Bookworm & Toothless (Stranger Things AU) #Wattys2018

[12]

They were back at Mike's house, Eleven laying her head on Jess' lap on the couch, still exhausted from using too much of her powers.

"What was Will saying?" Mike asked, Jess, looking across the couch to where he was sitting.

"Like home...like home...but dark?"

"And empty," Lucas added, sighing.

"Empty and cold. Wait did he say cold?" Dustin asked, Jess shrugging.

"I don't know. The stupid radio kept going in and out."

"It's like riddles in the dark," Dustin says, looking up.

"Like home. Like his house?" Mike asked.

"Or maybe like Hawkins," Lucas suggested.

"Upside down," Eleven says causing Jess to look at her.

"What'd she say?" Lucas asked.

"Upside down," Jess mumbled, realizing what she meant, looking at the flipped over Dragons and Dungeons board, Mike following her eyes and nodding.

"What?" Lucas asked.

"Upside down."

He walked to the board,  sitting down.

"When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board over, remember? Upside down. Dark. Empty."

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

"No," Dustin replies.

"How can you two not?" Jess asked, causing him to look over towards her and shoots her a glare.

"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?"

Lucas and Dustin became quiet, Jess rolling her eyes at how slow they were.

Mike flips the board back to front.

"What if this is Hawkins and..." 

He flips it to the back.

"...this is where Will is? The Upside Down."

"Like the Vale of Shadows." Jess and Dustin say, both of them making eye-contact, blushing.

X

Dustin got the folder explaining the game Dungeons and Dragons, flipping the pages until he went to the one explaining the Vale of Shadows.

"The Vale of Shadows is a dimension that is dark reflection or echo of our world. It is a place of decay and death. A place out of phase. A place of monsters...It is right next to you, and you don't even see it." Dustin says, pausing and fearfully looking at the boys and then his eyes landed on Jess, saying the last sentence as if it was a rude awakening. 

"An alternate dimension," Mike whispered.

"But...how...how do we get there?" Lucas asked.

"You cast Shadow Walk," Dustin replies.

"In real life, dummy."

"We can't shadow walk, but...maybe she can," Dustin says, looking at Eleven.

They turn to Eleven, Jess looking down at Eleven.

"Do you know how we get there?" Mike asked.

"To the Upside Down?" Jess asked, biting her lip.