You had always been bullied for being deaf, for as long as you could remember. You had received multiple beating and embarrassing pranks by your school bullies. It worsened this year. 9th grade was a breeding ground for bullies, your worst nightmare. You had begged your parents to homeschool you but they didn't listen, they thought you needed the social interactions and proper education of school, despite your bullying.

Freshman year was Hell on earth. You had no friends, no mutuals, no support, nothing. Easy target for bullying, easy target for pranks and humiliation.

The pranks got worse and worse by the day. The pranks ranged from name-calling to downright beatings.

There was once a day, close to summer break, where the bullying had escalated more than beatings, if possible. Your usual bullies had found you, a group of boys, had pinned you to the ground and stomped on your hearing aid. Your savior had appeared at that moment. Vance Hopper.

Vance was feared for his reckless behavior and aggressive outbursts. Vance was like the alpha dog in a litter of omegas. Feared.

Despite his violent nature, he had a weird soft spot for the weaker, in this case you. He didn't take much of his parent's words into consideration, however he had taken one thing into his mind that his dad pestered. Protect the ones in need of it.

He had done exactly that, protected you, but at what cost? He had proceeded to break one of the bullie's nose, caused a concussion to the other and the 3rd one had escaped.

After that fight, you and him had become basically inseparable. Always hanging out, true friends. He had paid for most of your lunches and hearing aid updates, with the return of your help in homework.

However, admist the happiness, something terrible had happened. Vance was on the news again, not for his usual behavior but because of something worse, his abduction. He was now in the cases of the victims of the famous kidnapper called The Grabber.

His face and the faces of Bruce, Griffin, Billy, Finney, Robin haunted you on the missing posters plastered around the town.

The abduction of your best friend had affected you deeply, you had refused to do anything on summer break. You only left to search for Vance, to maybe find him. But you were just a 14 year old boy? What could you do?

On a cold night in the middle of June, you had yet again went out to find him, ignoring the thought of the shouting you would receive in the morning by your parents. Little did you know there wouldn't be a trip home.

You had been taken by The Grabber, it was all a blur. The one second you were with your flashlight searching for your friend and the other you were unconscious in The Grabber's basement, with a throbbing pain in your head.

Your unconscious body was currently in Vance's arms, his body cold by the lack of heat in the basement. His annoyed whispering filled the small basement, cursing you for trying to find him and resulting in your own abduction. Your brown eyes shut, making you seem innocent. Your white hearing aid missing, it had probably been lost while The Grabber fought to get you into his black van, your hearing now completely gone. Your brown hair draped down your face, making you weirdly attractive to Vance. He had a crush on you but he refused to believe he was gay, his parents convincing him that gay people were faggots. Robin was talking with the crying Finney, trying to calm him down by the obvious presence of another missing child. Griffin was staring at you with curiosity and pity, he was disappointed that you were another victim, scared for you. Billy was trying to devise a plan to escape, nobody believed in hope anymore though. Bruce was sleeping, he was out cold. He hadn't slept a lot due to the stress and fear of the idea of being a missing child.