March 26th, 1986

The Upside Down

anaidnI ,snikwaH

Kneeling by Nancy's bed, the five of us waited to see what exactly it was that Dustin had planned. The boy's instructions had been clear, but rather abrupt and short, telling us that he'd let us know when they were ready and where to meet.

So, we sat in silence, eyes nervously tracing around Nancy's room as we waited for any sign of the group on the other side. Until finally, the rushed and panicked voices of Lucas, Dustin, and Erica drifted through the air, cutting in and out of reality.

"-Let's go, hurry." Dustin mumbled as they entered the room, the group busying themselves with something that we couldn't see. "Come on..." Steve groaned from his place next to me, it felt like whatever they were doing was taking forever and only aided in spiking our nerves. What if this was all a waste of time and didn't work? "Okay, that's it... Go, go!" Dustin yelled at the siblings while we continued to look around the room for any sign of light.

"You guy's seeing this?" Dustin questioned as Steve dragged his flashlight over the surface of Nancy's bed, the faint glow of light from the other side was reflected back to us. Reaching a hand out, I traced my fingers through the air in front of us to see just how much space we had to work with.

They had definitely stolen Holly's Lite-Brite but we could apologize to her later. "Holy shit!" Erica called out while Dustin laughed in a mixture of shock and joy. Dustin's laughter continued to echo around us as I slowly pulled my hand away from the light. "We're not moving, but we're going to unplug it. Stand by." Dustin called out before mumbling something to Lucas that caused the light to dim and disappear out of sight.

"Okay... Try it now." Dustin called out as I traced my eyes over the empty space in front of us, the faint glow was once again replaced by the toxic particles that floated in the air. "Try it." Eddie mumbled from beside me before placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

Slowly nodding in response, I hesitantly dragged my hand through the air that had once been occupied by the glowing light. The air in front of my hand released a dull hum as the dim light resurfaced. Giggling softly to myself, I slowly dragged my pointer finger through the shimmer, writing a simple '' since we didn't have much room to work with.

"Hi!" Dustin screamed happily while the siblings cheered in excitement before quickly returning the greeting. "That worked!" Dustin called out, allowing us to celebrate the small victory. "Yes! Yes!" Eddie chanted happily before yelling at the shimmering light, "Hi!"

Nodding to myself as we began to calm down, I slowly dragged my finger over the air again, chewing on my lip anxiously as I realized just how limited our communication was, we'd need to use small, simple words. '-' I carefully wrote the letters before taking a moment to watch as they dimmed and disappeared into the air. "Stupid?" Lucas questioned, pulling a chuckle from me as I finished the message. ''

"Stuck?" Erica called out, causing us to jump in our places. "Yes..." Steve groaned happily before wrapping his arm around me. "They're stuck in the Upside Down." Lucas quickly pieced it together for them. "Okay... Uh, you can't get back through Watergate?" Dustin hurriedly called out to us, his voice cutting out slightly as we tried to focus on his every word.

Steve's brow furrowed as the five of us exchanged a confused glance. "What the hell's Watergate?" He mumbled while I couldn't help but squint my eyes at the boy's nickname for the gate. "Cause it's in water and it's a gate." Robin slowly made sense of the nickname, pulling a hum from Nancy and Steve. "That's cute..." He nodded for me to answer them.

"Right... No, it's-" I groaned in frustration, having to quickly remind myself that they couldn't hear us before quickly tracing out the letters, '-' the letters stacked on top of one another as I tried to fit as much as I could. '' I finished, listening to the group mumble the letters as they appeared on the Lite-Brite.

"Okay... Um, Watergate's guarded." Dustin called out, letting us know that they understood the message. "We think we have a theory that can help with that." Dustin continued, causing us to grin and nod for him to explain. "Genius child..." Eddie mumbled happily as he leaned over the bed. "We think -the only gate... -A gate... -Murder site." Dustin spoke too quickly, his voice fading in and out of reality and only allowing for us to pick up on a few words. "Does anybody understand what he's talking about?" Steve mumbled with a frown.

Shaking my head, I tried to think about how to ask for more elaboration. "No clue..." Eddie mumbled to Steve as I dragged my finger through the air, writing a simple question mark. "Okay, seriously? How many times do I have to be right on the money before you trust me?" Dustin yelled out, obviously frustrated with the response. "Jesus Christ. This kid's gotta get his ego in check." Steve mumbled, rolling his eyes at the boy.

"It's his tone. Right?" Eddie questioned, looking past me and at Steve who nodded his head in agreement, "I know." He mumbled. "Alright, guys... Just-" I waved my hand to stop the two from continuing the discussion as I repeated the few words we could understand. More specifically how the words Gate and Murder site had been used in the same sentence. "Eddie, how far is your trailer?" I questioned slowly before turning to face him.

"Seven miles." He answered glumly, sure it was walking distance but did we really have the time to walk seven miles in the Upside Down? "Uh... Nance?" Robin suddenly called out before looking down at the girl next to her. "I know your house here is, like, weirdly, creepily frozen in time and shit, but haven't you always had bikes?" The teen's words caused Nancy to quickly turn to me, shrugging her shoulders in question.

"The party always left their bikes in the garage... So, it's worth a shot." I nodded before quickly turning back to where the Lite-Brite rested on the other side, leaving a rushed message for the party before nodding the group to follow me down to the garage.

'-'

''

~~~

My grip around Steve's waist was tight throughout the length of the ride to Eddie's trailer, the closer we got to the trailer park a sickening feeling began to grow over me, one that I struggled to shrug off and ignore.

Abandoning the bikes outside the front gate, Steve held me to his side as we followed close behind the group. "That's gotta be a Guinness World Record. Most miles traveled inter-dimensionally." Robin called out, exhausted and out of breath as we trekked through the community.

Nodding in agreement, I couldn't help but slow my pace as a strange noise caught my attention. It sounded like it was coming from the woods, something about it was familiar but it was distorted, a clock's chime only slow and drowned out. " Nell, what's going on?" Steve whispered, shaking me out of the dazed state I had fallen in and tearing my eyes away from the trees.

"I don't want to talk about it." I tried to brush off his concern but I quickly found myself regretting my decision as I watched a saddened look grow over his features. "No... Please, tell me it isn't still about what I think it is? It was stupid, I know and I-" Steve attempted to apologize for what he had done while I was gone but given the grand scheme of things, that was the least of my worries. "No... No, Steve. It isn't that and I really don't want to have that conversation again, it won't help anything."

Furrowing his brow, Steve watched as the group hurried towards Eddie's trailer before slowing his pace in an attempt to give us more time. "What did I do?" He questioned, eyes wide as he thought over what else he could have possibly done. "It- it's not... you. It's not but considering everything that's happening it's just a lot to take in. Everything's just too much..." My voice faltered as I tried to keep myself from giving into my negative thoughts.

"Nellie, I know there's something you've been holding back. Just tell me... It's okay." He pushed, carefully pulling my hand into his but I couldn't help but shake off his reassurance, his words only caused my frustration to bubble over. "No! No, it's not okay, Steve. I can't even begin to understand what's wrong. I feel like I'm going crazy so how can it possibly be okay?" I finally spit out with a frown, glaring down at the ground in a feeble attempt to avoid the confused gaze he shot me. "What?"

Taking in a deep breath, I slowly nodded my head before reaching inside his jacket to pull out the notebook I had been writing in. "Guess you weren't the only one keeping secrets, huh?" I mumbled with a frown before opening the book to one of the last pages, carefully passing it to him. "I can't... I can't make sense of any of it. But I'll tell you what I can grasp and... And if something happens... To me, maybe Nancy or Dustin or one of you can make sense of it all." I explained as he scanned his eyes over the messy and frantic writing.

"Nell, you're scaring me." He whispered, tearing his eyes away from the book to look back down at me. "I just- I think there's something we don't know about Vecna's plan... I feel like I'm missing something... We're missing something." I stuttered, pulling at my fingers anxiously as I tried to piece together a simple way of explaining everything to him. "How do you know that?"

"Because I- I've been seeing things... I think it's been him. I don't understand it and we don't have the time-" I explained slowly, but he quickly shook off the idea. "Why didn't you say something? We could have figured this out together..."

Sighing, I nodded back down to the journal in his hand before flipping to another page. "I know... And I'm sorry that I waited til now... It's just- I thought we'd have more time but-" I needed to hurry this up, we were almost at Eddie's trailer and the group was waiting on us, curiously watching us from the steps of the trailer.

"Don't!" Steve quickly cut me off before I could finish. "Don't say that." He pleaded, eyes widening at the thought. "I'm just being realistic... If something happens, you guys can't wake me up..." I trailed off, grimacing at the idea of being another one of Vecna's victims. "Yes we can, when we get back we'll pick up a tape and we'll be ready." He fought, pushing off the idea in an attempt to calm his nerves.

Chewing the inside of my cheek, I looked away from Steve before nodding for him to follow me the rest of the way to the trailer, quickly pulling his hand into mine as that same sickening feeling washed over me. We need to get out of here and I doubted that Eddie Munson would have my favorite song hidden amidst all his metal and rock tapes.

"Everything all right?" Eddie questioned, his hand frozen in its place on the doorknob. "Yeah... Yeah- Just breathed in a bunch of this crap." Steve mumbled, waving a hand at the particles that surrounded us before coughing awkwardly into his fist.

Not buying the poor excuse, Eddie shifted his gaze onto me before quirking a brow up in question. "We should get going... Who knows how toxic this shit is." I mumbled, nodding for him to open the door, brushing off the matter altogether. "I won't argue with that." Robin smirked as Eddie carefully pushed open the door to the trailer.

The inside of the trailer was pitch-black, spare for the dim light that shined down from a crack in the roof of the trailer. "Goddamn," Eddie mumbled as we shut the door, staring up at the gate that stared down at us, with the door closed the room became lit by a slight red hue. "This is where Chrissy died..." He continued as we traced our eyes over the vines that surrounded and grew out of the gate while a strange film kept us cut off from the other side. "Like, right where she died."

The covering shook slightly as something pushed on it from the other side. "I think something's in there." Robin whispered as we watched the blunt object slowly press back into the covering, a slight pressure began to build on the other side before the barrier finally snapped and broke away. "What the hell..." I groaned, looking down at the goo that now coated the ground while a bright light beamed down from the gate.

Taking hesitant steps, Steve peered past the edge of the gate before a small smile grew over his features. "No way..." He mumbled before nodding for us to take a look. Moving to stand next to Steve, I placed a hand over my mouth to hide my grin. On the other side, in some sort of strange, mind-shattering way, against all laws of physics, the party stared up at us from the other side. "This is trippy..." Robin mumbled to herself.

"Bada-bada-boom!" Dustin yelled with a proud grin before dropping the broomstick to his side. "All right, Einstein... Now how exactly do we get out of here?" I questioned, placing my hands on my hips as I peered up at them, it was like they were defying gravity, or maybe that was us.

~~~

Standing around the gate, we watched as Max and Lucas dragged a stained mattress into the center of the trailer before placing it under the gate. "Those stains are, uh..." Eddie mumbled awkwardly as he crossed his arm over his chest before looking between us and the mattress. "I dunno what those stains are." He muttered firmly before clearing his throat.

Humming in response Robin shot Nancy and me a glance as she struggled to hide her smirk from the embarrassed teen. "Not quite sure how these physics work. But, uh... here goes nothing." Dustin called out as he moved under the gate, a rope made out of sheets clutched in his hands before he threw one end towards us.

Watching as the sheet fell in front of us, I carefully tugged on our end of the rope before grinning at the strange resistance that kept it in place. "And if my theory is correct..." Dustin mumbled before dropping his end of the rope. "Abracadabra." He grinned, watching as it floated in place.

Chuckling to myself, I yanked harder on the sheet only for it to not budge in its place. "This is the craziest shit I've ever seen in my life. And I've seen some crazy shit." Erica pointed out as she peered up at us before giving Dustin a high-five.

Moving to pull the sheet from my hand, Robin offered me a small grin, "I'll be the guinea pig." She mumbled before pulling herself up the rope, grunting as she climbed up the sheet before finally falling through the gate, allowing gravity to take hold once again as she fell onto the mattress with a thump.

"Oh, thank God..." Robin chuckled as she stared back up at us before throwing a thumbs up in the air. "That was fun." She grinned as Lucas and Max helped her off of the mattress.

Looking between one another in silence, Eddie scoffed lightly under his breath before shrugging his shoulders, "Guess I'll go next..." He mumbled with a small smirk before stepping up to the rope and pulling himself up to the opening until gravity allowed him to fall back on the mattress on the other side. "That... was fun." He chuckled as Dustin helped him up.

"See you guys on the other side..." Nancy called out, circling the rope so that she could shoot Steve and me a small grin before climbing out of the Upside Down.

Watching her fall backward on the mattress, I waved for Steve to go next but he quickly refused the gesture. "Let's get you out of here," Steve mumbled, nodding for me to climb up first.

Pursing my lips, I nodded before carefully slipping my hand out of his. "I'm right behind you..." He mumbled as I reached out a shaky hand to grab the rope. "Time to go home..." I whispered to myself reassuringly before pulling myself up the rope and through the gate. My grip on the rope tightened momentarily as I felt gravity tug the upper half of my body down into the trailer.

Letting go of the sheet, I let myself fall back into the trailer, waiting for the inevitable impact of Eddie's mattress but... it never came. I was still falling... Only into darkness.

Releasing a terrified scream, I reached back out for the rope but I found that I had fallen too far and there was nothing in my surroundings that I could grab on to. "No, no..." I cried, squeezing my eyes shut as my back collided with something cold and hard, like concrete.

Groaning out softly, I slowly pried my eyes open to stare up at the dark red sky above me. I was still in the Upside Down... Why am I still stuck here?

Pushing myself up, I held onto my side as I stood on shaky legs, hurriedly taking in my surroundings. I wasn't in Eddie's trailer anymore, I was alone and stuck in the deep end of a drained pool. Moving towards the furthest wall, hidden in the shadows a hunched-over figure began to grow more and more apparent. "" A booming voice called out as my breathing grew heavier, eyes worriedly tracing over the body that sat eerily still.

"" The voice questioned as I dropped to my knees, moving to shake the girl who stared past me. It was Barb... or, it was her body at least. "No, no, no..." I cried softly as her head fell to the side, a slug slowly moving out of her open mouth. ""

Pushing myself away from Barb's body, I shook off the anger that rushed over me. "Where are you?" I seethed, peering up over the wall of the pool. "What's the point of all of this if you're just gonna hide, huh?" I yelled as the sound of rushing water hit my ears.

Scanning my eyes around the tiled walls, I watched as a dark red substance began to leak into the pool. Running towards the pool's ladder, I quickly climbed out, pushing myself up onto the concrete before stumbling to stand back up on my feet only to find that I stood at the top of a deteriorated staircase rather than in the backyard that the pool belonged to.