010 || Stranger Things X Male Reader

Chapter 5: The Flea and The Acrobat

Back At The Wheelers household.

The room is cold, a morbid air to the room as cold air fluctuates throughout the paned windows; with a freckle of rain to them. "What was Will saying.." Mike paces around the room, the wood creaking under the rug. Dustin and Lucas sit in chairs next to the table with the still upside down chess board. You sit next to El as she lays down to regain her strength, her feet propped up on a pillow, provided by you.

"He said it was cold and empty right?" Dustin asks, eyes wide, looking over at Lucas; who glances back, almost rolling his eyes before turning them back to Mike.

"I don't know, the stupid radio kept cutting out." Lucas answers, his eyes looking at
nothing, Mike nods as he turns away from you and El, pacing again.

"He said it was like home, like Hawkins, his house. What does he mean." Mike says to himself, Mike places his thumb to his mouth; chewing the already short nail, short enough to be a hang nail, his hair dropping over his collared shirt as he looks at El as she speaks for the first time.

"Upside Down." El says, looking over at you; as if her eyes were to say 'is this okay?'  You glance away, feeling sadness at her having to ask— it shouldn't be needed.

Lucas looks over at El, "What'd she say?"

"The Upside Down." You repeat, stern, almost annoyed in tone. Your eyes turning to meet the African American, for a moment you can feel a spark of anger behind them, but he quickly gulps it down. El's hand reaches for your arm, coiling it around her, rubbing the white-scared scratches along your arm idly, her eyes searching them— almost as if she was counting the cuts.

"The Upside Down.." Mike ponders, walking over to the Chess board— ignoring the tension between you and Lucas. "When El flipped over the board, remember? The Upside Down. Dark, Empty." Mike says, looking over at Lucas.

"Do you understand what he's talking about?" Lucas asks, Dustin shakes his head.

"Um--" You stammer, trying to find the words. "the Upside down is similar to our world." You respond, "So it's Hawkins." The boys eyes light up, finally understanding.

"Exactly, remember when El brought us to Will's house?" Mike probes,

"Yeah, but he wasn't there." Lucas tells Mike, the doubt obvious on his face; his furrowed brow in annoyance, the visible frown.

"What if he was, what if we just couldn't see him. What if he was on the other side." Mike flips over the chess board, "This is Hawkins," He flips the Chess Board upside down. "This is the Upside Down."

"Like the Veil of Shadows?" Dustin asks, he looks over at Mike and he nods.

Dustin grabs something from his bag which lays from beside the chair and opens it. "The Veil Of Shadows, is a dimension that is a dark reflection or echo of our world. It's a place of decay and death-"

Hawkins National Laboratory

H

Hopper walks along the underground hallways of the Hawkins lab, his flashlight the only thing guiding him. He walks with interest as he follows the weird particles leading to something.