the ones that got away · Y/n story by @angellcried

The air smells of pine and damp earth, of the kind of quiet that only comes to places the world has forgotten. Three waterfalls tumble somewhere in the distance, their white noise a constant, soothing hum beneath the chatter of the Hawkins crowd.

Dustin

shielding his eyes against the sun I still can't believe they'd pick a place called Three Waterfalls, Tennessee. It's like a fairy tale.

Max

quietly It's beautiful.

Will stands apart from the others, hands in his jacket pockets, staring at the tree line. The others know that look. He's felt them before—the prickle of being watched. The sense that something is just beyond the treeline, waiting.

Will

low Does anyone else feel that?

Lucas

Feel what?

Will

shaking his head slowly Nothing. Forget it.

The waterfalls crash in the distance, indifferent to the living and the dead. And somewhere beyond the trees, two figures watch the group from the shadows of a rusted pickup truck—one tall, one small, both very much alive.