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࣪𓏲ּ ֶָ ✩◿𝓓𝓣𝓐◸ 🂱 ࣪𓏲ּ ֶָ
CHAPTER FORTY FOUR—
i didn't choose this town. i dreamt of getting out.

"Woah." Leslie set her black coffee down early the next morning. The sun wasn't even up yet, but that's usually when her shift started. Her eyes focused on Sarah when the bedroom door opened. "Deja Vu."

Sarah smiled slightly. "I didn't realize I fell asleep."

"Must have been pretty tired." she offered her a cup as Sarah shook her head in denial. "You find something?"

Sarah held her free wrist up to show the leather bracelet, Robins bandana on the other. Leslie gave her a small smile. "Suits you."

Sarah exhaled and rubbed her eyes. "How long until you move?"

"Todays my last day at work, leaving at the end of the week." she nodded with pursed lips, hating the feeling she got in her stomach. "Can't believe i'm taking off the second you get back."

"No, this will be good for you. Georgia will be nice." Sarah leaned against the counter. "Plus, i'm not gonna be here for much longer. Just...need to make sure my friend is gonna be okay."

"That little Blake boy?" she questioned as Sarah nodded her head. "He was friends with Robin?"

"Yeah, really close friends." Sarah chewed on the inside of her mouth, wishing she had some gum on her. "We're on thanksgiving break at school anyways so I think it's okay that i'm here."

Leslie touched her hand. "Are you sure?"

Sarah was almost offended at how every single person she'd spoken to had asked if it was smart she was here. But, in the back of her mind, she knew the entire city of Denver portray a version of herself that shocked more then just the ones closest to her. Sarah shook her head. "I have to be here."

Leslie circled the counter and pulled her into a very needed hug. She hugged her so tightly, held into her for as long as she needed to. Sarah laid her head down on her shoulder, even though she'd been shorter. Her arms held onto her waist and her eyes shut. Sarah loved her Mom, but Ella struggled with physically affection. She hugged her every now and then, but it just wasn't something she was a fan of. Sarah never pushed her, she respected her boundaries. But to be in a mothers arms was maybe something Sarah needed.

Not the arms of a thirteen year old girl, not the arms of a middle aged man, a mother figures arms. There was something different about it, a sense of comfort Sarah needed in a time like this.

That wasn't the only thing that felt was different that day.

Sarah had left the Hopper house and walked to the police station to get her Dad to drive her to the Blakes. There was a rustle as was, a frantic feeling. Police cars were gone, their sirens echoing all around town and returning back from the hours of the night. Even later, years late, Sarah couldn't truly remember what her Dad said to her when she walked in. It was quiet, like he was talking with no words, like everything was moving in complete and total slow motion.

'Finney is missing.' she could read his lips, only a buzz from his mouth as it was spoken.

It was so quiet, but she knew it was bad. She knew she'd been loud, she knew that her sobs weren't silent, she knew that when her Dad wrapped his arms around her and eyes turned that she hadn't been silent like her head was convincing her she was. There was noise, the world was so loud, it just stopped in those moments as she completely lost it right in the middle of the station.

It wasn't Billy. It wasn't Griffin. It wasn't Vance. It wasn't Robin. It wasn't Bruce. It was Finney. This time, it felt different. It hurt before, it practically killed her all the times before, but this one felt slow rather then all at once. She didn't break immediately like she had with Vance, Bruce and Robin. She didn't break a year later when she accepted Billys death. She broke then, she broke minutes later, she broke in waves, like the universe was trying to see how small the pieces of her fragile state could go. Could she break to just an inch? Just a centimeter? Just a spec of sand rather then glass?

Who knew, but she'd been there.

She stayed on the station floor after that sadness wore off and the shock set in. Jason felt better having her there here, her back to his desk and her knees brought up while clutching the side of her head. She was quiet now, but the world was louder then it was. Every time the phone rung, she hoped it was someone saying he was found and he'd been okay. She stayed there so long, Gwen hasn't even crossed her mind.

Her grandfather was in pretty good shape for an older guy. He still looked great, but crawling onto the floor was difficult. But, he did it for her. With a huff, he made it down and sat infront of his granddaughter. "Hey, kiddo."

Sarah swallowed as she looked up for the first time. She looked three joints in and mascara bounding together under her eyes. "Hey."

"You know i'm gonna do everything I can to find him." he whispered to her. "I know he means a lot to you."

"They all mean a lot to me." she corrected him, her voice low and quiet as she dropped her gaze back to her knees and held her head in a way she always held his when she'd kiss him on the forehead. Both hands right above the ears, holding on and pulling forward a little bit. "But..."

She'd never say it out loud, but Detective Wright knew that Finney Blake meant the most to her. She loved all the boys, even Griffin despite not knowing him, and she'd never say she wished one was here if she didn't get all of them. But, Finney was always different for her. He was just like her, a replica that had been her only comfort after Billy, then the only person she had spoke to after Vance, then the only person she wanted to talk to when finding out about Bruce and Robin.

Now, who did she go to without Finney? It was different. It always had been.

"I know." her grandfather didn't make her say all that, he knew just as well as anyone else. He put a hand on her knee. "Just hold on a little longer, okay? And i'll find a way to get him back here."

"Yeah." Sarah mumbled, she genuinely thought what she said next was in her head until she'd seen the look on her grandfathers face after the next twelve words left her mouth. "Because if you don't, i'll turn a way to get to him."

She knew what it meant. He knew what it meant. And so did you.

Finney had been sitting on the dirty mattress with his hands clasped right above his ears, pulling his head forward just a little bit and rocking just slightly. He thought about Sarah, if she'd been looking for him, if she was taking over the newspaper again to get his name and picture in the paper. He wondered if she thought he was dead or if she was holding onto some hope that he was still alive. She did with Vance and Billy for a while, but he could tell she'd accepting Bruce being gone after she was told. He never got her take on Robin though, she seemed stuck in the middle. He'd just been gone a day when she showed up, just five before he was taken too.

The phone started to ring for a second time, scaring him into backing away from it quickly.

It kept on, continued to ring as he stood up and placed it by his ear. There was a buzzing noise, but mainly static. "Hello? Is somebody there?"

Nothing.

"I need help." he went on, looking toward the door. "Hello?"

'Finneyyyy.'

He gasped in fear, shoving it back on the wall and backing up with deep breaths. He tripped on his feet and backed up until there was no where else to go, his back flat against the wall. It started to ring again, seemingly getting louder and louder. He hurried to get off his feet and walked over to remove it to silence it, placing it back.

Taking two steps back, it started to ring again. This time, one long and drawn out ring. There was no between. He grasped the black phone and brought it to his ear, a voice traveling from the other end. "Don't hang up."

"I won't." he promised. "Who is this?"

"I don't remember my name." he admitted, a depressing sound in his tone. It was familiar, Finney knew it was so familiar. But, it wasn't clicking, because he didn't even stop to think a dead person was able to talk to him.

"Why not?" he asked.

"It's the first thing you loose." he admitted to Finney, he knew that much.

"First thing you loose when?" panic was in the boys tone, he had a bad feeling that he hoped wasn't gonna be true.

"You know when." the voice said in return.

"How do you know my name?" Finney asked, that part clicking to him finally. He knew the voice, meaning they likely knew him too.

"We've met." he said back. "You...you were always with Sarah, and so was I. We did baseball for different teams. Your arm is mint. You almost had me."

There it was.

"Bruce?" Finney called in a frantic state. "Bruce Yamada?"

"Y-yeah." his tone uplifted just a little from the other line. "Bruce. I-I'm Bruce. Your arm is mint. You almost had me."

"Did the phone ring for you?" Finney immediately thought of the other boys. The entire town knew they were connected, Sarah knew before anyone else. But, maybe, if Bruce got nothing, there was a slim chance that it was a coincidence.

"It rang. But non of us heard it." that confirmed it for him. It wasn't just a coincidence. All the boys were taken by The Grabber, and they all died, meaning he wasn't special, he'd die too. Finney forgot there was one person in this universe that thought he was the most special human being ever, the best boy she'd even known. He forgot due to where he was, but maybe if he remembered he'd have felt a little better. "Just you. The Grabber hears the phone too. But, he doesn't want to believe it."

"Why are you calling me?" Finney asked him. "How do you remember Sarah's name but not yours?"

"Because." Bruce said back, his eyes shifted. "There's a picture of her. And her names on it."

"A picture of Sarah?" Finney was lost how there'd be a photo of Sarah where
ever dead people stayed.

"Yeah, of her and someone else." Bruce didn't know Billys name either. "It's in the reserver. The Grabber gave it to me, he gave it to all of us. But, I hid it so he couldn't take it back. He doesn't deserve it."

"Do you remember anything else?" Finney tested the theory. Maybe he knew her name, maybe he could remember Finney hanging out with Sarah when Bruce was too sometimes, but did he forget everything else? Even he hadn't remembered his name, what else did he not remember.

"I can remember her. We all can remember her." Bruce said back, but that's as it. He didn't say who "all" was, but Finney knew. "Your arm is a mint. You almost had me. I'm glad it's you. Finney?"

"Yeah?" he asked him.

"There's a dirt section of the floor in the hallway where the tile is loose." Bruce told him, he could remember that too.

"Okay." Finney let him know he heard, but he didn't know why he was telling him.

"Dig down underneath the foundation. I tried, but there wasn't time for me to dig up and out the other side." Bruce was the first to play a part in rescuing Finney, to get him back to where they all wanted to be. "When you do it...tell Sarah something for me."

"Will I have enough time?" Finney panicked, considering Bruce didn't.

"Tell her that I wasn't mad at her for not coming home. Tell her that I could never be mad at her." then, the line went dead.

"Hello?" Finney shook slightly. "Bruce? Bruce?"

Nothing. He was gone this time. Finney pulled the phone back and unscrewed the reserver, pinching the tiny piece of paper and giving a yank. It was all folded up, the film crumbled, but enough for him to unravel it. Like Bruce said, it was a picture of Sarah. One of her and Billy, it looked like they were outside of her house and in the summer, based on their choice of clothing. On the back, it said her name, but Billys was smudged so bad that it was unreadable.

•

kylie speaks

i'm sorry it took me long
then usual to update this,
i have been home all alone
and i was too scared to write
this book lol