Chapter One

Lights Out

All was calm outside the Wheeler house. The sun had been slow in setting, sluggish from a long, hot day, and even when darkness finally did come there was still a balmy feel to the evening. The window to the basement was foggy with condensation despite being pushed open as far as it would go, and a warm orange light came from within. Birds were tweeting, neighbours were laughing, a bicycle squeaked by. All was calm except—

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

The basement was so hot it was difficult to breathe, but somehow Dustin had managed to get a good lungful. Eleven looked at him in alarm, and then to Mike as he sat smirking at Dustin from the head of the table. He inhaled, getting ready to tell the story of exactly how screwed Dustin's dwarf was, but Dustin was quicker. Leaning over the table to shield his miniature with his hand, Dustin looked around defensively.

"That's not fair, I totally would have seen with Darkvision."

"Sorry, you weren't paying attention." Mike said. "You were too busy looking at all the gold."

"I was multitasking!"

Lucas leaned forwards to push Dustin's hand away from the board. "Your turn's over, man."

"No way! You think I wouldn't have noticed if there was a giant monster right in front of me?"

Max interjected, "We don't know that it's a giant monster yet."

"Yeah, it could all be fine," Will added.

Eleven said nothing, looking between the quarrelling party members and the dungeon master who was sitting in amused silence, stroking an imaginary beard. This game was still new to her, and she was afraid to say anything just in case she was wrong. She was as quiet and still as her character miniature, the tall mage stood away from the group, watching them walk right into Mike's trap. There was still tension in the air when Dustin eventually resigned himself to his fate. Eleven was too hot in the jumper Hopper had given to her, and she reached up to itch at where sweat was soaking into the collar. Dustin took off his cap, unleashing the mass of curls hidden beneath as he swept a hand across his shining brow. He hadn't told anyone what products he'd been using in his hair, but they all knew that the sudden increase in volume was something to do with Steve Harrington.

Mike took his time delivering the blow. The folder stood open in front of him hid the miniature, but they could all hear Mike rattling it against the wooden table in his calculated effort to build suspense.

"The gold glimmers in the dungeons, bewitching in its size and splendour. But hidden in the darkness is something so horrifying that soon even the dwarf forgets the gold… but too late. The monster is already upon them." Mike slammed the miniature down, and everyone except Eleven groaned. "The Re-Animator."

"What? That's not—" Dustin began, but Max shushed him. They sat staring at Mike, waiting for him to tell them about this new monster.

"A monstrosity long lost to the realms of the living, the Re-Animator appears not as a man – although his size and shape may make it seem that way – but instead as a writhing mass of worms. These worms fall from him now to wriggle on the floor and from his deathly presence oozes a clear substance that slithers towards you, only to rise up and solidify as gelatinous cubes that surround you all, blocking the way out." Mike takes a quick look around, fixing a pointed look at Max and El. "Anyone want to roll for an escape?"

"I do," Max said at once. Eleven rolled too, once Mike had given her another pointed look, but it was in vain: Max was the luckier of the two, and her 'zoomer' was the only one to escape before the clear gel surrounded them. Once that was done the dungeon master turned back to Dustin, who looked like he'd been hoping Mike had forgotten him.

"The Re-Animator saw the dwarf long before he was seen himself. He has the element of surprise, which he intends to use fully to his advantage."

"You are so screwed," Lucas said, but his own voice was shaking. Dustin had gone pale.

"One of the worms wriggling at the Re-Animators feet slithers straight towards the dwarf, too fast for him to counter. It climbs his short legs with ease, and buries itself in his beard, aiming for the mouth."

Dustin was clutching his cap now, holding it tight against his mouth as he mumbled incoherently. Mike wasn't finished.

"A few moments pass… The dwarf does not move… Until suddenly… He turns… His eyes white and wild with rage…" Mike reached over the board to turn Dustin's miniature to face the rest of the party. "The Re-Animator chuckles. A horrible, whining chuckle."

Eleven shuddered when Mike did his impression, her own throat tightening at the thought of the worms.

"You can fight me…" Mike whispered, the Re-Animator speaking through him. "But can you fight each other?"

Mike began to laugh maniacally.

There was a loud pop, and the light went off, plunging them into darkness.

All at once, everyone in the room began to panic. It was as if the miniatures on the board had become real, and the Re-Animator and his vile worms and gelatinous ooze had materialized in the room with them. Someone was screaming, and it wasn't until the group had all vaulted the stairs and tumbled out into the main hall of the Wheeler house that they realized it was Lucas. Max punched his arm.

"It was a power cut, dummy." Her tone was convincing enough, but her cheeks had turned pink. Mike was breathing heavily, all of his confidence as the dungeon master left in the basement below. Dustin was swearing. Lucas was stood as close to Max as he could get. As the initial shock ebbed away, Mike moved away from the group.

"Look, the lights outside have gone out too," He said, pointing through the living room to where the windows faced the street. Reassured by the idea that it wasn't just them that had been affected, they all began to calm down. They were all so quick to forget it, to pretend it was nothing. Perhaps they really believed it was nothing. All except for Will and Eleven. They looked at each other, seeing themselves reflected in the others' wide fearful eyes. They had both felt it.

The Upside-Down was reaching out again.

The night was young, and Hopper felt like he was back in high school. It wasn't because of the heat - the summers had never been this warm - and it wasn't the buzz of alcohol in his belly. No, it was the woman sat in the passenger's side, with the warm wind playing in her thick brown hair. Joyce Byers. She'd chastised him heavily enough for driving her around with a bellyful of beer, but now she was laughing at his stories and telling her own ones in return. She'd taken her sunglasses off, and her eyes were soft and her smile big and bright. She looked young, and beautiful. But the moment that crossed his mind Hopper remembered Bob, and suddenly he felt old again. Joyce seemed to sense the change in him.

"Are you okay?" She asked, cutting her story short. "I told you not to dri—"

"I'm fine." He said, a little too sharply.

Joyce sat up a little straighter, but she didn't say anything for a while. She didn't have to. She knew what he was thinking about, because she thought about it too. Watching the smile fade from his mouth, and his eyes turn glassy and distant, only made her realize what people must see when her mind turned to the Upside-Down… to everything that had happened.

"Do you think it's over?" He asked.

"I don't know, Hop."

He looked across at her, but she had turned to look out of the window. "At least we know what we're dealing with now."

He had said it just to comfort her, but they both knew it rang false. Joyce's jaw set. "We don't know what we're dealing with. But it doesn't matter. Whatever happens, we'll protect them."

Hopper looked across at her again and this time she looked back. They smiled at each other. The wheel jerked beneath his hands and Hopper's heart leapt into his throat. Idiot. Why did you have to drink? But when he looked back to the road there was nothing in front of him, and when he checked the rear-view mirror there was nothing he'd left behind either. The road ahead was clear, but something was amiss.

"Hop…" Joyce began. "The lights."

There were no lights. The streetlights, the car lights, the lights from inside the houses along the street. Every single one had gone out. The wheel gave another shudder and the engine screeched. Joyce covered her ears but Hopper kept his hands firmly on the wheel, doing his best to guide the car to the side of the road before it shuddered and went dead. Neither of them spoke, they just got out of the car. Hopper went around to check the engine, but Joyce went further down the street, as if she intended to walk the whole way back to the children. In truth Hopper was not opposed to the idea, but if the engine could be salvaged it would be faster to drive. They were still some distance away from the Wheeler's house.

"Joyce, can you see if you can borrow someone's phone?" He called out to her, if only to keep her from leaving him behind. He watched her run off towards the nearest house before he turned his attention back to the engine. By the time Joyce came back he'd fixed it, or at least done enough to get the car started again. Good thing too.

"The phones are dead!" She cried, and Hopper could hear the hysteria creeping into her voice. If anything happened to Will…

"We don't need them," He said, "Let's go."

Half of their journey was already over when the car died, but it was still some distance to get to the Wheeler's. Joyce and Hopper had spent the evening at the new mall, on the very outskirts of the town. As it turned out the drive was shorter than usual. They passed dozens of cars stranded on the side of the road, each one with people crowded around trying to restart it, leaving the road clear for them to drive right by. The car had barely stopped when Joyce jumped out, sprinting across the lawn to the Wheeler's. Hopper was right behind her when the door opened, and the two kids came racing to meet them. Jane launched herself into his arms, and Will into Joyce's. She almost fell to her knees with Will in her arms, and Hopper almost lifted Jane into the air, but there was something in the stiffness of her shoulders that stopped him. Instead he crouched to her level.

"Jane, are you—"

The girl shook her head furiously, and looked back at Will, who was looking right back at her.

"What?" Hopped asked immediately. "What is it? What's happened?"

Jane's mouth opened but it was Will who spoke first. "A light went out. We were all in the basement." He looked at Joyce. "It was scary."

By this time the other kids were coming out of the house too. Jane was burning up in his arms, but that could've just been the heat.

"Are you kids okay?" Hopped called across. Most of them nodded.

"No!" Dustin cried. He threw his hat onto the ground. "My dwarf is in deep, deep shi—"

"Okay, I think we get the idea." Joyce interrupted. She was laughing, relieved that her son was safe. She hadn't seen the look between him and Jane. It was enough to alleviate the tension long enough for Joyce to get the kids back inside, and for Hopper to check on the car again. As if that was all it took to fix everything, the lights suddenly came back on, and Hopper found his car working as if it was back to normal. Still, there was something about it, and about that look, that made him wary.

"Jonathan's picking us up," Joyce told him the moment he stepped back inside.

"A telepath, a mind reader, am I the only normal one around here?" He said, but one look at her soft brown eyes made him smile. Then he sighed. "I'll have to take the car down to Hal's." Hopper pinched his nose. "Could you—"

"We'll look after her while you're gone, of course." Joyce waved her arms as if he was silly for thinking she wouldn't. She was probably right. He wanted nothing more than to stay there with her, with Jane, with Will and Jonathan. It felt wrong, leaving them behind, even if it was for a moment.

"I'll get going now. But first…" He stepped further into the house. "Do you think the Wheeler's will mind me borrowing the phone for a minute too?"

Hal, a weathered old mechanic with wiry limbs and a nasty scowl, was lounging in a chair behind the counter, and was so engrossed in his Scoops Ahoy cone that he didn't even notice Hopper come in. It wasn't until he was standing right in front of him, gazing down at the top of his balding, liver-spotted head, that the man graced him with a glance.

"Speak to Christine." He took a bite of his ice cream. "In the back."

Hopper started towards where the office opened up into the garage workshop. When he looked back he caught Hal cringing, his hand on his head. Brain freeze. Hopper rolled his eyes, but the bang and clank of metal drew his attention back to the workshop. It was bigger than it looked from the outside and crammed full of bits of machinery and tools he didn't really recognise. The sound was coming from the back of the workshop, where the night sky peeped in from beneath an open roller door. Trying hard not to knock anything over, and sighing over the effort of it, Hopper made his way over. At the sight of two acid-washed jean legs sticking out from beneath a car, he cleared his throat.

"Christine?"

Two strong arms gripped the underside of the car and a girl, not much older than Nancy, came wheeling out to look up at him. She took her time sitting up, "Haven't seen you in a while, Hop. How's things?"

"Uh. Same old, same old." Hopper gave her a hand up. "Jesus, kid, you're almost as tall as I am."

"It's all the eggs." Christine flashed him a grin, giving an involuntary flex of her muscles, "Three a day."

"Yeah? Is that your opening line on dates?"

"Yeah, well, let's not get into that..." Christine reached to muss up her bleached curls before quickly changing the subject. "You have something for me to fix?"

"Yeah, maybe…" Hopper was looking out through the open garage door. "Looks like you've got a lot of things to fix."

Within a poorly-maintained wire-link fence and illuminated by blinking electric lights, rows and rows of cars in varying states of disrepair stood rusting in the yard. Christine gave a noncommittal shrug, "I can handle it."

"Have these all come in recently?"

"In the last month or so, yeah." She paused. "It's a good thing, we need the money and I didn't fancy getting a part-time job at the Gap. Anything that can't get fixed gets scrapped and sold."

"Your uncle have a licence for selling parts?" Hopper wasn't really thinking when he said it, his mind was on the power outage – on the way the engine had screeched and all the lights had went out at once. He felt like he was on a stage and the cars were his audience, and every pair of blank headlights was a pair of eyes looking back and mocking him.

"Don't ask me. He's the brains, I'm just the muscle."

They both looked back towards the office, where Hal was suffering from another bout of brain freeze. "Somehow I doubt that."

Christine followed him through the workshop and out to where his car stood out front. He'd left it unlocked and as he described the problems to her Christine went straight to the passenger side.

"Speaking of dates—" Christine interrupted him, retreating from the car with Joyce's sunglasses in her hand. "Well, thank God. I was starting to worry."

"Very funny, but you won't find the problem in there."

"I'll say." Christine put the sunglasses back whilst he went around to pop the hood. When she came for a look, her grin disappeared at once. "What the hell…"

Hopper looked at her, "You've seen this before?"

"Yeah, recently. Some cars from outside the swimming pool, some from near the mall. I don't understand it. It's fried, but it's like… I don't know. It's like an electrical surge but not from the battery."

"From something stronger?"

"Yeah. A lot stronger," She looked from the car to the police chief. "What are you thinking?"

"I was hoping it was kids messing with people's engines."

It was a lie, but even so Christine's expression put an end to that idea before she even had to speak. "I can't see how it would be. It sounds obvious but this looks like it only affects cars while they're running. Unless a kid could somehow fit a generator in there, set it to blow when the car's already moving, and then get it out before it makes it to me… Did you come straight here?"

"More or less." Hopper closed the hood. "Can I leave it with you?"

"Sure, of course."

"You need help getting it into the shop?"

"No, that's okay, just leave the keys with me. I'll let Uncle Hal know. You okay to get home?"

Hopper opened his mouth to reply, but as he did he heard an engine rumbling closer. A pair of headlights lit up the road behind them as Steve Harrington slowed to a halt. Hopper turned to smile at Christine, "Thanks, let me know when it's ready."

"Will do." Christine gave a curious glance at Hopper's driver, before waving him off. When the police chief pulled open the passenger-side door – an arrangement that set him slightly off-kilter – he found Steve looking away quickly from where the girl was retreating into the garage.

"Everything okay?"

"Uh…" Hopper scratched at his hairline, which seemed to him like it was creeping further and further back by the day. Had I really felt young today? "Don't know, yet. Thanks for the pick-up."

"Don't mention it," Steve pulled the car away. "Did they say anything about the cars? I saw people stranded as I was driving up."

"No," Hopper said, "But if your car was fine then it couldn't have reached as far as the mall."

"Well… Do you think it's to do with that thing? The weird dogs?" Steve kept looking across at him, which was quickly pushing Hopper's mood to the edge.

"I don't know, kid. Maybe." He sighed, finding himself unable to sit still.

"But Jane closed the door, right? I mean… Shouldn't it all be over now?"

"I don't know. They don't really teach you about this kind of thing in police training."

"Well… I wouldn't know about that." Steve murmured. Hopper shut his eyes. Shouldn't have said that.

"Look, kid—"

"I'm not going to start, okay? But what I'm saying is that if there is something going on, especially if it is to do with those monsters, then maybe I should know about it. I have the work experience, you know? I know how to protect and serve against… against all of that." Steve's impassioned speech ended on an awkward note. He's put thought into this. It wouldn't have surprised him if Steve had rehearsed this conversation on his way here.

"Consider your point made," Hopper massaged his temples. "Now give me some time to contemplate."

"Okay, just… think about it." It wasn't the response Steve was looking for, but he must have known he shouldn't have expected anything better because he didn't ask again. It wasn't until they were coming up towards the Byers' that Hopper felt like he had to say something.

"How's things at Scoops Ahoy?"

"Amazing. The mayor's visiting the mall soon so it's all hands on deck," Steve deadpanned. "At least it's cold."

The car came to a sudden stop, and Hopper turned to see the warm lights of the Byers house shining back at him. Something Steve said had nudged something at the back of his mind, but one look at Jane watching him from between the curtains pushed it out of his head.

"You need a lift back to yours?"

"No. Thanks, Steve."

Steve nodded, "Tell them I said hi."

The air was still hot and clammy, and now there wasn't so much as a breeze to give some relief. Hopper heard the car begin to move away and on a sudden whim he turned to wave goodbye, but Steve didn't see. He wanted to help the kid out but it wasn't as easy as that. Although, with the mayor's interference, it wasn't out of question that Harrington's father could get him a place on the force whether Hopper wanted him or not. For now, though, the budget couldn't support it, and Steve wasn't a good enough applicant to justify a hire, at least on paper. It wasn't like Hopper could tell the truth about everything he'd done. He knew Steve was right to be angry – it wasn't fair.

The door opened before Hopper reached it and Jane came running out to wrap her arms around his waist. He didn't think he'd ever get used to that. It was too familiar. Too much like Sara. It was enough to choke a man up. He made sure to clear his throat before Joyce came to the door.

"You're back," She said, "Can they fix the car?"

"Christine said she'll have a look at it. We're not the only ones." Jane was still clinging to his midriff so he manoeuvred them both carefully inside, taking care to shut the door behind him. It was cooler inside, with metal fans creaking in every corner of the room. Jonathan was reclining on the sofa with Nancy, the different wind currents from all the fans stirring their hair. They gave a small wave when they saw him. Mike and Will were sat on two cushions by the TV, and a third lay unoccupied but dented beside them. He looked down at Jane.

"You've been good for Joyce, right?"

Jane smiled up at him. "Good."

Joyce was smiling too, "They've been watching Ghostbusters." She laid a hand on Jane's shoulder as the girl finally detached herself and went back to sit with the boys. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Yeah, sure. Joyce, do you mind if I use your sofa tonight? I didn't want to put Steve out anymore—"

"Of course, Hop, of course. Mike and Nancy are spending the night too. I've had Karen on the phone, their car's ruined too." Joyce paused, and her lips worked in that nervous way they always did now. "It'll be nice for the kids. I think it's good to all be together."

Hopper looked towards where the kids all sat together; at Jonathan and Nancy talking in lowered voices on the couch; at the three kids laughing and fighting each other to quote the film first, and he felt that same niggling sensation in his mind and in his gut.

"Yeah. I think so too."