Story
Mike had always wished that the adventures he had had with El and his friends could not end. Little did he know that yet more were to come. It was six months after the events at the school, and Mike's friends-, Lucas, Dustin and Will were seated in Mike's room playing Dungeons and Dragons as they usually did. They were chatting about the game, their minds at ease. Dustin was advising Will on some move he could make and Will and Lucas were concentrating hard on the game. "Your turn now, Mike", Lucas said. Mike nodded slightly nonchalantly. He suspected his friends had noticed he had been behaving oddly recently. The truth was he wasn't completely sure that what had happened to them all six months ago had been their experiences. It felt as though he might have been looking down the wrong end of a telescope at someone else's life.
He took the dice, shook them in his hand and was about to let them roll on the board when he heard a voice speak his name. "Mike?" He froze, his heart pounding. The dice fell from his hand and clattered onto the wooden floor. "Mike, are you there?" There could be no mistaking that voice. "What's wrong, Mike? Are you okay?" It was Will who had spoken, and Mike only seemed to register these words from a distance. Mike stood up abruptly, his chair falling over backwards. "We need to go, now", he told the others. "What? Go where? It's late", protested Lucas. "I'm not sure", but I think..." He took a deep breath. "I think El might still be alive". His friends stared at him, silent, shocked by his statement. "Where are we going?" Dustin asked. Will looked straight at him and replied: "The Upside-Down".
The three of them set off immediately. They grabbed their coats, got on their bikes and rode out into the night. They weren't sure where they were going, but somehow Mike could sense...something. El's voice guiding them to where they needed to go, though they didn't know what they might find. Eventually, they came to a halt. They were standing in front of a pool. The moonlight glinted and flashed upon the water, like liquid starlight. It was completely calm. Tranquil. Silent. The trees behind them seemed to whistle with the wind, and with them came a voice, strong through the breeze. "I am here". The very air around them seemed to ripple, distorting like a curtain. It seemed to split, and from beyond it came a howling sound, as though a gateway to hell had just opened. A figure rose up from the wind and darkness, and stepped forward into the forest. The gateway snapped shut. The boys stood motionless. "Hello", said El.