The Long Game, Lucas Sinclair

i can run, but i can't hide from my family line

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tw: descriptions of gore

(i don't think it's that bad but just to be safe)

They rode all the way to the trailer, traveling to the Forest Hills trailer park in east Roane County. It was where all of Max, Auggie, and Eddie resided, but right now, they were only worried about the latter. The night had grown even darker in the time it took them to bike there, even if they were still speedy. Clouds overtook the night sky, blocking out the stars and moon so that a dull dimness hung over their heads.

The group of five didn't stop rushing, not even once they made it outside of Eddie's trailer. Lucas hopped off his bike and opened the trailer door for them, politely granting them all access inside.

The Gate was impossible not to notice.

A few of them instantly cursed upon seeing it — Sam could've even been one of them; she wouldn't know, she was so baffled right now. It was unlike anything Sam had expected to see. She barely even knew how to describe it.

In all honestly, Sam was assuming the Gate would just look like a more extreme version of the hole they dropped down to enter the Upside Down tunnels two years ago.

It wasn't.

It was a large gaping hole on the ceiling; those thick, living vines that had been in the tunnels were spreading out from it like a disease, covering the entire roof of the trailer. Some sort of slime-like substance created a thin layer atop the pulsing red glow that bridged the gap between the two dimensions. The red light shone down on them, bathing them in the luminous color — it was the only source of light until Sam used her powers to turn all the lights in the trailer on. The whole act drained her further, but Sam still didn't think much of it.

While Sam was focusing on turning the lights on, Dustin was searching throughout the house for an instrument long enough to reach the ceiling.

"I don't like this," Max muttered. "Shit's weird."

"Super freaky," Erica agreed, but she sounded a little awed, staring up at the Gate.

Sam clenched her fists and forced herself to look away from it.

She didn't like it, either.

Then, Dustin thankfully reappeared with one broomstick in hand. He announced, "All right, I think I'm gonna try breaking through that layer with this. It'll work... hopefully."

"'Hopefully'?" Lucas raised a dissatisfied eyebrow.

"Just trust me," Dustin groaned. He stepped right underneath the Gate on the ceiling, everyone else stepping a little bit away from them — they didn't know what would happen once Dustin broke the barrier. What if slime fell down from the raptures and gave them a chronic illness?

What? It was a plausible theory.

In a sense.

Sam watched as Dustin began to poke at the glowing Gate with the wooden end of the broomstick. She stood in front of Max, the back of her shoulder brushing with the front of Max's — it was both a precaution to keep Max safe, and to comfort Sam herself, because there was too much swarming through her head right now. Pain and anxiety became intertwining things, and she couldn't tell if she was feeling them separately or if one was a side effect of the other.