Shadows of the Night •a Stranger Things story•

I Call it the Vale of Shadows

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Chris wraps herself up in a blanket. She's curled up on the end of the couch. A cup of tea is sitting on the coffee table. Chris reaches for it with shaky hands.

Robbie licks his lips. "You think these nightmares aren't nightmares?" he states, his voice slow. He's trying to figure out exactly what Chris is trying to tell him.

"Yes," she replies, swallowing a mouthful of warm tea.

"So what are they, then?"

"Uh...I—I don't know." Chris shrugs her shoulders. "It's—"

"Premonitions? Visions of the future? You're psychic?"

"No. No," Chris chuckles a little. "I'm not having visions of the future. More like...I'm seeing things that are happening now. And it's not here."

Robbie tilts his head; his pretty face twists in puzzlement. "I'm not following..."

Chris stares around the tiny house. "Imagine this place at night. It's dark and there's never really any light. There are shadows and dust. It's the exact same, but like—"

"Someone made it into a black-and-white movie?" he asks.

"Yes! Yes!" she sighs in relief. "Exactly. A black-and-white movie. It's dirty and cold and dusty; it's a black-and-white horror movie."

"Okay."

"I call it the Vale of Shadows. From D&D. Like someone's shadow. Exactly the same, but—"

"And you're having dreams about your house?" Robbie frowns. "Chris, this doesn't sound like anything unusual. A lot of times people dream of things they've done throughout their day. The fact that you're dreaming about home—"

"No. It's not my house. It's never been my house. It's been different places. The Byers' house. Steve's backyard."

"All places you've been before," Robbie cuts in.

"No." Chris's voice is stern. "No. You're not understanding—I was there when Will went missing, and Barbara, too."

Robbie stares at his friend for a minute. Silence balances between them, tipping and swaying. The two of them debate on who should start talking again first. Robbie clears his throat quietly. Chris sniffles, "Do you believe me? Do you trust me?" she questions, her voice low.

Robbie leans forward, grabbing Chris's face in his hands. "Of course I trust you, Chris. I've always trusted you." Robbie's dark eyes bore deeply into Chris's light ones. He presses a gentle kiss on Chris's temple.

Chris closes her eyes, pressing herself against Robbie's side. "Then you know that I wouldn't just make this up. Not with Will. Not with Barb."

Robbie tightens his grip around her, his skin crawling with goosebumps. She's right; Chris would never make something up in a time like this. Not with people that she cared about deeply. And if Robbie does believe her, then that means something strange is going on in Hawkins, Indiana.

"That girl...El. I want to talk to her again. I think...I think I can get some answers from her." Chris glances up at Robbie. "Will you come with me?"

Robbie nods. "'Till the end of the earth," he mutters out.

Dustin, Lucas, Mike, and El are in a circle. They're hiding out in the basement, avoiding school. Dustin and Lucas are listening intently to the walkie talkie on the floor. The noise coming through sounds like a baby whimpering. El has her head bowed forward, concentrating.

"We keep losing the signal, but you heard it, right?" asks Mike, turning to his friends.

"Yeah, I heard a baby," Lucas describes.

Mike furrows his eyebrows. "What?"

"Mike, you obviously tapped into a baby monitor."

"It's probably the Blackburns' next door."

"Uh, did that sound like a baby to you?" Mike rolls his eyes. "That was Will!"

"Mike—" Lucas tries, sounding exhausted.

"Lucas, you don't understand. He spoke last night. Words! He was singing that weird song he loves. Even El heard him!"

"Oh, well, if the weirdo heard him, then I guess—"

Dustin frowns, getting between their little argument. "Are you sure you're on the right channel?"

"I don't think it's about that." Mike watches as El plays with the dial on the radio. "I think, somehow, she's channeling him."

"Like—like Professor X," smiles Dustin.

"Yeah."

Lucas stares between Mike and Dustin, annoyed. "Are you actually believing this crap?"

"I don't know, I mean, do you remember when Will fell off his bike and broke his finger? He sounded a lot like that," offers Dustin.

"Did you guys not see what I saw? They pulled Will's body out of the water." Lucas grows angrier. "He's dead!"

"Well, maybe it's his ghost. Maybe he's haunting us," says Dustin, sharing a look with Eleven.

"It's not his ghost," replies Mike.

Lucas throws his hands up. "So how do you know that?"

"I just do!"

"Then what was in that water?"

"I don't know! All I know is Will is alive. Will is alive! He's out there somewhere. All we have to do is find him." The radio receives static. "This isn't gonna work. We need to get El to a stronger radio."

"Mr. Clarke's Heathkit ham shack," Dustin points out quickly.

"Yeah," Mike agrees, nodding his head enthusiastically.

"The Heathkit's at school. There is no way we're gonna get the weirdo in there without anyone noticing. I mean look at her." Lucas, Dustin, and Mike only have a split second to analyze El's boyish looks before there's a knock on the basement back door.

"Hide!" hisses Mike. El startles as Mike shoves her back under her little tent.

Dustin and Lucas scramble to act normal, grabbing toys and comic books off the floor. Mike opens the back door just as Lucas jumps onto the couch. Mike sighs visibly. "Oh, it's you."

"Hello to you too, little twerp," Chris scowls, leaning against the doorframe. "We want to talk to her again. Eleven."

"You can't."

Robbie frowns, "And why not?" Robbie pushes his way past Chris and Mike, entering the basement. He surveys Dustin and Lucas on the couch, trying to act nonchalant. He sees El peeking her head out from the makeshift tent.

"You can't just come in here—"

"Listen, Mike, I think she can help me find Will," Chris replies.

Dustin, Lucas, and Mike all peer at each other, confused. They all ask, "What?"