wasteland, STRANGER THINGS

five.

CHAPTER FIVE:

THE FLEA AND THE ACROBAT

After the incident at school, the group went back to Mike's basement. El was lounging on the couch, looking very tired.

"What was Will saying?" Mike asked, "Like home...Like home...but dark?"

"And empty." Lucas added.

"Empty and cold. Wait, did he say cold?" Dustin sighed.

"I don't know. The stupid radio kept going in and out." 

"And he kept asking for his mom." Cassie pointed out.

"It's like riddles in the dark." Dustin huffed.

"Like home. Like his house?" Mike guessed.

"Or maybe like Hawkins." Lucas proposed.

"Upside down." El muttered weakly.

"What'd she say?" Lucas questioned.

"Upside down." Mike repeated.

"What?" Lucas asked.

"Upside down." Mike said again.

Mike hurriedly ran over to the game board.

"Cassie, I think you might've been right." Mike stated.

"Of course I was." Cassie grinned, "...What was I right about?"

"When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board, over remember?" Mike flipped the board to the correct side and then flipped it back to the dark side, "Upside down. Dark. Empty."

"Do you understand what he's talking about?" Lucas wondered.

"No." Dustin shook his head.

"Kind of?" Cassie raised her eyebrow.

"Guys, come on, think about it. When El took us to find Will, she took us to his house, right?" Mike mentioned.

"Yeah. And he wasn't there." Lucas stated blankly.

"But what if he was there? Like Cassie said. What if we just couldn't see him? What if he was on the other side?" Mike suggested.

The two other boys stared at him confusedly. Cassie thought she was getting the hang of it. Mike flipped the board to the lighter side.

"What if this is Hawkins" Mike turned the board to the darker side, "and...this is where Will is? The Upside Down."

"Like the Vale of Shadows." Dustin's eyes lit up.

"What's that?" Cassie asked. 

Dustin grabbed some makeshift binder, all of it looked like it was about Dungeons and Dragons.

"The Vale of Shadows is 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 plane of monsters." Dustin read and then lifted his head up, "It is right next to you, and you don't even see it."