Opposites attract (Mike W.)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Act 1-Chapter 11: The Upside Down

Eleven was laying on the couch. She had lost a lot of energy from earlier.

"What was Will saying?" Mike asked the group, "like home... like home. But dark?"

"And empty," Lucas added.

"Empty and cold. Wait, did he say cold?" Dustin asked, trying to add some information into the conversation.

"I don't know! The stupid radio kept going in and out!" Avery yelled from next to Mike. She got progressively more annoyed. Her brother was alive, but she didn't know how to save him from wherever he was.

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

"Like home... Like his house?" Mike suggested, standing upfrom the couch.

"Or maybe like Hawkins!" Lucas suggested.

"Upside Down," El muttered. The four of them all looked at her confused

"What'd she say?" Lucas asked.

"Upside Down," Mike told them, Lucas was still confused. Mike walked over to the Dungeons and Dragons board and sat down. The others followed him, "Upside Down! When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board over, remember?" Mike asked, looking at the group. He imitated the girls actions from a few days ago by flipping the board over, "Upside Down. Dark. Empty."

Luacs asked the other two stood around him if they understood, seeing as he was still confused. The other two shook their heads and said 'no' so they turned back to Mike to carry on explaining.

"Guys, come on think about it!" he urged, " When El took us to find Will, she took us to his house, right?"

"Yeah, and he wasn't there!" Lucas replied.

"But what if he was there? What if we just couldn't see him? What if he was on the other side?" Mike asked, "What if this is Hawkins," he flipped the board over to the right side, "And this is where Will is? The Upside Down?" he flipped the board onto the plain side and looked at the group for their opinions.

"Like the Vale of Shadows!" Dustin concluded. The curly haired boy grabbed the Dungeons Master book and sat down in the chair next to Mike. He flipped to the page titled 'The Vale of Shadows' written in bold writing. He began reading from the pages to the group.

"The Vale of Shadows is a dimension that is a dark reflection of our world," he began, "It is 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," The four all were silent.

"Well, that's flattering," Avery said sarcasticly.

"An alternate dimension," Mike muttered.

"But, how do we get there?" Lucas asked the boy sat in front of him.

"You cast a shadow walk," Dustin replied.

"In real life Dustin," Avery face palmed.

"We can't shadow walk but," Dustin began, turning towards El who hadn't moved from her laying down position on the couch, "Maybe she can."

"Do you know how we get there? To the Upside Down?" Mike looked at her, causing the rest of the group to look at her as well. El stayed silent and didn't move. The four of them turned back around in disappointment and thought of a new plan.

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The next day was Will's funeral. Avery got up early and put on the black dress she had laid out for the occasion and went to get her breakfast. Much to her disappointment, her dad, Lonnie, was here for the funeral and to take care of their mom due to her being 'crazy'. They arrived at the funeral a little bit after having breakfast.