009 | mike wheeler | S4 SPOILERS!

FIVE

TW: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS LOTS OF MENTIONS OF BLOOD AND AN IMPLIED ED! 

I WILL SECTION OFF THE ED PART, BUT NOT THE BLOOD PART

"The Vale of Shadows," Dustin read. "Is a dimension that is a dark reflection or echo of our world." He looked up from the book, sharing glances with Lucas, Dawn, and Mike. "It is a place of decay and death. A plane out of phase. A place of monsters." Dustin looked up again at the group. "It is right next to you and you don't even see it." He recited, not looking back down at the book.

"An alternate dimension," Mike recalled.

"But... how... how do we get there?" Lucas wondered.

"You cast shadow walk," Dustin remarked.

"In real life, dummy."

"We can't shadow walk but... maybe they can." Dustin looked at Dawn and Eleven.

Dawn shook her head. "I think only Eleven can."

"Do you know how we get there? To the Upside Down?" Mike asked, looking over at El.

"Oh my god." Lucas sighed when she shook her head.

A couple of hours later, Dawn was back at her house. Unfortunately, so was Lonnie. She always hated Lonnie, and Lonnie always hated her. It was a mutual agreement that they had nothing to do with each other. Then one night, he left. He only ever came around on the most special occasions, specifically for a funeral.

There was a blue tarp covering a hole Joyce had made using an axe in the wall. Dawn was wearing an old black dress of Nancy's- it had thick straps on each shoulder, with a collar going only a few inches under her neck. The most appropriate shoes other than the snow boots she could wear were her converse. Paring converse with a black dress, especially for a funeral, wasn't ideal, but it was all she had.

Joyce helped her curl her hair, being especially careful not to burn her. While Joyce and Jonathan talked in the living room, Dawn snuck away into Joyce's room. She took out her makeup bag and looked at herself in the mirror. After pulling out an assortment of products, she grabbed the lip gloss. She carefully unscrewed the lid, pulling out the wand with caution. She applied the glossy formula to her lips, smacking them just like most girls in her classes did. She then took out the mascara. She took a deep breath and took the wand to her eyelashes. Just ad it made contact, she blinked, causing the mascara to smudge, leaving dots around her eyes. She tried wiping it away with her finger, but it did nothing. She then took a wet washcloth and wiped it off, promising to herself that she would never wear lipgloss again. She put the bag away, stopping to look at herself in the mirror. After playing with her hair and practicing her smile for about a minute, she smiled a real, genuine smile, nothing like the ones she practiced.

"Pretty." She whispered to herself.

At the funeral, Dawn stood next to Mike, Lucas, and Dustin. While everyone else was listening to the priest, they were focused on one of the popular girls from school, who was crying.

"Just wait 'till we tell Will Jennifer Hayes was crying at his funeral," Dustin whispered. Dawn wondered if maybe the mixtape she found was for Jennifer. Maybe they both liked each other. They didn't talk to each other, but Jennifer would occasionally glance at Will.

While Lonnie and Jonathan shared grief and thanks to everyone at the funeral, Joyce and Dawn stood, staring at Will's coffin. There were no shared words between them, but there was an understanding that they knew he was alive. Dawn didn't want to believe Joyce. Lonnie said she was going crazy. Dawn didn't want to believe Lonnie either. On the other hand, it wasn't just Joyce going crazy. Dawn had heard Will- there was no mistaking it.