Aimee Moore is best friends with 4 guys. Their names are Mike, Lucas, Will and Dustin. One night, after playing Dungeons and Dragons, she and her friends never saw Will the next day.
What happened to him?
They decide to look for him. Whatever else...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"What was Will saying? Like home, like home but dark?"
"And empty." Lucas added.
"Empty and cold. Wait, did he say cold?"
"I don't know. The stupid radio kept going in and out."
"It's like riddles in the dark."
"Like home. Like his house?"
"Or maybe like Hawkins."
"Upside down." Chimed in El.
"What'd she say?" Lucas asked.
"Upside down."
"What?
"Upside down. When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board over, remember? Upside down. Dark. Empty." He had flipped over the board, just like El did the other day.
"Do you understand what he's talking about?" Lucas asked Aimee and Dustin. Aimee shook her head.
"No."
"Guys, come on, think about it. When El took us to find Will, she took us to his house, right?"
"Yeah. And he wasn't there."
"But what if he was there? What if we just couldn't see him? What if he was on the other side?" Mike asked. The questions gave Aimee, Lucas and Dustin something to think about. Mike began to flip the board once again.
"What if this is Hawkins and this is where Will is? The Upside Down."
"Like the Vale of Shadows." Says Dustin.
The 4 friends looked at each other.
Isthisreallyhappening?Aimee thought. She found it hard to believe that there was an alternate dimension to their place. But then again, she did befriend El.
Dustin got out the game book and began to read it.
"'The Vale of Shadows is a dimension that is a dark reflection or echo of our world. 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 reads.
"An alternate dimension." Mike states.
"But how how do we get there?"
"We cast a shadow walk." Dustin replied. Aimee slapped her forehead.
"In real life, dummy!" Lucas calls.
"We can't shadow walk, but maybe she can." They all looked at El, who looked back at all of them.
"Do you know how we get there? To the Upside Down?" El shook her head and the boys sighed.
Later, Aimee, Dustin and Lucas were getting ready to go home.
