Chapter Text
"jane." joyce sighs, sitting down on the bed beside her. she turns her head away from joyce, looking at the carpet. "what happened..?" joyce asks. joyce is patient, usually. aparently skipping history is he worst thing anyone could do ever. she doesnt want to talk to her mom about this, no ones doing that. shes not talking to mom about how she doesnt belong, or how her teacher is the reasonable one here because kids are supposed to talk, even if its quietly. or that will is an asshole because she passes as normal, even though she has no real friends and he has 3. "its nothing." she mumbles. its not that she doesnt want to talk, shes just broken. its awful and its hard. "can you try your best to go, sweetie?" joyce asks, she has been trying her best! always, always, trying her best and failing. she nods halfheartedly, joyce stands. "night." she doesnt say anything back.
she pulls on her shoes, she goes for walks all of the time. joyce doesnt argue, she always comes home safe. shes always been a fast runner, theres three blue ribbons from elmentary school on the fridge. she doesnt try as hard now, its not cool to be fast anymore. she exits her room, trying to sneak pas the loungeroom without being noticed. "be safe." joyce mutters. she nods,shes always safe. always comes home if anything gets bad, it doesnt get bad. its hawkins, the most dangerous thing here is mrs hastings aggressive dog. "bye.." she mumbles.
the cold air outside hits her like a truck, she shouldve put a hoodie or something over her wife beater, espeically since its autumn. even the cardigan she wore to school today would help a little bit. shes not turning back now though, walking will warm her up. the only sounds around are the quiet buzz of the crickets, leaves in the wind, and the ocasianal car passing by. she follows the road till the woods. leaves and small twigs crunch under her feet now, theres other noises. owls, bugs, whatever other wildlife come sout at night. so its nothing to worry about. she shivers. "why didnt i bring a jacket..?" she grumbles.
the air around her grows colder, silent. she stands up tall, its too dark to make anything out. shes walked to far to make out where the road is. a flashlight sweeps across the words. "there!" a man shouts. a man wouldnt make the woods go quiet? she glances around, running off in a random direction. they wont arrest her, but, she cant have joyce see her come home in a police cruiser, can she? the polcie people are shouting to eachother, theyre surpirsingly slow. she trips,scraping her hands against the rough ground of the forest floor. "shit.." theres a low rumbling growl. she scrambles back, wrestling uselessly with the root thats wrapped itself around her ankle. the creature snaps that root with its teeth. she scramble back further. its left a solid bite with in her shin. pain pulses in the wound, she pulls up a sock over it,then her jeans down to cover it. hopefully none of the blood seeps through.
heavy foot steps follow into the clearing. "its just a kid.." the man, hopper, police cheif, grumbles. "what are you doing out here? its late." she pushes herself up, ignoring the pain putting weight on her leg leaves. she opens her mouth to speak but no words come out. "...youre joyces kid." cheif hopper says after a while. "cmon, powell you keep searching, i want every bit of these woods covered." he holds out a hand to help her out of the ditch. she takes it, nodding a thank you. thankfully he knows the way to the road.
"so what were you doing in the this late." hopper asks as she gets into the front of his car. "walk." she answers, staring out at the darkness. hoppers hands clench around the wheel. "tell me the truth." he growls. she doesnt respond. she has told the truth, just because he thinks its not true doesnt mean it isnt. its silent for a long time, its not a far drive, unless youre driving around the whole town, like hopper is. "are you hurt?" hopper asks after a long moment. "tired." she answers, slowly he comes back around to her house. "maybe schedule your walks earlier in the day." hopper snaps as he pulls up to the house. "okay." she steps out of his car. her leg barely hurts, its like a 10th of what it was. she takes a breath. "thank you." even if talking is uncomfortable, shes still going to thank this man. "tell me or you mom if you see anything out of the ordinary." he says before driving off.
she walks to the front door, the metal is cold against her hand. she doesnt open it for a long time. memories of fear hit her, like they always hit her when she feels that body freezing terror. his screaming, scared her even though it was never directed to her. the normal child. the door opens. "jane, jane are you okay?" joyces hand brushes her cheek. forcing their eyes to meet. she opens her mouth. ill say tired. ill lie. ill say im all good. "there-there was something in the woods..." she mutters, joyce hugs her, she hugs back. joyce pulls back after a while, her hands grip janes arms. "did it hurt you?" the question hangs in the air for a long moment. this long would be concerning, if jane were actually the normal child who could speak properly without struggling or needing to be comfortable and content. "no.. just.. scared me.." she mumbles. it did hurt her, but mom already does so much stuff and hospital visits arent cheap. "get some sleep, ill drive you and will to school tomorrow." joyce smooths over her bangs. "okay.." she walks inside past joyce, towards her room. "and jane," joyce starts, she pauses turning to face her. "remember, you can tell me anything" she nods turning back down the hallway.
she closes the door to her room, pressing her back against it. she hates feeling that. feeling like the only option she has is to cower in fear. she sits like that for a long moment. the memories play over and over, whyd she run from the cops? why? theres no penalty for being in the woods at night. she pulls her shirt off, she wont sleep tonight. but its better to try, then she might actually get a few minutes. the bite wound on her leg doesnt hurt nearly as bad as it should, yeah, but it still aches. she undoes her belt, sitting on against her bed so she can actually get a look at this bite or scratch, it felt like a bite. but she was also pretty scared, maybe even seeing things? she carefully pulls off the sock, wincing as the fibers tear off of the scab. scab..? its been about 10 minutes maybe 12? can things scab that fast? she stares at it. its weeping. like a cut thats a few days old, not a few minutes. "what the fuck..?" her leans her head back. she'll have to bandage that before bed, but mom cant know, so she'll wait a bit.
what was that thing? the bite seems canine, it looks kind of similar to when one of the shelter dogs bit her. but how is it weeping already? why is it weeping already? how is it pussy and gross when it should still be at the bleeding everywhere stage? theres footsteps outside, its joyce. she sighs, just a little longer till she can bandage this up and act like nothing ever happened. she stands, walking as quickly and quietly to the bathroom as possible. the wound isnt all that deep, so it doesnt need gauze. she wraps the bandages around it tight. it hurts slightly, but bandaged is better than puss and blood on her sheets and blanket, right? whats she gonna do with that sock, if mom sees that in the washing shell know somethings off. plus blood stains..
she sighs, staring at the bandaged bite on her ankle, it should hurt to bend way more. it hurts, but it doesnt hurt as much as it did. she shakes her head, walking to her bedroom. she sighs, sittting on the ede of her bed. she pulls off her sports bra, throwing it to her desk chair, before laying down. sleep doesnt come. not with the pulses discomfort in her ankle.
"jane! get up!" will shouts pounding on the door. she groans, pulling herself up out of bed. fuck. she forgot to put her clothes out to be washed. whatever, same clothes as yesterday but with fresh socks with have to do. she grabs thejeans off the floor, quickly cheacking theirs no bood on them before putting them on. purple knitted cardigan and that black madonna t shirt she stole from the mall. she opens the door. "mom forgot she started work early, so bobs taking us." will scoffs, he doesnt like bob. he and jonathan dont seem to think people can be genuinely nice without wanting anything back. "ready to go kiddos?" bob asks cheerfully, sometimes bob feels fake, but she cant bring herself to be rude to him. hes nice to her, and its not his fault she doesnt trust him. "yeah." she answers for her and will, cause wills clearly ready. shell take the front seat, shes shorter than will but she talks more most of the time.
the drive isnt a long drive, but its not a short one. "so hows school going?" bob asks only one of them will answer, and its the one who struggles to talk half the time. driving is the perfect place to answer questions. no one nagging about eye contact, or any of those stupid things about not being rude. plus is just her (unoficall) step dad and brother in the car. "good." she answers, not really a lie or a truth. its good and bad, track is good, but thats cause shes a good runner. "anything interesting?" somethings off, she cant point it out? is it nerves for that track meet shes got later today? or something else? "ive got a track meet today." she answers, why would she be nervous, shes consistently the best runner on the team. bob nods as he pulls up the school. its loud, way way way louder than usual. the front her head is going to be throbbing by the end of the day at this rate. "bye." she mumbles to bob as she gets out of his car.
she walks past a group of boys towards the doors, theyre wearing way too much body spray. it hurts her nose just to breathe around them. she takes breath through her mouth, pushing onwards. will already off with his friends, lucky him. she opens her locker to grab her history textbook, so she doesnt have to go back after homegroup. she closes the door, it slams. she didnt do that. she closed normally, why did it slam like that? she frowns, pretending to be angry instead of surprised so no thinks anything is wrong.
theres a girl with red hair in her homegroup, theres something about her. their eyes meet forr a long a moment. she usually sits over there by the window, maybe she wont today. she sits over by the wall. angela walks in, followed by stacy and heather. "jane, i know youre slow... but thats my seat.." she scowls up at angela. she wants to say something witty, and smart. she wont talk, even if she wanted to her throat wouldnt let her. she doesnt stand. "jenny, cmon, why dont you sit next to grumpy over there.." stacy says, acting like shes some kind of dog. "fine." the word comes out choked, and quiet. she stands up, sitting over by the girl with the red hair. mrs smith comes in, shes not exactly rude, just not exactly kind, to jane. the redhead puts her hand up. "i havent even done attendance yet." mrs smith scowls. "yes...maxine?" maxine makes a face at that name or something. "i need to go to the bathroom, like urgently." mrs smith sighs. "fine, just this once." maxine has crazy luck, if anyone else did that theyd be sent to their exucaution. "i dont know where the bathrooms are.." maxine mutters in embarrasment. "take-" max interrupts mrs smith. this girl is crazy. "can she show me?" max asks pointing at jane. at her? what? shes not partically helpful, why would max pick her. "wouldnt you want to someone a little less..." mrs smith trails off. max grabs her hand and pulls her out of the classroom.
she feels a flush come to her cheeks at being thrown around like this. maxine stops leading her around, now its janes turn. she just starts to walk towards the bathrooms that she usually goes too. "youre like me right?" maxine asks, theres something about her. she smells nervous? what the fuck? how does a person smell nervous? she looks nervous. she forces herself to say "what." maxines makes a face of confusion. "y'know a were-wolf?" maxine whispers. she pauses in her tracks. what the fuck does maxine mean? a werewolf? shes pretty sure shes not a fictional creature, as y'know, shes real! she opens her mouth to speak. what does she even say to that? "cmon." maxine grabs her wrist and tugs her along. she pulls back, digging her heels onto the tile and trying to wrench her wrist from maxines grip. she falls backwards. maxine turns to look at her. "i." she winces as she forces words from her throat. everyone can tell itsd not natural for her. "history." she turns around. "if you change your mind ill be in the girls locker room." maxine grumbles.
the bell rings just as she gets to the history classroom, shes left the textbook in homegroup. she sighs, sitting in her usual seat. mr patrick starts to talk. everynoise is way too loud, people tapping there fingers on the desk, or their feet on the floor, or writing their notes, its eerily silent and loud at the same time. the boy sitting infront of her has a cold, or is coming into one. "ahem! jane, could you read the answer on the board." she blinks. looking up at the board. its about the slaves, whatever. she opens her mouth to speak, one day shell just magically be able to talk. that day is not today. everyones loooking at her. she clenches her fingers around the sheet on her desk. "they.." her throat feels tight. she stands, walking to the door. "jane where do you think youre going?" mr patirck shouts.she closes it behind her. "jane, get back in here right now!"
her legs feel heavy. shes taking maxine up on that offer, what else is she to do? she pauses, what is she doing? she cant miss history again, joyce will kill her. she cant go back to history now, and maxine was talking about werewolves! she has to know what the hell that was about. she walks into the locker room, no ones here. "hello...?" saying that comes surprising easy. she turns around, walking through the room towards the showers. "you came." theres a hint of surprise in maxines voice. she whips around to face maxine, what is wrong with this girl? why was she hiding in here? she needs to ask where maxine was trying to take her, and why they have to leave school, but shes broken. she cant talk, hows she going to ask. maxine is looking at her.
"you dont believe me." maxine states. she nods, maxine starts to walk away. "im getting a head of myself, im max." maxine holds a hand out. she takes max's hand, shaking it slowly. max waits for a moment, shes waiting for jane to her name. "..jane" she mumbles. theres confusion written all over maxs face. "you dont talk." max points out. "are you like..one of those annoying kids who can but wont..?" she looks at her shoes, nervously. theres a moment of silence between them. "you should carry around a notepad." max notes before walking. "huh-" she blurts out of shock, walking after max. "so you could like write the words instead of speaking them." max explains, shes not being rude, shes not insinuating jane is stupid. she wipes tears from the corners of her eyes. its weird. max should be doing that, no? jane is stupid. "..." max has turned back to look at her. "people arent very nice to you, huh?" why would they be? shes 16 years old and cant talk properly.
the walk is mostly silent after that. max doesnt start conversations, and neither does jane. max walks around like she knows the woods, her hands grab branches every now and then, she hops over streams like shes done it thousands of times. they reach a small clearing, theres a wooden box halfway into the dirt. max gances around, no ones around. its the middle of the woods for fucks sake. max takes her shirt off. she takes a step back. should she cover her eyes or something? max wanted to show her something right? why does this have to involve taking her clothes off?! max glances up at her, theirr eyes meet. theres a furious blush across her cheeks, she turns her head to the side. "watch." max commands. she turns her head back. max has taken her bra off. wasnt this about werewolves? she keeps her eyes on the tree behind max, trying desperately not to look at max.
she blinks. theres a coyote where max was. "what?" the words fall out of her mouth easily. thats max. max is the coyote. max is a were-coyote? it makes sense why max had to take off her clothes now. human clothes dont tend to fit on coyotes. max runs off. "hey!-" she steps forwards to chase after max, shell never catch up to a coyote. does max want her to try and turn into a coyote too? she glances back at the woods. theres nothing for miles, theres no one about. maxs clothes are stored in the tuckbox, she can store hers there too. she sighs shakily, pulling her cardigan off first. then grabbing the back of her madonna t shirt. what if someones out here, watching from the shadows? she shudders. how does she even turn into a wolf.
the grass feels spiky under her bare feet, it cant be that hard? couldnt max have explained it before running off? she sighs, starting to run. nothings happening! she comes to a halt be a stream. "youre thinking too much." max says from behind her. she glances back to see max whiz forward in coytote form. helpful much. "max.." she mutters, starting to chase after max. her hands-paws, hit the ground. this is weird! this is fucking awful. she halts trying to figure out how to stand. she sees maxs tail go through a bush. she bounds after her, why is she running. this is so much faster than running as a human. she pushes hard on her legs trying to catch up to max. max leaps over a stream she plunders through. for someone one quarter shorter than her shes a lot faster. she shakes off her fur.
they break out of the forest, onto a flower covered hill. max stops at the top. she pads up next to max. hawkins looks so small from here. the sky isa mix or orange and yellow as the sun begins to set. max turns to look at her, standing up and turning around. theyre not running all the way back are they? she pants, pulling herself up. max looks at her with this glint in her eyes. she wants to race.