Chapter Four: The Search

(The Vanishing Of Will Byers, Pt. 4)

***

It was four hours after the Graveswoods had gotten home, six hours after the siblings had learned of Will's disappearance. None of them had moved from where they sat in the living space, except to use the bathroom, and the stove hadn't been used; they had all been too tense and worried to eat. When someone came to ask for a reading, Aco would storm to the door and tersely say that her psychic room was closed for today, that there wouldn't be any readings today, to piss off and come back another day, then slam the door in their face.

Then return to her seat, where she would grab her loaded shotgun and hold it. In her chair at the table, Rowan gripped her pistol, while Alistair sat in another chair, holding the hunting knife in a white-knuckled grip. Ready to use, if they needed to. At their feet were bags, filled with what they needed. Ready to take them and run, if they had to.

A loud banging came at the door. Aco's gun was up and raised, the barrel pointed straight at the door. For a heart-stopping moment, Rowan was afraid, afraid that the door would burst open and agents would come in, riddle her aunt with holes and take her and Alistair to The Place, lock them away, poke and prod them with needles and use them as experiments, as weapons. That all their fears were coming true.

Then a familiar voice shouted, "Aco? You in there? Open up!"

Lowering the gun, Aco ordered, "Stay there. Keep the weapons out of sight. Take your bags and run into the woods if there's trouble."

Rowan and Alistair nodded, the orders almost a comfort.

Keeping the gun hidden behind the wall, Aco opened the door, revealing the ruddy face of Mrs. Waters.

"Beatrice, how are you? How's Dale and the kids?" Aco greeted, a fake smile on her face.

"They're good," Mrs. Waters replied, hands on her hips. She squinted at her aunt. "Did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"The Byers kid has gone missing. Around Kerley."

"Oh, I have heard. My nephew's his best friend, after all."

"Then did you hear that the police are organising a search party? They're roundin' up anyone who's willing to volunteer and look. Personally, I think the kid's run away, but I thought I ask you to join the rest of us and look, just in case. Can't imagine my Lisa out there, alone and scared. Can't even imagine what Joyce is goin' through..."

"No, I'll come. Just give me a few seconds, okay, Beatrice? Thanks," their aunt said, then all but slammed the door. Turning, she marched to her chest and put the gun away, replacing it with her revolver. As Aco loaded the magazine, Rowan and Alistair walked up to her, leaving behind their weapons.

"Are you going out there?" Rowan asked. "You're going to look for Will?"

"Damn right I am, kid," Aco said, grabbing the holster for the revolver and securing it around her hip, sliding it in. "It doesn't matter if those people are involved or not; the kid's still missing and if there's a chance of finding him or at least a clue of where the hell he went, then I'll be better out there, searching for him, than staying here."

"Okay," Rowan said, and then she and Alistair began moving, to where their jackets were.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Aco yelled, making the siblings pause and turn to where their aunt was standing, hands on her hips and glaring. "Just because I'm going out doesn't mean you two are coming! If that man is involved, and he wants to nab you two, then going out into the woods at night is the worst place for you two to be! You're staying here."

"And how's staying here better than being out there? At least we're doing something rather than worrying and waiting for them to take us!" Rowan yelled.

"Because I know you're safe in here!"

"We're not safe anywhere!"

"Aunt Aco, you're not thinking that we're going to stay here?" Alistair asked incredulously. "At least, that I'm going to stay here."

Aco's eyes snapped to her nephew, blazing furiously. "Yes, I do. Especially you."

"Will's my friend!" Alistair yelled. "He's missing, and instead of looking for him, I'm stuck here! And there's a freaking search party looking for him, and you don't want me to join?!"

"Yes, I don't want you to join. You or your sister. You'll both be in too much danger."

"If the situations were reversed, Will would be looking for me! He wouldn't stop looking for me, no matter what! And you're saying I shouldn't do anything?" Alistair shouted.

"I know that! But I'm more concerned with keeping you both safe!" Aco yelled. 

An uneasy silence settled. Aco groaned, rubbing her forehead.

"Look, I don't know if this is just a normal missing persons case, or something more. And until I know for certain, I don't want you kids putting yourselves in potential danger. I can afford leaving; you two can't," Aco eventually said. Rowan and Alistair still glowered at her, and the lights flickered.

"Besides," Aco added in a quieter voice, "I promised your parents I would keep you safe. And that's what I'm doing. Even if you disagree with me."

Another silence came, then Rowan said, "So let me come."

Aco blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Let me come," Rowan repeated. "I have my own gun, you have another pair of eyes looking for things that might show if something else was behind Will disappearing, and if things look bad, I can either fry or jump us out of danger, back to the trailer and I can jump all of us somewhere else. Like this."

She snapped her fingers. Aco was still frowning, but she seemed to look like she was considering it. Alistair was staring at her, mouth gaping open, and he had a look of hurt on his face, of betrayal. Rowan ignored it.

Aco pursed her lips, then looked heavenward and threw up her hands. "Fine."

Going back to the chest, she pulled out Rowan's holster, holding it out for her. Rowan grabbed it, but before she took it, Aco looked at her and said, "But first sign of danger, don't jump. Just run. If you can, get back here and take Al and you both run. Take my guns, my crossbow, my knuckles and my sword. Use those, if they catch you. Don't use your powers unless you have no other choice. You understand me?"

Rowan nodded. "I do, Aunt Aco."

Her aunt smiled grimly, then released the holster and handed it to her. Rowan took it and strapped it to her thigh, slid her gun in, then pulled on her jacket.

Still looking at her, Aco asked, "You have someone in mind to look after Alistair?"

Rowan nodded. "I do."

"You trust them?"

"With my life." No hesitation.

That seemed to be enough to convince Aco. 

As the pair moved to the door, Alistair yelled, "I don't need a babysitter!"

Rowan and Aco turned and saw Alistair standing there, his face screwed up in anger and betrayal.

Rowan looked at her aunt, and the woman sighed. "Kid..."

"Why aren't you letting me come?" Alistair demanded, voice strained. "I want to look for Will! I want to find him! I can, if he... if he..."

Alistair didn't finish, but he didn't need to. Rowan's heart twisted.

Walking to her brother, she kneeled down and said, "I know. I know you want to look for Will. I understand. But I want you to stay. I want you to stay, and be safe."

"Then why are you going?" Alistair asked.

"Because I can, squirt. Because I can help Aunt Aco. And I rather it be me out there than you, just in case."

"You sound like Aunt Aco," Alistair accused. "You sound like them."

Rowan flinched at the accusation, and she knew she was. God, she could hear Mom's voice in her mind as she was speaking.

"Well then, squirt. Maybe I am. Because I want you to stay here and be safe," Rowan said, stressing the last two words. "Will's missing, and I... I don't you to go missing too."

I don't want to lose you too, was what Rowan didn't say. As she looked in Alistair's brown eyes, which were glassy, she could see that he, too, didn't want to lose her.

Immediately, Rowan pulled Alistair into a hug, making the younger boy gasp in surprise. Pulling back, she said, "Aunt Aco and I will be back. Just stay here, and be safe, okay? Promise?"

Alistair pressed his lips together, but nodded. "Promise."

Rowan smiled, then ruffled his hair. "Bye, squirt. We'll see you in a few hours."

Alistair swatted her hand away, scowling. "You better come back, Ro. You and Aunt Aco both come back."

"We will, kid," Aunt Aco assured, before she opened the door.

As Rowan made to move, Alistair grabbed her arm. The teenager turned, meeting her brother's eyes. His mouth twisted, and he said, "Be safe. And... and please try to find Will."

Rowan smiled. "You don't need to ask that, Al. We're gonna look for him, and maybe we will find him. And we'll be safe. Promise."

Alistair didn't say anything, but he let go of her arm.

Interpreting that as acceptance, Rowan moved to her aunt was. Giving one last look at her brother, she gave a reassuring, her aunt doing the same.

Then the door closed.

***

For the second time today, Rowan was banging on the door of Eddie's trailer. This time, it opened up without Rowan having to threaten bodily harm.

Eddie stared at her, his messy hair messier than usual. For a moment, Rowan wondered if he'd been with a girl. Or boy. She didn't care.

"Uh, hey, Graveswood," Eddie said, closing the door as he hissed, "What are you doing here?"

"Listen, Eddie," Rowan started, deciding she didn't care whether he'd been with a girl, boy or not, "I know it's late and you're probably smoking weed or mashing bodies with some girl or a guy, or both the weed and the guy or girl—

"Whoa, whoa, Graveswood!" Eddie interrupted, waving his hands. "It's not like that!"

"Spare me, Munson," Rowan said with an eye-roll. "Look, I wouldn't be interrupting... whatever it is that you're doing, but I need to ask you to do something."

At that, Eddie's nervous demeanour settled into something serious. "What's going on?"

"You heard that Will's missing?" Rowan asked.

Eddie nodded. "Yeah. My uncle's joined the search party to look for him; convinced the plant to have the night off tonight so he could do it."

"Well, me and my aunt are also joining the search. And I... I wanted to ask you to watch Alistair. Just for while we're gone," Rowan asked, fiddling with the lapel of her jacket.

Eddie folded his arms, leaning against his door, as if deciding whether to accept or not.

Rowan sighed, crossing her own arms. "Look, I'll pay you money. Just watch over my brother while we're gone."

"No, no, you don't have to pay. I'll look after Alistair," Eddie said.

Rowan all but wilted in relief, the tension and the fear that Eddie would refuse melting out of her. "Thanks, Eddie."

"Don't mention it. In fact, it's great," Eddie replied, a gleam in his eyes that Rowan knew meant he was going to talk to her brother about Dungeons and Dragons, or about his Hellfire Club. Rowan just rolled her eyes, not really understanding the game but knowing that her brother and friend would.

"Okay. Thanks again, Eddie," Rowan said, smiling at her friend.

As she made to go to her aunt, Eddie grabbed her arm. Rowan turned, and saw that her friend looked concerned.

"Hey, everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah, everything's fine," Rowan replied, smiling.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," Rowan assured. She bit her lip, then added, "Just... promise me that you'll keep Al safe."

"Rowan..."

"Promise me."

Eddie frowned, but nodded. "Yeah, I promise."

Rowan nodded shakily, then let go. "Thank you again, Eddie. I owe you one."

Then she was walking, back to where her aunt waited at the car. Opening the passenger door, Rowan looked back to see Eddie staring at her, before he walked to their trailer home, giving her one last look before he opened the door and walked inside.

"He'll keep Al safe?" Aco asked.

Rowan nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, he will."

Then she got into the car.

***

Rowan could feel a storm rumbling. 

She could feel the lightning, running through her veins as surely as it ran through the clouds overhead, could taste the static charge of it on her tongue. She shivered as she got out of the car,  pulling her jacket closer. Aco gave her a concerned look. 

"I'm fine," she muttered. "Let's do this."

Aco still didn't look convinced, but she didn't press. Instead she walked toward where Rowan assumed was the meeting place of the search party, at the edge of the woods near Kerley, or Mirkwood as her brother and friends called the place.

Rowan followed after her.

To her surprise, there was a decent amount of people gathered at the edge, all of the volunteers the police had managed to round up. The surprise was quickly replaced by relief . This was good. This meant that with all these people, maybe Will could be found, or at least clues of what happened to him could be found.

The police chief was the first to notice them. He gave her aunt a stiff nod. "Aconite."

"Jim," Aco said just as tersely, pushing past him to join the other volunteers. Rowan gave the chief a withering glare, still not forgiving him for interrogating her and Al and accusing her aunt, following her and resisting the urge to flip the bird at the chief.

Once all the volunteers had gathered, the police officers gave those who didn't bring one flashlights; Rowan and Aco, who hadn't grabbed flashlights, accepted theirs with grim looks from the officer and turned them on.

The bright beams of light seared the dark woods. They were joined by more lights as the search party, led by Chief Hopper, went into the woods, shouting Will's name.

"Will!" Rowan shouted, moving her flashlight as she traipsed through the dark forest alongside Aco and the others. "Will, where are you? Will? Will!"

Nothing.

Rowan gave her aunt a look, saw the same worry and concern in her face.

Looking back into the dark, endless maw of the woods, her flashlight gleaming brighter than it should be, Rowan screamed, "Will! Will! Will!"

"Will!"

***

"Will?" Alistair whispered, quietly, so that Eddie didn't hear. "Will, if... if you're here, give me a sign, please? Will?"

No response.

The curly-haired boy groaned and leaned back, hands gripping his hair. Alistair looked out the window, into the darkness of the woods.

The woods, where Will had disappeared in, along Mirkwood, near Kerley.

Near here.

Again, the sick feeling twisted in Alistair's gut, a combination of dread and guilt. It was so close to here. If Alistair had noticed something was wrong, if he'd been on the road with Will, maybe he could have stopped his friend being taken, maybe if he couldn't, he at least could have seen who or what had taken Will. Maybe...

Maybe whatever was responsible for Will being gone could have taken him too.

The image of the Hawkins Lab, The Place, drifted in Alistair's mind. Hugging his knees to his chest, Alistair looked back to his room, at the corner where most ghosts chose to stand there, watching him.

Waiting, to see if Will... if he...

No. That wasn't true. It couldn't be. Will was okay, he was safe, he's alive, alive, alive.

He had to be.

Again, Alistair looked out the window, to the woods.

He should be out there, searching for Will, with Aunt Aco and Rowan, not just... sitting here with his guilt and fear.

No matter the, admittedly great, risk of going out and not knowing if they were involved.

Will's my friend. He would have looked for me if I was missing.

That decided it.

Grabbing his raincoat, binoculars, flashlight and a baseball bat, Alistair stuffed some pillows under the covers and slid the window open. Keeping an eye on the door, Alistair crawled out of the window and dropped to the ground. Casting another look at the trailer, in case Eddie heard and came to investigate, Alistair stood up and shut the window as quietly as possible, struggling as he did since the window always stuck a little; he wished, in that moment, he could move things with his mind like Rowan could.

Once the window was shut, Alistair sprinted to the road. From there, he ran to where Mirkwood was, glad that it wasn't too far away and he didn't need a bike or something to get there,

Maybe I should save up and buy a bike, though, Alistair considered as he ran, sneakers slapping on asphalt.

When he finally arrived at Mirkwood, Alistair was panting, doubled over and hands on his knees, a stitch in his side. When he could breathe again, Alistair stood up, staring into the black expanse of the woods. A police barrier had been set up, to keep people out of the crime scene, bright against the inky darkness. Alistair felt that sick feeling rise up again; he pushed it down.

He had to do this. He had to go inside. For Will.

The screech of tyres on asphalt came and Alistair turned to see Mike, Lucas and Dustin come to a stop.

"Al?!" Dustin exclaimed, as if he was surprised to see Alistair there.

"Uh, hey guys," Alistair replied, giving an awkward wave. "You, uh, you here to look for Will, too?"

"Yeah," Mike confirmed, nodding as he did.

"Sorry that we didn't let you know, Al," Lucas apologised as they all got off the bikes.

"It's fine," Alistair  replied, shrugging. "I'm here now, aren't I?"

His friends nodded, accepting that.

Together, the four stood at the barricade, turning their flashlights on. A rumble came overhead and Alistair looked up, a smile on his face. Storms always comforted Alistair; they reminded him of Rowan, of her powers and volatile temper, like she was there with him.

"Hey guys. You feel that?" Dustin asked, as if he felt the thunderstorm, too. "I think maybe we should go back."

"No. We're not going back," Mike said firmly. "Just stay close. Come on."

At that, he headed into the woods, calling back, "Just stay on channel six. Don't do anything stupid!"

Alistair rolled his eyes and muttered, "Yeah, like we would do anything stupid in the woods, at night, during a storm and alone."

The shorter boy turned to his friends. Lucas had a brief look of hesitation on his face, then marched forward into the woods, flashlight gleaming in the dark expanse.

Alistair looked at Dustin, the other curly-haired boy's face a reflection of the unease Alistair felt.

"Well, see you on the other side," Alistair said and headed in the woods, but paused to wait for their final member to join.

"Hey guys, wait up. Wait up!" Dustin shouted, and then he was running into the woods, joining the rest of the Party, and Alistair felt relieved; he was glad his friends were here, that he wouldn't be searching for Will alone, even if he knew Mike, Lucas and Dustin would have defied what was essentially house arrest to look for Will.

That he wouldn't be in the shadow of that place while looking for Will alone.

Together, the four walked into the woods, the beams of their torches slicing through the darkness momentarily before the darkness swallowed it, and the four boys themselves, up.

As if they'd never been there.

***

"Hey, mini Graveswood, remember when you asked if you could listen to some of my tapes? Well, I brought some, and—" Eddie said as he opened the door to Alistair's bedroom, then frowned at seeing the form underneath the covers. "Mini Graveswood?"

No response.

"Hey, mini Graveswood, don't tell me you're already asleep," Eddie said, a grin on his face as he reached a hand to pull the sheets off. "Come on, I even have a Metallica tape, and—"

The sheets were pulled away and the words died in Eddie's throat as the cassette tapes fell from his arms and thumped harmlessly on the bed, as the teen stared at the pillows that he'd thought had been Alistair's sleeping form.

"Shit," he swore, eyes looking around the small room in a panic, before they found the window... which had a view of the woods beyond. Woods that Will Byers—Alistair's freaking best friend—disappeared in. "Shit, shit, shit!"

Eddie rushed out of the room, hands gripping his hair, trying to think how he could find Alistair, let alone explain to Rowan and her aunt that Alistair had snuck out to look for Will.

But he didn't have the time, not when, underneath the roar of the storm, he heard the rumble of an engine.

Rowan and her aunt were coming back home. And Alistair was nowhere to be seen.

She's gonna kill me, Eddie realised as he watched the glow of the headlights become brighter and closer. She's gonna freaking kill me!

I broke it. I broke that promise to keep her brother safe.

When the door opened, he saw Rowan her aunt had grim looks—apparently, they hadn't found Will. 

"Hey, Eddie," Rowan greeted tiredly, shucking off her jacket and shaking her wet hair. Then, her eyebrows dipped forward and she asked, "Where's Al?"

Eddie didn't say anything, and Rowan's eyes widened and she hissed, "Eddie, where's Al? Where's my brother?"

Eddie met his best friend's eyes, felt the dark gaze of Aconite Graveswood on him, piercing into him, and he said, "He... he snuck out to look for Will."

Rowan blinked, Aconite snuck in a breath, and simultaneously, both women exclaimed, "What?!"

***

"Will!" Alistair shouted, as loud as he could, over the storm. He felt rain pelting onto his raincoat, and he was glad he'd gotten it. The sky rumbled and cracked with thunder and lightning, cutting through the shadowed woods. Alistair shivered, eyeing the trees around him and his friends warily as he swung his flashlight out in a wide arc. If whatever was responsible for Will going missing, for Will being... gone was still here, still wanted to kidnap little kids, then this was the perfect time and place to do it.

This was stupid. I shouldn't have gone out. I should have stayed home and begged Eddie to let me listen to his tapes and show me some of his campaigns. I should have listened to Rowan and Aunt Aco, Alistair berated himself, but another part whispered, Yet you're still here, in the woods with Mike, Lucas and Dustin, trying to find Will. Trying to find any sign of where he went or what happened to him or who had done that.

You're still here.

That pushed Alistair forward, and he screamed Will's name, hoping to find any sign of his best friend, along with his other best friends.

Speaking of said friends...

"Will!" Mike yelled. "Will!"

"Byers!" Lucas shouted.

"I got your X-Men 134!" Dustin yelled, and Alistair gave him an incredulous look that conveyed the message of, Is this really the time to talk about comics?

If Dustin had received it, he ignored it as he looked around and said in a worried voice, "Uh, guys, I really think we should turn back."

"I second that," Alistair muttered, eyeing the woods, the storm, the swallowing, impenetrable dark.

"Seriously, Dustin?" Lucas asked, turning to the other boy, a look of annoyance on his face; apparently, he hadn't heard Alistair. "You wanna be a baby, then go home already!"

"I'm just being realistic, Lucas," Dustin defended.

"No, you're just being a big sissy!" Lucas shot back.

"Do you ever think Will went missing because he ran into something bad?" Dustin asked, making Alistair stop in his tracks and look at Dustin, now glad for the dark to hide his shocked face; he had been entertaining thoughts like that minutes ago, maybe ever since Will disappeared. If Dustin suspected that as well... "And we're going to the exact same spot he was last seen? And we have no weapons or anything?"

I have a weapon, Alistair thought, then added bitterly, though it's not exactly useful if you count nightmares of the dead and seeing ghosts useful to fight with.

"Dustin, shut up," Mike muttered, which Made Alistair realise that in the course of Dustin and Lucas's argument and his own thoughts, he hadn't realised the black-haired boy had gone silent.

"I'm just saying," Dustin went on, oblivious to what Mike had said, or perhaps taking it to mean something else, "does that seem smart to you?"

"Shut up," Mike repeated, a new intensity in his voice that definitely didn't mean he wanted his friends to stop arguing. "Shut up. Did you guys hear that?"

Alistair frowned; he didn't hear anything but the wind and rain and thunder and the faint but ever-present wails of the dead. And then, he heard it.

A rustle, in the woods.

Coming closer, to them.

Fear spiked in Alistair's heart, and despite himself, despite how useless it was in anything but scarring him for life and making him look and sound crazy, he found himself reaching for his power, reaching for the cold, phantasmal touch of the dead, found himself whispering, Come on, help me, please help me protect my friends, just this once help me, help me please, please—

And then a loud, crash-rustle came and the four boys whirled, flashlights landing upon a—

A girl, panting heavily, brown eyes squinting in the harsh light, rain dripping down her slight body; the large Benny's Burgers T-shirt she was wearing made her look more frail and small. Alistair saw something dark on the shirt, and his insides squirmed when he realised it looked too dark and thick to be ketchup.

But more than the blood, more than the terror on her face or her thin body, did nothing shock and give Alistair a strong feeling of—dread? Unease? Fear? Something else?—when he noticed that her head...

It was completely shaved, with only a thin layer of buzzed hair clinging to the scalp.

And a sense that the girl, despite her terrified face and thin body... she radiated an energy Alistair had only felt around Rowan, around his mother, a familiar energy.

An energy that could mean only one thing.

She has powers.

***

AND NOW EL IS IN THE PICTURE!!!

All the Graveswoods searching for Will in different ways (and Aco, did you expect they would stay put? You raised them too well in bucking against authority...)

Yeah, Alistair's BIGGEST fear with Will missing is that the next time Al sees him, it will be Will's ghost. So it's also a major reason for him to find Will alive.

And yes, Eddie would look after Alistair and they talk about D&D and Lord Of The Rings and listen to Metallica and Dio together if Rowan asked. Especially since he adores Al for all those reasons plus Al's adorable. Also, that promise he made to Rowan... that will be even more relevant in S4 >:)

And yeah, Al can sense when someone has powers! Rowan can too, as well as all the other Graveswoods who have powers! So he knows El has powers...

This also concludes Episode One! I can't say if all the episodes will be four parts or longer or shorter, so expect to be more or less four parts!

Next chapter will be soon!

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!