Stranger Things Than a Tribrid

Chapter 6: GONE!

Hope's POV:

Once we have everything we hop into Hopper and Johnathan's cars and drive. We pull up outside of the school. "Johnathan, you're with me, everyone else, set up what you need to." Hopper says.

The two of them walk off while I instruct Lucas and Dustin to set up the pool in the gym and Nancy and Mike to go get a few hoses. Once they leave Eleven and I follow Mrs. Byers to science lab to get some goggles to put tape over to take away her sight.

As Mrs. Byers takes the goggles I sit in front of Eleven. "You're incredibly brave. You know that right?" I ask her. She looks away. "Hey, no matter what happens. Everything will be fine. If you want..." I trail off and she looks at me expectantly. I take a breath.

"If you want I can go with you. I know a head diving spell I can do to go with you." Her eyes widen and she instantly nods. "Thank you." She mutters. With that Mrs. Byers comes back with her goggles. "Everything you're doing for my boy...for Will...for my family...Thank you."

I smile softly. Mrs. Byers reminds me of my mom. Willing to do anything for her family. "Listen. I am gonna be there with you the whole time. And if it ever gets too scary...in that place. You just let me know, ok?" She asks. "Yes." El nods. "Ready?" I ask softly. "Ready."

I nod and stand, extending my hand toward her. She takes it and when she does the three of us exit the room, heading for the gym. When we reach the gym the pool is ready. While El prepares herself I turn to Hopper. "Does this place have any candles?" I ask him.

He looks confused, but then nods. "Go get them for me." He nods and rushes out of the gym. I grab one of the extra bags of salt and make a triangle around the pool. "What are you doing?" Nancy asks. "A head dive. I'm gonna go in with her."

Her eyes widen as I start on the giant circle of salt I'm gonna be laying in the middle of. "Yep." I say as I close it and Hopper comes back with five candles. "Thanks." I tell him, taking them and laying them on the inside of the circle. I turn to El who is stepping into the pool.

"I'm gonna be right there with you." She nods and smiles thankfully at me. I sit in the middle of the salt circle, legs out in front of me. "Incendia." The candles light themselves. "Whoa." I hear Dustin mutter. I lay down and close my eyes.

"If I start to shake like I'm having a seizure, break the circle and the triangle. It'll halt the spell and I'll be released." I say. "Ok." I hear Nancy respond. I've never done a head dive for myself. Vampires can do it, but a witch usually needs two, a diver and a caster. I'll just have to be both.

I take a deep breath. "Pontem Praesidio. Anchora Immortalibus. Per menta mi heava cor anmina. Pontem Praesidio. Anchora Immortalibus." I mutter before my whole world becomes black. When I open my eyes, I'm laying in water.

Extremely shallow water, but water nonetheless. It's also pitch black with a hazy blue light around me. It's exactly like Malivore. I sit up and look around me. El is kneeling beside me, a worried look in her eyes. "Ok?" She asks. I nod, standing.

"I'm ok. Come on. Let's find Will and Barb." She nods and grabs my hand, leading me through the blackness. After walking for a while we see a mossy green patch in front of us. "Barbara?" El asks. We step closer until we can see her fully. I gasp, stepping back in horror. "Oh my God."

El, shaking, steps back into me. She's dead. Decaying as well. Covering in what appears to be slime. She's gone. Suddenly El rips herself away from me and starts screaming. "GONE! GONE! GONE! GONE! GONE!" I back away, scared of her reaction. I've never seen anyone react like this.

"GONE! GONE!" She continues to scream. Finally I let the shock wear off. I rush to her side, kneeling in the water as I hug her trembling body to mine. "Shhh. It's ok. It's ok. You're safe. Shhh." I breath. "Papillo Lux." I mutter.

The gold butterfly appears and slowly El starts to calm down, still shaking. She's crying and I feel tears coming to my own eyes. When she pulls away she spots something over my shoulder. I turn to see a little mossy hut. "Castle Byers." She mutters. "Is that where Will is?" I ask.

She doesn't answer me, just walks over to it. I'm quick to follow after her. We pull the curtain over and walk inside. There's a small by laying inside, unconscious. "Will?" El asks. "Will." I breath, kneeling down beside him. El quickly follows. "I can hear his heart beat." I breath.

"Hope says he's alive." She whispers out loud. There's a pause. "You're mom...she's coming for you." She tells the almost dead looking boy. "Can I heal him in here?" I ask. She shakes her head. "Not really here." I nod, letting out a shaky breath. "Hurry." Will says.

"Just...just hold on a little longer. Will. Will." She urges. That's when everything starts to fade into smoke and everything goes black. I gasp, sitting up quickly in my circle of salt. A blast of energy emits from my body and slams into anything around me. That includes the people.

Mrs. Byers, Nancy, Johnathan, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin all go flying backwards while the tub is pushed as El sits up in it. "S-sorry." I mutter, standing quickly and shaking off what I saw in El's mind. I've see some shit in my days. Some messed up shit.

That...that was something out of nightmares, the way Barb was and the way Will was getting to be.