Nightmare on Barb's Street

A/N: Here's the next chapter I hope you guys enjoy and as always feedback is appreciated.

Wednesday

November 9th, 1983

The sound of thunder crashing down from the heavens woke him up from his sleep. Checking his wristwatch for the time which glowed red showing 3:00am. Turning over on the couch he shut his eyes before that smell hit him again. The way the world smelled in the upside down. Opening his eyes once more he sat up and rubbed them. Adjusting to the darkness, he wrapped the blanket around him. His blood ran cold as the grandfather clock in the corner chimed right as thunder and lightning amplified and lit up the house for a minute. He saw them, the spores. 'FUCK! No way I'm back in here? Right?' Climbed off the couch, his eyes now adjusted to the darkness he called out.

"Hello?"

No response came as he waited a few more seconds. "Mr. Holland, Mrs. Holland, Barb?". Now deciding to pinch himself in hopes that this was all just a dream and that he'd wakeup but it was to no avail. The house itself was filled with spores and covered with vines and looked disgusting. Everything was still exactly where it was supposed to be but just overgrown with flora. Making his way to the window, he looked outside and saw the street itself had once streetlight on that was flickering. All the other houses were dark and devoid of life.

He could feel his chest tighten. Alex wouldn't dare go out there, at least in the house he was safe from those creatures to an extent. Heading past the living room into the hallway into the bathroom he flicked the light switch on as the bathroom lit up for a second and then started flickering on and off like the streetlight. Leaning against the sink, Alex felt sick. It felt like his stomach was doing gymnastics. The toilet was overgrown with some vines but he managed to lift up the lid and basically collapsed on his knees in front of it as he threw up. Looking down into the toilet bowel as the lights flicked on for a brief second he swore he saw something squirm down into what would be the septic tank.

"What the fuck!" Alex shouted as he quickly climbed up to his feet. He looked into the mirror again and saw himself except he had this sinister smirk on his face. Alex started feeling his face to make sure he wasn't doing it and his reflection just kept it's gaze on him, not blinking, no signs of breathing, just a sinister smirk and each time Alex began to move, it's gaze followed. Falling back against the bathroom door causing it to shut behind him, Alex broke down and began crying.

He couldn't tell if this was a dream, no scratch that it was 100% a nightmare and yet it felt so real to him! He wanted to wake up and be back on the couch in the warmth of Barb's house and yet that wasn't an option. Slowly peeking over the sink he looked at the mirror and saw that now he had no reflection. As if he didn't exist at all. 'Was this hell?' That thought crossed his mind but he felt too much alive for it to be hell.

Crawling over to the bathtub he got into the fetal position and faced the doorway as tears flowed freely down his face and onto the floor. Maybe this was how he'd die. Somehow stuck in the upside down all alone with no-one. Nobody would believe his friends if they were questioned about his whereabouts, they'd all think Eddie was in a satanic cult because they call their D&D group the 'Hellfire Club'. No more gigs, girls, parties, for him it felt like it was all over. Maybe the creature did get him back and was now toying with him once more before devouring him. At least Barb was safe, well hopefully she was still in her warm bed asleep. The sound of footsteps caused him to quit crying and for a moment the light quit flickering and stayed on as the bathroom door swung open and he saw Barb with a concerned look on her face.

"Alex are you okay?" Her voice was filled with concern and just as she got down in front of him she faded away as the light flickered once again revealing that the bathroom door in the upside down hadn't opened at all. He swore he heard a low growl from somewhere outside the house that's how quiet it was in the upside down when the thunder and lightning weren't striking.

Sitting up now but still in a ball, Alex looked around the bathroom "Barb where are you?" For another brief moment the bathroom light stayed on and he heard her.

"In front of you." Her voice replied yet he couldn't see her at all as the light began flickering again, just the flickering of the light illuminated part of the bathroom.

Another low growl filled the dead air around him except it sounded closer like it was on the inside of the house. 'Keep calm, slow deep breaths in through your mouth out through your nose, no movements just focus.' Those three things kept flowing through his mind as he wanted to lower the sound of his breathing and heartrate yet that felt impossible. The sound of footsteps were heard, they were heavy. Alex glanced over at the toilet and noticed the plunger sitting beside it. He read in a magazine once how meditation could lower your body temperature, and heartrate.

Slowly, he crawled on the floor and turned out the bathroom light as well as locking the bathroom door before slinking back to his previous position, in the dark he reached for the plunger and grabbed hold of it before deciding to try and meditate a bit. He wasn't bleeding and if he could just stop crying and having a runny nose he could do it. Taking a deep breath he tried to push the fear out of his mind and just focus on breathing.

The growling got closer and he heard the footsteps from somewhere outside the hallway. A door to one of the bedrooms or hall closet opened as Alex was managing to bring everything down. Another door opened as heard footsteps into one of the rooms. It was getting closer, the creature was smart checking every room in the house. Alex didn't know if it could still smell him or not or if only blood attracted it, he did take a shower before he went to sleep. Closing his eyes he resumed trying to continue lowering everything so he could feign death and not be noticed or attacked by the creature.

The closet door opening right outside the bathroom door caused him to break focus as he somewhat let out a quiet yelp. Deciding to change course and keep his eyes open, Alex tried to ready himself to fight for his life. He really wished Barb or someone was here with him right now. Alex's hands began to shake as the footsteps came to a stop right outside the bathroom door. The doorknob began to shake as the creature let out a growl of what seemed to be frustration as the door wasn't opening.

Banging started coming from the other side of the door as the creature was ramming itself into the door. He could hear the wood cracking and the door weakening as the grandfather clock began ticking loudly as if counting down the seconds to his death. Seconds passed by but they felt like an eternity to him as the door finally gave way and splintered apart in front of him. The creature raised it's head up in the air as if smelling it. Lowering it's head the creature seemed to lower itself to the floor before readying itself to pounce on him. Once again he accepted the fact that he was about to die, except this time he was ready if it meant this nightmare would end. Just as it lunged at him he felt nothing as a white light blinded him.

Opening his eyes he was met with the familiar face of Barb looking at him with tears in her eyes. "Alex oh my god!" She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight. His eyes quickly surveyed where he was it and he was in the bathroom in the exact same spot he was in the upside down and he was holding the plunger. Dropping it, he wrapped his arms around Barb and began breaking down and crying into her shoulder. He felt so cold and and was covered in sweat, not to mention a horrible headache.

"I'm alive?" He asked, his voice weak as the light still blinded him as his head was throbbing.

"Your shivering!" Barb wrapped the blanket which was on the floor around him.

"My head and my stomach...it's killing me." Alex said as he suddenly fell back against the tub as this world faded into darkness and the sound followed with it.

Barb watched as his eyes rolled into the back of his head, quickly she grabbed him and gently laid him down on the cool bathroom floor. on his side. She felt his forehead and noticed he was burning up. Just a she pulled her hand away he began throwing up and convulsing. Barb grabbed hold of him to keep him on his side so he doesn't turn onto his back as panic began setting in for her.

"MOM! MOM!" Barb yelled from the bathroom.

Her parents bedroom door swung open and her parents came rushing into the bathroom, one look was all it took for them to immediately jump into action. This wasn't the first time they had to deal with a family member having a seizure, it's how her grandmother on her dad's side eventually passed away. Within minutes Alex stopped shaking but the family not wanting to take any chances helped load him up in the station wagon as their father began driving to the hospital. It'd be much faster this way than calling an ambulance. Barb sat in the backseat with Alex's head in her lap as he laid on his side.

One of the neighbors had, had trouble sleeping and had walked outside on the front porch for a cigarette and saw the commotion. They knew who Alex was and after Mr. Holland explained they were taking him to the hospital, the neighbor promptly called Jim.

It was going on 4am her dad came to a stoplight at an intersection. "DAVID JUST GO!" Her mother shouted as a large tractor trailer was going across the intersection. David stepped on the gas and narrowly avoided a serious car accident.

"How is he?" her mom asked looking in the backseat.

Barbara put her finger under his nose and waited to feel his breath, she got nothing so she put her hand on his chest and didn't feel it rising. "HE'S NOT BREATHING!" She found herself beginning to breakdown as her mother tried to calm her and quickly explain what to do just as they pulled into the entranceway of the hospital where Jim was waiting along with nurses with a gurney.

Everything for Barb was a blur as the chaos ensued. Alex was basically yanked out of the backseat and placed on the gurney and began performing CPR before placing a breathing mask on him for all of 2 seconds before taking that off and using a defibrillator. Jim stood there with a worried look plastered on his face as he watched his son lay there lifeless. She'd never seen the Chief of Police cry before but she watched him breakdown. Not knowing much about him except for the fact that Alex is his son and at what point he was married and had a daughter.

Her family watched from the car in shock and horror as the doctors and nurses tried one more time and to their amazement he sat up and took in a deep breath before the doctors tried and force him to lay down and put a breathing mask on him. Alex put up a fight but they injected him with something and within moments he was out. Jim along with the doctors rushed Alex into the hospital to get him and keep him stable. They pulled into a parking space in the parking lot and all got out.

"Mom is he gonna be okay?" Barb asked as she clutched onto her mothers arm.

"I sure hope so sweetheart, if they get him stabilized and his vitals normal he should be okay hopefully." The family walked into the hospital waiting room and sat down.

Twenty minutes passed and eventually Jim came and joined them in the waiting room. It was obvious he had shed a few tears. However he tried his best to keep composure and be strong not only for his son but for the sake of everyone else around him. Jim paced around the breakroom with his hands on his hips for a few moments before taking a deep breath.

"Any news?" Barbara broke the silence.

"Yea...yea" Jim said as he composed himself "Doctor's said Alex had an autonomic seizure and that when he threw up instead of it getting out of his system. It somehow stayed there and clogged up his airways. Thankfully, they managed to get it unclogged, Alex threw up again. But now they said he's stable and their gonna keep him under 24 hour watch."

"Well thank god for that." Mr. Holland said.

Mrs. Holland crossed her arms "Did Alex have a history of seizures when he was a boy?"

Jim shook his head "No, not at all."

"Can I go see him?" Barb asked as she wiped her face again.

"No, he's in ICU."

Mr. Hopped sighed "I wonder if any of this has to do with what happened last night."

A quizzical look appeared on Jim's face "What happened last night what do you mean?" He crossed his arms "Alex left a message on my answering machine saying he was playing a show and not to wait up for him. Did something else happen?" Jim looked at David "You only said that Alex was staying the night after he and Barb went to the Harrington's for a party or something."

"There's more to it than that." David replied as he stood up "I'm gonna walk out front for some fresh air if you'd like to join me?"

Jim sighed "I need a cigarette anyways, let's go."

Taking a long drag from his cigarette, Jim held it in for a moment before exhaling, watching the smoke evaporate into the early morning air. "So." Jim began, looking at David. "What exactly happened?"

"From my understanding from what both Alex and Barbara have told me is that he was walking home from the gig near the Harrington's house taking a shortcut through the woods. Barbara was at the Harrington's for a little get together, you know teenagers are. She cut her hand trying to open and shotgun a beer then the other people went to do whatever it is kids do and this creature got her from the upside down."

"Upside down?" Jim questioned, now wondering if Mr. Holland wasn't starting to lose his mind and have a mental breakdown at the events of what transpired.

"It's to my understanding that the upside down is exactly like our world except it's filled with spores, everything is overgrown and dilapidated. Basically it's our world but devoid of life. Anyways back to the story, somehow Alex discovered this entrance to it through a tree and after he heard my daughters scream cut short he crawled through this tree out of his own curiosity and entered the upside down and went to Harrington's house and found my daughter in a pool about to get killed by this creature which he said stand between 6 and 7ft tall and it's face resembles a Venus fly trap if you were to cut into for sides. He saved her life and the two of them crawled back through the tree and into our world. If you don't believe me I'll show you her car, her seats are covered in this goo and Alex's clothes are also covered with this substance."

Jim was completely stonewalled, he didn't know what to say. Eventually he gathered his thoughts and looked at Mr. Holland. "By chance, the people at this party didn't slip your daughter any drugs did they?"

David seemed shocked that Jim would even suggest that "No way, my daughter is a good girl she wouldn't do that stuff."

"And yet she was at a party where teens were participating in underage drinking, who knows what else happened." Jim shrugged as he tried to be realistic with Mr. Holland.

"You aren't suggesting she tried drugs are you?" He already knew but he just wanted and admission.

Once again Jim shrugged "Kids will be kids David, you remember when you were young when you felt invincible and everything was new and exciting. I'm not saying she did but I'm not saying she didn't, if we get a toxicology report done we'd have a definitive answer."

"Barbara isn't a liar, Jim you have to believe me. I myself didn't believe them at first but then your son started explaining it and breaking everything down and his story matched hers, it can't be a coincidence."

"You said it was a tree? would Barbara be able to pinpoint it?"

"I told them both last night that after school today they were going to show me this tree as well."

Seeming satisfied with the answer Jim finished his cigarette "Well, after school today we'll have her show us where it is. Until then I'm gonna go back and spend a few more hours with my son before my shift starts, if you need anything just give me a call."

Jim adjusted his coat as he started walking back towards the hospital entrance.

"Any news of the Byers boy?"

"Not yet." Jim answered as he disappeared back into the hospital.

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed the next chapter and as always feedback is appreciated.