Stranger Things: Looking Out For You (Steve Harrington X OC Reader)

An Alternate Dimension

Jonathan left the two girls to go home as night fell. Cate realized Dustin's bike was at the Wheeler's still. So, before heading home, she figured she'd offer him a ride home. Nancy went back up to her room and Cate went to the basement.

    "Boy's?" Cate called out as she opened the door. "It's just me. I'm coming down."

She heard a few breathes of relief and she walked down the stairs to find Dustin sitting on the bottom steps.

    "Hey, Dusty. Hey guy's." Cate greeted them and noticed the looks on all their faces. Eleven was laying on the couch dressed up and she looked sad and beat. "What's wrong?"

    "El used her superpowers again and we think she contacted Will." Dustin explained with a small sigh.

    "Like home, like home... But dark?" Mike questioned himself.   

    "And empty." Lucas sighed.

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

    "I don't know. That stupid radio kept going in and out." Lucas said annoyed.

    "It's like riddles in the dark." Dustin sighed.

    "What exactly happened?" Cate asked to be clarified.

    "Like home... Like his house?" Mike asked as he stopped pacing the room.

    "Or maybe like Hawkins." Lucas pointed out.

    "Upside down." Eleven said quietly.

    "What'd she say?" Lucas asked.

    "Upside down?" Cate questioned the little children around her.

    "Upside down!" Mike exclaimed. "When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board over, remember?" Mike asked looking at Lucas and Dustin. He sat at their table and flipped their D&D board over to the black blank side. "Upside down. Dark. Empty."

    "Do you understand what he's talking about?" Lucas asked.

    "Uh, no." Dustin stated quickly shaking his head.

    "Wait... No." Cate stated crossing her arms.

    "Guys, think about it. When El took us to find Will, she took us to his house, right?" Mike pointed out.

    "Yeah. And he wasn't there." Lucas stated firmly.

    "Okay, wait. She said he was hiding right? So the upside down..." Cate paced for a minute. "What if he was there. We just couldn't see him." She asked, thinking about what Jonathan told her about the creature coming through the wall.

    "Exactly! What if he was on the other side?" Mike agreed excitedly. He flipped the board over again to it's rightful side. "What if this is Hawkins and..." He flipped it again to the black side of the board. "This is where Will is. The Upside down."

    "Like the Vale of Shadows." Dustin gasped.

    "Like in your D&D game?" Cate questioned her little brother.    

    "Exactly." He stated grabbing his book from his bag and flipping to the Vale of Shadows page. "The Vale of Shadows is a dimension. That is a dark reflection or echo of our world." Dustin read off the page, looking up at them all. "It's 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." Mike stated.

    "But... How... How do we get there?" Lucas asked nervously.