· 。ﾟ☆: *.☽
˚ ₊ ♡ ❰ 𝚃𝙷𝚁𝙸𝙻𝙻𝙴𝚁 ❱ ˖⋆࿐໋ ⋆ ✰
CHAPTER TWO ━━
the imaginary friend of will byers

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      WILL BYERS WAS ANGRY THAT NO ONE BELIEVED HIM as he had yelled and screamed about the boy who saved him in the Upside Down. They refused to acknowledge him whenever he started about the blonde teenager they left behind. Just because Zero wasn't there when they rescued the Byers boy they didn't think that he actually existed.

      Will was angry because after everything that they witnessed they couldn't find it in themselves to believe such a mundane thing as another person being trapped in the other demension. Of course Will didn't know that only Zero's mind traveled there.

      So now with his cold hands tucked into his sweatshirt, the young boy walked beside his mother and chief Hopper to go and see Dr. Owens at Hawkins lab that late November morning.

      There hung an eerie silence in the hall as Will followed after Jim Hopper who walked in front of the Byers family, his large stature blocking most of his view but as he looked at the man something familiar sparked inside his brain. Something on the tip of his tongue that bugged the hell out of the boy.

      Of course Will didn't realise it yet, but he was staring at the father of the blonde boy who protected him in the Upside Down. Someone everyone believed to be nothing more than a delusion created by fear.

      His gaze was casted to the floor as the three of them walked inside Dr. Owens office at exactly 12 o'clock. He heard the familiar scraping of the chair Ownes sat in as he pushed it back to greet him and his mother.

      Will could hear his mother mumble a quiet greeting but he just ignored the man and stalked towards his own seat across from Dr. Owens. He could hear Hopper leave the room to give the family some privacy, promising in hushed whispers that he would be just outside the door if they needed him.

     "How are you doing Will?" The same question was asked again like every other time and like every other time he replied the same way.

      "I'm fine."

      "But are you truly?" The same question as expected.

      The Byers' boy looked up to face the greying man with a sigh. "We need to find him."

      "Who are you talking about Will?" Dr. Owens asked even though the man already knew the answer.

      "My friend."

      "Are you talking about the boy in the Upside down?" The way the man spoke, with such a dubious tone made Will's blood boil for some reason. Zero had saved him, protected him just so that he could get home and this was the thank you he got.

      Or maybe it was guilt eating away, after all Zero had done everything to keep him safe while he just ran away without thinking twice.

      "Will, sweetheart, he isn't real." Joyce voice trembled a bit as she turned to look at her son. "There was no one else there. I promise you if there was we would have brought him with us."

      Will shook his head angerly, refusing to meet his mother's loving gaze as he trained his eyes on Dr. Owens. "He was real. Just because you didn't see him doesn't mean I made him up." The boy gave the doctor one last headed glare before he focused his eyes on the window.

      Dr. Owens sighed as he gave Joyce an apologetic smile as the mother looked distraught at her son's behaviour.

      The rest of the session had only been a one sides conversation as Will refused to acknowledge anymore questions until they acknowledged he wasn't lying.

      And when the clock struck 1 o'clock the same scraping of a metal chair was heard as Dr. Owens bid them farewell as he led them to the door.

      Will was quick to rush outside, a very confused Hopper right on his tail while Joyce remained standing in the doorway, a sad look etched on her face.

       "Joyce." Dr. Owen gave the woman a comforting smile. "Some traumatized children create this image in their head, this person to cope with the stress, the fear. He truely believes the boy exsists but it's just a figment of his own imagination."

      "I really hope your right"

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      ZERO HAD NEVER SEEN THE OUTSIDE WORLD, NOT AS far as he knew. So when he did manage to get out of Hawkins Lab, the blonde boy had no clue as to where to go. He managed to escape the cluctes of Dr. Brenner when the whole facility erupted into chaos. He didn't catch much but he knew it wasn't anything good.

      Eleven. School, children.

      He didn't know what a school was but he guessed it had to be a place as they shouted direction at each other over a device.

      That moment as people frantically rushed around, Zero, unbeknownst to them all left the Lab in a child like wonder. Of course after watching stangers enter the building right before he was going to return he made the descision to leave. Those strangers looked dangerous and he didn't want to get caught in the crossfire.

      A month had passed since then. And the blonde boy had just walked in an almost straight line until he came across a little town called Grimsby. It almost seemed like a ghost town, only a select few people living at the side of the woods.

      It was a perfect place to hide.

      Hiding was something Zero had mastered over time.

      He had found a small abandoned cabin at the edge of town, deep inside the woods. Cobwebs and rotten wood looked like all that the structure was made out of.

      The blonde had found some blankets and other thing littered around and he used it to make a small part of the cabin livable. But he didn't need much as he sat there in silence. His eyes closed as he listened to the steady drumming of rain on the window.

      The constant ticking eased his mind for some unexplainable reason as he focused on getting his mind somewhere else as thunder raged on. The loud sounds sending a shiver of terror down his spine as he did his best to get his mind off the loud sound.

      He hated it.

      A thunderous bang echoed around the small room as a ten year old Zero stared with teary eyes at the man in front of him. There was dried up blood just underneath his nose,  a ringing in his ears, but the small blonde could still hear the shouts of Dr. Brenner above the constant buzzing. With each slap on the metal table Zero flinched away, his heart thundering in his chest.

      He made a mistake. He failed and Brenner was mad.

      The blonde placed his tiny hands on his ears to block out the noise, his eyes screwed shut in the hopes of escaping in his mind.

      He didn't succeed that time either. If he could control it Brenner wouldn't be mad in the first place.

      Suddenly a steel like grip grabbed onto his wrists, pulling them away from his ears and his eyes snapped open as the child came face to face with Brenner's furious expression.

      Zero let out a startled gasped as a lightning flash illuminated the dark sky, loud thunder not far behind.

      The blonde tried to steady his breathing before he rested his head against the cold wood and after a while the boy passed out from pure exhaustion.

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