Chapter Text
One thing to note about one William Byers is that he hates the cold. And the dark. But mostly just the cold. Whenever the temperature would drop at night or in the winter or when the wind blows a little too hard, sending chills down his body right to his core, it’s almost like he never left, never escaped. It’s almost as if he is transported right back there, to the upside down, huddled in castle Byers and praying the creature in the dark be able to find him. It’s almost as if he can hear Vecna whispering in his ear, and breathing down his neck. Watching…. Waiting.
So yeah. To put it lightly Will hates the cold.
It’s cold in the basement of the Wheeler’s house. There are no heaters, only blankets and wishful thinking to keep you warm. He’d been staying down there with Jonatan for the better part of three months now, except it’s almost like they hadn’t been sharing at all because every night Jonathan stays in Nancy’s room. Which of course means Will is left all alone. In the basement. In the winter.
He hates it.
To make matters even worse, Mike hasn’t talked to him in two full weeks. He won’t even look him in the eye, just…. Walks right past as if will is a ghost, or like, invisible or some shit. It awful and unbearable and it is so damn cold and it’s so lonely.
Will sighs and finally gets up from his , at this point ridiculously large, pile of blankets. It’s not like they help. Nothing helps. the cold is always there, seeping through every layer will tries to put on to ward it away. Now that he’s no longer burried in the many, many blankets he had amassed will shivers. He shivers, and quakes. They’re not small shakes either; he swears he can hear his bones rattling together, like a mini, controlled earthquake that’s only happening to him. With each shiver and chatter of his teeth he feels closer to breaking down, closer to breaking, and closer to doing something stupid or other that he will most likely regret.
It’s late. It’s dark. Most of all it’s cold.
The sole window in the basement creaks with a sudden gust of wind, shaking and rattling like something is trying to get in, and will jumps.
He swear he sees something in the window. Someone. A face that’s all too familiar yet completely a stranger, a blonde man with a haunting smirk and cruel eyes, yet when will blinks the phantom is gone.
“No. No, no, no, no, no.” He whispers to himself. To himself because no one else is there, not even Jonathan or Mike. It’s just him in the freezing basement, alone and losing his mind. His breath quickens, his shaking has become more violent now. There’s a sound coming from the furnace in the back room, but it doesn’t sound like the usual sounds of a furnace. No, it sounds like the creatures, the demogorgans coming to hunt him down, to finish what they had started back in ‘83 when they had hunted him through the trees of the upside down, stalking him through the vines as he hid and cried and prayed for someone to come save him.
The house creaks. Will flinches.
He backs up, shaking and tears welling on his eyes, until his legs hit the couch and he sinks to the ground back pressed against the cushions. He brings a hand up to cover his mouth as he lets out a sob. Someone is breathing against his neck.
Distantly will swears he hears the sound of a clock chiming ominously. Five tolls of the bell, each distorted, warped. To Will it sounded like… falling. Down..
down…..
down…..
just like Alice down the rabbit hole.
“William”
Will let’s out another sob. He feels sharp fingernails trail lightly down his neck. His skin burns and tingles, a sensation almost like radio static, and he feels his whole body explode into goosebumps. Every nerve in he body is yelling at him, screaming for him to run, to get away from this.. this thing, but will feels frozen, rooted to this spot, back against the couch cushions in his (ex?)best friend’s basement, sobbing in terror, and freezing cold.
When morning comes, the haunting ticking of the clock is gone, but Will is still curled in the same position against the couch with half dried tear tracks running down his cheeks, shivering violently, and a trail of still wet blood dripping from his nose.