The Overcomer, Stranger Things

The other side

Silence enveloped the Byer's home at Gwen's proclamation before a faint voice could be heard from the walls. The 10-year-old immediately recognized it to be her best friend talking.

"Dustin?" Gwen questioned as she walked around, wondering if she was going crazy. The others immediately followed her lead, yelling for the curly-headed boy.

"Dustin?! Dustin?!"

"Henderson!"

"Dustin?"

"Dustin!"

While the others continued to look for the boy, Gwen realized that this was pointless. Dustin obviously wasn't here. If he was then guess what? They would see him. And if they couldn't see him and he couldn't hear them then they would have to use another form of communication. The 10-year-old opened the cabinet behind the TV before crawling in and holding a ball of Christmas lights, getting a slight feeling of deja vu to when she and Will came here for the first time. Gosh, she missed Will. The girl shook her head, clearing her thoughts before taking a deep breath.

"What is she doing?" Eddie whispered as he and the other teens stopped to watch the 10-year-old work her magic.

"Shhhh!" Steve immediately hushed him, causing the other boy to give him an offended look.

All of the teenager's mouths dropped open when they saw that the ball of Christmas lights was surrounded by a bright crimson light, red glitter floating and shining around it. Nancy and Robin were the first to inch toward the girl, both of them sitting criss-cross in front of Gwen as she slowly lifted her hand toward it. Once her hand reached the unexplainable shimmer around the lightbulb, she felt a tickling feeling, bringing happiness to the 10-year-old. Gwen let out a slight giggle as the light grew brighter, causing Eddie to look at her with a grin on his face.

"Guys," Steve spoke as he also sat down in front of the Byers girl, "you seeing this, too?"

"No Harrington," Eddie stated sarcastically as he squatted in front of the cabinet, "the travel to an alternate dimension made me go blind."

"You know, I don't appreciate your tone--"

"Ladies, ladies," Robin held her hands up, effectively silencing the boys, "let's all calm down for a second..."

"It's not working," Gwen mumbled to herself, catching everyone else's attention. She got out of the cabinet, running into Will's bedroom before coming back with several lamps and piles of Christmas lights. She distributed the items evenly before explaining to them how they worked.

"Okay," Gwen looked around as she held a ball of Christmas lights and two lamps in front of her. "Does everyone know what to do?"

"It," Steve furrowed his eyebrows as he put his hand in the shimmering light, having already strayed away from the instructions Gwen gave, "tickles."

"It kinda feels good," Robin stated, also having ignored the request to wait until everyone was ready as she smiled slightly.

Nancy took her hand away from her lamp before asking, "Does anyone know morse code?"

Gwen began to respond before Eddie cut her off with a very unintelligent response. "Wait, does SOS count?" He looked around at the group who looked back at him with blank expressions. "Is that... is that good?"

Gwen pursed her lips before patting the older boy's shoulder, "You're lucky you're pretty."

~:~

Dustin, Max, and Lucas furrowed their eyebrows when some... strange things started happening in the Byer's home. Dustin was the first one to investigate, postponing the conversation about his theory on Vecna's plan until later. The Henderson boy went into the living room, his eyebrows creasing together when he saw a faint glow coming from the cabinet under where the TV used to be. Dustin went over and pulled the double doors open, his eyebrows shooting up to his hairline at the sight in front of him.