Hi guys! Wow, it's been a hot second since I wrote anything. However, after the second season of Stranger Things became available on Netflix, I have become obsessed with this idea, and exploring how the second season would have changed if this had happened. So for the first time in like four years, please enjoy this story that has been bouncing around in my head:

Eleven watched as Mike grabbed the girl with fiery hair's hand and helped her up. She felt something welling up within her, something she hadn't expected to feel today.

Sadness. Mike was having fun without her. He was forgetting her. Eleven.

Eleven turned on her heel and started walking towards the school exit. All she knew was that she needed to get away from here. From the school, from Mike, from everything.

She faintly heard a door open behind her, but she ignored it and walked out the exit of Hawkins Middle, towards the woods.

Eleven walked aimlessly away from the school, feeling impossibly sad. Mike was happy without her, he didn't need her anymore. She wondered if he would even bother to call that night.

Eventually, she started walking towards the woods, with the intention of headed back towards the cabin. Eleven knew Hopper was going to be furious with her, but at that moment she didn't care.

She had just made it to the treeline when she heard it.

It was a whimpering noise, along with the sound of feet hitting the ground, like someone was terrified and was running as fast as they could. Hesitantly, she turned around and look back at the field adjacent to the school, the one she had just walked across.

A small boy was sprinting across the field towards her, but he wasn't seeing her. No, he was running like he was running from something, something that was chasing him.

Eleven had never met him before, but she knew who it was immediately. Will Byers. The one she had helped save from the Upside Down.

She had a horrible feeling that something was happening again here. Hopper had told her about Will having flashbacks into the Upside Down, but she knew immediately by looking at Will that this couldn't be a flashback. It was very, and scarily, real.

Eleven closed her eyes and reached out with her mind until she could feel Will's. She concentrated as hard as she could, until she felt her mind in sync with his. When she opened her eyes, she was seeing what he was seeing.

Eleven almost couldn't believe it.

Will was in the Upside Down, and hovering over Hawkins Middle was an indescribable humongous, black thing. Eleven could feel the hatred and hunger emanating from it like a fireplace, but with cold. It was very, very cold. A shadow.

Will slowed to a stop, and turned around. He shivered like he was in the middle of a blizzard. Without thinking, Eleven ran towards him, calling his name as loud as she possibly could. She had to help him.

"Will!"

Will snapped back around, looking terrified and shell-shocked. The thing behind him was drawing closer, and Eleven knew she had to get them out of there.

"Let's go! Come!" She grabbed his hand and began dragging him towards the treeline. He stumbled at first, but quickly he regained his footing and soon they were both sprinting as fast as they could. Eleven could feel that thing drawing ever closer. All she knew was that she didn't want it near her or Will.

When they reached the treeline Eleven stopped in her tracks. Will scrambled to a stop beside her, breathing hard. She had pulled herself into his vision, hadn't she? Maybe she could pull him back into her own, back into Hawkins.

She closed her eyes and focused on the connection she had made. She grabbed onto Will and began pulling his mind to follow hers. He resisted for a second, like something was holding him in the Upside Down, but ultimately his mind gave way to her lead.

She opened her eyes just as the thing that was like a shadow reached the tree line, but immediately the Upside Down faded back into Hawkins. She could see the field was sunny and Hawkins Middle was vine-free.

Will was still standing beside her, breathing hard, with his eyes screwed shut. Eleven knew he still believed the shadow was going to get him.

Gently, she touched his shoulder.

"Will?"

Slowly, he opened his eyes, blinking rapidly in the light of day. He couldn't believe it, but he was somehow back in Hawkins. The monster was gone.

As his eyes adjusted he looked at the girl who had saved him. She had a mop of curly hair, and was wearing an oversized flannel paired with overalls. She looked like a normal kid. And yet...only one person he knew of could have done what she just did. It couldn't be, and yet...?

"Eleven?"

So? Was it good? Bad? In between? Upside Down? Let me know what ya think! Constructive criticism is always welcome!