Hawkins Sweetheart - 𝐁.𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐕𝐄.

Five - The Morning After

Chapter Five - The Morning After

"She's a mess of gorgeous chaos, and you can see it in her eyes."

Jessica awoke to a pounding headache and a stomach ache that screamed alcohol. She rolled over in her bed and shoved her face into her pillow, groaning. Suddenly, memories of the night before flashed through her mind. Her head sprung up as she gasped, looking around the room. She remembered her moment with Billy, and what happened between her and Ricky, and when Billy came looking for her in Tina's room. But between those fragments of her memory, a terrifying one was brewing. Slowly as she rose from her bed, bits and pieces of what she saw last night came to the front of her mind. 

She remembered going into Tina's room to calm herself down. Then, when she looked up, everything was different. She remembered the eery sounds that called to her, and the white particles that covered the air. She remembered the growls, and the darkness, and the window. She remembered exactly what she saw out that window. The shadow. 

Making out with Billy, her ex-boyfriend calling her a whore, and then laughing in Tina's bedroom beside the same guy she made out with, could definitely be blamed on the alcohol. This, however, was different. How much alcohol would you need to consume to hallucinate being back in the upside down? Jessica sat on her bed with her fingers placed to her temples, trying to think of every logical explanation for what she saw. She was not back in The Upside Down, and the gate was definitely closed. Despite having hallucinations for the past year, it had never gotten this bad. It had never gotten to the point where it felt like she was really there. 

Jessica looked over to her desk and glanced at the pill bottles sitting directing on top. Her therapist and doctor both suggested medication to help her with her hallucinations and trauma following the events of last year. Maybe she had forgotten to take it yesterday. Maybe this could all be explained by missing a dosage of her meds. But even when she wasn't on the medication, her hallucinations were never that bad. Never that real. She gulped down multiple pills with a swig of water and laid back down on her bed. 

"It's just the pills." She thought. Little did she know, Will Byers had also had an intense hallucination last night. While he was tricking or treating with his friends, he also found himself back in The Upside Down. 

"Trick or Treat, Freak!" Another voice called as they jumped in front of him. "Boo!" Yelled another. Will stumbled back and fell to the floor, hitting his back against the hard concrete. His hands dropped the camera Bob had let him borrow, and his pillowcase filled with candy fell alongside it. When he hit the floor, he looked around and realised he was alone. The bullies that had scared him, gone. Mike, Dustin and Lucas, gone. The rest of the kids in the neighbourhood, gone. He was now completely alone. The familiar eery blue tint filled the town. Thick vines covered every path, road and house around him. White particles surrounded the air and ambient growls could be heard from the distance. The night sky that was filled with shining stars just a second ago, now seemed so much darker. As he slowly got to his feet, he realised where he was. He was back in The Upside Down. Will looked around, begging to see one of his friends, but he didn't. 

"Mike?" He called. When he received no answer, he shouted again, "Mike!" But no matter how loud he screamed, he would never be heard. He was trapped again. Just like last year. He called for his best friend one more time, before realising he was alone. Distant chittering startled the boy, causing his eyes to travel quickly between where he thought the sounds were coming from. A loud rumbling coming from the sky ahead caused him to look up. A dark shadow arose in the distance, forming into some kind of monster. Will gulped before running away. The monster chased him through the air. Will ran past a house and down into someones yard, before hiding behind a brick wall. He dragged his knees to his chest, and wrapped his arms around them before sinking his head down. Through shaking breaths and distant growls, he shut his eyes and begged for it to all be over as the shadow engulfed him. Suddenly, Will felt an arm grab him.