𝐨𝐧𝐞. [𝐦𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫]

017

"Joyce, you've got to be kidding me. Your magnets are falling off of your fridge, big deal," Jim Hopper, chief of police, said with a huff. He buttoned up his shirt and walked out of his bedroom, facing Joyce Byers, who was panicking.

"Hop, there's something wrong here! This has never happened before," Joyce said. Hopper gave her an unamused look.

"Okay, and? You're just psyched out because that (Y/n) kid came back and claims she was taken by a lab. You know kids make shit up right?" Hopper asked, pulling a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

"She's not lying. I've known her since she was a little kid, she wouldn't lie about this," Joyce said.

"Maybe Will lied," Hopper said, lighting a cigarette.

"He wouldn't lie. Can we focus here? There's something wrong with that lab," Joyce said. Hopper took a long drag of his cigarette before sighing deeply.

"Hawkins Lab has been closed down for years. But, if it'll make you feel better I'll take you there," Hopper said, tiredly rubbing his eyes.

He truly believed that nothing wrong was happening, but he just wanted Joyce to have closure, to know that everything was okay.

"Great!" Joyce said, picking up her jacket and putting it on.

"What are you doing?" Hopper asked.

"Aren't we going now?" Joyce asked. Hopper sighed and stood up, slipping on his distressed loafers.

"I meant another day or something. But, sure. Let's go," Hopper said, fake enthusiasm in his voice.

The two adults made their way to the car in silence.

Meanwhile, Dustin had finally arrived to the mall. He quickly chained his bike to the bike post and hastily ran inside, straight to the Scoops Ahoy kiosk.

"Steve!" He yelled, running behind the counter. A confused Robin walked through the door, an annoyed look on her face.

"You can't be back here, Dustbowl," Robin said. Steve ran through the door and grabbed them both by the wrist, yanking them into the back room.

"He's with us, remember?" Steve asked with a warning tone. Robin rolled her eyes and glanced back at Erica, who was sitting in the corner.

"I still don't see why she's here," Robin said.

"She's small and can help us crawl through the vents. It's the only way to get us in," Steve said. 

"Isn't she five?" Robin asked.

"I'm ten, dummy," Erica said.

"Guys! Not now. (Y/n) and the guys should be on their way to the lab. We need to scope out the area and let them know as soon as possible. If there are a bunch of Russians down there, it'll most likely be clear of Russians there," Dustin explained, pulling his walkie talkie out of his backpack.

"Then let's go kick some Soviet ass!" Steve exclaimed.

-

"Would you stop touching my hair?!" Max exclaimed to Lucas, who kept stroking Max's hair, just to annoy her.

"Guys, shut the hell up. We're near the lab," Mike said.

Mike and (Y/n) were leading Max, Lucas, and Will through the woods to the lab.

"I swear, you guys are acting like five year olds," Mike mumbled, warning a smile from (Y/n).

"You're our parents," Will said jokingly. (Y/n) and Mike looked at each other and smiled, before (Y/n) stopped in her tracks.

"You okay?" Mike asked. Her eyes snapped shut and she fell to her knees, clamping her hands over her ears and letting out a shriek.

"She's having an episode," Will said, rushing to her side.

(Y/n) fell backwards, the color draining from her body once again.

"What just happened?" Max asked.

"The other dimension (Y/n) mentioned is called the upside down. Well, we call it that. Sometimes she gets these flashes of it, like she's transported there. But her body stays here," Lucas explained, taking a water bottle out of his backpack.

"Astral projection," Mike said, cradling her head in his lap.

"Is she okay?" Max asked.

"Yeah. Usually they last about five minutes, and she wakes up back to normal," Will said.

"How often do they happen?" Max asked, crouching down and examining the unconscious girl.

"Randomly. There's not a pattern or anything," Mike said.

Suddenly, (Y/n)'s eyes shot open and she sat straight up, taking deep breaths.

"You okay?" Will asked, taking the water bottle from Lucas and handing it to her. (Y/n) simply nodded in response.

She stood up, swung her backpack back over her shoulder and continued to walk. The party exchanged a worried look before following her.

What they didn't know was that the vision she had this time was different.

She saw her worst nightmares come true right in front of her. Like the upside down knew her weaknesses.

She saw Max and Mike, holding hands and flirting. She saw Dr. Brenner holding a syringe, coming towards her.

Lastly, she saw her friends yelling at her. Telling her she was worthless, telling her she ruined their group and that she should go back to the lab.

(Y/n) didn't know what to think. Thoughts were racing through her mind. What were the visions? Were they the future? Her deepest fears? She didn't know.

Logically, they wouldn't be the future. The upside down didn't have the ability to predict the future. But she didn't have time to think logically. She needed to close the gate and make sure that none of the visions came true.

She lost her life once, she couldn't lose it again.