002 - Stranger Things

Chapter fourteen: Unknown Whispers

Nellie swam beneath the river, the cold sensation of the water getting more and more bearable the closer she got to the seabed. Yet,  as soon as she reached it she felt her own body suddenly jolt upside down as if a huge force was pulling her into something. At first, she wasn't sure what it was but when she saw the red portal, almost like veins, her head spiralled with flashbacks.

Flashbacks she never wished to think of. Her brain started to create images in her mind from when she had first gone to the upside down. When Henry had accidentally sent her there the first time, she'd first seen the red veins until everything had gone black. For someone who had never seen such a place before, it was beyond frightening and so she'd ended up passing out but by the time she'd awoke there were so many things around. There was an old grandfather clock that never stopped ticking and weird creepy noises that only seemed to happen every once in a while but when they did it was enough to make you run a mile. Sure soon enough she got used to it but it had definitely been a game of survival and she still had no idea how she'd lasted so long. Not to mention the creatures there, it was a miracle she was still in one piece.

Soon she found herself on the ground of the familiar place that had once been her "home". The atmosphere made a shivering tingle down her spine.

"Nellie!" Someone interrupted her recollection of the place. It was Steve in the distance. She sighed in relief 'thank goodness he's safe' she thought whilst running up to him, only to realise that he wasn't safe at all.

Steve was laying on the floor with demo bats flying all around him and one around his neck, suffocating him and eating away at his own human flesh. He tried his best to get them off but there were far too many for a man to fight off alone. Lucky for him, however, Nellie and everyone else had just arrived in time.

Nellie launched at the bats, grabbing one of the oars from Eddie and bashing them. Soon everyone had joined in and it was like a huge massacre of bats vs humans.

"COME ON SON OF A BITCH." Eddie shouted, throwing one of the bats away, which allowed Steve to stand to his feet and rip the last bat apart.

He let out a deep breath of relief and then wiped the sweat from his forehead before looking down at his open wound.

"Are you okay?" Nellie asked, concerned.

Steve looked at her and tried to regain his breath, "well, they took about a pound of flesh. But other than that yeah, never better." he nodded.

Robin looked over and furrowed her brows, "Uh, do you guys think these bats have, like, rabies?" She asked, causing everyone to look at her with more concern and worry.

"Well it's just like rabies are my biggest fear and I think we should get you to a doctor real soon because once the symptoms set in it's too late." She began a rant on rabies. "And you're already like dead by then." She continued but was stopped by the return of not only the same number of bats as before but double the amount.

Nellie's eyes widened, "They won't stop attacking  unless we're out of their sight." She turned to Nancy and the others. "Follow me!" she ordered them and then ran towards the trees that formed a dark woods.

Robin sighed, "brilliant, more running." She complained but followed the group.

"Under here!" She told everyone, going underneath the big rock that they had been under earlier when finding Eddie, except now it was the darker version of it.

Everyone piled underneath the rock and watched as red lightning struck in the sky as the bats glided through it. Waiting for the all is clear, they looked at one another, waiting for the signal. Robin was the first to make her way out, followed by Eddie, followed by Nellie. Steve then was about to follow Nancy but suddenly his vision all went blurry and his face scrunched up.

"Hey, guys I don't think-" he began speaking but then fell into the rock beside him.

Nancy turned and gasped, "Steve? Jesus!"

"I'm fine. I'm fine." He tried to lie through the pain but of course, they all saw straight through him and knew he wasn't fine at all.

Robin knelt beside Nancy who ripped a piece of her clothing off to secure the wound, whilst she kept Steve from thinking about the pain too much. She was quite good at distractions despite the worry she had for her best friend.

"So the good news is I don't think it's rabies but if you start having hallucinations or.. muscle spasms, or you start feeling like really aggressive that you want to punch me you gotta let me know." Robin told him. Okay maybe she wasn't entirely good at the entire distraction part but she was working on it.

"Robin.." Steve said through gritted teeth from the pain. "I kinda wanna punch you."

Robin laughed nervously, "sense of humours still intact. That's a good sign." She said then moved out of the way so Nancy could wrap up his wound.

Nellie waited outside, watching as Eddie climbed up one of the huge logs, "watch out for the vines you step on one and you're stepping on the one creator of this entire place." she warned him.

"Nellie..." a voice whispered. "Nellie.. you can't hide from me any longer.." it spoke more than her name for once.

"Okay, that's not funny alright?" Nellie said, turning to the others who were in deep conversation about Nancy having guns in her house.

She raised her brow and then shuddered slightly, "Hey guys.. do you think we could work a little quicker." she mumbled but no one seemed to be listening to a word she was saying at all.

"They can't hear you..." the whisper returned. "No one can only me"

Nellie looked around the area confused, "Who are you!? What do you want!?" she almost yelled.

"I... well you will see if you follow my voice. Don't worry you're friends won't mind if you get away for a while.."

"Yeah!? And what if I don't!?" She tested whoever this was, not getting a great feeling about what they were saying.

The whisper chuckled and seemed to be even closer to her, it was as if she could feel the breaths on her neck. "If you don't? Well, your friends will suffer a whole lot more that's for sure. Follow me and they'll never know I mean they probably won't even notice you're gone."

She shook her head, closing her eyes for a moment. "You're not real. You're just a voice.. you're just my conscience."

"Oh I'm real Nel, I'm as real as ever." the voice got louder, no longer a whisper. "If you won't come I'll just bring you to me"

Out of nowhere everything started to spin, her head moving from side to side as if she was on a constant loop, she had no idea what was going on but for some reason, the strange whisper actually seemed familiar to her but she wasn't sure how. She did however know that she was about to find out.