Joyce opened her eyes slowly and found herself in the living room sitting on the couch. She was a little confused, but she remembered walking out here in the middle of the night. She felt a weight in her lap and saw an axe. She remembered that she grabbed it just in case that thing tried to come back for her.
She closed her eyes but was startled awake as she saw Will say, "Mom" in a dream. When she opened her eyes, she saw Jonathan leaning in front of her. Jonathan said, "Mom! Wake up."
Joyce stammered, "What... What time is it?"
Jonathan said, "It's almost 8:00 am. We have to go."
Joyce asked confusedly, "Go where? Where?"
Jonathan said, "To see Will."
Joyce said, "But that..." She was unable to finish as Jonathan cut her off.
Jonathan said sternly, "We have to see Will." Joyce sighed before she stood up from the couch and followed Jonathan to the front door. Putting on their jackets and shoes, they walked out the front door and to the car. They were going to see Will's body at the morgue.
Joyce got into the car silently and Jonathan didn't try to force her to speak. All Jonathan did was put on some soothing music to help calm her nerves. Joyce started to relax a little as she listened to the soft melody, she was still convinced that the body they found was not Will's.
Karen finished her morning routine and walked down the hall to Mike's room. She knocked on the door lightly before she walked into the room. Karen looked at Mike laying in his bed and said, "Hi, Honey. How are you feeling?" Karen walked over and sat down on the bed beside Mike.
Mike replied, "I, uh... I don't think I can go to school today."
Karen said softly, "Oh, that's fine, sweetie. i need to drop off Nance, then I'm gonna check in on Barb's parents. Why don't you grab a book or something and come with me? We can stop by the video store on the way back, pick out whatever you want. Even R-rated."
Mike said, "I think I just want to stay home today. I mean, if that's okay?"
Karen said, "Well, are yo usure you're gonna be all right here by yourself?"
Mike said, "I think so."
Karen sighed faintly before she said, "Okay. But if you need anything, call Dad at work. Okay."
Mike repeated, "Okay... Bye."
Karen walked out of the room and turned back as she closed the door. She said, "Bye, sweetie." Then she closed the door and walked down the hall to Nancy's room.
As soon as the door was closed, Mike threw off his covers and sat up in bed. Mike grabbed his radio off the bedside table and turned it on. Mike said, "Lucas, do you copy? Lucas, come on, I know you're there! This is urgent. I'm serious... I'm not gonna stop until you answer... Lucas. Lucas!"
Mike had an idea and said, "Lucas, Lucas, Lucas, Lucas, Lucas, Lucas, Lucas, Lucas--" Lucas was finally annoyed enough, so he picked up his radio.
Lucas said, "Go away, Mike. I'm not in the mood, all right? Over and out."
Before he could turn off his radio however, Mike said, "No, not out. I'm not messing around, okay? This is about Will. Over."
Lucas asked, "What about Will? You mean about his funeral? Over"
Mike said, "No, not his funeral. Screw his funeral."
Lucas said, "What?!"
Mike said, "Just get over here stat. And bring Dust with you. Over and out." Mike put his radio back on the table before he started to get ready for Lucas and Dustin.
Jonathan and Joyce had just arrived at the Roane County Coroner's building. Jonathan parked the car on the side of the road and got out of the car after taking a deep breath. Jonathan started to walk towards the building, but he didn't hear Joyce walking behind him, so he turned around and found that she was still in the car.
Jonathan walked back to the car and opened the passenger side door and saw that Joyce was breathing heavily. Jonathan grabbed her hands and said, "Come on, Mom. We have to do this. For Will."
Joyce broke from her trance and nodded her head slowly as she got out of the car and walked towards the building slowly. When they finally arrived in front of the building, Joyce couldn't keep her composure anymore. Although she believed with all her heart that Will was alive, she couldn't help but to doubt herself.
They walked through the glass door and arrived in a small waiting area. Hopper was already there waiting for them. Hopper greeted them and then led them over to the secretary. The secretary spoke very softly to Jonathan and Joyce as she was very sympathetic to their situation. In no time a man came into the room and brought both Jonathan and Joyce in through a door.
The man led them to stand in front of a big window while he walked into the room to show the body to them.
It had been a while, so Hopper sighed and asked the secretary, "What's taking so long?"
The secretary said, "Well, everything has been a little chaotic around here without Gary."
Hopper asked, "Without Gary?" Where's Gary?"
The secretary said, "Well, I thought you knew. Those men from state, they... they sent Gary away last night."
Hopper asked, "So who did the autopsy?"
The secretary said, "Someone from state." Hopper grew suspicious after hearing this and fell into a deep thought.
Meanwhile, in the back room, Joyce and Jonathan were looking through the glass window. In front of them, a man in medical scrubs was standing over a covered body. They watched as the man uncovered the top half of the body to the mid torso. Joyce looked on in shock, while Jonathan was unable to handle looking and ran away from the window.
Jonathan ran out into the waiting room and sat down next to Hopper. They sat in silence for a while before Hopper asked, "How's your mom doing?"
Jonathan said, "I don't know."
Hopper asked, "How long's this stuff been going on? With the lights and, uh... Will and the thing in the wall?"
Jonathan said, "Since the first phone call, I guess. You know, she's had anxiety problems... in the past. But this... I don't know." Jonathan took a deep breath to try and calm down some more.
Jonathan said, "I'm worried it could be... Ugh, I don't know. She'll be okay. We'll be okay. My mom... she's tough." Jonathan chuckled.
Hopper said, "Yeah, she is."
Hopper grabbed Jonathan by the shoulder and said, "Hey. She is."
Right after Jonathan left the room, Joyce said, "He has a birth mark on his right arm. Can you show that to me please?" The man nodded and uncovered his right arm and showed it to Joyce. Joyce looked closely and saw the birth mark. She then began to list several different distinguishing marks, such as scars, birth marks, and moles. Some of them were there, but many of them were not, causing Joyce to believe that the body was fake.
Joyce walked out of the back room briskly and barged through the door to the waiting room. The coroner chased after her and followed into the waiting room. The coroner said, "Ma'am! Ma'am, I need you to sign!"
Joyce turned around and said, "I don't... I don't know what you think that thing is in there, but that is not my son!"
Hopper rushed over and said, "Joyce, wait a second."
Joyce said in an upset tone, "No!" Then she began to walk out the glass door.
Jonathan said, "Mom!"
The coroner stubbornly said, "Ma'am, I-- Ma'am!" Joyce ignored his existence and walked through the door. Jonathan quickly grabbed his jacket before he burst through the door to follow her.
When he ran out the front door, his mother was already down the street as she had been walking at a brisk pace. Jonathan got into the car and drove until he was next to her and said, "Mom!"
Joyce said, "I need a minute." Seeing as his mother was avoiding him and the truth, Jonathan parked the car on the side of the road and took the keys out before he hopped out of the car quickly.
Jonathan ran after Joyce and caught up within seconds. Jonathan grabbed her shoulder from behind and said, "Mom. Stop."
Joyce said, "Just go home, Jonathan."
Jonathan said frustratedly, "No, this is not an okay time for you to shut down."
Joyce asked, "Shut down? What..."
Jonathan cut her off and said, "We have to deal with this, Mom. We have to deal with the funeral!"
Joyce's eyes widened and she said, "The funeral? For... For who?"
She asked loudly, "For that thing back there?"
Jonathan said exasperatedly, "Okay, let me get this straight. Will, that's not his body, because he's in the lights, right? And there's a monster in the wall? Do you even hear yourself?"
Joyce said, "I know it sounds crazy. I-I sound crazy!"
Jonathan said, "Yeah."
Joyce asked, "You don't think I know that? It is crazy. But I heard him, Jonathan. He talked to me! Will is... is calling to me! And he's out there, and he's alone, and he's scared, and I... I don't care if anyone believes me!" Jonathan stayed silent and a single tear dropped from his eye. It hurt him to see his mother like this.
Joyce continued, "I am not gonna stop looking for him until I find him and bring him home."
Joyce shouted, "I am going to bring him home!"
Jonathan's face scrunched up as his mother began to walk away. Jonathan shouted, "Yeah, well, while you're talking to the lights, the rest of us are having a funeral for Will! I'm not letting him sit in that freezer for another day!" By the time he finished shouting his mother was already 50 feet away. A crowd had gathered next to him and watched on to see the drama.
Jonathan panted after all the shouting but soon noticed the people standing near him. Jonathan said, "All right, shows over." Jonathan walked briskly to the car and got in before he made his way back to the coroner's building. He was going to sign the necessary papers needed to process Will and allow him to bury his brother.
At school, Nancy was in the hall at her locker and saw John and April walk over to her. April opened her locker after greeting April and John stood in between the two women. John said, "Hey, Grace."
Nancy smiled and said sweetly, "Hi, John."
John asked, "How are you doing this fine day?"
Nancy said, "Very well, thank you for asking."
John said, "I'm glad to hear that... I was wondering if you would come over to April's house today?"
Nancy said, "Okay... By the way, I told Barb's parents about her disappearance. I am going to tell the police about what happened. Will you come with me?" Nancy looked at John with her pleading eyes.
John said, "Of course, I will." Nancy turned to April.
April saw her look and said, "Sorry, Nancy, but I have some stuff to do with Lisa."
Nancy said, "Okay, I hope you have a good time together." April nodded her head.
Suddenly, the bell rang, and John said, "Well, I'll see you in a while, Grace."
April said, "Bye, Nancy."
Nancy said, "Bye, April. Bye, John."
Meanwhile, Mike and his friends were in the basement. Eleven was changing the frequency of Mike's radio to try and listen to Will once again. Eventually, El was able to make Will's voice come through the radio, but it cut out and she was unable to find it again.
Mike asked, "We keep losing the signal, but you heard it, right?"
Lucas said, "Yeah, I heard a baby."
Mike asked, "What?"
Lucas said, "Mike, you obviously tapped into a baby monitor. It's probably the Blackburns' next door."
Mike asked, "Uh, did that sound like a baby to you? That was Will."
Lucas said tiredly, "Mike..."
He was cut off by Mike, who said, "Lucas, you don't understand. He spoke last night. Words! He was singing that weird song he likes. Even El heard him!"
Lucas said, "Oh, well, if the weirdo heard him, then I guess--"
Dustin asked suddenly, "Are you sure you're on the right channel?"
Mike explained, "I don't think it's about that. I think, somehow, she's channeling him."
Dustin's eyes started to sparkle, and he said, "Like... like Professor X."
Mike said, "Yeah."
Lucas asked skeptically, "Are you actually believing this crap?"
Dustin said, "I don't know, I mean... Do you remember when Will fell off his bike and broke his finger? He sounded a lot like that."
Lucas asked, "Did you guys not see what I saw? They pulled Will's body out of the water. He's dead!"
Dustin said softly, "Well, maybe it's his ghost. Maybe he's haunting us."
Mike said, "It's not his ghost."
Lucas asked, "So how do you know that?"
Mike said, "I just do!"
Lucas said, "Then what was that in the water?"
Mike said, "I don't know! All I know is, Will is alive. Will is alive! He's out there somewhere. All we have to do is find him." After this, the group went silent for a while. It was so quiet that the crackling from the radio was the loudest thing in the room.
Mike grabbed the radio from El and said, "This isn't going to work. We need to get El to a stronger radio."
Dustin smiled and said, "Mr. Clarke's Heathkit ham shack."
Mike said, "Yeah."
Lucas burst their bubble and said, "The Heathkit's at school. There is no way we're gonna get that weirdo in there without anyone noticing her. I mean... look at her." All the boys began to stare at El, making her slightly uncomfortable. El looked back at them curiously as they looked at her.
Suddenly, Mike had a great idea. Mike stood up and all the other looked at him with a puzzled look. Mike said, "Follow me." Then he started to walk up the stairs, the others quickly got to their feet and began to follow behind Mike.
Mike led them up to the second floor before he stopped in front of Nancy's room door. Mike grabbed the door handle, but Dustin stopped him. Dustin asked, "What are you doing? If Nancy finds out we were in her room, she will be pissed."
Mike said, "I just need something from inside." Mike then twisted the doorknob and walked into the room. The other followed behind him closely and watched as he searched around the room for a while and eventually found a makeup kit.
While Mike was searching for the kit, he had opened many drawers off the dressers in the room. Dustin almost fainted when he saw the bright pink panties within one of the drawers but quickly regained focus.
Mike grabbed El's hand and brought her over to the bed to sit down while he opened the makeup box. Taking out a couple things from inside, he tried his hardest to give some blush to El's face as she was excessively pale.
While he was doing her make up, Mike said, "Lucas, Dustin, go look in the attic for a wig and some clothes that would fit El." The boys nodded their head before they made their way out of the room. El made a strange face throughout the entire process of Mike painting her face as this was a foreign concept to her. Mike did his best and even put some lip gloss on her lips.
Mike had done a swell job, as El looked way different than when he started. El looked like a regular person as her skin actually had some color to it. Lucas and Dustin walked into the room holding a blonde wig and a pink dress. Mike said, "Perfect... El, please put on the wig and dress. We will be waiting for you in the hall, okay?"
El nodded her head slowly and watched as the boys walked out of the room and shut the door to give her privacy. El stripped off her sweatpants and t shirt before she put the dress over her head and wore it. The dress was very soft and wasn't uncomfortable at all. Finally, Eleven put on the wig as she looked in the mirror. It took her a while, but she was finally able to make it look more natural.
El walked out of the room slowly and watched for the boys' expressions. She was most excited to see Mike's expression for some reason. Mike was completely stunned when he saw her. Dustin said, "Wow! She looks..."
Mike cut him off, "Pretty."
Then he realized what he just said and continued, "Good. You look pretty good." Eleven smile faintly when she heard him, then she walked over to the mirror in the hall.
El whispered, "Pretty. Good." El smiled a little bigger as she continued to look at her new appearance. She really liked her long hair and hoped that her own hair would grow to this length in the future.
The boys let her admire herself for a while longer before they got her attention and brought her back down to the basement. They began to make a plan for what they would do to get El to the Club room with the least number of witnesses as possible. They knew that even though the disguise was very good, it was still a massive risk to bring her to the school. It would only take one mistake, like her hair falling off or something like that.