[ Location: Frostwell Residence - Vivan's Bedroom ][ Time: 7:00 AM ]
I woke up with a foot in my mouth.
Not metaphorically. Literally. A small, dirty foot was pressed against my lips.
I sputtered, shoving it away and sitting up. El was sprawled across the bottom of my bed, having migrated from the closet sometime during the night. She was snoring softly, drool pooling on my expensive Egyptian cotton sheets.
'Great. Just great. I'm harboring a fugitive, and she's a bed hog.'
I rubbed my eyes. The headache from yesterday's telekinesis overuse was a dull throb behind my temples.
'System. Time?'
[ 7:02 AM ]
'Status of my life?'
[ Current Objective: Don't get caught. ][ Current Points: 55 ]
I looked at El. She looked peaceful. Normal. Not like a government experiment that could liquefy brains.
I quietly slid out of bed and walked to the mirror. The bruise on my forehead had turned a lovely shade of green and purple.
'Will's parting gift,' I thought with a grimace.
My stomach growled. El stirred. Her eyes snapped open, instant alertness replacing the sleep. She looked around, panicked, until her eyes locked onto me. Her shoulders relaxed immediately.
"Vivan," she whispered, a small, trusting smile touching her lips.
"Morning," I whispered back. "Hungry?"
She nodded vigorously.
Vivan Frostwell: @Chat I have a situation. The asset needs clothes. She smells like a hospital dumpster.
Lloyd Frontera (Admin): Sell her services. Cleaning, heavy lifting. She can earn her keep.
Esdeath: If she smells, bathe her. You coddle her too much.
Wanda Maximoff: Vivan, do you have any sisters? Maybe borrow some clothes?
Vivan Frostwell: Only child. And if I ask my mom for a dress, she's going to call a psychiatrist.
I sighed. I opened my wardrobe. Rows of neatly pressed shirts, blazers, and designer jeans stared back at me.
'Rich kid problems. I have nothing that isn't dry-clean only.'
I grabbed a pair of my old sweatpants (from when I was shorter) and a yellow t-shirt.
"Here," I tossed them to El. "Put these on. The gown has to go."
She looked at the clothes, confused.
"I turn around," I said, spinning to face the wall. "You change."
I heard rustling. A zipper zipping. A thud.
"Done," she said.
I turned back.
She was drowning in the sweatpants. The t-shirt hung off one shoulder. She looked ridiculous.
She walked up to me, grabbing the hem of the shirt and looking up with big eyes. "Pretty?" she asked, tilting her head.
My heart did a weird flip. 'Oh no. Don't look at me like that. I'm not equipped for wholesome moments.'
"Very pretty," I lied (she looked like a banana in pajamas). "Now, stay here. We need to leave."
[ Location: Frostwell Residence - Hallway ][ Time: 7:30 AM ]
I walked downstairs, trying to look casual. My mom was in the kitchen, aggressively chopping fruit. My dad was on the phone again.
"...no, no trace of him. Yes, the Chief is organizing a search party at Mirkwood. We're sending a team."
My ears perked up. Search party.
'Mike, Lucas, and Dustin aren't going to be at school. They're going to be looking for Will.'
If I went to school, I'd be stuck in class while the plot happened without me. If I stayed home, I'd be stuck with El in a house crawling with cops.
I needed to get El to the boys. They were the key.
"Morning, Mom," I said, grabbing a piece of toast.
"Vivan!" She dropped the knife. "How is your head? Are you dizzy? Do you know what year it is?"
"1983. Reagan is President. I'm fine," I said, taking a bite. "Actually, I feel great. I think I'm going to go... help with the search."
"Absolutely not!" My dad hung up the phone. "You are grounded. You are injured. You are staying in this house where it is safe."
"But Dad—"
"No buts! There is a maniac kidnapping children. You are not leaving this property."
He pointed a finger at me. "Officer Powell is stationed at the front gate. No one goes in or out without my say-so."
'Well, that complicates things.'
I trudged back upstairs, my mind racing. Officer Powell. Front gate.
'I need a distraction. Or a backdoor.'
I entered my room. El was sitting on the floor, staring at my Millennium Falcon Lego set. She had telekinetically lifted it and was making it fly in circles.
"Cool," I whispered.
She smiled, dropping it. It shattered.
"Not cool," I winced. "Okay, El. We're leaving. But we have to be ninjas."
"Ninjas?"
"Sneaky warriors," I explained. "We have to go out the window."
I walked to the window. The trellis was there. But Officer Powell's cruiser was parked right below it, giving him a perfect view of the side yard.
'Damn it.'
I needed to see where the others were. I needed to know if it was worth the risk.
'Remote Viewing,' I thought.
[ Ability Active: Remote Viewing. ][ Cost: N/A. (Warning: Prolonged use causes mental strain). ]
(Which you can get used to)
My vision blurred. The room dissolved into static, then reformed.
I was floating in the woods. It was raining lightly.
I saw three bikes leaned against a tree.
"I'm telling you, my compass is acting weird," Dustin was saying, shaking the device.
"It's just the magnetic field from the power lines," Lucas argued. "We're wasting time."
"Guys, shut up," Mike hissed. "Did you hear that?"
They were at Mirkwood. Near the spot where Will fell.
'Found them.'
I cut the connection, rubbing my temples as a sharp pang hit my skull.
"Okay," I turned to El. "My friends are in the woods. We need to get to them. But there is a bad man in a car outside."
I pointed out the window at Officer Powell, who was currently eating a donut.
El walked to the window. She glared at the car.
"No," I grabbed her shoulder. "No flipping the car. That attracts attention. We need a distraction."
I looked around my room. My eyes landed on my hamster cage. Sir Squeaks-a-Lot.
"I'm sorry, buddy," I whispered.
I opened the cage and used Telekinesis to lift the hamster.
'Fly, Sir Squeaks. Be free.'
I floated the hamster out the window, navigating him through the air until he landed on the hood of Officer Powell's car.
The hamster scurried across the windshield.
Officer Powell jumped, spilling his coffee. "What the—?!"
He got out of the car to shoo the rodent away. "Get outta here!"
Sir Squeaks ran toward the front of the house. Powell chased him.
"Now!" I hissed.
I grabbed El's hand. We climbed out the window, clinging to the ivy.
'Don't slip. Don't slip. Don't slip.'
El was surprisingly agile. I, on the other hand, had the upper body strength of a wet noodle. But we made it to the grass.
We army-crawled through the bushes, bypassing the driveway, and sprinted into the tree line.
"Safe?" El asked, breathing hard. She stepped closer to me, grabbing my hand with both of hers.
"Safe," I squeezed her hand back. "We're ninjas, Hiruzen would be proud."
[ Location: Mirkwood ][ Time: 8:45 AM ]
The woods were wet and muddy. My designer sneakers were ruined. El was shivering in my t-shirt, pressing herself against my side for warmth.
"Cold," she chattered.
I took off my jacket and draped it over her. "Keep moving. We're close."
I could hear voices ahead.
"WILL! WILL BYERS!"
"BYERS!"
I pushed through a thicket of thorns.
"Guys!" I shouted.
Mike, Lucas, and Dustin spun around. They were decked out in rain ponchos, holding walkie-talkies.
"Vivan?" Mike dropped his bike. "What are you doing here? I thought you were grounded!"
"I escaped," I panted, stepping into the clearing. "I... I needed to help."
"Dude, your head," Dustin pointed at my bruise. "You look like a zombie."
"Thanks, Henderson," I rolled my eyes.
"Who is that?" Lucas asked, pointing behind me.
I stepped aside. El was standing there, clutching my jacket, her buzz cut wet with rain. She looked at the boys with wide, frightened eyes, then immediately hid half her body behind my back, peeking out at them.
The trio went silent.
"Is that... a cancer kid?" Dustin whispered loudly.
"Dustin!" Mike hissed.
"No," I said quickly. "This is... my cousin. Eleanor. From... Sweden."
"Sweden?" Lucas narrowed his eyes. "Why isn't she wearing pants? Those are your sweatpants."
"It's the fashion in Sweden!" I improvised. "Look, it doesn't matter. Listen to me."
My voice turned serious. The boys looked at me, sensing the shift in tone.
"You guys think Will got lost," I said, stepping forward. "Or hurt. But you're wrong."
"What do you mean?" Mike asked.
"That night," I touched the bruise on my head. "We didn't just fall off our bikes. We saw something."
"Saw what?" Lucas asked, skeptical.
"A monster," I said flatly. "A faceless thing. Standing right there in the road."
Silence.
"You hit your head pretty hard, man," Lucas scoffed.
"I'm not crazy!" I snapped. "Will threw a rock at it. He saved me. It chased him, not into the woods... but somewhere else."
I looked at El. "Tell them."
El hesitated. She looked up at me, checking if it was safe. I nodded.
She reached into the pocket of the sweatpants and pulled out the photo I had given her earlier. She pointed at Will's face.
"Will," she whispered.
"Yeah, that's Will," Mike said softly.
"Hiding," El said.
"Hiding? From the bad men?" Dustin asked.
El shook her head. She pointed to the empty air. "No. The Monster."
Thunder rumbled overhead. The sky turned a dark, bruising purple.
Suddenly, the walkie-talkie in Mike's hand crackled.
Static.
Then, a voice.
"...Mike... Vivan..."
We all froze.
"Will?" Mike screamed into the radio. "Will, is that you over?!"
"...cold... so cold..."
The signal was strong. Much stronger than in my room.
[ System Alert: Nearby Psionic Source Detected. ]
I looked at El. She was staring at the walkie-talkie, blood trickling from her nose again. She was boosting the signal.
"It's him!" Mike yelled. "He's close! He's right here!"
He started spinning around, looking into the trees. "Will! Yell if you can hear us!"
"Wait," Lucas said, looking at El. "Why is her nose bleeding?"
I cursed internally. 'Busted.'
"It's... the Swedish altitude—"
Thwup-thwup-thwup.
The sound cut me off. A rhythmic beating in the air. I looked up. Above the tree line, a black helicopter was banking sharply, searching the ground.
And then, a sound from the road. Tires on gravel. Heavy engines.
'Remote Viewing,' I thought instantly. 'Check the perimeter!'
My mind flashed outward. I saw them. Three white vans with Hawkins Power and Light logos speeding down Mirkwood road, boxing us in.
"Guys," I said, my voice dropping. "We have to go."
"Why?" Dustin asked. "We just found Will!"
"No, we didn't," I said, backing up and grabbing El's hand. She gripped mine so hard it hurt. "We just turned on a beacon."
I looked at Mike. "Trust me. Bad people are coming. People who want her."
I nodded at El.
"We need to hide. My house. Now."
Mike looked at the radio, then at me, then at the terrified girl clinging to my arm.
"Okay," Mike nodded. "To the Wheelers'."
"No!" I said. "My house is closer. And I have waffles."
El's ears perked up at "waffles." She tugged on my hand, pulling me toward the shortcut.
"Run!"
As we sprinted back into the woods, leaving the clearing behind, the sound of car doors slamming echoed through the trees.
'Brenner is here.'
[ Quest Alert: Evade Capture. ][ Difficulty: Medium ]
[ Reward: 100 Points ]
"I really hate cardio," I wheezed, and ran for my life.
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