afterlife ➳ stranger things [2]

Chapter 19: Hallucinations

Erin whipped her head back around to see the Demogorgan on the ground. A few feet away was Hopper, pointing a shot gun at where the Demogorgan once was. Eleven and Joyce were behind him, slowly turning towards Erin. Erin took a deep breath and stood up from the ground.

"Thank god." Erin smiled.

"Half an hour and you already look like crap." Hopper joked.

"Yeah, I had a flashback that kind of drained me." Erin sighed.

"What was it?" Eleven asked.

"When I was a kid Cassidy accidentally lit our house on fire." Erin responded.

"What happened?" Joyce asked, making Erin continued.

"We moved in with my Aunt, and that was our childhood for awhile. I guess it just sort of traumatized me," Erin shrugged. "What's the game plan?"

"We have to walk to Hawkins Lab." Hopper explained, looking off to where the lab would be if the clouds weren't in the way.

"Then we get back through the portal that way. Eleven and you will have to open and close it." Joyce added on.

"Sounds," Erin paused. "Great."

"We should get going if we want to dodge the rest of the creatures in this place." Eleven nodded.

"Yeah," Erin nodded. "I feel like I'm going to feel really drained after this."

"Me too." Eleven chuckled.

"Let's get moving." Hopper nodded, starting to walk. Eleven, Joyce, and Erin trailed behind Hopper, him taking the lead with the shot gun.

The streets were unbearably bare. It made chills shoot down Erin's spine, making her wonder what could jump out at her at any moment. The worse part of it all, is that Erin only found a sense of danger in the upside down, she wanted to leave the exact moment she could. She looked around anxiously and cautiously, exchanging glances with Eleven. The white specs in the air coated her lungs, making her go into coughing fits.

As soon as they were out of downtown, which was much smaller then what they were used to, they entered a forest. The path in the forest was lined with large pine trees and bushes, with few dull flower beds. The sky wasn't seen, but was covered by the trees.

Hopper took a deep breath and looked over at Joyce, who joined his side. She smiled, looking over at him. She had a worried look on her face, almost scared. She looked back into the forest, sighing. Hopper himself was a little scared, holding his shotgun closer. Joyce held her shotgun a little closer.

Eleven on the other hand, wasn't as freaked out. She had been to the upside down millions of times through Brenner and the others. She felt calm even with the possibility of dying. She knew how to kill Demagorgans and Demadogs as she has before, and felt even stronger with Erin by her side.

She looked around the forest, the wind rustling through the trees. She looked over at Erin, concerned. Erin had dirt smudged across her face, a trail of blood down her right side. The blood was now seeping through the messy gauze that Erin had did.

Erin wiped the blood off her face once again, groaning as she knew what it was. She kept on pushing forward, feeling light headed with every step. She looked over to the right, looking at the forest. Something rustled in the trees as she narrowed her eyes. Making a dumb decision, Erin decided to go to investigate.

Erin quickly jogged to the side of the trail, ignoring Hopper's shouts. She quickly moved into the trees as she looked around anxiously. She walked deeper into the forest, as if her life depended on it. She ignored the yelling behind her and Hopper attempting to walk into the forest. Erin looked around, seeings figures all around the woods. Her expression quickly turned panicked.

She adverted her eyes back to in front of her, where Cassidy stood in front of her. Cassidy was facing away from Erin and sobbing. Erin placed her hand on Erin's shoulder, before Cassidy whipped around to show her black eyes. Cassidy quickly scratched Erin's face, making Erin bleed even more. She ran the other direction, back into Hopper's arms. Hopper caught her as she ran back, holding her close.

"Erin? Why are you bleeding?" Eleven asked as the two pulled away.

"I-it was Cassidy she uh," Erin cleared her head. "She had black eyes and she scratched me."

"Erin what are you talking about," Hopper looked out to the woods. "There's no one out there."

"I-it was a hallucination." Erin said under her breath.

"What the hell goes on in this place." Joyce signed, exchanging a glance at Hopper.

Hopper looked at Joyce as she looked back at the forest. Eleven took on as Erin's crutch, holding onto Erin's side as Erin fell weak. Erin put her arm around Eleven for more stability, as the four turned back onto the trail to continue walking.

They walked on for hours more, Eleven having a hallucination herself. She hallucinated Mike being teared apart, right before her eyes. She wasn't able to hold Erin anymore, Erin now being carried by Hopper. Erin had fainted along the way, from exhaustion and the fact that she had been in there a few hours longer. Eleven was being taken care of by Joyce, them both holding on to each other.

After hours of walking through the forest, they had finally arrived at the laboratory. This time, it was crowded with cars. As they walked through the hospital, more and more rooms were filled with beds and more furniture. Hopper noticed Eleven standing in front of the room, labeled with a rainbow. Joyce pulled Eleven along, them continuing down the halls.

Even the hospital was still eerie, only Hopper could have imagined how it was more busy at this time. The hospital walls soon withered as the went further. The white flecks started to fill the air more, making it harder to breathe. Hopper, Joyce, and Eleven picked up their pace, practically running through the hospital.

As soon as they hit the basement- or where the basement would be, Eleven had to power herself up. She pushed herself away from Joyce, holding her arm out. The portal slowly began to open with every push that Eleven gave. Eventually, there was enough space for the four of them to walk through.