We arrived at our house, I twisted the door handle and we all entered.
I got chills seeing the place I now called home in this dark state, twisted and evil.
"Might be time to get a maid, ladies." Robin joked.
"Come on, I don't want to stay here longer than we have to." Nancy stated.
We all began walking up the stairs but Steve stopped dead in front of me.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
He just put a finger to my lip and I started to listen...Dustin.
We exchanged a glance of surprise and hope.
Steve started to walk back downstairs.
"Wait." I called.
"What?"
"It could be trap....you know, Vecna." I stated, a little scared.
"Okay I'll make sure the sound stays in reach and um...you go find your gun, okay." Steve thought out loud.
I nodded and continued running up the stairs.
I ran into mike and I's room and stopped dead when I entered. Everything was gone, it was all Mikes, my Polaroids of my friends were all gone, the walls were bare, my back to the future poster was missing, my clothes in the closet, Wills sketchbook was not on the desk, the small set of Christmas lights that I had strung around the rim of the top bunk, all gone.
I desperately grabbed the chair from our desk and pulled it to the closet, looking for my old converse box at the top of the closet where I hid the pistol.
"Shit shit shit shit shit." I kept speaking as it was nowhere to be seen.
I climbed off the chair looking around for any piece of me, something of mine. I my breathing picked up as tears brewed in my eyes searching frantically as my knees gave up and I fell to the floor.
If my stuff wasn't here, where was it? And if it's not even in the upside down...I was just some lab experiment again. I realized I was acting a bit frantic but all my memories were gone.
Seeing mikes old room, like this, I was hoping for some hint of my existence. Something that meant I was an actual person with feelings and a life and not stuck in some lab being treated like a weapon.
"Steve!" I yelled as I sprinted down the stairs, flashes of the lab spiraling through my head, all the experiments, tests, all the blood.
I hadn't been triggered like this in almost a year, minus the Vecna incident.
I felt like I couldn't breathe, I looked around frantically for Steve, I was digging my nails into the palms of my hands.
I stopped for a moment when I saw the basement door, I ran halfway down the stairs and stopped dead, the fort, not even that was there.
I stared at the empty space before running back up the stairs and stopped when I saw Steve looking at me very concerned.
"Are you oka-"
I interrupted him by colliding into him, holding him tight, my tear stained face hiding in his bare-chest.
"It's okay." He stated as he stroked my hair. "What's wrong?"
"It's gone." I cried, looking up at him.
"What? What's gone?" He asked, I knew he was worried about me, terrified.
"All of it, it's gone, everything I own, everything! Steve, I don't even exist here!-" I exclaimed, crying heavily.
"Woah woah woah- slow down... everything?" He confirmed.
I nodded.
He pulled me back into him and held my head close to his chest, as he rubbed my back up and down.
"Look, I know you think your life only started 3 years ago but it didn't. Your life started in that lab, and yea, it's a pretty shitty start but it was your start. And I don't know why your stuff is gone, or why it's not here but i know that I'm glad that your start was in that lab because it made you strong, stronger than anyone I've ever met. And it made you y/n, not five,
y/n. And I'm so glad it did, because you are so amazing and I wouldn't have it any other way." Steve whispered to me as he held me.
I was still crying but I felt better. Steve always knew what to say.
I pulled back and looked up at him.
"Thank you." I sniffed, with a sad smile, knowing I wasn't just saying thank you for this talk, I was saying thank you for everything. I decided he needed to hear it.
"Not just for the talk but For being my friend, for being there when no one else is, for listing to all my bullshit, to helping me with my cuts and scrapes from my roller skates, for giving good hugs, and making me feel better whenever I was sad, for joking around with me when times get tough, for movie nights and late night swims all of it." I exclaimed, smiling through tears.
I knew he understood because he smiled wholeheartedly, he had tears in his eyes too but I could tell he was trying to hide them.
I saw what he was thinking, and it made me so sad and so happy at the same time. He felt so full because he was able to give someone the comfort that his parents were never there to give him. The childhood friendship he never made, the love he looked for but could never find.
The moment was broken when we heard the noise again, Dustin talking.
Steve and I shared a look, as I wiped my tears.
"Dustin! Dustin! Dustin! Can you hear us? Dustin!" We both yelled, and began running around frantically.
Nancy, robin and Eddie all ran in, looking scared.
"Hello! Hello!" Steve screamed.
"Maybe they really do have rabies." Robin whispered.
"Steve, fee what are you doing?" Nancy asked.
"He's here, Henderson, that little shit, he's here, he's like, he's in the walls or something." Steve exclaimed out of breath.
Steve continued yelling as the others started to hear him too.
"He's not here." I slowly realised.
They all looked at me.
"He's on the other side, here, the right side up here, like when Joyce spoke to will." I finished, my face red from crying moments earlier.
We all started yelling for him, trying to get him to notice.
"All right either this kid can't hear us or he's being a total douche bag." Steve sighed.
"Will found a way." I thought out loud.
"What?" Steve asked.
"Will, he used the lights! The lights to speak to Joyce." I exclaimed.
"The switch!" Nancy called and started flicking the light switch.
"It's not working."
"Guys? You seeing this." Steve asked pointing his flashlight at the light.
It was almost glittery.
I slowly reached my hand up to it and moved my fingers around in the glittery mist, my fingertips turned bright white surrounded by bright yellow dust.
Nancy followed, only her fingertips didn't turn white, must have been like the flashlights at creel house.
We moved our hands and fingers around in the dust. Making the light shine brighter each time we did.
Steve, Eddie and robin joined in.
"It...tickles." Eddie stated.
"It kinda feels good." Robin stated and Eddie and I smiled.
"Does anyone know Morse code?" Nancy asked.
"No." Steve and robin said in unison.
I exchanged a look with Eddie.
"I do." I stated, remembering hopper teaching me and el Morse code, to contact us when el couldn't leave the cabin, 1984.
"Wait does S.O.S count?" Eddie chipped in.
We all exchanged a look.
Eddie proceed to blink the lights to Morse code typing S.O.S, I would then take over and flashing, 'stuck'
"It's working." Robin stated, as we heard their attention be refocused.
My eyes lit up and I focused my energy, trying to find Dustin's mind.
I heard him.
"Remember when I said they wouldn't be stupid enough to go through watergate."
"Yeah?" I heard Lucas in the distance.
"I overestimated them." Dustin stated.
I looked at the others and wiped the blood from my nose.
"They know we're here." I confirmed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dustin had instructed us to go up to Nancy's room, we did, we all sat at the side of her bed.
"Come on come on." Steve mumbled.
"You guys seeing this!" We heard Dustin faintly as the glitter appeared above Nancy's bed, they had plugged in Holly's light brite.
We heard their laughter as I played with the glitter.
"We're not moving it! We're not moving it but we're gonna unplug it! Stand by!" Dustin yelled.
The glitter disappeared.
"Try it now!"
I looked at everyone and they nodded, I used my finger to spell out the word HI
"Hi! Hi!" We heard them call "okay that worked!"
We all cheered and smiled.
"Stuck?" I asked everyone they all nodded and I spelled out the word on the light brite.
"You can't get back to water gate?" Dustin asked.
"What the hells water gate?" I asked.
"Cause it's in water and it's a gate." Robin thought out loud.
"That's cute." Eddie stated.
"No it's um..." Nancy tried to word it.
"Guarded?" Eddie suggested.
I began to spell it out.
"We think we have a theory that can help with that!" Dustin yelled.
"Yes!" Steve sighed.
"Genius child." Robin stated.
"We think watergate isn't the only gate! That there's a gate at every murder site!" Dustin yelled.
"Does anybody understand what he's talking about?" Nancy asked.
"No."
"No idea."
I wrote a question mark.
"Okay seriously, how many times do I have to be right in the money before you just trust me!?" Dustin yelled.
"Jesus Christ this kids got to get his ego in check." Steve stated.
"It's his tone right?" Eddie asked.
"I know." Steve nodded.
"Chrissy." I stated, Eddie looked at me. "How far is your trailer?" I asked.
"Seven miles." He answered.
"Nancy? I know your house here is like weirdly, creepily frozen in time and shit but haven't you always had bikes?" Robin asked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We were all riding towards Eddie's trailer, there were only four bikes so I had to sit in the back of Steve's.
"You okay?" He asked as we cycled.
I nodded and held his waist loosely, careful of his wound.
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1726 words
Edited and proofread ✅
Hope you enjoyed!