Act 14: Barbara [Ep3]

At Hawkins high school, Hallway. Time: Afternoon . . . . 

Steve, Carol and Tommy were hanging in the hallway, waiting for nancy. Carol was laying her head on Tommy's lap as the rest of her body was sprawled across the ground. Tommy was sitting on the tiled floor with his legs stretched out for Carol, and Steve was crouching on the floor, the tips of his shoes were the only part of him touching the cold school floor. 

Carol was chuckling to herself as she popped the pink bubble she had just blown, "So, I told Mr. Mundy. . . .'The solution of ten plus Y equals. . .  Blow me" That got tommy cackling as he took a drag out of the cigarette he had hidden in his locker earlier in the morning. Steve rolled his eyes as he leaned his head against the white school wall, "Bull, if you did that, you'd be in detention right now"But Carol just smiled, pulling a pink detention slip out of her jacket pocket, "Saturday" She informed them before stuffing the slip back into her jacket. 

"I bet Mr. Mundy's still a virgin" Tommy blew smoke out his mouth as he leaned his head against the gray lockers behind him, "Oh, He's so a virgin!" Carol cracked up, chewing her gum up some before blowing out a small pink thin bubble. Tommy pocked the bubble, making it burst and make a mess of the girl's face. 

"Maybe you should blow him, Carol. Help your grades a bit" Tommy suggested which earned him a playful glare and a chuckle from her and steve when Nancy suddenly came rushing in through the door they were waiting by. She seemed upset and in a hurry, She didn't even stop to glance at Steve's group. She just went on her merry way with Steve following close behind her. 

He gripped her arm with a bit of strength, Not enough to hurt her but enough to keep her in place. He turned her to face him, "Nancy, Where are you going?" He asked her, his brow scrunched up with confusion. Nancy stammered a bit at the start of her sentence, "I-I Totally forg-got. I told my mom I would, um . . .  I would do something with her today" She informed him, her eyes not meeting his as she squeezed the books in her arms closer to her body, wrenching her arm out of his grip as she began walking backwards, "Well, What do you mean? The game's about to start" Steve informed her, pointing to the clock on the wall. Nancy grimaced but shook her head apologetically nonetheless, "I'm Sorry" She gave one {A/N: Two} last parting word before speed walking away from the group. 

Steve sighed, throwing his hands up int air in frustration as he turned back to his friends, who had smiles, that looked more like sneers on their faces as he sat back down on the school floor, "What the hell's wrong with her?" He mumbled loudly to himself, unaware that Tommy and Carol could hear him. 

"Maybe she freaked out when you went all psycho on the psycho" Tommy sneered, which earned him a harsh glare from Steve, "Oh, give me a break" He groaned, hitting his head softly against the hard wall a few times before stopping because it was giving a headache, {A/N: What the fuck did you ecpect to happen? Fell all fine and dandy after hitting your head against a tiled, hard wall? Idiot} Carol scoffed as she sat up from Tommy's lao, "What'd you expect, dating miss perfect?". 

At the Woods, Time: Afternoon . . . . 

The trio, (Mike, Dustin and Lucas) and the pair, (Twelve and Eleven), {A/N: I  might just start referring to them like this, The trio and the Pair} were walking through the woods. The trio were walking their bikes instead of riding them since the woods were rough and a bit too bumpy. 

Twelve was walking next to Mike in the front of the group, Eleven was back with Dustin and Lucas. Eleven was busy answering Dustin's and Lucas's questions about her and Twelve. She was doing her best to answer them but her speech was limited and found it difficult to convey some of her thoughts into words. 

Twelve was swinging his arms back and forth as he walked on the right side of Mike's bike while Mike walked on the left side of the bike. Lev was humming softly as he stared at the tree tops above him sway in the breeze. Mike smiled at the boy, secretly admiring how cute the younger boy was. 

As the group continued walking to wherever El and Lev were leading them to. Twelve's humming started fading as he looked over at Mike and saw the cut on his chin. Lev frowned, he wondered what had happened to the boy. Twelve noticed Mike had begun to look back at him, "Why did they hurt you?" He asked curiously. Mike tilted his head, not quite understanding what the boy was talking about. 

Twelve then pointed to the cut on the underside of his chin, Mike realised what he was talking about shortly after. Mike weakly shrugged his shoulders, "Oh, That. Uh. . .  I just fell at recess" He stammered slightly as he avoided Twelve's gaze. 

"Mike . . . ." Twelve started, staring sternly at Mike, Who answered hesitantly, "Yeah?" Twelve stepped closer to Mike, though the bike was still in their way, "Friends tell the t-truth" Twelve stuttered at the end but got his point across very clearyl. Mike sighed, hanging his head slightly as he glared at the ground, "I was tripped by this mouth breather, Troy, okay?"Mike kept his head down, not brave enough to look up at the moment. 

"Mouth breather?' Twelve softly repeated, testing out the new word. Mike nodded his head, "Yeah, you know . . .  A dumb person. A knucklehead" Mike explained for the small boy, nodded his head as he spoke before pausing, "Knucklehead?" He giggled a bit at the new word he had just learned. Mike smiled softly at the sight before sighing once again, {A/N: I'm sorry for always making them sigh. It's probably getting annoying but i'm not good at describing actions like that. So i just use the ones i'm most familiar with and sighing is one of them. Sorry again} " I don't know why I didn't just tell you. Everyone at school knows. I juts didn't want you to think I was such a wastoid, you know?" Mike shrugged his shoulders, reaching his hand up to scratch his neck as he settled his gaze on the forest floor. 

Twelve leaned over a bit and smiled at Mike, "Mike . . . ", Mike looked up so quickly that Lev thought his neck would snap, "Yeah?" He looked into Lev's eyes, they were kind, soft yet somehow so mature in this situation. Twelve had spent probably all his life trapped by the bad men after him and Eleven, It was obvious because of his limited vocabulary and limited knowledge of things yet in times likes these, he seemed like he was way more mature than Mike, who was a year older than him.  

"I understand" Twelve nodded his head, beaming innocently as he grabbed Mike's hand, that was holding onto the bike's handle. Mike blinked a few times, "Oh. Okay, cool" He finally said, nodding his head lightly."Cool" Twelve repeated, grinning before turning his head back towards the trees. Mike felt his face warming up but ignored it as the trio continued following The pair. 

At the woods behind Steve's house, Time: Afternoon . . . . .

Nancy was walking around, leaves and sticks crunching and cracking under her shoes as she searched for he best friend, "Barb? Barb! Barbara!?" She called out, turning every which way. Nancy felt like she kept seeing shadow's swishing between the tree's - - - It was beginning to freak her out, wondering if it was just her eyes playing tricks on her or . . .  If something really was out there. 

"Barb?" Nancy softly spoke, Moving closer to the space between a few trees in front of her. She jumped when she heard rustling coming from the green, healthy bushes in front of her. The leaves were swaying slightly, like something was hiding in them or behind them. 

"Barb. . . ?" The high school girl hesitantly called out, backing up from the bushes when the rutling ad swaying began increasing ten-fold. She didn't have a good feeling about this, She gulped as she slowly picked up a small rock that was on the forest ground, She hurriedly threw the rock at the bush with a small grunt. 

Nancy heard the rock hit something solid, She thought that maybe it was an animal or something but she was proven wrong when the creature began letting out an inhumane roar as it dashed behind one of the trees as fast as it could. Nancy yelped, closing her eyes shut as she quickly turned around and ran through the forest, hoping the thing wouldn't follow her. She panted as she ran down the sidewalk, wondering if what she saw was real. What the hell?!

At The Byers house, Time: Afternoon/Night. . . . 

The porch swing was creaking as the wind softly swayed it back and forth, Chester was whining as he was in the living room, He began barking as the christmas lights started lighting up on their own. Joyce sighed as she rubbed her tired eyes, she sniffled as she sat in the cupboard attached to the wall. She had a bundle of white christmas lights in her hand. 

"Will . . .  Are you here?" She quietly asked, Squeezing the cluster of lights tightly. There was on reply for a while, Joyce was about to give up on the lights when the tangled Christmas lights started shining bright. 

She gasped, Sitting up straighter. She cleared her throat softly before speaking again, "Okay, Good, good, good, good" She thought for a second, thinking of a way for Will to communicate with her when an idea popped into her head, "Um, blink once yes, twice for no. C-Can you do that for, sweetie? Can you do- - - " Her sentence was cut short when the christmas lights lit up once, Indicating Will understood her. 

Joyce sighed heavily, "Oh, Good boy. Good boy" She pressed her forehead to the lights, taking a moment of silence before she continued on with her questions. She swore that she felt that same familiar warmth of Will against her forehead but it was gone as soon as she acknowledged it. 

"Baby, I need to know . . . ." She hesitated with this question, fearing the answer. She exhaled heavily, ". . . Are you alive?" The lights weren't doing anything, making Joyce want to scream her lungs out. Then suddenly the lights lit up once, (Yes). She sighed with heavy relief as she shed some happy tears, "Are you safe?" The lights flickered twice, (No), Joyce felt her heart drop in her chest. 

She shakily exhaled, "I need to know where t find you, honey. Where . . .  Where are you? Can you . . .  Can you tell me where you are? Can you . . .  " The lights had stopped flickering, they weren't doing anything any more, "Please, Baby. I need to find you. Tell me what to do" Her voice was breaking as she began curling in on herself in the small cubby. 

"Please just . . . .  " The words had not yet left her throat when one of the colorful christmas lights that was closer to the wall lit up. She slowly crawled out the cubby, an Idea flooding her mind. 

"Will. . . " She muttered under her breath. 

At The Wheeler's house, Time: Afternoon/Night. . . . 

Nancy rushed into the house, Her clothes were bunched up from running, Her backpack was half open, hanging onto one of her shoulders. Her hair was a mess and she had tears streaming down her face as she slammed the door closed. 

She didn't bother wiping her tears away, she just sniffled as she ran over to her mother and hugged her tightly. Karen reciprocated the hug but was confused as to what brought this on so suddenly, You're home early, How was the game?" Karen asked her daughter, who pulled away from the hug, wiping away the tear streaks on her cheeks. 

Karen had just noticed that he daughter was crying, "Nancy? What's the matter?" She gently grabbed a hold of Nancy's shoulders to keep her steady on her unbalanced and wobbly legs. Nancy couldn't hold it back anymore, she started sobbing with her face in her hands, "It's barb, I think . . . . Something happened. Something terrible" She sniffled as she embraced her mother again, who quickly tried to comfort her daughter. 

At Hawkin's library, Time: Afternoon/Night . . . . 

Powell and Hopper were sitting at the articles in front of them, Powell was the first one to speak: 

"I don't know, chief" Of course, Hopper was confused by that statement, "What don't you know?" He sighed, tilting his head to the side of the machine so he could see Powell better, "This lady, Terry Ives, sounds like a real nut to me. Her two kids were taken for LSD mind control experiments?" Hopper raised his eye brow, "She's been discredited" He clarified. Powell rolled his eyes, "Claim was thrown out- - -" But Hopper didn't give him time to continue as he began speaking again. 

"Okay, Forget about her. Take a look at this" Powell sighed, getting up from his seat and walking over to Hopper's computer, "Dr. Martin Brenner". Powell was confused, he tilted his head as he scratched the side of it, "Who?" He questioned Hop, who sighed with a small groan at the end. "Brenner. He runs Hawkins lab" Hopper stated, looking up at Powell. 

"Okay. . . ?" Powell didn't know how this connected to anything, he wasn't sure how he should respond. 

Hopper scoffed, "You don't find that interesting?" Powell shook his head, 'Not really" He walked back to his seat as he finished speaking, "He was involved in some hippie crap back in the day, so what?" He stated, but It was Hopper's turn to shake his head. 

"No, This isn't Hippie crap. This is CIA-sanctioned research" Hopper recounted he had read in the newspaper. Powell shrugged his shoulders, "Doesn't mean he had anything to do with our kids" Powell leaned back in his seat a bit. 

"Come on. Look at that. Hospital gowns. All of them" Hopper groaned, trying his best to sound persuasive as he continued to reason with Powell, "Now, that piece of fabric that the teacher found by the pipe. That sure looked like a hospital gown to me, huh? Am I wrong?" Powell wasn't completely convinced but Hop's words resonated in his mind, "I don't know, Chief" He crossed his arms in front of his chest. 

Hopper sighed, running his fingers through his hair after he took his hat off, "Come on, man. Work with me. I'm not saying there's some grand conspiracy. I'm just . . . . *Sigh* I'm saying maybe something happened. Maybe Will and the other kid were in the wrong place at the wrong time and they saw something they shouldn't have" Hopper reasoned, His example made a lot of sense. 

Powell sighed, "It's a reach" 

Hopper shook his head, leaning forward, "It's a start" 

Then all of a sudden, Powell's police walkie-talkie cracked, "Hey, Powell, is the chief with you?" Callahan asked from the other side of the walkie-talkie. Hopper took the walkie out of Powell's hand before he got the chance to answer, "Hopper here. What do you got?" 

At the edge of the forest near the Byers house, Time: Night. . . . 

The trio and the pair had been walking for a while, Twelve and Mike still in front and Dustin, Lucas and Eleven still in the back. Twelve suddenly stopped walking , making Mike halt along with him. Mike looked over at Twelve, "Here" Lev explained to Mike. 

Mike tilted his head out of confusion, "Yeah, This is where Will lives" He explained but Twelve shook his head, "Hiding" Lev clarified, pointing to Will's house in front of them. Mike sighed, "No, No. This is where he lives. He's missing from here. Understand?" But Twelve shook his head stubbornly. He could feel Will here, Not here but in the upside down. However, he wasn't sure how to explain it to Mike. 

Lucas and the rest soon joined them, "What are we doing here?" Lucas groaned as Eleven walked over to Twelve. She looked down at her younger brother, who was a stuttering mess. Mike sighed, "He said Will's hiding here" He explained to the other two. 

Eleven silently took Twelve's hand in her own, She knew that he would never lie. She felt Will here too, He was hiding from something dark and Evil. That was probably why Twelve was shaking so much as he gazed at the house. 

"Will hiding here" Eleven repeated, glaring at Lucas. Lucas threw his hands up in the air, "Um . . . . No!" He shouted at the pair, but only Eleven reacted. Twelve was still staring at the house behind them. The groups voices and conversation started fading from Twelve's ears until he couldn't hear anything but muffled sounds coming from the front of him. He blinked, soon realising that he was back in the upside down. He whimpered, slowly taking his hand out of Elevens as he wrapped his arms around himself. 

Twelve, however panicked and scared, steeled his resolve and raced towards the house. He could feel Will was in the same place as before when he first found him. He ran inside the house, He wasn't going to comment on the woman painting Letters on the wall in balck paint. He ran over to the cubby where he found Will, and someone else. They were a young woman with auburn hair, they were holding Will lose to them for protection. Twelve had seen this young woman before, in Nancy's room. She was in a picture with Nancy. 

"Barbara? Will?" Twelve called out softly as he kneeled down on the floor. He winced when his knee touched the floor, He forgot he had a wound there. He guessed that he was too busy focused on Helping Mike and his friends to remember his scratch.

He saw Barbara and Will flinch before turning their heads to look at Twelve. Will's eyes lit up upon seeing him, He quickly crawled out of Barbara's embrace and pulled Twelve into a tight hug. Will had tear stains running down his cheeks that Twelve noticed when he pulled away from the hug. 

"You're alright! I was beginning to wonder if . . . If the demogorgon got you. Where were you?" Will bombarded him with questions, "Too f-fast . . .  Not man-many qu-quetions . . ." Twelve felt his head spin, Will apologised as he stood up and helped Twelve and Barbara up. 

Barbara was staring at Twelve, trying to assess whether he was a threat or not. Twelve was staring back, confused as to why she was staring so instantly at him. Will then realised that the two of them don't know each other. He was about to introduce them to each other when . . . 

[A/N: Sorry for not updating in a while, This week and the last one have been quite hectic. its my little sisters (Both of them) birthdays. We are going somewhere tomorrow or the next day. Enjoy!]