Worlds Turned Upside Down: Will Byers x Reader

Chapter Twenty-Five: Into the Eye of the Storm

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Before getting very far past "Castle Byers", the group hears a pained shriek from a certain grumbling monster. "Did you hear that?" Joyce asks. (Y/N)'s mother nods and Hopper gives her a look of verification. They continue on with more urgency.
Joyce, Hopper, (Y/N)'s mother, and an unconscious (Y/N) finally come to the "Byer's house" in the Upside Down.  "Come on," Hopper says quietly as he moves towards the structure.
"Is that my house?" Joyce whispers. The group creeps up the back of the house and they enter through the back door. They slide into the decomposing structure, Hopper has his gun held out for protection. Joyce is the only one to notice that the kitchen table is broken in front of the back door and not in it's usual spot, but she thinks nothing of it. After all this isn't really her house. The group moves closely against the wall as to not alarm anything of their presence. They swerve into the hall.
Little did they know, they were setting off the Christmas lights back in their realm.

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Jonathan, Nancy, and Steve look up at the illuminating lights, terrified that the monster they had just faced was coming back to get them.

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Hopper finds the monster's blood stain on the floor, "It was hurt," they continue to follow the blood trail into the living room. The stain leads to the front door, so the group prepares to move out and follow it.

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As the lights illuminate one-by-one towards the front door, Jonathan comes to the realization that the thing setting off the lights isn't a monster at all, but instead his, "Mom," he whispers, staring teary-eyed at the glowing bulbs.

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A nearly inaudible voice echoes through the living room in the Upside Down, Hopper and Mrs. (L/N) hadn't even noticed it, but Joyce had. "Is that you? Mom," Joyce turns around and stares into the vacant space.
"Jonathan?" Noticing that Joyce had spoken, the two other travelers turn her way.
"Joyce, come on," Hopper says, wanting to get a move on. Joyce turns around and they continue to follow the blood trail out of the house and back into the dark, unknown world.

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The group had picked up their pace and traveled quite some way. During the trip, (Y/N)'s mother would whisper calming things to her daughter, hoping that she'd make some sort of movement to let her mother know that she could hang on a bit longer. But, the girl never stirred.
The trail of blood leads through a lifeless, abandoned Hawkins. The three examine the empty storefronts and junk cars that lay on the sides of the road. Suddenly, the trail veers right. Everyone turns their heads slowly in that direction. They know this is where that thing must have gone. The "Hawkins Library". Joyce throws an uneasy look at Hopper. He glances back at her briefly, then moves onto the path that leads to the library. The women follow after him, taking slow, deliberate steps. This could be the end of them all. Or it could just be an empty building. All they know is that they're going in blind.

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The group moves their flashlights around the grim space, fully expecting something to jump out and attack them. The bookshelves and tables are barely visible under thick layers of webby growth. Their beams of light sweep over the checkered floor, illuminating the trail of blood which leads into the next room.
The three now enter an area cloaked with darkness. With his gun kept at ready, Hopper leads the way down a straicase. His determined features are lit up by the light inside of his helmet. He's ready to end this.
They enter a room which is dimly lit by the small amount of light that filters through an overhead window. Joyce passes a skeleton covered in dried growths, she stares at it in horror.  Could that be her boy? "Oh my, God," she whispers under her breath.
Hopper's flashlight roves over bodies shrouded in the webs. Suddenly, his beam finds Barb Holland's lifeless, decaying face. His eyes widen and his face twitches as he struggles to remain composed. Mrs. (L/N) sticks behind Hopper, not able to fully look at the bodies as she's mainly focused on her daughter's which lies limp in her arms.
Joyce traces her light against the wall with her brows furrowed. Her heart skips a beat as it lands on a familiar face. It's Will. "Will! Will!" Joyce shouts after a moment of shock. The boy is deadly pale and there's a wet tendril which snakes into his mouth. Hopper and (Y/N)'s mother turn to Joyce quickly. She runs towards his elevated body, "Will! Oh my, God!" She screams as she realizes he looks so, very lifeless. "Will! Hopper!" She calls the Chief for assistance. "Get him out!" She yells in agony. Mrs. (L/N) stands frightened and is frustrated she can't do anything to help. Hopper begins to tug the tendril from Will's throat. One hand on the boy's face for balance and the other using all of its strength to remove the disgusting creature. Both women's stomachs churn as they watch the creature resistantly slide out of Will's throat. It screeches in protest, wanting to stay latched onto it's new host.
Hopper grips onto the tendril with two hands and finally manages to pull the entirety of it from the boy's mouth. It falls to the ground screeching and writhing. "Oh, Jesus," Hopper says disgusted. He begins to shoot at it. In the midst of the chaos, nobody notices the (L/N) girl's eyes blink open for a split second, her gaze fixed on the seemingly lifeless Byers boy.
Hopper had pulled Will out from the webs. He now lays on the floor. Joyce and Hopper have removed their masks, knowing what they have to do next, "He's not breathing, he's not breathing," Joyce sobs. Hopper grabs Joyce's arm.
"Alright, Joyce, Joyce, listen to me, listen to me, listen to me. I need you to lift his head back...and lift his chin."
"Okay," Joyce cups Will's face. Hopper begins to do chest compressions. He counts, "One, two, three, four. Now when I tell you, you're gonna pinch his nostrils, and breath into his mouth...twice."
"Okay," Joyce complies tearily.
"One second, then pause," Hopper coaches her, "Then one second."
"Okay," Joyce continues to sob as she waits for the Chief's command.
Hopper continues counting, "29, 30. Now! Go!" Joyce pinches Will's nose and breaths into his mouth, but he remains still.
"Oh, come on, come on," she urges Will.
"Come on. Come on, kid," Hopper pleads. Joyce cries to her son.
"Will, listen to me. It's me, it's your mom and I love you so much," The pained mother brings Mrs. (L/N) to tears. She holds her daughter even closer, if possible, and sobs against her head, feeling so lucky that she's there in her arms, breathing. "I love you more than anything in the world," Joyce cries. Hopper steadily continues with the chest compressions.
The sounds draw (Y/N) into a brief conciousness where all she can do is wince. She wants to call out for Will. She wants to cry for him, but all she can do is make a slight, pained noise that takes so much of her energy that she collapses back into unconsciousness. Mrs. (L/N) lifts up her head briefly to examine her daughter. She had definitely stirred for a second. (Y/N)'s mother rocks her daughter side to side, trying to calm her down. She whispers, "He's gonna be okay, honey. He's gonna be okay," as she rests her face against her daughter's head once again, not wanting to look at the scene in front of her.
Joyce continues to cry, "Please, please come back to me. Just..."
Hopper pushes even harder, "Come on, kid!"
"Please, please wake up. Please, please," Joyce pleads. Hopper is reminded of his dying daughter whilst he tries to resuscitate the boy. He won't let another parent lose their child like he did his. "Breathe, Will! Come on!" The frantic mother sobs. "Come back to me, breathe!" Hopper pounds on Will's chest, surely cracking one or more of his ribs. "I need you to wake up now I need you to breathe," he pounds, "Please breathe!" And pounds, "Please!" He gives one last blow to the boy's chest.
Will gasps, filling his lungs with the limited air supply around him. He coughs and spits up the residue in his throat. "Oh, my God, that's it, that's it!" Joyce leans Will over on his side, so that he doesn't choke. He continues to cough with a far off look in his eye. He had in fact been dead, but was given the breath of life, "That's it, baby. Breathe," Joyce repeats.
Mrs. (L/N) takes deep breaths, filled with joy. "He's okay, baby. He's okay," she tells her daughter subconsciously.
Hopper crawls past Joyce to grab a gas mask. He slips it over Will's face. Joyce repeats the same command to Will, telling him to "Breathe," over and over.
Out of breath, Hopper says, "Give her...give her yours, too. She's been...breathing this stuff in...for long enough," Mrs. (L/N) quickly finds the mask that's attached to her suit and places it over her daughter's face. The girl's eyelids twitch once, but that's the only response her mother gets.
Will's eyes open to see his sobbing mother. He gasps for the air, never cherishing it more in his life. He turns his head frantically looking for the girl who'd gone through all of this with him, needing to see if she was alive. When he turns to his left he indeed sees the girl lying limp in her mother's arms. "She's okay, sweetie. She's okay," Joyce says to him realizing what he was trying to do. Joyce bends over Will's body and sobs whilst the boy continues to draw in the oxygen. Hopper sits behind Joyce, exhausted but relieved, and places a hand on her shoulder.
Everyone is overcome with an overwhelming sense of relief. This is finally over. Everything is finally okay again...right?

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Hi! I honestly got so excited when they found (Y/N)! I'm so happy for her♥︎ Also...Don't leave yet this is NOT the last chapter! There is one more after this. And yes, I will be continuing onto a season two! I'll try to get the book out there sometime in the next week so you can save it or know it exists before I end this one! If you want more information on that go to last chapter's note. I will also be posting the information again next chapter! The amount of support I have gotten is unreal and I appreciate every one of you! I hope you stick around♥︎ I can't wait to see you next chapter ~WoodCeiling♥︎

EDIT: NEXT CHAPTER IN TWO WEEKS!

*THE CHARACTERS, THEME, AND SOME DIALOGUE BELONG TO STRANGER THINGS AND THE DUFFER BROTHERS*