Ashes Falling Upwards (stranger things, Will x OC/reader)

Understanding

Click

After the door shut behind then the silence hovering in the room grew in pressure, every second pushing her jaw closed, every second making it harder to start talking. Will looked like he was having the same problem. He'd leaned against one of the science tables, his proton pack resting on the floor next to him, not meeting her eyes.

After what felt like an eternity of about ten seconds long, Ash took charge and asked, "did you actually get lost in the woods?"

He blinked in surprise. "Huh?"

"See..." she slipped off her book bag and leaned against the opposite table from him, giving up on sorting her thoughts out and blurting "I've got a... thing that I can't really tell anyone, but I'm thinking you have the same secret because of that... thing yesterday and this now, so if you do, you can tell me, but if you don't, please stop me from rambling because I don't want to give too much away. I've just ever had anyone to talk with about... it, and... um..."

The room faded into silence again, Ash's heartbeat so loud in her ears she wouldn't be surprised if he could hear it. What if she was wrong? What if he was about to ask more because he had no idea what she was talking about?

"I didn't really get lost in the woods."

"Ah! Really?" Her head shot up with a grin. Ahh, the sweet release of not ending up completely wrong!

Will nodded nervously. "Do you know about the Upside Down?"

Now it was Ash's turn to blink in confusion. "The wha?"

"It's a gray, cold place, with—"

"Ashes floating all around?"

He gave her a relieved smile. "You really do know it."

"Yeah I know it, I was stuck for four days in that shithole."

"I was there for a week," Will challenged meekly.

"How?" Once the question got out, a whole wave followed. "How did you get out? Did anyone know? Does anyone else know right now? Are you sworn to secrecy like me? What are you doing in the lab? Did you see anything else in there? Are you—"

"Did you see the shadow monster?" He interrupted, his heel ticking up and down against the floor.

Her blood turned cold. "The shadow monster?"

He nodded nervously. "Can I use some paper?"

Once she'd handed him a ripped out sheet of binder paper and a pen he hurriedly sketched something that looked like a demonic spider beetle, its legs reaching over tiny buildings, almost nonexistent as they were crushed between the blue lines of the paper. Once he'd finished he looked up at her.

"Have you seen it?"

Ash reached over his shoulder and picked up the paper, turning it from side to side.

"This... shadow monster, would it be able to reach into small places? With little shadow tendrils?"

Will gulped. "I don't know."

"I had a dream two nights ago...about something like this. I only saw a little bit of it, but it was almost like I could feel that it was connected to something bigger. Not just to the main body, but the entire place. The—"

"The whole Upside Down." Will sank back against the table. "Like it was controlling everything."

"Yeah."

"So it's really real."

"What do you mean?"

He shook his head, searching for the right words. "The doctors keep saying it's all in my head, that it's trauma."