Shadows of the Night •a Stranger Things story•

I've Seen Him

November 11th, 1983

Hawkins, Indiana

"Okay, slow down. Slow down," Robbie orders his sister, who paces the length of his bedroom. It's close to two in the morning, he's sitting at his desk, trying to remember everything Ronda is telling him about her little adventure with Chief Hopper. Chris is perched on Robbie's bed, writing down what Ronda tells.

"You think our mother was a part of LSD experiments and that's how she died?" Robbie retorts. He sounds pained and angered. "Ronnie, she died in childbirth, and so did our brother."

Ronda gives Robbie a sad look. "I know it sounds weird—"

"Hmm," Chris hums from the bed, rolling her eyes to herself.

"But there's proof that Mom did it." Ronda takes out a few papers from her jacket. She smoothes them out, showing Robbie and Chris the clippings. "Chief Hopper found these. Okay, here's Mom's name in the records for the CIA approved LSD experiments. She volunteered." Robbie holds the paper tightly in his hands, frowning deeply.

Chris picks up another picture, squinting at the guy in the photo with patients all dressed in hospital gowns. She points to it, shoving it urgently to Ronda. "Who is this? Ronnie, who is this?"

"Uh, Brenner. Dr. Martin Brenner. He runs the lab."

Chris narrows her eyes. "I've seen him."

Robbie peeks over at Chris. "In the...the Vale of Shadows?"

Chris nods. "Yes. He's...he's trying to find out about Will, too. But there's other stuff."

"Yes. Hopper and I think that the lab is covering up Will's disappearance. The body. Will's body. It's fake."

"We already knew that," mutters Robbie.

Ronda frowns, staring between the two of them. "What?"

"You wanna tell her?" asks Robbie.

Chris huffs to herself.

Mike sits on the sofa; El's feet are by him as she lays on the other end. She looks tired. Mike sighs, "What was Will saying? Like home...like home but dark?"

"And empty," adds Lucas.

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

Lucas throws his hands up. "I don't know. The stupid radio kept going in and out."

Dustin leans back on the stairs, staring up at the ceiling. "It's like riddles in the dark."

Mike paces. "Like home. Like his house? Or maybe like Hawkins."

"Upside down," mumbles Eleven.

Lucas turns to her, then looks at his friends. "What'd she say?"

"Upside down," repeats El.

"What?"

"Upside down." Mike hurries over to the table, showing the boys the D&D board game that El flipped over a few days ago. "When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board over, remember? Upside down. Dark. Empty."

Lucas and Dustin move to their seats at the table. Lucas looks across at Dustin. "Do you understand what he's talking about?"

"No."

"Guys, come on, think about it. When El took us to find Will, she took us to his house, right?"

"Yeah. And he wasn't there," Lucas points out.

"But what if he was there? What if we just couldn't see him? What if he was on the other side? What if this is Hawkins and this is where Will is? The Upside Down."

"Like the Vale of Shadows. Where Chris goes." Dustin grabs the D&D book and finds the page that explains the Vale of Shadows. "The Vale of Shadows is a dimension that is a dark reflection or echo of our world. 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."

"An alternate dimension," states Mike.

"But how—how do we get there?" wonders Lucas.

"You cast Shadow Walk," offers Dustin.

Lucas rolls his eyes. "In real life, dummy. We can't shadow walk, but maybe she can."

Mike turns to El. "Do you know how we get there? To the Upside Down?"

El shakes her head. The three boys look defeated. Lucas snaps his fingers. "What about Chris? She can go there. She saw Will. We all heard her. She's the Shadow Walker."

"She can't bring him back. Remember. She had him, but when she came back. He wasn't there,"explains Mike.

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This is a short filer chapter; bare with me folks! We'll see some Steve and Chris action soon enough!
• Kate