Joyce sighs out a cloud as she continues to wait for any sign of Will. It's been hours and not one peep.  She looks over and sees Theo purring on the couch. Christmas lights covered every inch of the house.  She felt since Will could control the lamps, he might could control other lights.  It would tell her where he was.  So, after filling up the house with all the lights she had, which weren't enough, while on a second trip to Melvald's, and snapping at her boss, she managed to get enough lights to fill the house...and another new phone. 

Earlier, Karen and Holly came over to drop off a casserole for her, to be nice and sympathize for her troubles.  After what she saw, after what Amelia did for her, she didn't want to deal with anyone.  She just wanted to be alone...with the lights and figure out how to bring Will home.  When Holly went into Will's room and saw the creature, she knew she saw it.  And when she said that Theo saved her...

She scoffs to herself; how did a cat save her from the monster that was a big as a human?

Suddenly, Theo perks up as Chester whines and starts to bark. She turns and gasps as the lights begin to move. She follows the lights and watches them lead her to a small hidden pantry in the wall. She needed to know if it was him.  Theo makes loud meows and follows the lights, rubbing the air as if he was rubbing against legs. 

"Is it him? Is it my son?" She couldn't help but ask.

Theo meows and looks up at her.  She shudders and laughs at herself.  She was talking to a cat!  And it looked like he was listening to her. 

She gets up and grabs a handful of lights and moves to sit inside the pantry. She sighs softly and sniffles as tears fill her eyes. She hopes and prays it was him.  Theo meows and gets inside with her.

"Will... are you here?" She asks.

Suddenly, the lights glow brightly in her hands. She exclaims happily, relieved it was him.

"Okay, good, good, good, good. Are you...Um, blink once for yes, twice for no." She says and stammers her words, "Can you do that for me, sweetie? Can you do..." Soon, the lights blink and she couldn't stop the huge smile on her face as she exclaims happily once more. "Oh, good boy. Good boy." She begins to cry, "Baby, I need to know..." She exhales heavily, "Are you alive?"

She waits for the answer and to her relief, he blinks once.

"Are you safe?" She asks softly.

Her smile drops when he blinks twice. He wasn't safe. And she knew it. That creature she saw in the wall. It must be after her boy. She needed to bring him home and save him from the creature.

"I need to know where to find you, honey. Where... where are you? Can you... can you tell me where you are? Can you..." Joyce begins to whimper in fear and her voice breaks. She didn't know what to do. She needed him to tell her what to do. "Please, baby. I need to find you. Tell me what to do. Please just..." She mutters. "Will..." She cries for her boy and sniffles.

Theo yowls and runs out of the pantry.  She sniffles and watches him jump and knock over a pile of board games.  She frowns in confusion and watches him use his paw to tap against one.  She frowns and moves the board games away to see what he was tapping.  'Scrabble'.  She frowns, but soon, she gasps as an idea pop in her head. She scrambles to get out of the pantry and searches for some paints. She grabs a can of black paint and begins to draw the alphabet all over the wall where the lights were. Maybe...just maybe...if he can blink the lights again. He can spell out what needs to be done.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jim, Powell, and Amelia all sat at the tables in the library. They have been there for hours and it was already starting to get dark. Powell was tired of reading, but Jim were far into what he found.  Amelia sighs heavily and grabs another news article. 

"Hey, I found this something. 'Terry Ives'. She was trying to sue the lab for abducting her child, but the case was thrown out due to lack of evidence. She claimed that she signed up for a volunteer experiment and they covered up her child's abduction." Jim says and pushes the article close for both of them to read. 

Amelia frowns, "Why would anyone allow the government to do experiments on them?"

"Money was always an issue back in the 60s and 70s because of the war." Jim shrugs.

Amelia frowns, "I remember reading a similar article in Massachusetts.  A woman claimed that the government stole her child in the hospital, but the doctor said there was no baby.  But..." She holds a finger up, "A Jounalist stole the security footage from hospital, and they got a clear view of the person who took the baby.  It was her ex-husband, but the baby was long gone, and the guy mysteriously died in a car accident." She states.

"And how is it related to this?" Powell asks.

"Because the ex-husband worked for Brenner.  Remember that asshole from the lab, Mr. Schaeffer, he said that the guy who runs the lab is Dr. Brenner." She states.

Jim leans back against his chair, "And it all goes back to them." Jim says as he points at the photo of Hawkins Lab.

Powell gave them a skeptical look, "I don't know, Chief." He shakes his head.

"What don't you know?" Jim scoffs as Amelia gives him a shocked look.

"This lady, Terry Ives, sounds like a real nut to me. Her kid was taken for LSD mind control experiments?" Powell frowns in disbelief.

"She's been discredited."

Jim sighs, trying to figure out how to get Powell to see his point of view.

"Claim was thrown out--" Jim cuts him off.

"Okay, forget about her. Take a look at this. Dr. Martin Brenner." Jim says as he points to another man in the picture with the patients. "Brenner. He runs Hawkins Lab." He points out.

Still not getting it, "Okay."

Amelia sighs and rubs her tired face, "Oh, come on, Calvin, have an open mind."

Jim scoffs at him and falls back against his chair, "You don't find that interesting?"

"Not really. He was involved in some hippie crap back in the day, so what?" Powell shrugs it off.

"No, this isn't hippie crap. This is CIA-sanctioned research." Jim says as he points at the doctors and scientists.

"Doesn't mean he had anything to do with our kid." Powell scoffs.

"Come on. Look at that. Hospital gowns. All of 'em. 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?" Jim asks.

"I don't know, Chief."

"Come on, man. Work with me here. I'm not saying that there's some grand conspiracy. I'm just...I'm saying maybe something happened. Maybe Will was in the wrong place at the wrong time and he saw something that he shouldn't have. Like that girl. Maybe she escaped from Hawkins Lab and he found her. Maybe he was trying to help her." Jim says as he rolls out the theories.

"It's a reach." Powell says.

"It's a start." Amelia sighs out.

"Hey, Powell, is the chief with you?" Callahan's voice erupts from the com that was attached to Powell.

Before he could answer, Jim reaches out and grabs it, "Hopper here. What do you got?"

"Chief, you need to get down to the Quarry. It's bad, Chief. It's really bad. They found something."

Amelia gasps as Jim and Powell share a worried look.  Jim scrambles to get a copy of the articles and rushes out of the library with Powell.  Amelia runs and follows him, jumping into the passenger's side.  Jim didn't have time to argue with her, so he takes off with the sirens blaring as they rush towards the Quarry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Darkness has taken over Hawkins at last. Joyce finally finished the alphabet and moves away from the wall. She exhales sharply and places the paint can down.

"Okay. Okay, baby, talk to me. Talk to me. Where are you?" She calls out and waits. 

Suddenly, a light blinks under a letter, "'R'." Good, good, good, good. That's good. Come on, come on. "'I...G...H...T...H...E...R...E'..." She frowns in confusion. "Right here. 'Right here'?" She begins to stammer, "I don't know what that means. I need you to tell me what to do. What should I do? How do I get to you? How do I find you? What should I do?"

Theo, suddenly, begins to growl lowly as he glares hard at the wall behind Joyce. 

The lights begin to slowly blink over more words. R...U...N!

Joyce begins to gasp in fear and starts to hear the wall behind her begins to rumble. She turns and watches a creature tear its way out of the wall. Joyce stood frozen in fear and whimpers as the creature screeches and digs it's long claws into the wall paper. The lights around her flash rapidly, giving her the horrible sight of the monster before her. It's black body.

Joyce shrieks as a large figure rush past her and slams into the monster.  She hyperventilates in shock, she couldn't move as the lights shut off, leaving her in darkness.  The monster from the wall disappeared, but what stood in its place terrified Joyce. 

The creature peaks from behind the chair, its golden feline eyes shinned through the pitch black corner.  It was tall, taller than the monster before.  Covered with short black hair. Long, bony fingers with sharp nails. 

"Run." It hisses and the lights begin to flicker again.

(Theo ^^^)

She screams in terror and rushes out of the house. She didn't even bother to go for the car. She just runs away from the creatures. She runs and runs and shrieks when light shines in her face. A car screeches to a halt in front of her. It was Johnathan!

"Mom? Mom, what happened?" He rushes out of the car and checks her.

All she could do was hold on to him, whimper in terror and cry her eyes out. She was so happy to see him and, yet, so broken that she had to leave Will behind. But he saved her. Wherever he was, he saved her.

"It's okay. Hey." Jonathan calms and sooths his mother, but she was beyond terrified. She couldn't even speak a clear sentence. What happened to her?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jim and Powell finally make it towards the Quarry. The whole lake was swarmed with cops and fire trucks. Some were even state patrols.  Amelia's heart drops to her stomach as she holds on to the door handle.

"Oh, Jesus." Jim breathes heavily in panic as he skids to a halt and yanks gears to park.  Before Amelia could get out of the truck, Hopper stopes her. "Stay here.  Do not move." He says strongly and rushes out of the truck before she could agree.   He runs towards the crowd with Powell, holding on to his hat.  "Oh, God. Please tell me it's not the kid." Jim pants out.

Amelia gasps as she slowly gets out of the truck to see.  She could see the people in the lake, dragging a small body.  She shakes her head and looks up at the sky. 

"Goddess?" She sniffles.

Thunder rumbles in the distance for her answer.  It wasn't him.  She sighs softly, but now the whole town thinks it is.  And they'll convince Joyce.  If they get to Joyce, they won't ever find Will.  She can't let that happen.  She can't.

Amelia shudders and catches movement at the corner of her eye, she sees Will's friends hiding behind a firetruck, watching the divers come out of the lake.

She walks over towards them, Dustin jumps and pats Lucas and Mike's shoulder. 

"Boys..." Her voice cracks.

Mike shakes his head rapidly, "It's not him.  It can't be." His voice cracks.

"It's him...isn't it?" Lucas says, almost like a question, but in his eyes, he knew it. 

Amelia lets out a shuddering breath and pulls the three of them into her arms, "Come here.  It's going to be okay." She hugs them tight as they cry in her arms.  She looks up and sees a girl with the boys, watching her with caution. First thing she noticed was that the girl's head was shaved.  She gives the girl a sad smile and moves away from the boys gently to meet the girl's height.  Mike and the boys watch in panic, but they had nothing to be afraid of.

Amelia gives the girl a friendly face and strokes her cheek, "Pretty." She says, making the girl smile very sadly.  "Oh, sweetie.  It's okay." She gently pulls her to hug her gently and rubs her back.  "Don't cry.  He's still out there." She whispers in her ear, making her snap back in shock.  "You'll find him." She says very lowly and softly.  She strokes the girl's cheek. 

The girl, Eleven, frowns at Amelia.  Who is she? 

Amelia looks down and gently pulls the girl's sleeve up, seeing the tattoo of '011' on her wrist.  The girl snatches her arm away from her, sending her a glare.  Like she violated her privacy.

Amelia simply sighs, sad for her and what she went through.  She reaches and strokes her cheek again, gently. 

"I'm sorry.  You deserve more than that, sweetie." Amelia whispers and suddenly smiles, "You carry stars in your eyes."

Eleven says nothing to the strange woman but her pose softens. She didn't seem like a threat, but she couldn't trust her.

Amelia looks over and sees catches Jim's concerned look.  Amelia gets to her feet, "You guys go home.  Now.  And don't let Hopper see her." She says quickly as she gently urges them to leave.

Mike frowns, "How did you..."

"Mike, go.  Now." She says quickly as Hopper makes his way over towards them. 

Amelia sighs heavily and watches the kids pedal as fast as they could get away.  She turns and almost runs into Jim's chest.

"I told you not to move." He grits his teeth at her.

She sniffles and looks up at him with sad eyes, "Is it him?" Her voice cracks.

His glare dies down to a softer look, he couldn't answer her.  Amelia whimpers and covers her mouth.

"Hey, hey." He says softly and pulls her into his arms, letting her cry.  If only he knew she wasn't crying because of Will, she was crying because of what the lab just did.  She feared that with this move by them, Will is forever lost in the dark underworld. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After discovering Will's body in the lake, Hopper wanted to be the one to break the news to Joyce, but before he could, Flo informed him that she received a frantic call from Joyce...claiming something attacked her out of the wall.

Jim and Amelia heads on to the Byers' residence. As Joyce and Jonathan waited outside, Jim, Powell, and Callahan searched the house. Even examined the wall Joyce claims where the creature came out of. But there was nothing. No sign of break in or assault. Nothing disturbing, besides the lights that were all over the house and the alphabet painted on the living room wall.

"This the wall she was talking about, Chief?" Powell asks as he shines his light every inch of the wall.

"Amelia, I saw it.  It came back.  You said it won't." Joyce says softly and whimpers.

"Shh, calm down." Amelia whispers and rubs Joyce's arms in comfort. "I should have stayed, I'm sorry." She whispers. 

Soon, Hopper informs Jonathan and Joyce that it was safe to come back inside.  He holds up a hand for Amelia to stay outside, so he could tell them.  She sighs and nods and goes towards his truck to wait.

But Joyce seemed like she was on another planet. Hopper tries to tell her and Jonathan about Will. But Hopper's voice sounded so far away from her as she focuses on what happened just not too long ago.

"A trooper found something in the, uh...water that's at the quarry. Our working theory right now is that Will...crashed his bike, he... made his way over the quarry and, uh...accidentally fell in. The earth must have given way. Joyce?" Hopper's voice distorts around her.

She jumps when his voice becomes clear and he touches her shoulder gently to gain her attention.

"Joyce? Do you understand what I'm saying?" He asks.

Joyce shakes her head, refusing to believe that Will was dead, "No." She starts to tremble, "Whoever you found...is not my boy. It's not Will."

"Joyce."

Stammering her words, she continues to strongly protest, "No, you don't understand. I talked to him...a half hour ago." She states, sniffling softly, "He was...He was here. He was...He was talking with these." She says as she holds up the lights.

"Talking?" Hopper frowns, feeling such sympathy for her. Believing she was starting to lose it, but people deal with grief differently.

"Uh-huh. One blink for yes, two for no. And... And, uh..." She continues to stammer. "And then I made this so he could talk to me. 'Cause he was hiding...from that... that thing." She drops the lights and looks at the wall in terror. Remembering what it looked like.

"The thing that came out of the wall? The thing that chased you?" Hopper asks, making sure he was understanding her correctly.

"Yeah. Yeah.  Ask Amelia, she saw it. And...and, uh.  Her cat.  Theo.  He saved me from the monster." She swallows back her tears. "Ask her.  She'll prove it.  She stopped it before." 

Jonathan looked completely broken. As if he was trying to be strong, but he was breaking apart. Believing his mother was going crazy and his only brother gone. He looked emotionally tired.

"Mom, come on, please. You've gotta stop this." Jonathan begs as he grabs her arms, but Joyce protests.

"No, maybe he's...It's after him! He's in danger. We have to find him! We-" She begs.

Jim frowns when she said to asks Amelia.  He'll definitely ask her what Joyce is talking about. 

"What exactly was this thing? It was some kind of animal, you said?" Hopper asks.

"Uh, no, it was...It was almost... human, but it wasn't. It...It had these long arms and...it didn't have a face." She says.

"It didn't have a face?"

"Joyce." Hopper helps Joyce sit down and squats in front of her.

"It didn't have a face..." She mutters.

"Joyce, listen to me. Listen to me. After Sarah...I saw her, too. And I heard her. I didn't know what was real. And then I figured out that it was in my mind. And I had to pack all that away. Otherwise, I was gonna fall down a hole...that I couldn't get out of." Jim says gently.

Joyce shakes her head, protesting strongly, "No, you're... you're talking about grief. This is different."

"I'm just saying that you--" Joyce cuts him off.

"No, I know what you're saying, Hop. [hoarsely] I swear to you, I know what I saw. And I'm not crazy." She sniffles.

"I'm not saying that you're crazy." Jim says.

"No...You are. And I understand, but...God, I...I need you to believe me. Please. Please." She stammers. Practically begging him to listen to her.

"Listen...I think you should go to the morgue tomorrow and see him for yourself. It'll give you the answers that you need. But tonight..."

"Oh, God." She sobs softly, covering her mouth as she cries. She knew he didn't believe her. No one does. She felt so alone.

"...I want you to try to get some sleep, if you can." Hopper says gently.

After the cops begin to leave, Jonathan locks himself in his room and places his headphones on, listening to music as he hugs himself and sobs his heart out. Joyce tries to talk to him, but she leaves him alone. She rushes outside towards the shed and grabs the axe. Heading back into the living room, she sits on the couch and holds on to the axe tightly in protection. If that thing was going to come back, she will be ready.

Before Hopper could leave, all he could think about was what he said to Joyce. About Sarah. He knew the pain of losing a child. He sympathized with Joyce.  He walks towards his truck, seeing Amelia lean on the driver's door, using the side mirror as support.  She gives him a soft, sad look and moves around the truck before he could open his mouth. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jim pulls up to Amelia's house, the whole car ride was nothing but silence.  Amelia let Theo stay with Joyce.  She had a feeling Joyce needs him for support and protection.  The monster wasn't done, she knew it. 

"Um, I need you to come down to the station tomorrow." Jim says.

Amelia frowns, "Why?"

"To give a statement.  Joyce says you're a witness to what she saw.  Did you see this...thing?" He asks, she could almost hear a scoff in his voice. 

She frowns at him, giving him a very angry look, "Can you ask that again without the sarcasm?" She snaps.

"Amelia..." He scoffs.

"That woman was just told her son was dead, Chief.  Gone!  Which we both know is bullshit." She exclaims.

"Is it?  I saw that body, Amelia.  It was him.  As badly as I don't want it to be..." He sighs heavily.  "It was."

Amelia shakes her head, "But there's a part of you that refuses to accept it.  I can see it." She says softly.

Jim sighs and looks away, "Did you see the monster or not?" He asks.

Amelia sighs heavily, "Yes."

Jim scoffs, "Amelia..." He rubs his face.

"Would it kill you to have an open mind?" Amelia scoffs, but she could clearly sees his doubt.  She takes a shuddering breath, "Do you believe in magic?" She suddenly asks.

Jim snorts at that question, "Are you serious?" He looks at her in disbelief.

She holds her hand in front of his face, empty, nothing at all.  She turns it and balls it into a fist, when she turns it again and opens it, there lies the hair tie he had wrapped around his wrist.  He frowns and looks at his bare wrist, he yanks his sleeve down to see if it was still there, but it was gone.  He snaps his eyes to hers as she still holds it in her hand. 

"This was Sarah's." She says softly, making him freeze.  "She loved putting her hair up in pigtails until she got sick.  You wore it for her when she couldn't. You never took it off, never.  Not even after she..." She swallows a lump and licks her lips.

Jim lets out a shuddering breath, how did she know this?!  He grits his teeth, angry that she poked her nose into his personal life.  But before he could yell at her, the hair tie disappears into a bluish smoke and reappears back around his wrist.   She pulls her hand away with a deep sigh. 

"I'm sorry." She whispers, knowing that she pissed him off and scaring him at the same time.  She turns and gets out of the truck.  Jim couldn't move, everything was still processing in his mind. 

Was the sorry for showing the trick or reminding him about losing his daughter?  His breathing picks up...how did...he was tired of asking himself that!  He turns to call her back, but she was already in the house.

It had to be trick.  It had to be.  She must have somehow swiped his hair tie and did the old cheap card trick.  'Keep your eye on this while I trick you with this'. He scoffs at that cheap play.  But it doesn't explain how she knew about the hair tie and how she knew that it was Sarah's.  This town knew about him, most of him, but not everything. He scoffs and cranks up the car, speeding away from her house. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For once, Jim got up early. Not that he could get any sleep last night.  After leaving Amelia's, he tossed and turned all night long.  Mostly, thinking about what Amelia asked him and what she showed him.  When he tried to close his eyes, Sarah would be there.  Calling out to him.  After getting dressed and heading to work, he stopped by the coroner's and decides to accompany Joyce and Jonathan. While they were seeing the body, Hopper waits outside in the waiting room.  He sighs softly and looks up when Amelia walks in.  She freezes when he gets to his feet.

"Um, Joyce called me.  She...didn't want to be alone." She stutters.

Jim nods, "Okay." He sighs.

Amelia shifts her feet and looks up at him, "I'm sorry about what I said...and did last night.  Didn't mean to freak you out and upset you."

Jim shakes his head, "You didn't."

Amelia gives him a look and a tilt, "Jim, I'm serious.  I know more than about that hair tie." She says softly. 

Jim scoffs, he didn't want to do this, not here, "Amelia, we can talk about that later." He says softly.

"Okay, but right after Jonathan comes out, losing his breakfast, Joyce is going to come out like a mad woman screaming that the body is not Will." She says, startling him.  "I bet you lunch." She adds and moves to sit down, "And the stateies tossed out Gary."

Soon, the receptionist comes in with some documents.

Jim looks at Amelia in shock as he stands there speechless, but he somehow finds the will to turn towards the receptionist, "What's taking so long?" He asks.

"Well, everything's been a bit chaotic around here without Gary." The woman says.

"Without Gary?" Hopper frowns. "Where's Gary?"

"Well, I thought you knew. Those men from State, they...they sent Gary home last night." The woman says.

"So who did the autopsy?" Hopper asks.

"Someone from State." The receptionist shrugs and continues her duties.

Hopper frowns and looks back at Amelia who sat crossed leg with her arms over her chest, "I'm tired of asking myself the same question over and over again." He sits down next to her, "How in the hell did you know?  Did you already speak to that woman?" He jerks his thumb behind him.

"No.  I haven't talked to anyone since I talked to you last night.  Believe what you want, but..." She shrugs, throwing a hand up, "I'm trying to make you see before I tell you the truth.  To help soften the blow." She says. 

"What truth?" He frowns.

Amelia sighs and hesitates her words, "Well, to be blunt...I'm a witch." She shrugs.

Stuttering, he shakes his head to make sure he heard her right, "You're a what?"

She sighs dramatically, "In the words of Samantha Stephens, 'I'm a real house-haunting, broom-riding, cauldron-stirring witch'." She says sarcastically. 

"For God's sake." Jim mutters and gets to his feet.  "For once, I was actually expecting a decent conversation with you, but everything is always a damn joke." He says angrily.

"Augh!" Amelia throws her head back with a loud groan as she shoots to her feet, "You're the one who asked, and I don't want to lie anymore.  Not when all this weird shit is going on in this town!"

"And that's your answer.  You're a..." He grunts when she slaps her hand over his mouth and gives the receptionist an innocent smile. 

"Sorry.  We're having complications." She says as she points at herself and Hopper. 

The receptionist gives her a knowing look and goes to the back room.  Amelia waves and turns back to give Hopper an angry glare.

"Tell the world, Hop.  I don't think China heard you." She scoffs and removes her hand from his mouth. 

Hopper frowns at her, how can she take this joke so seriously?  Was it a joke?

Meanwhile, Jonathan and Joyce stood outside the coroner's room, looking through the window. The corner waits for Joyce's word to show the body, but she stood frozen in place. Jonathan made the call for her.

When the coroner pulls the sheet back, Jonathan's stomach begins to turn. He looks in horror as he sees his brother's body lying on the slab. His pale, clammy skin wet from the lake. He couldn't take it. Jonathan coughs and gags as he rushes out of there.

"He has a birth mark on his right arm. Can you show that to me, please?" Joyce asks.

Soon, Jim hears Johnathan rushing out of the back room and racing towards the bathroom.  He double takes and stutters at Amelia who gives him look as she gestures at another prediction she made came true.

After releasing everything he ate yesterday into the toilet, Jonathan comes into the waiting room and slumps in a chair next to Amelia. Leaning on his knees.

Hopper watches Jonathan with caution and care, "How's your mom doing?" He asks as he sits on the other side. 

Jonathan sighs deeply and shakes his head, "I don't know."

"How long's this stuff been going on? With the lights and, uh...Will and the thing in the wall?" Hopper asks.

"Since the first phone call, I guess." Jonathan shrugs. "You know, she's had anxiety problems... in the past. But this...I don't know." He breaths deeply as he tries to calm himself, "I'm worried it could be...Ugh, I don't know."

Amelia sighs and rubs his back, "She'll be okay." She says as she tries to assure him.

Jonathan sniffles and rubs his nose, nodding, "We'll be okay. My mom...she's tough." He scoffs.

Jim couldn't help but laugh at how true that was, "Yeah, she is." He reaches and pats Jonathan's back in assurance. "Hey. She is." He says in a serious tone.

"He's right." Amelia says softly.

Johnathan nods and sighs as he turns towards Amelia, "What was mom talking about?  A...about you seeing what she saw?" He frowns. 

Ameila sighs, "Um, not right now, Johnathan." She says softly.

Johnathan sighs, "Um, if you want, you can come by and pick up Theo." He stutters. 

Amelia nods, "Okay." She whispers and she looks up to find Jim look at her, watching her comfort Johnathan.  How can a gentle person...

A frantic voice snaps him out of his concertation and Jim gets to his feet quickly with Jonathan as they watch a disturbed Joyce storm out of the Coroner's room with a furious look.

"Ma'am! Ma'am, I need you to sign!" The coroner exclaims, but Joyce snaps her angry glare at the man.

"I don't...I don't know what you think that thing is in there, but that is not my son!" She shouts as she points at the room she just came out of.

Hopper frowns at her. He couldn't believe she was in such denial. Sure, people go through this, but this was more severe than he expected.

"Joyce, wait a second." He tries to stop her, but she moves to storm out of the building.

"No!" She shouts at him.

"Mom!" Jonathan tries to follow her.

"Ma'am, I-- Ma'am!" The coroner continues to call out, but Joyce was gone, and Hopper stood in disbelief. He just hopes and prays that Joyce will be well enough in time for the funeral. He knew she needs time.  He turns and looks over to Amelia who just gives him a soft look.  She didn't know what to say, for once.

Outside, Johnathan gets the car and slowly drives by the sidewalk, trying to stop his furious mother from walking away. Waving him off.

"Mom, will you get in?" Jonathan begs.

"No, I...I need to think. Just go on home." She stammers and waves him off again.

Jonathan stops the car and gets out, pacing towards her and stops her from walking away.

"Mom, will you just get in, please? Mom. Mom! Mom. Stop." He demands. He was finally tired of her breakdowns.

"Just go home, Jonathan." She says and tries to move, but he stands in her way.

"No, this is not an okay time for you to shut down."

"Shut down? What..." She scoffs at him.

"We have to deal with this, Mom. We have to deal with the funeral!" He says.

"The funeral? For... for who?" She looks at him disbelief and points back at the coroner's office, "For that thing back there?!" She says loudly.

Jonathan rubs his face in defeat and chuckles humorlessly, "Okay, let me get this straight. Will, that's not his body, because he's in the lights, right? And there's a monster in the wall? Do you even hear yourself?" He scoffs at her.

"I know it sounds crazy. I sound crazy!" Joyce stammers.

"Yeah." Jonathan nods, obviously.

"You think I don't know that? It is crazy! But I heard him, Jonathan. He talked to me! Will is... is calling to me! And he's out there, and he's alone, and he's scared, and I...I don't care if anyone believes me! I am not gonna stop looking for him until I find him and bring him home." Her voice rises strongly, "I am going to bring him home!" She shouts.

Jonathan grits his teeth at his mother's retreating figure, "Yeah, well, while you're talking to the lights, the rest of us are having a funeral for Will! I'm not letting him sit in that freezer another day!" He yells at his mother, panting heavily. He looks up and sees a crowd forming, "All right, show's over." He scoffs and turns away to drive towards the funeral home.  He just wanted to this all to be put to sleep.  Just be over with it.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After picking up Theo from the Byers', Amelia decided to take matter into her own hands and have solid proof for Jim to believe her.  She feels Theo climb onto her shoulder and meows unsurely.

"We can't let that innocent boy die in there, Theo.  If you were stuck in the underworld, I would go to hell and back for you, my friend." She says as she reaches up and scratch his neck and turns to pack up a map in her tote purse. 

Meow... "You may be an annoying, little demon, but you're my best friend and I love you." Meow... Amelia smiles, "Thanks, that's very sweet of you to say.  So will you help me?" Meow... "That's the spirit.  And yeah, you deserve a rematch with that bastard." Theo growls lowly and lets out a yowl as she turns and walks out the door with him on her shoulders. 

She drove towards the station to have a civilized chat with Jim, as best as she could, but she was expecting it to be a disaster.  She walks into the building and waves at Flo.  Flo gives her a look and points to let her go.  From the look, it was a warning. 

Amelia sighs as she walks in and sees Hopper leaning on a desk.  He looks up and sighs as he holds up a finger for her to wait while he talks to Gary.  She nods at him and moves to sit down with Theo. 

Meow...

Amelia grunts in annoyance, "Yes, I like him, so shut up." She whispers.

Jim clears his throat, giving Gary a friendly greet, "So, Gary, tell me about these troopers that brought in Will." He says.

Gary was placing his coat on the rack, "It was about six of 'em, I'd say." He says.

"They're all Staties?" Jim asks.

"Yes, sir. Never seen that many troopers come with a body before." Gary frowns.

"They told you that they were gonna take care of the autopsy, huh?" Hopper asks.

"Yeah. Claimed jurisdiction. Kicked me out. Well, it all seemed a bit over the top to me, considering..."

"Considering what?" Hopper asks.

"Considering this was Will Byers and not John F. Kennedy." Gary scoffs and goes off.

Hopper frowns at that information, it just didn't make any sense.

"Thanks for stopping by Gary."

"Sure thing." Gary nods and takes off.

Jim gets off his desk and wiggles his fingers to signal Amelia to come with him.  The two of them, and Theo, head into Jim's office. 

"Ok, I know I'm the last person you wanna deal with after what I said at the coroners, but you wanted proof." She says and holds up a map.  "I got proof."

Jim lights up another cigarette but grabs Amelia's wrist before she could snatch it out of his mouth.

She glares at him, and the cigarette burns out. He frowns and takes it out of his mouth, eyeing it. 

"I don't need hands to stop you from smoking." She scoffs and he slowly lets her go.  She sighs and turns to unfold the map and spreads it out on his desk as he eyes her in shock.  She looks up at him and arches her brow at him, "Give it time, the shock will go away." She sighs and places his ashtray on the map to keep it straight.  "Ok, let's start at the beginning." She says and begins to point at the areas on the map.  Will was at the Wheeler's house for their weekend Dungeons and Dragons game night, which is right here." She points at Mike's house that she had circled. 

"Uh-huh." He mutters as he looks at her still in shock.

"And then he went home.  Which is all the way here...what was it the kids called it...Mirkwood."

Jim looks at her, speechless.

"So that was from here...to here." She draws a line from Mike's to Will's house.  "It makes absolutely no sense for Will to end up in the Quarry because when he ran off the road, he went right to his house because you found his bike...here." She draws a circle on the exact area.

Jim eyes the map and her, "But he ran, to get away from whatever was chasing him."

"Which was towards the shed." She points out and taps the map, "Where we found the bullets and the missing gun.  A little boy like Will, thinking he's the weak one but he wants to be strong like others, those who he looks up to.  So, he tries to fight." She says.

"But he never fired the gun." Jim points out and leans on the desk. 

"I think he did.  Just not there." She says and looks up to find him close, too close. 

"What do you mean not there?" He asks.

"I'll get back to that, but first look at the map...tell me what you see." She asks. 

He looks down at the map, eyeing the marks she made.

"You see the connection?" She asks.

He frowns, he couldn't see what she was talking about, not until she draws again on the map. 

"Benny was killed here and the piece of cloth Scott Clark found was here.  Look at where they meet." She points at Hawkins Lab, which falls right in the middle of it all.

Jim frowns, and looks up at her, "The Lab."

"And now, tell me that this doesn't seem a little weird, especially with how they're not letting anyone touch that body unless it's one of their men." She points out. 

"Hmm. It sounds insane. But..." He sighs, hating to admit this. "You do hold a valid point."

When they both walk out the office, a news report catches Jim's eye. Especially the state trooper who stood next to the reporter.

"...let the people know that, uh, the troopers are on duty and you should be safe, because we think this is just an isolated incident."

"State trooper David O'Bannon, thank you so much for your help."

"Thank you, sir."

"Back to you..."

Jim had an idea. If either of them were going to get any answers, first thing they needed to do was talk to the trooper who found Will.