It had been one year since El disappeared. Dustin, Lucas, Nancy, Joyce, Jonathan, Hopper, and even Will feared that Eleven was dead but Mike never allowed himself to believe that like the others did. He refused to. He continued looking for her even after his friends had long stopped and come to terms with her "death."
He searched the woods shouting her name every weekend and sometimes after school. Dustin, Lucas, and Will worried about Mike and felt sorry for him. Will never said anything to him like the others did because to be honest it kept the attention off of himself.
Will had been distant ever since he returned and when the attention was on him the boys and others worried about him. He never told them about the effects of the upsidedown that had plagued him since his return a year ago. He didn't want to be sent to a lab and tested on so he chose to keep his mouth shut.
The boys noticed thought Hopper was also acting strange, not only Will. He was gone often and never spoke of where he would leave to. He seemed more cautious.
Hopper didn't tell anyone where he was going for the fear of being followed. He had to keep what he was doing a secret.
Since the day Eleven disappeared everyday he would venture into the woods and place food in a small box.
Part of him did it because of the deal he made with Hawkins Lab to find her but he mostly did it because he really did want to find her and when he did he would hide her from them. He may look like an uncaring man on the outside but those who really knew him would know he would never give a little girl to a cruel organisation.
A part of him felt that she was alive just as Mike did. He didn't have the connection Mike seemed to have with her but he didn't need it to know. He just did. The question that haunted him was where she went.
The night Eleven disappeared the boys saw her disappear and ashes take her place. What they didn't realise was that she did not die she simply went somewhere else.
-One Year Ago-
She awoke with a start and felt the air insert itself back into her lungs quickly. She breathed quickly trying to steady it once again. Once it did she slowly sat up wincing due to the soreness she felt throughout her body.
She observed her surroundings with blurry vision. She immediately recognized it as the science classroom that her and the boys had just been in with the demogorgon.
The only difference was that it was darker, slime and vines covered the walls and floors, and a distinct foul odor looted the air.
She stood to her feet shakily and furrowed her brows. She wondered if she was dead for a moment but then she realized her fate after defeating the monster was worse than death. She knew where she was and she felt her heart stop and breath quickening.
She was in the upside-down.
Instead of panicking and falling into sobs she brought one foot in front of the other and ventured out of the classroom. She walked down the halls with caution and kept quiet with each shaky step.
Down the hall she could see a faint light on the side of a wall and walked closer. Her heart nearly skipped a beat in excitement when she realized it was a portal.
A medium sized hole covered in gooey vines and slime blocked her view of the other side but she knew it was there. She took her chances.
She hesitantly brought her arm out and pushed it through the slime and vines until she felt it break through the gooey barrier to the real world. A smile swept across her face and she forced the rest of her body through.
She felt her body hit the rough floor of the hall in the middle school and sighed in relief. It was still dark and not a person was in sight. She figured it must be late in the night still.
She saw the hole to the upside down close behind her slowly until it was nothing more than a white wall in a school hallway.
She leaned against the wall and wiped the slime off her face. She then took the sleeve of Hoppers plaid jacket she was wearing and scrubbed the dry blood off her nose and ears.
She closed her eyes and tried to think of her next move. She didn't know whether to go back to Mike and the boys, or if she was better off alone.
In her mind both did not sound like appealing options. One meant putting the boys she had grown fond of in danger and the other meant being alone.
She sighed deeply and thought of any other options. Who else could she trust. She had no idea who she could trust in this still unfamiliar world outside the lab. She decided in the end the best option was to trust herself for the time being.
She stood and started walking out of the school and continued to do so until she made it to the base of the forest. Once there she stopped looking back at the school. "I'm sorry Mike." She sighed before walking into the woods.
-One Month Later-
It was Christmas night. Hopper drove to the edge of the woods and parked. He stepped out and trudged through the snow deeper into the woods. He leaned down at the small box and lifted it. He frowned seeing the food he had left the day before. He took the old out like he always did and then placed a container of leftovers and some eggos wrapped up into the box. He sighed before closing it and looked into the woods. "Come on kid..." he whispered.
He stood back up and walked back to his car. He got in, started to engine, and drove off.
The next morning he decided to go to the box before work. He stepped out of his truck and walked into the woods through the snow once more. When he got to the box he lifted it expecting the food from the other night to be there, instead it was gone.
His eyes widened in disbelief. His attention was then quickly brought to the sound of a twig snapping. He stood and pulled out his pistol quickly.
He walked as quietly as he could through the dense snow. As he walked forward he saw nothing and heard nothing so he lowered his gun. He frowned at the thought of his always present paranoia. He turned back around and just as he did another twig snapped. He turned again quickly, gun aimed.
His eyes widened when he realised who he was aiming at. He quickly put it in its holster and ran to Eleven's side.
She was pale, thin as can be, her hair was short still but longer than before, it was about three inches and stood up messily, she also had pale blue lips and dark circles under her eyes. In other words she looked like she was dying. Which she probably was.
She shook violently and held a thick oversized jacket around her body. Her eyelids parted slightly but she was too ill and weak to say or see much.
Hopper knelt down and picked her up without hesitation. He picked her up bridal style and hugged her close to his chest to keep her warm. "It's me kid, it's Hop." He said softly as he walked quickly.
He gently layed her down in the backseat of his truck and drove her to the safest place he knew. He knew of an old abandoned cabin in the woods not far from his own home. He had already set the place up for just in case he found her, thank god he did.
Not sure whether to continue, let me know in the reviews. :) -AnUnknownStranger