𝘖𝘜𝘙 𝘛𝘐𝘔𝘌 - 𝘌𝘋𝘋𝘐𝘌 𝘔𝘜𝘕𝘚𝘖𝘕

𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍: 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐊𝐄

"Slow down!" Eddie called after the young boy, running towards him through the tall grass and trees, prompting the rest to follow in pursuit. Once they'd reached their destination, they all stood wide eyed, staring into the large body of water the compass had led them to.

"Oh man. You gotta be shitting me." Steve said breathlessly, his flashlight pointing towards the water.

"Yeah, I thought these woods were familiar." Eddie spoke in frustration, causing Amanda to take another step closer.

"So, it's in the water?" Amanda looked to the rest, her eyes meeting Nancy's as she'd given Amanda a quick nod.

"Whenever the demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening. Maybe Vecna's the same way." Nancy's eyes shot to Dustin, as if he somehow knew the answer to her question.

"Yeah, only one way to find out." Steve said in a deep tone, unenthusiastic that he'd have to go through the trouble of travelling through water to prove Dustin's theory. Eddie led them all to a covered up canoe, pulling the tarp off and throwing it aside. Both Eddie and Steve pushed over half of it into the water, Robin using both their heads as support to carefully get onto the boat.

Eddie followed behind, extending his hand out for Nancy.

"Wheeler." Eddie said kindly as she grabbed onto his hand. Balancing herself on the canoe, Amanda knew it was her turn. With Eddie's hand still out, she grabbed it cautiously, sending him a small smile.

"My dear." Eddie nearly bowed as he helped Amanda onto the canoe, causing confused looks to be sent between both Robin and Nancy. Though, as soon as Robin's eyes met Amanda's, it had felt as if Robin had already knew everything. Amanda sat herself in the front as the young adults argued with Dustin.

"Who put her in charge?" Dustin whined, looking to Robin then to Nancy.

"I did." Amanda shrugged. Once Nancy asked for his compass, he gave it to her as he pouted. Amanda had to stop herself from groaning at the boys immaturity, though it had slowly become easy as Steve had pushed the canoe deeper into the water before jumping on.

"You said four!" Dustin called out.

"Sorry." Steve whispered, shrugging at the boy. As both Robin and Eddie paddled, Robin lifted up her spare arm and called out to them.

"Bedtime at nine, kiddos!" She shouted, before turning her focus to the paddle.

"I miss you already." Amanda called out sarcastically, earning a small laugh from Eddie.

As they found themselves near the center of Lovers Lake, Nancy extended her arm in a panic.

"Woah woah woah, slow down guys." Nancy said hurriedly, prompting the two to stop moving their paddles and push against the water. Nancy let out a grunt as she focused on the needle of the compass, all eyes falling on the now erratic moving needle.

"So we found the gate?" Amanda questioned, looking to Nancy as she nodded.

"Guys, what's going on? Come on guys, talk to me. What's going on?" Dustin spoke through the Walkie, his voice laced with concern.

"Uh, Dustin, your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital ahh." Robin responded, her voice nearly shaking as she grew more nervous. Amanda looked down to her shoes, taking them off nearly at the same time Steve had.

"Amanda, what do you think you're doing?" Eddie narrowed his eyes, watching as she pulled off her socks.

"I'm going down there." Amanda responded without looking up, earning an annoyed sigh from Steve.

"No, no way. Unless you can top being a Hawkins High Swim co-captain and a certified lifeguard for three years... it's got to be me. No complaints, alright?" Steve stated, standing himself up quickly.

"Hey, I'm not complaining. I do not want to go down there." Eddie's voice was full of anxiety. Amanda stood herself up, crossing her arms against her chest.

"Well, I'm complaining. Steve, you're defenseless right now! If I go down there to look, I'll be able to defend myself. You wont." Amanda argued, to which Robin nodded her head.

"Short girls' got a point." Robin added, to which she was sent a glare by Amanda.

"Fine. You can't make it down there, you let me know. You see anything you come back up. Don't be a damn hero without any backup." Steve grumbled, sitting himself back down as Amanda took a step closer to the edge. She looked to Eddie, his face plastered with worry. He'd wrapped his flashlight in a plastic bag and handed it to her reluctantly. Amanda took off her headphones, dropping them onto the canoe as she gained a better grip onto the flashlight. 

"You heard him, Amanda. Don't be a hero. Be careful." Eddie said with pleading eyes, to which Amanda waved. She turned around, took a deep breath and jumped into the water.

Moving her arms forwards into the dark abyss, even with a flashlight she was left nearly in the dark. As she neared the bottom, the urge to breathe had become strong, though she continued to swim deeper, finding herself in the company of a glowing red opening covered in vines. It had looked similar to what she'd seen when she was cursed. Swimming closer, her hand extended, touching against the elastic material. Though, within a second a dark figure pressed against the material, causing her to flinch and drop her flashlight. Swimming upwards at a fast pace, she could feel the urge to breathe grow stronger, almost unbearable. Reaching the edge of the water, she took a deep breath as each of the people in the group were startled by her sudden appearance.

"I saw it." Amanda said through gasps of air.

"Are you sure it was the gate?" Steve asked, questioning her judgement.

"Unless there's another reason that-" Amanda was cut off by a tugging at her foot, dragging her underwater. Her arms scrambled to bring her above water, and as her attempt had worked, she looked to Steve with a look of pure fear. Gripping onto the canoe, she attempted to lift herself up, but was drawn back into the water as something had wrapped itself around her ankle. Her arms flailed as she attempted to free herself from it's grasp, but before she could attempt to use her powers against it, she was dragged through the gate, the elastic material ripping as her body emerged into the Upside Down.

Her body was now lunged upwards as she gasped for air, her back hitting the ground harshly, immediately dragging her away from the gate. Amanda began to scream, before pointing her hand downwards and shouting as she lifted her head up. As she shouted, the vine that had been dragging her was growing weak, before it was completely torn. Amanda laid still for a moment, gasping for air as she took in what had just happened.