Future Things (Stranger Things Fanfiction)

ch. 1: ︀︀u︎︀︀ʍ︎︀o︎︀p︎︀ ︀ǝ︀p︎︀ı̣︀s︎︀d︎︀n︎︀ ︀ǝ︀ɥ︀ʇ︀ ︀ʇ︀o︎︀u︎

It was a beautiful day in Hawkins, Indiana in the summer of '87. Sunlight dappled roads and rooftops, illuminating the town like a yellow diamond. Mike Wheeler, Will Byers, Lucas Sinclair, and Dustin Henderson were playing D&D on a picnic table in the park. Nancy Wheeler, Robin Buckley, Max Mayfield, Erica Sinclair, and Eleven all sat on a blanket spread out in the grass nearby, eating snacks that Mike's mom had prepared.

"Hey guys, I have a crazy idea," Max said with an excited light in her eyes.

Robin and Nancy were engrossed in their own conversation, so they didn't hear her. But Erica and Eleven were all ears.

"What? Please tell me," Eleven said, smiling brightly.

"Let's ditch the boys and go for a walk in the woods," Max said, pointing to the nearby tree line.

Erica rolled her eyes, taking a bite of her sandwich. "I don't see what's so crazy about that."

Eleven glanced where Max was pointing, then back at her friends. "Erica is right. That's not crazy. But it does sound fun."

Max grinned and looked around at everyone else. "Yes! Erica, you in?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "I said it wasn't crazy, not that I didn't want to get away from my brother."

They all laughed and got up, but Nancy and Robin didn't follow. Max, Erica, and Eleven all headed over to the woods, ready to get lost. They started walking down one of the trails, talking about anything and everything. Eleven, as always, stayed quiet during their discussion, but she watched everyone around her and smiled at the sounds, smells, and sights. She could hardly believe how beautiful this world was, now that she could fully be a part of it.

The girls eventually reached a sizable clearing. The tree line wasn't visible anymore from where they stood. Instead, they could see large patches of wildflowers blooming along the trails, and even small groups of deer nibbling on weeds nearby.

After spending a few seconds exploring the area, Max and Erica spotted an old tire swing hanging from a big oak branch. Erica ran over to it, and Max started to follow her, pulling Eleven along with her.

"What is this? What do you do with it?" El asked quietly as they walked closer to the tire swing. It appeared that no one had touched it in years, judging by the curtain of cobwebs Erica was clearing from its center with a stick she'd picked up from the ground.

"It's a tire swing," Max said. "You sit in or on it, then just use it like any other swing. It's really fun, I promise."

"I see," El said, narrowing her eyes in thought.

"Alright, I got all the stupid spiderwebs off. Who wants to go first?" Erica asked, stepping away from the swing and observing its newfound cleanliness proudly.

"El, why don't you go first?" Max offered. "El?"

El wasn't listening. She found herself staring through the center of the swing, unblinking. "Something is wrong," she recited robotically.

"Here, how about I just show you how to use the swing?" Max said, laughing lightly. She gripped the top of the tire, pulled herself up, and put her legs through the center.

And then she'd disappeared into thin air.

"Max!" El cried, throwing herself through the swing. The next thing she knew, everything went black.

***

Mike, Will, Lucas, and Dustin were all taking a break from their game, eating what scraps were left of the snacks Mrs. Wheeler had made.

Mike looked up from his halved sandwich, eyebrows furrowed. "Hey, um, Nancy?"

She rolled her eyes before looking at him. "What do you want? Can't you see I'm in the middle of a conversation?"

Robin smirked. "Yeah! We're having a very important conversation about-,"

"Robin! Don't," Nancy stopped her, before returning her attention back to her brother.

"Where did El go?" Mike asked, ignoring his sister's attitude.

"Yeah, and my sister. And Max," Lucas added. "I don't see them anywhere."

Nancy rolled her eyes again. "I think they walked that way, towards the woods. Now can you let me and Robin get back to our conversation, please? Thanks."

Now it was Mike's turn to roll his eyes. "Whatever. Lucas, Will, Dustin, I'm ready to get back to the game if you are."

***

Max gasped for breath, struggling to pull herself out of the hole she'd found herself in. Once she was fully out, she fell on her back with a solid thud. She turned her head and saw a large tire in front of her face. It took her a few moments to realize that the hole she'd just crawled out of was in the center of that tire.

Frightened, she quickly got to her feet and looked down into the hole, her first instinct being that it was a gate to the Upside Down that had somehow just been invisible on the other side.

But before Max could get a good look, Eleven's arms shot up from the hole, flailing for something to grab onto. After Max had recovered from her initial shock, she grabbed El's arms and pulled her the rest of the way out.

"What...is this...place?" El asked between gasps of breath as she staggered forward, holding onto Max for support.

Before Max could answer, Erica pulled herself up out of the hole, stood up, and dusted herself off before walking over to where Max and El were.

"What is this place?" She asked, an expression of distaste overcoming her features.

"That is what I've just asked," El said after being able to catch her breath. "I have no ideas. Max? What do you think?"

Max surveyed the area they'd found themselves in with narrowed eyes. They definitely weren't in the same clearing anymore; in fact, most of the trees that had been there before were now gone, and instead they stood in the midst of a larger park appearing to be adjacent to a school. At least, Max thought it was a school, but it looked more...upgraded than any other she'd ever seen.

The people she saw wore styles she'd never imagined would exist, and some appeared to hold something to their ears, but she couldn't tell exactly what that something was...a small, rectangular object she had no name for. Someone holding one of those small rectangle objects seemed to be walking right towards them.

"I don't think what or where we are is the question here," Max said, locking eyes with the person walking towards them, "but when. It's definitely not the Upside Down, that's for sure. And guys?"

"Yeah?" Erica and El said in unison.

"We gotta run."