Me, Myself, and Her

Chapter Sixty-Nine

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Karma

Annie waited up in Nancy's room as Dustin, Lucas, and Erica went to grab the supplies. They figured Holly's Lite Bright was the best tool for those in the Upside Down to use.

Since the only way to communicate was through light, they couldn't really tell them much. It's when Lucas remembered the Byers' house, and how it apparently had been covered in Christmas lights and the alphabet was painted on the wall. So Will could talk.

They didn't have that time or those resources. So, they had to brainstorm what they could use that they did have in their possession. It led them to Holly's newest toy.

Hopefully she didn't mind them using it for a bit.

The trio burst into the room. "Finally!" Annie exclaimed, scooting over on the floor so they could all fit in front of the bed. "Got all the pieces?"

Lucas responded by throwing the container on the bed next to the Lite Bright Dustin set down. They each got a handful of pieces and filled the board with the pegs. It was a precarious process, but they had four sets of hands. They'd get there.

"Okay, that's it that's it that's it! Go, go, go, go," Dustin hurried.

Lucas grabbed the plug for the board and nearly dove under Nancy's desk to find an outlet. A second later, the Lite Bright shone in all their faces, and array of colors. "Okay, you guys seeing this!" Dustin yelled, making sure the older ones could hear.

When it started to glow even brighter, they cheered Annie let out a huge sigh of relief. She even accepted Dustin excitedly pulling her and Erica into a hug. One step closer.

"We're not moving it, but we're gonna unplug it. Stand by!" he yelled next. Then, Dustin looked over and nodded at Lucas. "Yank it."

If it were plugged in, they wouldn't be able to read whatever the others wrote to them. Hopefully, they would still be able to communicate.

It went dark. Annie crossed her fingers and waited for them to try it now, like Dustin said to.

Something on the board started to light up, and a smile spread across Annie's face. "Oh my god," she breathed.

"Okay, okay, 'H,'" Dustin read out, seeing the spelling. When it was followed up with an 'I,' they all laughed.

"Hey!" Annie cheered with the others. "Holy shit."

"That worked!" Dustin yelled out.

A moment later, they all concentrated on the letters being written on the board. "S...T...U..."

"Stupid? Stupid?"

Annie whacked Dustin as more letters appeared. "...C...K. Stuck! They're stuck."

"In the Upside Down!" Lucas finished, looking over at Annie as she nodded quickly.

Dustin thought. "Uh... you can't get back through Watergate?" he yelled.

They had to wait another second for the letters to start being written again. "What is that?" Dustin asked at the first letter.

"G." Annie watched the other letters come up. "U... A...R..." The board was full, so the light had to disappear before the others could write more.

Still, Dustin tried to sound it out and make it a word. "Guar? Guar? Guar?"

"Wait, wait," Lucas said as the other letters came up. "D... E... D. Guarded."

Dustin leaned back a bit. "Guarded. Okay, Watergate's guarded. Uh, we think we have a theory that could help with that! We think Watergate isn't the only gate! That there's a gate at every murder site."

A pause as they waited for a response. What they got was a question mark. Dustin sighed, annoyed. "Okay, seriously? How many times do I have to be right on the money before you guys just trust me!"

Annie sighed and shook her head, resisting the urge to smack Dustin again. "There could be a weird lag or other barrier when you talk. Maybe they literally can't understand what you're saying," she offered.

Downstairs, she heard a door open, followed by heavy footsteps. "They're done with Max," Annie said. Without waiting, she got up and went to exit Nancy's room. "I'm gonna go get her!"

She hurried, quietly, down the stairs and carefully peaked around the corner. When she got to the base, she immediately saw Max.

"Max!" she whisper-yelled, getting her girlfriend's attention. "Come on."

At first, the redhead shook her head, carefully gesturing back to the group of adults. But Annie was determined, waving her over. Max chanced a glance over her shoulder, and when she saw no one was looking at her, she hurried over and went up the stairs right behind Annie.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Steve, Robin, Nancy, and Eddie are stuck in the Upside Down, so we're going to Eddie's trailer, where there's a gate, to get them back," Annie answered quickly.

Max blinked a couple times. "Okay?"

They walked into Nancy's room where Dustin, Lucas, and Erica were geared up to go. "Come on, we have to go through the window, get the bikes, and head over to his trailer. Erica's gonna take care of the cops, too, so they can't follow."

Annie shook her head. "Don't wanna know. Is it a safe route? The window?"

"Your brother would know, he went through it a dozen times according to Mike," Dustin answered with a shrug.

Annie cringed at the thought. "Oh, ew, let's not get into that."

The group hurried to the window and carefully made their way down. Lucky for them, the garage wasn't too hard to access, the bikes even easier. They quietly yelled at each other, hurrying around to get the bikes.

"Erica, ride with me," Lucas said. They only had four bikes, and Annie could see the protective side of Lucas coming out. Sure, she sort of forced herself into this, but Lucas was still her older brother.

"Come on, come on, come on." They quietly moved out of the garage, but clearly didn't think about someone coming up to see them.

Not until they heard a yell out the window. "Hey! Excuse me!" It was Callahan, the annoying officer. Annie didn't realize it would be satisfying, him watching them make their grand escape.

It was even better when it came time to ruin their possible escape. "I guess it's just a minor misdemeanor!" Erica stabbed one of the tired of the cop car.

Callahan let out a yell from above. "Hey, no! No!" he practically cried.

The parents came running out next, yelling at their respective kids. No one listened, obviously, and kept peddling. They had seven miles to cover as quickly as possible. No way they were slowing down.

"Follow me! I know the way!" Max called. The adjusted their formation to have Max in the front, leading them to the trailer park.

Annie followed right behind, the other two bikes right behind her. It was late enough that no one else would be out on the road, so they took up the whole street.

As they rode, Annie thanked god her parents weren't there for any of that. Or Steve. Neither would let her live it down, but in very different way.

Bonnie Tyler's voice continued on through Annie's headphones as they rode through the night, commencing their rescue mission.

A/n: we're really getting into the meat of the second half of the season!! It's gonna be great, y'all