Stranger Teens ✓

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

"What was Will saying?" Mike asked us as we were now down in his basement, El was lying on the couch and the rest of us were trying to figure out where Will is now that we know for sure that he's alive. "Like home... like home..."

"But dark?" I frowned a little, lying on the ground and playing with the top I'm wearing.

"And empty," Lucas adds.

"Empty and cold." Dustin continued. He frowned. "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." Dustin pointed out.

"Like home. Like his house?" Mike was pacing back and forward around the basement.

"Or maybe like Hawkins." I figure and Lucas nods, agreeing with me.

"Upside down." El softly said from the couch making all four of our head snap towards her.

"What'd she say?" Lucas scrunched up his face in confusion.

"Upside down," Mike repeats before looking over at the game board El had put upside down recently.

"What?" Lucas asked.

"Upside down." He walked over to it and sat on a chair, I got up like the boys did and we walked over to him. "When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board over, remember?" He flipped the board the right way, then flipped it upside down. "Upside down. Dark. Empty."

"Do you understand what he's talking about?" Lucas asked. We all sat down in the three empty chairs that were left.

"No." Dustin answered.

"Yes." I nod, surprising everyone. "Guys, come on, think about it. When El took us to find Will, she took us to his house, right?"

"Yeah. And he wasn't there." Lucas nodded.

"But what if he was there?" My eyes cast down to the board. "What if we just couldn't see him? What if he was on the other side?"

"Yeah," Mike agreed and turned the board game the proper way. "What if this was Hawkins and..." he flipped the board over. "This is where Will is? The Upside Down."

"Like the Vale of Shadows." Dustin's eyes lit up. Dustin had gotten a book and flipped to the page where it said the Vale of Shadows. "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 out of monsters. It is right next to you, and you don't even see it."

"An alternate dimension." Mike whispers.

"But... how... how do we get there?" Lucas asked carefully.

"You cast Shadow Walk," Dustin explained and I frowned.

"In real life, dummy." Lucas rolled his eyes.

"We can't shadow walk, but..." Dustin looked over at El. "Maybe she can."

I looked over at El too. "Do you know how to get there? To the Upside Down?"

El shakes her head. "Oh, my God!" Lucas whined.

-

The next morning, I was wearing all black alongside of Dustin. Claudia had brought me a dress for Will's funeral which was really sweet of her. Once she learned that I had no clothes or toilet essentials, she brought me some new clothes and toilet essentials.

I looked in the mirror and thought the black dress was lovely, I wore some black heels along with it. It felt weird not having my cell phone with me, that we went back to radios or whatever you call it.