Extinct Love (Max Mayfield x OC)

Chapter 5: The Flea and the Acrobat

Chapter 5: The Flea and the Acrobat

The sky is dark again and the boys are discussing what Will said in Mike's basement. El is still very tired and has not moved much. She is lying down across my lap as I sit on the couch with Mike. I remember when the bad men pushed me too hard. Papa kept asking me to turn from form to form. Eventually I just got too tired to even move.

"What was Will saying? Like home... like home... but dark?" Mike says, getting up and walking around.

"And empty." adds Lucas.

Dustin sighs. "Empty and cold. Wait, did he say cold?"

"I don't know. The stupid radio kept going in and out." Lucas says.

"It's like riddles in the dark." Dustin groans.

"Like home. Like his house?" Mike asks.

"Or maybe like Hawkins." Lucas says.

"Upside down." El mutters.

"What'd she say?" Lucas asks.

"Upside down." I repeat for her.

"What?" Lucas asks again.

"Upside down." Mike says, moving to the black board El turned over. The other boys go investigate what Mike's doing.

"When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board over, right?" Mike asks, flipping the board over and demonstrating what El did.

"Yeahs and he wasn't there." Lucas replies

"But what if he was there?" Mike asks. "What if we just couldn't see him? What if he was on the other side? What if..." Mike flips the board so the normal side is facing up, "... this is Hawkins and..." He flips the board back over, "... this is where Will is. The Upside Down."

"Like the Vale of Shadows." Dustin says.

The boys all go around checking for something. El is still lying across my lap, but I can feel the nervous energy coming off from her. I try to calm her down, but I do not know what to do. I somehow end up running my fingers through her fake hair. Apparently it feels nice. The boys finally get the book they were looking for and open it up.

"The Vale of Shadows is a dimension that is a dark reflection or echo of our world." Dustin reads. "It is a place of decay and death. A plane out of phase. A place of monsters. It is right next to you and you don't even see it."

I feel El get more nervous and nervous with each word Dustin reads. I do not understand most of what he is saying, but it does not seem good.

"An alternate dimension." Mike says.

"But... how... how do we get there?" asks Lucas.

"You cast Shadow Walk." Dustin replies immediately.

"In real life, dummy." Lucas scolds.

"We can't shadow walk, but..." Dustin looks over at us as he finishes, "maybe they can."

Mike turns to us, or more specifically El, and asks, "Do you know how we get there? To the Upside Down?"

I shake my head and after some hesitation, so does El. Lucas sighs and leans back in his seat.

"Oh, my god!" Lucas groans. In aggravation.

Not much happened for the rest of the day. Lucas and Dustin head home and Mike goes up for dinner. He later comes back with some leftovers for us to eat.

We say goodnight and we go to sleep. I get a very restless sleep, images of the horrible 7 or 8ft tall, petal-mouthed monster slashing my face, it's claws ripping through the tough scales of my dinosaur form.