"How much further?" Lucas sighs.
The five were now following the compasses north, hoping they would find the gate. Lucas and Dustin walking in the front, Mike, Alex and El in the back.
"I don't know. These only tell direction, not distance." Dustin replies. "You really need to learn more about compasses."
"Im just sayin'. How do we know when we get to the gate?"
"Uh, i think a portal to another dimension is gonna be pretty obvious." Alex pipes in from the back.
Lucas sighs once again.
"Do you think she's acting weird?" Lucas asks Dustin, looking over to Eleven.
"You're asking if the weirdo is acting weird?" Dustin looks at Lucas then at El.
"I mean, weirder than normal."
"I don't know, who cares?"
"Alex." El grabs Alex's hand.
"Yeah?"
"Turn back." El tells the girl.
"What, why?" Mike looks at El.
"Im tired."
"Look, I'm sure we're almost there. Just hold on a little longer, okay?" Alex turns to El. El stops for a bit, looks back and continues walking.
Alex almost never agreed to what Lucas had to say about El, but this time he was right. El was acting a bit weird. Weirder than usual.
-
The group was walking for hours by now. At one point the group stop's. "Oh, no." Dustin looks around.
"Oh no? What's oh no?" Lucas asks the boy.
"We're headed back home." Dustin replies.
"What!?" Mike freaks.
"Are you sure?" Lucas asks.
"Yeah I'm sure. Setting sun, right there." Dustin points. "We looped back round."
"And you're just realizing this now?" Lucas raises his hands.
"Why is this all on me?" Dustin asks.
"Because you're the compass genius!" Lucas yells.
"What do your compasses say?" Dustin asks Alex the boys.
"North." They all say in the same time.
"Makes no damn sense." Alex sighs.
"Maybe the gate moved?" Mike tries.
"No i don't think its the gate." Dustin says.
"Maybe its something else screwing with the compasses." Alex thought.
"Maybe it's something here." Mike looks around.
"No, It has to be like a super magnet." Dustin looks at Mike.
"It's not a magnet. She's been acting weirder than normal!" Lucas points at El. "If she can slam doors with her mind, she can definitely screw up a compass."
"Why would she do that?" Mike asks.
"Because she's trying to sabotage our mission. Because she's a traitor!" Lucas walks up to Eleven. "You did it, didn't you? You don't want us to reach the gate. You don't want us to find Will.
"Lucas, come on just leave her alone."
"Admit it." He tells El.
"No." She replies.
"Admit it!" Lucas yells in the girls face.
He pulls up her arm revealing blood on her sleeve.
"Fresh blood. I knew it."
"Lucas, come on!" Alex touches the boys shoulder.
"I saw her wiping her nose on the tracks! She was using her powers!" Lucas turns around, facing Alex.
"Bull. Thats old blood, right El?" Mike asks the girl. She doesn't respond.
"Right El?" He repeats.
"Its... Its not safe." She says tears forming in her eyes.
"What did i tell you!" Lucas turns to Mike. "Shes been playing us since the beginning!"
"That's not true. She helped us find Will!"
"Find Will?" Lucas raises his tone even more. "Where is he then. Huh? I don't see him!" He looks around.
"Yeah, you know what I mean." Mike walks up to him.
"No, I actually don't." Lucas replies. "Just think about it Mike. She could've just told us where the Upside Down was right away, but she didn't."
"Alright calm down!" Dustin walks up to the two boys.
"No!" Lucas pushes him off. "She used us. All of us! She helped us just enough so she could get what she wants. Food and a bed. And you gave it to her, because you've been going crazy about her! Because you like her Mike!"
"Stop bullshitting Lucas! Shut up! Shut! Up!" Mike finally yells back at the boy. "I've never liked El. I have always liked Alex, and you know that! It's always been her, and its always going to be her! Forever!" Mike yells and pushes Lucas back.
"God!" Dustin yells.
Lucas then pushes Mike. "Then why do you just act all blind, when you know El isn't helping us!"
Mike pushes Lucas to the ground and starts hitting him.
"Mike get off him!" Dustin yells.
"Mike please!" Alex yells from a bit behind the two.
"Stop it!" El yells.
"Knock it off you idiots!" Alex approaches the two from behind Lucas.
Lucas now gets on top of Mike, but before he could hit him, El screams and pushes Lucas back, causing him to fall back on Alex, the two sliding back and Alex hitting her head on a huge metal piece that was behind her.
"Jesus!" Dustin runs over to the two.
Lucas gets off of Alex and sees a huge cut on the side of her head. "Oh, God Alex!"
Mike immediately runs up to the girl. "Alex! Alex! Alex, are you alright?"
"Alex." Mike looks at the girl, tears filling his eyes.
"Alex, come on!" Dustin shakes the girl.
"Alex, wake up! Alex!" Mike cries.
"Come on Alex!" Lucas shakes the girl with Dustin.
"Why would you do that!?" Mike turns to El .
El cries.
"Whats wrong with you?" Mike yells at her. "What is wrong with you?"
"Come on, wake up Alex come on!" Dustin continues yelling.
"Alex..." Mike turns back to the girl.
"Alex come on!" Lucas yells.
Suddenly the girl opens her eyes looking around.
"Alex!" Mike immediately wraps the girl in a tight hug. Lucas staying for a few moments and then leaves remembering he's mad at Mike.
After a few moments of the hug, Alex pulls away and leaves the place, not saying a single word.
"Alex where are you going?"
"Alex!"
"Alex! Come back!"
She was clearly mad. After all, she had a reason to be mad, she was almost killed because of their stupid fight.
—
Alex was walking for hours and hours. She was now in the woods and decided to take her compass out, for navigation . She checks her jean pockets, its not there. She looks in her jacket pockets, its not there either.
"Shit!" The girl curses.
She was completely lost. She had no clue where she was and she only saw trees around her. It was almost dark, and the cut she had on her head was stinging awfully. The girl was bleeding, a lot.
It was now dark. Alex was just wandering around the woods, deciding it would be smart to wait until the next day to get home. Suddenly, she trips over something, almost falling down. She turns back around and sees a dead moose covered in fresh blood.
"Oh shit!" The girl freaks out.
She then hears a few weird growls near her.
"Is anyone there?" The girl looks around.
No one was there.
But when she turned back over to the dead moose, she saw the same monster that she saw the day Barb disappeared. The monster was digging into the moose with its flower head, or mouth.
The Demogorgon.
"Shit!" The girl yells and starts running away from the creature as fast as she could.
"Is anyone there?" She hears a familiar voice.
"Help!" The girl yells as loud as she could running towards the voice. She turns around and sees the monster getting closer to her and closer, until it finally caught her leg, pulling her into a hole in one of the trees nearby, big enough for her, along with the monster to fit in.
"Help!" The girl yells before getting pulled into the tree.
When she got pulled into the tree, she was in the same place, just a lot darker and creepier. Was she in the place that Will was talking about? In the Upside Down?
After a few moments, the monster comes up to her screeching right in her face getting ready to attack her.
The girl tries running back to the tree with the hole, but she trips on some sort of vine, falling on the ground. The monster was now right above her, ready to attack. It opens its flower face and screeches once again leaning down, but before it could do anything else Alex screams as loud as she can, pushing the monster back with her mind.
It gets up approaching her again this time a bit slower, giving the girl a second to get up.
It growls and now starts running up to her.
Alex puts her hand up and tilts her head, snapping the Demogorgon's head off.
She immediately runs over to the tree with the hole and sticks her hand out. "Help! Please!"
"Is that-" She hears a familiar male voice getting closer and closer.
"Alex! Help me pull her out!" She hears a female voice now. Two hands grab her arm and start pulling her out.
"Oh God!"
"Come on, come on!"
The two struggle.
The girl was finally pulled out. She sees Nancy and Jonathan standing right in front of her.
"Thank you, thank you..." The girl cries and looks back at the tree. The hole was now completely gone.
"Alex, what happened!" Nancy looks at the girl.
"I- The- It-" Alex stutters trying to find words to explain what just happened.
"Lets take her to your house." Jonathan looks at Nancy, the older girl nodding in response.
—
Alex was now in Mike's room, wrapped in one of his towels. The boy was cleaning the blood on her head, then putting a huge bandaid on her cut.
"Do you want to take a shower?" Mike softly asks the girl.
She nods, then stands up and heads to Mike's bathroom.
She couldn't stop thinking about what happened. The Demogorgon, The Upside Down, The Demogorgon attacking her, it all just happened so fast.
"Help!" She couldn't stop thinking about the screams.
She stays under the warm water for a pretty long time, thinking and replaying the scenes in her head. The dead moose, the Demogorgon eating the dead moose, the screeching, the screams, Nancy and Jonathan pulling her out of the Hole.
"Alex?" Mike knocks on the door. "I got you some clean clothes." He opens the door just enough for his arm to fit in and places the clothes on his counter. He picked some grey sweats, that he wore the day before and a dark green sweater.
Alex then turns off the water and grabs a new towel. She puts on the clothes that Mike gave her and exits the bathroom, sitting down next to Mike on his bed.
"Are you okay?" He asks the girl.
"Mhm." She nods. She was clearly not okay though. Okay
"Do you want to sleep over here? I mean- if you're scared to be alone."
"Yeah."
—
Mike finishes setting up some blankets and pillows on the ground for him to sleep while Alex was lying on his bed staring blankly, a scared expression on her face.
"All done." He looks at the 'bed' and lies down.
The two sit in silence for a few moments.
"Can you just come up here?" Alex looks over at the boy.
"Uh, yeah. Sure."
He lies on his side and faces Alex who was lying on her back.
"Alex I'm sorry, It's all my fault and I- I never should've fought with Lucas, its just-"
Alex cuts him off. "It's okay Mike. I'm not mad at you." Even though she was mad at him earlier, for fighting with Lucas.
"Yeah, but if I didn't fight with Lucas, you wouldn't have ran away and get pulled into the Upside Down, or any of this."
"It's not your fault, don't blame yourself." She lies on her side, now facing Mike.
The two stop talking and stare at each other
for a while. Alex suddenly pecks Mike on the lips.
"I- I, you know, I meant what I said earlier." Mike says not taking his eyes off of Alex.
"Said what earlier?" The girl smirks, acting dumb.
"That I, uh, you know I-"
"I like you too Mike. Forever." She smiles and shuts her eyes.
"Really?Oh um, n-night Alex." The boy stutters, now trying to hide his blushing.
"Night Mike."