A NEW AND IMPROVED VERSION
Ryan Fordman has lived next door to Steve Harrington her entire life. Her entire life, he'd always been a window away, occasionally shouting across the space between their houses. They were inseparable... at least, they we...
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Ryan slowly stood up, Nancy following behind her, both of them glancing around at the dark, cold version of the woods they were in. It was like another world. They were in that other dimension the boys had talked about in the basement. The Upside Down. The world that was like theirs, but a darker, twisted version.
Ryan glanced down at her clothes, covered in some weird slimy substance, "Oh yuck."
Nancy looked down at herself, mirroring Ryan's look of disgust. It was hard to say what exactly they were covered in, but it definitely wasn't natural. It was slimy, cold, and covered almost every inch of their bodies. If it wasn't already cold wherever they were, the slime just made it worse.
They slowly started walking, searching in the darkness for any signs of life. Ryan grabbed Nancy's hand, not just because she refused to lose her in the cold hellscape, but because she wanted to remind herself that she wasn't in it alone, that someone else was with her.
A few paces ahead, Ryan could see the deer they had lost back in the woods, their version of the woods anyway, freezing when she realized it was not alone. She squeezed Nancy's hand, not looking away from the scene even for a second. She didn't look away even when they started backing up, trying to get away from the animal as quickly and as quietly as they could. Then, a branch snapped underneath her feet.
The animal lifted its head to face the girls, revealing it wasn't an animal at all, but the monster they had seen behind Steve's. The monster opened its face, showing a flowered mouth, lined with teeth. A roar erupted from the monster, cutting through the silence of the dark, cold woods.
Ryan screamed, falling back. Nancy pulled her up, both of them running through the woods. The monster followed closely behind them, its flowered mouth still open. It moved just as fast as a human did.
"Jonathan!" Nancy screamed.
"Jonathan where are you?" Ryan yelled, searching her pockets for her gun. All the pockets of her jacket were empty, meaning she had either dropped it on her way in with Nancy, or she left it in her bag. Either way, she was defenseless.
Ryan heard low mutters, like someone calling for her and Nancy. The girls grew quiet, not sure where the monster was at that point. They had lost it when they took off. Nothing was chasing them anymore, so they slowed their pace, trying to hear the words coming from nowhere.
"Ryan, Nancy!" It was Jonathan. Jonathan was out there somewhere looking for them. "I'm here, I'm here! Just follow my voice!" Ryan turned around, looking for him, coming face to face with the monster again.
"Holy shit!" Ryan tugged Nancy's hand, running through the dead trees. Everything around them was dead.
They took shelter behind one of the larger trees, Ryan holding her free hand to her mouth to stifle her heavy breathing. Nancy squeezed Ryan's hand, looking at her in fear. The monster walked near their tree, Ryan closing her eyes, not wanting to see the monster get any closer.
