Mike Wheeler x Reader

Chapter 35: A Close Call

Your POV

Crunch.

Crunch.

Crunch.

It's getting loser. You're back is against a wide tree trunk, and you're praying you're hidden. You can tell it's behind you by the sound—but you're not sure how much space is between you.

THUMP.

THUMP.

It's almost here. Your heart is out of control and your face is wet with tears. You can barely breathe and you hear the blood rushing in your ears. You're trembling uncontrollably. Please, God, don't let it-

ROAR!

You shake and do your best to keep still. A single tear rolls down your cheek. With a wrench of the heart, you know it's near.

Thump.

Thump.

The beast takes a few more steps. Out of your peripheral vision, you see its dark, tall figure emerge from the nearby trees. You wait until it takes some more steps—right up until it would discover you—and then slowly and quietly inch a half-step clockwise around the tree. From your days (weeks, maybe) here, you know that it doesn't have great sight, but it can sense electricity, like sharks. You had to be extra careful.

It sensed you alright. It follows you around and around the tree until it decides there's nothing around. The beast slowly trails off in the other direction—you watch it go.

After waiting a good amount of time, you climb a tree far away from it. That, was a close call. A very close call. That can't happen again.

You get to the top and secure yourself in its branches.

When Mike had come, you were surprised you hadn't broke down as much as you thought you would. After he'd vanished, you screamed. You screamed, and you screamed, and you screamed. The beast had heard you and you've been running from it the whole day.

You cry silently as you remember his body fading away into a cloud. And then, suddenly, poof. He vanished.

He can't be dead. He can't be.

As you emerged from the woods and saw him standing there, you finally felt hope again. You weren't alone anymore. No matter what happened, it'd happen with Mike.

But no, he had to go all Peter Parker on you and fucking disappear into thin air. (A/N: Too soon? #idontwannago)

What if he was dead? How'd he even get here in the first place? Where is he now?

Your stomach interrupts your impulsive questions with a loud rumble. You haven't eaten in forever. You sigh. Tomorrow you'd look for the gate like Mike had said, but for now, you slept.

You're running along the forest path, the beast on your heels. You're panting and weak—you're not gonna make it.

"In here!" A voice behind you says suddenly.

You whip your head around. It's Mike. You have no time to say anything and dash into the dip in the ground. The beast roars. It's here.

Before Mike has a chance to slip under the tree, it snatches him up.

"Y/N, help!"

You wake with your heart pounding and tears running down your face. You tremble spastically, forgetting where you are.

Your leg slides off the branch you're on and because you're not ready, you slip and somehow grab the branch with your two hands. You're too weak to pull yourself up. Panting, you look around. You grab a branch nearby and regain balance. You catch your breath and start the climb down. Brilliant idea, by the way. Hey, let's sleep on an unstable tree, ten feet of the ground!

You sigh as your feet touch the ground. You're so sick of this. There's nothing to do but search for the gate.

Everything is as normal as could be, when a familiar sharp pain in the head pulls you to your knees.

Mike's POV

I showed the book to the party. We're all Astral Projection experts. All of our questions are answered. We've skipped school and are in the same woods by Hawkins Lab.

"So now we know you have Astral Projection, how are we any closer to finding Y/N?" Will asks as we trail the forest together.

"Well, you read the book, right?" I ask.

"Yeah..." He responds.

"Y/N is obviously an Astral Projection user too, so-"

"Wait wait wait, what?" Lucas interrupts. "How?"

"You read the part that said if someone was exposed to the certain chemicals and lost consciousness at the same time, they would be transported to the astral plane and trapped there, right? That's what happened to Y/N!" I exclaim.

"How do you know?" Dustin asks.

"She told me."

"When?" Lucas asks.

"When I accidentally went to the astral plane yesterday."

"Oh."

"Yeah, and the book also said that when two users are in the same place in different realms, they'd usually feel pains in their heads. So if that happens, it means Y/N is where we are in the Upside Down."

"And you're gonna go to her?" Will asks.

"Yep. Whenever my head hurts me I go there so...yeah. Hopefully."

"How are you gonna get her out?" Dustin asks me.

"We're going to have to find the gate. It's the only way to get people stuck in the Upside Down out." I say.

"What if you can't find it?" Lucas asks.

"Let's hope we do."

"And what if you accidentally travel back before you find it?" Will adds.

"Let's hope I don't."

"What do we do when you're in the Upside Down?" Lucas asks.

"Just don't take me to my mom this time."

We all laugh a little.

Together we wait for my head to act up.