|| 𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ||

Joyce and Hopper stood shivering in the cold autumn air. They were currently waiting on the front porch of what they hoped to be the home of Terry Ives. The woman they believed could answer all their burning questions on the many mysteries surrounding Hawkins.

They heard the faint sound of footsteps and when they looked up, they saw a woman peeking through the curtains of the glass on the door. She released the cloth curtains and she unlocked the door before opening it.

"Can I help you?" She asked, a weary look on her face.

"Hi, we're looking for Terry Ives. Does she live here?" Hopper asked.

A slight frown crossed her face as she crossed her arms, leaning against the door frame. "Who's asking?"

"Hawkins Chief of Police." Hopper stated, pulling out his badge and showing it to the woman.

"And you want to talk to my sister?" She asked wearily.

"Well, if your sister's Terry Ives, then, yeah we do."

The woman looked down at her feet contemplating this before speaking.

"Okay, well, you can come in but if you want Terry to tell you anything, you're about five years too late." She said turning and walking into the house, leaving the door open for her new guest to follow her.

As the duo trailed the woman further into the house and what appeared to be the living room, they took note of the TV playing softly from the other side of the room.

"Terry, you have some visitors."

As she spoke she stepped aside as Joyce and Hopper timidly stepped into the room to find a woman in a rocking chair. She remained stiff, her arms still on the arms of the chair and she slowly turned her head, her face never changing. Her eyes were distant and she appeared disconnected from the world.

Joyce spoke up, taking a few cautious steps forward.

"Hello. My name's Joyce Byers. Uh, this is Hopper," she gestured to the man behind her. "We drove over from Hawkins."

The woman never moved, never blinked, but her gaze remained on Joyce.

"Um, you see, uh, my son... He's been missing for over a week now," Joyce continued. "and, um, we were wondering if we could talk to you about your daughter, Jane?" Joyce asked carefully.

"If there's anything that you could tell us about when she was taken..."

The woman closed her eyes for a moment before opening them, clearly pained at the mention of her missing daughter. Yet she remained silent and Hopper spoke up.

"What was your relationship with Dr. Brenner? You guys keep in touch?"

Again, they were met with silence and an empty stare. Joyce took this as an opportunity to step forward and offer the picture of her missing son.

"This is, uh... this is him. This is Will. Uh, you may have seen him on... on the news."

Terry only looked at the missing poster for a moment before returning her gaze to the TV, all the while Hopper staring confusedly at the exchange.

"What's wrong with her?"

The other Ives sister stood shaking her head and shrugged her shoulders.

"I told you, you're wasting your time."

|| 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ||

'This isn't right. Lucas should be with us.'

In that moment my brother seems to read my mind.

"This is weird without Lucas."

The three of us were biking across town. We figured we would most likely find El somewhere around Mirkwood so that's where we are headed now.

Dustin and Mike were behind me. The two were keeping up a conversation as we all kept a steady but comfortable pace. I wasn't in the most chatty mood at the moment. I was currently trying to concentrate my nerves into the task at hand and keep moving forward, making sure not to lose the boys of course.

Thankfully, the two of them seemed to understand I needed my space at the moment.

"He should've shaken my hand." I hear Mike say.

"He's just jealous."

"What are you talking about?"

I hear my brother sigh before speaking.

"Sometimes, your total obliviousness just blows my mind."

There's a small pause before he continues.

"He's your best friend, right?"

"Yeah... I mean, I don't know."

"It's fine. I get it."

"We didn't get here until the fourth grade. He had the advantage of living next door. But none of that matters. What matters is that he is your best friend. And then this girl shows up and starts living in your basement and all you ever want to do is pay attention to her."

"That's not true."

"Yes, it is. And you know it. And he knows it. But no one ever says anything until you both start punching and yelling at each other like goblins with intelligence scores of zero."

I can't help but smile and roll my eyes slightly.

"Now everything's weird." He finished.

"He's not my best friend."

I hear Dustin laugh.

"Yeah, right."

"I mean, he is, but so are you guys. And so is Will."

"Can't have more than one best friend." Dustin stated almost sadly.

"Says who?"

"Says logic."

"Well, I call bull on your logic, because you're my best friend, too. That includes you, Y/n."

I spare a moment to look over my shoulder and make eye contact with him. I give a warm smile.

"Thanks, Mikey. I know I speak for Dustin as well when I say that you mean a lot to us." I look to my brother and we seem to silently agree with one another.

I make sure to keep an eye on the road as I bike forward, occasionally making eye contact with him as I speak. "And I promise, we are gonna find El, and then we are gonna talk some sense into Lucas. Cause I'll be damned if I lose another one you."

The three of us smile at each other and I return my attention to the road. For one brief moment in time we feel almost... at peace. It's only been a week since Will's disappearance, but it's felt like years. It's refreshing, for once, even if it's only for a few short moments; we are just three kids without a care in the world. Of course, deep down, we know that is far from the truth.

The looming sense of stress and concern is only confirmed when we find ourselves across the street from Bradley's Big Buy convenience store.

I slam on the brakes and my tires squeal against the pavement when I spot the commotion outside the store. Mike and Dustin brake on either side of me.

"Woah." Mike breathes.

By the looks of it, it was robbed. But everybody seemed to be fine. The only evidence of a robbery was the shattered glass of the closed automatic doors and the policemen taking statements from witnesses of course.

"You don't think..." Dustin begins.

"Uh... definitely."

Unlike me, the boys are eager enough to trek on and they simultaneously start back on the road. I took a minute to catch my breath staring lost in thought.

Knowing I better catch up now, I stand up, propping my weight on each of the peddles of my bike and begin peddling, easily catching up to boys.

However, I can't seem to shake the feeling that I was being watched at this very moment.