¤Holly, Jolly¤

"All alone I have cried, silent tears full of pride. In a world made of steel, made of stone."

The next morning she went to head straight to the Wheelers house. She dumped all her school supplies onto the bed and instead packed it with supplies for their hike through the woods to look for Will after school. She threw in a flashlight and a handful of Double-A batteries just in case the ones in the flashlight died. She threw in Will's walkie talkie as well, a couple of water bottles, and some snacks. Hiding her books under her bed, she hiked her book bag up on her shoulders and tucked her pocket knife into the side of her shoe and hid it with her pant leg.

She hesitated at her bedroom door, her eyes turning back to the jacket laying over the back of her desk chair. It was the one Dustin let her borrow that first night in the woods - she'd meant to give it back yesterday, but she forgot. Snatching it quickly, she hurried for the door. "Heading to school, I'll see you guys later." She called rushed, hoping to not get stopped and interrogated. Luck was not on her side.

Jonathan was quick to stop her, a hand on her shoulder, "hey, are you okay?"

Rowan frowned at him, "What do you mean?"

He shrugged, peeking back over to where their Mom was sitting, half out of it, at the kitchen table. "You've just been out a lot, you're barely home anymore. If something's wrong, you can talk to me."

"If somethings wrong?" Her eyebrows shot up, letting out an incredulous laugh at his words. "Yeah, there is. My brothers missing," she said bluntly and Jonathan's face softened.

"I didn't mean-"

"You know what, Jonny? I just need to go to school and figure this whole thing out. Don't wait up for me." She shrugged him off, hurrying out the door and biking down to the Wheeler's as fast as she could. She barely said a word to Mrs. Wheeler other than polite pleasantries and hurried down the steps to the basement where she knew they all were already. "Sorry, I'm late." She called, hopping down the last few steps and striding up to the other three boys who were gathered around the table. "So, what's the game plan?"

"We'll tell our parents we have AV club after school, that will give us at least a few hours for operation Mirkwood," Mike answered. Rowan gave a firm nod to let him know she understood, her eyes darting over briefly to where Eleven was sitting on the couch, messing with Mike's Walkie Talkie.

"You seriously think the weirdo knows where Will is?" Lucas whispered and Rowan actually flinched at the word.

"She's not a weirdo," Dustin suddenly said, all eyes turning to him. His own eyes widened when he realized what he said out loud and more specifically that Rowan was frowning at him. "I mean, she's got like Superpowers. I think that's pretty cool." Dustin held Rowan's gaze, only the two of them really knowing what he was saying.

"Yeah, okay," Mike shrugged off his friends usually weird and random comments and turned to Lucas instead. "Did you get the supplies."

"Yeah, Binoculars from Nam," Lucas began listing off his supplies, pulling each object out of his bag as he did so. "Army knife, also from Nam. Hammer, Camouflage bandanna, and the wrist rocket." He smirked, holding the sling shot up for all to see.

Rowan cocked her head to the side, "You think you can take out a Demogorgan with a sling shot?" She said, the sarcasm dripping from her voice and the disbelief clear in her tone.

"First of all, it's a wrist rocket," Lucas corrected and Rowan hummed lowly, feigning being impressed. "Second, the Demogorgan's not real. But, if there is something out there, I'm gonna shoot it in the eye and blind it." He snapped it back, making Rowan flinch as it knicked her nose. She scoffed, rubbing the back of her hand against the spot and narrowing her eyes at the boy.

Mike sighed, tired of all the bickering, "Dustin, what did you get?"

Dustin scooped his bag off the floor and dumped it's contents onto the table, which was pretty much just a butt load of snacks. "Well, alright. So, we got... Nutty Bars, Bazooka, Pez, Smarties, Pringles, Nilla Wafers, Apple, Banana, and Trail Mix." Rowan was smiling by the end of his list, chuckling softly under her breath.

"Now, that's what I call packing the necessities, ya'll are slacken," Rowan crossed her arms, smirking and shaking her head in faux disappointment at Lucas and Mike. Dustin grinned at the brunette then bounced his eyebrows at his two guy friends.

"Alright, what'd you bring," Mike nodded at Rowan, not really having the energy to argue with their logic.

Rowan smirked, sliding her book bag off her shoulder and dropping it onto the table to unzip it. "Flashlight, backup flashlight," she set both blue flashlights onto the tables, followed by a handful of batteries clattering onto the table. "Batteries, Walkie Talkie, and some snacks. For stamina." She added, dropping the last of her stuff on the table for them to see. She hummed suddenly, remembering the knife. "And my pocket knife." She pulled it out of her shoe and tossed it onto the table.

"What do we even need Weapons for?" Dustin asked. "We have her," he gestured back to Eleven like she was the answer to all their problems, while the girl ignored their conversation completely.

"She shut one door!" Lucas shrilled, rolling his eyes at the over hype. Could you really over hype a girl who could move things with her mind?

"With her mind!" Dustin shot back, thinking along the same line. "Are you kidding me? That's insane. Imagine all the other cool things she could do. Like..." He trailed off suddenly, his eyes lighting up with excitement. Resting one hand against the table top, Rowan watched curiously as Dustin grabbed Mike's replica of the Millennium Falcon. "I bet she could make this fly." Rowan smiled softly at his enthusiasm, it really was a nice change from dreadful feelings she'd been getting from everyone these past few days.

"Hey, hey," he called her attention, and she silently looked up at him with big eyes. "Okay, concentrate. Okay?" Dustin let go of the model, probably expecting it to levitate or something. What really happened? It plummeted to the ground. Rowan bit her lip to stifle her laughter, trying her best not to burst out in giggles. "Okay, one more time," Dustin didn't give up, picking the toy back up off the carpet. "Use your powers, okay?" He let go a second time, but the end result wasn't any better.

Rowan let out a soft laugh, her lips turned up into an easy smile as she shook her head at him, "You're an idiot, Dustin." She teased lightly. He looked over at her with big eyes, his own smile worming it's way onto his lips when he heard her laugh.

Mike rushed over to Dustin and gathered up his scale replica, "she's not a dog." He scolded.

"Guys, time for school!" Mrs. Wheeler's voice came echoing from upstairs and left the four of them to rush and gather up their things.

Rowan peeked back at Eleven as she tugged her book bag up onto her shoulders and offered the girl a small smile, accompanied by a wave. "I'll see you later, El." Eleven gave a timid wave back, but it was enough for Rowan. She hurried up the steps after Dustin and Lucas, shortly followed by Mike.

Rowan loved food, eating food would probably be considered her favorite hobby, all kinds - in fact, she hadn't come across a food she didn't like. With the exception of the crap cafeteria food, which is why she always brought a lunch from home. Chowing down on the chicken and cheddar sandwich she put together this morning she made her way outside to the bench she normally sat at. That is, until three strange boys collecting rocks in the field caught her attention.

She stopped under the pavilion, right where the sidewalk met the grass, and leaned up against the side of the pole. She reached up a hand to tuck her pink and brown hair behind her ear, her chocolate orbs working to watch the three of them work at picking out the right sized rocks for Lucas' slingshots. She never really noticed how much she missed hanging out with them, it was always this lingering sensation in the back of her head. But, more recently, the feeling would suddenly wash over her in the most random moments for a second or two and she had the urge to just look at them. Remind herself that they were still there and they were friends again, or at least she'd like to think they were all friends again.

"Do you think Eleven was born with her powers like the X-men, or that she acquired them like- like the Green Lantern?" Dustin asked, the excitement clear in his eyes.

"She's not a Superhero," Lucas argued instantly, still bending down and picking up Rocks. Rowan rolled her eyes dramatically at Lucas' pessimism. "She's a weirdo."

"What does that matter, the X-men are weirdos." Mike instantly got defensive, throwing his hands out to the side and effectively catching Rowan's interest.

"If you love her so much, why don't you marry her." Lucas tease, making Rowan's eyebrows shoot up in interest.

Mike's face contorted in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"Mike, are you serious?" Lucas deadpanned, making Mike look at him expectantly. "You look at her like; Hi, El! El! El! I love you so much!" He threw his arms around Mike in a big hug. Lucas dropped to his knee, holding Mike's hand, "Will you marry me?"

"Shut up, Lucas," Mike grumbled.

"Yeah, shut up Lucas." An annoyingly familiar voice broke in and Rowan's smile instantly turned into a disgusted scowl as she turned to see Troy and his Goonie walking up with him. "What're you losers doing back here?"

"Probably looking for their missing friend." James mocked, making a pouty lip at them.

"That's not funny," Dustin's voice was serious. "It's serious. He's in danger."

"I hate to break it to you toothless, but he's not in danger. He's dead." Rowan physically flinched at the word. Of course she thought it, but she wouldn't let herself believe it for even a second. Will couldn't be dead. "That's what my Dad says. Was probably killed by some other queer." He laughed his stupid laugh, his friend joining in.

"Shut up, Troy," Rowan finally decide to make her presence known. She crumbled up her tinfoil and tossed it into the trash as she stalked up to the group of boys with a scowl settled on her face. "Talk about my brother like that again, and I'll kick your ass, Shitstick." She spat at him, and Lucas quickly reached out to grab the girls arm and tug her back.

Troy gave out a mocking laugh, "I'm really scared." He knocked his elbow into his friends side, James instantly joined in.

"Just ignore them," Mike spoke sternly, as Rowan rolled her eyes, shrugging out of Lucas' grip. Mike nodded for them to follow his lead, just moving around them and leaving. Ignoring the two dumbasses like he'd advised.

Troy wasn't about to let him walk away like that. He stuck out his leg, tripping Mike and laughing as he bit it in the grass. "Watch your step, Frogface." Lucas and Dustin rushed forward to help their friend to his feet.

"Hey, numbnuts," just as Troy turned his eyes on the brunette in front of him, she lashed out in a front kick, right to his crowned jewels. He let out a low groan, doubling over in pain.

"You bitch." He bit out, managing a scowl through the pain.

Rowan sneered at him, scoffing when he did nothing but hobble away with the help of his friend. "What a Puss," she muttered, shaking her head and turning to where Mike was finally back up on his feet. She sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of the cut on his chin, "you okay?"

"Yeah," He muttered, rubbing at his chin with his coat sleeve.

Dustin cringed at the wound himself, his eyes dropping to the rock that was the cause of the cut on his friends face. He scooped it up easily, "what about this?" He twirled the rock for all of them to see.

"I think we got a winner," Rowan smiled softly, tucking her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. Mike's scowl melted into a smile as well, nodding in agreement to Will's sister's words.

Dustin tossed the rock to Lucas, who caught it with ease. He gave a firm nod, "oh, yeah. That's the monster killer."

"Come on," Rowan laughed, hooking her arms - one through Dustin's and the others through Mike's and led them towards the school.

As soon as school was let out that day, they went to work. The four of them biked to the rendezvous point that Mike had set up for them to meet up with Eleven at. They arrived right at 3:15 and picked the strange girl up, having her hop on the back of Mike's bike, seeing as he was the one with the banana seat, and she seemed the most comfortable with him. That didn't stop Rowan from making teasing kissy faces at Mike when he biked passed her. He simply scoffed in response and biked faster, leaving Rowan and the boys to pedal after him.

Once they got to the woods it was a lot harder to pedal, so they had to walk the bikes up the hill, the leaves crunching beneath their feet. Rowan lingered a few feet back with Dustin and Lucas as Eleven and Mike walked ahead of them, talking about something that Rowan was too far away to here. Her eyes lingered between the two of them curiously as her mind went back to what Lucas had said before.

"What you did back there, was totally badass by the way," Dustin was the one to break the silence. Rowan snapped her eyes over to him and his familiar goofy grin and found her own smile working it's way onto her lips. "I've never seen Troy run away so fast."

"Which was accomplishing considering he was kind of impaired." Rowan added, tucking her loose hair behind her ear; giggling when Dustin laughed softly to himself. "I just... I don't understand why you guys take so much shit from those guys. You're way cooler than the both of them."

"That doesn't change the fact we'd get our asses handed to us," Dustin admitted.

"Speak for yourself." Lucas snapped, frowning at his curly haired friend like he was crazy. Rowan's eyes darted between the two of them and laughed at their usual bickering.

Dustin cocked his head to the side to look around Rowan to Lucas, "oh, and you think you could take them."

"Hell yeah, I could."

"Right, your ass would be grass. Don't lie." Dustin snorted, making Rowan's laughter grow with each second.

It was nightfall by the time they reached their destination. The whole time they'd been letting Eleven guide them to where she saw him, but the closer they got the more familiar the surroundings became. Her eyebrows knit together as they pulled up into her front yard, the sound of the pegs on the bike clicking, coming to a halt as she did.

"Why are we at my house?" Rowan asked, stopping a few paces behind Mike and Eleven.

Eleven looked over at her through the fallen darkness, "hiding."

"No, this is where I live. Where Will lives," Rowan corrected, sounding both confused and impatient, pointing to the ground around her feet for emphasis. "He's missing from here, not hiding here."

"What're we doing here?" Lucas asked as they came up behind the two brunette's and the bald girl.

Mike glanced back at his two friends, "She says Will is hiding here."

"Um, no..." Lucas pointed out the obvious, and a point they already made.

"I swear if we walked all the way out here for nothing..." Dustin let the threat hang in the air, not having a real end for that sentence. Rowan let out a tired groan, resting her elbows on the handle bars of her bike and dropping her head into her hands. She was exhausted, and her feet hurt, and she was so completely, confused.

"That's exactly what we did!" Lucas shrilled. "I told you, she doesn't know what the Hell she was talking about!"

Mike sighed in exasperated, choosing to hear Eleven out rather than jump to frustration - the obvious direction his three friends decided to go. "Why did you bring us here?"

"Don't waste your time on her, Mike." Lucas snapped before Eleven could get a word out to defend or explain herself.

"Guys," Rowan's attention was pulled from the argument to Dustin who took a slight step forward, his eyes on the road. She touched his arm following his line of sight to the road. Softly, in the distance, she could hear the faint sirens over the arguing of Lucas and Mike.

"Guys!" Rowan shouted, officially pulling their argument to a halt and leaving the night air silent, all except for the growing sirens in the distance. The colors of red and blue flashed against the trees as several cop cars raced passed them on the road.

"Will." Just hearing his name was enough to make Rowan rush to her bike, just the same as the others. She was steadily in the lead, following the path that the cop cars made down the road, with Mike and Eleven just behind her, followed by Dustin and then Lucas. They were led about a mile down the road and to a lake where even more cop cars and ambulances were gathered. Rowan nearly flew over the top of her handle bars as she came to a skidding stop, dropping her bike by her feet to peer around the engine and get a better look at what was going on.

The lights reflected off the lake and it seemed like there were a million officers and fire fighters there as they pulled a body out of the lake. Rowan gasped softly, her hand flying up to cover her mouth as she felt the sting in her eyes, blurring her vision. "That's not him. That's not Will. That can't be him," Rowan shook her head, whirling on the others. She took in a shuddering breath, darting her desperate gaze between the four of them. "It can't be him. Tell me it's not him, tell me my brother isn't..." Her voice broke so hard at the end of that sentence that it physically pain her, like someone had stabbed a knife right through her throat.

"It's Will," Lucas' voice was low and somber. "It's really Will."

"You said he was alive," Rowan's attention was fully on the wide eyed girl they'd taken in. Her lip curled back as she felt the tears create tracks of despair down her cheeks. "How could you do that to me, lie to me like that? What the Hell is wrong with you?"

"Rowan," Dustin reached for her arm, trying to calm the hysterical girl.

"No, stop!" She ripped her arm from his grip, glaring harshly back at him in anger that wasn't really directed at him. Not directed at anyone. "I can't believe I let you guys suck me back into your childish games," She spat, shaking her head at herself. How could she have been so stupid as to believe he was really still out there.

"Rowan," Mike frowned at her, baffled by her sudden change of attitude towards them.

"I mean, come on," She took a moment to swallow back her emotions, roughly wiping the tears from her pale, dirty cheeks. "A Demogorgan? Super powers? Seeing the future?" Her eyes met Dustin's briefly and all her anger, it melted into despair and the cold hard truth of the situation. "It was just our way of dealing with the fact that he was gone. That he was... he was..." She stuttered, not being able to say the word. She couldn't. Licking her suddenly dry lips, she shook her head in frustration. "Not anymore. It's time to grow up, and see it for what it really is."

With that she stormed passed them and to her bike. She could hear them calling her name, begging for her to come back and tell them where she was going. Just trying to get her to talk about it. But, she didn't, she didn't even look back at them. She just got on her bike and went home, because that's where she needed to be right now. She needed to be home with her Mom and her brother to deal with what was right in front of her.

She came to a stop once more at the familiar car in the middle of the road. "Jonny?" She called out through her tears, dropping her bike to her feet in a clatter around her. Jonathan pulled out of his embrace with his mother to see his little sister standing there, dirt smeared across her cheeks and tears gathered in her eyes.

"Rowan." He started for her immediately. She shook her head, not being able to form any words. Not being able to do anything, but let her brother encompass her in a safe hug as the sounds of the sirens from the police cars came closer. Closer to telling them the truth.

That her brother was dead.