Orphic ➱ Stranger Things

C H A P T E R S E V E N T E E N

C H A P T E R   S E V E N T E E N
Dark. Cold. Empty.

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Eleven laid on the couch tiredly. Using that much of her power made her obviously, extremely tired. Roni hops down the stairs, carrying a plate. She bends on her knees in front of her. "Hey, El. I brought you some Eggo's. Mike told me how much you like them," El smiles gratefully but doesn't take it.

Roni nods and puts the plate on the table, she sits on the floor next to her and rubs the back of El's hand comfortingly.

"What was Will saying?" Mike asked, frowning in the armchair. "Like home... Like home, but dark." He stands.

"And empty," Lucas adds, putting his hands together in front of his face, sitting on a chair.

"Empty and cold. Wait, did he say cold?" Dustin looked around from the steps.

"Yeah, empty, dark, and cold. He must be so...so scared," Roni said darkly, mentally picturing Will's frightened face. She shudders.

Lucas sighs loudly. "I couldn't tell. The stupid radio kept going in and out," He leans back in the chair.

Mike continued to pace back and forth. "Like home? Like his house?" He asked out loud.

"Or maybe Hawkins," Lucas wondered. El finally spoke after almost an hour.

"Upside down," El mutters. Lucas asked what she said and Mike repeats. Mike walks to the table that still held the board game and sat at the table.

"When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board over, remember?" He explained. They rest of the party walked to the table, Lucas and Dustin sat down, while Roni stood on the side, furrowing her eyebrows. "Upside down. Dark. Empty,"

"Do you understand what he's talking about?" Lucas looked between Roni and Dustin. Dustin said, 'no'. And Roni didn't understand either.

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

"And he wasn't there," Lucas spoke slowly and firmly.

"But what if he was there? What if we just couldn't see him? What if he was on the other side?" Roni twirls her hair around her finger, thinking. He flips the board over on the right side."What if this is Hawkins and," He flips it upside down. "this is where Will is? The Upside Down."

"Like the Vale of Shadows," Dustin gapes. They give each other looks. Roni sighs loudly.

"What is that?"

Dustin gets a book and reads what the Vale of Shadows are. And it was not a good place to be. "An alternate dimension," Mike whispers.

"But...how...how do we get there?" Lucas asks, suddenly frightened by this possibly fictional place. Roni swallowed hard. The story might not be real, it was still a little scary.

"We shadow walk," Dustin answered.

"In real life, dummy," Lucas answers back

"We can't shadow walk, but maybe she can," He nods over to Eleven, who's still tiredly looking at them. And the rest of them glanced over at her.

"Do you know how we get there? To the Upside down?" Mike asks her. El shakes her head tiredly.

"Oh, my god!" Lucas sighs loudly. Roni looks down sadly. If Will is in the Upside Down, a dangerous place, then they needed to find some sort of way to get him back. And right now, they're fresh out of ideas.

Roni breathes deeply in and out of her nose. "Alright guys, we just-we just need to take a breather. Will's funeral is tomorrow," She lays a hand on her hip.

"But we know that Will is alive. What's the point in going to his funeral?" Mike asked, visibly upset.

"To show support, Mike. What if the rest of his family doesn't know, wouldn't it be weird if Will's best friends don't show up at his funeral?"

Mike nods sadly, frowning deeply. Lucas and Dustin grab their bags. Dustin throws Roni her bag as he heads up the stairs. Roni adjusts her backpack strap, looking at the girl on the couch .

"Thank you, El. Just rest up," Roni gives her a closed mouth smile to her and Mike. She pads softly up the stairs and bikes home.