Chapter 10

Lost in Shadow

(A/N: Sorry that this chapter is so short! The episode ended on me kinda suddenly. [I watch and write simultaneously so I can get the details right.] To make up for it, I'll post another update later today if possible!)

Rose held onto Will's hand as Joyce and the Doctor argued with the security guards at the end of the hallway. Bob was leaning back into his chair while Mike was seated beside Rose, keeping watch.

Suddenly, Rose noticed Will's eyes glaze over. "Will?" she whispered. When he didn't respond, she tried again. "Will. Will."

Finally he sat up and looked at her. "What's wrong?" Rose murmured. "Are you hurting again?"

Will shook his head. "I saw something." At that, Mike perked up. "In your now-memories?" he asked, and Will whispered shakily, "The shadow monster...I think I know how to stop him."

"You told her?" Dustin said incredulously, and Lucas nodded. "Yeah, so what?"

Dustin scoffed. "'So what'?"

"You wanted to tell her, too," Lucas shot back.

Dustin sighed, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, but I didn't. Alright? We all agreed not to tell her, and to look for Dart."

"Who you conveniently found."

Dustin gave Lucas an affronted look and snapped, "Are you suggesting that I'm lying?"

"I'm saying you have a creepy little bond with him." Dustin glared at Lucas and replied, "Yeah, that was before he turned into a Shadow-Walker."

Lucas tilted his head. "And you haven't heard from Mike?"

Dustin shook his head. "No." "Or Will?" "No." "Hopper?" "No! No one is around! Why do you think I'm with Steve Harrington? Something's-"

"-Wrong. I agree," Lucas said, nodding. "Which is why we need as much help as we can get." They both stood up, though they were still partially hidden from view by the rusted car they had been hiding behind. As they both watched Max, Lucas sighed. "She didn't believe me anyway."

Dustin smirked. "You probably didn't tell it right," he joked, and Lucas chuckled. "Yeah, that must be it." Turning to the side, he extended his hand to Dustin. "So, we good?"

Dustin smiled, but before he could accept the offered hand, a loud clang made them both turn around. Steve had hit the car with a metal folding chair to get their attention. He snapped, "Hey! Dickheads! How come the only one helping me out is this random girl? We lose light in 40 minutes; let's go," he ordered, motioning for them to follow him. As they started walking, Steve yelled, "Let's go, I said!"

"All right, asshole! God!" Dustin snapped, trudging after him.

Back at the lab, Will was seated at a long table with several scientist, his mother, the Doctor, and Rose crowded around him. He and the Doctor were eyeing several Polaroids of his house- images of the tunnels he had drawn. That had been the Doctor's idea; something he had come up with based on what Will had said.

Standing against the wall, one of the scientists snapped, "Sam, this is ludicrous," and Owens held up a hand to silence him. "Just give them a moment, okay?"

The scientist argued, "We don't have time-"

"Hey, jackass, why don't you do us all a favor and shut up, okay?" Hopper snapped, cutting him off. The Doctor nodded and said, without looking up, "Y'know, for once I'm with you, Hopper."

Suddenly, Will stood up, and made his way over to the head of the table. The Doctor stood just behind him, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Will pointed to the group of photographs in front of him- a large cavernous area in the map of tunnels. "That's it," he breathed.

"That's what?" Owens asked. "What's there, Will?"

Before Will could answer, the Doctor piped up, "That's the center! The heart of it. It's where a main part of the Umbra's intelligence resides; that's how the other dimension's been able to grow and spread-"

"Wait, wait, hold on," Owens interrupted. "The what now? What did you call that thing?"

"The Umbra," the Doctor replied. "That's what the Time Lords called it. The creature from Will's drawing, I mean. I don't really know much about it, other than that my people must have trapped it in there the last time it tried to cause trouble. I wasn't around for that, so I don't know details. All I know is that it gave them one hell of a headache dealing with it."

"-Sorry, but what's a Time Lord?" One of the scientists piped up.

The Doctor sighed in frustration. "It's what I am, and that's all you need to know. What we need to focus on is the more pressing matter at hand."

Will nodded, pointing to the picture. "I don't know what's there. I just know that...he doesn't want me to see it. I think it's important."

In one part of Hawkins, within an abandoned junkyard, a group of middle-schoolers and a teenager were trying to trap a dangerous creature. In another, deep in the recesses of a highly guarded lab, several soldiers were preparing to go into the lair of a beast.

As the lift lowered them into the abyss, Hopper, the Doctor, and Owens all watched while Joyce, Mike, Bob, and Rose stayed back to keep an eye on Will.

The Doctor eyed the soldiers' camera and the radar screen, frowning. The technician operating it gave him an odd look. "What are you-"

He was silenced quite effectively when the Doctor reached over and pressed several buttons on his sonic screwdriver. Instantly, the camera image became much clearer, and the other man's mouth fell open. "The hell did you do?"

"Oh, a little something to help you," he replied easily, smirking. He pocketed his sonic screwdriver as the lab worker unfolded a map and called out ot Owens, "Let's see if this kid's a wizard or a schizo, Doc." Turning back around, he spoke into the comm. "First door on your right, gentlemen."

The soldiers navigated the tunnels with little trouble, until they reached their supposed "destination" and the camera landed on a pile of bones.

"No, no, no, no," the Doctor exclaimed when he caught sight of the video feed. "That's where Hopper and I were. It's that bloody graveyard," he gasped out.

As if on cue, low growling emitted over the speakers. Suddenly, one of the soldiers spoke up. "Sir, we've got some kind of fog moving in now."

And there was fog- quite a bit of it. Enough that the camera was covered in thick white mist. "Oh, no," the Doctor whispered.

Meanwhile, in the hospital room, Will suddenly started breathing shakily. Turning to face his mother and Rose, he stammered, "I-I'm sorry."

Joyce's eyes widened and she murmured, "What do you mean, sweetie?"

"He made me do it," Will whimpered. Rose spoke up, "Who? Who made you do what, Will?"

"I told you. They upset him. They shouldn't have done that," Will replied, still whimpering. "They shouldn't have upset him!"

Mike's eyes widened in realization. "The spy," he murmured. "The spy!" Standing up, he made a run for the hallway as Rose drew in a horrified breath.

Before long, the lab had dissolved into chaos once again. Mike was wrestling with both the guards and Bob, yelling about a trap at the top of his lungs. The soldiers were yelling due to the fact that there were other living things in the area, but they couldn't see them because of the fog. The Doctor was arguing with Owens, as he impulsively wanted to run in there and help the soldiers himself. However, he was forced to listen in horror to clamoring voices and automatic gunfire. This was followed by screams of pain, and then...silence. Static crackled as the camera went offline, and a hush fell over the room.

From his hospital bed, Will sobbed as he told his mother, "It's too late." Then his expression changed. It became blank, although Rose could see the fear in his eyes.

"You should go now," he said, and Joyce did not reply, numb with shock. After a moment, Will gave them all a chilling warning. "They're almost here."

And while the Doctor did not hear that warning, almost immediately after that, he knew that running for their lives might be the only way everyone could survive this.

Standing on the other side of the glass was a pack of four-legged Shadow-Walkers.

(A/N: Next chapter will be the start of The Lost Sister. I know, I know, but the POV switch is necessary. I actually liked that episode- it gave us some good character development for El. I'm really gonna focus on that when I'm writing that ep, btw. It'll probably take two chapters, if I stick to my current system: one chapter = half an episode. I'll try to write it asap so I can resolve our cliffhanger here before long.)