AMARA COMPLETED HER HOMEWORK EARLY the next morning.

        It was the first time she'd ever saved her work for the morning it was due, and with the consecutive disappearances of Will and Barb being everyone's go-to topic, it wouldn't be the last time. Huffing as a strand of golden brown escaped from her messy sleep bun and danced in front of her vision, she tucked it behind her left ear and squinted down at her geometry problem, illuminated only by the dim glow of her desk lamp. While math was one of her strongest subjects, her mind was fatigued from waking up early, coupled with the resurgence of the man without a face. Going back to the woods had done nothing to dampen Amara's curiosity; it had only raised more questions she was determined to answer.

        She panicked upon hearing a soft knock on her door, hurriedly shutting her books closed and bolting back to her bed. However, she knocked her chair over in the process.

        "Careful, you don't want to wake the neighbors," came the amused voice of her brother. Amara sighed in relief and left her bed once again, pushing her chair upright as Kevin entered her room, grinning. He'd exchanged his pajamas for ripped jeans and a verdant polar shirt, the sleeves rolled up to reveal his forearms. And unlike her, his hair had the audacity to be neat in the morning.

        "Procrastinating?" Kevin guessed, moving to sit on the edge of Amara's bed as she resumed her homework.

        "Please stop," she muttered, ashamed of herself more than anything. The last thing she needed was to fail school, no matter how dangerous the situation could be. She wanted to please her parents even more than she wished to succeed; it was the least she owed to them after everything they, Eurydice in particular, had done for her.

        "Relax, I do it all the time," Kevin reassured her. He rested a hand on her shoulder, bringing her attention to him.

        "Is that why you're also up at 5:30 in the morning?" Amara quipped, finally letting a smile grace her features. Kevin had that effect on her; while their parents had grown up in a world where nobody they knew had autism, let alone a family member, Kevin had lived with it his whole life. To him, Amara was just his little sister.

        "Well yeah, but also because of Joyce Byers," Kevin admitted, his face falling as he recalled the events from last night. He'd driven to Joyce's house to check on her, only to find her sobbing in the middle of the road, clutching the only child she had left. "Will's body was found in Sattler's quarry last night."

        Amara's hand flew to her mouth as she took in the news. A wave of emotions hit her. Shock, sadness, guilt... though the one that stood out the most was confusion. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something just didn't seem right to her. Something felt artificial, as if the timing was so right that it somehow felt wrong.

        "I feel bad for her, I do," Kevin continued. "But I'm worried about her health. She hasn't come to work in several days, and when she does it's to buy Christmas lights. I don't know what they're for, but I doubt she's planning on celebrating the holidays."

        "That is odd," Amara remarked. "Perhaps she's in denial, but it could be something else. A lot of weird things are happening now."

        "Such as?"

        "Such as the fact that Will went missing, but then Benny Hammond was found dead and Barbara Holland disappeared two days later. I thought these mishappenings could be connected somehow, which now doesn't seem to be the case that Will drowned in the quarry. I went out to investigate yesterday – "

        "Of course you did," Kevin smirked, reminded how Amara loved to play detective. "Did you find anything?"

        Amara bit her lip and shook her head, looking at her feet. "You wouldn't believe me."

        Kevin looked at his sister sympathetically, the cogs in his brain turning as he thought of a solution. His eyes drifted to the math book on her desk, still looming over Amara's thoughts.

        "How about this," he proposed. "I'll finish your homework for you, and you can tell me what you found. Deal?"

        "I hate you," Amara grumbled, resenting how he always managed to get what he wanted from her through bribery. However, she handed him her math book, the last of the assignments she needed to complete.

        "Ooh, geometry," Kevin commented, flipping through the pages until he found the ones Amara had dated for the day before. "Why has college made me miss geometry?"

        Amara giggled, re-positioning her body so she was cross-legged on her chair. She cleared her throat before summarizing the events of the last two days: "So when Will first went missing I found it odd, mostly because this town is small enough that it's almost impossible to get lost. But I didn't think much of it until I saw something on Monday night. It was like a man, but it didn't seem to have a face."

        "So that's why you were unusually quiet at dinner that night," Kevin concluded, his eyes sparkling with mischief in the dimly lit room. "English essay, huh?"

        "It was the best excuse I could come up with."

        "You're a terrible liar. At least to me."

        "So you believe me?" Amara tried, bracing herself for the worst possible outcome. However, it never arrived.

        "I mean, it would sound made-up if it was coming from someone I didn't know, but I know you wouldn't lie about that sort of thing," Kevin reasoned. "I just wish you told me sooner."

        "I'm sorry," Amara whispered, looking at her feet again in shame. "I was worried more about Mom and Dad, how they would've brushed it off. I'm sorry I didn't think of you."

        "Better now than never," Kevin smiled, resuming completing Amara's homework. "Now go on."

        Feeling more confident now, Amara dove back into her end of the deal. "So yesterday I was doubting whether what I saw was a distortion, or even there at all. I knew I had to confirm if it was real or not, so I went back to the woods after school – "

        "You ditched Robin?" Kevin interrupted, feigning surprise. "That's so unlike you."

        "She had soccer practice, it was the perfect day!"

        "Continue, please."

        "So I biked back to the woods where I saw that thing, but Nancy Wheeler was there too. She told me Barb had disappeared last night, right after I first saw the creature. We found it again a few minutes later. That's pretty much it."

        Kevin didn't look up, scribbling down an answer to a problem on the area of a triangle. He set the book and pencil down on Amara's bed and finally faced her. She had no inkling as to what he was thinking, but then he finally spoke.

        "You are so reckless."

        "That's what you're getting out of this?"

        "That thing, whatever it was, could've hurt you, or worse!" Kevin exclaimed, abruptly standing up. He moved to kneel in front of his sister and softened his tone: "If your theory is true, if it really took Will and Barb, you could've been next. I wouldn't be able to live with that."

        "But it didn't," Amara responded, keeping her voice steady. "It didn't take me two days ago, and it didn't take me yesterday. And while I'm still here, I'll keep searching until I uncover the reason why Hawkins has become such a strange place."

        Kevin sighed in defeat and cursed the stubbornness that ran through their family, from Eurydice's enforcement of the routine she'd developed to fit Amara's needs to Scott's insistence that Kevin continue working at Melvald's. Amara's obstinacy was further amplified by her impulsivity; she would leap into action without considering the fallacies, and while it was often one of her worst traits, right now it appeared to be her best option.

        Kevin stood up again and handed Amara her math book: "Finished your homework." She took it as a cue that he accepted her desire to move on to the next phase of her plan, even if he believed it was foolish. And when Eurydice questioned why her children were grinning at each other over their breakfast, they simply burst into uncontrollable laughter.

AMARA'S PLAN WAS SIMPLE: find Nancy and figure out what to do next.

        They greeted each other in English right before class started (Robin was astonished to see Amara actually interacting with another human), but before Amara could mention their next step, their teacher was instructing them to open their copies of Shakespeare's Cymbeline. Amara quickly created the false image of being focused, whereas Nancy kept absentmindedly glancing at the empty desk to her right, anxiously gnawing on her lip.

        Amara considered passing a note to Nancy but decided against it, not wanting to break her year-and-two-months record of not being expelled from a school. Plus, she didn't want anyone to catch onto their scheme and rat it out to their parents. She realized she'd have to wait until after English, but then someone called for Nancy to leave the room. She never came back, nor was she in Spanish or anywhere in the cafeteria.

        "I don't understand," Robin panted as she jogged to keep up with Amara. "What's going on?"

        "It's a very long story," Amara admitted as she stopped walking to face her best friend. "I promise you, when it's over I'll tell you everything."

        Robin narrowed her eyes, but she was smirking. "Did you get a secret boyfriend?"

        "Oh, it's so much worse," Amara responded, noting how ridiculous the idea of a faceless creature hunting people down and kidnapping them would sound to most people. "See you later!"

        She dashed off, leaving Robin more confused if that was possible. Eventually, the latter shrugged it off for the time being and searched for a table to eat, presumably one where she could stare at Tammy Thompson without anyone noticing.

        After she had been unable to track down Nancy within the school, Amara concluded that she had left at some point after she was asked to step out of English. So she biked to the next place she could think of: the Wheelers' house.

        The large house at the end of the cul-de-sac said upfront everything you needed to know about the family living there. They were well-off, as evidenced by the cars in their garage and the clothes Nancy wore. Amara couldn't help but feel intimidated, especially when she thought back to how old most of the appliances her family used were, or how Kevin needed to work to help keep them afloat.

        She let her bike fall to the grass as she approached the front door, ringing the doorbell. A few seconds later it opened to reveal Nancy's mother, who looked both bewildered yet somewhat relieved to see someone.

        "Hi, are you here for Nancy?" Mrs. Wheeler asked.

        "Yeah, she and I were assigned a project for history," Amara lied smoothly; she was somewhat more talented at lying to strangers despite her near inability to lie to Robin or her family. "I couldn't find her at school, so I thought I'd check here."

        "Well you came to the right place," Mrs. Wheeler smiled, stepping to the side. "Come on in, she's upstairs."

        "Thank you," Amara beamed, walking inside as Mrs. Wheeler shut the door behind her.

        "I don't think I've seen you around," Mrs. Wheeler noted as Amara took off her shoes, taking extra care not to track any mud on the floor. "What's your name?"

        "Amara."

        "Oh, you're Eurydice's daughter!" Mrs. Wheeler exclaimed. "I've heard such great things about you – please say hi to her for me!"

        "Definitely!" Amara shot Mrs. Wheeler a smile before walking upstairs. After journeying into several rooms she concluded that the one with the closed door was Nancy's, and knocked on it lightly.

        "Go away, Mom!" Nancy shouted, her voice slightly muffled.

        "It's just me," Amara called, not wanting to know the details of what had occurred between Nancy and her mother. "Can I come in?"

        "Sure," Nancy said weakly.

        Her room was spacious and warm. The lights were off but there was no need for them to be on, for there was sufficient light coming from the open window. Nancy was sprawled on her bed, staring out the windowpane as if hoping Barb would suddenly appear outside.

        "I should've known it wasn't my mom," Nancy said, not moving from her position. "She never knocks."

        Amara grinned but didn't hold it for long, taking notice of how despondent Nancy looked. Her eyes were red from crying, and her lip quivered every few seconds. She gestured for the other girl to sit, needing to be with the only living person in the world who had seen the same thing she did.

        "What happened?" Amara asked, unable to formulate a better question as to how Nancy had ended up where she was, feeling what she was feeling. But it was enough for Nancy to compose herself, sitting up and leaning against a pillow.

        "The police came to school today after my mom informed them of what we saw. I told them about where Barb was right before she disappeared, but they were only interested in what happened between me and Steve that night."

        Amara took "what happened" to mean that Nancy and Steve had done more than simply talk in his room.

        "They couldn't find that thing, and Barb's car was also missing," Nancy continued.

        "But we both saw Barb's car," Amara cut her off. "That thing, it's been in multiple places if it also took Will, but Barb's car? Who would've driven it?"

        "Only she had the key," Nancy said. "So either someone hotwired it or towed it away."

        "Something definitely feels off," Amara commented. "I mean, Will and Barb both went missing, everyone was looking for them, and then suddenly Will's body is found and Barb's car is gone. It just feels too well-timed."

        "Yeah," Nancy sighed in defeat. "Our parents don't believe us, the police don't believe us, and some outer force is working to prevent us from finding out the truth. I guess this is how the real world works."

        Amara nodded slowly as she realized how right Nancy was. The outside world was cold and unfriendly and unforgiving. The people who succeeded the most were the ones who pushed others aside to reach their destination, and those who sought to help others risked being taken advantage of. And young people – they were dismissed as apathetic and unknowing. They were only remembered for the times they partied late at night and skipped school, not when they contributed to the betterment of the world. Even after the youth-led Vietnam protests and the Civil Rights movement. Even now.

        "We really are on our own," Amara acknowledged out loud. Speaking it didn't make her feel any better, but it made her more resolute.

        "Maybe not," Nancy said softly, holding up a photograph for Amara to take. "Jonathan Byers took this the night Barb disappeared. I think he managed to capture that thing on camera."

        Amara held the picture up to the light as she scrutinized it. It depicted Barb sitting on the diving board of a pool, cradling her hand as something – blood – dripped from her wound into the water. Steve Harrington's house framed the background, surrounded by trees. But as she looked closer, she could barely make out a pointed head lurking in the forest.

        The head of the creature they had encountered yesterday.

        "We should go," Amara declared.

        "Yeah, definitely," Nancy agreed, standing up and swinging her bag over her shoulder. She made to open the door but then halted. "Wait, where are we going?"

CONSIDERING THAT JONATHAN BYERS BELIEVED his brother to be dead, and that Hawkins was a small town with only one funeral home, Amara and Nancy were able to track him down fairly easily. After informing Mrs. Wheeler that they were going to the library to find books on the Treaty of Versailles, they had immediately hitched a ride on the public bus straight to the funeral home. As they exited the bus, Amara glanced at her watch to find that she had half an hour left before she needed to be back at school. She hoped it was enough.

        The interior of the store was empty, save for Jonathan and the owner of the place. Nancy and Amara stood quietly outside the room the aforementioned men were pacing, weighing the prices of various caskets. Amara took several steps back, knowing that Jonathan would recognize Nancy and not her.

        It took a few minutes for Jonathan to realize he and the funeral director were no longer the only people in the room. He glanced at Nancy before turning back to the man. "Can you just give me a second?" he asked tentatively.

        "Of course."

        Jonathan approached Nancy, the memory of yesterday's events haunting his brain. He absentmindedly wondered if she was here to mock or chastise him, but she hadn't yesterday, and something about the way she was carrying herself told him it was the last thing on her mind right now.

        "Hey," he whispered.

        "Hey," Nancy responded, her eyes no longer red but still glassy. "I – we thought we'd find you here." For the first time, Jonathan noticed Amara as she lingered behind them. "I just... can we talk for a second? Outside?"

        Jonathan nodded slowly, leading them to a bench in the foyer. It was only big enough for two people to sit, forcing Amara to remain upright. She didn't mind though.

        Nancy reached into her bag and pulled out the photograph, handing it to Jonathan. "You took this, the night Barb disappeared," she said, and Jonathan nodded. She moved her finger to the bottom right corner where the figure lurked in the shadows, almost unnoticeable. "Do you know what that is?"

        "It looks like it could be some kind of perspective distortion," Jonathan theorized. "But I wasn't using the wide angle. I don't know," he handed the photo back to Nancy, who appeared downcast. "It's weird."

        Nancy wasn't ready to give up yet. "And you're sure you didn't see anyone else out there?" she inquired.

        "No," Jonathan responded. "And she was there one second and then, um... gone. I figured she bolted."

        "Her car was still there yesterday," Amara spoke up, prompting Jonathan to look up as she made her involvement in the situation known. "I don't think she made it very far if she couldn't reach it."

        "But then the cops told me her car wasn't there this morning," Nancy continued. "They think that she ran away, but they don't know Barb. And I went back to Steve's – Amara was there," she gestured to the girl standing several feet away from them. "She found something