"MICHEAL, HURRY UP!" CARLA WHEELER YELLED FOR HER BROTHER.

"Coming!" Mike's voice called back within seconds, sounding rather breathless. From the front door—where the Wheeler girl was impatiently standing—she could hear commotion from upstairs, thumping following which signaled her brother was indeed coming.

Nancy's voice followed, "Mike! Mike! Get back here!"

As her sister's voice grew louder, Carla was absolutely sure she was chasing Mike down the stairs—he'd definitely just stolen some of her money without her consent. The Wheeler girl gave an eye roll, watching as her siblings slid through the kitchen, Nancy trying her best to catch their little brother.

"Hey." Ted reprimanded, making a rather useless attempt at stopping the madness between his children, "No running in the house."

Karen gave a confused expression and leaned over the counter to see where her two kids were going, "What's going on?"

"Nothing, Mom!" Carla called, sticking to the wall so she wasn't completely trampled by her siblings. The two passed by her in a blur, and once they did, she added, "We'll be at the arcade!"

Following Nancy out the door, Carla watched as Mike grabbed his bike from the garage, wheeling the item out as he sprinted. The boy ignored his sister's repetitive calls of his name, "Mike! Mike!"

Carla rolled her own bike out, stopping next to her twin sister, who'd stopped chasing the younger boy once he'd hopped on the bike and started pedaling, escaping his wrath. Nancy watched with a defeated face, "Asshole!"

Getting on to her own bike, Carla sent an apologetic look to her sister before saying, "I'll make sure he pays you back."

As Nancy let out a frustrated sigh, the other Wheeler took that as her cue to leave and began to pedal off into the distance towards Mike. Catching up to her brother, the girl spared him a glance, "Nance is gonna be pissed at you when we get home."

"I know," Mike replied, already knowing what to expect when he got home. A talk from Mom, an apology to Nancy and a real promise to pay her back when he actually had the cash—can you tell he's been in this situation before?

"I'm just saying, you better pay her back, because I'm sure as hell not doing it for you."

"Dammit."

Having met up with Dustin Henderson and Lucas Sinclair along the way, Carla pedaled into the arcade parking lot, the three boys involved in some sort of conversation in front of her. She always strayed in the back—one; so she didn't have to listen to all of their conversations, and two; so she could keep a watch on them.

As the four got off their bikes, a car honked and the boys and Carla looked back towards the lot to see the familiar 1976 Ford Pinto of Joyce Byers, Will sitting in the passenger seat. He had a smile of his face, and was sending a wave their way.

"Hey!" Dustin called out towards the car as he chained up his bike, the other two boys sending waves and excited smiles towards their friend. Carla sent a warm smile towards both Byers' watching as Joyce returned the smile before indulging in a small conversation with her son.

After everything that happened last year, Joyce had turned into somewhat of a helicopter mom over Will. She used to be okay with Will going out late, or biking places, but now......now the mother had to know every detail about what he was doing—whether it be wanting to go to the arcade or wanting to play D&D with his friends.

She was keen on driving him everywhere and making sure he was in a certain place at a certain time, just so she knew he was okay when she returned to take him home. If she could, Carla is sure Joyce would have him at home every night—but, of course, with Will being a tween....it wasn't too easy. He had the right to lead a normal life now that everything was normal.

So, the fact that Joyce was allowing Will to stay two hours here at the arcade without her was just baby steps. Of course the fact that Carla was here made it better— at least someone was here keeping an eye over her boy—she was still weary.

Carla didn't blame her. If her son had gone missing the year prior, she would still be weary about letting him go anywhere alone—especially at night—too. She was worried that something like last year could happen again, and understood Joyce's worry completely.

Will eventually exited his car, signaling that Joyce was finished lecturing him over where he needed to be when she arrived, what to do in case he wanted to leave early and everything else in between.

"Hi, Carla." the Byers boy joined the other three boys, who'd chained up their bikes. He gave the older girl a small hug, which caused the older girl to give a smile. While most kids would call themselves 'too old' for hugs......Will sure didn't—not when it came to Carla, at least.

The Wheeler ruffled the boys hair, "Hey."

"Will! Come on, stop hugging and join the discussion!" Lucas called for the Byers boy, who pulled away from the elder girl to join the small huddle his friends had made. Carla assumed they were discussing what games they wanted to play, as well as how much change—which had jangled in their pockets the entire way here—they had. After a moment of conversing, all four boys turned to face the Wheeler with puppy-dog eyes.

"Alright...." Carla trailed off, a smile growing on her face, "Go play some games!"

Will, Mike, Dustin and Lucas all raced inside the arcade, trampling innocent tweens who'd been trying to exit. Carla let out a small laugh before following after, watching as they scrambled over to a game called Dragon Lair.

She'd been inside the building a few weeks prior—the boys going monthly once they scraped in enough cash to play games—but it never hesitated to send her a wave of nostalgia. As a kid, she rarely went—Nancy was a girly girl and didn't go to the arcade, and Jonathan was rarely one to go anywhere too crowded—but on the few times she went, it was always fun. And, now, after having gone through one of the most traumatic events she could think of.....it felt nice to think back to happier memories, to happier times.

The events of last year were the reason she was here in the first place, actually. After everything, Carla realized it couldn't hurt if the boys had some supervision—even if they were just playing games. Last time they were alone, they befriended a girl with super powers....and no one needed any part of last year to replay themselves, even if it was something as small as someone like Eleven entering the picture.

Eleven. Carla almost frowned at the mention of her. The poor girl really had disappeared, and it hurt whenever the Wheeler thought of her. Not only had it taken a huge toll on Mike—he always looked at the blanket fort with longing, and Carla had even caught him trying to contact her on his walkie—but Carla felt terrible whenever she thought of the girl.

She was only that; a girl.

El had been poked and prodded at her whole life, and when she was finally close to receiving a real life—there was no doubt Joyce, Hopper, or hell, maybe even the Wheelers themselves would have adopted her afterwards—she was taken again, this time by death.

Death. Carla thought she was going to die last year—she had the scars to prove it. I mean, who wouldn't? She'd been pinned at the wall by the Demogorgan,to then have slit and broken wrists.

But, lucky for her, she wasn't dead. She was alive and pretty well. Her scars were nothing more than that—her broken wrist had heeled within the month. Looking down at one of her arms, she gave a small smile at the blue bracelet that covered her wrist. It was one of her favorite gifts from the Party ever—not only did it cover some parts of her scars, it made her feel truly accepted by the boys. They really saw her as a part of the group, even though she didn't play D&D.

"No! No! No! I hate this overpriced bullshit!" Dustin Henderson's voice took the Wheeler girl from her thoughts, and she looked at the group of four—still crowded around the Dragon Lair game—to see the curly haired boy slamming his fists against the machine, as well as kicking it, "Son of a bitch! Piece of shit!"

It was amusing to Carla how involved the boys got at something as small as a game—from how loud they screamed when they won, to how—as Dustin showed—worked up they got when they didn't.

"You're not nimble enough. But you'll get there one day." Lucas said, leaning against the machine, a smug smile pulling on his lips. "But until then, Princess Daphne is still mine."

Dustin shook his head, "Y'know, whatever. I'm still tops on Centipede and Dig Dug."

"You sure about that?" Another voice replied. It was Keith—one of the employees at The Palace. Carla sent a small look towards the boy, who was standing eerily close to her. Ever since middle school, Keith had crushed on her—he didn't hide it, either. Whenever he could, he'd start flirting with her, or asking about why she had dated Steve Harrington when he was right there and it honestly made the Wheeler girl lose any remorse she held for him.

Sure he didn't have any friends, and certainly was not a ladies man—his crappy arcade job wasn't very helpful in either case—and Carla did feel bad about that, but if he wanted either, he could act less like a creep, and a douche, at times.

"Sure about what?" Dustin questioned, looking at the older boy with wide eyes. Keith shoved an off-brand Cheeto in his mouth—Carla cringing at the crunch it made as he chewed on it—and that's all it took for the Henderson to realize what he meant. Someone had stolen his top spot.

He pushed past Will—the boy getting shoved against the machine—and sped towards the game Dig Dug, fear that someone else had beaten him filling his body, "You're kidding me. No, no, no. Move! Move! Aw, no, no, no, no, no, no!" The boy scanned over the top scores with a cry, "No! No!"

"751,300 points!" Will exclaimed, looking at the new top score in shock.

Mike retorted, "That's impossible."

"Clearly not." Carla muttered in response, looking at the scoreboard with an impressed look. She didn't know much about Dig Dug, let alone arcade games in general, but even she knew that was an impressive score—especially when Dustin hadn't stopped boasting about his prior top score for at least a week. Internally, she wondered who MadMax—the new top name—was.

Looking away from the screen and at Keith, a confused Dustin asked, "Who's MadMax?"

"Better than you." Keith replied in a smart-ass tone, receiving the middle finger in return from the curly haired boy.

"Is it you?" Will asked.

Keith denied, "You know I despise Dig Dug."

"Then who is it?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, spill it, Keith." the Henderson demanded, curiosity for who MadMax was, as well as anger for the employee—who never hesitated to push his buttons—for keeping it a secret when he clearly knew who the name belonged to.

"You need information, then I need something in return." Keith gave a small smile while shoving another cheesy corn puff in his mouth, looking at Mike. As the older boy looked at her brother, the rest of the boys stared at Carla, which caused to her to realize the meaning of the employee's words.

"Oh, hell no!" Carla exclaimed, quickly repositioning herself behind the three boys instead of near Keith. She was not going to go on a date with him for the sake of knowing who a certain username belonged too—not like she'd go with him for any other reason.

"No, no, no. No way." Mike was quick to deny the employee's request—which honestly made Carla happy inside. Despite being constantly annoyed with his sister, he could never give her up like that, especially to someone like Keith. But, then again, Carla probably would have beaten his ass if he had handed her out to the employee with ease, "You're not getting a date with Carla or Nancy."

"Mike, come on. Just get him the date with Nancy instead." Lucas replied, wanting to know who the person behind MadMax was.

"I'm not prostituting my sisters!"

Carla agreed with her little brother, "Yeah, and she's dating Steve."

"So? It's for a good cause—" Lucas tried to argue.

"No, don't get him the date. You know what? He's gonna spread his nasty-ass rash to your whole family." Dustin voices, jabbing a finger at Keith, whose smug expression dropped the moment the boy said 'nasty ass rash'.

"Acne isn't a rash and it isn't contagious, you prepubescent wastoid." Keith tried to defend himself against the thirteen year old boy in front of him.

"Oh, I'm a wastoid? Neither of them would go on a date with you. You make, like, what? $2.50 an hour?" the Henderson boy fired, starting a full out argument with the older boy. At his words, Carla couldn't help the light laugh that fell from her lips. She knew the boys were protective over her—despite being four years younger—but, she'd never seen it live in person before.

"Nice perm."

"Gonna make fun of my hair?"

The two boys continued to argue—Mike and Lucas making sneers as well—and Carla starts to roll her eyes when she suddenly notices that Will hasn't made a single comment. She looks beside her to ask the boy if he wanted to go check out another game before her brows furrow together.

Will wasn't beside her.

The girl looked around and quickly gained panic when she realized he wasn't in the arcade at all. He'd disappeared.

Oh God. What if he'd been taken again? Joyce couldn't take another heartbreak, and to be honest, neither could the group. She'd only taken her eyes off of him for a split second—

A sudden tap on her shoulder took her out of her small panic filled trance. Carla looked beside her to see her brother, and quickly met his gaze to see Will standing outside. The Wheeler's girl felt a rush of relief at knowing that the boy was okay, but was still worried as to why he'd walked out so suddenly, especially without telling anyone.

"I'm gonna go check on him." Mike muttered before disappearing outside too. Carla watches from where she was standing, noticing the way Will jumped at his friend's appearance, as if he'd been locked in a trance and the boy had woken him up. A final glance back at the sky later and Will was under Mike's arm, being led back into the arcade.

Carla watched as the boys traveled to the Dig Dug machine, the Byers boy taking his own turn. She felt relieved knowing that Will was okay and was acting normal, but was still curious as to why he'd looked so scared when Mike appeared.

So, when Dustin was back up on the game, the Wheeler girl nudged the boy she saw as a brother, "Hey, can we talk outside for a minute?"

"Uh, sure." Will shrugged, following the older girl outside.

Once they made it to the parking lot, Carla knelt down so she was more at the boy's level, placing a hand on his shoulder so he knew she was there, "Are you okay? Why'd you disappear on me and the boys like that? Almost gave me a heart attack."

Will gave a weak nod, "I'm sorry, I'm fine. I just needed some air."

"Are you sure?" the brunette's eyes searched through his. Carla wanted him to know that no matter what he was hiding, it was okay to tell her—she wouldn't judge or immediately tell someone. If Will wasn't okay, it should be known to someone, and if he wasn't going to tell Joyce or Jonathan, she'd rather it be her. "Will, I'm not going to force you to say anything that you don't want to say, but if something is going on, I'm listening. I'm not going to run off and tell anyone, okay? Any secret is safe with me."

"I don't know." Will muttered, taking her words into account and began to speak, "I mean, after last year, nothing has been okay."

"You're absolutely right." the Wheeler girl nods her head, agreeing with him. She then rolls up one of her sleeves to show her scars, as if Will hadn't seen them before. "You and I both have scars from the Upside Down—both mental and physical. But, the bracelet you guys gave me, covers some of them and makes me feel better about them. And this bracelet stands for the Party, right?" She waits for the Byers boy to nod before continuing, "And Party members stick together."

"Right." the boy nodded.

"So, like how this bracelet makes me feel better about my scars, I think talking about what's wrong will make you feel better about yours." Carla finishes, looking at the boy with a small yet weak smile, "Even though everything has been off since last year, I think we both know that you know something's definitely less okay than usual."

"Okay, you're right." the Byers boy sighs, "I've been having these weird visions of the Upside Down. It's like a dream, but it only happens when I'm awake—and it's like I'm back there. Like I'm inside the Upside Down again." His voice was shaky as he spoke of the other world, and Carla deeply frowned.

If anyone deserved to have a break after last year, it was Will Byers. He'd been through hell and back and was still fighting demons of his own while everyone else slowly but surely fell back into the hang of things and it truly wasn't fair.

"Did you have a....vision....just now? When Keith and Dustin were arguing?" Carla questioned gently, peering for information in a calm manner. She didn't want to pressure Will into revealing anything, but couldn't help asking some questions.

"Yeah."

"What did you see during it?"

"At first everything was normal. Keith and Dustin were arguing and I turned around, but then I saw the dust particles from there. I turned around to ask if you guys saw it but then you all were gone. I was alone." He paused before continuing, "And—and then I was back in the Upside Down again. The arcade was covered in vines and the door flew open, and when I went outside, the sky was flashing red. It almost looked like something was behind the clouds, but Mike snapped me out of it before I could see what it was."

Carla nodded as she listened. His visions reminded her of her own nightmares—she'd be inside a familiar place in the Upside Down and was easily snapped out of them. But, she knew hers were nothing but night terrors, while Will's could be something serious.

So, she asked, "Does your Mom know about these visions? Jonathan?" the Byers boy shook his had causing the Wheeler to frown, "Will, I know these visions are scaring you and I know you're just hoping they go away, but this could be serious. I think you need to tell your mom about them. She deserves to know when something's wrong with you, and besides, she can get you help."

Will hated the word 'help'. Ever since he returned, it's the word everyone's told him he needed and he hated being told it. He felt like ever since he came back from the Upside Down, everyone was treating him differently—like he couldn't handle anything on his own and he was fed up with it.

"I know, I will." Will muttered as Carla pulled him in for a tight hug, "I promise."

Pulling away, Carla held out her bracelet wearing arm, "Party promise?"

"Party promise." the Byers boy repeated, putting his bracelet against hers.

The Wheeler girl gave him a final tight lipped smile before the two entered the arcade again and returned to the other boys—who were still trying to beat MadMax.

Watching the boys, Carla couldn't help but feel.....normal. Even with Will's new-found visions, everything was finally good again. No monsters, no evil beings, no Upside Down.

Little did she know, an evil being was looming right over Hawkins as she watched the boys, waiting to strike. 

mara's misc!

ahh first re-written chapter of vanished!!!

this isn't my favorite chapter from the og, but it's the first chapter and they always seem sorta flat but i think it turned out good. we got a little carla/will moment which are always fun and innocent. someone give will a break seriously.

not sure what my update schedule for this fic is gonna look like, but i might try to do a weekly update like i'm doing with missing? maybe?