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"Great." She winced as the sound of thunder hit her ears. One of the many things she hates about this town are the thunderstorms. Danielle pushed her blanket off as she stood from the sofa and turned on the lamp on the nightstand. The light illuminates half the basement. This basement was bigger than Danielle and Jessica's rooms combined.

Half of the room was a hangout space while the rest was a library/study. Her guess is that Valerie is the only one who hangs out here. She left going up the stairs leaving the basement.

It's so dark.

Everyone is probably sleeping. She can't turn on the television if they were asleep, so she decides to look out the window that shoes the rest of the street. She went on the sofa and lifted the blinds up but she couldn't see anything. She couldn't until the lightning struck again and she saw four short figures walking towards Mike Wheelers house. She isn't sure if her eyes are deceiving her or not, but she swears there is a small girl with them.

"Hey," Someone pats her shoulder making her turn around quickly.

"Valerie," She breaths out, Danielle doesn't show it, but she was definitely caught off guard. She didn't hear the girl walk downstairs.

"Sorry. Can't sleep?" She sat next to Danielle, wearing casual white pajamas. Do people still wear pajamas these days? Danielle just wears her clothes from the day, she only changes out of her pants into sweats.

"No. I don't think anyone can sleep through thunderstorms."

Valerie gives her a cheeky grin pointing upstairs. "You'd be surprised."

Danielle eyes widen in shock. "She can sleep through thunderstorms?"

"Yeah, she's a different breed. But it could also be from work, her shifts are unpredictable," Valerie chuckled and she explained. Both of them stayes silent until Danielle breaks the silence first.

"Do you know what happened to Will Byers?" She asked.

"He just vanished. Never got home. No body knows if he was kidnapped or-" Dead. None of them say the word, it has so much meaning especially during this week. It makes Danielle think if the brunette knew Byers.

"Were you two of you close?" She asked against her own judgment.

Valerie hesitated before giving her a nod "He used to come over to show me his drawings."

"Well let's hope he is not dead then" Once the words left her mouth, she regretted it. Valerie's eyes started to get shiny which meant crying was about to happen, and she had said the unspoken word.

One thing that can be said is that Danielle Crowley isn't one to comfort someone.