SAM RUBBED EL'S back as Mike sat next to her, thinking about the event that went down not too long ago. Sam figures that whatever they thought about that related to the upside down, she'd try to deny it. But so far they just had blank minds. "What was Will saying?" Mike asked himself, staring into space. "Like home. Like home," he repeated himself. "But dark?" He asked himself again.
"And empty." Lucas added. "Empty and cold. Wait, did he say cold?" Dustin asked Lucas as he glanced at him. "I don't know. The stupid radio kept going in and out." Lucas exclaimed, turning back to mike who now stood. "It's like riddles in the dark." Dustin groaned, throwing his head back.
"Like home. Like his house?" Mike questions lucas who stared up at him. "Or maybe like Hawkins?" Lucas suggested. Sam closed her eyes quickly, slipping into the boys mind like ice. 'No.' She said into his mind, the voice in his head echoing, causing him to shake his head, denying his previous thoughts like a robot.
"Upside down." El spoke softly, her voice barely above a whisper. Sam snapped her head to el, eyes narrowing at the girl, pleading silently. Sam forced herself into the girls mind, 'no, el.' Sam spoke to her, but not controlling. Like a conversation. 'Out.' El narrowed her eyes at Sam, causing Sams eyes to harden and to snatch her hand off of el's back, el frowning deeply when she realized she had upset the girl.
"What'd she say?" Lucas asked, looking between mike and Dustin. "Upside down." Mike repeated, glancing at el. "What?" Lucas asked. "Upside down." He repeated. Mike walked to the game table and flipped the board from the black side to the game side. Lucas and Dustin standing and walking over to him. Sam sent a look to el that made el look at the boys sadly, she just wanted to help. Sam knew that, but they could get hurt.
"When el showed us where Will was she flipped the board over, remember?" Mike asked, flipping the board back to the black side. "Upside down. Dark. Empty." Mike repeated their talked thoughts, looking between them both. "Do you know what he's talking about?" Lucas sent Dustin a tired look as he asked. "No." Dustin bluntly replied.
"Guys, come on. Think about it. When el took us to find Will, she took us to his house right?" Mike asked, looking at Lucas. "Yeah, and he wasn't there." Lucas concluded. "But what if he was there? What if we just couldn't see him? What if he was on the other side?" Mike started to question. "What if this is Hawkins and..." Mike flipped over the board to the black side. "The upside down." He finished.
"Like the vale of shadows." Dustin smiled, Mike glancing at him and Lucas. As Dustin pulled out a book and started to read from it sam felt the familiar feeling of a flashback overtaking her memory.
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Seven stared in fear of the thing in front of her. It had a flower face and a body of a human, when it roared in her face the razor sharp teeth was revealed to the girl. She glanced at the eight-year-old, next to her. A feared expression decorated all over the pale girls face. Seven gripped her hand with the numbers 004 on it.
Four stepped closer, making the thing roar at the two girl. Seven cowered back, disconnecting her hand with fours, as the thing took more steps toward the two. "Now." Four said, fear overtaking her voice, causing the thing to roar again as if it could smell her fear. Four silently cowered back, expecting the thing to be tamed by sevens mind manipulation but when she turned, seven was up against the wall in fear.
When four turned back the monster was taking wide steps towards them, fear ran down fours spine as she threw out her hand. Seven felt a wave of something rush over her as she braced herself against the wall. Before arms pulled her away, she saw four's shield around her, protecting herself before guns shot the monster down with four falling down soon after, drained.
Four looked back, hearing the muffled screams of seven. She was being grabbed by the guards, struggling until one of them covered her mouth with a white cloth. Four could no longer see her, but she knew something had happened to seven when she couldn't hear her struggles anymore.
Four focused back on the ground, only to look back up to see Brenner, towering over her.
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When Sam let everything register around her, the boys were turned to the girls, a curious gaze laid upon the girls. Seven felt tears brew in her eyes as she glanced at el and the blonde haired girl instantly she knew Sam had a flashback. El turned back to the boy with a dull look, she shook her head. The boys curious and hopeful stares were all filled with disappointment but Lucas sent a annoyed glare at the girls. "Oh, my god."
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The pen went straight through the piece of paper thanks to mike, who held it down from el's widen eyes. Sam sat next to her, lying on the couch's arm. "It would take a lot of energy to build a gate like this. But that's gotta be what happened. Otherwise, how'd will get there right?" Mike asked.
Sam sat up, now focused on the conversation. She had realized they were talking about the gate, the gate that lead to a different dimension. The one with the monster in it. Sam stared at el, awaiting her answer. "R-right." El stuttered, staring at mike.
Lucas sat in front of el, staring at her now. "What we want to know is, do you know where the gate is?" Lucas asked, twitching his gaze from el to Sam who sat there nervously. El shook her head, lying. At first, el was against lying to them but as she and Sam held a longing stare with minimum words, sh realized there wouldn't be a them if she didn't lie.
But slowly Sam was starting to realize that they would go running into danger to save there friend, stopping at nothing.
"Then how do you know about the upside down?" Lucas exclaimed. El looks down as she fidgets with her fingers, Sam glanced at her sadly before glancing at Dustin. Soon all attention turned toward the boy as he paced back and forth, "Dustin, what are you doing?" Mike sighed. "Dustin?" Mike asked as he went ignored. "Dustin!?" Lucas and mike exclaimed together, causing the boy to stop pacing and face them.
"I need to see your compasses." He said, "What?" Lucas asked. "Your compasses, All of your compasses, right now!" Dustin yelled at them, only getting mike and Lucas exchanging a weird glance.
Mike and Lucas dumped all of the compasses that they could find on the table, causing Sam to sit up straight and el to tense beside her. "What's exciting about this?" Mike asked Dustin dully. "Well, there all facing north, right?" Dustin smiled. "Yeah, So?" Lucas asked.
"Well that's not true north." Dustin finished. "What do you mean?" Mike asked. "I mean exactly what I just said. That's not true north." Dustin explained. "Are you both seriously this dense?" Dustin asked as he watched the Lucas shrug. "The sun rises in the east, and it sets in the west. Right?" Dustin asked the two.
They both nod, "Which means that's true north." Dustin pointed behind mike. "So what your saying is the compasses are broken?" Mike asked. "Do you even know how a compass works?" Dustin sighed. "Do you see a battery pack on this?" Dustin asked. "No." Mike shook his head. "No you don't. Because it doesn't need one." Dustin explained.
"So what's wrong with them?" Lucas asked. Sam glanced fearfully at el as the boys talked, they were getting closer than they thought. She turned to el, entering the girls mind as she closed her eyes.
'We have to protect them.' Sam said mentally, 'change direction.' El said back, her eyes closed as she felt Sams presence in the back of her mind. 'Change direction?' Sam asked, wondering what the girl meant. 'Of compass. I change direction.' El firmly thought. 'And I distract?' Sam asked, 'yes.' El nodded mentally before Sam slipped out of her mind.
Sam winced at the headache, realizing that she was in el's mind for too long. She wiped the blood that quickly rolled down her nose before the boys noticed. El felt the grip Sam had on her shirt loosen as Sam weakly laid back on the couch's arm. "If we follow the compasses north-"
"They should lead us to the gate." Dustin said to Lucas. Sams eyes widen, she hadn't realize that dustin had realized much quicker than she had originally planned. Fear made Sam's heart jump as her hands became clammy and goosebumps arose on her neck. Sam glanced back at el to see el had once against tensed but this time with a worried expression.
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Sam walked beside Lucas, glancing back at el ever so often. 'You..Okay?' She would ask, 'yes.' El would reply with a firm nod to the girls back. Sam would have to pretend she was looking the other way so she could wipe her bloody nose on her black jackets sleeve. Lucas glanced at her strangely the last time she did it so she had stopped communicating with el for a while.
"How much further?" Lucas asked, feeling his legs burn as they walked on the train tracks. "I don't know. That's only tell direction, not distance." Dustin shrugged. "You really need to learn more about compasses." Dustin sighed. Sam chuckled slightly, causing Dustin to send her a smile, and Lucas to roll his eyes. Something In his chest bubbled and he suddenly became more aware of Sam. "I'm just saying. How do we know when we get to the gate?" Lucas asked, slightly moving forward to block Sam from Dustin's view.
"Uh, I think a portal to a different dimension is gonna be pretty obvious." Dustin said, causing Sam to lose the small smile on her face and look down. When she looked down, she stumbled a little almost tripping my Lucas grabbed her hand, as she stabilized herself. She glanced up at him, nervously as she felt her hand in his. He removed his hand and sighed nervously as he looked back.
"Do you think she's acting weird?" Lucas asked Dustin, looking back at el who held her head down. Sam instantly felt her heartbeat quicken. "Uh, your asking me if the weirdo is acting weird?" Dustin asked Lucas with a pointed look. Sam turned her head to him, stopping in the process. She put her arm out so Lucas would stop, he stopped and looked at her curiously, Sam glared at Dustin as he stared at her. "She's not weirdo. You're weirdo." Sams words were filled with hurt, she had heard that word before and it wasn't a good thing. Dustin looked down sheepishly and muttered a 'sorry' before the three continued to walk.
"I mean, weirder than normal." Lucas whispered the last part to dustin, afraid of sams sudden anger. Dustin shook his head, feeling bad, "I don't know, who cares?" Dustin exclaimed quietly as he looked down at the compass. "Yeah. Who cares?" Sam copied Dustin as she shrugged at Lucas. Lucas sighed in defeat as he took one last glance at el before continuing to walk. Sam took not even a second to enter el's mind, 'be careful.' She mentally whispered, noticing how weak el was getting. 'Okay.' El weakly responded back.
Sam glanced to the right and wiped her nose, her previous headache slightly returning. She sighed and took a look back at eleven before focusing on the tracks.
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The wind blew through Sam's false hair as she walked, feeling her body beg to stop and rest but knew that the only thing that would make them stop would be will coming back and that wasn't happening anytime soon. Soon they all came to a stop, Sam looking around staring curiously at all the junk. Broken down cars, tools and old bikes but of course she didn't know what those things were.
"Oh, no." Dustin said aloud, causing her attention to turn back to the boy. "Oh, no? What's oh, no?" Lucas asked the boy, mocking him in the process. "We're headed back home." Dustin said, confused. "What?" Mike asked, disbelief laced in his voice, they had walked all this way to just go back home with no Will. "Are you sure?" Lucas asked, feeling his irrational decisions coming to its peak. "Yeah, I'm sure." Dustin nodded. Sam glanced at el as she frowned deeply.
"Setting sun right there. We looped right back around."
"And your just realizing this now?" Lucas snapped, staring angrily at Dustin. Dustin paused, looking at both boys faces, "Why is this all on me?" He asked. "Because your the compass genius!" Lucas exclaimed. "What does yours say?" Dustin sighed. "North." Mike and Lucas spoke in sync. Dustin sighed again, "Makes no damn sense." Dustin said look at the setting sun. "Maybe the gate moved." Mike suggested. "No. I don't think it's the gate. I think it's something screwing with the compasses." Dustin looked around as if the answer would pop out in front of him.
Sam backed away, next to el. Feeling the feeling to run away settling in her gut, she noticed Lucas slowly turning around to the two girls causing her to loose all hope. It was too late. "Maybe it's somewhere here." Mike thought out loud. "No, it has to be like a super magnet." Dustin shook his head.
"It's not a magnet." Lucas whispered but the two boys heard, turning toward him. "She's been acting weirder than normal. Both of them have!" Lucas exclaimed, causing Sam to look down. "If she can slam doors with her mind she could definitely screw up a compass!" Lucas exclaimed again, feeling his anger rise. "But why would she do that?" Mike asked, not anting to believe his words. El wouldn't do that to them. Friends don't lie. "Because she's trying to sabotage our mission! And Sam knew! She knew all along! Because their traitors!" Lucas yelled, hurt spreading across his face.
Lucas slowly trudged towards the two, as tears bubbles up in the girls eyes. "Lucas, what are you doing?" Mike asked before rushing over to stand beside el, staring at Lucas and the girls. "You did it, didn't you," Lucas asked el before turning to Sam, "And you helped her, right?" Lucas's words felt like a gut wrenching pain twisting into her stomach, she felt like a traitor. A bad friend.
"You don't want us to reach the gate. Neither of you. You don't want us to find will." Lucas spat, his words laced with venom. "Lucas, come on! Leave them alone!" Mike yelled. "Admit it." Lucas ignored mike as he stared at el. "Admit it!" He yelled at her causing her to visibly flinch. He grabbed her wrist with the dried blood on it before throwing it back down to her side. "Fresh blood. I knew it." Lucas shook his head.
"Lucas, come on!" Mike yelled, louder this time. "I saw her wiping her nose on the tracks! She was using her powers. Actually, I saw Sam too." Lucas turned back to Sam, as Sam lifted her head up. Lucas grabbed her wrist and the dried blood was there, he threw it back down to her side as he turned back to mike. "Sam has powers! She lied to us! She could of told us but no! She's a liar just like el!" He exclaimed, angrier than before.
"Bull! That's old blood right, el? And Sam just hurt herself, right?" Mike asked the two, his hopeful gaze trapped on the two as Sam shook her head. She was a liar, a traitor and a even worst friend. "Right, el? Sam?" Mike continued, the hope in his eyes slowly disappearing. "It's..it's not safe." El stammered out.
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"What did I tell you? They've been playing us since the beginning!" Lucas yelled. "That's not true! They helped us find Will!" Mike defended. "Find Will? Find Will? Where is he then, huh? I don't see him." Lucas snapped, wondering off looking over the junk sarcastically before returned to mike. "Yeah, you know what I mean." Mike said. "No, I actually don't." Lucas said. "Just think about it mike. They could've just told us where The Upside down was right away, but they didn't. They just made us run around like headless chickens!" Lucas ranted.
"All right, just calm down!" Dustin tried to step in but Lucas slapped his arms away, "No! They used us! All of us! They helped just enough so they could get what they want. A food and bed! They're like stray dogs!" Lucas yelled. Sam felt anger and sadness bottle up all at once. Lucas was insulting her but she deserved it. She felt her anger and sadness bottle up as they fought for which was to take over the situation.
"Screw you, lucas!"
"No! Screw you mike! Your blind, blind because you like that el's not grossed out by you. But wake up, man! Wake the hell up! They know where Will is, and now they're just letting him die in the upside down." Lucas said.
Sadness was flowing through Sams body at that sentence.
"Shut up!"
"For all we know, it's they're fault." Lucas claimed, pointing at them.
"Shut up."
"We're looking for some stupid monster but did you even stop to think that they're the monsters?" Lucas looked at the two girls, Sam froze. "I said shut up!" Mike yelled and that's when he lunged at Lucas. All sound dissolved like dust as Sam watched the boys start to fight, she couldn't hear Dustin and el's attempt to get them to stop.
"But did you ever stop to think that they're the monsters?"
Monster. She was a monster. She was a terrible friend. She lied, and she did it repeatedly, all day. But she's not a stray dog, she wanted to protect them from the bad men so mike couldn't let anyone know. She wasn't a traitor, all she wanted was for the boys to be safe. They had no idea what they were up against, yet they still went for it. El and Sam protected them, not endangered them like a monster would do.
She was good. But it was too late.
The boys wrestled around, ignoring the yells and cries of their best friend. Sam's eyes turned black as el felt overwhelmed, el screamed as Sam took out her hand. Before they knew it, Lucas had been thrown off of mike and into a metal wall. He slid down, out like a light. "Jesus!" Dustin exclaimed as him and mike ran towards Lucas.
Sam's eyes went back to normal, and the tears fall behind it. She let out a quiet sob as she felt the blood trickle down her nose. Mike turned back to the two girls, "Why would you guys do that? What is wrong with you?! What is wrong with you both?!" Mike yelled at them before going back to trying to wake up Lucas.
Sam let out another sob and shook her head, letting her tears fall. She gripped onto el's hand as el shook her head, letting her tears fall. They weren't wanted anymore. Sam and el took off with that shared thought, not looking back at the mess they caused.
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I've been trying to publish this chapter for 4 DAYS!! so I'm sorry if you want to drive a pitch fork in my eye, I really shouldn't be at fault, it's this bitch ass person called SCHOOL in the way.
[ 8/9/22 - CHANGES: four abilities are that she can now project force fields. She can make them to protect herself and others. ]