The Hawkins Lab sits calmly beneath the starry night sky. Two employees in lab coats exit the building casually chatting. Hopper and (Y/N)'s father dart behind them, unnoticed. They slip inside of the building before the door closes.
Inside, Hopper peers down a vacant wood paneled corridor. The two start down it, but before getting far, two scientists, engrossed in their paperwork, turn the corner and head their way. Both men duck inside of a room before they're spotted. They wait for the chattering employees to pass, then exit back into the hallway.
Now, they walk under fluorescent lights. The two arrive at the quarantined area and stare at the plastic sheet which bears biohazard symbols. Hopper gives a resigned look before unzipping the sheet and stepping through the barrier into a white tiled corridor. Mr. (L/N) looks very hesitant before stepping in. What if there's some sort of radiation in there? He shakes off his fear and follows the confident cop.
They approach a set of doors and Hopper reaches for the handle. He attempts to turn it a few times before murmuring a panicked, "No," The door is locked. The Chief's eyes drift to a keycard scanner on the wall.
A gun cocks behind them. Mr. (L/N)'s heart jumps whilst a look of annoyance makes itself apparent on Hopper's face. Another obstacle. "Hands up. Hands up!" The officer tells the men. Their hands go up in the air.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," They turn around, playing innocent.
"Forget all the cameras, bub?" The man says arrogantly. There's another guard that stands to the right of the man, judging by his uniform, this guard obviously has less power.
"Look, Dr. Brenner asked for us specifically. Okay?" Hopper, once again, tries to play this off coolly, "How else do you think we got in here?" The security guard reaches for his radio.
"What's your name again?" The guards lower their guns.
"It's Jim Hopper," He gestures to himself as if the guard should already know this. "Chief Jim Hopper and this is my right hand man," Hopper points his thumb to Mr. (L/N), who nods unsurely. He goes along with the Chief even though he looks like a deer caught in headlights.
The guard begins to talk into his walkie-talkie, "Yeah, I've got Jim Hopper an—" Hopper punches the officer in the face, knocking him out. He pulls his gun on the other guard and holds him to the wall. He pockets the guard's gun. "Hey..." Hopper examines the man's keycard, "You mind if I borrow this one?" He snags the guard's card and slides it through the reader. He lets Mr. (L/N), who is absolutely stunned, go through the door first. Hopper keeps the gun trained on the guard as he backs into the door. The door locks. Hopper eyes another card scanner on the other side and shoots it, causing the system to become faulty, therefore, any reinforcement entering will have some trouble getting to the two.
♥︎
At the Byers' house, Joyce sits blankly on the sofa with a blanket draped over her. Lonnie, her ex-husband, pours three drinks and slides one to Joyce. He hands the other to Mrs. (L/N), who is sitting to the left of them on the other couch. "Drink. It'll calm your nerves. Help you think straight, yeah?"
"I don't know what to do," Joyce says delicately, her voice just above a whisper.
"I know. I know," Lonnie sips his drink. (Y/N)'s mother stays silent again, she feels very out of place right now. She knows she should probably let the couple work things out on their own but, honestly, she feels obligated to stay, just in case (Y/N) and Will return.
"This whole time..." Joyce shakes her head and tries not to break down, "I...I could...I could feel him...feel them. They were...they were so close. They were...they were right there," Joyce gestures across the room to the hole she had bashed into the wall earlier. A blue tarp is now plastered over it, that was Lonnie's doing. "I knew they were alive. Our hands...our hands were almost touching. Now it's like," Joyce looks away from the tarp, "God, it's like I can't feel them anymore," Joyce's lips form into a thin line and fresh tears leave her eyes. Lonnie looks at her sympathetically. "Don't look at me like that," Joyce's brokenhearted tone molds into annoyance for her ex-lover.
"Like what?"
"Like how everybody is looking at me...at us. Like we're out of our d*mn minds," Mrs. (L/N) takes a deep breath and sits back. She takes another sip of her drink.
"Hey," Lonnie's voice is low and husky. He gives Joyce a deeply serious look, "You're not gonna like this, but I think you need to seriously consider the possibility that all this...It's in your head," Both women scoff simultaneously. He's no help. Lonnie takes Joyce's hand lightly in his.
"Joyce, remember your Aunt Darlene?"
"No," Joyce knows what Lonnie's going to say and she isn't having it, "No, this is not that," She takes her hand out of his. Even though (Y/N)'s mother knows that Lonnie is completely wrong, her interest is peaked.
"I mean, when something like this happens, your mind makes up stuff for you to cope, you know?" Both women stay silent, they know Lonnie isn't going to believe them so why waste energy trying to convince him? "I mean, Jesus, there's a funeral tomorrow for our little boy and your little girl and you're both saying the bodies are fake. They're in the wall. I mean how do you explain that?" Lonnie shames the two women, neither appreciate being made into fools. Joyce's chin trembles as she shrugs.
Lonnie continues on, "It just doesn't make sense. It doesn't. At least go talk to a shrink or..." Joyce sighs while rolling her eyes, "What about Pastor Charles or someone--"
"I don't--Well they can't help."
"Joyce, you just told me...that Will is gone," Joyce's lip quivers and she begins to silently cry to herself, "What else is there to do?" Joyce covers her face with her hands and Lonnie touches her back. Joyce downs her drink in one long sip, then reaches for the liquor bottle to pour herself some more.
Mrs. (L/N) is baffled. After all this time convincing me that our children are alive, she's going to listen to the a*s and forget all about it? (Y/N)'s mother also downs the rest of the drink in her glass and prepares to pour herself some more. It is in this moment that Mrs. (L/N) realizes what a long journey she has ahead of her. Hopefully, in the end, it'll all be worth it and her daughter will be back home, safe and sound.
♥︎
In the Hawkins Lab, Hopper and Mr. (L/N)'s flashlights cut through the darkness as they move down a corridor.
"Will?"
"(Y/N)?" The two call repeatedly down the hallway. Hopper's convinced that these corrupt scientists have Will and (Y/N) stashed away somewhere, however he's completely unaware of what they're really approaching.
Hopper shines the light into a room where equipment sits on a table, "Will?" He moves on down the corridor, Mr. (L/N) follows his every step. He's quite honestly intimidated by the man, especially after what he's seen him do today. It's probably best to show no fear and follow him without doubt. Probably.
Hopper enters a white tiled room with a security camera mounted in a high corner. A stuffed lion sits on a tidily made bed. (Y/N)'s father moves his flashlight's beam upwards to bring light onto a child's drawing which is taped to the wall. It shows a cat on a table next to a small stick figure labeled "11" and a larger stick figure labeled "papa". Both men are unsettled by this drawing. Are they keeping children here? What child has been kept in this room? What's the actual purpose of this lab?
♥︎
Eleven lays, exhausted, stomach down, on a couch in the Wheeler's basement. She stares idly at the floor. Reaching Will and (Y/N) earlier had been quite a draining stunt.
"What were they saying?" Mike, who sits beside Eleven's feet on the couch, asks his friends who are scattered around the basement, deep in thought. "Like home...Like home...but dark?" Mike stands up and begins to pace.
"And empty," Lucas recites from an armchair across from the couch.
"Empty and cold. Wait, did they say cold?" Dustin sits near the bottom of the stairs, unsure of exactly what the two said. Everything was a bizarre blur.
"I don't know. The stupid radio kept going in and out," Lucas says, annoyed.
Dustin sighs, "It's like riddles in the dark."
"Like home. Like his house?" Mike asks, trying his best to connect the pieces, Eleven keeps her eyes on him as he paces around the group.
"Or maybe like Hawkins," Lucas points out, feeling like he's really onto something.
"Upside down," Eleven murmurs quietly from the couch.
"What'd she say?" Lucas asks, barely understanding anything that Eleven says, ever. But, Mike does.
"Upside down."
Lucas still doesn't get it, "What?"
"Upside down," Mike walks over to the small table in the middle of the basement and flips the Dungeons & Dragons board over to the colored side, "When El showed us where Will and (Y/N) were, she flipped the board over, remember?" Lucas and Dustin make their way over to the table and sit down. Mike flips the board back over to the black side, "Upside down. Dark. Empty," Lucas furrows his eyebrows.
"Do you understand what he's talking about?" Lucas asks Dustin.
"No," Dustin says plainly.
"Guys, come on, think about it. When El took us to find (Y/N) and Will, she took us to Will's house, right?" Mike's message isn't really reaching his friends.
"Yeah. And they weren't there," Lucas says brazenly.
"But, what if they were there?" Mike reasons with the boy, "What if we just couldn't see them? What if they were on the other side?" Mike flips the board to the colorful side, "What if this is Hawkins and..." He flips it back over to the solid black side, "This is where Will and (Y/N) are? The Upside Down."
"Like the Vale of Shadows," Dustin says, finally getting what Mike is saying, the look on Lucas' face suggests he understands too. Their friends may be somewhere more frightening than they'd expected.
♥︎
At the Hawkins Lab, Hopper and Mr. (L/N)'s calls for the children become more frantic as they rush down the dark, empty corridors.
"Will?"
"(Y/N)" The two round a corner and head straight for the large elevator down the hall. Hopper begins to rapidly push the button whilst Mr. (L/N) balances on the heels of his shoes impatiently. The alarm continues to sound off, however, indistinct chatter can be heard from around the corner. The guards got in.
The elevator door finally opens, spreading two different ways, up and down, because the lab is so dangerous that they need to take extra precautions.
Mr. (L/N) and the Chief hastily step onto the elevator just as the security officers round the corner. Hopper pushes the button to close the elevator.
"I see them! Hey! Stop!" The guards run at the men, however, they're too late. The elevator closes just in time.
♥︎
In Mike's basement, Dustin flips open the D&D rulebook to a specific section, "The Vale of Shadows is a dimension that is a dark reflection or echo of our world."
♥︎
In the lab, Hopper and (Y/N)'s father step off of the elevator into a dark, grimy basement corridor filled with white particles floating through the air.
♥︎
Dustin continues to read from the book, "It is a place of decay and death."
♥︎
"Will?" Hopper yells into the peculiar hallway.
"(Y/N)?" Mr. (L/N) calls, but with less volume, he isn't feeling very good about this.
♥︎
"A plane out of phase. A place of monsters," Dustin looks up from the book and recites the text grimly to Mike and Lucas, "It is right next to you and you don't even see it."
♥︎
The lights in the corridor flicker and crackle. Both men begin to cough as they inhale the floating substance. They don't give up and continue to call the children's names.
♥︎
"An alternate dimension," Mike says, wonder-stricken.
Lucas really seems shaken now, he finally does believe what his friends have been trying to tell him, "But...how...how do we get there?"
"You cast Shadow Walk," Dustin says, referring to a spell from the game.
"In real life, dummy," Lucas sneers at Dustin.
However, Dustin has already found a way to validate his logic, "We can't shadow walk, but...maybe she can," Dustin nods his head towards Eleven laying on the couch, Mike and Lucas turn to face her.
"Do you know how we get there? To the Upside Down?" Mike asks Eleven in a low, calm voice, so that the tired girl can understand him better. Eleven shakes her head slightly.
"Oh, my God!" Lucas grumbles and turns away from the girl. Discouraged, Dustin looks back down at the book.
♥︎
Now, Hopper and (Y/N)'s father step into the lab where it all began. There are vine-like growths all over the walls. The men have to bury their noses and mouths in the crooks of their elbows because of the amount of particles crowding the air. The oxygen has also gotten thinner in this area. They both turn and fix their eyes on the same object. They point their flashlights straight at it and stare confusedly at it. "What the h*ll?" They both say simultaneously. Hopper steps towards the wall with tentacle-like growths sprouting from a slimy patch. Light pulses from within the opening's protective membrane. It's the portal.
Hopper reaches his hand towards the membrane, his mouth agape. Mr. (L/N) has come a bit closer but definitely not as close as Hopper is to it. He wouldn't dare touch that thing.
Wrinkles crease Hopper's forehead as he stares ahead, stunned. (Y/N)'s father's nose is crinkled as he examines the disgusting substance.
A dark figure passes behind Hopper. Mr. (L/N) grunts and the Chief whips around, his gun at the ready. Mr. (L/N) is gone. Hopper furrows his eyebrows, his concern for the man's safety growing. A figure in a yellow hazmat suit and mask emerges from the shadows. "Hey!" Hopper backs away from the person, "Hey! Hey!" Another man in a white hazmat suit grabs Hopper from behind. The man jabs a needle into the Chief's neck and he too is welcomed by the darkness.
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A huge shoutout to audio descriptions on Netflix I wouldn't be able to write these scenes in as much detail if it weren't for you♥︎ Thank you guys for the kind comments, I appreciate every one! I'm sorry for the absence of (Y/N) and Will in this chapter...creating suspense I guess heehee~ Happy summer ~WoodCeiling♥︎
*THE CHARACTERS, THEME, AND SOME DIALOGUE BELONG TO STRANGER THINGS AND THE DUFFER BROTHERS*