Naomi had never been to The Upside Down, and she wasn't too eager to see it either. Frankly, the other dimension still perplexed her. She understood a few key facts, such as that Eleven opened it unknowingly at the forceful hands of Dr. Brenner. She understood that there were tunnels, small portals like where Hopper had gotten stuck. She also knew that it was much like their own, if not the same, only the life forms dwelling their were other-worldly. The gate to the other dimension had been sitting in Hawkins Lab, growing, blooming. It expanded, spewing toxic biological matter whenever it got the chance to.

With the break of the indestructible glass that held the Gate within limits, it managed to leak the biological matter throughout the halls of the laboratory. Currently, they where tiptoeing through said lab.

With Hopper at the front, and herself at the back, there was no way they would let anything get to Eleven, who was walking steadily between them.

Naomi tried to focus all her senses on reaching out to the demodogs, but it was hard when she was dipping into another world so much like her own. She felt heavy, as if she held extra weight atop her back. Almost as if she was swimming, but she appeared to be walking normal; as did the others. She saw white specks of what almost look like snow, pass before her eyes. It would come in flurries, and then they would reach an area where it would disperse again. She also had a difficult time ignoring the bodies that lined the hallways. The massacre that had occurred here, claiming the life of Joyce's very own Bob Newby, became very visual for the three of them as they explored the Laboratory's chambers.

"Keep up," Hopper whisper-shouted as they rounded another corner.

She tried to shake the trance she was in but it was just so... odd. Every now and then she would catch a glimmer in her peripheral, where the flashing fluorescent lights would shine against the slime of the monsters that lined the halls.

Hopper appeared to know where he was going, and Naomi thought back to the times when he would leave the cabin to join Joyce and Will at their doctors appointments. He strided through the halls, panting as he flashed the light of his rifle around. Their seemed to be a light smoke encircling them... no a fog. But it wasn't quite a fog. Everything just felt hazy.

Hopper darted left through a doorway, and Eleven followed hastily. She had almost forgotten that El spent the nearly all her life confided in these halls. She almost ran into her, when Eleven paused to look back down the hall they had just ascended from.

"You okay?" Naomi asked, squeezing her right shoulder.

Eleven swallowed, nodding as she continued after Hop.

The white specks started to come back, and she could sense they were getting closer. She could hear Hopper's footsteps echo as he entered the stairwell, and heard him descend a few stairs. Eleven followed closely behind, and Naomi lingered back to check their surroundings. Her posture looked somewhat of a boxer's; ready to lunge at the chance.

She could feel the shift just beneath her, ready to attack if need be.

She turned back, only to see both Hopper and Eleven weren't there. She quickened her pace to catch up.

When she caught up, she saw Hopper raise a finger to his lips as he released a 'shh'. "Stay there," he whispered. As soon as he rounded the stairwell to walk down the next set, the scent hit her.

The blood. It was pungent. She had smelled a lot of nagging at her throughout the halls, but this was a whole pool of it. A lake.

It hit her like a dodge ball to the face, and she could feel her body shift into her supernatural state. She didn't like that Hopper was going first, putting himself in danger to protect the two of them even considering that he knew Naomi was stronger, but Naomi wasn't going to leave Eleven alone either; not until she knew it was safe.

When she heard Hopper's sigh, she knew the coast was clear. "Oh shit," He breathed, dropping his gun to the floor.

Naomi slid past eleven, but held her palm out to ensure Eleven would stay there.

When she rounded the corner, trotting slowly down the last few steps, she saw Hopper kneeling beside a near-dead body. "Hey Doc," he murmured.

Naomi analyzed the man, just as the man analyzed her un-natural form. She saw an older man, older than Hop but not by too much. His hair was gray and he was just clad in a doctor's uniform, only his entire framework was doused in blood.

Hopper sighed, analyzing the point of contact that appeared to be on his leg. "Those suckers got you pretty good, hey?" He ignored him, his eyes still glazing over Naomi and her read eyes.

Hopper tossed his head back to Naomi, following the Doctor's gaze. The Doctor was clearly surprised when Hop was unphased by her appearance. "This is Naomi, and she's one of the many secrets I have yet to reveal. She's going to be keeping you alive, right Naomi?"

Naomi nodded, shaking herself from the image in front of her. She couldn't lie to herself, if it wasn't for Eleven and Hopper being there she would've found herself in a sticky situation. The smell of his insides were just too overpowering, even for someone who wasn't all that hungry.

"Don't even think about, well, trying anything because I guarantee she can break your neck faster than she can blink an eye."

Naomi smirked, biting into her wrist. The sickening squelch of her teeth tearing flesh caused the doctor to grimace, and she walked towards him.

Hopper undid his jacket as he spoke, panting as he spoke to him. "Don't worry, you're in good hands."

Naomi held the doctors face still with her left hand, and allowed the blood from her wounded wrist to drip into his open mouth. He tried to resist, but strength wasn't something he really had at the moment. He coughed the second the sour liquid touched his lips, but Naomi continued until a few drops managed to make their way down his throat. It was enough to start the healing process, and at that, she retrieved her arm back.

"So despite what you are inherently thinking, she's one of the good guys." He continued, "Her blood is sort of the catalyst to jump start your healing process. She basically just saved your ass." He ripped his belt off, pulling it through the loops.

She heard footsteps behind them, and both her and Hop turned to see Eleven behind them.

"Oh ya," he continued, "I've been meaning to tell you." Clearly, the doctor didn't need an explanation as his jaw went agape while he stared at Eleven's form. "This is Eleven. Eleven, Doc Owens, Doc Owens, Eleven," he introduced.

The doctor cocked his head while Hopper continued his ramble.

Naomi placed her hand on the Doctor's thigh, and it was a struggle for Dr. Owens to even comprehend the situation that was occurring. His eyes darted from Eleven, to Hopper, and then back to Naomi's hand on his thigh. He watched as the black veins snaked from his wound, to her hand; he watched it trail against her bicep, up to her shoulder, down to her collarbone then straight to where her beating heart should've been.

The doctor closed his eyes, relaxing into the cement walls as he grabbed onto the hand rail above him. "How did you-" His sentence was cut short by a phlegmy cough.

Hopper placed the belt underneath his torn leg and continued to speak as Dr. Owens fixated on the two girls like they were both creatures from the Black Lagoon. "They've both been staying with me for about a year, and El is about to save our asses." Hopper curled his lips inward, pausing his actions to look the doctor in the eyes. "Maybe when this is all said and done, you could help her out, too, you know? You could help her lead, like, a normal life. One where she's not poked, or prodded and treated like some sort of lab rat." Hopper's eyes squinted together as he spoke again, "I don't know, it's just a thought," He pulled the belt tight again, squeezing it until it made the doc uncomfortable. He groaned, writhing in the wet blood for a moment.

"Think about it," He patted the doctor's shoulder again, and then stood. The doctor nodded, and with that sign on promise, Hopper retrieved a pistol from his belt, handing it to Dr. Owens. He clasped his hands around the gun, and relaxed again. "Don't go anywhere," he ordered, as if he could. It earned an almost chuckle out of the wounded soldier; causing Naomi to smirk.

The Chief stood, looking back and forth between the two girls, and continued the trek.

The fluorescent bulbs above them continued to flicker relentlessly, and the flashing of the alarm lights spun every now and again, but without the noise. The floating substances increased, and she tried to shoo them away with her hands like a fly. She could hear the buzz of the bulb's in the heart of her ears, and she spun in circles every now and again to observe every hall they turned into. The closer they got, the more the dimension leaked into their world.

"Stop," Naomi hushed, just as they were about to enter a lab.

Hopper and Eleven paused, waiting for her to react. Naomi closed her eyes, her hand still outstretched, and she listened. "They're in there," She whispered. "There's gotta be two... maybe three." It was hard to focus when she felt so disorientated, but she heard the wet breathing of at least a few of the demo-dogs. She reopened her eyes, and they all remained still

"Stay here," He instructed, pulling his gun higher up to get ready to aim.

"Hop-" She tried to argue.

"Stay." He repeated.

She stayed put, shuffling towards Eleven as Hopper shambled around the hall.

Eleven's shoulders moved up and down with each breath she took, and she reeked of anxiety. She jumped slightly as Naomi placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you're good." She ensured. Touch, she learned, was something that reassured Eleven. The second her hand grasped her shoulder, she slowed her breathing. She relaxed into Naomi's touch, but her face was still painted with dread and fear. That was something Naomi couldn't even take away.

"Shit," Hopper cursed, only loud enough for the supernatural to pick up.

Naomi bit her lip.

When he came back around the corner, he shook his head. "There's too many, you won't be able to keep them off."

"I can try-"

"No." He barked.

Naomi wasn't going to fight him on it, not at a time like this.

"There's another way." He waved for them to follow, and they both slowly tiptoed by the hallway. Naomi took the back again, and Eleven was in the middle. With every step, she grew increasingly anxious. it was like she thought himself would pop out and lock her up again. Naomi wanted so desperately to make it better; but the truth was there was only one person that could do this, and that was her.

Excluding the five minute detour, they managed to make it to the basement of the lab pretty quickly. If Naomi thought she felt weird before, she felt like she was tripping balls then. Her whole aura felt... off. She wondered if it was just a vampire thing, or if the other two felt the same. She had a suspicion that they felt similar, but not to the same extent that it was jacking up Naomi.

They all halted, staring at the broken glass of the call-room. They tried to ignore the dead body that laid beside Naomi's feet, slashed to death. Hopper and Eleven shared a look.

"Chief are you there?" She heard a stream of static come from Hopper's radio. "Chief, do you copy?"

Hopper pulled the radio to his lips, pressing the button along the side, "Yeah I copy," he answered.

There was a long pause, and she heard Jonathon panting into the walkie talkie before he said the two detrimental words that all three of them were waiting to hear. "Close it."

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please leave a review and let me know what you think.

gamby004: Thank you I appreciate your comments, as always! Awesome I'm glad to hear that. I'm very excited! Have you gone to one before?

Thanks again, loves!

xoxo