Disclaimer: Don't own the rights to any characters except the ones I created for this story.

Hope you enjoy!

This is a spontaneous trip, but at the same time it's not because I've been wanting to do it for a while now. Currently, I'm in a car with my best friend, Sarah, who's driving us to our destination, the location of where they film the popular show, Stranger Things. I've always been a fan, binge-watching the new seasons that get released instantly and then waiting patiently for the next to arrive. However, once season 4 volume 1 came out and I watched it, I felt so much more passionate about the show. I assume it's because the wait for it was so long, the hype for the show increased, and it has such an awesome horror element to it this season. I'm excited, but nervous about watching volume 2.

Anyway, Sarah noticed the increase of my interest with all the theories I was discussing with her. So, as a very early 21st birthday gift, she one day offered to drive me to visit the film location. At first, I was stunned and thought she was joking, but as she grabbed one of my bags and started to pack for me, my excitement was very apparent when I tackled her in a hug. However, she's only available around the time volume 2 is out, which means I'll have to watch it when I come back. I don't mind though because I can avoid spoilers. So, here we are in a car, after quite a long road trip from New York and we're almost at our destination.

"Hey, Kate." Sarah says while nudging my arm to get my attention. "What street was our Airbnb on again?"

"Oh damn, right. Hold on." I say forgetting to look at the address and quickly fumble for the phone from my backpack. "It should be 2 more blocks and then make a left. It'll be on the left side of the street." I reply back.

Sarah chuckles at my moment of being flustered and says, "Man, you just love to daydream don't you?"

"No! I was just really into the music." I defensively tell her. The song that just finished playing was, "The Hell Song" by Sum41, one of my favorite artists among many.

Sarah luckily finds a parking spot near our Airbnb and as we get out of the car, she smirks at me saying, "Yes, I'm sure that you were fully immersed in the song and not at all fantasizing about a certain fictional character worrying about what will happen to him in volume 2."

"Shush! No I wasn't." I tell her and quickly move on to a new topic. "This actually looks a little smaller than I expected." I state while walking up to the door.

"Well it's a good thing you're small yourself." She jokes while patting my head entering.

I walk in as well looking around, "Okay one, I am fun-sized and two, I definitely think I grew an inch taller."

"So…5'1"?" Sarah teases as she takes a seat on the couch.

With genuine excitement I say, "Yep! I will take all that I can get and have the small victories." I plop down next to her and we both stay silent for a moment, happy to finally be at our destination.

After another minute, Sarah stands back up stretching her arms wide while suggesting, "So should we go check it out?"

"Right now?" I ask stunned by her suggestion and then say standing as well, "We just got here. Are you sure you don't want to relax after the drive or grab a bite?"

"Nah, I'm good. We came all this way, why not go there right away? Plus, even though you're trying to not show it, I can tell you're buzzing with excitement." She tells me with a pat to my shoulder. I blush a little embarrassed that my enthusiasm is showing, but she continues, "I'm actually really interested in seeing the place too. So, let's grab our backpacks and head out."

With a nod, we both leave the Airbnb, get back in Sarah's car and head straight there. We found a great location for where we're staying because it's only a ten minute drive until we start seeing familiar landmarks from the show. Sarah makes one more turn and then I see it, Hawkins High. My mouth is a agape as I stare at the sight that has been seen on the show. We stop and get out of the car. Sarah walks ahead as I slowly take it in. It looks exactly the same. I think to myself.

"Wow, this is actually really awesome!" Sarah shouts impressed with the structure in front of her and adds, "But, it sucks that there's a fence around it." I snap out of my trance now noticing the barrier around the school.

"Maybe there's an entrance?" I suggest to her.

She points to a sign on the far right of us that reads "No Trespassing" and states, "I don't think so." My mood deflates a bit when reading it and Sarah chimes in again, "Ugh, seriously? The whole point of us coming here was to go in and check it out."

"I mean, it is used for filming so it make sense." I say with a hint of disappointment in my voice and add, "We probably should have researched ahead of time." I take one last look sighing before turning to head back to the car and call to Sarah, "Come one, let's grab a bite to eat."

We enter the car once again, but Sarah doesn't start it. I look over to see her staring at the school in thought before facing me with a smirk saying, "We'll come back at night and sneak in."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a minute!" I shout with my hands waving in front of me and state the obvious, "We can't break in!"

With a pleading look, she begs, "Come on! We came all this way to actually go in and not just see it from a distance behind a fence. My gift to you is supposed to be the "Hawkins High Experience" and not just staring at it from a distance like it's a zoo."

"I know, but-" I try to argue back, but Sarah holds her hand up.

She peers straight into my eyes and asks, "Would you really be okay if we just drive away knowing you had a chance to walk through those halls, but didn't?"

I sigh before answering quietly, "No."

"Hey, I don't want to force you to do it, but I know how much you were looking forward to seeing this place and I want you to be able to do it." She tells me sincerely and then says, "I promise that we'll be in and out of there quickly."

I shut my eyes pinching the bridge of my nose and give in saying, "Alright, we'll do it." Sarah bounces in excitement, but I add, "However, if we can't find a way in safely, we walk away."

She starts the car almost singing, "That's totally fine."

I fidget playing with my long dark brown hair and I say more to myself, but she overhears, "You're slowly corrupting me."

"Yeah, but you're turning 21, Kate! Let's make it your year of adventures!" She shouts while driving off as I roll my eyes at her.

We have time to kill, so we go to a local diner to eat and then head to a store to buy flashlights with whatever else we need. Sarah jokingly suggests buying ski masks as well, but I feel like that will definitely draw more attention than less. After about 4 hours, the sun is setting and we're putting the necessary supplies in our backpacks at the Airbnb. The cool night air hits our faces as we now head for the school once again. I have a bundle of nerves in my stomach that just won't go away no matter how many deep breaths I take. At the school, we walk up to the fence and we decided earlier that it's probably best to climb it. Sarah almost makes it look effortless, but she's pretty fit ever since she started taking kickboxing lessons. I on the other hand, have been exercising lately, but I'm still on the chubbier side, so I take a little longer to get over. We hope that's the only difficult obstacle and now we search for an entrance crossing our fingers that a door will be open. Thankfully, luck is on our side and a back door is unlocked.

Sarah looks over to me and asks quietly, "Are you ready?" I nod in response and we enter. The first place we walk into was the cafeteria. We shine our flashlights around the large room taking it in. "Wow, this is so cool. I mean…it's kind of creepy at night, but still really cool. Right, Kate?" Sarah asks me, but I don't respond so she points her light at me to grab my attention.

"Sorry, yeah, this feels…unreal." I tell her while I walk around. All the tables and chairs have been left out like they used this place yesterday. I subconsciously head over to a specific table remembering the introduction of a certain metalhead who stood on it. That was some entrance you had. I muse to myself smiling. Suddenly, I get spooked by the sudden music filling the room. Turning, it's Sarah playing the song "Running Up That Hill" by Kate Bush on her phone.

I give her a look and she shrugs saying, "What? This is the perfect time to play this song!"

"Well don't blame me if your phone dies since you forgot to charge it…and not so loud." I reprimand her in a whisper.

"Who else would be here besides us?" She asks and then says, "Also, I can always rely on you for your charger since you always carry it."

I respond while exiting the cafeteria to a hallway, "We don't know if there's someone else here like a security guard and yes I do have it because you never know."

"Alright, alright. I'm turning it off." Sarah says walking behind me, but that quickly changes when we come across a door and she walks past me. "Oh look! This is the room for the Hawkins High newspaper." She states pointing her flashlight at the door.

With her head, she gestures for us to check it out. Entering, we notice right away that it's not the same as the show. It's empty with no chairs and has white cloths over the tables. Since we planned on not touching anything, we take one more glance and head out. As we walk through the hallways, I imagine the different scenes that took place in the show. There wasn't too much that took place in the school for season 4, but the parts that were, are memorable. It honestly still feels like I'm dreaming. I think to myself still in awe while looking around. We pass by a restroom and Sarah stops prompting me to as well.

"Mind if I take a quick bathroom break?" She asks with a sheepish grin.

"Do the toilets even work here?" I question doubting their functionality.

"Well, I'm about to find out." Sarah says entering, but pauses to turn and ask, "You coming?"

I shake my head and say, "Nah, I'll just wait here until you're done."

Without the added sound of Sarah talking, it's eerily quiet. That is, until I hear a clanking sound a little ways down the hall. It spooks me and I reflexively prepare to hide, but don't when I hear that the sound is in a repetitious pattern. Curiosity winning, I go a little ways down the hall and as soon as I make a left, a red light from under a closet door catches my eye. My body doesn't listen to my mind and it goes towards the door opening it. There's a sigh of relief when I see that it's one of the gates from the show with nothing else in the closet.

"This is actually a really cool set piece. It looks so authentic." I admire it going closer and then ponder, "I wonder if they actually connected it to the next room."

With little hesitation, I go through the slimy gate only to witness that the room I entered was just another closet with the door shut and more dust in it making me cough a bit. I'm tempted to venture off even further out, but decide to head back into the prop gate once more to show Sarah, so we can check it out together. However, as I go through the gate again, I notice the closet that was opened, is now closed and there's now a light seeping through from the outside. What freaks me out more is not only are there janitorial supplies now, but I hear commotion on the opposite side of the door. What is that? I ask myself trying to step over things on the floor to press my ear to the door.

That fails once I trip on something causing me to grab the handle for support. Accidentally, I turn the knob and fall out of the closet onto the floor. What I didn't plan on hearing after my clumsy fall…was laughter. It's bright and I squint waiting for my eyes to adjust to what is now daylight. Once they do, I let my mouth fall open in shock as I see a multitude of people, teens, walking by in both directions passing me in the halls, a few chuckling at me. I grab my backpack while I stand up and look around at my surroundings. Starting to panic, I turn towards the closet to see if I can walk back through the gate prop, but it's no longer there. I close the door and lean my back against it. My mind goes blank trying to process all the new information in front of me, but then I snap out of it and jump at the sound, of what I assume is a school bell. The halls start to clear as teens enter rooms and then I remember, Sarah! I remind myself.

I run back to the bathroom she was in and enter calling for her, "Sarah? Sarah!" All the bathroom stalls are empty and so I charge out of it back into the hallway. I bump into a girl and reflexively apologize. Once I get a better look at her, I'm again in state of shock. I didn't really pay attention to the other people before, but now I do with the girl in front of me. Her outfit, hair and makeup, all of it screams 80s fashion. Before she leaves I grab her attention again, "Excuse me? Um, do you…mind telling me what the date is, please?"

The girl says, "It's September 7th."

"And…the year?" I ask her awkwardly.

She gives me a strange look before replying, "1985."

As she quickly hurries herself down the hall, I'm left standing there dumbfounded. What the hell is going on!?

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