Lover boy[s] // Will Byers

-chapter el-

Sev gulped, turning around quickly, but Argyle and Eden were no longer on the staircase making goo-goo eyes at each other. "H-hey Zombie boy?"

Cornelius must have turned the power off again, because the room darkened, like a cloud had passed over the sun outside. Sev wiped his sweaty hands on his dark jeans, chest tight with fear. He stumbled up the stairs and into Suzie's bedroom, which was dark as well. "Guys?"

The clock chimed again. Four times.

Sev's shoes sunk into the carpet, and he opened the door again, which creaked loudly, not drowning out the loud sounds of the grandfather clock in the hallway. He peeked out, seeing it in the centre of the long hallway still, but it was facing him. It had turned around. The golden part in the middle swung from side to side slowly, almost menacingly.

"Will? Johnathon? Where is everyone!" Sev cried out, spinning in a slow circle, gaze flitting around the empty house. It shouldn't be this empty, it was full of yelling kids and clattering only moments before. "Is anyone there?" He asked quietly, voice cracking. No one answered.

Sev jumped a little, opening his eyes with a start and sucking in a sharp breath. He rubbed his eyes, head still pounding, and looked around in confusion. Where was the clock?

The odd darkness of the hallway was gone, and someone screamed out about death and blood from downstairs. The prickly feeling underneath his skin hadn't faded, but he felt more grounded. Sev ran a hand through his hair, gulping. He walked forwards, realising he was back where he was before he had seen the clock.

What was happening to him?

"Guys?" He asked softly, scared that he would be alone in the cold, with the insistent chiming of the clock once again. He pushed open the door to what he thought was Suzie's room, holding his breath.

"He uses it for work now. And father is always working, his door is like, permanently locked." A girl said, sitting on her bed in what could be the pinkest school girl room Sev had ever seen, but it looked normal. And everyone was there.

"Where did you guys go?" Sev asked frantically, turning to everyone else, who were scattered around the room sitting on random pieces of furniture. Mike frowned, "we've been in here. Talking to Suzie about the Americantendo."

Sev felt like he was supposed to play along, but he was too shaken up. His mouth felt dry, and he wobbled over to Will, who was standing at the back of the room with his arms crossed. "What's wrong?"

"Where did everyone go? I just checked in here and it was empty and dark and there was this clock in the hallway and-" Sev whispered back, drowning out whatever the others were talking about. He cut himself off when Will grabbed his hand, heart leaping into his throat. 

Will looked scared, "was there like, this stuff in the air? That looked like snow? What about vines, were there vines everywhere? Did you see the-"

Sev shook his head, hands shaking. He ran the one Will wasn't holding through his hair "No. it was just dark and cold. The clock was really loud, it was in the hallway I swear- and now it's not and everyone's back and- but it did happen...."

"I believe you." Will said, looking him dead in the eye. "And you're safe now, we're all here. I promise."

Sev nodded, feeling his eyes dark eyes sting with what would be tears. He swore under his breath and pulled away from Will, blinking the tears back before they fell. Will looked at his feet, "it's been about ten minutes, we thought you went back to the van."

"What?" Sev asked numbly, "It's only been like, two minutes."

The power went out again, the only light in the room now being from the sun outside. Sev flinched at the clatter that went through the house. His heart rate was slowing down, and he leant against the wall, reassuring himself that everyone was back, it was okay now. And the chiming of the clock had gone, but his headache had stayed. 

Suzie glanced towards the door, "unless..."

"Unless what?" Mike asked. 

Suzie chewed her lip, "There might be a way, but we're gonna need help. And I mean a lot of help."

"Alright."

Sev followed his friends through the hallway, panic clawing its way back up into his throat as he stared at the empty spot in the hallway. He moved forwards blinking rapidly, and waited as they all paused outside Suzie's fathers' room for him to go tell off Cornelius and leave the office. Leaving the laptop in the hands of the hacker, that is.

"Wait where's Argyle?"

"Shit, I don't know." Johnathon muttered, glancing around the house that was filled with children who had only been told to cause as much chaos as they could. Meaning, they would never find him. Will and Sev shared a look though, not knowing where their high friend was, but knowing what he was doing. 

They filed in to the office when Suzie signalled, and crowded around the chair that she sat in, hovering over the laptop as she started up immediately. "And we're in."

"Holy sh- heck. Holy heck you did it." Mike corrected himself quickly, gulping at the stern look he received from the girl. Said girl turned back around to the laptop and frowned, "hold your applause, I don't see an address."

"Maybe its hidden in the code..." Suzie muttered to herself, typing away on the clunky computer quickly. "I'll trace the IP, the internet protocol access. It's a unique numerical label given to all information technology connected to the internet."

Sev rubbed his nose, feeling a strange heat at the back of his throat, which spread until all he could taste was blood. Mike leaned forwards to see the computer, "what's the internet?"

"Don't worry about it," Suzie said casually, not looking up from the loading screen. "it's just going to change the world. Okay, so I'm running the IP address through geolocation software. Basically, a form of data mining."

Sev sniffed and rubbed his nose, a drop of blood smudging on his knuckles. He wiped it on his pants, trying not to gag at the taste of blood in his throat as it ran from his nose. He fumbled with the box of tissues that was sitting on the desk, scrunching up a ball of them and pressing them to his nose. He saw Will turn to him through the wads of tissue in front of his face.

"Bingo." Suzie said happily, leaning back on the chair with a satisfied smile. Everyone turned to her with wide eyes, "Nevada?"

"Can you print this?" Mike asked, earning a glare and bland tone of voice from the hacker. She pressed a button on the printer next to her, "no. my skills end at IP geolocation."

"You were being sarcastic."

Will passed Sev more tissues with a worried frown, and Sev tried to smile through the blood. It was already slowing down, so he'd be fine. "Jus- a blood nofe."

It didn't seem to reassure Will though, if anything he looked more frightened. Still, he smiled back, and they followed the rest of their friend's out of the office as Suzie's father cam stomping back up the stairs. Mike mumbled something about Suzie being a genius.

Sev chucked the tissues in bin, and tripped over a pan on the kitchen floor, which was covered in tomato sauce and hand prints. Johnathon caught his arm before he face-planted, and they continued through the chaotic house, but not before Sev swiped something from the table.

"I think we spooked a skunk."

"Yo." Argyle grinned at them, weed in one hand and the other wrapped around Eden. Johnathon physically recoiled as a wave of stink rolled out of the van, washing over everyone else. "Any luck my dudes?"

Sev blinked, and held out the packet of chocolate biscuits that he may have taken. Totally by accident. "Biscuit?"

He didn't see Will standing behind him, watching with a soft smile.