March 26th, 1986

The Upside Down

anaidnI ,snikwaH

Grabbing onto the small edge of the crater that rested at the bottom of the lake, I turned to look between Nancy, Robin, and Eddie before pulling myself through the opening. Taking in a deep breath, I quickly regretted the action as the debris that floated in the air burned my throat and only caused me to cough. Stumbling up from my place, my eyes scanned over the desolate landscape that surrounded me. Large, grotesque veins decorated the bottom of a now drained Lover's Lake while a blood-red sky stared down at me.

A strangled scream broke through the air as Nancy climbed into the Upside Down, followed closely by Robin and Eddie. Separating myself from the group, I ran in the direction of the scream to find that three creatures held Steve down while more began to swarm above him. One of the creatures held Steve down by his neck, what looked to be a tail constricted his throat while the other two chewed away at his sides

His feet kicked into the hard stone below us, not far from him rested an abandoned oar. Not wanting to waste another second, I ran to pick up the oar before swinging it down on the creature that ate into his left side. "Hey there..." I mumbled as Eddie grabbed a second oar before swinging it down on the other creature.

Slamming the end of my oar into the demo creature that strangled Steve, it screeched in protest, calling down the others that surrounded us. "Nancy!" I screamed, quickly throwing the girl my oar as they surrounded her before dropping to the ground to avoid the bat that swooped down at me, narrowly avoiding its claws.

Glaring down at the bat that continued to tighten its grip on Steve's throat, I fumbled with my jacket before quickly pulling out my pocketknife, clicking it open as I gripped onto the creature's tail. "Screw. Off." I seethed, ripping the blade through its flesh before unwrapping the remaining tail.

"Nell behind you!" A voice screamed out as something sharp dug into my shoulder blades pulling me up from my place beside Steve as he struggled to breathe, dropping my knife out of shock, I clawed at the creature that continued to drag me away from Steve, barely giving him the chance to grab onto me.

Pulling himself off the ground, Steve latched a hand onto my wrist as I reached out to him before grabbing onto the tail of the bat and yanking it off of me. Falling to the ground, I groaned lightly before searching for my knife while Steve slammed the creature into the ground repeatedly as it struggled to fly away.

Moving to help Steve with the bat, he held a hand out to stop me before placing his foot on top of the neck of the creature and ripping its body in the opposite direction. Dropping the remaining half of the bat, Steve took a moment to spit out the blood that had pooled in his mouth before looking up at the group with his chest heaving.

"Steve, oh my God..." I whispered, quickly pulling him to face me while the group struggled to catch their breath. "Jesus H. Christ!" Eddie screamed, throwing his now broken and bloody oar onto the ground. "Don't touch it-" I mumbled, slapping Steve's hand away from the broken skin that revealed the missing chunks of flesh.

Flinching at the sight, I released a soft gasp before looking back up at him. "Well, they took about a pound of flesh... But other than that, should be fine." Steve mumbled with a fake grin. "I told you to be careful..." I whispered, allowing a few frustrated tears to fall down my cheek before gently pulling him into my side.

"Uh, do you guys think these bats have, like, rabies?" Robin questioned, shining her light onto one of the creatures' corpses. "What?" Steve scoffed as he began to wrap an arm around me. "It's just that rabies are, like, my number one greatest fear. And I think we should get you to a doctor soon because once symptoms set in, it's too late. You're already dead." She rambled on while we continued to stare at her in shock.

"Robin we're standing in an evil, dark, alternate dimension and you're worried about rabies?" I questioned with a squint of my eyes, earning a quick nod from the girl. "Come on..." I groaned, moving to pull Steve back to the opening as the sound of creatures chittering rang through the air.

Peering up at the sky, we watched as six bats flew towards us before resting around the glowing gate, hissing as we took a small step towards it. "All right. There's not that many." Steve whispered as Nancy, Robin, and Eddie stood behind us. "We can take 'em." He nodded as my grip tightened on my knife.

Suddenly a sharp cry rang through the air, the sound of wings flapping in the distance pulled our attention away from the few bats that blocked our only way out and onto the swarm of bats that approached us and they seemed to be moving pretty fast. "You were saying..." Robin whispered as red lighting flashed from between the clouds, illuminating just how many bats there were.

Feeling a tug on my sleeve, I quickly turned to face Nancy as she looked off to the woods that rested to the right of us. "The woods. Come on!" She yelled out before pulling Steve and me out of our place and towards the barren woods.

~~~

We hid under Skull Rock, the chittering of the demo bats as they flew past caused us to cower and shake in our place. Kneeling beside one another, shoulders pressed tightly together as we peered carefully past the rock above us before shifting back into place. "Okay... That was close." Robin whispered as the last of the bats flew over us, allowing us to crawl out of the tight space.

"Too close." Eddie groaned, stretching out his limbs while Steve began to sway in his place as he tried to straighten himself out. "Sh- Shit..." He groaned, using the boulder next to him for leverage as he cradled a hand over his side. "Steve? Jesus..." I mumbled as I moved to help him, taking quick note of the thin trails of blood running down either side of his body. "I'm fine. I'm fine..." He tried to wave me off as I tried to help him.

"No, you're not. You're losing blood." I whispered before placing my hands on his shoulders and gently pushing him down. "Sit... Come on, it's all right." I mumbled to him as he leaned back on the rock with a pained groan, still cupping his hand over the wound before slowly pulling it away to reveal the multiple gashes and earning a shocked gasp from Robin.

Frowning, I looked down at the thick material of my skirt before slicing my knife through the material, ripping the bottom half off as Robin kneeled next to us. "So the good news is I'm pretty sure wooziness is not a symptom of rabies. But if you start having hallucinations or muscle spasms or you start feeling aggressive, like you wanna punch me, let me know." She informed him as I finished ripping off the material.

Groaning, Steve clenched his teeth before placing his hands over his eyes. "Robin..." He mumbled, dragging his hands down to glare at her as she hummed in question. "I kinda wanna punch you." His words pulled a nervous chuckle from her. "Sense of humor's still intact. That's a good sign." She mumbled before moving away from us.

"Okay..." I whispered, nodding for Steve to sit up and come closer to me while his eyes traced over the undershorts that now peeked out from under my ruined skirt. "Sorry..." He mumbled awkwardly as he raised his arms to give me room. "Didn't like this one anyway..." I mumbled before holding the material in front of the wound. "Ready?" I questioned, a warning before I applied any pressure.

Nodding, Steve clenched his jaw as I wrapped the material around his abdomen, the flesh now hidden by the makeshift bandage squelched slightly as I tightened the material, bringing the two ends back to the front. "Sorry..." I whispered as Steve let out a soft groan. "It's okay." He nodded for me to continue.

Pulling on the edges sharply to keep it from slipping, I flinched before peering back up at him. "Too tight?" I questioned with a frown. "No, that's good." He nodded before leaning against the rock once again as I tied off the bandage. "Okay..." I mumbled, drifting my eyes over his chest before landing on the wide eyes that stared back down at me. "Thanks." He whispered with a faint smile.

Leaning forward slightly, I quickly moved back in my place and away from Steve before looking down at the ground. "Glad you're okay." I mumbled awkwardly before standing from my place, turning to my right to find that Eddie now stood on the boulder across from us. "So, uh... This place is like Hawkins, but with monsters and nasty shit?" He questioned as I helped Steve off of the ground. "Pretty much." I mumbled with a grimace.

Nodding to himself, he moved to jump off the boulder only to quickly be stopped by Nancy. "Wait, watch out for the vines." She called out, "It's all a hive mind."

"It's all a what?" He questioned loudly, looking down at the vines that wrapped around the boulder and moved slightly in their place. "All the creepy crawlies around here. They're, like, one or something. Step on a vine, you're stepping on a bat, you're stepping on Vecna." Steve informed him as he adjusted his bandage.

Nodding before taking a few careful steps off of the boulder, Eddie mumbled, "Shit." Under his breath before joining back up with the rest of us. "But everything from our world is still here, right? Except people?" Robin questioned. "As far as we know, yeah." I nodded with a frown.

"So, theoretically, we could go to the police station and steal guns and grenades and whatever we need to blow up those bat things that are guarding the gate." Robin theorized with an excited grin, only for a part of her idea to be shot down by Steve. "I highly doubt the Hawkins PD has grenades, Robin. But guns, yeah, sure."

Nancy shook off the idea quickly. "We don't have to go all the way downtown for guns. I have guns in my bedroom." She reminded Steve and me with a grin. "You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns, plural, in your bedroom?" Eddie questioned in disbelief while Nancy tilted her head to the side to glare at the boy. "Full of surprises, isn't she?" Robin called out with a wide grin.

"A Russian Makarov and a revolver." She listed simply with a shrug. "Yeah, almost shot me with that one." Steve called out, pulling a dry chuckle from me. "Yeah, you almost deserved it." I mumbled under my breath while he shot me a smirk.

Whatever moment we had was quickly ruined as a sleeveless jean jacket was thrown into Steve's face by Eddie. "For your modesty, dude." He stated with a slight scowl while Steve squinted his eyes at the teen but before he had the chance to utter a word, the ground shook beneath us.

Tumbling and falling in our places, Robin quickly grabbed a hold of Nancy while Eddie pulled her into his side, and Steve quickly pulled me into his chest as he leaned against Skull Rock to stay upright. Staying frozen in our place as the ground came back to a stand-still, the sound of snarling from the woods was the next thing to grab our attention.

"So guns seem like a pretty good idea to me..." Eddie mumbled as we stared off into the dark woods in front of us. "Yeah, me too." Robin groaned as she pulled herself away from him.

Shrugging on the jacket Eddie had given him, Steve branched off from us. "So what are we waiting for?" He mumbled as he led the way to Nancy's, clicking on his flashlight to light the path in front of us.

~~~

"Couldn't we have tried a road, or something slightly less creepy?" Robin questioned softly as she jogged to catch up with Nancy. "I think we're getting close. We're almost out of here. Don't worry." She offered, shooting Robin a quick grin before continuing through the woods.

Walking by Eddie's side, I watched as Steve bounced the light around us before standing beside us. "Hey, uh... Eddie. Hey, man." Steve called out awkwardly as we looked back at him. "Listen, I uh... I just want to say thanks." Steve mumbled out as he shifted his eyes over the two of us. "For saving my ass back there."

Biting down on my tongue, I sped up my pace to give the two some space, slipping my hands into my pockets awkwardly. "Shit. You saved your own ass, man." Eddie joked dryly, "I mean, that was a real Ozzy move you pulled back there." He continued, I could practically hear the grin in his voice as I pulled the ring off of my finger to twist it in my palm.

"Henderson told me you were a badass. Insisted on the matter, in fact." They spoke quietly behind me while my eyes traced over the faint engraving resting on the inside of the ring. It had faded over the years, pieces either chipping away while some areas began to smooth themselves out. "-Guess I got a little jealous, Steve. I guess I couldn't accept the fact that Steve Harrington was actually a good dude." Eddie's voice drifted through the air while I fished inside my jacket for the ring from the Creel house.

"I mean, rich parents, popular, chicks love him. Not a douche? No... No way." He mumbled as I twisted the smaller ring in my palm, squinting my eyes as I searched for a clue that possibly didn't exist or even matter. "Still super jealous as hell, by the way. Which is why I would have never jumped in that lake to save your ass. Not under any... normal circumstances."

The faint engraving stared back at me, not as faded and chipped away since it had laid abandoned for years so it was a tad bit easier to read, 'Ayers'. Dragging my eyes over my ring, I compared the font and the bits of the letters I could make out in an attempt to compare the two.

"See... The only reason I came in here was 'cause those ladies came in straight after you. Now, I was too ashamed to be the one who stayed behind. But Nellie right there, she didn't waste a second. Not one second, she just dove right in. Now, I don't know what happened between you two, but if I were you, I would get her back. 'Cause, that was as unambiguous a sign of true love as these cynical eyes have ever seen."

It was chipped and faded but there was enough evidence to assume what was written on the inside of my ring. "Ayers..." I whispered under my breath as the ground began to shake below us, causing me to fall to the ground, dropping the two rings from my hand and falling into the dirt as I braced myself.

Ahead of me, Nancy and Robin used the trees next to them to keep themselves up right until Nancy pushed herself away from the tree, stumbling as she continued her hurried pace down the path. "Nancy!" Robin called out, pushing for me to move out of my place, quickly scooping up the rings before following after the two.

"Nancy!" Robin called out as the ground became still once again, the four of us coming to a stop behind the girl as she stared down at the house that rested in front of us. "Come on..." She mumbled as we took in the wrecked home that we had just resided in not even twenty-four hours ago.

~~~

The door hinges creaked in protest, vines bending and cracking slightly in their places as Steve pushed open the door to the Wheeler household, albeit it wasn't exactly the household we'd become familiar with. Stepping into the home, our only source of light bounced off the particles that drifted in the air inside the rotting home. "Might be time to get a maid, Wheeler." Eddie mumbled sarcastically as he got his first real look at what the Upside Down did to Hawkins.

"Come on... I don't want to stay here longer than we have to." Nancy called out, having to force her attention away from the state of her home and back onto the mission.

"Are you sure you wanna bike home alone?" A voice questioned in the distance, wavering slightly in tone as I turned to look in the direction of the Wheeler's garage.

"" Eddie whispered, shaking the hand that I hadn't even realized he had placed on my shoulder. Humming in response I quickly shook off the daze that I hadn't even noticed I fell in before following the group up the stairs while Steve trailed slowly behind us.

Pushing open her bedroom door, Nancy hurried towards her closet, sliding open the doors before searching for a certain shoe box she kept hidden on the top shelf. "We're nothing serious, Barb. Seriously!" A voice rang in my ears as I moved to walk through the doorway, a sharp pain slicing through my head and causing me to hold onto my temple. "Do you say that about every boy you make out with?"

Taking in a deep breath, my eyes scanned over the bedroom in front of me, images of Nancy's real room and the Upside Down one melting together. This wasn't Nancy's room... At least it hadn't been for the past two years.

"Those aren't guns." Eddie pointed out as the group looked down at the heels that rested inside the shoe box. "These heels are pointy, but I was hoping for a more deadly projectile." Robin muttered awkwardly, looking up from the shoes and onto an extremely lost Nancy. "I don't understand..." She mumbled, eyes wide as they stayed glued to the old pink heels. "Maybe you left them somewhere else?" Eddie questioned, looking around the room for the guns.

Scoffing off the boy's idea, Nancy quickly denied it. "There's a six-year-old in the house. I know where I keep my guns." She stated sternly. "Also, I threw these away years ago..." She mumbled, trying to understand what was going on. "Nance, this isn't your room. Not- Not anymore, at least." I mumbled, still frozen in my place by the door.

Scanning her eyes in front of her, Nancy slowly nodded in agreement, "This is old wallpaper..." She mumbled before turning to look at her bed. "That mirror went to a garage sale." She listed as she passed it before picking up the plushie that rested on the foot of her bed. "And you... you're not supposed to be here... No, I gave you to cousin Joanna two years ago." She continued to walk around her bed before throwing the plush down and grabbing the diary she wrote in every day.

Flipping through the pages, she found that most of them were empty, having to flip back to the last entry. "What is it?" Eddie questioned as he and Robin hurried toward her. "Nance, you're freaking me out." She whispered to the girl softly. "I think the reason that my guns aren't here is because they don't exist yet." She stated slowly.

"They don't... exist?" His jaw locked as he tried to spit out the word while Nancy turned to face them, raising her diary in the air. "This diary should be full of entries. The last entry is November 6th, 1983." She explained, her eyes drifting onto me with a frown. "It's the day Will was taken..." I mumbled out, "The day the gate opened. It's Hawkins just... frozen in time."

"Dustin! Dustin!" Steve screamed from downstairs, pulling our attention away from the confounding detail and onto the hall before hurrying back down the stairs to search for Steve. "Dustin! Can you hear me! Dustin?" He continued to call out before we finally found him in the dining room, walking around in circles as he waved his arms out wildly in front of him. "Du-- Hello? Hello!"