Y/n's pov
We were at Will's house.
Dustin, Mike, El, Lucas, Hopper, Joyce, Jonathan, Nancy and I.
"So basically, we're like the acrobat, and Will, the monster and Barbara are the flea. The Upside Down is where Will is hiding, and the only way to get through is a rip in time and space." Mike explained to Joyce, hopper, Nancy and Jonathan.
"A doorway." Lucas said metaphorically.
"We tracked it to Hawkins lab, with our compasses." I added.
Joyce, hopper, Nancy and Jonathan stared at me, confused.
"So basically, the gate has a really strong electromagnetic field, and that can change the direction of a compass needle." Dustin elaborated.
"Is this gate under ground?" Hopper asked.
"Yes." El said quietly.
"Is it near a large water tank?" Hopper asked.
"Yes." El replied quietly.
"How does he know?" I asked.
"He's seen it." Mike replied for Hopper.
"Is... is there any way that you could- that you could reach Will? That you could talk to him in this-" Joyce started.
"Upside Down." El said, cutting Joyce off.
"Right." Joyce said.
El nodded.
"And my friend Barbara? Could you find her too?" Nancy asked.
Nancy slid a photo of Barb to El.
El closed her eyes and held the radio.
Everyone was silent for a couple of minutes.
Then Eleven opened her eyes, and she looked sad.
"I'm sorry." She said quietly.
"What happened? What's wrong?" Joyce asked the girl.
"I can't find them." El said.
El stood up and walked to the bathroom.
"Is she okay?" Hopper asked.
"When she uses her powers too much she gets tired." Mike explained.
"Kind of like a bad battery." Lucas added.
"You should have seen the van she flipped with her mind! It was mental." Dustin exclaimed.
"Yeah, but she was super drained after." I added.
"Well... how do we make her better?" Jonathan asked.
"We can't." I shrugged.
"We just have to wait." Mike said.
"The bath." El said softly from behind me.
I jumped.
"Jesus." I said to myself quietly.
"What?" I asked her softly.
"I can find them in the bath." She explained.
"I don't understand." Joyce said.
"She's talking about a sensory deprivation tank. I don't know how to build one, though." I sighed.
"I know someone who might." Dustin said.
Mr. Clarke.
Dustin ran over to the phone.
He picked it up and dialled a number.
"Hi, Mr. Clarke. I have a science question." Dustin said into the phone.
"What do you know about sensory deprivation tanks, specifically how to build one?" Dustin asked quickly.
Mr. Clarke must have asked why because Dustin replied with, ".....fun."
Wow. Nice save, Dustin.
Mr. Clarke said something but Dustin stopped him.
"You always say that we should never stop being curious, to open any curiosity door we find. Why are you keeping this curiosity door locked?!?" Dustin said loudly.
Mr. Clarke must have gave in, because Dustin motioned for me to get a pen and paper.
I ran back with the pen and paper for Dustin, and he immediately started writing.
Dustin was on the phone for about ten minutes, us only hearing a few "uh huh"'s and "okay"'s occasionally from him.
"Uh huh, okay. Yeah, we'll be careful. Okay thanks, you too." Dustin said, hanging up the phone.
He turned back to everyone.
"Do you still have that kiddie pool we bobbed for apples in?" He asked Joyce.
"Uh, yeah. I think so." Joyce replied.
"Great. Now we just need salt. Lots of salt." Dustin said.
"How much is lots?" Hopper asked.
I looked at Dustin's notes.
"1,500 pounds." I breathed out, looking at everyone who stared back at me in shock.
"Where are we going to get that much salt?" Nancy asked, making us all shrug.
Hopper looked out the window, then called for everyone to get in the car.
A series of "why"'s and "where are we going"'s were asked, but he didn't respond.
We arrived at our school.
Oh.
I sure hope it doesn't snow next week.
Lucas and Dustin and I slid the kiddie pool out of the trunk of Joyce's car.
We were super awkwardly struggling to lift it, and once we finally got it into the gymnasium, we dropped it down on the floor.
Then we tried to put it together.
"No it's backwards." I said.
"How does this even work?" Dustin asked.
"Try that side." I suggested.
"Son of a bitch." Lucas complained.
"I think it's upside down." I said.
"I know it's upside down." Lucas corrected.
"Wait, wait, wait, you almost had it. No, back it up." I said.
"I am!" Dustin said.
"Okay, one, two, three!" Lucas said.
"Shit!" I said.
"That did not work." Lucas said.
"Yeah, no shit!" Dustin said.
After awhile of trying and failing hard-core, Joyce, who apparently was the only one who knew how to do it, had to come set it up for us.
After it was together, Mike and Nancy came in with a wheelbarrow of hoses.
They attached them to a faucet in the kitchen and started to fill the pool.
Jonathan and hopper were cutting the salt bags open and filling the pool, Lucas had a thermometer and was yelling "colder!" Or "warmer!" And then, "right there!" To Mike and Nancy. Joyce had gone to talk to El, and Dustin was putting eggs in the water to see if they would float.
Once we finally got an egg to float, El walked up to the kiddie pool.
"Ready?" Joyce asked her.
"Ready." El said, putting the goggles up on her head.
Mike put a radio on a table and she took off her socks and a watch and gave it to Mike.
She then carefully stepped into the pool and laid down.
Suddenly, the lights in the gym flickered.
"What's happening?" Joyce asked.
"I don't know!" Mike said.
"Where's Barb? Is she okay?!?" Nancy asked, panicked.
"G-gone. Gone." El whimpered.
Nancy started crying and ran out of the gym.
"Gone! Gone!!!" El shouted.
"Hey, it's okay. It's okay. We're right here. We're right here, honey. It's okay. I got you. Don't be afraid. I'm right here with you. I'm right here, it's okay. It's okay. You're safe. You're okay, honey." Joyce said comfortingly.
El calmed down.
"Castle Byers?" She spoke softly.
Joyce gasped.
"Will?" El asked quietly.
"Tell him- tell him that his mom is coming. I'm on my way!" Joyce said.
"Will? Will?!?" El cried suddenly, sitting up and splashing water everywhere.
She quickly pried the duct-taped goggles off of her face and Joyce pulled her into a hug, whispering calming words to her.
——
We were sat on the bleachers, El wrapped up in a towel and sniffling on Mike's shoulder, Dustin and I sat on each side of the group, Lucas beside me.
I heard footsteps and saw Joyce and hopper leave the gym and then I heard a car pull away.
Great.
"Where do you think they're going?" I asked.
"Castle Byers." Jonathan said, looking at the ground.
"They're going to castle Byers." He repeated.
Just then, Nancy walked back into the gym and up to Jonathan.
"We have to go back to the station." She said.
"What?" Jonathan asked.
"Your mom and Hopper are just walking in there like bait! That thing is still in there, and we can't just sit here and let it get them too. We cant." She said, looking like she was about to cry.
"You still wanna try it out?" Jonathan asked.
The group and I were just sitting there, utterly confused.
"I want to finish what we started. I want to kill it." Nancy stated.
Jonathan and Nancy started walking towards the exit.
"Wai- what are we supposed to do?" Dustin asked.
"Just stay here and don't leave." Nancy said.
Terrific. Four nerds and a psychic girl sitting alone in a school gymnasium, secret agents from a nearby lab probably on their way to get them right now, the psychic girl drained like a bad battery, all adults gone, and their friend missing. Just terrific.
Suddenly, El started shivering.
"El, what's wrong?" Mike asked the poor girl.
"Will." She replied.
Word count: 1368