8 - DISAPPEARING ACT

While children were tucked away under blankets, dreaming of sweet nonsense and while parents huddled around television sets to watch mind numbing news updates, one boy did not make it home November 6 1983. While hundreds of homes in East Hawkins experienced power outages and surges, while Daisy Lonsdale stared at a faded photograph of her long gone sister, little Will Byers was snatched away in the darkness by a monster with no face.


The news started as a trickle, nothing but a mother's worry at first. A few murmurs started among the students at Hawkins High and by the late afternoon, the entire town was engulfed with the disappearance of Will Byers, many speculating he was just lost in the woods. Daisy Lonsdale found herself stuck in the past, but this time it was a child missing, just a boy. It was not her older sister.


"Are you getting this weird sense of déjà vu?" Dottie Fields asked late Monday afternoon, the two girls leaving the art studio with strange feelings chilling their bones. The student carpark was almost empty, only a few stragglers left today. Dottie's trusty truck was waiting for them, ready to take them home and away from the crowded corridors with whispers about the Byers family, now stuck in the limelight.


Daisy glanced across at her friend. "Sure, but at least the town actually believes he's missing."


"I just mean...shoot, sorry." Dottie cringed, yanking open the heavy door of her truck and swinging her backpack inside. Sometimes, she had a habit of blurting out insensitive words, her lips moving and her brain lagging behind. She hadn't meant to bring up old memories of last year with Marigold, knowing her best friend was still haunted by that. "It's different though. Will Byers is just a kid."


The backhanded comment rolled off Daisy's shoulders. She had grown used to having so many people in town speak as though Marigold had indeed just run away, including Dottie Fields. It hurt though, knowing the only person that believed her theory was Aunt Beatrice. Which was not a positive thought, considering Beatrice had episodes of crazy nonsense where she spoke about storms and the dead coming back to life, something Marigold used to enjoy listening to. "We're all just kids." Daisy noted sourly.


Dottie sucked in her bottom lip, knowing she was skating on thin ice today. In her heart, she wanted to believe Marigold hadn't just packed her belongings and left town without a goodbye but honestly, becoming a mystery was something Marigold would do, always trying to be something more than she was. Despite the fact that Dottie did miss her friend, she couldn't stand by Daisy and shout to the town that Marigold was missing. It just didn't seem possible, not for a girl that had big dreams to get out of Hawkins. "Well, there's a search party tonight in the woods for him. I'm thinking of going. Wanna' come?"


"I've got a tutoring thing with Nancy again." Daisy said bitterly, the only thoughts circling around in her mind today was the past and that was haunting her enough. With Will Byers going missing, she couldn't help but feel empty inside, like all the decent happy memories were being sucked dry from her. "Plus, mum won't let me go wandering around the woods late at night. I would never hear the end of that conversation. So, no point in even asking."


The truck's engine roared to life, the heater blowing out warm air. Daisy was pressing her boots to the dashboard, letting her head rest back as her mind grew numb. A strange silence stirred between the girls and it almost felt like the ghost of Marigold Lonsdale was sitting between them, pulling them in opposite directions with their divided ideas of what happened last year.


As the colours of fall blurred by in the window, Daisy found herself growing irritated by the fact Chief Hopper and the rest of the town were putting more effort into finding Will Byers than her own sister. It was a terrible thought since a little boy was lost, but she couldn't help it. As they passed by Mulberry Street, Daisy thought she saw a blonde girl standing on the corner, her curls hiding her face. But the vision was gone within a blink of an eye, her heart falling in her chest. For a second, she thought she had seen Marigold.


"Well, I'll let you know how the search goes." Dottie piped up, killing the engine outside the Lonsdale house. Daisy was hauling her bag over her shoulder, making sure her sketchbook was safety inside. "Hopefully, Will's not wandered too far."


Daisy nodded, keeping her snarky response in check. Chilly afternoon wind slapped against her cheeks, but she managed a quick smile as she slammed the door shut and glanced back at Dottie. "Daisy...we offered him a ride last night. What if—"


"Don't don't that." Daisy snipped out, seeing the guilt in her best friend's eyes. It had been a fading thought in her own mind at least twice today. But unlike Dottie, Daisy knew they couldn't play the what if game, they couldn't blame themselves either. "What happened, it wasn't on us, okay? Don't blame yourself."


Suddenly, it was clear why Dottie Fields felt the need to help out with the search for the missing boy in the woods tonight. The poor girl had a guilty heart, wondering over and over if she could have saved his life or something. "Alright." She blinked away unshed tears. "I'll see you tomorrow."


Daisy Lonsdale watched the truck pull away, waiting on the sidewalk a little longer. Wind whipped at her skin, her hands tinging from the coming coldness but with the dying sunlight, she couldn't help but wonder where Will Byers had gone, along with her sister. When her heart finally stopped aching a little bit, she wandered inside the house, dropping her keys to the table when she heard shouting from upstairs. Aunt Beatrice and her mother. 


"—you fed lies and nonsense into her head, Beatrice!" Molly Lonsdale was screaming out, Daisy pausing at the end of the staircase to listen. "Duncan is dead, alright? You need to stop living in the past. I won't let you poison Daisy's mind like you did with Marigold. You're the reason Marigold's gone, all that stupid gibberish you told her, made her believe!"


Aunt Beatrice's quite voice sounded. "It's not nonsense, Molly. My boy is alive and Marigold didn't just run away to live in some big city. She's out there, hiding or maybe they've already found her. With the missing boy, we have to tell Hopper—"


Suddenly, the slam of a door broke the screaming, the front screen door rattling with the wind. Daisy was already cringing, hurrying away from the staircase and pretending she hadn't witnessed the whole argument about Duncan, her dead cousin. "I'm home!" Daisy called out, hoping her cover would go over smoothly. Within seconds, her darling mother was coming down the staircase, a smile pinned to her lips like nothing had happened at all.



***



Tuesday morning came, Daisy feeling even more conflicted. All night the argument she had overhead with her aunt and mother had flared in her mind like a raging fire. It was little surprise her mother tossed away Aunt Beatrice's nonsense, the old lady was deemed crazy. But it was strange since the name Duncan hadn't been muttered in years. Aunt Beatrice had lived down in Kentucky with her husband, Gregory Downings, almost sixteen years ago. There had been a car accident one evening, the car crashing into the banks of a river on the edge of town. Gregory Downings, along with their son, Duncan, had been killed. Aunt Beatrice had suffered through depression and grief with the loss of her family, the struggles taking their toll on her mind. She had moved back to Hawkins, the names Duncan and Gregory not mentioned very often again. It had happened many years ago, Daisy forgetting about it almost completely until now. With the argument, her mind was spinning with new questions she never thought to ask.


At Hawkins High, she wandered the hallway with Dottie Fields by her side naturally, her friend offering her some baked cookies which she politely declined. Her best friend was chatting about pointless things, even mentioning the search in the woods had been for nothing, no sign of the missing boy. Daisy wasn't paying much attention, her gaze catching the lonely sight of Jonathan Byers pinning up missing posters on the bulletin board. Nancy Wheeler was speaking with him, most likely expressing how sorry she truly was about his missing brother.


"He's been putting up posters all over town," Dottie mentioned quietly, hugging her books to her chest and combing some frizzy hair from her eyes. "It's heartbreaking."


Daisy waited by her locker, just watching. The crowd of rich kids, including Steve Harrington, watched too, everyone quite interested in the unusual exchange. Daisy noted the darkness circling under Jonathan's eyes, the tired slouch in his shoulders. Suddenly, the sour feeling in Daisy's heart faded a little bit. Suddenly, she found herself relating to the boy with a missing brother a little too much now. "He's still in denial." Daisy noted. "He's still hopeful."


"Well, aren't you?" Dottie asked. "It's been a year and you're still hopeful."


Daisy watched a little longer, Jonathan's heavy gaze falling upon her. He paused suddenly, the weight in his heart calling out to Daisy Lonsdale. The moment passed though, the boy dropping his head and hanging his shoulders. "Yeah, I'm still hopeful." Daisy replied, holding tightly onto that hope before it vanished into thin air.

Comment