AS ABOVE, SO BELOW (BENEATH HIS FEET) | STRANGER THINGS ✓

CHAPTER THREE | WILL THE MEDIATOR

It wasn't true. It couldn't be. Amanda couldn't be dead. Could she?

To do some math, it had been about a year and a half since she had gone missing. So it was possible that she could have died while in the tunnels. No food or water for a year could do a lot to a person.

Amanda dropped the pamphlet and took a step back to take in what she had just read. Tears welled in her eyes as she ran out the store. She cried and cried, and she didn't wipe them away because she actually let herself cry this time. Her dad told her that crying was going to get her nowhere and get nothing done when she had scraped her knee after falling off of her bike when she was seven. She had to bite back her tears when he applied the rubbing alcohol to keep the wound from infecting.

     It was a hard lesson but it was a lesson learned because she refused to cry up until now. She didn't even cry when her dad left because she knew it wasn't what he would have wanted.

Amanda switched on the static in her head and pleaded, "Someone, please! If you can hear me, my name is Amanda Schwartz and I. Need. Help."

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'

They said that one was an incident, two was a coincidence, and three was a pattern. So when Will heard the static-y message in his head for the third time today, he grabbed his radio, made a beeline for the bathroom, and turned the radio to an empty channel.

"Hello?" he asked, and then released the button to let the static through. "Can you hear me?"

"Hello?" the urgent yet shaky voice asked in return. "Who is this?"

     "This is Will. Will Byers. Who are you?"

     There was silence. Then the voice spoke up, a little choked. "I know you're not gonna believe me but I need you to know that I'm Amanda. Amanda Schwartz. Mandy to others but you didn't need to know that. I go to — or went to, I should say — to Hawkins Middle."

     Will scoffed. "This has to be some sort of sick prank. I can't believe someone would pretend to be a dead girl. I went to her memorial, you asshole. Kind of a kick to the dick if you ask me. I should've listened to Mike." He wanted to believe that it was some sick prank, but deep down he knew that it wasn't. Especially with everything he's been through and everything that's been going on, anything was possible. Ghosts included.

     "Will, please!" Amanda exclaimed, close to tears again. "It can't be a prank if you can hear this. It has to mean something."

     "What would it mean then? Are you saying we have some sort of connection?"

     Silence again. "I dunno. Anything weird happen to you lately?"

     Yeah. Sure. He could name a few. He could even start with the fact that he was talking to a ghost right now, but instead, he went with: "I went missing. It's a long story."

     "Do you remember the date?" Amanda asked. "November sixth, nineteen eighty-three," he answered, "why?"

     "I went missing the same day. Except it was later at night, around eight o'clock. What time did you go missing?"

     "The night of November fifth, but no one realized until the morning after." Will could feel himself breaking into a cold sweat as he started to think about it again. "Something called the Mindflayer took me."

     "The thing from Dungeons and Dragons?" There was a hint of amusement in her tone. "But I can see why you would call it that. Why did it want you? Did it take me, too?"

     Will shrugged, although she couldn't see him. "I dunno. Maybe he thought I'd be a good spy. And it's possible he might have taken you too, to answer your question."

      "And with True Sight, you'd make the perfect double agent," Amanda mumbled in realization. "What does that make me, then? Am I stuck in the Shadowfell?"

"Technically. But we called it the Upside Down," Will agreed. "But I didn't walk through a portal. I fell into a hole that turned into a tunnel. I followed some. . .dog thing into the woods and I fell," Amanda explained. "Do you still have your True Sight? Can you see me?"

"I-I don't think I want to do that." Will let out a shaky breath. "This whole thing kind of took a toll on me when it happened and I'm still kind of recovering from it so — "

"It's okay, Will. I get it. Trust me, I do. My dad left my mom and me when I was eight and I think he hurt me while he was here. So I'm kind of recovering from that, too."

     "Your dad left? So did mine."

     "So we may have more in common than we think." Amanda chuckled. "How are you not freaking out right now? You're practically talking to a ghost."

     "I let a monster from another dimension get into my head and control me. I think I can handle a little small talk via EMF." Will laughed dryly. "Where are you right now?"

     "Physically? My body is in a tunnel underground. But my soul or spirit, whatever it is, is currently standing outside the general store called Melvald's. I think I saw your mom working when I walked in talking to the Sheriff."

     "Can she see you?"

     "I'm a ghost, Will. What do you think?"

     Will pulled the radio away and made a face at it, not expecting a ghost to be so sassy. He brought it back to his ear and answered. "I just thought that whoever was connected to you when you went missing might be able to see you. And maybe my mom was connected by default because I'm connected to you."

"I went to go see my mom. She couldn't see me. I was standing right in front her," Amanda answered bitterly.

     Will let out a breath. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Where are you right now?"

"I'm hiding in my friend Mike's bathroom right now. Which means that I should probably leave. I've been in here for too long."

"Before you go, is there a channel I can contact you on?" Amanda asked. "Channel six should work," answered Will.

"Cool. This is Manda bear signing off. Over and out."

Will pushed the antenna to the radio down and laid his head against the wall. So he was friends with a ghost now. God, he needed to get a hobby.