(      darkest before dawn      /      act one      )
episode two-ish | stranger things

❛ JEALOUSY ,  JEALOUSY ❜

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      THE PARTY HAD NEVER seen Mike act like how he had in the moments after Aurora had dropped to the ground.

      Before Auroras' head even touched the ground, before was at her side making sure that her head didn't slam. He had demanded that he be the one to help Aurora back to his house, carrying the girl the entire two blocks from the woods. Dustin and Lucas walked next to the girl they had found in the woods, who kept her eyes on Aurora.

Mike had coddled Aurora in blankets as soon as they had gotten into his basement, but swore he was only doing it so that she didn't get sick. Dustin and Lucas could swear that the boy kept glancing over to Aurora every few minutes, as they watched the girl tap her fingers on her legs.

"Is that blood?" Mike was drawn back into the one sided conversation Lucas and Dustin were having with the girl they had found.

"Stop it!" Mike demanded, "you're just freaking her out."

"Well she's freaking me out," Lucas's voice was level, but was slightly higher in pitch.

"I bet she's deaf," to test his brilliant idea, Dustin clapped his hand in front of the girls face, causing her to jump in fright, "not deaf."

"Okay that's enough." Mike glanced over at Aurora again, and the blonde girl still hadn't moved. "She's probably just scared and cold." Mike moved to grab some clothes from the dryer, as Aurora groaned. Mike stiffened, his eyes immediately falling to Auroras face. He watched the girl as she slowly began to wake up, Dustin and Lucas were at her side in a second and Mike envied them, but he couldn't. "Here," so he had to stick with the weirdo they had found, "these are clean, fresh from the dryer so they might even be warm."

The girl looked at Mike weirdly, before slowly taking the clothes from his hands. She began tugging at the shirt she was originally wearing, pulling at it from the bottom causing Mike to squeal, "No, no, no! You do that in the bathroom," to demonstrate what he meant, Mike walked the girl to the bathroom before pretending to close the door. "See, privacy."

Eleven nodded, and followed Mikes eyes to Aurora, who was now more animated, sitting up in the chair as she smiled along to the story Dustin was telling her. Her blonde hair was catching in the light, and her blue eyes seemed like crystals just attached to her face. Eleven quickly changed, in the privacy of the bathroom, though insisted that Mike keep the door open a crack.

      Mike had moved over to where Dustin was now adamantly talking about the girl they had found. "Yeah, and she's bald, and she doesn't talk."

      "She does talk," Mike interjected, "Hey Rory, are you okay? Do you need some water or something?"

      "It's okay, Mike. Lucas already got me some water, thank you," Aurora trailed off as the girl left the bathroom again. The three boys didn't seem to notice as they began talking about how crazy the girl seemed, while Aurora stood and slowly approached the girl, who seemed like a scared deer. "Hi, my names Aurora, but most of my friends call me Rory."

      Aurora smiled kindly, and tried to move a few steps closer but stopped abruptly when Eleven flinched back. "Sorry. Is this okay?"

      Eleven nodded slowly, as the boys approached the pair. Eleven took a small step back. "She's staying here tonight." Lucas whispered in Auroras ear as Mike and Dustin began setting up a small fort in Mikes basement for the girl. "I think we should just send her out, she looks like she came from that nut house a few towns over. But Mike doesn't want our parents to know, so he's got this whole elaborate plan."

      Aurora could only focus on one thing, that the girl was staying there. At Mikes house. Alone. Why it bothered her so much, she had no idea, but it just did.

      Ones the boys had finished setting up the fort, Dustin, Lucas and Aurora had chosen to go home. The two boys waited at the top of the stairs, while Aurora was a few steps lower. The three of them all watched Eleven with curiosity.

      "You really think she's psycho?" Dustin whispered loudly to Lucas, who was watching the girl being coddled by Mike. Just as Aurora had been an hour ago, the parallels had him rolling his eyes.

      "Wouldn't want her in my house," Lucas pushed past the boy and left, Dustin following close behind him. Aurora stayed at the door of the stairs for a few more moments, before smiling at Eleven one last time.

      "Bye Mike," the boy didn't even glance up at the girl as she left. Only when the door was closed did he manage a longing glance at the place the blonde had stood a moment ago.

      Lucas and Dustin were long gone by the time she had come outside. The rain still pounding hard against the ground, and Aurora contemplated just giving herself up and going back to Mikes' to call one of her aunts.

      Deciding against wanting all of the boys to get in trouble, Aurora just began the walk home. The rain had soaked through the hoodie she had woken up in, in mere minutes Mikes house was still visible from the road. Her sweatpants now looked black and were even heavier than before, causing her to walk slower. Aurora brought her arms closer to her chest, trying to preserve her body heat as best she could.

      When she got to Mirkwood, Aurora turned into the woods, her mind set on getting home to warmth that she had forgotten that this was where Will had gone missing. Her house was a mile from Wills, and right in the middle of both their houses, where you could either chose to go to Wills or Auroras, was Castle Byers. Castle for Aurora, as she always said she was a princess and Byers because it used to be called Fort Byers and since Will had created the fort with his family, and it was his idea to rename it.

      Aurora knew the woods like the back of her hand. Even in the dark and backwards, the girl could find her way to Castle Byers and then her home, but tonight, the forest seemed to move to prevent her from getting anywhere.

      A low growl sounded from somewhere. Everywhere. It seemed so far away one second and the next it seemed to be just on Auroras right.

      A branch snapped to her left. And she started running.

      Behind her, the thing started chasing.

      The rain hadn't lifted, if anything the water droplets fell quicker and harsher. Pelting at her skin as she moved between trees that seemed to extend on forever.

      Aurora Briar knew these trees like the back of her hand, so why did it seem like she had just run on the same path a few minutes earlier. Everything seemed so familiar but unfamiliar at the same time. Panic set in. Weighing on her chest like a hundred pound weight, and it was slowly crushing her.

      Her vision was worsening by the second, and Auroras muscles were beginning to give out on her. One second she was running through dense trees, the next she was in a clearing of woods and Castle Byers was at the center of it.

      The thing behind her hadn't stopped, only slowly slightly. But it was still moving in her direction at an extremely fast pace. Aurora headed for Castle Byers, tossing open the curtains and entering as fast as she could.

      Her legs gave out as soon as she caught her breath, and the footsteps behind her had slowed to a stop right outside of Castle Byers. The last thing Aurora heard before closing her eyes was a growl that would haunt her mind for years.

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      JOYCE BYERS HAD LOST her mind. Her son was missing, and she was about to lose her other son along with him. The cops were no help, believing the boy to just be a rebellious kid who wanted to stir up something, but Joyce knew her boy better.

      Which is why, after Hopper had left her home, Mrs. Byers headed straight for the Briar residence. If anyone knew her boy better than her, it would be Aurora Briar herself. The girl had connected to Will at the hip ever since the two became friends. Mrs. Byers admired the kids friendship, and hoped that for the sake of all of them, that her boy was found soon.

      But upon knocking on the Briars door, she was greeted with chaos. The three woman Aurora lived with were rushing around the house, two of them wearing slippers while the one in green had only one shoe on. Will and Aurora normally met at Castle Byers, they also regularly hung out at the Byers residence, the pair normally strayed from away from Auroras home.

      "I am so sorry," the woman dressed in all red was the one who answered, and that's when Mrs. Byers realized she knew none of their names. "This mornings been hectic, but what can I do you for?"

      "Oh, um. My name is Joyce Byers," she spoke up, "and my son was close with your daughter. I was, um, hoping that Aurora was here so I could speak to her a bit."

      "Rory isn't here right now, she left sometime last night and hadn't come back. I apologize but we're off to look for her." The woman spoke.

      Joyce stood still, as the women passed her. "I am so sorry," a woman dressed in blue spoke, her manicured hand resting on Joyce's arm, "my names Merryweather. That was Flora, who you spoke to, and Fauna is in the green."

      "May I ask where Auroras mother and father are?" Joyce questioned, as she and Mary began walking into the woods. Ahead of them, Flora and Fauna was shouting for Aurora. "If I'm not intruding."

      "Oh no," Mary smiled softly but there was something different in her eyes as she spoke, "her parents surrendered full custody of Aurora to us when she was young."

      Not speaking further on the subject, Mary quickly changed it to how Mrs. Byers knew Aurora. The mother quickly divulged into how Aurora would constantly help her out in any way possible, which annoyed Will in every way, even Jonathan who wasn't very out there, always hung out with Aurora. She was loved by the entire family.

      "Im sorry about Will," Mary spoke out, after a few second of silence. "I wouldn't be able to imagine what you are feeling like, even with her being gone a few hours, it feels—"

      "Like your hearts stopped beating?" Mrs. Byers interjected, and all Mary could manage was a nod. Mary took a few steps faster and caught up with Flora and Fauna, joining in on their yells.

      Mrs. Byers smiled softly when they came up on the clearing where Castle Byers was. The wind caught the drapes on the front of the structure, and all she saw were feet before she started running, "Will?"

      She pushed through the three aunts, and dragged the curtain way, her tears already falling, but all she felt was disappointment as she saw the small blonde lying on the floor. Mrs. Byers felt guilty, she knew that she wasn't the only parent suffering in the moment. She just needed her boy back.

      Mrs. Byers stumbled backwards as Aurora was being coddled by her aunt, her heart clenched as she imagined herself and Will. She slowly disappeared into the woods, Aurora catching her eye before she was gone, and young girl giving her a soft smile.

      "Where the hell did you go young lady!" Her aunt Flora spoke, pulling away from the hug. Her hands prodding at Auroras face, trying to pull in some color back into her nieces cheeks. Her teeth were clattering together, as Fauna tugged her into a warm blanket.

      Aurora knew she shouldn't lie, but she didn't want her friend to get in trouble, so she only gave a half-truth, "I wanted to look for Will, and I got lost. It was raining and I didn't want to get in trouble if I showed up soaking wet. So I came here," Aurora was crying, "I'm sorry."

      The three woman couldn't complain, so all they did was walk Aurora back home, get her a change of clothes and call her school to make sure they knew she wouldn't be coming in. Fauna sat on Auroras bed as she fell asleep, not leaving even with Auroras soft snores filling the room.

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( LET ME SPEAK : )

guys idk if i really like this chapter,
it doesn't follow any of the episodes
so lol :) but anyways...

credit goes to fivehxrgreeves