I shot up in bed, cold sweat trickling down my temples and the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. It took me a second to realize where I was—in bed, in my own home—but that didn't give me the peace of mind I was looking for yet. I yanked the covers away and jumped out of bed, quickly opening the door of my bedroom and crossing the hall to the door with the "NO TRESPASSING" sign on it. I opened the door and peeked inside, my gaze scanning the room and coming to a halt when I spotted the peaceful frame of my younger brother, sound asleep in his bed. Of course he was in bed. He was fine. He had been fine for months—physically at least. And yet, I couldn't help but check on him almost every night. I let out a strained sigh, finally able to relax, as I closed the door again.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

I jumped and almost yelped at the sound of another person in the hallway and I quickly turned around, coming face to face with my other brother. "Nothing," I whispered, running a hand over my face, which was still shiny with sweat.

"Did you have a nightmare again?" Jonathan asked, taking a careful step towards me. I reluctantly nodded, knowing there was no way to lie convincingly—not to my twin—and finally looked him in the eye. "I just had to make sure he was okay. He's fine though, he's asleep," I said, shrugging lightly. I had been having nightmares about Will being gone ever since he had come back from the upside down. It used to be a nightly thing, but it had calmed down over time. Now it happened maybe once or twice a week on average. Enough to exhaust me to the point of slacking off in school and cheerleading practice.

"Is it getting worse again?" Jonathan asked, his brows furrowed. I shook my head and gave him a careful smile. "No, it's been getting better. Just not…completely, yet," I added. He nodded and gave me a sympathetic smile. "Try to get some sleep, okay?"

"I'll try," I said. "Oh, and…don't tell mom, please?" I added pleadingly. I could tell from Jonathan's face he wasn't jumping at the idea of agreeing to that request, but after hesitating he nodded. "I won't," he reassured me. I faintly smiled back at him before we said our good nights and went back into our rooms. I crawled back under the sheets and pulled them up to my chin, taking deep breaths as I tried to put the images out of my head that always kept popping up whenever I had these dreams. Will in the upside down, a huge thing with way too many arms and legs hovering over him, ready to rip him away from our family all over again. It was, quite literally, my worst nightmare.

"Just go to sleep, Lori," I whispered to myself as I squeezed my eyes shut, as if that would help me to force the images out of my mind.

It didn't.

"Come on, Lori, you can't not go to Tina's party. Everyone is going to be there."

"Exactly," I said, stabbing at my lunch in front of me. Going to some party was the last thing I wanted to do, especially if all the popular kids were going to be attending. As much as we all liked to pretend that everything had gone back to normal, they hadn't, not really. At least not for me. People in school stared at me every day, at my arm specifically, and they whispered behind my back. About the girl who went out into the woods and got mauled by a bear. And that was one of the nicer rumours. Others insisted I had done it to myself, going crazier every day Will had been missing until I couldn't take it anymore and had taken a knife and gone crazy. Others even dared to say it had been Jonathan who had lost it and did it to me. I definitely did not feel like sitting through an evening of people asking me "what kind of knife I had used" or if I "still want to off myself".

"Lori, it will be fun. We'll be there, Jonathan is coming too," Nancy insisted, smiling at me encouragingly from across the lunch table. Steve was sitting next to her, shovelling food in his mouth and occasionally glancing at either of us, following our conversation. After the incident last year, the three of us—Nancy, Steve and I—had gotten closer. I think in turn, Jonathan and Nancy also had gotten closer, and even though Jonathan and Steve were on friendly terms now, I still wouldn't exactly call them friends.

They had filled me in on everything that had happened. From how they had lost me the night we had gone out into the woods to find Will, how they had tried to look for me, tried to kill the Demogorgon, how Steve had accidentally joined them and became tangled up in all of it. They had done their best to tell me everything, but I still felt a little out of place, as if removed from the narrative. Not a surprise, of course, considering that I hadn't been present for any of it. But I appreciated that they made the effort.

The cheer squad had been…nice, if you could call it that. The coach had prevented me from being kicked off the squad. Since I couldn't participate in practice and performances for a good while, there had been a few people on the team who suggested they'd give my spot to someone more capable, but it was eventually ruled unfair and I managed to keep my spot. All in all, my fellow cheerleaders seemed to be pleased to have me back. By now I had regained my strength and stamina and I was back in business. Most days I covered up my arms with a hoodie or long sleeved shirt. It was harder to hide the ugly scars in summer, but by now autumn had rolled around and thankfully it was cool enough to layer up again.

"It's just, I promised Will that I would go trick or treating with him to-"

"Jonathan already used that excuse," Nancy interrupted me with a cocked eyebrow and knowing smile. I sighed in defeat. There was no getting out of this one. When Nancy put her mind to something, it was happening.

"Fine, I'll go… But I don't have a costume planned or anything, so… I don't know what to wear."

"Don't worry, I've got you," Nancy said. She really thought of everything, huh. "I'll bring some clothes with me tomorrow, you can just borrow them and give them back the day after the party, okay?"

I smiled and nodded at her. She truly was very nice.

"Hey guys," a voice said from behind me before someone put a lunch tray next to mine and took a seat next to me.

"I was wondering where you'd gone off to, Rivers," Steve said as I looked up at the only person on the cheer squad whom I actually liked. Jenna had been the only one to truly care, not just when I had gotten back to school and practice, but also during the time I had spent in the hospital. The brunette was liked by almost everyone and despite her slightly shy nature she had many friends. I often praised myself lucky to have a friend like her, especially on the team, who actually gave a shit.

"I had to stay behind for a lecture, failed chem test," she said as she scrunched up her nose. I smiled to myself as I drifted off into thought, realising how strange it was that we were both here at the lunch table with Nancy and Steve. Steve in particular, whom we both had had a crush on since we started high school. It was harmless, at least on my part, and especially since last year's events, I hadn't really been interested in anything remotely close to a relationship. Besides, Steve and Nancy were serious about their relationship and both Jenna and I knew that. A crush really hadn't been on my mind after I had come back from the Upside Down and I truly considered Steve a friend. I thought it only showed just how great of a person Jenna truly was when she explained that no, she wasn't jealous and didn't hold a grudge against Nancy for dating Steve, because they looked genuinely happy, so why would she be mad about that?

"I've been thinking about getting a job," I said as I sat in the passenger seat of Jonathan's car. Will was in the back, drawing something in his notebook, and Jonathan looked over at me from the driver's seat as we drove home from the school district.

"Really? What brought that on? I thought you had no time for jobs because of cheer practice," Jonathan asked.

"Well, yeah, before…" I said, pausing for a second. "That was before everything happened and I was still hoping lots of practice could land me a cheerleading scholarship. I thought I could start saving up for a car so you don't have to drive me around anymore."

"Wait, you don't want a scholarship anymore? What about university?"

I shrugged and looked down at my hands. The truth was that ever since the incident of last year had happened, I had taken a huge hit to my confidence. I had pretty much caught up to the routines and I was sure I could train harder and become better, but the fact was still that I had scars, big scars, on my arm and my shoulder was still weakened. The doctors had told me that it was most likely always going to be a weak spot, prone to dislocations and other ailments.

"I'll have to start saving up for that too. I just don't think cheerleading is a very sustainable goal anymore."

We drove in silence for a little bit, until Will spoke up from the backseat. "Where would you work? I saw a help wanted poster at the arcade the other day. If you worked there you could let me and the guys discounts and free tickets, you'd be the coolest sister out of all of our sisters," he rambled and I could hear the smile in his voice. I turned to look at him and chuckled. "Maybe, yeah. I'll have to see what jobs are available. The arcade is more your thing, but I'll think about it."

That seemed to please Will, and he went back to his drawing. My gaze fell upon the piece of paper and I stared at it for a few seconds. He was drawing what looked like a monster—not a Demogorgon, no this one was much bigger—which was looming over a small frame, which if I had to guess, was Will. I looked up at him again, considering asking about the drawing, but I decided against it. It was probably a bad idea to bring it up in front of Jonathan, who would only be more worried than he already was. Both him and mom had been walking on eggshells around both of us, but mostly Will. He was younger, more vulnerable, the one who had been missing for the longest and the one who had almost died. He also was much worse at hiding his episodes from mom than I was.

Our experiences were different. Will episodes were usually during the day while he was awake. He would be doing something normal and insignificant when he would suddenly be in the Upside Down—at least it would look like that to him. My episodes were mostly at night, in the form of nightmares. It would involve Will disappearing again, reliving the Demogorgon bite, walking around the Upside Down in search of Will, or—my personal least favorite—everyone I cared about trapped and killed by the Demogorgon.

I knew I should be telling mom about it, but I didn't want to go to that creepy building where Will had to go after every episode, where they ran tests and asked all kinds of stupid questions. They were just bad memories and worst case scenario dreams, that was all. I did feel bad for not telling mom, because it meant that Will had to go in and I didn't, but in my own defense, he had gotten off much worse than I had last year. I was fine and didn't need to be prodded and poked at.

When we got home, Will retreated to his room like he did on most days, while Jonathan and I sat at the kitchen table and did some homework assignments. I was rushing to get all my homework done, since the halloween party would be tomorrow and I knew I wouldn't be able to get anything today then. Not only that but tonight, mom's boyfriend, Bob, would come over and we would have movie night, much like every week. He was a nice guy—the exact kind of guy I thought mom needed and deserved. He was a bit dull, maybe, but to be honest, that was probably a good thing. He felt good for her.

"Lori?" Jonathan said, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Hm?" I hummed in reply as I looked at him, and I realized I had been staring off into space.

"Are you having…you know…an episode again?" he asked, his voice hushed even though we were the only ones in the room.

"No, you know I don't get them during the day," I said, waving his concern away. It felt like almost any time he or mom talked to me, it was questions about whether I was okay, if I was having nightmares or episodes, or something else related to last year's events. I knew Will could relate—they did the exact same with him.

I closed my textbook and got up from my chair. Jonathan went back to his studies as I grabbed my things and walked to my room to put them away. As I was about to enter my room, a very light but definitely noticeable feeling crept up my spine. The static, as I liked to call it. It tingled the back of my neck, not enough to give me goosebumps, but I definitely noticed it. I turned to look at the door to Will's room. I had come to learn that whenever I got this feeling, it was somehow connected to him. I knew that he hated being checked on constantly, so I had to go about this carefully. I entered my room and put my books away, then crossed the hall and knocked on will's door.

"Come in," I heard him say, and I entered.

"Hey champ," I said with a grin. Will was sitting on his bed, working on that same drawing he had been working on in the car.

"Hey," he smiled up at me before going back to his drawing. If it had been mom, or either Jonathan coming into his room, he probably would have put it away, but us both having had our own experiences with the Upside Down had somehow opened up this transparency between us, which I was really thankful for.

I closed the door behind me before sitting on the end of his bed. I pulled my legs up and crossed them, resting my hands in my lap. "I saw you working on that earlier too. Looks pretty impressive," I said, nodding my head at the drawing of the large, almost spider-like monster that towered over a big field that looked suspiciously like the field in front of our house.

"I've seen it too," I added softly, my eyes still fixed on the drawing, when Will's hand stilled and he looked up at me.

"You have?" he asked, genuine interest in his voice. I nodded in reply and met his gaze.

"When?" he continued.

"When I sleep, sometimes," I said. Somehow there was a twinkle in his eye, but not exactly a happy one. "You've seen it in one of your episodes as well, haven't you?"

He nodded in reply. "Whenever I see it, it's getting closer, little by little. Like it is on its way here, and every time I see it, it has caught up with me a little more. I never know how to get away or hide from it…" he said, trailing off into silence.

"I don't really think there is a way to hide from it," I said honestly. "But don't worry, okay? It won't be able to hurt you, or any of us. All that is in the past now," I added with a smile. He smiled back at me, and somehow I felt that we both knew that I wasn't exactly right. Even in my dreams, it always felt too real, too threatening for it to be just a bad dream. It also didn't help that both of us kept seeing the exact same image, despite neither of us actually having seen anything like it in the Upside Down. It was much too big a coincidence to think that we had simply made up the exact same monster in our heads.

"Sorry for bringing it up. I know it's pretty much all anyone ever asks about," I said, a pang of guilt going through me. I hated it when people did it to me and I knew they did it to Will as well, probably more so than me.

Will shrugged and lightly shook his head. "Yeah but, it's different when you ask. You don't treat me like I'm about to disappear again, or if I'm going to break. You see it too, you… you understand," he finally said. And I did understand.

After mom and Bob got home, we had dinner before they started to prepare for movie night. Jonathan had picked up some movies for us to watch, but the idea of having to sit through a movie with my family while unable to shake the static feeling sounded like a nightmare. Maybe not as bad as the ones I had when I was asleep, but I decided I wanted to be anywhere but home right now.

"What do you mean, we always have movie night on the same day," mom said when I told her I had made plans with Jenna and had to leave.

"I know, but tonight is the only free night we have before the deadline," I lied. There was no deadline—Jenna and I didn't even have any projects due together. I felt bad for lying, but if I told mom about the static, and the nightmares, I knew it would earn me a trip to the Hawkins research facility the very next day, and there was no way I was going to put myself through that.

"Well alright," she eventually conceded, "but promise me you'll be back by 10."

"10?" I protested. They probably wouldn't even be finished with the movie by then. "We're going to need more time than that, we haven't even started on the paper."

I could tell from mom's expression she didn't like the idea of me being out longer, but Bob walked up next to her and put his hand on her back. "Sounds like a life or death situation," he grinned before chuckling at his own joke. It fell a little flat with my mom, who was probably worried that I would actually get into a life or death situation if I was home any later than 10, as if that was some magic curfew.

"How about 11. The movie should finish around the same time, it would be perfect timing," he suggested, smiling down at mom, and I instantly liked him even more.

"Well…alright, but if you're not back by 11 on the dot, I'm going out to look for you," she said, and my face lit up, quickly nodding.

"I'll be back before 11, I promise," I said before quickly giving her a kiss on the cheek and hurrying over to Jonathan's room. I knocked on the door, after which he told me to come in. I opened the door and poked my head around it.

"Can I borrow your car?" I asked with a grin that would hopefully grant me his car keys without getting any questions. Unfortunately, I had no such luck.

"My car? Where are you going?" he asked, although he did stuff his hand into his jeans pocket, fishing out the car keys.

"Just to Jenna's," I said as I walked over and held my hand out. If he suspected anything was off, he didn't let it show. He handed over the car keys and I told him a quick thank you before darting out of his room again.

"See you at 11!" I called through the house to whomever could hear it as I darted to the front door.

"On the dot!" I heard mom call behind me right before I closed the door behind me.

It was time for some peace and quiet.

Whenever I needed to be alone, I always came to the lake on the edge of Hawkins. Before Christmas of last year I liked to go to the quarry, but ever since those firefighters had pulled Will—or whom I was told was Will at the time—out of the water, I hated the place. There were plenty of other spots to hide away at, though, so I had simply taken my self-isolating sessions elsewhere. I particularly liked this lake, since it was relatively small and not a lot of people came there.

I sat on the hood of Jonathan's car, looking out over the water that glimmered in the moonlight. It was a beautiful evening for late October: a clear sky and a breeze that was still mild enough to sit outside without it being too chilly.

The static had become less intense the further I had driven away from home. I didn't want to admit to myself that home was starting to feel less and less comfortable because of that feeling, because that would mean that the one place that was supposed to bring me safety, comfort and allowed me to be around the people that I loved, was becoming a place I didn't want to be anymore.

It was just a phase, I had tried to convince myself over and over again, and I would continue to try until I actually believed it.

I didn't notice the sound of a car engine driving up to the lake until the lights started hitting the trees right next to where I had parked the car. I looked behind me, not used to ever seeing anyone else here whenever I visited. It wasn't exactly in the way of anything, there was nothing out here at the end of this road except for the lake. I groaned, coming to the conclusion that it must be a couple who had set out to find some quiet place to make out or something. Hopefully they would turn around when they spotted my car.

But the car didn't, and instead came to a stop a few meters away from mine. The engine was turned off, along with the lights, and for a moment there was complete silence. I was still looking at the car, trying to figure out who was inside it, but it was far too dark to see anything, even with the almost full moon high in the sky. Maybe if they stayed inside the car and kept quiet, it wouldn't be so bad to share the place with someone else, but as soon as I heard anything remotely like a moan or rhythmic movements from inside the car, I would be out of there.

I focused my attention on the lake again and sat there for a couple of minutes, simply appreciating the view. Then, the unknown car's door opened and I heard someone's heavy boot hit the floor. I looked over again and this time I could make out a person's shape in the moonlight. It was a man, and even though I couldn't see his face, he seemed to be pretty young. He closed the car door behind him and started walking towards me. I sat up straighter, suddenly very aware that I was alone, by the edge of a small but still significantly deep lake, being approached by a stranger, at night. I was about to jump off the hood to put the car between myself and the stranger, when he spoke up.

"Got a light?"

I blinked, needing a few seconds to process his question. He was close enough by now that I could make out his features. He was indeed young, with a handsome face and a cigarette between his lips. He had almost shoulder length curls and wore all denim. He was definitely not from around here. He raised his eyebrows at me and I realized he had been waiting for an answer for a couple of seconds now.

"Oh, um… no, sorry," I said, patting the pockets of my jacket even though I knew I didn't have a lighter on me, since I didn't smoke.

The stranger sighed in what was either disappointment or annoyance as he fished something out of his pocket and brought it up to his face. It was a lighter, but as he tried to light his cigarette, it would only sputter and sent sparks into the air with every flick of his thumb on the wheel.

"Actually, hold on," I said as I hopped off the hood, walked to the passenger door and opened it. I opened the dashboard cabinet and rummaged through it for a couple of seconds before fishing out a box of matches. On summer evenings, Jenna and I liked to pack a bag each, full of drinks, snacks, candles and blankets and have picnics in the woods or by the water, and I knew that I had out the box of matches in Jonathan's car one time to make sure we could always light the candles, even if we ended up taking his car.

I closed the door again and handed him the box of matches. Our hands brushed against each other slightly when he took the box from me, and he flashed me a grin.

"Thanks, darling," he said in a tone that made me suspect he said that phrase a lot. I watched him light the cigarette and take a long drag from it, the small flame momentarily illuminating his face. I could make out blue eyes, strong bone structure and most alarmingly, something that looked like remnants of blood under his nose.

He waved his hand through the air sharply, dousing the flame in one swift move before tossing the match onto the ground and handing out the matchbox to me. I took it from him and pocketed it.

"What's a pretty little thing like yourself doing all by herself out here, huh?" he asked. Cringy, but it didn't feel threatening. It felt like the way he spoke was more out of habit than him actually having any intentions. I hopped back into the hood of the car and resumed my original position.

"Nothing, really. I just come here for the silence," I said. Not a jab at him, but not a lie either.

"I can see why," he said as he slowly let his gaze trail over the lake. "Not much out here."

It was silent again for a while, but it didn't seem like he was in a hurry to leave me alone. I looked over at him again and he was still staring at the lake, taking slow and deep drags of his cigarette. Each time he did, the red tip of the cigarette would burn a little brother and draw attention to that blood stain on his lip. If he was going to stay here and keep me company, I might as well try to make conversation.

"What happened?" I asked, pointing to my own upper lip for context. He looked over at me and our eyes met. He didn't exactly look pleased with my question, but he answered it anyway.

"Got into a fight. You should see the other guy," he said with a wink. I wasn't sure what to make of that, but I assumed he meant that the other one had gotten off worse than him.

"You go to Hawkins High?" he asked me then. Again, it wasn't a question I would normally answer to a complete stranger, but something about his demeanour and the way he asked it felt harmless.

"I do, yeah," I said, and I tilted my head a little as I watched him. I guessed he could technically be my age, although he did look like he was old enough to be in college already.

"Do you?" I followed up.

"Yep. Just freshly transferred," he answered, which in turn also explained why I had never seen him before and why he looked so out of place here.

"May I?" he then asked, pointing next to me on the hood. I scooted over a little bit in reply, and he took a seat next to me.

"Where did you move from?" I asked, genuinely getting interested now. If I was going to see him around school and he was new, I might as well try to get to know him. Maybe we could even be friends or something.

"California," he answered. There was something about the way he said it that made me believe he already missed the place.

"Damn. Traded in the sun and the beach for trees and clouds, huh?" I said, to which he scoffed.

"Yeah, this place looks like a real gem," he said, his voice dripping in sarcasm, and I chuckled softly.

We sat in silence for a while until he had finished his cigarette and he flicked it onto the ground.

"The name is Billy, by the way," he said as he turned his head towards me. I turned to meet his gaze again and nodded.

"Nice to meet you, Billy. I'm Lori."