Chapter Seventy-Eight: The Exorcism Of Will Byers

(The Gate, Pt. 5)

***

A bump in the road jerked Alistair out of the half-sleep he'd fallen under. Blinking his eyes groggily, Hugin cawed at his side and hopped about on his shoulder. Beside him, Joyce was whispering softly to Will, but there was an icy hardness to her face. The Upside Down had taken too much from her tonight, and she's had enough.

Alistair felt the same way as he found himself holding Will's hand again, one of his fingers locking around Will's. He didn't care that Will was like ice to the touch—all he cared about was getting that bastard out of his best friend.

"Hold on a little while longer, Will. We're gonna save you. Just hold on," he whispered, holding Will's hand tighter, not even caring that some of his fingers laced together with Will's. Hoping his words got through to Will.

Hoping that what they would do will work, that they can free Will from the Mind Flayer's grip by burning it out of him. That once he's free, El can close the gate, with Hopper and Aunt Aco watching her back. Alistair hoped it would all work—he can't lose El and Will, not again, and he can't lose his aunt. It has to work.

When the car finally stopped at the end of the road, Alistair gave Will's hand another comforting squeeze before he got out of the car, shivering at the chill in the air. An owl hooted and nocturnal animals rustled in the bushes around them, and in the darkness, Alistair could see the hazy shapes of ghosts, could feel the weight of their judgement upon him for not staying away from Will and the Mind Flayer possessing him like some sort of demon.

Alistair turned away, focusing on what was important right now.

Jonathan got Will out, carrying his little brother as they made the walk to where Hopper said they could go to. After five minutes like the police chief had said, Alistair saw a shape forming out of the darkness and thick woods—a wooden house, almost materialising out of the darkness, easy to miss in the night.

It's a cabin, right in the middle of the woods. A cabin, Alistair realised, must be where Hopper had hid El for all this time. And Alistair had to admit, it's the perfect place to hide someone from the government—no one would think to look for El in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. 

Something glinted out of the corner of Alistair's eye and he whispered, "Jonathan."

Jonathan paused, and he, Joyce and Nancy saw the thing Alistair saw—a silver wire, stretched between two trees in front of the cabin. An alarm, Alistair realised, just in case anyone from Hawkins Lab got too close to the cabin. 

They all gave each other a look before carefully climbing over the alarm and continuing on to the house. The keys that Hopper had given her jangled in Nancy's hands as she unlocked the door, letting it swing open as they entered inside.

It's dark inside, moonlight slanting in through the windows illuminating only the basic shapes, but Alistair was still floored by how much this place feels like a home, warm and cozy and full of love. There was a TV, a section of the room that's a kitchen, a couch, and a door that must lead to El's bedroom. There's even some microwaveable meals lying on the table, abandoned, but it didn't erase the homey feel of the cabin, a feeling Alistair realised he recognised from whenever he was in the trailer, with his aunt and sister and now Hugin, the warmth and love he felt every time he entered, like it had been absorbed into the trailer itself and left its aura in the air, a phantom embrace that comforted Alistair whenever he had a bad day, a reminder of Welcome home. The cabin had that same warmth, that same welcoming, loving presence. 

A knob built in his throat as his eyes prickled and he hurriedly rubbed his eyes. He couldn't cry. Not when they had a job to do.

"It's... actually kinda nice," Nancy noted, carrying the heaters in her arms as Jonathan and Joyce turned the lamps on. Alistair turned to them, noticed Joyce seeing the fireplace at the same time he did and crouching before it, saying in a croaky, steely voice, "We'll do it here."

They didn't hesitate a second longer—Alistair and Joyce got a camping bed and pushed it next to the fireplace and Jonathan laid Will's limp, unmoving body onto it. Then came the part that made Alistair feel like his heart was being torn out and shredded by a blender—tying up Will's wrists and ankles so that he can't escape from the heat when it comes. They all have a limb to tie up and Alistair's is one of Will's hands, and the brunette can't even force himself to look at Will as he did the soul-crushing task, trying to tell himself it's for Will, that his friend would have wanted them to do this, but he can't even convince himself.

When that was done, they gathered up the heaters like soldiers in an army, surrounding Will in a rough circle that will soon pulse with heat. Alistair stepped back, swallowing the knob in his throat as he took in the scene—Will, restrained to the bed, a miniature army of heaters around him, ready to burn out the piece of the Mind Flayer controlling him. The fireplace, currently dark and empty, but once it would be lit, Will wouldn't be able to escape its merciless heat—the Mind Flayer wouldn't be able to escape the heat of the flames.

At that, anger burned in Alistair's chest. He wanted to burn this thing out of Will, wanted to destroy it with heat and flame. He would tear it out of Will if it meant it would free him.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Jonathan questioned, eyeing the still, restrained form of his brother, apprehension lining his body.

"This thing has had Will long enough," Joyce said, her voice a growl of fury, a glare on her face. "Let's kill the son of a bitch."

They're in agreement, then. Nancy grabbed a box of matches and lit one, tossing it in the fireplace. The wood inside ate the flame hungrily, and in seconds there was a blaze roaring from it, filling the cabin with heat. Together, Alistair, Joyce and Jonathan turned the heaters on one by one, the crackle they made resonating in Alistair's ears as the lines glowed orange, the air rippling with the force of the heat emanating from them.

When it was done, Alistair stepped back, sitting on the couch and looking at Will. Now, they had to wait until he woke up, and see if what they were doing was enough.

It didn't take long for the cabin to get hot. The heaters plus the fire filled the space up with heat, making it unbearably warm. Sweat plastered Alistair's shirt to his back, and his curls became even more unrulier when they're not stuck to his neck and forehead. He could feel perspiration dripping down his face, wiping away the drops that fell into his eyes. Jonathan, Nancy and Joyce weren't faring any better, shedding their jackets as the heat built and built, but none of them leave, watching Will like a hawk and waiting for any sign if he woke up or if this suffocating heat was truly beating the shadowy monster that had possessed him out of him. But aside from the sweat beading his forehead and slicking strands of his hair and darkening the collar of his hospital gown, there's no sign that it's having any effect on Will.

A caw came and Alistair turned to see Hugin on his shoulder, feathers ruffled and looking the most uncomfortable of them all. Alistair winced, remembering summer and how Hugin, being half-dead, had been absolutely miserable in the heat. This would have been as much torture for the raven as it was for the Mind Flayer.

"Sorry, Hugin," he whispered. "I'll get you outside."

Hugin cawed again, just as miserable as the first one, but he dug his claws in. No. Staying. Need me for support.

Alistair blinked, stunned. "Okay. But Hugin, if—"

Hugin gave a sharp caw and tugged harshly at one of his curls, making Alistair know that the raven wasn't going anywhere, not when he knew Alistair subconsciously wanted Hugin to be by his side. Alistair softened, dragging a fingertip along Hugin's head and whispering, "When this is over, I'll give you an ice bath, promise," Hugin giving a happy caw.

A minute later, a sharp gasp came. Alistair whirled, Hugin flapping a wing to stabilise himself, his attention zeroed in Will. His friend was awake, breathing heavily as confusion and the briefest glint of anger came into his face as he registered the overwhelming heat and the restraints.

"What's happening?" he asked as he tugged. When the restraints didn't give, he tugged them more violently, writhing in the bed as he groaned, "It hurts!"

Alistair's heart cracked, but he steeled himself, as Will screamed, "It hurts! It hurts! It HURTS! Let me go! Let me go! It hurts! It hurts! Let me go! LET ME GO! IT HURTS!"

Something in Alistair splintered at the pain in Will's voice, pain he wanted to take away, but he buried it, knowing that it was the Mind Flayer feeling the worst of the pain, that the pain was for Will, to get the Mind Flayer out, to get the demonic creature that had possessed his best friend and used his body like a puppet out and hopefully kill it.

Anger burned in Alistair, decimating the ache in his bones to take away the pain Will was feeling. The Mind Flayer possessed Will, after tormenting him for God knows how long, after Will had spent a week trapped, alone and frightened and hunted by the Demogorgon in the Upside Down. The Mind Flayer had possessed the kindest, sweetest person Alistair knew, who could occasionally be snarky and vulnerable with him, who was observant and smart and the best fucking person Alistair knew, and he wasn't going to let the Mind Flayer drown Will into the dark and destroy his light.

Alistair wanted to do more than burn the Mind Flayer. He wanted to incinerate it.

Joyce seemed to be on the same wavelength, because she lunged for a heater the same time Alistair grabbed a chunk of wood and tossed it into the fire, increasing the heat as Will screamed and thrashed like a rabid beast.

"Mom, Al!" Jonathan protested, and Alistair could hear the pain in his voice, the pain of seeing his brother go through pain and unable to help him, but Alistair ignored him as he turned around, glaring.

"No!" Joyce screamed and she pushed a heater right in front of Will as he kept thrashing, screaming in a way that sounded like his vocal cords were being ripped to shreds.

"LET ME GO! LET ME GO! LET ME GO!"

Alistair's glare intensified and he dialled up the heat on another heater, he wasn't going to let the bastard win, he was going to save Will, he was going to do whatever it took to get the son of a bitch out of his friend and save Will, no matter how much a part of him was screaming to turn down the heat and end Will's pain, he had fucking enough of the Upside Down refusing to let Will go.

You won't take him! I'm gonna bring him back! You hear me, you motherfucker!? You're not fucking taking Will! he screamed at the Demogorgon, at the Mind Flayer, at the entire Upside Down as he pushed the heater right in front of Will's screaming, rabid face, his own face twisted in a feral snarl as Hugin cawed frantically on his shoulder, and Will kept screaming.

He was screaming and screaming and screaming, feral, agonised screams so guttural and distorted Alistair knew it wasn't entirely his friend screaming, and that stirred his anger, made it burn as hot as the flames beating at his back. Sweat poured down from his face, but he didn't care, looking at Will's thrashing body with fury twisting his features, Joyce wearing a similar look of fury, both of them fucking done with the Upside Down refusing to release its claws from Will, prepared to tear those claws off of Will with whatever they had to do.

And yet the Mind Flayer refused to release its claws, and that made Alistair angrier, veins burning with cold fury.

Behind them, Jonathan clutched Nancy tight, face twisted in agony as he said "It's not working. It's not working. Mom, are you listening to me?"

"Just wait!" Joyce yelled back.

"How much longer!?" Jonathan shouted, voice strained. "Look... look at him!"

"Jonathan, just wait!"

"You're killing him!"

"Just wait!" Joyce and Alistair yelled in unison, their voices loud even with Will's banshee-like screams.

But Jonathan had enough, moving to a heater to turn the heat down. Joyce lunged toward her eldest son, a "No!" ripping from her throat.

"No, leave it!" she shrieked, stopping Jonathan from turning the heat down.

"YOU'RE KILLING HIM!"

"LEAVE IT!"

It was Hugin who noticed it first, cawing frenetically and flapping his wings in Alistair's face. He turned and saw the dark veins crawl up Will's neck, twitching in time with his convulsing body. The physical sign of the Mind Flayer.

It was working.

"Nancy!" he screamed, pointing to Will's neck. The teen girl's eyes widened and she hollered, "Wait, Jonathan! Jonathan!"

Jonathan and Joyce turned and Nancy pointed to Will, yelling, "His neck! His neck!"

Joyce and Jonathan looked, their eyes widening as the dark veins crept crawling higher, crawling over the edges of Will's face. It reminded Alistair of Rowan's veins flaring blue when she used her powers, but this was not like Rowan. This was something insidious struggling to escape or to remain in control—Alistair didn't know. He hoped it was the former. Will was still screaming, now a distorted cacophony of shrieks that sounded like a thousand voices screaming instead of one and all of them monstrous, in one demonic, terrifying scream.

Then, before Alistair's eyes, Will lurched forward, tearing off the restraint around his left wrist with inhuman strength. He lunged for the other one and Joyce screeched, "NO!" and launched herself forward to stop him, but Will had grabbed Joyce by the neck with the speed of a snake, fingers wound tight, choking Joyce.

"MOM!" Jonathan screamed as Alistair stared in shock, unable to believe the Mind Flayer would make Will do something as despicable as choke his own mother to death. But it was desperate to escape the heat in any way, even if it meant using Will to kill his own mother.

That cruelty stoked Alistair's anger and he lunged for Will, grabbing his arm and trying to rip his hand off Joyce, using the bed as leverage, Jonathan moving in to pry Will's hand off Joyce's neck as well, but Will's arm was like steel, his grip just as strong, as Joyce choked above them.

It was Nancy who saved Joyce, grabbing a poker and stabbing the red-hot end into Will's side. The smell of burning flesh seared Alistair's nose and Will screamed in agony, but he let Joyce go. But there was no room for breathing space—the near-murder and the way Will is screaming and thrashing, dark veins covering his face and neck, told Alistair the Mind Flayer is nearly out of Will.

And Alistair is all too happy to help it.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY SON!" Joyce roared where she is still above Will as Alistair joined her, gripping his wrists as he yelled, "GET OUT OF MY BEST FRIEND YOU SON OF A MOTHERFUCKING BITCH!"

Will screamed another tortured, distorted scream, but the Mind Flayer was not leaving. Alistair's anger burned hotter and his veins flooded with icy cold and he let go of Will's wrists to slam his hands on his chest, eyes burning with white as he howled in rage.

Will's body arched up and his jaw cracked open, so unnaturally wide Alistair thought it would be broken, but he shoved it aside as he pressed his hands harder on Will's chest, shoving aside shock as he saw his veins light up a blinding white and a similar light shone under his hands and chased the shadows staining Will's veins as he gave another monstrous howl before he went unnaturally still, and Alistair slammed his hands harder on Will's chest as the light burned brighter from whatever he was doing, his veins burning that same blinding white as cold filled his entire bloodstream and his eyes burned with it—

And shadows poured out of Will's distorted mouth, writhing and twisting, so much shadow that it shocked Alistair, and his heart cracked at realising this was why Will was in so much pain, there was so much darkness inside him clawing to escape the heat, it would have been hell.

Alistair watched in open-mouthed and wide-eyed silence as the shadows funnelled out of Will before twisting and heading straight for the door, crashing it open and escaping to God knows where. Hopefully somewhere to die. Nancy chased after it, but Alistair stayed by Will, sliding off as the cold in his veins melted away and the ghostly white died away in his eyes and heading straight for the heaters, pulling their plugs out of the sockets along with Jonathan as Joyce, still at Will's side, took the restraint off his right wrist and whimpered, "Will... baby."

Alistair whirled, and his heart dropped at seeing Will, face pallid, dark bags under his eyes, sweat beaded on his face, and not waking up.

No.

"Will. Will. Please, Will. Will," Joyce pleaded, stroking his sweat-soaked hair.

NO!

Alistair rushed to Will's side, grabbing his hand as he begged, "No, no, no. Please Will, wake up. Please, come back. Will, please."

But there was no response as Jonathan came to join them, his face similarly twisted with the agony that after what they had done, it had been for nothing and Will was gone, but it couldn't be, Alistair had fought the Mind Flayer, had pushed his agony of seeing Will in pain down, he burned him alive and did whatever the fuck he just done with his powers to get the Mind Flayer out, he had to wake up!

They couldn't have gone through all that just to lose him now.

"Come on, buddy," Jonathan whispered, voice shaking as Joyce held back a sob, pleading, "Please, can you hear me?"

"Come on. Come on," Jonathan begged.

"Will, wake up. I—we can't lose you. Please wake up," Alistair whispered, clutching Will's hand tighter, tears slipping from his eyes, streaking his face and mingling with the sweat still dripping off his face.

"Please, Will," Joyce begged, eyes glossy and tears slipping free.

And just as Alistair was giving up hope—just as Alistair was preparing himself to feel the brutal, burning agony and see Will as a ghost—his friend's eyes fluttered open and he croaked out, "Mom?"

Joyce gasped. "Oh, honey. Oh, God."

The mother and son embrace, Will's face twisted like he's about to cry, as Jonathan joined in the hug. Alistair wanted to tackle Will with one, but he let Will's family hug him, just relieved that Will was alive, that they'd exorcised the Mind Flayer out of him.

When Jonathan scrambled to the radio to tell Hopper to close the gate, Will's head turned to Alistair and he croaked out, "A... Al..."

A sob ripped through Alistair and he lunged for Will, tackling Will in a hug as he gripped him tightly, feeling Will grip him just as tightly back. Tears streamed from Alistair's eyes, soaking Will's shoulder, and he could feel Will's tears soaking his shoulder as well.

"I'm sorry," he sobbed. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop it from getting you, I'm sorry I couldn't help you get free sooner, I'm sorry I left you, I'm so so sorry, Will."

"I-It's okay," Will croaked out, his voice hoarse from the guttural screams. The boys pulled back and Alistair never felt so much relief and joy at seeing Will's hazel eyes stare back at him and not the void-dark eyes empty of feeling, at seeing the eyes of his best friend again and not the demonic monster controlling him. That had Alistair hug him again, so tight he could feel Will's heartbeat against his chest, fast and frenetic but beating and alive, always the tighter hugger between them.

"I... I heard you," Alistair heard Will whisper. "In the shed. I-I heard what you said, I... I felt you holding my hand, and I knew it was you, but I couldn't... I-I couldn't..."

"It's okay," Alistair whispered, carding his fingers through Will's sweat-soaked hair. "It's okay. It's over. It's over."

Will let out another broken sob, the two best friends just holding each other and being a mess of sweat and tears and overwhelming relief.

When they finally pull back, Alistair let Joyce and Jonathan hold Will again, Nancy coming back inside. Alistair still sat beside Will, holding his left hand firmly in his. Neither boy let go as they sat and rested after the ordeal they went through, especially Will, Alistair tracing circles over the back of Will's hand as Hugin rested on Will's shoulder, rubbing his head against Will's cheek and cawing comfortingly. Waiting for any word from Hopper that the gate was closed and this nightmare was over.

But they don't need to, because at once the heaters flare up, filling the cabin with blinding light before fading back down. And since Rowan wasn't here, that's the clearest sign to Alistair that they had done it, that El had closed the gate and stopped the Mind Flayer.

It was finally over.

Alistair turned to Will, and whispered, "Welcome back, Will."

Will cracked a small smile. "Thanks. Good... good to be back."

Alistair returned the smile, pressing closer and leaning his head on Will's chest, just enjoying the sound of Will's heartbeat, proof he was still here and alive, that it was actually over and Will wasn't possessed any more; if he focused, Alistair thought he could feel the relief and satisfaction from the ghosts, that the alien wrongness they had been so scared of was gone and Will was freed from it.

But that didn't matter right now to Alistair. All that matters is that Will is back. He'd pulled him from the dark drowning him back to the light.

And Alistair was not letting the dark claw its way back into Will ever again.

***

Alistair and Joyce (both in canon and in here) with the heaters:

AHHH, I had so much fun with this!!!! And yes, Alistair is just as fed up and angry with the Upside Down and the Mind Flayer possessing Will as Joyce was. And that bit at the end may be a hint of one of Alistair's powers... ;)

Also, I think this scene is really understated for Noah's acting capabilities! In fact, all the possessed Will scenes were so good and Noah did such a good job—honestly, where the HELL is his Emmy?!?!

And aftermath!Alisill paralleling aftermath!Stowan... 🥺

Anyway, things are definitely going into the calmer end! There will be an aftermath chapter, before we get to the Snow Ball... along with another chapter right before the Snow Ball chapter with a couple surprises... 😉 And then, we're on to s3!!!!

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!