(      darkest before dawn      /      act two      )
episode four | stranger things

❛ WORSE THAN BEFORE ❜

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      MRS. BYERS RUSHED WILL from the school, the other five of them following behind. Will never looked up as his mom led him into the car.

      "Okay," Max spoke up, "that totally freaked me out. Did that not freak you guys out?"

      "Two episodes," Lucas spoke slowly, "in two days."

      "It's getting worse." Mike concluded.

      "You think it's true sight?" Lucas questioned.

      "What's true sight?" Max glanced at Aurora for an answer, but the girl was leaning against Mike with a raging headache.

      "It's nothing." Lucas responded as Mrs. Byers started the car and pulled from the parking lot.

      "Are you okay?" Max questioned Aurora, grabbing her arm. Aurora nodded, her eyes feeling heavy.

      "Yeah," Auroras voice was light as she responded with a tired grin. "Just tired."

⋆ ★ ⋆

      "WHERE IS EVERYONE?" AURORA questioned Dustin as she shoved her bike into the bike lock next to Dustin.

      "I have no idea..." Dustin glanced around, trying to find any of their friends. "Come on."

      The two of them took off in a slight jog as they ran to the back of the school, Aurora taking the left side and Dustin running the right. As Aurora rounded the back corner of the building she heard Max talking.

      "This is so disgusting," Max shouted, as Aurora felt a pit in her stomach as she realized that Mike was there as well. "Is this really necessary?"

      "What the hell is going on?"

      "What are you guys doing?"

      Dustin and Aurora questioned the two kids, almost in harmony.

      "What do you think?" Mike scoffed, leaning against the trash stick he was holding, "we're looking for Dart."

      A bag of trash came flying from the dumpster, spraying moldy food from it as it slammed to the ground. The four kids outside the dumpster jumped away.

      "Is that," Lucas jumped from the trash can as Aurora grinned, "Lucas? Why were you dumpster diving?"

      "Well, well, well." Lucas scoffed glancing between the two newest arrivals, "Look who finally decided to show up. After I drew the short straw, real convenient guys."

      "You stink." Max scoffed, taking a step away from the boy.

      "Where's Will?" Aurora asked, her gaze on Mike.

      The boy just shrugged, "He'll be here."

      "Are you just gonna stand there?" Lucas tossed Dustin a stick, "or are you gonna help?"

      "I think I'll just stand here." Aurora stated, before taking a step away from the trash. She was in one of her favorite white skirts and a pink sweater, no way was she going to get her outfit dirty.

      When the bell rang, Aurora was the first to get out of the trash party. She grabbed her bag from her locker and was the first on in Mr. Clarke's class. The teacher had set three more worksheets on her paper, along with a textbook she had used the day before.  Though, it was very difficult to ignore the elephant in the room. Wills seat was once again empty, and Aurora could only think about the last time that happened.

      Her hands shook as she finished her worksheets, tuning out the last few minutes of Mr. Clarkes lesson. She glanced out the window, hoping that she would catch a glimpse of Wills car driving up the road.

      The last ten minutes, Aurora never took her eyes off the window. When the bell rang, Aurora moved slowly and kept watching window. Only when Max stepped in front of her did Aurora glance away from the window. She grabbed her worksheet and dropped them on Mr. Clarke's desk before leaving.

      At lunch, Aurora and Mike tried to call Wills house, but after continuous ringing, they hit their voicemail. Mike slammed the phone down in anger before running back towards Lucas, Dustin and Max.

      "We need to talk." Mike panted as he ran up the steps to the school, "AV room, right now!" As Max stood with the rest of them, Mike turned to the girl, "Party members only."

      Max scoffed, as Dustin tried to reason, "Come on, Mike!"

      "No!" Mike rolled his eyes, "this is non-negotiable."

      He threw the school door open in a haste, as Aurora paused by the girl. "I'm really sorry Max."

      "Fine," Max rolled her eyes.

      "No it's not. I promise that once all of this is over, you will be apart of the party," Aurora touched Max's arm, only for the redhead to pull her arm away.

      "Not like I wanted to be in your stupid party anyways," Max scoffed and stomped away from Aurora. The blonde sighed and followed the others into the school, sending the girl one last glance before the door shut.

      Aurora was the last one in the AV room, and Mike had already started on the story, "on Halloween night, he saw a sort of shadow in the sky."

      "A shadow?" Lucas questioned as the door clicked shut behind Aurora. "What kinda shadow?"

      "I don't know," Mike shook his head softly, "but it scared him. And if Will really has True Sight, I mean, if he can really see into the Upside Down, maybe he saw that shadow again yesterday."

      "So that's why he was frozen like that." Dustin concluded.

      "Maybe."

      "Can it hurt him?" Lucas asked. "I mean if this shadow thing isn't from our world..."

      "I'm not sure." Mike turned to Dustin for answers, "Dustin?"

      "Well," the boy grinned slightly, "if you're in another plane, you can't interact with the material plane, so theoretically, no, the shadow can't hurt him."

      "If that's even what's happening. This isn't D&D," Mike scoffed, "this is real life."

      "Last year," Aurora pointed out, "it was exactly like D&D. Maybe we need to think like we did last year."

      "What do we do then?" Lucas asked.

      "We acquire more knowledge," Mike pointed out, "Me and Rory will go to Wills after school. Find out what's going on. You guys stay here and find Dart."

      "Dart?" Dustin stood a little straighter, "what's he gotta do with this?"

      "Will heard him in the Upside Down," Aurora pointed out.

      "I don't know how yet," Mike shook his head and stood up, "but he's gotta be connected to all this. He's gotta be. If we find Dart, maybe we can solve this thing. Maybe we can help Will."

      The rest of them nodded, and headed to the last few classes of the day. Aurora didn't see Max after school, the redhead wasn't at her locker as Aurora grabbed the rest of her things. A tinge of disappointment filled her body as she walked to the bike rack, where Mike was already waiting.

      They both hopped on their bikes and pedaled in silence as they rode towards Wills house. "Max has been here almost as long as El was," Aurora started after an awkward amount of silence, "why did El make it to the party but Max didn't."

      Mike scoffed, "Because."

      "That's it?" Aurora rolled her eyes, "your only response is 'because' really, Mike?"

      Mikes brakes screeched as he stopped his bike, "Yes, Aurora, that is my only response, because El was helpful! She helped find Will and saved us. All Max is, is a pain in my ass!"

      "Really?" Aurora asked, incredulously, "because I loved El like a sister, but I seem to remember that she led us away from the gate the first time, hurt Lucas, and lied to all of us! Yes, she did help us, but that was after you gave her a chance! Why can't you give Max the same chance?"

      "I am not having this conversation," Mike scoffed and began pedaling away from the blonde, "I'm going to go and help Will, because he needs me. You can come, or not."

      Aurora scoffed and swallowed back the tears in her eyes before following Mike. He was right, they were here to save Will not argue. Because nothing would ever get accomplished with that.

      Mike had gotten well ahead of Aurora, so when the girl jumped off her bike at Wills doorstep the boy was already slamming his fist on the door.

      "Will?" Mike was shouting, "Mrs. Byers?"

      Aurora joined him on the stoop as the door unlocked. Mrs. Byers leaned out from the barely open door, "Hey Mike, hey Aurora."

      "Is Will here?" Mike questioned loudly.

      "You know what?" Mrs. Byers answered, "now, now is not a really good time."

      "Is he okay?" Aurora questioned before Mike could.

      Mrs. Byers sighed, before stepping outside, closing the door, "Yeah, you know, he's...he's just not feeling real well." Mrs. Byers kept moving closer, placing a hand on both kids shoulders and leading them down the few steps, "he's laying down, so I'll let him know you guys stopped by, okay?"

      Mike glanced at Aurora in question, and she stepped up, "It's about the shadow monster, isn't it?" Mrs. Byers paused at the door, glancing at the two kids in fear.

      "It is." Mike responded for the woman. "And we know that that shadow monster is controlling Will."

      Mrs. Byers sighed, "come inside."

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( LET ME SPEAK : )

literally such a boring chapter
so anyways...

credit goes to fivehxrgreeves