Y/N Henderson known as the girl next door. She didn't think much of the secrets that Hawkins, Indiana held deep in its creepy woods. All she needed was her best friends Hazel and Stella, the trio of Hawkins High School. Nothing happened in Hawkins...
"I'd hate to be that person, but can we go through it again? I'm not entirely ready to enter that other realm," Hazel said. She fixed her blue jacket, tilting her head to the side. She smiled slightly.
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Nancy sighed and nodded. We all stood in a circle, discussing the plan again before stepping into the gate. "Phase one. We meet Erica at the playground. She'll signal Max and Lucas when we're ready," I said. "Phase two," Nancy stated. "Max baits Vecna. He'll go after her, which will put him in his trance," Stella answered. "Phase three," Nancy rested her hands on her hips.
"Me, Hazel, and Eddie will draw the bats away," Dustin replied.
"Phase four."
"We head into Vecna's newly bat-free lair and," Robin shook the glass bottle, "Flambe."
"Nobody moves on to the next phase until we've all copied. Nobody deviates from the plan, no matter what. Got it?" Nancy said. We all nodded in unison. One by one, we grabbed our weapons and went over to Eddie's trailer. Steve went through the gate, with the rest of us following him. The other side was cold, colder than when we were here last. I rubbed my shoulders as we stepped out of the trailer.
I could hear the Demo Bats chirping in the distance with other odd sounds following after. Steve stood beside me. "If anything goes south, you abort. Draw the attention of the bats. Keep them busy for a minute or two. We'll take care of Vecna," I said, looking at Eddie, Dustin, and Hazel.
"Don't try to be cute or a hero or something. You guys are just-" Steve began. "Decoys," Eddie interrupted, "Got it." Hazel nodded, telling each of us to watch our backs. I glanced at my brother, who hugged me and then joined the others. Eddie gave me a pat on the shoulder before lightly pushing me forward.
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(Later - Same Outfit)
Robin shook as she stepped over a vine. She held onto my shoulder, trying to keep herself from falling. "I don't mean to freak anyone out, but I swear we've seen this tree before," she said. "That's impossible," Nancy replied. Nancy glanced behind her shoulder and then at the broken path in front of us. We couldn't figure out if we'd been down this way before. "That would suck, right? If Vecna destroys the world because we got lost in the woods?" Robin spoke.
Her voice sounded uncertain. Robin chuckled nervously and wiped her hands on her jeans. "Robin, hey, watch out for the vines! Hive Mind!" I shouted, pointing to the ground. "Thank you!" she shouted back, walking a bit ahead of us. Stella walked past me to make sure her cousin didn't fall.
"God. It's like watching another child," I muttered, earning a laugh from Nancy. There were freakishly tall trees on either side of us. They had thick branches that towered over each of us. The Upside Down was already dark, but the thick parts of the trees made it even darker. And it didn't help that there was a piercing red and blue hue to the sky. We intentionally didn't talk a lot to keep an ear out for any announcements through our radio.
