Blood - Lucas Sinclair

The Flea and the Acrobat (Part 1)

"What was Will saying?" Mike asked from his spot on the couch.

The group had gotten back from the school and were ready to solve this mystery to help their friend. Nikki sat on the opposite side of the couch from Mike with El's head in her lap. Both girls were still tired but Nikki chose for El to lay down and get rest, knowing the boys would need her powers more.

"Like home." Mike continued his train of thought. "Like home. But dark?" He stood up and walked over to Lucas and Dustin who sat on the other side of the room.

"And empty." Lucas recalled.

"Empty and cold." Dustin added. "Wait, did he say cold?"

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

"It's like riddles in the dark."

"Like home." Mike repeated. "Like his house?"

Lucas's eyes lit up. "Or maybe like Hawkins."

"Upside down." El said from her place at the couch.

Nikki looked down at her, confused by what she just said.

"What'd she say?" Lucas looked at Nikki who shrugged not knowing either.

"Upside down." Mike whispered under his breath.

"What?"

"Upside down." Mike repeated but louder. He moved quickly to the table that still had the game board flipped over. "When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board over, remember? Upside down."

The boys moved to the table and sat next to Mike.

"Dark. Empty." Mike explained.

Lucas turned to Dustin. "Do you understand what he's talking about?"

"No."

"Guys, come on, think about it." Mike continued. "When El took us to find Will she took us to his house, right?"

"Yeah." Lucas looked at him weirdly. "And he wasn't there."

"But what if he was there? What if we just couldn't see him? What if he was on the other side?" He flipped the board right side up. "What if this is Hawkins and..." he flipped the board over. "This is where Will is? The Upside Down."

Dustin quickly connected it to Dungeons and Dragons. "Like the Vale of Shadows."

The trio looked at each other and Dustin ran to Mike's bookshelf to retrieve a D&D book. "The Vale of Shadows" He read off the paper. "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. It is right next to you and you don't even see it."

Although she really didn't understand much of it, the parts she did understand made Nikki's blood run cold. Death. Monsters.

"An alternate dimension." Mike stated.

"But, how...how do we get there?" Lucas asked nervously.

Dustin said the first thing that came to his head. "We cast Shadow Walk."

"In real life, dummy."

"We can't shadow walk, but," he looked at the girls on the couch. "Maybe they can."

"Do either of you know how we get there? To the Upside Down?" Mike asked the girls.

In response, both girls shook their heads. Only one of them told the truth, however.

"Oh, my god!" Lucas sighed along with the other two.

How could they ever help Will now?

***