Girl Afraid (Dustin Henderson x reader)

Chapter 16

Y/n POV

We made it back to our house and we were once again in the basement. Every time we came down here it was like we were back to square one. El laid on the couch with Mike next to her, Lucas and Dustin sat in empty seats while I laid on my stomach on the ground.

"What was Will saying?" Mike asked as he thought what all of us were thinking. "Like home... like home..." Mike repeated. It gave me chills it think about it again. He sounded so scared and lost. "But dark?" He said as he stood up.

"And empty" I added as I put my head in the floor.

"Empty and cold. Wait, did he say cold?" Dustin asked from the stairs.

"I don't know. The stupid radio kept going in and out" Lucas said frustration laced in his voice.

"He did, he said it was so much more cold" I said as I picked up my head to remember the last hour.

"It's like riddles in the dark." Dustin said as he looked up at the ceiling.

"Like home. Like his house?" Mike asked as he paced the room with his hands shoved in his jacket pockets.

"Or maybe Hawkins" Lucas fired at him.

"Upside down" El said weakly from the couch.

"What'd she say?" Lucas asked with a confused look on his face.

"Upside down." I repeated for her.

"What?" He asked again.

"Upside down" Mike said as he raced over to the board. I got up and went over to see what he was doing. "When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board over, remember?" Mike refreshed our memory. We all sat around on opposite sides of him. "Upside down. Dark. Empty."

"Do you understand what he's talking about?" Lucas asked us.

"No" Dustin said.

"Yes. Guys, come on, think about it. When El took us to find Will, she took us to his house, right?" I said backing up Mike. He is with us just in a different dimension.

"Yeah. And he wasn't there" Lucas said with a bit of attitude. Which I don't blame him because we biked a long way why in the cold and rain.

"But what if he was there? What if we just couldn't see him?" Mike said as he looked at me for comfort.

"What if he was on the other side? What if this is Hawkins" I said as I buy the board and in the right. "And this..." I said as I flipped the board over. "This is where Will is?" I said as I pointed to the black side of the board. "The upside down"

"Like the Vale of Shadows" Dustin said connecting the dots.

A few seconds later Dustin dragged out the handbook for Dungeons and Dragons. He flipped through multiple pages on till he got to the part where in talked about the Vale of Shadows.

"The Vale of Shadows is a dimension that is a dark reflection or echo of our world." Dustin read. "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" Dustin read, I felt shivers down my spine. How did Will even get there?

"An alternate dimension" I mumbled.

"But...how...how do we get there?" Lucas asked the question none of us new.

"You cast shadow walk" Dustin said going off of the game.

"In real life dummy" Lucas said as I let out a small laugh. It was a serious situation but I couldn't help at how stupid Dustin was sometimes.

"We can't shadow walk, but...maybe she can" Dustin said as we all looked at El. She was peacefully laying down on the couch without any worry in the world.

"Do you know how we get there? To the upside down?" I asked her.

"Oh, my god!" Lucas said as he sighed and leaned back.

...

I huffed as I stared in the mirror. It was weird we were going to Wills funeral but he was not really dead. I wore a nice black dress that my mom picked out. It wasn't nothing really fancy. Maybe Will would be proud he made me finally wear a dress.

Mom softly knocked on the door and she let out a small gasp.

"You look so beautiful honey" She said as she came and wrapped me in a hug. I groaned at the sudden tight feeling.

"To tight" I mumbled out.

"Whoops sorry" She said as she let me go. She flattened my hair out over my shoulders and placed her hands on my shoulder and stared at me throw the mirror. She let out a small sigh and kissed my head.

I nodded my head and we walked out of my room x I passed Nancy and she tried to speak to me but I ignored her completely. It was weird but she wasn't helping at all. She had been completely a bitch lately.

...

"Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your god. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. It's times like these that our faith is challenged. How, if he is Truley benevolent...could God take from us soemone so young, so innocent? It would be easy to turn away from God...but we must remember that nothing, not even tragedy, can separate us from His love. We are here today to find comfort in the truth of scripture-" I zoned out when Dustin hit my hand. Jenifer Hayes was crying.

"Just wish till we tell Will that Jenifer Hayes was crying at his funeral" Dustin said with a big smile.

"Shhh" My mom said to us. I rolled my eyes and gave Dustin a big smile.

The priest was done talking and everyone placed roses on Wills grave. It was weird I wanted to go up to his mom and tell him that he was still alive but it was not that easy.

My mom gave Wills dad a hug which was weird because it was so random that he was here. Will never talked much about his dad but when he did it wasn't great. From what I knew his dad was a drunk and left.

I didn't talk to him when he placed his hand in my shoulder I shifted away without making it seem so obvious.

"You look pretty" Dustin said as he walked back to the church. I smiled at him and I could feel the heat rise up in my face.

"Thank you" I said with a smile as our hands brushed together.