Stranger Seven (Mike Wheeler)

05

"What was Will saying?"

What was Will saying? And why was Seven staring into space? I can answer the second question. Sev's face was plagued with a distant look because she was trying to figure out the Heathkit. She remembered fixing it. But it wasn't fixed.

"Like home... like home... but... dark?"  Mike continued, snapping Sev out of her daze.

"And cold." Added Lucas.

"Empty and cold. Wait did he say cold?" Dustin assessed.                                                                                 "I don't know. The stupid radio kept going out." Lucas answered.

"It's like riddles in the dark." The curly-haired boy moaned.

"Like home..." said Mike. "Like your house? Sev? Hello? Earth to Sev! Are you even listening?"

"What?"

"No... maybe like Hawkins!"

"Upside down." El murmured.

"What'd she say?' Lucas asked, completely confused.

Seven, annoyed again, said: "She should f-"

"Upside down?" Mike interrupted.

"Yeah." Said Lucas.

Mike paused his pacing and walked over to the D&D board. The others followed, except for El.

"When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board over. Remember?"

"Yeah." Seven said, actually interested since this was Mike speaking. She really didn't understand though, she just wanted to win Mike over.

"Upside down." He explained, after grinning at Sev. His face turned serious again. "Dark. Empty."

"Do you understand what he's saying? Dustin? Sev?"

"No."

"Guys, come on! Think about it. When El took us to find Will, she took us to his house."

"He wasn't there." Lucas sighed. The boy honestly thought that Mike was going crazy.

"But what if he was there? What if we just couldn't see him? What if he was on the other side?"

Mike flipped over the board so that it was right side up, and seven leaned in, interested.

"What if this is hawkins," he flipped the board again, "and this is where Will is. The Upside Down."

"Like the Vale of Shadows."

They all had an idea.

-- time Skip --

Dustin slammed down the seven-year-old D&D guide book, and flipped through it. Seven watched intensely, her gaze matching the intense mood.

"The Vale of Shadows 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." Sev croaked.

"But... how... do we get there?" Asked Lucas.

"You cast shadow-walk."

"In real life, dummy!" 

"We can't shadow walk, but maybe she can." Dustin pointed to El. Sev slammed her hands on the table suddenly, and stood up.

"What makes you guys think she's so great!? I could do all that she could, seven times better! I think, I think," she repeated to all four shocked faces, "that I could shadow walk if I wanted. And I wouldn't take Mike or El with me. That's what I think. And I'll-"