We think we found the source of the problem. Our only lead is our suspicion that there is a gate underneath/in lovers lake. I can swim if that becomes necessary. However, it's been a few years since I've gone swimming and I was never the best at it. Maybe I can stay with the land group.
Making sure nobody has followed us, we carefully make our way to the water. Eddie and Steve are the first to enter the row boat. They help Robin and Nancy onto the boat before Steve gets back on land.
"Y/N." Steve gestures to the boat.
"Shouldn't I stay with these guys?" I question in a poor attempt to convince them to let me stay.
"I'll do it, there's not enough room for everyone." He informs me as if I was meant to know already.
Too awkward to say no, I walk past Steve towards the boat. Eddie holds his hand out and helps me climb on. Now sitting beside him, we slowly start to float out. However, we barely move before Steve hops on and accidentally knocks me off the fitted seat into the dip in the middle of the boat.
"What the hell, Steve?" I scold him as I'm forced to look up at him.
"Sorry, didn't think that through."
"No shit, Harrington." Eddie sides with me.
"Nice going, dingus." Robin smiles sarcastically.
"What about them?" Nancy questions as she looks at the kids on land.
"They'll be fine." Steve shrugs.
"Stay hidden and be careful!" I call out to them as Dustin looks on with a sense of betrayal.
We continue to make our way away from shore. Once we're at a decent distance we stop rowing and get ready. Steve volunteers to go down and check for a gate since he's an amazing swimmer. He stands up and removes his shirt - practically dropping it on me because of the lack of space. Jesus, when did he get so hairy? I notice Nancy staring at him, so I playfully whack her leg.
After Steve dives in, I reclaim my seat beside Eddie. The four of us sit in an awkward silence as we wait. The more time goes by, the more I think about what we've gotten ourselves into. My mind is flooded by all the possibilities. I get snapped out of my thoughts when I feel a hand on my leg followed by a voice.
"You okay?" Eddie questions whilst getting everyone's attention. I guess I must have been unknowingly bouncing my leg as the anxiety takes over.
"Uh, yeah. It's just starting to set in - what we're doing." I explain with a soft smile.
"Yeah, it's not any easier having dealt with demogorgons and stuff." Nancy sighs.
"And I thought the Russians were bad." Robin laughs in disbelief - which we all do in turn.
"I wish I stayed with the others. I'm a bad swimmer. Well, not bad but not necessarily good. It's been years since I even tried and I was never that good. Someone tried to drown me once - really put me off going to pools." I ramble on. "Sorry."
"Lucky for you, you're in a boat." Eddie reasons with a reassuring smile.
"Yeah you don't need to swim - you're good." Robin adds.
We go back to silence - though this time, it's a lot less awkward. After a quiet moment, Steve suddenly erupts from the water - rocking the boat and terrifying us.
"Jesus christ!" Eddie and I shriek in unison.
"I found it. The gate is right below us." Steve shares the news after laughing.
The celebration is brief though. Out of nowhere, he gets dragged back under the water. What the shit? We all start yelling and freaking out.
"Steve! What the hell! Steve! Steve!" I add to the clustered screaming.
Nancy doesn't hesitate to jump in after him. Robin follows shortly after Nancy whilst Eddie loses his shit. Both of us shout obscenities as the situation unfolds. Suddenly the adrenaline takes over.
"Fuck this!" I stand at the side of the boat.
"What? Don't you go in too! Are you crazy?"
I ignore his panicked pleading and leap into the dangerous depths below. Trying not to make things worse, I put my panic into power as I swim down to the glowing red gate. When I finally get through to the upside down, I immediately gasp for breathe and have a mini coughing fit. Once I've caught my breath, I look up to see a struggling battle - a demobat is almost killing Steve.
"Come on! Die already!" I join the fight as we are outnumbered.
"Son of a bitch!" Eddie screams from behind me as he hits a demobat that was about to attack me. I didn't know he followed me in.
"Steve, are you okay?" I rush to his side as we beat the last of them.
"I've been better." He grimaces as we help him before Robin starts ranting about rabies.
When we notice a swarm of demobats making their way over to us, we start running towards the forest to hide ourselves a little more. Once we decide that we're as safe as we can be, we slow down. Nancy and Robin lead and navigate whilst the boys and I trail behind.
"You didn't answer my question." Eddie starts a new topic.
"What question?" I ask.
"Are you crazy?"
"What?" Steve and I give him confused looks.
"You said that you are a bad swimmer. You were freaking out about it remember? Why the hell would you dive in if you're a bad swimmer?"
"Because I wasn't just gonna risk letting them die, Eddie. Not a chance."
I then storm away from the children stuck in men's bodies. On my way over to the girls, another upside down
earthquake hits - knocking me to the floor. As I get back to my feet, I only have one thought in my mind, and that is: man, I really just want to go home.