.

"Honey, what are you talking about?" Joyce carefully approached the boy, gaze kind and for a second it made Zero feel comfortable. "What danger?"

"The shadow-," the boy started to explain but then his gaze becomes blank, lost in something no one else can see and it sends Hopper in a state of panic when the blonde boy becomes unresponsive.

"Milo? Milo!"

But Zero can't hear them when he finds himself looking into the dark and omnious world of the Upside down, there is an eerie silence looming over the place that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. With trembling hands the boy pushed himself up and wandered towards the Byer's resident unaware of the people on the other side.

"What is happening to him?" It's Mike shouting with wide eyes as the blonde boy stands up, completely ignoring everyone around him like he is in some sort of trance.

"Milo?" Jim rushed towards the boy, placing his hands on the boy's shoulder but he looks right through him like he isn't even there.

The blonde can feel the same urge that brought him to the school the night before, like there was an untold force moving him, guiding him even and so with careful steps he walked into the house like he knows every part of it, like he'd been there a thousand times before.

His chocolate brown eyes flicker towards a wall, filled with badly painted letters, the black paint had dripped alongside the wall and without thinking he traces some of the letters with his hands.

"What the hell is he doing!?" Jim questioned with wide eyes, again reaching out to stop the blonde but a gentle hand on his shoulder holds him back. The chief averted his gaze towards the brunette woman.

"Just watch." She breathed out, eyes glimmering with confusion as they flicker back to Zero.

The rough feeling of the wall made the blonde frown but something is calling out for him, and Zero slowly turned his head in the direction. With almost inaudible steps, the boy walked into a hallway filled with picures and memories of the Byers' family and for a brief moment something in the back of his mind unravels. But he can't grasp the thread only watch it swirl in the deepest of corners of his mind, taunting him, keeping something back from him.

Zero shook his head, some blonde strands falling in front of his eyes but he doesn't care as his gaze averted to the floor, where dozens of drawn pictures lay, forming some kind of pattern he doesn't understand. But something about it makes him feel uneasy, like it is something bad.

The blonde makes sure not to step on any of them, dark blue ivy covering some of them and it reminds the boy of everything wrong with this world.

Then at the end of the hallway, Zero stops in front of a door, and unsurely reaches for the knob, the cold metal sending a shiver down his spine before he opens it.

Inside is nothing out of the ordinary at first sight. It looks like just any other bathroom. White tiles covered in thick ivy leading all the way up to the sink.

Cautiosly the boy approaches it, taking slow steps until he stands in front of it. Right above he can see a dirty mirror, reflecting himself but he jumps back at the sight of a dark shadow-like figure behind him. His heart rate picks up and he furiously blinks before focusing back on his reflection on the mirror to see he is alone again. With shaking hands he takes ahold of the sink, hands clenched and knuckles turning white.

He can almost feel it, the connection with the normal world and for some reason Zero knows. Knows that something bad from here had been through there. Through Will.

"What is he doing?" Joyce whispered softly, eyes trained on the boy standing in the bathroom, such a deadly grip on the sink she might believe it will burst at any second.

And then suddenly a large gasp erupted from Zero's throat, startling everyone in the room. The boy looks back up, eyes wide and terrified as he looked in the mirror locking his gaze with Will through it. "It's already here."

Before anyone can ask what the blonde means, his grip falltered and his eyes roll back in his head and darkness consumed him whole.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬