𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐰𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞, eleven hopper.

x. - theoretically

CHAPTER TEN
THEORETICALLY

Waking up in Mike's basement wasn't the best. For one, her back was in pain from the awkward position she was laying in, two, the boys were too off in their own world to wipe the blood off her face, and three, she didn't feel much better. But she wasn't really going to complain to them, they all had bigger things to worry about right now. Like finding out where Will was and getting him out of there.

"What was Will saying? Like home... Like home... but dark?" Mike mumbled to himself. "And empty," Lucas added. "Empty and cold." Dustin finished "Wait, did he say cold?" "I don't know. The stupid radio kept going in and out." Lucas shrugged.

"It's like riddles in the dark." Dustin groaned. "Like home... I mean maybe he's talking about Hawkins?" Lucy tiredly spoke. "Upside down," El murmured. "What'd she say?" "Upside down," Lucy repeated for her rubbing her forehead.

"What?" "Upside down. When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board over, remember? Upside down. Dark. Empty" Mike said starting to put things together. The boys gathered around at the table, Lucy sitting up on the couch. Watching them from there. All of them were looking at him as if he was crazy.

"Do you you guys understand what he's talking about?" Lucas asked the others. "No." "No clue," Dustin and Lucy replied shaking their heads. "Guys, come on, think about it. When El took us to find Will, she took us to his house, right?" Mike said hoping they'd catch on. "Yeah. And he wasn't there." Lucas said. "But what if he was there? What if we just couldn't see him?"

"The place I saw. I looked exactly like Hawkins... but it was dark, and had these weird vines all over the place." Lucy said beginning to understand what Mike was talking about. "What if he's in a copycat? An alternate Hawkins?" "The Upside Down," Mike said. "Like the Vale of Shadows," Dustin said.

"An alternate dimension," Mike whispered. "But... how... how do we get there?" Lucas asked. "You cast Shadow Walk," Dustin said. "In real life, dummy," Lucas told him. "Do you think El can?" Lucy spoke up motioning to El who was laying by Lucy's feet. "Do you know how we get there? To the Upside Down?" Mike asked her. Without a word, El shook her head.

Lucy's face scrunched up as her sister rubbed makeup underneath her eyes. She knew that she had incredibly deep eye bags. It was expected as Lucy barely got any sleep. She didn't know why they were such a big deal to cover up right now though, it wasn't like they were going to ruin the funeral.

"Stop doing that, you'll ruin it," Melanie told her sister. "I don't get what the big deal is. People will probably get confused that I look so awake." Lucy said standing up. "You need to look somewhat alive. Don't complain so much this isn't a big deal."

"How am I supposed to get my dress on with this stuff though?" Lucy asked touching the area under her eyes. Melanie reached up and slapped Lucy's hand away from her face. "You have a zip-up dress, right? Just step into it like a sane person."

Lucy walked into her room locking the door behind her before staring down the dress laying on her bed. Although this wasn't really Will's funeral, since he was still alive, she still felt somewhat sad. Maybe it was the thought that this could've been real. She didn't want to imagine going to any of her friends' funerals.

While in Mike's basement they came up with a plan. They'd talk to Mr. Clarke about dimensions. Obviously covering it up to make it seem like they were just interested in the subject and not opening a portal into the Upside Down.

"Lucy hurry up! We're going to be late!"

"Mr. Clarke?" Mike said him and the others walking with to Mr. Clarke ready to start phase one of... whatever this plan was called. "Oh, hey, there. How are you boys holding up?" He timidly asked. "We're... in... mourning," Lucas told him. "Man, these aren't real Nilla Wafers." Dustin frowned. Lucy reached over, gently hitting his arm so he'd pay attention. "We were wondering if you had time to talk?" Mike asked. "We have some questions," Lucas told him. "A lot of questions."

"So, you know how in Cosmos, Carl Sagan talks about other dimensions? Like, beyond our world?" Mike asked. "Yeah, sure, theoretically." Mr. Clarke nodded. "Right, theoretically." "So, theoretically, how do we travel there?" Lucas asked. "You guys have been thinking about Hugh Everett's Many-Worlds Interpretation, haven't you? Well, basically, there are parallel universes. Just like our world, but just infinite variations of it. Which means there's a world out there where none of this tragic stuff ever happened." Mr. Clarke explained.

"Yeah, that's not what we're talking about," Lucas told him. "Oh." "We were thinking about something closer to the Vale of Shadows," Lucy said. "You know the Vale of Shadows?" Dustin asked. "An echo of the Material Plane, where necrotic and shadow magic--" "Yeah, exactly," Mike said cutting him off. "If that did exist, a place like the Vale of Shadows, how would we travel there?" "Theoretically," Lucas added.

"Well..." Mr. Clarke hummed taking a paper plate and a pen out of his jacket. "Picture... an acrobat... standing on a tightrope. Now, the tightrope is our dimension. And our dimension has rules. You can move forwards, or backwards. But, what if... right next to our acrobat, there is a flea? Now, the flea can also travel back and forth, just like the acrobat. Right?" Mr. Clarke said drawing on the paper plate as he explained.

"Right." The kids nodded. "Here's where things get really interesting. The flea can also travel this way... along the side of the rope. He can even go... underneath the rope." Mr. Clarke explained drawing further. "Upside down," Lucy murmured glancing over to her friends. "Exactly." "But we're not the flea, we're the acrobat," Mike said.

Mr. Clarke nodded setting down the paper plate and pen. "In this metaphor, yes, we're the acrobat." "So we can't go upside down?" Lucas asked. "No." "Well, is there any way for the acrobat to get to the Upside Down?" Dustin asked.

"Well... you'd have to create a massive amount of energy. More than humans are currently capable of creating, mind you, to open up some kind of tear in time and space, and then... you create a doorway." He explained stabbing his pen through his now folded paper plate.

"Like a gate?" Lucy asked. "Sure. Like a gate. But again, this is all--" "Theoretical."

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓 - 1134