Kate Hopper's life had finally gone back to normal.
With the summer after her senior year in session, she'd soon be leaving behind the horrors of Hawkins behind, returning to New York City in the fall.
Kate only tried to live in the moment as Steve...
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STEVE ONLY STARED at Kate.
He'd never seen the Gate to the Upside Down, but he figured that if anyone in the group of five knew what it looked like, it would be Kate. She had spent two days the last time something like this happened inside of Hawkins Lab and had seen the Gate for herself—she had seen it in person, unlike anyone else that would be there. He knew she would be able to identify it, tell him that he was wrong. He waited for her to say that it wasn't the Gate, that it was anything but the Gate, but he knew that when she hadn't said anything, when she had only stared in horror at the luminescent crack in the wall, that it had been the thing they'd thought they'd left behind.
"That's it," Kate confirmed, still staring. Her breath had been caught in her throat, and her heart had started pounding.
This had been her worst fear for the longest time.
She didn't like to think about their time dealing with the Upside Down. Although the experience had brought her a sister, had brought her father back to her, had brought her and Steve closer together, she'd almost lost her life the last time they'd been involved with this. She still had scars, still had nightmares of that night the last time they'd been faced with this, but over time, she had begun to tuck it away. Now, the idea of putting it all behind her crushed her. The dream was over, and now they had to deal with not only the Upside Down, but Russians. She almost wanted to laugh—she almost wished it was Hawkins Lab opening the gate again and not the Soviets. Maybe then she would have been able to grasp her mind around it a lot more. Hawkins Lab had been a nuisance two times already, why not make it a third?
