Worlds Apart

Ally's Outfits
--
Mrs. Wheeler met my eyes again as she slowly poured the orange juice. I gave her another tight smile, drumming my hands on the counter as I waited impatiently. Her eyes flicked to the movement and I immediately stopped.

“You’re sure everything’s alright, Allison?” she asked, brow furrowing just a hint. I nodded quickly and, the moment she was done pouring, I snagged the glass and started to back away.

“Oh, yeah, of course. Just need something sweet in my system,” I lied, laughing nervously as I reached behind me blindly for the basement door handle. “Low blood sugar, you know.”

She frowned a bit more, leaning around to watch as I backed down the stairs. Once out of sight, I tugged the door shut and practically ran the rest of the way back to the kids. El, lying on the couch, lifted her head and gave a slow blink as I knelt in front of her.

“This should help,” I told her gently, pressing the cup into her hands as Dustin gave me an exasperated frown.

“What, did you go to Florida to get fresh oranges? You took forever!”

I rolled my eyes as him and settled on the arm of the couch. “It’s not my fault Mrs. Wheeler is training to join the FBI. She had a million questions and I can’t tell her anything.”

“That’s why you lie,” Dustin threw back; I scowled at him.

“I did lie, for your information,” I huffed, shifting to perch on the edge of the couch as Mike waved his hand at my brother and I.

“My mom’s way too nosy, she was bound to grill the first one of us she could. It doesn’t matter. We need to focus on what Will was saying. Like home, but dark.”

“And empty,” I added, folding my arms over my chest. I still got goosebumps thinking of Will and Barb calling out to us. Barb. She was alive. God, I couldn’t get over it. I’d believed it for days now, but to hear her…

“Like home… What, like Hawkins?” Lucas asked; the boys shrugged.

“Upside down,” El mumbled around the glass in her hand, giving a tired blink.

“What’d she say?” Mike asked, glancing back at us.

“Upside down,” I repeated, looking at the girl lying beside me. Her doe eyes flicked up to me as I tilted my head. “What does that mean, El?”

Mike moved before she could answer; he sat at the kids’ game table and flipped their playing board over. “When El showed us where Will was the other day, she flipped the board like this. Upside down. Dark. Empty.”

Dustin and Lucas blinked at him, but I sat forward a little more as Mike let out an exasperated sigh. “Guys. When El took us to find Will, she took us to his house, right? And Ally, the faceless thing was there too.”

“Yeah,” I hedged, getting up and walking towards the kids. “But Will wasn’t.”

“But what if he was there? What if we just couldn’t see him? What if he was on the other side?”

It clicked in my mind and my jaw actually dropped open a bit. Dustin and Lucas, however, still weren’t catching over. I came up to the table and grabbed the board, flipping it right side up.

“So, this would be Hawkins. Where we are,” I said, and flipped it back over. “And this is where Will and Barb are. The Upside Down.”

Mike nodded eagerly as realization settled over Dustin. “Like the Vale of Shadows.”

“I have no idea,” I told him point-blank. His face fell into an unamused frown and before I could argue, he was grabbing a binder from under the play table. He dropped it down and began to flip through it eagerly until he landed on an ominous looking page. He cleared his throat and I began to pace beside the table as he read.

“The Vale of Shadows is a dimension that is a dark reflection or echo of our world – Ally, are you listening? This is for your benefit –“

“Just keep reading,” I snapped, giving my brother a look.

“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.”

Goosebumps sprinkled down my arms and I shivered into my sweater, hugging myself a little tighter. I glanced back at El. “Does that sound about right?”

She gave a small nod, and more goosebumps broke out over my body. Right next to us… I kept hearing Barb everywhere I went. Like she was right next to me. And I couldn’t see her. Was the faceless monster there too? I cut my thoughts off; I really didn’t want to think about that.

“So how would we get there?” I asked the boys, pausing by the table to look over them. Dustin snapped the book shut and looked up at me.

“You cast shadow walk.”

“She meant in real life, dummy,” Lucas threw out, giving my brother the same look I was now. Dustin gave us both frowns and explained,

“The Upside Down is real, so why couldn’t this be too? The idea at least. I mean, we can’t shadow walk but maybe she can.”

“Do you know how to get to the Upside Down?” Mike asked El hopefully. Finally finished with her juice – and looking better – she sat up and slowly shook her head. Lucas dropped his head back as Dustin sighed heavily.

“Well, that doesn’t mean it’s not possible,” I told them quickly before they could get too distraught. I really felt like we were onto something here and I didn’t need them getting discouraged. “If Will and Barb got there, we can too. Somehow –“

“Mike! Dinner!” Mrs. Wheeler called downstairs, scaring the absolute life out of all of us. The boys jumped up from the table, El scrambled off the couch to her fort, and I barely masked my shriek of alarm.

“Okay, let’s think about this tonight,” Mike sighed. “Ally’s right. There’s gotta be a way. Tomorrow, after the funeral, let’s meet up and figure it out.”

As the boys began to gather their things, Dustin came up to me and handed me my school bag as he asked, “what’re we having for dinner?”

My entire body ran cold. Oh my god. Dinner. Home. Don. I’d left this morning without cleaning up, we hadn’t come home after school would have been out, and now – I checked the clock on the wall – oh god, it was almost six!

Dustin saw the panic on my face and asked quietly, “Don?”

I nodded, and his face hardened so fast it actually alarmed me. “We’ll just stay here for dinner. We can stay the night.”

“Dustin, he’ll look for us,” I whispered back, trying to keep the panic down. “I’ll go home, get things cleaned up, get dinner for him. You can eat dinner here and come back when things are settled.”

“What? No. I’m not letting you go there alone –“

“It’ll be easier if it’s just me,” I said quickly, nudging him towards the stairs. He went to argue so I said quickly to Mike, “Dustin’s gonna stay for dinner, okay?”

“Yeah, my mom won’t mind,” he said with a shrug, already heading up with Lucas. Dustin went to argue again and I gave him a hard stare.

“Go. I don’t want you home until after seven, okay? Trust me.”

“I don’t want him to hurt you –“ he started, and I shook my head quickly.

“Dustin, it’ll be fine. Okay? Please, just go. If I have you there to worry about it’ll just be worse.”

He gave me a long, wary look and I offered a reassuring smile. He came off the steps and pulled me into a tight hug. I held him to me for a heartbeat before nudging him back up the steps.

“Remember, after seven,” I said quickly. He nodded, still looking upset, but thankfully he retreated. I turned to leave and almost collided with El. She was looking up at me with concern that mirrored Dustin’s face.

“Scared,” she noted, studying my face. I didn’t want to lie to her – it just wasn’t something I liked doing – so I nodded. She tilted her head as if to ask why so I just said,

“Adult things. Problems for me to worry about.”

El didn’t argue as I side-stepped her and rushed out the Wheeler’s basement door. Cursing under my breath, remembering I’d decided to run here instead of bike, I hiked my bag onto my shoulder a little higher and took off in a jog towards home.

-x-

I was easing our front door open just a hair past 6:15. The TV was on, and mom was planted on the couch with Mews on her lap, purring enthusiastically at the sight of me. Creeping inside, I shut the door slowly and turned towards the kitchen. Dark and empty. I’d come around the side yard and hadn’t seen the driveway. Was his car out front? I didn’t want to double back; the living room floor was squeaky and if he was here…

Carefully, I picked my way across the living room and slipped into the kitchen. The dishes were still in the sink, and the table was still messy from yesterday. Was he still at work? He had late nights sometimes. If I could get this cleaned up before he got home…

Fast as I could, I started gathering the dishes off the table. I could cook and clean at the same time, and I could make it look like I’d been here the whole time. I snapped on the light and spun to dive into the fridge, fishing out some leftovers to heat up. Chicken! Perfect. I’d throw this in the microwave, get some rice going, and then I could start –

Hands fisted in my hair and ripped me out of the fridge so fast I couldn’t get my feet under me. I was flung back into the kitchen table and hit it so hard I knocked it over onto its side as dropped to my knees.

Mews let out a yowl and raced down the hall as Don moved to stand over me. His dark hair was mussed, dark eyes glinting and glazed. He’s drunk, I realized as he caught a fistful of my hair again and hauled me to my feet. Tears sprung to my eyes as the pain burst over my scalp; he dropped his hold and strands of my hair fell from his fingers.

“Don –“ I gasped, cutting off with a cry as his hands slammed into my chest. I stumbled into the counter, desperately grabbing ahold to keep myself upright. He was dangerous on any given day, but once he’d been drinking he turned deadly.

“What did I fuckin’ say, Allison?” he growled, voice so low I almost missed his words as he stalked towards me. “I say clean up the goddamn house. And what did you do? Huh?”

Fear was coursing through me, rooting me to the ground. I couldn’t run, I couldn’t fight. I couldn’t defend myself. All I could do was stand there, staring up at him in terror as I struggled to take a breath, frightened to do anything that might set him off.

“Fucking answer me!” he bellowed, hands slamming into the counter on either side of me. I flinched down and at my movement he let out a roar of fury and grabbed my arms, throwing me to the ground.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I whimpered, scrambling to try and get to my feet. His boot caught me in the ribs and I let out a cry of pain, curling in on myself as he kicked me again.

“Sorry ain’t goddamn good enough!”

Again and again his boot slammed into me; into my arm, my hip, my back, my chest. Once the sobbing started, I couldn’t stop it. Couldn’t hold myself back. It only made him more furious. He locked a hand onto the back of my neck and hauled me up without warning. I was so disoriented I couldn’t keep standing and I slumped to the floor, instantly curling back into the counters to get as far from him as I could.

“Please stop, please,” I begged through my crying, holding my hands out in a feeble attempt to protect myself. I heard a drawer open above my head, and then Don was crouched in front of me.

A knife pressed to my throat and my crying instantly stopped. My entire body came to a screeching halt as he leaned in close, so close I could count the whiskers on his jaw, see his pulsing vein bulging out over his temple as he snarled,

“You are nothing to me. I could do it, right fuckin’ now, and not even blink.” The knife pressed harder into my skin; I felt blood trickle down, pooling at my collar bone, as he leaned even closer. His sour breath curled around me, adding to the fog of terror surrounded me. “You think I’m a fuckin’ joke? That you can do what you want without consequences?”

“No sir,” I managed, voice barely audible, trembling under the steel of the blade.

“You disobey me one more time and I’ll kill you. I did it before, I’ll do it again. I’ll do it to you. To your son of a bitch brother. To your worthless mom. The cat. Those little kids you fuck around with. You try me one more fucking time, Allison, and I will kill you. You fuckin’ hear me now?”

“Yes sir,” I whispered, tears running down my cheeks, swirling with the blood on my neck. He pulled the knife back and threw it onto my lap as he shoved to his feet, turning and stumbling to mom’s bedroom.

“Get this place cleaned up. I ain’t tellin’ you again.”

The door slammed and a sob tore out of my throat. I threw the knife off my lap and pulled my knees tight to my chest, crying hard into my leggings as I trembled in my sweater. Barb I need you, I cried to myself, rocking back and forth. I can’t do this anymore. I need you. I need you. Please come back Barb. Please.

The only thing that got me moving was the realization that Dustin would be home soon. I couldn’t let him see me like this, I couldn’t let him know how bad this had been. The very last thing we needed right now was more to deal with. We were potentially looking at another freaking dimension. We couldn’t be distracted if we wanted to save Will and Barb.

Shoving shakily to my feet, I rushed to the bathroom and locked the door. God, I was a mess. I grabbed a washcloth and scrubbed the tears and blood off my face and neck. The cut was deep, but it wasn’t big. I slapped a bandaid on and hoped Dustin wouldn’t see it. Tossing my bloody sweater in the hamper, I hurried to my room and changed into my pajamas.

Before Don could get mad again, I raced back to the kitchen and cleaned like my life depended on it. Because, well, it kind of did. By 7:30 when I heard Dustin open up the front door, I was just finishing up. He saw me cleaning; I motioned to be quiet and jerked my head down the hall. He nodded and raced to his room. I heard him start the shower a few minutes later, so once I was done I retreated to my room.

For a long few minutes, I sat on the end of my bed as I stared around the room. What had Dustin said? Right next to me. Squeezing my eyes shut, I cleared my throat and asked in a hoarse whisper,

“Barb? It’s… It’s Ally. If you’re there… I really need you.”

Silence. I waited almost two minutes, listening as hard as I could; absolutely nothing. What had I been expecting? It had taken an advanced radio and a girl with super powers to get ahold of Will and Barb earlier. Did I really think I could just play Marco Polo with an alternate dimension?

With a sigh, I dropped back on my bed and scrubbed my hands down my face. I was exhausted – mentally and physically. I’d barely slept the last few nights, and between Don, the boys, and faceless monsters, my battery was almost dead.

“You left your bag in the living room,” Dustin said from my doorway. I let out a squeak of surprise and jolted upright, clutching at my chest as I gave him a wild stare. “Sorry, sorry! I thought you heard me!”

Still breathing hard as he crossed to me and gave me the bag, I took it and tossed it behind me onto my bed before turning back to him.

“It’s fine. Hey, be up at seven tomorrow. The funeral’s at nine and we can’t be late.”

Dustin nodded but didn’t answer; he was studying me. Looking for injuries. I kept my head tilted down just a hint, hiding the bandage. My pajamas were long-sleeve and thankfully he hadn’t hit my face.

“I’m good,” I said softly, giving him a gentle smile. It wasn’t technically a lie; I could be much worse. He looked skeptical, but I knew he had nothing to prove me wrong. I held my arms open and he ducked to give me a hug.

“You’re really short,” he mumbled into my hair. I scoffed and shoved him off me, ignoring the ache in my ribs at the movement.

“Still taller than you.”

“Barely,” he laughed, giving me a gummy smile. Okay, fine, he had a point. I still stuck my tongue out at him as he retreated across the hall, pulling my door shut. “Night Ally. Love you.”

“Love you too Dusty.”

I waited until I heard his door shut and then slumped onto my bed again. Something hard dug into my side and I sucked in a breath as my sore side twinged again. Propping myself up on an elbow, I turned and saw my schoolbooks scattered. Of course my bag had dumped out; it was just that kind of night.

As I began to scoop things back inside, Barb’s face appeared under my fingers. I froze, staring down at the scrap of picture on my bed. It was the pieces I’d taken from Jonathan at school. Tears welled in my eyes as I stared down at my best friend.

What was she doing? She was staring down at something, a deep sadness on her face. My heart twisted in my chest so powerfully it took my breath away. She looked so alone. Like I had every moment since that night, I wished I’d just gone to that stupid party.

I shifted onto my knees and swept my books aside, grabbing the other pieces. I didn’t have the whole thing, but I had enough to piece Barb together. I quickly taped the bits together and sat back to study the picture.

She was sitting on Steve’s diving board, feet hanging over the water, staring at her hand. The picture was a little zoomed out and dark, but I could see a bandage wrapped around her palm. She was staring at it, so sad and despondent that it made brought tears to my eyes.

Was this her last moment? Sitting alone on a cold November night, hurt and sad, being hunted by some monster from another dimension? My hand ran over the torn picture as a tear fell down my cheek, dropping onto the picture. Sniffing, I went to wipe it off and my hand froze in mid-air.

There, along the right side of the picture, almost out of the frame, was the faceless creature. Standing behind my best friend, watching her. Waiting. My blood ran cold. It had been stalking her. It waited for the right moment and took her when no one was looking.

I had been right; I had definitely seen it at Steve’s pool. It was out there, in the woods, probably waiting for its next victim. And if that’s where Barb had been taken, if that’s where it was lingering… what if that meant there was a way to Barb nearby? What if there was a way to get to the Upside Down?

If there was, I would find it..

-x-

Friday, November 11th

For such a small town, the drive from our house to the cemetery was agonizingly long. Dustin and I sat stone-still in the backseat, eyes fixed straight ahead, barely daring to breathe. Don, behind the wheel, was cursing the minimal traffic under his breath and throwing squinting scowls in the rearview mirror, waiting for an excuse to fly off at my brother and I.

The only one unaffected, as always, was mom. She was humming pleasantly along to the radio, bobbing her head as she watched the scenery flicker by around us. Sometimes I really wished I could be that oblivious to the world around me. Wished I could forget my terror for Will and Barb, about whatever the hell was going on with Jonathan, with Nancy, forget about other dimensions and little girls with mind powers, forget about the ache in my ribs, the bruises on my body…

I couldn’t afford to think like that. Getting lost in my mind wouldn’t do anyone any good. Taking a deep breath, I settled myself and tried to prepare for the funeral. I mean, it wasn’t really Will, but only five people in all of Hawkins knew that. It was gonna be a tough morning, to say the least.

“I don’t want any funny shit from you two,” Don finally growled as we pulled into the parking lot. “You’ll be respectful, quiet, and represent our family properly. Am I understood?”

Our family? I scoffed to myself; Dustin and I shared a quick, annoyed glance as we both said simply,

“Yes sir.”

As we got out of the car, the first person I saw was Jonathan. He was with his mom and – was that his dad? Yikes, I bet he wasn’t too happy; the look on his face confirmed my thoughts. As much as I wanted to rush over and talk to him, antagonizing Don wasn’t something I was looking to do today. Thankfully, though, Lonny Byers was one of his best friends.

“Lonny, that you?” Don called as he helped mom out of the car. The moment she was standing, he dropped his hold on her and practically skipped across to meet his friend; Dustin and I shared another look as I stepped up and linked my arms with mom.

“And I’m sure you remember my wife, Claudia,” Don announced, sweeping his arm towards us as we gathered behind him. “And our kids, Allison and Dustin.”

I barely kept from making a face. Mom might’ve legally been his wife, but we were not his kids. Jonathan, at Lonny’s side, glanced up at me but immediately looked away. My heart sank a little further, but I didn’t let it deter my plan. The picture of Barb was folded securely in my coat pocket. Even if I had to lock him in a car and tape the photo to the window, I was finding a way to talk to him about it.

Dustin and I walked mom forward and stood her beside Mrs. Wheeler. She wrapped my mom in a one-armed hug and I detached myself from her side. She’d be okay for now, and I wanted to check on the boys. Dustin had instantly gravitated towards Mike and Lucas, and I came up behind him.

“How’s El?” I whispered; Mike gave me a quick smile.

“Good. She was sleeping. Anything happen last night?”

For a heartbeat I blanched and stared at him; why would he think something had happened? Had Dustin said something about Don? Did he see the cut on my throat, the bruises – “Ally? Anything else weird? Did you hear Barb again, or…”

Oh. Right. Other dimensions, missing friends. Get it together Ally.

“Oh, no. Nothing. It was quiet.”

Mike and Lucas nodded and turned to face the casket as the funeral began; Dustin, though, was looking back at me with a frown on his face. He opened his mouth to ask something and I gently nudged him to face forward. Saved by the funeral for a not-dead kid. That’s a new one.

The four of us stood silently as the ceremony went on; my mind kept drifting to what we’d discussed last night. Were Will and Barb here with us? Watching the funeral, agreeing with us how weird it was to watch the casket lower with a body we knew wasn’t Will’s? My mind didn’t stop racing with questions until finally the casket was in the ground and the group around us started to move. Don ushered mom towards Lonny and Joyce; Dustin took the opportunity to slip off with Mike and Lucas.

For a moment I lingered, unsure of what to do. Saying my condolences just… didn’t feel right. Dustin wasn’t wrong in calling me a terrible liar. To go up to Lonny and Joyce and try to talk about Will like he was really dead… I couldn’t do it.

So, time to switch gears. My hand slipped into my pocket, confirming the picture was still there, and I set off to find Jonathan. He’d slipped away with the crowd, but I didn’t have a hard time tracking him down. He was making his way across the cemetery at a fast clip; I practically had to run to catch up to him.

“Jonathan! Wait!” I called, out of breath and cursing my choice of footwear by the time I got close enough. Thankfully, Mr. Long-Legs paused his escape and looked back at me. I ignored the look of frustration on his face – doesn’t matter what he thinks about me – and paused a few feet from him.

“I’m really not in the mood to talk,” he started; my heart twisted in my chest and I nodded quickly, pushing past my own hurt feelings as I pulled the picture out. His eyes dropped to my hand as I started to unfold it.

“I know, and – and I’m so sorry. About Will. I just –“ man, usually I was spot-on with empathy. I hoped I didn’t sound as heartless as I felt I just had. “I just, I needed to ask you about –“

“Seriously, Allison? The day of my brother’s funeral and you’re bringing up the pictures?” he asked incredulously, hurt and embarrassment flooding his face. Shaking my head, I went to hold it up.

“No, no, it’s not like that Jonathan. I just, I noticed something and I wanted –“

His hand came out and shoved mine down, tearing the picture again. Instantly I pulled back, not wanting to ruin it further as he shook his head at me.

“I can’t believe you. You know, I get it, it was messed up of me. But this is just as bad, you know?”

“What? Hang on, you’ve got this all wrong,” I backtracked quickly. “I’m not – it’s not about the pictures. Or Nancy. I wanted to ask about –“

“Let me guess, Harrington and his friends want you to ask me what other kind of pictures I take. Is that right? They send you to do their dirty work, and you’re following them so maybe they’ll accept you. Did I get that right?”

The sting of his words cut deep, hurting worse than the bruises from Don. I actually pulled back a full step from him, the ache in my chest blossoming through me. Did he really see me as one of them? Did he seriously think I was just here to harass him?

“In case you forgot, I stood up for you the other day,” I threw out, bitterness in my words. “I tried to help you. You’re the one that’s so damn defensive you think the one person that wants to be your friend is out to get you.”

“Oh, so am I just a charity case for you?” he scoffed, shaking his head. “Sweet little Allison, so nice and kind she’s even willing to befriend the neighborhood perv. What, do they give you brownie points for hanging out with me? Am I just a creepy novelty for you and your asshole friends to laugh at?”

Okay, forget it. Angrily, I folded the picture again and stuffed it in my pocket, feeling tears stinging my eyes. I’d been nice, giving him the benefit of the doubt and trying to be understanding with everything happening with Will, but I’d just passed my breaking point.

“You know what? Never mind. I just – I’ve been really nice, and I just can’t anymore. If that’s how you see me, then fine. Whatever.” Jonathan gave a harsh laugh and I threw him a cold, hurt look – as best I could through my tears.

“Yeah. You’re really great. Coming to make fun of me at my little brother’s funeral. You’re the best. Just leave me the hell alone, Allison.”

“You got it,” I threw out bitterly, turning on my heel and storming away as more tears fell down my cheeks. Angrily, I wiped them off and let out a shaking breath. Once I was far enough away from him, I muttered, “Barb, if you’re here, I hope you heard all that. Remind me why the hell I liked him so much?”

Man, I could practically hear her snort, see the roll of her eyes as she crossed her arms to give me her signature beats me look. My heart – already aching now – gave another squeeze and it settled my resolve.

I didn’t need Jonathan. I’d figure this out on my own.

Of course, I didn’t get very far before I was intercepted by Don. Seeing him alone, I instantly scanned the crowd for my mom or brother; he cleared his throat to get my attention back on him.

“I’m takin’ your mom home,” he informed me. “Got a business trip this weekend. I’m not back ‘til Sunday, and I expect you to take care of things while I’m gone.”

“I will,” I told him softly. His eyes narrowed just a hint and he took half a step closer.

“I don’t think I need to remind you what’ll happen if I come home and that house isn’t spotless.”

Panic fluttered in my stomach at the memory of last night. For a brief moment I felt the cold blade of the kitchen knife against my neck again. And, just as I felt the fear starting to claw its way up my throat, ready to take over, I could’ve sworn I caught the scent of Barb’s perfume.

It settled me instantly, like a breath of fresh air sweeping through me and pushing out the memories and the pain. I shook my head obediently and whispered,

“No sir. I’ll take care of things while you’re gone.”

Looking honestly surprised at my answer, he just gave a firm nod and turned for the car. As he went, he called over his shoulder,

“You and your brother find rides home. Back no later than 5.”

“Yes sir,” I called; I stood rooted to the spot, waiting until his car disappeared around the corner, and then I took off for the church where the wake was being held. It wasn’t hard to find the boys – no surprise, they were gathered at a table with Mr. Clarke. Who… was holding a paper plate… that he was doodling on. Well, whatever it was, hopefully they were getting farther with our plan to get information than I had.

“ – is our dimension. And our dimension has rules,” Mr. Clarke was saying; as I came up to the table he looked over Dustin’s head and gave me a smile. “Oh, Allison. The boys and I were just discussing some interesting theories, if you’d like to join us.”

Mike, Lucas, and Dustin all turned to me simultaneously and nodded eagerly.

“About how to get to other dimensions,” my little brother told me pointedly; Lucas cleared his throat and, after a glance at Mr. Clarke, added quickly,

“Theoretically, of course.”

“Of course,” I played along, giving a quick smile. “Sorry, I’ve gotta get going, I’ve got, uh, some research I’ve gotta get to.”

“What? It’s Friday,” Dustin argued, frowning up at me. “What do you have that needs to be researched now?”

For the love of… I subtly nudged Dustin’s foot with mine as I gave him a pointed smile.

“Remember that really important project I was telling you about?”

“What? That one with you and Jonathan? I thought that was –“

“It’s over,” I said curtly, my own words stinging when I realized the double meaning. “But uh, this is the one I told you about last night. At Mike’s.” He gave me a blank stare. This kid, I swear… I did my best to give him a proverbial smack upside the head with the look I fixed on him.

Mr. Clarke was staring at us perplexed. So much for subtle. Thankfully, Lucas and Mike seemed to catch on a little quicker.

“Yeah, yeah, that project,” Mike said as Lucas nodded in agreement. “You should go work on that.”

“Plan to,” I agreed; Dustin still looked perplexed. “Hey. Don left for a business trip so can you catch a ride home with the Wheeler’s?”

“Oh, uh, yeah, but wait,” he said as I started to back away. I paused and he asked incredulously, “what project are you working on!?”

“We’ll remind you,” Lucas sighed, turning my brother around and giving me a thumbs-up behind his back. “Anyways, Mr. Clarke. The dimensions…”

Rolling my eyes, I practically ran out of the church before that could get any more awkward. My little brother was a genius, but sometimes he could be so damn dense… Whatever. Don was gone for the weekend, Dustin was safe with his friends, and I had a lead on Barb and Will.

Jonathan or not, I could find this thing. I’d track it down, see where it came from, and at this rate I’d be able to save my friends before dinner.

Easy, peasy.

-x-

Okay, not so easy peasy. Without a car the trek back home had been significantly longer than the drive this morning. Which, honestly, was an impressive feat. I was out of breath, sweaty, and tired by the time I trudged around the corner of our block.

If this were anything else, I would’ve opted for a hot shower and a nap. But, alternate dimensions weren’t gonna find themselves. The plus side to an almost hour-long hike home was that Don was gone by the time I trudged inside.

Mom was asleep on the couch and Mews was napping in her arms; I was virtually alone and that was exactly what I needed. Well, that and a quick snack. As I dug through our cupboards for something Dustin hadn’t taken the other day, I put together my plan.

Jonathan took the picture by Steve’s, and that’s where I’d heard Barb. The thing had slipped into the woods by his house, so I’d start there. On Dustin’s old bike I could get there in about ten minutes, which gave me a few hours of daylight to hike back home through the woods. I’d do a big loop through and pass by Will’s house on the way home, covering all the ground I could.

Grabbing a handful of Dustin’s handi-snacks (since he’d taken all my damn trail mix), I retreated to my room to get ready. I opted for a pair of warmer leggings and a thicker sweater – vowing to dig my winter coat out of the closet this weekend. I dumped my school bag out onto my bed, threw the snacks in first, and followed up with the picture of Barb I’d tried to show Jonathan.

Jonathan.

I wished he’d listened to me, wished he’d given me a chance. This would be a lot less daunting if I wasn’t going at it alone, but I had to do this. If he wasn’t gonna listen, I was gonna handle it myself.

Don’t need nobody, no-how, I heard Barb telling me with a smile. It was one of a dozen little quips we had saved up to give one another, and it just made me more eager than ever to get out there and start looking.

As I slung the bag onto my shoulder, I caught sight of Barb’s smiling face peeking up at me from under my discarded notebook. The picture we’d taken the night she’d gotten me to get a ride from Jonathan. Slowly, I reached out and took the picture, staring down at my best friend and I. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

A memento of my bravest act, I thought to myself, tucking the picture safely into my bag. If only you could see me now, Barb.

Before leaving, I spared a quick hunt through Dustin’s room. He did it to mine all the time; this was totally fair. I grabbed one of his old flashlights – and a handful of batteries – and one of his compasses, just in case. It was a straight shot from Steve’s house to mine, and I’d traversed the woods before, but I’d seen enough horror movies to know it was better to be prepared. On a whim, I snagged one of his old swiss army knives and tucked it into the front pouch of my bag.

What good that’ll do I don’t know, I admitted to myself, skirting into the garage after calling goodbye to mom. But hey, better to be prepared.

-x-

Okay, I was no compass expert, but something was wrong.

Did compasses break? Was that a thing? I mean, they weren’t battery-powered but could they malfunction? Man, if I ever needed my nerdy little brother, it was now. My plan had been simple enough. Due East, that was all I had to do on the hike back through the woods to get to Will’s house.

Steve’s house – and the forest around it – were silent and empty, so I’d started hiking my loop back home. Not only had it gotten darker a lot faster than I’d been expecting, but something didn’t feel right. I’d been so focused on following the compass and scanning the woods that I didn’t notice until about ten minutes ago the sun was setting to my left, instead of behind me.

I sighed to myself, coming to a full stop in the rapidly-darkening woods as I tried to figure this out. Sun rises in the east, which puts that on my right. So have I been going North!?

Again, I checked the compass. No, it was still telling me I was going East. How could that be? The arrow for North was pointing straight out to my left, so East should be straight ahead… This wasn’t right. With a groan, I scrubbed a hand down my face. I wasn’t Dustin-level clever, but compasses were not supposed to be this difficult.

I’d been out here two hours now and hadn’t come across my house, let alone the Byers’ house. I had to be going the wrong direction. At most I was no more than 45 minutes away from Will’s. I should’ve found something by now.

As I looked around, trying to get some sort of bearings, my stomach sunk. It was so dark I could barely see the outline of the trees around me. A shiver of unease wriggled down my spine and I started digging in my bag for the flashlight.

Just as my hand locked around it, I heard shuffling in the leaves a few feet ahead of me. My whole body froze and I stood in baited, painful silence as I strained to listen. Another rustle, then the crunch of a branch. For a moment, my body screamed to drop the bike and just run.

“You’re okay, you’re okay,” I murmured to myself, taking a shaking breath and forcing myself to pull out the flashlight. My trembling fingers took a few extra moments to switch it on, but once the beam showed me the woods ahead were empty, the panic slowly started to settle. “See? Just fine. You’re fine. You’re okay.”

This is what I was out here for anyways, right? Find whatever was in the woods and track it back to Barb and Will. So, ominous rustling in the darkness was good… right? Right. Taking a steeling breath, I forced myself to keep going forward. Even if this wasn’t East, eventually I’d have to get out of the woods somewhere.

Against my better judgement, I pressed on. Slowly, at first, pausing at every rustle and crack. But as the night got colder and my legs began to ache I picked up my speed. Twenty minutes later I was practically jogging through the woods, hauling the bike beside me as the light bounced ahead. At this point I was just desperate to see something other than trees.

As I came up over a hill and paused to catch my breath, the light flickered across a tree up ahead and something dark glinted off the bark. Frowning as I propped the bike up, I picked my way through the leaves, trying to figure out what it was. Definitely not water… sap, maybe? Leaves that just caught the light wrong?

Close enough now, I lifted the beam off the ground and looked at the tree again.

Blood. That was blood.

Alarm prickled through me and I stumbled back on instinct, revulsion and fear rising up as I stared at the tree. It was smeared high up on the tree, well above my head. An animal wouldn’t have just brushed up against it, so how…?

My foot caught on a branch and I fell hard, knocking the flashlight from my hand. It flickered out and plunged me into thick, unending darkness. And then, in the heartbeat of silence that followed, something gave a guttural growl from behind me.

A scream ripped out of my throat as I scrambled to my feet. I was moving before I knew where I was going, running so fast my bag was practically billowing behind me. I couldn’t see a thing but I didn’t slow down; branches tore at my face and arms, logs and leaves tripped me up but I kept going.

Over the sound of my own running, my own frantic breathing, my own heart hammering in my chest, I could hear something chasing after me. Three steps for every one I took – it was gaining on me. Part of me wished I’d grabbed the flashlight, but the rest of me was glad I couldn’t see whatever was behind me.

The ground started to slope down under my feet and I tried to balance, but my converse caught the slick leaves and I pitched forward. My arms came up in front of my face and I hit the ground hard again, tumbling end over end before skidding to a stop into something pokey but mercifully soft. With a groan, I slowly sat up, rubbing tenderly at my shoulder as I got my knees under me.

I couldn’t linger for long; I could still hear something behind me and I didn’t want to sit around to wait and see what it was. My eyes were slowly adjusting and I was able to make out the things directly in front of me. A bush – which had broken my fall – a smattering of leaves and twigs, and a few giant, dark trees looming above me in the near-pitch-black sky.

Which meant I really had nowhere to hide from the thing behind me. So, keep running it was. I went to stand, and the moment I put weight on my right ankle a burst of pain shot up my leg and I gasped, dropping back into the leaves as I grimaced and bit back a cry.

Just great you damn klutz, I groaned, tenderly rubbing my ankle as I rolled it around. It wasn’t broken, thank God, but I’d definitely sprained it. For a moment I sat hopelessly on the forest floor, at a loss for my next move. I couldn’t hide and I couldn’t run. Did I just sit here, waiting for that thing to –

“Ally!”

Oh my god. That was… could it be?

“Barb?!” I whispered in disbelief, whipping my head around like I could see farther than a few feet away. The shadows nearby were still, but I knew I’d just heard my best friend. “Barb, please say something. Please let me know you’re here!”

For several agonizing seconds the only sound around me was the rustling from the creature up the hill. I really couldn’t sit here any longer –

“Hide. You have to hide,” Barb hissed, sounding no more than a couple feet ahead of me. My heart soared and had me scrambling forward on my hands and knees towards the sound of her voice before I knew what I was doing.

“Where?” I whispered frantically, painfully aware of how close the thing was getting to me. “Barb, where –“

My right hand planted into something cold and slimy and I made a noise of repulsion, instantly recoiling. Was it more blood? Is this what blood felt like? My stomach churned at the thought as I slowly lifted my hand towards my face; cautiously, I took a sniff. There was no metallic twinge to the goo – no scent at all, in fact - and the consistency was thicker… like snot. That made me gag more than the thought of blood.

Why the hell was there a pile of snot in the forest? If it were a dead animal or something, there’d be some sort of smell, wouldn’t there? As I leaned closer to try and study whatever I’d put my hand in, a faint glow caught my eye. The slime was coming from what looked like a hole in a tree trunk, and there was a soft, gray light coming from within the bark.

What the heck was this?

Slowly, I shifted forward onto my knees and – with a bracing breath – put both hands down into the slime as I leaned closer. There was a faint breeze coming from inside the tree, like there was something open on the other side. I lifted my hand to crawl further inside and then instantly stopped myself.

What the actual hell was wrong with me?! I couldn’t just go climbing into snot-filled trees alone in the dark. Was I really that stupid to –

From behind me, the creature in pursuit gave another heart-stopping growl and my fight-or-flight response had me scrambling inside the tree without a second thought. I’d take whatever the hell this was over whatever the hell that was.

By the time I emerged on the other side, I was covered in snot. Fighting back the instinctive gagging that rose up, I slowly pushed to my feet and looked around. The air was thick, settling heavily in the bottom of my lungs and making it hard to catch my breath.

Though I could tell this was the forest, it was… wrong. Though it was brighter now, enough that I could see easily without the flashlight, it didn’t comfort me. Everything around me was a dingy, murky gray – from the trees, to the leaves, to the snot smeared over everything in sight. Slowly I crept forward, my survival instincts telling me to get as far from the thing on the other side of the tree as possible.

Was… was this the Upside Down? Again, Dustin’s words came back to me. A dark reflection… an echo of our world. This fit the bill to a tee. And if this was the upside down…

“Barb?” I called out, my tentative voice shaky and barely-there. Clearing my throat, I called a little louder, “Barb?”

“Ally!” my head whipped around in the direction of my best friends voice. She was here! I’d found Barb!

“Where are you?” I cried out, ignoring the rest of the unsettling world around me as I raced after her voice. “Barbara! Where are you?!”

“It’s not safe!” she cried someone on my left. Instantly I turned and headed deeper into the woods. “Stop! Ally, stop!”

My feet obeyed instantly I skid to a standstill, breathing hard as I looked around. Not safe… what wasn’t safe? I turned in a slow circle, scouring the trees for my best friend. “What’s not safe? Where are you? I’m here, I can help –“

“Leave. You have to leave,” she begged, sounding like she was just feet away. As I started to her voice she hissed, “Allison stop!”

On her command I stilled again, and now I could hear another noise rising through the trees. More growling, leaves crunching. Slowly getting louder; slowly getting closer. My heart stuttered painfully in my chest and I took a ragged, terrified breath as the creature I’d been running from came into view.

The silhouette of what approached me was definitely not human. It was tall, nearly half the height of the trees around it, with long, wiry limbs that swung as it made its way closer to me. It was creeping sluggishly, swinging its massive, pointed head from side to side, head tilted back to sniff at the air.

It was looking for me.

Carefully, quietly, I began to back up the way I’d come. Only now did I realize I’d lost where I came in, but that didn’t matter right now. I just had to hide. I took slow, precise steps back, not daring to look away from the thing. As long as I knew where it was it couldn’t take me by surprise.

“Slow,” Barb whispered, voice no louder than a breeze. I pulled back my movement even more, easing my foot down onto the leaves, holding my breath. Too late did I feel the twig under my heel.
It snapped just as I realized what was happening and for a moment everything went still and quiet. The creature’s head snapped to stare directly at me and it gave a bone-jarring shriek, flaps of skin flying back to reveal row upon row of teeth inside its gaping mouth.

And as the creature surged for me, just past the trees beside it, I saw Barb standing in the shadows. Her wide, terrified eyes met mine and for just a moment we held each other’s gaze, relief and happiness at the sight of one another so powerful it almost brought me to my knees.

“RUN!” Barb begged, breaking the trance I was in, and in the next moment she disappeared from view. The faceless creature dove between us, its long, spindly fingers tangling into my sweater as it dove in for the kill.