you are not alone → stranger things

xxxvi. the upside down

unknown time
El's POV

Everyone was walking around and calling for Will, but I remained silent. I felt like I'd had enough talking for a lifetime. My throat was killing me anyways, and the air of the Upside Down wasn't exactly helping.

This place was almost worse than I remembered. But, I reminded myself, at least it isn't my first time. I looked over at Mike, whose grip on my hand had been tightening by the minute. He noticed me looking and smiled feebly.

"Mike," I murmured to him sympathetically, "scared?" I wasn't sure why I had to ask. It was obvious, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

I saw him swallow. "Yeah," he admitted. "I can't believe you had to be in here for almost two months..." He shivered.

"Think of something else," I urged, my voice scraping against my throat unpleasantly. I'd talked more in the last few hours than I ever had in my life, and now I was paying for it. "Distractions help."

He thought for a moment, then abruptly stopped walking. "The Snow Ball... I almost forgot. It's on January 30, which is in about two weeks. Do you, uh, still want to go with me?" He blushed slightly.

I froze in my place and threw my arms around him, setting my head on his shoulder. He smelled familiar, like his house. I liked that scent. "Of course," I whispered in his ear after a few moments.

I heard him inhale sharply before he lifted me by the waist and spun me around once, a broad smile spreading across his face. "Oh, El!" he exclaimed breathlessly, his eyes shining.

Max turned around from in front of us. "What are you guys doing?" Judging by the scowl she wore like a favorite shirt and her flippant tone, she was still annoyed about earlier. What a strange girl.

Mike let go of my waist, a deep red blush spreading across his face. "None of your business," he muttered embarrassedly.

I opened my mouth to say something to her, but then heard Hopper call out loudly, "Will! Will, wake up!"

We all looked in his direction, and there was Will, lying on the ground with Hopper knelt over him. We all ran over, but Joyce was nowhere to be seen at the moment.

Something was wrong. Will's hands and wrists were stained red, like he had submerged them in red dye. His breathing was too quick for Will. I remembered listening to his slow breaths after he had fallen into a fitful sleep, wondering how to help him.

His eyes suddenly flashed open, and his hand shot out and grabbed Max's ankle. She cried out and tried to shake him off, but he knocked her down and got up in her place.

I reached for Will, but he looked at me and I was immediately frozen. His eyes, instead of a milky brown, were red. Like in my dream.

He thrust out a hand, and I was thrown backwards, landing just before hitting my head on a tree. Max, however, wasn't so lucky. She tried to punch him in the face, and he threw her past me, her head smacking the tree with a sickening thunk. She slumped to the ground.

"Will!" Mike screamed, but he and Hopper were frozen in place.

"Stop it, kid," Hopper growled, and even he sounded afraid.

Will turned his hellish gaze to them, and a slow grin spread across his face. "Shut up," he said. But it wasn't him: his voice was eerily tripled and sounded deeper, a slight hiss on the letter s. He thrust out a hand again, and the two were hurled across the room, where they sat frozen on the ground like helpless dolls.

Will then turned to me, still smiling like a child being given candy. "Hello, Eleven," the thessalhydra smirked. "My host body remembers you. I must congratulate you on your efforts to help him." He now held his hand out at me, and I immediately felt a throbbing headache advancing on me with a vengeance. Spots danced in front of my eyes. "Alas, they were for nothing," it said, almost apologetically.

"No!" I heard Mike sob desperately, but Will's gaze was firmly fixed on me. "Goodbye," he said simply, and the world did a backflip before going completely dark.