𝐅𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐄, mike wheeler

005

THE FLEA AND THE ACROBAT

THE PARTY ALL sits in Mike's basement, trying to figure out what he was saying when they heard him at the Heathkit, Eleven still wearing the dress and wig.

"What was Will saying?" Mike questions to himself, "Like home..but dark?"

"And empty." Lucas adds, his head in his hands.

Dustin starts pacing around the basement. Melanie rests her head on Mike's shoulder, trying to think about what Will meant.

"Empty and cold." Melanie thinks out loud.

"Did he say cold?" Dustin asks, questioning if that happened or not.

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

"Like home..." Mike continues, "Like his house?"

"Or Hawkins." Melanie suggests, putting her arm around Mike's shoulder and leans in, about to fall asleep.

"Upside down." Eleven says, quietly.

"What'd she say?" Melanie asks, closing her eyes.

"Upside down." Mike says, looking at Eleven. Mike pushes Melanie off his shoulder so she'd stay awake and walks over to the D&D board on his table.

"When El showed us where Will was," Mike demonstrates with the board, "she flipped the board over, remember?"

Everybody walks to sit at the table.

"Upside down. Dark. Empty."

"Do you understand what he's talking about?" Lucas asks Dustin and Melanie.

"No."

"I wasn't listening."

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

"Yeah," Lucas replies, "and he wasn't there."

"But what if he was there?" Mike defends, Melanie leaning back and raising her eyebrows, "What if we just couldn't see him? What if he was on the other side?" He demonstrates with the board, flipping it over to describe which side is which, "What if this is Hawkins...this is where Will is? The Upside Down."

"Like the Vale of Shadows." Dustin relates, getting what Mike is talking about.

"I'm way too tired for this." Melanie tells them all, standing to pull Mike down and resting her head on his shoulder.

Dustin gets up and grabs the D&D handbook, looking for the chapter on the Vale of Shadows, hoping they could find something to help their friend.

He reads from the book, "'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. It is right next to you and you don't even see it."

"An alternate dimension." Mike mutters, more to himself than the others.

"But...how do we get there?" Lucas questions as Melanie falls asleep on Mike's shoulder.

"You cast shadow walk." Dustin answers.

"In real life, dummy."

"We can't shadow walk, but..." Dustin looks towards Eleven on the couch, "maybe she can."

They all turn around and look towards Eleven, Melanie still resting on Mike's shoulder.

"Do you know how we get there?" Mike asks the girl, "To the Upside Down?"