Welcome back to more of the first episode of Back To Reality! Once again, each episode will be five chapters. I hope everyone is enjoying it so far! Now, back to it...
Hawkins Arcade- 90 Minutes Later...
Finally out of spare change and for Will; out of patience, the group decided to move on. They left the arcade fulfilled, yet still felt quite bored. Ever since November, the town (aside from the vigorous press coverage, paparazzi and national attention) had returned to it's former, serene state. Serene was nice and all, but something to attract the attention of the townspeople was never a bad thing (excluding all morality).
"It's cold" Dustin stated, void of any particular emotion as they walked back to their parked bicycles.
"It's winter. Of course it's cold" Mike replied bluntly, glancing over at Dustin sharply.
"I mean colder than usual" he clarified. "I wonder if it's as cold as the Upside-Down" he added with a deep look, directing the statement at Will.
Will looked at him as if he were recalling past memories, exhaling as his breath became visible in the frosty winter air.
"It's not" he answered calmly. "I'll never be that cold again".
The clique continued to their bikes and set off, headed back to Mike's home; the common location used for hanging out together. Their Dungeons and Dragons games were self-proclaimed as being "legendary" by the small group, to which, to their frustration, many dismissed as childish, insignificant claims. Regardless, they had spent many memorable nights together at Mike's home.
Of course, the lingering memory of Eleven still loomed over them; especially when Mike would glance in the mirror outside of his bedroom. It would never fail to trigger the most emotional memories of her, which etched misery into his core. Some nights he'd dream of seeing her again, and would awake with his face stained with happy tears, only to have them turn to quite bleak in nature.
After parking their bikes outside, Mike checked his watch for the time:
4:11 PM.
He sighed as he and his friends proceeded towards the garage, wondering what they would do for the rest of the day. Dungeons and Dragons had filled a majority of the past week outside of school, and planning a new game would take perhaps days, even weeks. With Eleven around, it made them feel oh-so-invincible. They felt like they could face any challenge on the face of the earth and come out unscathed. It was truly a feeling that encouraged excitement, and brought dire situations of peril upon them (not that they really minded).
"I don't really know what we're gonna do all day" Mike stated as they approached the garage, Dustin fidgeting with the baseball cap on the top of his head as they came to a stop.
"Just somethin' to fill the time" Lucas suggested. "It's all we've ever done since last month anyways".
"We could draw" Will said, to which the others, remembering Will's tendency to draw somewhat disturbing images, rejected avidly.
"No" the remainder of them spoke in near-unison, to which Will looked on blankly.
"Was just a suggestion" he spoke dishearteningly.
"Look" Dustin spoke to him kindly. "It's not that you're a bad drawer... it's just that the rest of us are. And... I mean... you do draw some creepy stuff".
"Yeah... but no offense" Lucas confirmed Dustin's statement. "I mean... even if they are creepy, you gotta be a pretty good artist to scare someone with a piece of paper".
Although they expected Will to at least stifle a giggle, he looked on with an empty expression before aiming his eyes at the ground.
Mike bit his lip at Will's constant numb demeanor, looking at the others with a quizzical face. He hated to see Will so down all the time, but it was tough to do anything at this point. Will's mother insisted that time would clean and refresh his plagued mind, but some psychiatrists insisted that unless he received urgent psychological care, he'd be scarred for life.
"Let's just think of something else" Mike spoke to the others. "There's plenty to do... even if we do live in the slowest town on the planet".
"I wish another Eleven would come along" Dustin imagined. "Even the Demogorgon. It was like The Hobbit in real life".
Mike rolled his eyes.
"Well, it's probably not going to ever happen again, so... let's not wish too much. It's back to reality, I guess..."
"Psh" Dustin snorted. "Reality is boring".
"Well, at least there's not some faceless monstrosity after us... right?" Will asked him, causing them to consider his words.
"Is it better to be safe but live a boring-as-hell life, or is it better to live dangerously, but you know...?" Lucas pondered aloud, scratching the back of his head.
There were a few moments of silence before Mike spoke up again, changing the subject of the conversation drastically.
"Do you guys think El is in the Upside-Down?"
The others paused, looking him over as if he had thirty heads.
"I thought we agreed not to talk about it anymore" Will said slowly, knowing the topic was painful for Mike, as well as for himself.
Mike sighed harshly, rubbing his forearm in obvious mental anguish.
"I know" he said. "I know we did. But I just... I wish there were some way to know".
Dustin nodded, understanding his friend's genuine, raw concern. Although he wasn't quite as close to Eleven, he had certainly befriended her, and it hurt to have her gone. He couldn't imagine the constant uncertainty that Mike was facing...
"You got that compass?" Mike abruptly asked, turning to him. Dustin quickly nodded, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the compass; the one they had used to find the portal in the first place. The four of them stared at the face of the compass in anticipation, curious to see if the compass was still inaccurate.
"Well, shit!" Dustin exclaimed. "It's still a thing!"
"The portal is still there!" Mike said as he witnessed the compass still pointing the wrong direction.
The others observed Mike as he grew excited; not for the fact that the portal still existed, but for the fact that if El was out there, she had a way home. They had no idea how big the Upside-Down was, but surely she'd make it back eventually... however, it had been over a month. How could she survive in such conditions, and make it back alive?
Mike felt his excitement begin to fade as he thought more and more about it. He knew that thinking too much was certainly a problem for him, but he never seemed to be able to stymie his mind in time to save himself.
"What if she made it back?" Dustin asked as Mike continued thinking the situation through.
"How could she?" Mike muttered. "Unless she got back weeks ago, she had to starve to death or die of thirst... not to mention that the Demogorgon might be there too..."
"Well, if it is, I'm sure she crushed it again with her mind" Lucas hypothesized.
"No" Mike sighed. "She used so much power... she'd be too tired to fight it off again. There's no way that she could make it back".
"Don't say that" Lucas told him.
"What?" Mike asked irritably. "Are we just supposed to say "oh, she made it back! Everything will be okay! We'll live happily ever after!" No! We have to be realistic! She... she's not going to make it back..."
The group stood, shocked by Mike's sudden mood change. After having the best of times competing at the arcade, it was bewildering to see the emotion between the four of them flip like a coin. Although it was no longer rare to see, it still never failed to bemuse the four of them.
"Well, at least the portal's there" Will spoke up. "That means there's not a zero percent chance of her making it back. She's a superhero... well, as you guys say. She could find a way...".
Mike stared ahead as he began tearing up, but quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve before anyone noticed.
"Whatever" he mumbled. "I just hope she makes it back before the Snow Ball".
Meanwhile At The Lab...
Eleven's powers were quite exquisite in nature. Although she could move things with sight, or even use her energy to move objects out of sight, as long as her eyes were covered, she could not perceive the world with her eyes. She couldn't see the mass of an object and focus on it. No matter how hard she tried, her brainwaves just couldn't seem to escape through her eyes...
She sat, chained and wrapped to a metal chair in a small, dark room the size of a closet. Although she couldn't see the room, she wondered to herself if it were the same room Dr. Brenner used to repeatedly enclose her in.
Her breathing had slowed down in pace after being brutally hit across the face by Dr. Price, but she could still feel the throbbing of the tremendous bruise across her cheek. She knew her appearance would be quite antagonizing to glance at in a mirror once she escaped; that is, if she escaped.
Eleven was smart enough to know that escaping wasn't impossible. There's no way a mutant like her could be contained forever; and as far as she knew, there was no way she could possibly lose her powers. They were part of her now.
After a good while of sitting in silence, she heard the door to the closet of sorts open with the unsettling screeching sound of metal, and she felt her pulse increase a bit. She, above anything, never wanted to return to the Upside-Down, and to close the portal... she feared she'd have to go back. She feared the Upside-Down even above Dr. Price, as she knew what horrors the dimension held.
To her surprise, she felt the blindfold on her face being untied, her thoughts delving deep into the confusion. She knew the person untying her could not possibly be Dr. Price, as she had already figured out his true colors. There's simply no way he'd help her.
As the blindfold fell to the floor, she looked into the eyes of the other scientist she had been around a decent bit. She had forgotten his name.
Dr. Rick? Dr. Ron? Dr... Rogers! That's it!
She decided that she wasn't too afraid of Dr. Rogers, as she had no reason to be. He had committed no wrong towards her aside from his association with the laboratory.
"You" he whispered loudly. "You need to listen to me, okay?"
Although she was quite confused, she nodded with attentive eyes.
"I can get you out" he spoke, "'cause I don't like how Price is treatin' you. You don't deserve that... just follow me, okay?" he continued as he began unlocked the chains holding her to the chair.
"Price?" she questioned quietly.
"Yeah. He's the mean guy. Kill him if you want... I don't care".
At last, Eleven was free. She stood up and looked down at her dirty, ripped, battered clothes, and envisioned finally making it back to Mike and the others. It's all possible now...
"Now, come on!" Rogers insisted.
They made their way out of the closet and into a brightly lit hallway, and immediately made their way he opposite direction of the small room. Eleven felt so alive again. It had been a while since she had been out of the Upside-Down and not into a constricting situation. If she made it out alive, she could start a new life for as long as she could; living with her friends, beginning an education...
It'd be perfect to her. For someone with her perilous background, simply living a life void of constant threats would be a practical utopia. Except, of course, the Upside-Down still existed. Not only that, but it was still connected to normal world, and the possibility of the Upside-Down becoming an issue again was all but guaranteed. She knew the horrors that the Upside-Down holds, and had experienced them for more than a month. It was a true nightmare; a caricature of nauseating memories.
The two of them came to a halt at a lone exit door at the end of a fairly isolated hallway, Dr. Rogers tugging on her shoulder to slow her down for a moment.
"Okay" he spoke breathlessly, pushing his hair back in an exhausted manner. "Once you get out, don't stop running. Hide somewhere. He'll be looking for ya' as soon as he notices you're gone, so make sure you get as far away as you can... I already cut a hole in the fence for ya', so that's not a problem anymore".
He patted her on the shoulder, opening the door as sunlight flooded into the hallway. Eleven took one last kind glance at him, silently thanking him for playing his part. Although Dr. Rogers knew her escape would ultimately result in much harm for himself, he could cover it up for as long as possible. He had done it before, and he'll do it again...
Eleven pointed to the bruise on her face with a concerned expression.
"No, no. Don't worry bout' that. Good luck" he finished, ushering her out of the door before pointing to the hole in the fence.
"Go there" he added, and with that, he swiftly shut the door, leaving her standing silently outside of the mysterious lab.
She was free.
Immediately, Eleven sprinted for the hole in the fence, the image of the ruthless Dr. Price serving as inspiration to move with haste. She leapt through the small opening, not taking one second to catch her breath. She was back in the real world, and immediately noted two things: the temperature (freezing cold) and the lack of leaves on the trees. It had been so long since she had experienced winter, so such a sight was quite exhilarating to take in.
She continued her escape as she weaved and hopped over logs and between trees, fighting away thorns and kicking sticks out of the way as she moved in the general direction of Mike's neighborhood. Nothing was going to stop her from making it home.
She was in the clear.
Meanwhile...
Jonathan didn't appreciate the constant attention looming over himself and his family. Being the introvert he was, being the center of it all made him feel shaky and unstable; especially when someone would ask questions with no reasonable answer. If he were to answer honestly, he'd be seen as loose in the head, so he feared. He'd rather not answer any questions at all, and revert back to living his live in peace and subtlety.
Sadly, a subtle life didn't seem to be in the works.
He began preparing dinner for his family, as his mother, Joyce, was scheduled to work overtime that night. As he set pulled a container of milk from the refrigerator, he recalled the nights he'd fix dinner for his mother while she sat by the phone, waiting for a call from her once missing son. She'd mutter aloud to herself about hearing her son, which deeply disturbed Jonathan. They'd eventually eat dinner together after prying his mother from the telephone, which usually revolved around one predictable topic.
Jonathan knew his brother, Will, was having trouble living life normally again as well, and rightfully so. He had been trapped in an insufferable dimension for an extended period of time, and the time alone took its toll on his mind. As many doctors said, he'd "never be the same again". Although it was satisfying to have him back, it hurt to know that he would be permanently damaged inside.
As he was ready to pour the milk, the phone suddenly rang, causing him to spill a bit of milk on to the counter. He stared at the phone in frustration, moving towards it to see just who had caused him to make a mess.
"Hello?" he asked with a hint of exasperation into the phone.
"Jonathan?" an instantly recognizable voice asked into the phone.
"Nancy?" he asked into the microphone. "Something wrong?"
"No, no" she replied. "Steve told me he'd call. He's not there with you, is he?"
Ever since November, Jonathan and Steve had become something comparable to friends. Steve, understanding the way he had treated Jonathan in the past, felt quite the amount of pity for him. Thus, it wasn't uncommon to find Steve having a friendly chat with Jonathan over lunch.
"No, he's not here" Jonathan answered, still jealous about the relationship between Nancy and Steve. The envy had never faded over the course of the month; in fact, it had only fortified itself. He found himself romantically interested in Nancy, and dreamed of the day she would feel the same way. However, he found himself dwell on the conclusion that such a day would never come.
"Damn" Nancy replied. "I don't where he's gone..."
"Demogorgons don't multiply or something, do they?" he asked, hoping to sound somewhat offhand.
"Don't be stupid" Nancy said in a joking manner. "We can't jump to conclusions like that".
"But, I mean..." he began in a serious tone. "What if he got abducted by aliens?"
Nancy actually laughed for a moment before regaining her composure, lifting the phone back up to her ear.
"Aliens?"
"Don't laugh" Jonathan told her. "After last month, anything is really possible..."
"But aliens?"
"You never know" he responded with evident worry. "Shouldn't you be... I don't know... a little bit concerned?"
Nancy snorted.
"He's Steve. He'll find a way out of anything he gets himself into. How's your brother doing?"
Jonathan took a brief moment to appreciate the conversation, knowing it's not every day he got to converse with her over the phone. He ran his fingers through his lengthy hair before recollecting himself.
"Oh, he's... fine".
Nancy narrowed her eyes as she listened.
"Wasn't fine last time I was there. Has he miraculously recovered?" she asked with a bit of cynic.
Jonathan looked down at the floor sullenly, remembering the somber words of the doctors.
"No" he answered honestly. "I wanna believe he'll be okay, but..."
A chilling silence hung over them for a moment before Nancy decided to break it.
"Maybe he will be" she spoke. "You never know anymore, do you?"
"Guess that's true" he replied in his usual calm voice. "Remember that night we found that weird tree?"
"Oh, yeah" Nancy said. "Not that I want to remember it... or what was on the other side of it..."
Jonathan nodded in empathy.
"I wouldn't want to either..." he trailed off, recalling the grisly details that Nancy relayed to him that bizarre night. The details of the Demogorgon, the coldness, the darkness, and the hopelessness of the Upside-Down- it efficiently shook him.
"Well... enough about that. I'll call you later tonight to catch up more, if you want" Nancy said. "Gotta go find Steve now".
Jonathan grinned.
"Oh, yeah. Sounds good... and good luck" he replied. "On finding Steve".
"Thanks" Nancy said. "Might need it. Bye!"
"Bye" Jonathan spoke before hearing the phone on the other end hang up. He hung the phone back on the holder and redirected his attention to the kitchen counter, grabbing a rag to wipe up the milk.
Although he hated cleaning up spills, it was worth it to talk to Nancy for even a few mere minutes.
Definitely worth it, he confirmed to himself.
The question was: how long would the biggest problem in his life be a milk spill?
