Left Hawkins: Please Come Back

Chapter 7 - A Blast From the Past

It was a little over a day later and a sliver Dodge conversion van with flat black stripes entered the driveway around 6:30 am on a Sunday. Out came 4 people Will didn't see for a very long time. Welcome hugs went around as Mike greeted them while Will cooked breakfast. When they came in the house, Will was hugged also. "My baby, are you okay Will?" Joyce hugged Will and didn't let go. She looked older as Will didn't see her in person for 5 years. "I'm fine Mom, welcome to Hawkins." Joyce snorted "some welcome. It's always the Upside Down." Hopper hugged Will and so did El, who Will didn't see for 5 years also. Jonathan came up last and Will shook his hand. Jonathan dressed better and didn't look like a stoner anymore. He looked older and actually grew into his looks better. He had a small gut though. Will hasn't see Jonathan since 1987. "Was the trip ok?" Will asked. "We drove non-stop except for gas and food, but it's was fine. I'm kind of tired though." "We have two beds for you and El in the basement. You can rest after eating." Will went into what happened as they ate. "If I go into your mind, I could figure out how you changed the Upside Down. We can use that to change it back." El said. "I don't want you going back there." Joyce said. "Me neither." Mike also said.

"I might have to help them. I don't want to go back, but I don't want a full on invasion of Hawkins either. If they get desperate enough it could happen." Will said.

At 7, the Sinclair's and Hendersons arrived along with the Wheelers and Nancy in tow. Nancy greeted her brother and Will and Trevor before she came up to Jonathan. "Hi Jon, it's been a while." Nancy said to him. "Yeah, it's been years since I seen you at the event we were both covering." The event was 9/11 and Jonathan was sent by the Denver Post along with a reporter to cover it. He saw Nancy there and talked to her last. Everyone caught up on personal matters before addressing the matter at hand.

"So Will, what is going on with the Upside Down?" Hopper asked. "Um, the Mindflayer said I need to change the Upside Down back to its original state before they die down there. We could let them die, but I think the Mindflayer will attack Hawkins if we ignore it. I feel desperation."

"You are not going to help this Mindflayer Will? It was too hard to get you back last time. We should just let it die." Joyce's voice cracked and showed emotion. "Yeah, I agree with Mom." Jonathan said. Will looked at Mike and Jon and saw some awkwardness between the two.

"I am not going to poke you in the side again with a fire poker to get him out. I agree we should let them die." Nancy added her opinion. "Let's vote on this." Max added. "What about the fire poker?" Karen asked. Will lifted up his shirt and showed them the scar while Karen ran her hand over it. "Oh my God! You are not going to help this thing at all. Let's vote." Mike held Will as everyone was debating this issue like you would in a democracy. Dustin had theories he bounced around with Hopper and Lucas and Max. Even Ted gave a couple opinions.

Will noticed El didn't say anything. She caught Will's look and it was like they read each other's mind. Will got up and El went to meet him. Mike almost hung on Will, following him. "What do you think El?" Will asked her. "I think we should try to help." "What? Are you serious El?" Mike shouted. Everyone quieted up while Will spoke. "We have to try to help or else I'm afraid Hawkins will be invaded again and most of us will be hurt or dead. I don't think the Mindflayer is going to attach itself to me again like he did before. All we have to do is get him back to his home dimension which isn't mirror Hawkins. I need El to go into my mind and find out what happened the moment I went into the Upside Down. We can then figure out if we can help or not."

The debates started again "I think we should just let the hive mind die." Max said. Most of Will's family agreed. El spoke up "I'm going into Will's mind to find out what happened. We will then figure out what to do."

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It was 2 hours later and Will, El and Mike were sitting in a circle holding each other's hands. Mike insisted in going into Will's head with El. El wore a blindfold and Will's old supercom played static. El entered the void and Mike was beside her. They went into Will's mind and found the moment he went into the Upside Down. Mike was surprised Vecna took Will into there instead of a Demogorgon. "Look El?" Mike saw the landscape change from a barren, alien world to Hawkins, or more specifically Will's version of 1983 Hawkins since some houses and other things were not present. They saw Will squeeze his eyes shut when he changed the landscape. El found out Will had powers, specifically creation powers. El dug into Will's mind while Mike was just a spectator. Mike saw Will in different moments in his life. The moment that got his attention was when Will was staring at a high school picture of Mike from just after Will moved to Minnesota. Will was crying as he ran his thumb over Mike's face. Mike decided he is determined to always be there for Will and he is mad at himself for hurting him that badly. "I found it Mike, we need to get out of here now!" El threw Mike out of the void and she returned a piece of knowledge from Will's subconscious to his conscious. Both Will and El breathed in hard and blew out their breaths as they disconnected and woke up.