rivalry; steve harrington.

chapter fourteen; bathtub

CLAUS - LOS TRES
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Hopper had managed to successfully bring the kids back just before nightfall, leaving the group to sit anxiously as they listened to the younger children explain what they know.

Alana sat next to Dustin as Mike began explaining their theory on opposite worlds, the world Nancy claimed to go to. They also explained that you get to this opposite world through a gate that they had tracked to hawkins lab with their compasses. Alana just sat there, spacing out slightly as she tried to take in all of the information she was getting, finding it extremely hard to give into the idea of all of this being real.

"Is this gate underground?" Hopper asked the group, causing Alana to come back into the conversation.

"Yes." The little girl had replied, causing Hopper to turn his focus towards her.

"Near a large water tank?" He asked again, causing the girl to nod. The rest of the group stared in confusion, not understanding how Hopper knew all of this.

"How do you know all that?" Dustin stuttered next to Alana, looking over to the man.

"Hes seen it." Mike replied, causing Alana to furrow her eyebrows.

"What? When was this?" She asked, slight anger coming through her voice due to her worry.

"It doesn't matter." Hopper simply replied, disregarding the question as they went back to the original reason why they were talking.

"Is there any way you could reach Will? Talk to him in this-"

"The upside down." The girl answered for her, nodding her head to say she could. Alana fidgeted in her seat at the mention of all of this. She was struggling to believe most of it, let alone Will being alive. She was just hoping that whatever theory of theirs was true, not wanting to witness a second heartbreak of the Byers family.

"And my friend Barbara? Can you find her too?" Nancy asked her, worry lacing in her words. The girl nodded before the younger boys placed the walkie talkie down, giving it a static noise. Nancy placed the photo of Barb down and a photo of Will in front of her.

The girl sat on the chair, closing her eyes as the group gathered in front of her. Alana stood behind Dustin and Mike, anxiously waiting for something to happen. The lights flickered, causing Dustin to jump slightly. Alana instantly placed a hand on his shoulder subconsciously, attempting to calm him from his fear. The girl quickly opened her eyes, staring for a second before she shook her head.

"I'm sorry." She simply replied, looking over to Joyce. Alanas heart broke once more as she looked to her hopeful eyes.

"What? Whats wrong?" Joyce questioned, holding onto Jonathans hand on her shoulder.

"I cant find them." Her voice broke, causing Alana to bring a hand to her mouth, all possible hope that Will could actually be alive crashing down. The girl quickly rushed to the Byers toilet, leaving the group to sit in helplessness. There was nothing they could do.

The younger boys than explained to the group that it didnt mean that Will wasn't out there, it just meant that she was weak at the moment.

"Then why are we pressuring her to drain herself of her energy?" Alana asked, slightly angry at the fact that they could be harming the little girl.

"We have to find Will. If there was another way we would." Hopper explained to her, looking over to the girl.

"And what if we don't? What if he is just gone and all we're doing is getting our hopes up ready for disappointment." She raised her voice. She felt horrible about the whole thing. What if they couldn't find Will and they had just strung the younger boys along, resulting in even more heartbreak? She couldn't help but feel guilty that they were involved in it. They were too young to be experiencing anything they were right now.