"Wake up, stay with me
Through the flood and through the fear
Right now I need you here
I need you to stay strong"
-Are You With Me, nilu
TRIGGER WARNING: NON-GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF SEXUAL ABUSE
"WHERE DOES THIS GO?" Mike turned to Caroline as he sat with a makeup brush. Eleven was criss-cross applesauce across from him, looking thoroughly confused.
"It's called blush, Michael," Caroline said irritably. "Where do you think it goes?"
Mike shrugged and started to apply the blush on Eleven's cheeks, who recoiled in bewilderment. Caroline laughed- partially at Eleven's discomfort, as mean as it was, but also seeing Mike out of his comfort zone.
Taking one last look them, she went to go check out the attic to see what the other boys had found.
She heard contagious laughing first, before she walked in the door. Peering in, she saw Dustin holding up a pair of fairy wings, attempting to put them over his arms, while Lucas cackled. They both froze when they saw Caroline, who was fighting back a smile.
"As cute as you look, Dusty," Caroline said, "I don't think they'll help Eleven fit in."
Lucas held up a pair of ugly green overalls, looking at Caroline for approval. "Are these okay?"
Caroline wrinkled her nose and walked over to the chest he was digging through. "Jesus, those are awful. What about... this?" She held up a light pink dress with a crimped top.
"Dude, I remember that dress!" Lucas laughed. "That's the one Nancy used to let you wear when we played D&D in elementary school. You always wanted to be the princess."
"I think it's perfect," Dustin said. He held up a blonde wig. "What about this?"
"Perfect," Caroline confirmed. Dustin beamed.
Five minutes later, a brand new El walked out of Nancy's room. She wore lip glass and the wig fit over her shaved head. The pink dress gave her a sweet and innocent look that would lead anyone far away from thinking she had superpowers. When she reached the group, she looked at Mike shyly.
"Wow," Dustin smiled. "She looks-"
"Pretty," Mike said, unable to take his eyes off of her. He had a sweet look of total adoration on his face. Then he noticed the looks the others were giving him and stammered, "Good. You look pretty good."
Lucas and Caroline just smirked at him.
Eleven, completely oblivious to the starry eyes Mike was giving her, walked past the boys and Caroline to the hallway mirror. She smiled when she saw her reflection.
" Pretty," she whispered. Her cheeks became extra rosy when she saw Mike standing behind her. "Good," she added.
C.B//W.B
"Okay, remember, if anyone sees us, look sad." Mike was barreling down the hallway.
"Not gonna take much effort," Caroline muttered, "Considering we found my brother's body a couple nights ago."
"Attention students, there will be an assembly to honor Will Byers in the gymnasium now. Do not go to fourth period." The principal's voice rang over the intercom.
The kids looked at each other and then started running to the AV room.
The second they reached the door, Mike desperately pulled the handle. "It's locked."
"What?"
Dustin turned to Eleven. "Hey, do you think you can open it? With your powers?"
"Boys?"
Goddammit.
Caroline's stomach dropped and she whirled around until she was face-to-face with her science teacher, Mr.Clarke. His mustache covered his dimples and he had his usual cheery look, although it was definitely muted this morning.
"Hey," Lucas said awkwardly.
"Assembly's about to start," He said, looking them over. Caroline desperately tried to look unsuspicious.
"We know," Mike said. He looked at the ground. "We're just, you know..."
"Upset," Lucas said from behind him with an awkward smile. His face quickly dropped when he realized his mistake.
"Yeah, definitely upset," Dustin said, trying to cover for him.
"We need some alone time," Caroline said, trying to look miserable, which wasn't hard.
"To... cry." Dustin said uncertainly.
"Yeah, listen..." Mr.Clarke sighed and looked straight at Caroline, who felt a lump grow in her throat. "I get it. I do. I know how hard this is, but let's just be there for Will, huh? And then..."
Mr. Clarke tossed the keys to the AV club to Mike.
"The Heathkit is all yours for the rest of the day. What do you say?"
His attention turned to Eleven, whom he obviously had never see before. "I don't believe we've met. What's your name?"
"Eleven-" She started to say before Mike cut her off. Caroline mentally facepalmed.
"Eleanor!" Mike blurted. "She's my, uh-"
"Cousin-" Lucas suggested.
"Second cousin," Dustin piped in, holding up two fingers like Mr.Clarke needed clarification.
"She's here for Will's funeral," Caroline said quietly. Then, in a sudden act of desperation, she grabbed El's hand. The boys stared at her and Eleven looked so confused and honored that Caroline knew she couldn't go back now.
Mr. Clarke stared at their clasped hands, clearly sold. "Ah, well, welcome to Hawkins Middle, Eleanor. I wish you were here under better circumstances."
"Thank you," Eleven said. Caroline was proud that she remembered the manners they had taught her earlier.
"Uh, where are you from exactly?"
Caroline's eyes widened and she silently prayed that Eleven would have some common sense...
Naturally, she was let down, because the universe was a bitch.
"Bad place-" Eleven murmured.
"Sweden!" Dustin interrupted. Caroline looked at him, like, seriously?
"I have a lot of Swedish family," Mike grinned forcefully.
"She hates it there," Dustin babbled.
"Cold!"
"Subzero."
Mr. Clarke just stared at them as though grief had shattered their sanity. Hell, maybe it had. "Shall we?"
"Yep!" Caroline nodded grimly. She let go of El's hand as quickly as she could, leaving the girl even more confused than she wa before. She exchanged it with Lucas's hand as they walked side by side to the gym, thanking god the fiasco was over.
Dustin threw open the doors of the gym before Caroline could tell him that now was not the time for one of his dramatic entrances, but it was too late.
The entire school, sixth, seventh and eighth graders alike, turned to look at the party as they stood awkwardly in the gymnasium doorway.
"Abort." Dustin turned around and promptly tried to run away, but Mr.Clarke grabbed his shoulders and guided them inside.
C.B// W.B
Five minutes into the assembly, her butt going numb from the wood stands, Caroline was already pissed off.
The principal was babbling on and on, "Will Byers' death is an unimaginable tragedy. Will was an exceptional student and a wonderful friend to all of us. It's impossible to express the hole his loss will leave in our community. I'd like to introduce you to Sandy Sloane. She's a local grief counselor from the church over in Jonesboro. But before she comes up here, I just want those of you who are having trouble dealing with this tragic loss..."
But none of these people cared about Will. The majority of them couldn't even put a face to his name. Caroline could see them squirming and muttering to each other, noticeably bored.
"Look at these fakers," Mike snarled, sitting next to Eleven.
"They probably didn't even know his name till today," Lucas said in disgust. He had his arm around Caroline since they had first sat down.
Troy and James were laughing and whispering between themselves. "Who is interested in this? This is so stupid. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah... Oh, he was such a great student."
James mocked crying and Troy snickered. "Oh, he's going to leave a hole in the community."
"Mouth breather," Eleven leaned around Mike to look at the bullies with distaste.
By the time the assembly had ended, Caroline was so filled with rage that she was in tears. The second it ended, she crossed the gym to Troy and James.
Mike followed closely behind and took Caroline's hand, pulling her back.
"Hey! Hey! Hey, Troy! Hey, Troy! You... you think this is funny?" Mike tried to act brave.
"What'd you say, Wheeler?" Troy looked at him daringly.
"I saw you guys laughing over there," Mike said. He glanced at Caroline, whose eyes were filled with furious tears. "And I think that's a real messed up thing to do."
"Didn't you listen to the counselor, Wheeler? Grief shows itself in funny ways," James spat.
"Besides, what's there to be sad about, anyway?" Troy looked directly at Caroline, whose face screwed up in anger. "Will's in fairyland now, right? Flying around with all the other little fairies. All happy and gay!"
And that was the last straw.
Caroline let out a cry of pure hatred and lunged forward, pulling away from Mike, who was no match for her anger. She managed to land a fist into Troy's nose, knocking him over.
The entire room gasped and Caroline lunged at him again, but this time Lucas got to her before she could do any more damage. He dragged her away, whispering for her to calm down as she screamed profanities at him.
"You're dead, Byers!" Troy shouted. He stalked forward. "Dead!"
The room went quiet as Troy froze. He looked down in shock and horror to see something wet run down his pant leg.
The blonde boy next to Dustin laughed. "Dude, Troy peed himself."
The gymnasium started laughing as Troy stood there, frozen. Caroline looked around for answers. Her eyes rested on Eleven, looking sweet and innocent as ever in her little pink dress and perfect blond wig.
El's big brown eyes landed on Caroline's as she wiped the blood from her nose. She was giving a shy, almost desperate smile.
In that moment, there was a truce between the two girls.
Caroline gave El a begrudging smile as she cradled her bruised fist. IOt felt good to have someone else in her corner. For now, she decided, maybe El wasn't as bad as she thought she was.
Lucas was still holding her arm. She looked up at him, gently snapping him out of his daze. "You can let go of me now-"
"Holy shit!" Dustin whispered.
"Hey! What's going on here?" The principal was making his way towards the circle of crowded kids, all staring between Troy and Caroline.
"Oh. Mike! Let's go!" Lucas gestured frantically at Mike as the crowd dispersed quickly. He grabbed Caroline's hand, dragging her out of the gymnasium.
The party sprinted towards the AV room through the empty halls, The rest of the school heading to their next period. Mike fumbled with the keys and yanked the door open, flipping on the lights.
The kids piled in and Mike shut the door behind them. A sigh of relief echoed through the room.
"Thank god we won't end up in detention," Caroline muttered. She flexed her hand, wincing at the achingin her knuckles.
"That was awesome," Dustin grinned at her. "He totally fell over!"
"Are you okay?" Lucas asked worriedly, staring at her hand.
"It was totally worth it," Caroline assured him with a grin. "I punched Troy Harrington in the face."
"Come on." Mike wasn't listening to their conversation. INstead, his focus was on El, as usual. He sat her down in the chair facing the Heathkit.
"Now what?" Lucas asked. The group turned to El, standing behind her as she stared at the heathkit.
"She'll find him. Right, El?" Mike turned to Eleven, who shut her soft brown eyes and started to focus.
Right away, radio frequencies started tuning.
"She's doing it. She's finding him!" Mike yelled excitedly.
"This is crazy," Dustin whispered.
"Calm down. She just closed her eyes." Lucas rolled his eyes.
It took a few more moments for anything interesting to happen. Then the group gasped as the lights suddenly went out and pitch blackness fell over the room.
"Holy shit," Caroline whispered in amazement. A tiny bit of hope sparked inside her. Maybe Mike was right. Maybe Will might still be alive. Maybe El could find him!
There was an intense clanging sound through the radio. Caroline leaned in closer.
"What is that?" Dustin whispered.
There was more clanging and then a faint voice broke through the channel.
"Mom?"
Caroline felt the blood drain from her face.Will's voice.
"No way!" Lucas said loudly, his eyes going wide.
"Mom..."
"Will!" This time it was Caroline's mom. Caroline felt her knees start to shake and she grabbed Dustin's arm, trying to keep steady.
"Please..." Will sounded desperate.
"Will!"
"Mom!" Will was crying now, and so was Caroline.
"Will! I'm here! I'm here! Oh, God..." Joyce's voice was sobbing.
"Will!" Caroline leaned in closer to the Heathkit, Lucas's arm on hers, keeping her upright. "Will, can you hear me?"
"Will, it's us! Are you there?" Lucas was almost yelling.
"Can you hear us? We're here!" Mike and Dustin joined in.
"Why can't he hear us?" Caroline sobbed. Her chest ached.
"I don't know!"
"Baby..." Joyce said. She sounded so broken-hearted. "Oh, God. Will!"
Another sound, something much more sinister, interrupted. It was like a clicking noise, getting louder and louder. What the hell?
"Mom... Mom, it's coming!" Will shouted.
"Tell me where you are!" Joyce yelled. "How do I get to you?"
"It's like home, but it's so dark..."
Caroline gasped. Vines, ash falling through the air, sticky clothes and frost biting her cheeks-
The place from her dream.
"It's so dark and empty. And it's cold! Mom? Mom!"
It hadn't been a dream.
"Listen to me!" Joyce yelled as the growling and screeching of the monster increased. "I swear I'm gonna get to you, okay? But right now, I need you to hide."
"Mom, please!" Will shouted.
"No, no, no, no, no," Caroline was repeating it over and over again, like if she kept denying it, it would go away. Her brother would be safe, far, far away from that terrible place.
"No, no, listen! Listen, I..." Joyce was interrupted by the roaring of the monster. "I will find you, but you have to run now! Run! Run!
The monster screeched louder than ever. Suddenly the radio stopped and the fuse blew, and the Heathkit sparked into flames.
Eleven slumped down in the chair, her eyes sunken in and her face dark. Her nose was bleeding and she looked way to out of it for Caroline's comfort. She darted forward to pull her friend away from the fire, yanking her chair out of the way.
The fire alarm went off, blaring into the room, and Dustin grabbed the fire extinguisher. The kids stood there panting, watching the white fluff smother the fire.
"El, are you okay?" Mike knelt down next to Eleven as the flames fizzled out, the Heathkit now just smoldering remains. "Can you move?"
El couldn't respond.
Mike looked at Lucas and Dustin. "Here, help her up."
Caroline just stood there for a moment as her friends lifted ELeven onto a cart. She felt useless and confused- and tired and hungry and cold-
She just wanted it to be over.
The party raced out of the room as the school evacuated from the fire alarm, wheeling Eleven on a cart down the hallway.
All Caroline could think about was how she had seen her brother in that horrifying place and just left him there.
C.B//W.B
"What was Will saying? Like home... Like home... but dark?" Mike sounded confused.
"And empty," Lucas added.
"Empty and cold. Wait, did he say cold?" Dustin asked.
"Yeah, it's freezing," Caroline said without thinking.
The boys turned to look at her.
"Those dreams I've been having?" Caroline fidgeted with her sleeved, taking a deep breath. "Where I was seeing Will? It was like home, but so much worse. I think I was...there. Wherever WIll is."
"How is that possible?" Dustin asked in a, uncharacteristically hushed voice.
"I don't know," Caroline said quietly. "It's just...it's like twin-tuition. Everything that's happening to Will is kind of happening to me. I've been freezing cold for no reason. I've lost weight and I've gotten pale and I feel sick all the time. And those times I saw Will...he looked the same."
Lucas put his arm around Caroline, who leaned into him, exhausted. It was a little stiff, and a little awkward, but she was slowly becoming more comfortable with the affection.
It had been a long time since she had felt comfortable enough to let someone hold her like that.
"Upside down," Mike muttered.
"What?" Lucas raised an eyebrow.
"Upside down. When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board over, remember?" He wiped the pieces off of the D&D board and turned it onto it's back like Leven had done a few days ago, so the all-black side was facing them. "Upside down. Dark. Empty."
"Do you understand what he's talking about?" Lucas looked at Caroline.
"Yeah," Caroline said at the same time Dustin muttered, "No."
"Guys, come on, think about it. When El took us to find Will, she took us to his house, right?" Mike said.
"Exactly. It makes so much more sense," Caroline agreed. She and Mike exchanged looks, their thoughts racing a mile a minute.
"But he wasn't there," Lucas said, confused.
"But what if he was there? What if we just couldn't see him? What if he was on the other side? What if this is Hawkins and," he gestured to the blank board, "this is where Will is? The Upside Down."
"Like the Vale of Shadows," Dustin jumped up suddenly and ran to the bookshelf. He pulled out the Dungeons and Dragons book and flipped through it until he found the page he was looking for.
"The Vale of Shadows," Dustin read. "A dimension that is a dark reflection or echo of our world. It is a place of decay and death. A plane out of phase. A place of monsters. It is right next to you, and you don't even see it."
"An alternate dimension," Lucas said quietly. "But... how... how do we get there?"
"You cast Shadow Walk," Dustin said.
"In real life, dipshit," Caroline glared at him, annoyed.
"We can't shadow walk," he admitted. He turned to Eleven, who was laying on Mike's sofa. "But... maybe she can."
"Do you know how we get there?" Mike turned and spoke gently to her, his tone much softer than when he was talking to the party. "To the Upside Down?"
El shook her head.
"Oh, my God!" Caroline moaned.
C.B//W.B
Jonathan picked Caroline up from the Wheelers in reverent silence. Caroline remembered that he had gone to pick out a coffin for Will, but she didn't want to get his hopes up until she knew there was a way to get Will back. So instead, she sat there holding his hand, gently rubbing her thumb over his palm.
When they got to the house, though, things were a million times worse.
They pulled into their driveway and Jonathan slammed on the breaks. A small, black, shiny car sitting in the driveway made Caroline grow cold. She hadn't seen that car in years.
No.
"Is that?..." She couldn't finish her sentence. She looked at her brother and saw the murderous look on Jonathan's face.
Oh, god, no.
He threw open the car door, his eyes wide with years of pent up anger. It was like looking at another person as he stood up, staring at the door.
"I'm gonna kill him," he whispered. "I swear to god, I'm gonna kill him!"
"Jonathan," Caroline said in tears.
"Stay here," he told her. He made his way up the driveway to the front door and stormed in.
Naturally, Caroline didn't listen. She waited exactly ten seconds before running up the her house, feeling sick.
She stumbled on the steps of her front porch, feeling almost like she was in slow motion. Everything blurred into a million different colors as a wave of nausea rushed over her. She had to will herself not to throw up and she walked in the doorway of the living room.
And saw Lonnie Byers sitting on the couch next to her mother.
"Hey, kiddo," he said, smiling.
Caroline's mouth had gone dry. Her lip trembled.
"What's going on?" Jonathan demanded.
"Your dad's, uh, gonna stay here tonight," Joyce stammered. "On the couch."
"Yeah, I'm here as long as you need me, okay?" Lonnie smiled that terrible smile. God, he was so cruel. "How are you holding up?" He stood to embrace Caroline, who nearly tripped backing away from him.
He had smiled as he left her there with those men, he was counting the cash they had given him, told them to have fun...
"What happened?" Jonathan pointed at a hole in the wall that looked like someone had hacked at it with an axe.
"Don't worry about that," Lonnie said, showing his glistening white teeth.
Don't worry, Caroline, they just want to have some fun, okay? Be good now. Daddy will be back later.
"Mom... that thing you saw before, did it come back?" Jonathan asked Joyce quietly. Caroline looked at him sharply. How did he know about the demogorgon?
"Jonathan, stop," Lonnie stood up.
'Stop', the first man had said as Caroline struggled. Her six-year-old strength was nothing compared to his. He lifted up her dress and turned to his friend, who had an evil glint in his eyes. 'We payed 300 for this?'
Jonathan finally made eyes contact with his father before glancing at Caroline, who stood frozen against the wall, staring in horror at Lonnie. "Can we talk? Alone?"
Jonathan dragged Lonnie to his bedroom as Caroline's knees buckled and she fell towards the kitchen table, gripping it to keep her upright.
NO. It's not real.
She gripped her chest, awful whimpers racking her ribs. She could hear her brother and Lonnie arguing in the room next door as her mother walked out to the front porch, her fingers dancing over her lips. She was completely oblivious.
God, Caroline wanted to tell her so bad...
"You need to leave," Jonathan hissed to Lonnie.
"Look," Lonnie held up his hands. "I know you're upset. We all are. But you need to listen to me. Your mother is sick. Really sick."
"Yeah. Well, you being here.. you're just making things worse, like always."
"Worse?" Lonnie echoed.
"Yeah! Worse!" Jonathan said incredulously. "After what you did to Caroline- I should have turned you in. I still should turn you in. You should be behind bars. The only reason Will and I didn't do anything about it was because we were too young to understand."
That had been the worst part of those nights. She hadn't understood what was happening. Why were they touching her? Why were they hurting her? Why did Daddy leave her there all alone?
"We never told Mom," Jonathan said quietly. "Because we didn't want you guys to fight even more. We didn't want to worry her. But it haunts me every single day that I never did anything about it."
"I didn't do anything to her," Lonnie hissed. "Whatever bullshit she tried to sell you- she was what, six? She wanted attention."
"That's a lie and you know it," Jonathan snarled. "You sold her out- it makes me sick every time I think about it. Did you know that she won't go anywhere without one of the boys now? She gets panic attacks. She doesn't let anyone touch her, not even her best friends. She doesn't talk to anyone new. She doesn't trust anyone. You destroyed her life."
"Listen, kid, I don't know what you're playing at-"
"Shut up," Jonathan said, his voice murderously low. "For once in your sick, fucked up life, shut up."
Lonnie just stared at him. He was so much taller now, leaner and fitter and more muscular- it definitely wasn't the same kid he's been all these years ago. This was a man.
And this man had a finger pointed at his father's chest, looming over him.
"Here's what's going to happen," Jonathan said, unflinchingly. "You're going to stay on the couch. You aren't going to talk to Callie- don't go anywhere near her.
You're going to go to the funeral- even though I doubt that's what you actually came here for; we all know you never gave a damn about Will- because Mom needs to believe that you actually cared. And then you're going to leave. You're going to leave, and if you ever show your face here again, I turn you over to the cops. Mom can't have you let her down again."
"She took down that wall with an axe," Lonnie scoffed. "She said that Will was inside and that he's talking to her."
"Yeah. Maybe he was."
How much did Jonathan know?
"This isn't some kind of joke," Lonnie said angrily. "Your mom was half frozen to death when I got here. Trembling, scared out of her mind. You come in here and you start feeding into her hallucinations or whatever the hell you want to call it, you're gonna push her right over the edge. You hear me? Look, I'm on your side. I'm here to help. I'm gonna make things better around here for all of us."
"Thank God you're here," Jonathan, sarcasm dripping from his words.
"Do me a favor. At the funeral tomorrow, just behave. If not for me, for your mother." Lonnie looked around the room for a moment before gesturing at a poster Jonathan had hung up years ago.
"Take that down. It's inappropriate."
Because in Lonnie Byers mind, that made up for the horror he had raised his kids in.
Hello beautiful people! I got another surge of inspiration and I have been writing like a maniac. What did you guys like about this chapter? We found out a bit why Caroline is so shut off and why she gets panic attacks. She also found out Will is alive! Her and El have sort of gotten past their hate-each-other faze and are moving on to hopefully being friends soon!
Comment, vote, and have a great day!