back [madwheeler]

chapter three

will had been great to max, they were almost like siblings, it seemed like will always had a soft spot for her, and she appreciated that. "there's been, new- new... activity," he said slowly. this made max confused, "what activity?" she questioned. wills face began to get paler and he leaned in closer to max, "activity from... from the upside down,"

max's eyes widened and she felt heart begin to pound in her chest. it made sense. she had to tell will, but only will. "wh-what i thought eleven closed the gate to the upside down?" she whispered shocked, "we thought so too, but there's been small sections of the town that picked up activity," he explained. "what k-kind of activity?" she stuttered, "i don't exactly know myself," he whispered, "but there's been readings of tiny gates i guess? but i thought you should know,"

she needed to tell him, but she didn't know if she could, not yet at least. "uh- um, how are you holding up, has it affected you at all?" she asked concerned. she really felt bad for will, and hoped he didn't have to go through what he went through last time, he struggled so much. will looked down, "definitely not nearly as bad as last time. i-i just have this feeling and small dreams of the m-mind flayer in the upside down,"

will was having dreams as well, what if they shared a connection? "what exactly do you see?" she questioned slowly, "w-well this time it's like the m-mind flayer is not focused on, on me, but i can see what's going on. i-i think i see a girl, and the-the mind flayer is coming towards her, but i-i can't tell if is trying to harm her, or-or possess her i-i just see the scene," he explained with a shaky breath.

max's face went pale, what if she was that girl? the pit of her stomach began to turn, and her vision grew blurry, but knew she had to tell him. "will there's something i need to te-"

flashes of the upside down flashed in max's mind, one second she was in mikes basement then in the open field. her body stiffened up as the flashes stopped.

she was back.

she was no longer in the wheeler residence, but was back in the open space where she could see it in the distance. no, she whispered closing her eyes, no, no, no. after one crack of lightning the dark figure was once again looming over her. no, she didn't want to be back here, no, no, n-

"max, max are you ok?" max felt hands on her, shaking her stiff body back to life. max's body and mind came back to reality as her eyes shot open and air refilled her lungs. as she came to her surroundings she was met with wills terrified face, trying to snap her out of her trance.

that's never happened before.

"max, max holy crap max are you okay?" will asked relieved when he got his friend to wake up. the red haired girl breathed heavily as she came back to her surroundings. she sat blank trying to comprehend what had just happened. "will," she whispered hoarsely, "will i don't know what to d-"

"holy shit guys i literally jus-... are you guys good? max you look like your about to pass out," max snapped out of her little daze when she noticed mike walk into the room. he quickly ran to the fridge and grabbed a water bottle. opening the bottle with his shirt, he passed the plastic bottle to max. she was in disbelief, wheeler was concerned about her.

muttering a quick thank you, she grabbed the water and took a small sip, too much was going on right now, but she was trying to make everything seem as if it was normal. "what the hell happened," mike asked kneeling in front of the pair. max and will exchanged looks, they couldn't talk about this right now, at least not in front of mike. the freckled girl gave will a pleading look, and luckily he understood.

as max turned her attention back to mike she noticed something different. his face showed concern and soft emotions, and for the first time max noticed he looked much better when he wasn't scowling. as she stared into his dark orbs she noticed that he was worried, and she felt as if she could see his genuine feelings. mike was staring back at her, her blue eyes looking into his brown ones. she felt the pit of her stomach begin flutter.