Tʜᴇ Fʟᴀʀᴇ ꕥ Lɪᴢᴢɪᴇ Jᴏʜɴsᴏɴ

sᴇʀɪᴇs ᴏɴᴇ ꕥ 8

"What was Will saying?" Lizzie asked for the fourth time.

"Like home... like home... but- dark?" Mike repeated, pacing.

"And empty," Lucas nodded.

"Empty and cold..." Dustin waved his head from side to side. "Wait, did he say cold?"

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

Dustin threw his head back and heaved a heavy sigh. "Urgh, it's like riddles in the dark."

Mike, who was still pacing in the middle of the room, turned around. "Like home... like his house?"

"Or maybe like Hawkins!" Lucas looked up.

"Upside Down," came a feeble whisper from the corner.

El was lain across the sofa. She still looked drained, but she was doing better. Lizzie was sat on the arm of the sofa, so when she heard this, she projected it.

"What'd she say?" Lucas furrowed his brows.

"Upside Down!" Lizzie shouted out, starting to realise.

"What?"

"Upside Down!" Lizzie yelled again, going over to the D&D board which was still the way El had left it the other day. "When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board over, right?"

Lucas, Mike and Dustin followed her over to the board as she flipped the board over and back again, then continued. "Upside Down. Dark. Empty. Like home."

"Do you understand what she's talking about?" Dustin asked Mike and Lucas, who shrugged.

"Guys, come on, just think about it!" Lizzie begged. "When El took us to find Will, she took us to his house, right?"

"Yeah, and he wasn't there," Lucas pointed out.

"But what if he was there?" Lizzie asked. "What is we just couldn't see him? What if he was on the other side? What if- this is Hawkins-" she flipped the board to it's usual side -"and... this is where Will is-" she flipped the board again to show the black, empty back. "The Upside Down."

"Like the Vale of Shadows," said Dustin, referencing a D&D dimension.

Lucas looked unconvinced, Mike was looking to El, but Dustin got up, running to Mike's D&D rulebook. He got it out on the table and opened it, going through all the pages until he found-

"The Vale of Shadows," he said, putting a finger to the description and reading it out. "The Vale of Shadows is a dimension that is a dark reflection or echo of our world. It is a place of decay and death. A plane out of phase. A place of monsters."

He looked up, concerned.

"It is right next to you and you don't even see it."

"An alternate dimension," Mike said, eyes staring at the table.

"But... how do we get there?" Lucas said, slowly buying in.

"You cast shadow walk-" Dustin began.

Lizzie elbowed him, but she was laughing. "In real life, dummy."

"We can't shadow walk, but..." he glanced at El, "maybe she can."

All turned to El. "Do you know how we get there? To the Upside Down?"

El slowly shook her head. Lucas threw his head back in frustration. "Oh my god!"

Lizzie looked to Dustin who clenched his jaw. They were going to find the Upside Down.