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gryfflepuffinthetardis · 10 months ago

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The Disappearance of Will Byers

"She was daring, she was dreamy. She was that cute little rebel that one never asked for but always wished for."

"Something is coming. Something hungry for blood." Twelve-year-old Mike Wheeler told his friends during the D&D campaign. "A shadow grows on the wall behind you, swallowing you in darkness. It is almost here."

"What is it?" Will Byers asked.

"What if it's the Demogorgon?" Dustin Henderson asked, anxiously and Will fell back in his chair, "Oh, Jesus, we're so screwed if it's the Demogorgon."

"It's not the Demogorgon." Lucas Sinclair insisted.

"An army of troglodytes charge into the chamber!" Mike exclaimed.

"Troglodytes?" Dustin smiled.

"Told you." Lucas chuckled and they all chuckled.

"Wait a minute," Mike said, softly. "Did you hear that? That... that sound? Boom... boom... BOOM!" He slammed his hand on the table for dramatic effect, something he picked up from Dustin's older sister. "That didn't come from the troglodytes. No, that... that came from something else." He slammed a figurine down, "The Demogorgon!" And the rest of the boys groaned.

"We're in deep shit!" Dustin exclaimed.

"Will, your action!" Mike shouted.

"I don't know!" Will cried.

"Fireball him!" Lucas advised.

"I'd have to roll a thirteen or higher!" Will pointed out.

"Too risky. Cast a protection spell." Dustin recommended.

"Don't be a pussy. Fireball him!" Lucas argued.

"Cast protection."

Mike slammed his hands on the table, "the Demogorgon is tired of your silly human bickering! It stomps towards you. BOOM!" Mike shouted.

"Fireball him!" Lucas cried.

"Another stomp, boom!"

"Cast protection."

"He roars in anger."

Their voices overlapped until Will rolled the dice, "Fireball!" The dice rolled off the table.

"Oh shit!"

"Where'd it go? Where is it?" Lucas asked.

"I don't know!" Will said.

"Is it a thirteen?" Dustin asked.

"I don't know."

"Where is it?"

"Oh my god."

Mike's mother, Karen started to shout for him, "Mike! Mike!"

"Can you find it?"

"No, I can't find it!"

Karen opened the door to the basement, "Mike!"

Mike looked up at her, "Mom, we're in the middle of a campaign!"

"You mean the end? Fifteen after." She left and Mike ran after her to plead for more time.

"Freaking idiot!" Lucas groaned.

"Oh, I got it!" Will exclaimed, finally finding the dice. "Does a seven count?"

"It was a seven? Did Mike see it?" Will shook his head. "Then it doesn't count."

Dustin gathered his stuff to head home when he picked up the pizza box, "Yo, hey guys. Does anyone want this?"

"No." They said.

Dustin headed up the stairs to Mike's sister, Nancy's room where she was on the phone with her best friend, Barb about a boy from school. Steve Harrington to be exact.

"Yeah. No, I don't think... yeah, he's cute. Steve. Steve's cute." Nancy said and Dustin bit his lip and narrowed his eyes. He wasn't a big fan of Steve and didn't see why his sister liked him so much. "Barb, no, I don't think he like-likes me. Barb, you're not..."

"Hey, Nancy." He called when she didn't notice him. She was a teenaged girl thinking about the most popular boy in school it'd probably be hours before she would notice him even with his large curly hair and adorkable smile. She looked over at one of her best friend's younger brother. "There's a slice left if you want it." He opened the box, "Sausage and pepperoni!"

Annoyed that he would dare interrupt her ultra-important phone call that she could easily have at school the next day, she told Barb through the phone, "Hold on." She walked to him with a sickly-sweet bratty in a teenage girl way smile and closed the door in his face.

They both knew if Nancy's other best friend and Dustin's sister were there, she'd smack Nancy upside the head so hard that her head would hit the wall for being so catty to her brother. Cassie Dare had a love for her brother that Nancy couldn't understand despite her having two younger siblings which was one more than Cassie had. Dustin was more than just a little brother to Cassie, he was her best friend. Nancy guessed that his rare genetic disorder did that as both her siblings were relatively normal health-wise, other than she was bewildered when she was told her mom was pregnant with Holly due to the fact that she had never seen anything resembling a spark between her parents.

He joined his best friends outside and told Mike, "There's something wrong with your sister."

"What are you talking about?" Mike asked.

Dustin headed to his bike, "She's got a stick up her butt."

"Yeah." Lucas agreed, "It's because she's been dating that douchebag, Steve Harrington."

"Yep, she's turning into a real jerk." Dustin nodded.

"She's always been a real jerk." Mike said like this was common knowledge.

"Nuh-uh, she used to be cool like my sister." Dustin said, "Like that time she dressed up as an elf and Cass dressed like a guardian dhampir for our Elder tree campaign."

"Four years ago!" Mike shouted as Dustin rode off on his bike.

"Just sayin'."

"At least, Cassie can balance time with us and the douchebag." Mike called, hoping his sister could hear him.

The party knew of Steve Harrington due to Dustin's sister, Cassie's friendship with Steve, but they didn't know him personally—how Cassie did. The real Steve. The one he tried to hide under a façade of douchebaggery.

Dustin was proud to say he had the coolest sibling in the party. She was badass, geeky, intelligent, and caring. She was sarcastic, mouthy, and loud like he was.

When they reached Lucas' house, he turned to his friend, "Good night, ladies."

"Kiss your mom 'night for me." Dustin teased and he turned to Will, "Race you back to my place? Winner gets a comic."

"Any comic?" Will asked.

"Yeah." Will took off, "Hey! Hey! I didn't say go!" Dustin shouted after him as he tried to catch up. "Get back here! I'm gonna kill you!"

"I'll take your X-Men 134!"

Cassandra Delphia "Cassie Dare" "Cassie" Henderson is wild, dangerous... insubordinate... Right here, folks. right here.

Cassie was in her room, dancing to Killer Queen by Queen from her boombox.

She had a love for the band that she shared with her father along with The Velvet Underground and Doctor Who and Bentleys and music. Her auburn hair bounced as she spun, dressed only in underwear and a long Queen shirt, and then... she gasped in pain as a headache formed as if she were trying to remember but worse, it was like something had happened elsewhere yet it still affected her, she stumbled back into her drawer, holding herself up with her elbows.

Her memory flashed images of children in hospital gowns dead with blood around them, blood ran out of her nose heavily which made her hand fly up to it, "Shit!" The images stopped as her knees buckled inwards and she fell down, grasping a hand to her head as she could hear a ringing sound in her ears until she heard a voice that grounded her.

A scream somewhat resembling a pterodactyl scream that told her that her little brother was home. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

"I'LL TAKE YOUR X-MEN 134!" She heard Will Byer shout.

Dustin often forgot his key and as she had predicted there was a loud, furious, and rapid knocking at the front door screaming at the top of his lungs as if Dustin had been locked out for five hours, rather than five seconds, "CASSIE! OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR BEFORE I FREEZE MY ASS OUT HERE! IT'S FUCKING FREEZING OUT HERE!" She unlocked the door before the neighbors started yelling at them for Dustin to shut up... again and threaten to call the police... again and actually call the police... again. Even without her brother's antics, her family was not the most loved in Hawkins due to her father. The auburn traumatized girl let her curly-haired brother in. "I lost my X-Men 134!" He complained.

"Yes, I think the whole neighborhood heard. Actually, I think all of Indiana and maybe some of Russia heard." She deadpanned as she shut and locked the door. "You hungry?"

"Nah, we ate pizza. I tried to offer Nancy some but she's a jerk now. Night, Cassie!" Dustin went into his room.

Cassie loved her brother more than anything, she had been four when he was born, and he immediately became the most important thing in her life for the rest of her life. She went to go to bed with the usual nightmares of the bloody corpses of those children.

In the morning, the phone rang and she got up from the table to answer. "Hello? You've reached the Henderson Household. This is Cassie Dare speaking." She said.

"Hi, Cassie. It's Joyce." Came Joyce's hoarse and worried voice.

"Hi, Joyce. Um, did you need something?" She asked into the phone.

"Will didn't happen to spend the night at your house, did he?" Joyce's voice asked nervously.

"Will? N-no. I heard him go by our house last night." Cassie said, getting a bad feeling in her chest. "Is-is he not home? Do you need me to come over?"

"No, I think maybe he just left early for-for school." Joyce stammered, "Thank you so much. Bye."

"Bye..." Then Joyce hung up and Cassie started to bite her lip as anxiety started in her. Will had been like a brother to her when she and Jonathan became best friends and more so when Dustin and he became friends. Will had actually been the one to bring Dustin into the party.

The boys biked their way to school as Mike informed them that Joyce, Will's mother called. Will wasn't there.

"His mom's probably right." Lucas reasoned, "he probably just went to class early."

"Yeah, he's always paranoid Gursky's gonna give him another pop quiz." Dustin said.

"How's Cassie?" Mike asked.

"Tried to pretend she didn't spend the night having nightmares." Dustin sighed, he had left earlier than her since she had a car and her driving honestly terrified him.

"Again?" Lucas asked.

"Give her a break, she was hospitalized by mysterious lab for three weeks." Dustin snapped at Lucas, "cooler than anything your sister's done, all she does is sass. Cassie is legitimately traumatized."

"How?" Lucas scoffed.

"DON'T YOU DARE BELITTLE HER TRAUMA!" Dustin suddenly scream, pointing his finger at a bewildered Lucas who was looking at him like, idiot!

"She tell you what it was about?" Mike asked, moving past this.

"No. I don't think she remembered but when I got to her room at two in the monring, she was nearly doubled over in pain from a migraine." Dustin said but before the boys could ask about it they were interrupted.

"Step right up, ladies and gentlemen." Troy, a fourteen-year-old bully exclaimed. "Step right up and get your tickets for the freak show. Who do you think would make more money in a freak show? Midnight, Frogface, or Toothless."

James pretended to think about it but let's be honest he had like two brain cells. If he actually did try to think, it'd probably cause him great exertion.

"I'd go with Toothless." He said, mimicking Dustin's lisp.

"Added bonus for his freak of a sister and your flamboyant father," Troy laughed.

"She is not a freak! She has genuine shock and trauma!" Dustin defended his sister, being as protective of her as she was of him, he also ignored the jab at his father, "And I've told you a million times, my teeth are coming in. It's called cleidocranial dysplasia."

"I told you a million times." James mocked.

"Do the arm thing," Troy demanded

"Do it, freak!" James demanded when Dustin hesitated, exasperatedly.

Dustin did the arm thing, pushing his shoulders moving forwards, being unusually close and his bones cracking, and the bullies groaned in delighted disgust.

"Gets me every time," Troy said and they pushed past the boys.

"You know maybe I should tell Cassie about them," Dustin said. "She'd kick their asses for that.”

"I think it's kind of cool." Mike tried to cheer Dustin up, "it's like you have superpowers or something. Like Mister Fantastic."

"Yeah, except I can't fight evil with it," Dustin said as the boy headed inside. "The best I got is a traumatized sister who thinks she's modern female Robin Hood."

"Wouldn't that still just be Robin Hood?" Mike asked.

Ignoring the anxiety that Joyce had given her, Cassie drove her father's Bentley, blaring Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. She was trying to drown out noises she kept hearing panicked breathing, screaming, whimpering, electricity sparking, thudding, and then bones cracking.

"Get the intruder!"

"No..." A young girl's voice said with the clear intent to protect.

She suddenly pulled herself back to reality when a horn honked and Cassie remembered, oh my god, I'm driving! She shook her head to find that miraculously she hadn't crashed but nearly did because she was at the turn, she turned into the high school parking lot. She could’ve changed so many lives, she shouldn’t even be driving, she was fifteen, granted her birthday was in a few days but still.

She had been sitting in her car in the High School parking for a full ten minutes, just staring at her left hand that clutched her steering wheel, tightly as she stared at her spinner rings her dad had given to her when her hyperactive symptoms started to appear. She had a mental disorder that was passed down from her father that made her naturally hyperactive and absent-minded, spinning her spin rings helped her focus somewhat. She had a large collection of spinner rings that changed along with her clothes everyday. Today, she had a ring with engravings of flowers and leaves and over it was a snake with a sodalite gem attached to it, a shooting star spinner ring, another snake spinner ring, a crown spinner ring, and yet another snake spinner ring.

Behind her eyes, she saw those children and then blood.

"Do not... worry..." A girl's voice said, softly.

Then she saw her father sobbing again, she remembered the days that followed, his ambition to find out what happened had been replaced by deep depression as he drank himself to oblivion and became very clingy of his daughter as if he were afraid someone was going to take her away from her.

Slam! Cassie jumped when Steve Harrington slammed his hand, cheerfully on the hood of her car. "Hey, Henderson!" She looked at him and the panic faded from her brown eyes. His brown eyes furrowed with worry, "You okay?"

She put on a fake smile, her mask, but Steve had always been able to see through it. He gave her a look, "Cassie."

She got out of her car and closed it and looked at him, "I'm fine, Steve."

He wasn't buying it, so he cupped her face, making her breath hitch in her throat, "Cassandra, you can tell me anything, you know that, right?" His King Steve façade cracked and her Steve shined through. The Steve she loved.

"Yeah, of course." She cleared her throat and stepped back , "Don't you have a note to put in Nancy's locker." She moved past him and he watched her leave.

"Right, Nancy." He whispered to himself.

She turned as she walked backwards, "And don't call me Cassandra, Harrington."

"Whatever you say, Henderson."

She stopped half-way across the parking lot and looked at the middle school. She could see Dustin, Lucas, and Mike talking to two older boys. She could spot her brother from a mile away, only one person in Hawkins had hair like that... but no Will. Something didn't feel right. She tilted her head, what was Dustin doing? The boys walked away and then Dustin was shouting at Lucas.

She was brought back to reality when a car honked and she looked to see Tommy H. and Carol in Tommy's car or as Cassie called it: The Douche-Mobile.

"MOVE, BITCH!" Carol shouted at her as Tommy H. gave her the middle finger as if she were the constant annoyance just for existing (none the less every time she opened her mouth).

She gave him a false smile and flipped them off with both her hands before walking to the school as Steve's gaze lingered on her.

She caught up with Barb and Nancy as Barb asked the dreamy teen, "So, did he call?"

"Keep your voice down," Nancy said as if she thought people were trying to overhear. Like they weren't totally invested in their lives up until the next scandal broke to distract themselves from said lives.

"Did he?" Barb asked.

"I told you. It's not like that. Okay, I mean yes, he likes me, but not like that." She said, clearly just wanting to overcomplicate things for drama sakes as Cassie rolled her eyes and pointed into her mouth, miming retching but neither girl noticed it.

"Or you could just be his next notch under his belt." Cassie said, bluntly, making Nancy's dreamy smile falter.

She stopped when they reached her locker and she started to unlock it, "we just... made out a couple times."

"'We just... made out a couple times.'" Barb mocked as Cassie rolled her eyes once out of Nancy's sight, "Nance, seriously, you're gonna be so cool now, it's ridiculous."

"No, I'm not." Nancy said, modestly but she fully agreed with her and it was already starting to go to her head, making Cassie want to bang her head against the locket door.

"You better still hang out with me, that's all I'm saying. If you become friends with Tommy H. or Carol—"

"Oh gross." Nancy scoffed.

"Back me up here, Cass," Barb said, nudging the brunette back to reality.

"Oh yeah, Carol and Tommy are total jackasses." She nodded and then pointed at Nancy, nearly hitting her in the nose as the blue-eyed girl crossed her eyes to look at it. "You become like them, and I will hurt you. Slowly and painfully. And then I bury your body and nobody will find it." She gave Nancy a sweet but psychopathic smile.

This was considered normal for Cassie Dare Henderson.

"Speak of the devil," Barb hummed, nodding past them.

Cassie then turned to see Steve leaning against his locker looking at her—no, looking at Nancy, surely, he had been looking at Nancy. Steve blushed when he saw that she was looking at him and then walked away.

Steve hadn't been looking at Nancy, he had meant to but got distracted by his beautiful best friend. Cassie had light brown hair that was just one the cusp between brunette and auburn, today it was in a half-fishtail braid, she was wearing a gold and black shirt with a clock on it and an Alice in Wonderland quote on it: "The hurrier I go, the behinder I get", a gold and black plaid skirt, black tights, and black boots with gold buckles.

Steve hadn't been looking at Nancy, he had meant to but got distracted by his beautiful best friend. Cassie had light brown hair that was just one the cusp between brunette and auburn, today it was in a half-fishtail braid, she was wearing a black hooded leather jacket over a bronze and black shirt that said: "Something wicked this way comes" with a skull with a knife in it under the writing, a bronze and black plaid skirt, black ripped tights, and black boots with bronze buckles. She wore colorful mixtape ear cuffs that didn't quite match her outfit but she considered another shout-out to her father other than the crown and snake spinner rings.

Then Cassie turned and saw him, he flinched, standing up straight and blushing, embarrassed to be caught staring at his best friend who then waved at him in a friendly manner.

WAVE! SMILE! DO SOMETHING, YOU IDIOT! He mentally screamed at himself, instead of doing either of those things, he stiffly turned and headed for the bathroom before Cassie started to brood, depressedly.

Real smooth, Harrington. His dad's overly critical voice sassed in his head.

Cassie was not popular despite her best friend being Steve Harrington, the most popular boy in school. In fact, she was the opposite, she was in Hellfire club with Eddie "the freak" Munson, and she dressed like and had the personality of a boy in the early eighties. She swore some people ran away from her.

Cassie was also painfully aware that her and Steve's relationship had been becoming increasingly strained with every year since he entered high school when he first became popular when he started to get tall and confident which coincided around when he adopted his douchebag attitude.

He started hanging out with the likes of Tommy H. and Carol who were the most toxic people she had ever had the displeasure of meeting in her entire almost-sixteen years of life. Literally thirty seconds after Steve introduced them, Cassie wanted nothing more than to punch them in the face until she heard something break.

She couldn't help but think that his popularity was more important than her. She honestly didn't see why he didn't break it off with her already, considering that Tommy H., Carol, Nicole, and the other sheep whose names Cassie had absolutely no interest in even attempting on learning, have straight up outright told her that if it wasn't for her, Steve would be even more popular.

She couldn't help but think that his popularity was more important than her but she couldn't bring herself to break it off. He was too important to her. Part of her was convinced the only reason he wasn't breaking up their friendship was because he felt sorry for her.

"Are you okay?" Nancy asked, noticing that Cassie seemed a bit distracted. Well, more so than usual.

"Did Joyce call your place?" She asked her.

"What do you mean?" Nancy asked, frowning at this seemingly random question and how they weren't talking about her love life anymore, because heaven forbid, her nonexistent love life and social status not be the only subject of importance.

"She called asking about Will. I guess he didn't come home last night." She confessed.

"She did call but I'm sure he's fine." Nancy shrugged. "Nothing ever really happens here..." She caught herself and looked at Cassie who just stared at her blankly for a long, long time. This went on for a while. With Cassie living Nancy a scathing, scrutinizing glare as Nancy awkwardly avoided eye contact, uncomfortable.

"So when are you going out with Steve again?" Barb asked, bringing them back to the original subject.

"I'm telling you guys, it was a one-time..." Barb gave her a look as Nancy opened her locker, "two-time thing." Nancy picked up a note in her locker with messy scribbling that Cassie recognized as her best friend's. There was deep jealousy brewing in her but she kept it quiet, which was rare for a Henderson. Her friendship with Steve and Nancy was too important to her.

"You were saying?" Barb asked.

Steve pushed Nancy against the bathroom wall as they made out before trailing his kisses to her jaw.

"Steve..." Nancy breathed.

"Hmm?" He hummed, distractedly.

"I need to go."

"In a minute." He mumbled against her skin.

The bell rang and Nancy glanced at her watch when Steve went back to her lips. "Steve... I really, like... Seriously, I have to go." Nancy said in between kisses before finally pulling away.

"Wait, wait, wait." Steve said, picking up her bookbag before she could and stepping to the other side of the bathroom. "Let's... let's do something tonight, yeah?"

"Uh... I can't. I have to study for Kaminsky's test."

"Right. Cassie told me." He nodded, the beautiful smile of his best friend flashing behind his eyes before directing his attention back to the genius brunette in front of him, mentally scolding himself. "Come on, what's your GPA again? Three-point-nine-nine-nine."

"Kaminsky's tests are impossible." Nancy said, reaching for her bookbag.

"Well, then just let me help." Steve tried, continuing to keep the bookbag away from her, teasingly.

"You failed chem." Nancy remembered as Cassie had told her.

"Damn it, Cassie." Steve cursed before during his charisma back on, "I got a C-minus."

"Well, in that case..." Nancy teased.

"So I'll be over around, say, like eight?" Steve suggested.

"Are you crazy? My mom would not—" Nancy protested.

"I'll climb through your window. She won't even know I'm there. I'm stealthy, like a ninja." Steve said, knowing if Cassie was there, she'd laugh loudly at this. While they had always been "partners in crime", Cassie was the stealthier one while he was always the clumsy one who she always took the fall for so he would not get in trouble with his much more strict yet more neglectful parents and as per her rebel morals passed down to her from her father.

"You are crazy." Nancy said.

"Come on, Cassie and I sneak into places all the time."

"You nearly get arrested every time." Nancy reminded him and tried to walk past him.

"Damn it, Cassie." He cursed and turned to her, "Wait, wait, wait. Just... okay, forget about that. We can just... we can just, like, chill in my car."

"Oh, yeah, who was the last girl you did that with?" Nancy asked, teasing but Steve answered seriously.

"Cassie." Steve said with genuine honesty and innocence, before changing the subject before Nancy asked him about his relationship with Cassie as he could tell she was about to do. Most girls were put off from his more than close relationship with Cassie, in fact he spent more time than necessary convincing girls that they weren't dating, no matter how much he wanted to. "We can find a nice quiet place to park, and..."

"Steve... I have to study. I'm not kidding." Nancy said, seriously.

"Well, why do you think I want it to be nice and quiet?" He said, allowing his true self to shine through just a little bit but it was still closed off as he was playing it off as charismatic.

Nancy smiled, "you're an idiot, Steve Harrington." She turned to leave but turned around at the last moment, "meet me at Dearborn and Maple at eight. To study." Then she left.

Steve smiled as the bell rang and he picked up his bookbag and sighed, "I gotta talk to Cassie about keeping my reputation in tact." He mumbled to himself and walked off, ignoring how just saying her name made him smile.

Cassie had homeroom with Jonathan but when she got there, he wasn't there. No Will. No Jonathan. A worried Joyce. Not a good mix. It was like when she had first come back from being missing and there were still hints of the anxiety it had caused Pan.

"Cassie?" Barb asked as Nancy came in. "You okay?

Cassie shook her head, faked a smile, and said, "Yeah. I'm fine."

Throughout the entire school day, she had this constant nagging feeling that something was wrong.

"HENDERSON!" Coach Johnson screamed in her face, practically showering her in spit and bad breath as she just gave him a bored and annoyed look like, how dare you interrupt my bored musing during your class. "Am I boring you?"

"Yeah actually." She deadpanned, making the class laugh, the only one she really registered was Steve's. "Do you mind?"

"You're doing free throws for the rest of the class!" He growled.

"Oh no. Free throws. This must be hell." She muttered, sarcastically and got up and walk at a drolly pace towards the basketballs as Steve hid his smile with his hand, watching her with loving eyes.

She spent the rest of the class, throwing basketballs into the hoop with better accuracy than Coach Johnson, Tommy H., and Carol had wanted.

"Looking good, Henderson!" Steve shouted, teasingly.

"You wish, Harrington!" She shouted back, turning to him, her braid flying as she turned to look at him. She turned but as she turned her vision flashed to seeing the basketball hit the backboard, flying back, and hitting her in the face, and then to another vision of it hitting the backboard, flying back and missing her.

Then she was back and the ball left her hands, hitting the backboard as both Steve and the vision had distracted her, it hit the backboard, bounced back, and too startled to move it smacked her in the head and knocked her down flat on her back.

Tommy H. and Carol laughed loudly as Steve cursed and ran to her side as she laid flat on the floor, sprawled out, her vision out of focus.

"Shit, Henderson!" He breathed, concernedly.

Cassie tried to lift her head, but it caused such throbbing that she dropped it, hissing in pain. She heard the girl's voice again along with her twelve-year-old voice.

"Name?"

"C-Cassie Dare."

"Come from outside?" The girl didn't seem to have a basic education given how she spoke.

"Yeah, yeah, my friend, he dared me to break in."

"Friend? What is friend?"

"And then there was this-this light and, oh shit, my head, my head hurts."

"Do not worry..."

"Cass, Cass, can you hear me?" Steve asked, frantically, pleadingly.

"Oh, my head." She groaned, sitting up and then her eyes landed on something bizarre. A ginormous snake morphing into the appearance of her father with black wings. "The fuck?"

"Shit, your nose." Steve said as Cassie felt blood rush out and when she looked back the oddity was gone.

"Gross." Tommy H. said and Steve glared at him like, I will hurt you.

"Shit, let me take you to the nurse." Steve said.

"No, you can't miss class." She groaned, her hazel eyes meeting his brown ones as she lowered her voice, "you can't afford it and you need to graduate to your senior year."

"I'll take her." Eddie Munson said, "Give me the excuse of leaving." Steve helped her up while giving Eddie a side-glare and letting him take her away as Steve continued to glare after him.

Somehow she was deemed as fine and was returned back to class. After school, she walked through the halls of the school to leave in a sort of daze but in a hurry to get to Dustin until she felt a hand land on her shoulder and she looked up, her eyes connecting with a familiar brown pair.

"Cassie?" Steve asked, concerningly. His true interior cracking through the popular douchebag exterior. "Are you okay?"

She blinked hard and shook her head and faked a smile, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Steve gave her a look like, that doesn't work on me. "Cassie, is this about... your missing time."

"Steve, I'm fine." She said, shortly at his oversensitive tone and pushed past him, somewhat coldly and ran to the middle school and she stopped when she saw a cop car there and saw Hopper and Callahan getting out.

"Shit." She muttered and ran to them. "Hopper!" She shouted, she literally hopped to a stop in front of them and said, "what's going on?"

Cassie sat with the boys as they all started talking at once, trying to explain how Will takes Mirkwood.

"Okay. Okay." Hopper tried to quiet them down.

"Boys!" Cassie shouted, and they quieted down, knowing better than to argue with her.

"Okay. One at a time, all right? You." Hopper gestured at Mike. "You said he takes what?"

"Mirkwood," Mike repeated.

"Mirkwood?" Hopper asked.

"Mirkwood." Cassie confirmed with a head nod and a casual one-shoulder shrug.

"Have you ever heard of Mirkwood?" Hopper asked Callahan.

"I have not. That sounds made up to me." Callahan told him.

"All words are made up." Cassie pointed out in a deadpan tone—the kind she usually had when dealing with Callahan as she gave him a smug smile.

"No, it's from Lord of the Rings," Lucas explained.

"Well, The Hobbit." The Henderson siblings said in unison.

"It doesn't matter." Lucas snapped.

"He asked!" Dustin argued.

"'He asked'!" Lucas mocked.

"Shut the hell up, Lucas!" Cassie argued as their voices started to overlap again.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Hopper spoke above them, "What'd I just say? One at a damn time." They quieted down as the Henderson siblings crossed their arms in an identical pouty manner. He then pointed at Cassie as she was the oldest. "You. What is Mirkwood?"

Cassie un-pouted and explained, "Mirkwood, it's a real road. It's just the name that's made up. It's where Cornwallis and Kerley meet."

"Yeah, all right, I think I know that—" Hopper mumbled to Callahan.

"We can show you if you want." Cassie offered, "My car's just across the street."

"I said that I know it!" Hopper said with an exasperated tone.

"But we can help look." Cassie said and she and the boys started to agree all at once, eager to find their friend.

"No, after school, you are all to go home. Immediately." Hopper demanded, "That means no biking around, looking for your friend, no investigating, no nonsense. This isn't some Lord of the Rings book."

"The Hobbit." Dustin corrected.

"Shut up!" Lucas said went to smack him, but Cassie grabbed his arm in a tight grip and glared at him with a death glare he was all but too familiar with, like, if you want to keep that hand, you better rethink that move, Ranger Lucas with the mere weapon of a slingshot?

"Hey, let him go." Hopper said, and Cassie let go as Lucas pulled his arm back. "Do I make myself clear?" Hopper stood up and then repeated, "Do I make myself... clear?"

The boys mumbled in confirmation while Cassie gave him a sarcastic thumbs up and smile before flipping her hand and giving him the finger with a very fake, sarcastic smile.

Cassie went back to the school to inform the principal why Jonathan won't be coming to his classes the next few days, she informed Dustin to wait in the car and if he wasn't when she got back she would hunt him down and drag him home by tying him to the top of her Bentley to which he gave her the middle finger. One could only imagine what it would be like when he entered high school with her.

That was often a thought that Steve had and hoped he wouldn't be held back to be around that all the time.

She walked out of the office when she heard footsteps approaching at a fast pace.

She spun around, an instinct of fear shooting through her, only to see that it was Steve approaching her, "Steve, what are you still doing here?"

"Basketball practice. Where were you?" He asked, frowning in concern hoping their little spat hadn’t made her mad at him.

She looked around, slightly overwhelmed at the moment as she stammered, simultaneously trying to answer Steve, "I, uh... um... I..."

"Oh, hey, Cass." He said, gently, walking to her and grasping her shoulder and cheek gently. “You can tell me anything; I’ll always be here for you.” His touch made her feel like all her anxieties just melted away as her eyes met his.

"Will's missing." She said, Steve looked at her, trying to remember who Will was, "Will Byers? Jonathan Byers' brother."

Only then it seemed to click. "Oh, well, I'm sure he's fine. Is Dustin okay? Are you okay?" Her heart warmed at his genuine concern.

"We're dealing." She managed a smile, but he saw right through that. He always had that talent; he knew when she was lying.

"You know if you need to talk..."

"Why would I?" She interrupted, defensively, giving him an icy look.

"Well, you know... It's just... the last time someone went missing..." He stammered.

"Yeah, well I'm fine now, aren't I?" She said, sharply, "I gotta go drive Dustin home, he's in the car and you know how impatient he is."

"Yeah." Steve didn't spend much time with Dustin but knew he could be very impatient.

They walked out and he said, "Hey, maybe we could do a movie night, say tomorrow? Maybe a double-feature. Maybe, Halloween and Psycho? And uh, that new horror movie will be coming out the eighteenth? Sleepaway Camp."

"I-I heard that it's problematic." Cassie noted, shifting her eyes away from Steve uncomfortably.

"From who?"

"My dad." She said, she didn't discuss her dad too much due to... situations. "So, Psycho for the psycho." She teased.

"No. Of course not. I don't think you're..." Steve became both flustered and blushed.

"Cool it, Steve." She pushed him, playfully, "I was just teasing."

"CASSIE! STOP FLIRTING WITH THAT HARRINGTON DOUCHEBAG AND GET YOUR ASS BACK IN THE CAR BEFORE I DRIVE MYSELF HOME!" A pterodactyl-sounding voice screamed that could only be her little brother as her car horn honked longer than necessary.

Cassie closed her eyes in embarrassment as her cheeks burned and reddened as Steve rubbed the back of his neck and muttered a goodbye to Steve and ran to the car, "I'm going to kill you!" She shouted at him and she saw Dustin in the driver's seat, "MOVE YOUR ASS!" She pushed him to the passenger's seat with her cheeks burning with embarrassment.

"The only way I could drive worse than you is if I made the car explode." He shouted back at her.

"You be quiet before I tie you to the roof! We're going straight home!" She shouted, pointing at him as Steve watched from the distance, still embarrassed.

"Why because I embarrassed you in front of Steve!" Dustin said, loudly—no, scratched that—screamed very loudly.

"Shut up!" Cassie hissed and got into the car and slammed the door and drove off, speeding past Steve with her cheeks flaring; she blinked her eyes and took some deep breaths, mentally cursing her younger brother as he loudly and verbally cursed her driving.

Steve watched her Bentley speed off and he sighed, smiling slightly before heading to his own car.

At the Wheeler house, Nancy had little to no sympathy to what was going on with Will's disappearance.

"We should be out there right now. We should be helping look for him." Mike begged.

"We've been over this, Mike. The chief says—" Karen Wheeler started.

"I don't care what the chief said!" Mike snapped.

"Michael!" Karen scolded.

"We have to do something. Will could be in danger."

"Cassie wasn't." Ted said, distractedly and Nancy finally looked up. Apparently being emotionally checked out was a family trait.

"She was exposed to dangerous chemicals and was hospital-bound for three weeks, dad!" Mike shouted at his father. "I'd call that 'in danger'!"

Karen didn't scold her son that time as she agreed with him but she turned to her son and said, "more reason to stay put."

"Mom!" Mike whined.

"End of discussion." Karen said, sternly. She looked at her husband who was about as useful in parenting as the drink he was drinking now.

Nancy decided that now was the best time to ask, trying to lie her way out of the house, for the very first time, "So... me and Barb are gonna study at her house tonight. That's cool, right?" Though she wasn't really looking for a "no".

"No, not cool."

"What? Why not?" Nancy demanded as if she couldn't possibly fathom why because it wasn't like a boy she had known for more than half her life was missing or anything.

"Why do you think?" Karen asked, "Am I speaking Chinese in this house? Until we know Will is okay, no one leaves."

The look on Nancy's face would make you think that it was the end of the world. "This is such bullshit!" Nancy cursed.

"Language." Ted scolded.

"So we're under house arrest?" Nancy scoffed, ignoring her father. "Just because Mike's friend got lose on the way home from..."

"Wait, this is Will's fault?" Mike scoffed at his sister.

"Nancy, take that back." Karen demanded.

"No!" Nancy said like she didn't think she was out of line. If Cassie were here, Nancy would have a broken nose.

"You're just pissed off 'cause you wanna hang out with Steve." Mike correctly accused.

Nancy glared at her brother, knowing that Cassie or Dustin most likely told Mike.

"Steve?" Her father asked.

"Steve who?" Karen asked.

"Steve Harrington, her new boyfriend!" Mike answered.

"You are such a douchebag, Mike!" Nancy whined like this was honestly the worst thing that had ever happened to her.

"Language!" Ted scolded.

"More of a douchebag than dating your best friend's boy?" Mike spat back. Anyone with eyes could tell that Steve and Cassie were in love with each other, guess Nancy was just stupid.

Nancy just scoffed and stormed off. "Nancy, come back." Karen called but Nancy ignored her, "come back!" She turned to her youngest, Holly, "it's okay. It's okay, Holly. Here, have some juice."

"You see, Michael? You see what happens?" Ted asked though no one knew to what he was referring to as it felt like he trailed off mid-sentence.

"WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WHAT!?" Mike shouted, "I'm the only one acting normal here! I'm the only one that cares about Will!"

Karen looked at her husband as he vaguely responded, "that is really unfair, son. We care." He couldn't even care enough to stop eating.

Mike slammed his hands down and stormed off.

"Mike!" Karen called.

"Let him go." Ted said.

Karen turned, glaring at her husband, "I hope you're enjoying your chicken, Ted." She snapped.

"What did I do?" Ted asked as Karen picked up Holly and stormed off. "What did I do!?" Grade-A parenting, Ted.

Cassie was on her bed, talking to her father on her Tardis table phone and for some reason she wanted to break Nancy Wheeler's nose for being a bitch.

"No, daddy, no one's seen him." She shook her head.

"Do you need me to drive down?" He asked, concernedly, fearing that Will’s disappearance may have had something to do with what he had found out and feared for his children’s lives.

"No, I don't think mom would appreciate that." He said.

"Right, because I cheated on her." He said, not loving what he had done.

"That and she doesn't exactly approve of your... life choices." Cassie rolled her eyes and then her walkie-talkie crackled to life with static. "One sec, dad." She rested the phone against her shoulder.

"Dustin, do you copy? Over." Mike's voice said.

"Yeah, I copy. Over." Her little brother's voice said.

"We're heading over to Mirkwood to look for Will. Over."

"Are you crazy? What if we get vanished too? Over."

"Don't be a baby!" Lucas said.

Out of all of her brother's friends, Lucas got on her nerves the most which how critical and skeptical he was.

"We are looking for Will. Period. He'd do the same for us. Over."

"Fine." Dustin groaned.

"Uh, daddy, I gotta make sure Dustin doesn't get vanished."

"Ri-right, be safe. I love you." Pan said, knowing that Cassie could defend herself given that he taught her to the best of his abilities.

"Love you too. Bye." She said and hung up the phone and picked up the walkie-talkie and said, "Did you boys actually think you could get away with this?"

"We've been caught!" Mike panicked, "Retreat! Retreat!"

"I'm coming with you all." She said. "Over."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not letting my little brother get vanished." She said, sternly. "I don't remember much of what it was like to be vanished but I know it wasn't fun." There was silence she knew they were cursing at her, she could hear Dustin's curses through the wall, "Yeah. I played the 'went missing' card. Now get over it, you little shits."

She pulled her blue raincoat and blue beanie and grabbed two of her pocketknives and two of her guns that her father had gotten her as he had taught her how to defend herself from a young age. She went to Dustin's room to find him halfway out the window.

"Uh..." He said, looking at her.

"Need some help there, buddy?" She teased and went to help him.

"Shouldn't you be telling to stay home, like a responsible older sister?" Dustin asked, not sure if he should be upset about this or not.

Cassie stared at him for a full ten seconds before breaking into laughter at this, "I am not a responsible older sister. I have a record. I have more pocketknives, guns, and other weapons than you could imagine." Then she gestured with her hand, "let's go." She walked out his room.

"Are you a secret psychopath?" Dustin asked before following but she didn't answer.

In Indianapolis, Pan stared at his phone (identical to his daughter's) for a long, long time as he bounced his leg with his hand tugging at his auburn hair but falling over his face. He hit the back of his head against the chair.

“Pan?” His bedmate for the night called, a woman named Sally or Sandy or something.

“Uh, rain check, darling. Don’t think I’m in the mood for tonight.” He called back to her and looked back at the phone. He murmured out, “Jesus, Cassie. What are you getting yourself into?"

The things he learned that night still haunted him but what haunted him even more was that he just left his children there, unaware. He and Dustin weren’t as close as he was to Cassie, but he still loved them. The most terrifying thing to him was something happening to either of them.

“Please.” He murmured, praying to whatever could be listening, “please, just let them be safe. Keep them safe. At least, give me that.”

She picked the boys up despite their protests only agreeing after she said threatened the run them over which they knew was a real possibility because she was not a good driver.

"You don't even have a driver's license!" Dustin shouted when she drove off from picking up Lucas.

"I turn sixteen in four days!" She shouted back at him as Lucas rolled his eyes.

When she picked up Mike, she heard a small noise and turned to see Steve trying to climb up the house to get to Nancy's window. He looked at them innocently, trying to play cool, like this was a totally normal thing to do and Mike rolled his eyes. Cassie stared at him for a long, long time before pushing Mike into the car, which triggered Dustin to complain loudly which entailed a long string of loud curse words.

She walked backwards to the front of her car, still looking at Steve who gave her an awkward wave. Anger stewed in her and she felt ashamed for feeling that way. She just gave him the middle finger and slid into the driver's seat and drove off as Steve blinked in confusion at her harshness.

Steve watched her until her car was gone before continuing to noisily climb up the house to Nancy's room. He tapped on her window, still thinking about Cassie. Nancy looked at him and he gestured for her to let him in.

"What are you doing here?" She whispered, "I told you on the phone I'm under house arrest now." Apparently, she still felt no guilt over blaming Will for disrupting her social life.

"I figured we'd just study here." Steve shrugged.

"No. No way." Nancy hissed.

"Oh, come on. I can't have you failing this test." Steve said and clumsily and nosily climbed in as he continued to speak, "so just... bear with me." The window rattled, "oh shit, shit, shit." He turned to Nancy, "what'd I tell you? Ninja."

"I thought you and Cass were 'partners-in-crime'." Nancy narrowed her eyes at him.

"If I'm being perfectly honest, she does most of the breaking and entering." Steve said and he flashed back to that dare and how terrible he had felt. How bad he still felt. She had almost died because of him.

"Steve?" Nancy asked, noticing the distant look in his eyes.

"I'm fine. She's fine now." He muttered and then gestured to her notecards, "so... studying?"

The party plus Cassie finally got to Mirkwood with the boys complaining about Cassie's driving. "I think my entire life just flashed before my eyes." Dustin groaned as he got out of the car. He hated his sister's driving.

Cassie rolled her eyes as she got out, she took her brother's hat, put it on her head and ruffled his hair. "Drama Queen." She said.

"You guys, you feel that?" Dustin said, looking up at the sky and a raindrop fell in his face, making him blink and Cassie smiled at how adorable her brother was. "I think maybe we should go back."

"No. We're not going back. Just stay close." Mike said, "come on. Just stay on channel six. Don't do anything stupid."

"Yeah, Lucas!" Cassie said and they headed into the woods, making Lucas scoff.

"Give me that back!" Dustin whined about his hat. "Hey guys, wait up!"

"Which polymers occur naturally?" Steve read.

Nancy looked up to remember, "starch and cellulous."

Steve turned to the next card, "In a molecule of CH4, the hydrogen atoms are spatially oriented towards the centers of—" Steve read these, not having any clue to what he was reading.

"Tetrahedrons." Nancy said.

"Wow. Jesus, how many of these did you make?" He asked, flipping through them.

"You said you wanted to help." Nancy told him.

"Not even Cass is this thorough." Steve said.

"Yeah, well, Cass kind of lives in her own world." Nancy shrugged and Steve's eyes darted up and he just looked at her, trying to decide whether or not she was being mean. Everyone in Hawkins High knew how protective Steve Harrington was of Cassie Dare Henderson. Jason Carver once called her "Patient Zero" and Steve threw a basketball in his face which made Cassie burst into laughter. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah," Steve moved on from the subject of his best friend before, "how about this? How about... how about every time that you get something right, I have to take off an item of clothing. But every time that you get something wrong..."

"Uh, pass." Nancy scoffed.

"Oh, come on." Steve teased, "come on."

"No."

"Come on, it'll be fun."

"No."

"During fractional distillation, hydrocarbons are separated according to their..."

"Melting point." Nancy said, matter-of-factly.

Steve flipped the card, "ooh, it's boiling points."

"That's what I meant."

"Yeah, that's not what you said." Steve teased and played with his collar.

"No." Nancy said.

"No?" Steve asked, playfully and sat up, leaning towards her, "oh, do you need... you do you need help?"

"No." Nancy said before Steve kissed her as Africa by Toto played in the background. Nancy laid back and Steve leaned over her, the kiss got more heated when Nancy broke the kiss, "Steve. Steve, come on."

"What?"

"Are you crazy? My parents are here." Nancy said, because that's where she drew the line, not blaming the disappearance of a twelve-year-old on the pause of her nonexistent social life.

Steve playfully looked around the room, "that's weird. I... don't see them." He said, sarcastically and he kissed her again as Nancy sat up, breaking it.

"Was this your plan all along?" She accused, "to-to get in my room and then..." She thought back to Cassie’s words, "get another notch under your belt."

"No. Nancy, no." He sighed, understanding why she would think this. He had a reputation for sleeping with girls, though the only girl he had ever slept with was Cassie and that was in a platonic way, though not so platonic in his head but neither Cassie nor Nancy needed to know that.

"I'm not Laurie, or Amy, or Becky."

"You mean, you're not a slut." Steve said.

"That's not what I'm saying." Nancy lied, shaking her head.

"You know you're so cute when you're lying." Steve smiled. "But you're no Cassie Dare Henderson when it comes to lying."

"Shut up."

Steve picked up a teddy bear and spoke in a toy voice, "Bad Steve. Bad. Don't do that to Miss Nancy..."

"You're an idiot, Steve Harrington."

"And you are beautiful, Nancy Wheeler." Steve said and went back to reading cards before she interrupted.

"Did you ever do this with Cassie?" Nancy asked suddenly and Steve faltered, he knew that this had to be coming. Ever since Cassie entered high school and everyone could see that they were closer than the average pair of best friends, he spent most of his time trying to convince people that they weren’t dating, no matter how much he wanted to be.

"Nance, Cass and I are just friends. Best friends." He said, not looking up.

"Not every guy's best friend is a girl." Nancy pointed out.

"She's not like other girls." Steve replied, almost wistfully but in a way that told Nancy he was done talking about his relationship with Cassie for the night.

About ten minutes later, it was pouring and Cassie suddenly heard a ringing sound. She stopped and stared around in complete bewilderment.

"Hello?" She heard Joyce's voice say. That's odd. She could hear kind of static. "Lonnie? Hopper? Who is this?" She heard the static fade to a breathing sound. "Will?" A sign of a true mother. "Will?" She heard an odd chittering and she froze. She could hear Joyce sobbing, "Who is this? What have you done to my boy? Give me back my son!" Then she screamed and it stopped.

"CASSIE!" Dustin screamed, shaking his sister. She inhaled sharply, looking at her worried brother. "Did you have an episode?"

"Yeah, I definitely had an episode of something." She said, nodding slightly before continuing without another word.

"Cass! You can't just have an episode and then walk off!" Dustin shouted, marching after her.

A little bit later, "WILL! WILL!"

"BYERS!"

"I GOT YOUR X-MEN 134!" Dustin shouted then he turned to the group, "Guys, I really think we should turn back."

"Seriously, Dustin. You wanna be a baby, then go home already!" Lucas snapped.

Cassie yelled, "BOO!" in Lucas' ear making him yelp and jump away. "Who's the baby now, huh?"

"Not funny!" He snapped, embarrassed.

"I'm just being realistic, Lucas!" Dustin said.

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

This was why Cassie couldn't babysit both Dustin and Lucas anymore because Lucas kept on insulting Dustin which was a very good way to get yourself hurt.

She took a deep breath and reminded herself that Lucas was just the logical one and in a somewhat emotional state which was likely making him irritable and fussy.

"Did you ever think Will went missing because he ran into something bad?" Dustin asked, "and we're going to the exact same spot where he was last seen? And we have no weapons or anything?"

"Um, hello. Gun." Cassie said and waved her gun around.

"Whoa. Lucas shouted in alarm.

"Cassie! You can't just wave around a gun like that!" Dustin screamed.

Cassie was going to retort when she and Mike heard something.

"Dustin, shut up!" Mike said.

"I'm just saying, does that seem smart to you?" He asked.

"Dustin, shush." Cassie shushed, initally waving the gun haphhazardly at them, making them all squack and duck before holding it much more carefully as she slowly moved closer to the noise.

"Do you guys hear that?" Mike asked.

The boys their lights in the direction of the rustling, revealing a girl around the boys' age with a shaved head, wearing a Benny's t-shirt that was sopping wet. She was terrified and looked like she was going to start crying.

Cassie's mind flashed back to her missing time to a girl with a shaved head.

"Do not worry. I will help."

Cassie didn't miss a beat, she took her raincoat off and gave it to the girl.

"Here, come with us. We'll get you some dry clothes." She said, softly. The girl was hesitant so Cassie crouched in front of her, giving her a kind smile with kindness in her hazel eyes that was near foreign to the girl, "Hey, you're safe now."

But it wasn't her own safety the girl was worried about.

*Anyone catch the John Mulaney reference?*

*This story may veer away from Life is Strange because I keep wanting to have a story with precognition through hallucinations like another Steve Harrington x Henderson!OC story I read, "Alice the Amazing" but I don't want to copy.*

*Does anyone want me to add a gif of Thor using the quote that Cassie uses: "All words are made up."?*

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