986Ɩ 'ɥʇㄣᄅ ɥɔɹɐW

Almost like she was flung from the earth above her, Lorraine swung from the gap in the lake's bed only to find herself breathing dusty, cold air. Her back smacked flat against the dusty floor, seeing red lightning flash before her eyes, hearing the rumbles of thunder linger around her. As if someone had suddenly turned up the volume, she could hear the others struggling.

She quickly got to her knees and hands, looking up at them. Like she was watching a car crash in slow motion, Steve struggled to breath as a… thing wrapped itself around his neck. Nancy and Robin were struggling to get it off him with an ore, smacking it with all their might.

Lorraine took a sharp, deep breath, before lunging herself to grab some driftwood and swinging it at the creature Robin was banging on. With all her might, she swung at it, but it didn't budge. She heard screeching noises coming from above, and as she whipped her head up she saw what looked like bats flying towards them. Her eyes widened, as one seemed to go head first for her, her grip tightening around the piece of wood, ready to strike.

Eddie suddenly appeared with an ore in hand, swinging at the bat like he was playing baseball, sending the bat yards away from them. He turned to look at Lorraine, huffing, his hair drenched and sticking to his face. It almost looked like he grinned at her, as he quickly turned around and began to fight off another bat-like creature.

Nancy began to scream as one lunged at her back, clawing at her clothing. Robin quickly stood and was able to smack the shit out of the beast, as Lorraine swung at the bats that were lunging at them. Steve seemed to finally free himself, as he took the bat from its tail and began to smack it against the floor. Like he was someone else, he continued to beat the bat against the floor, blood dripping from his mouth. He set a foot on the bat, ripping it apart in two as he spat out blood, looking over to the others.

"Jesus H Christ!" Eddie shouted, almost like he was about to throw a tantrum, he tossed his ore to the ground, as he stood and looked at the place that surrounded them.

Lorraine panted, pushing her damp hair back and stared off into the distance. She thought that it was impossible, she thought only shit like this could happen in her head, in a book, in a movie. But there she was, in the middle of Lover's Lake, even though it really wasn't lovers lake. The sky was littered with dark, reddish clouds, every so often hearing thunder rumble in the background. She spat on the floor, the dust that floated around her getting in her mouth.

Her hands reached the back of her head, as the others began to group together near her, all staring at the deep red gash that had opened on the lake floor. Those stupid little creatures began to surround it, like it was defending it. They weren't about to let them go back.

"Fuck…" She exhaled, "They're.. They're…"

"Guarding it." Nancy said sternly.

"Bats have rabies, right? Maybe Steve has rabies, like, it's possible, right? I mean they bit him, and if you get rabies you usually you know di-" Robin rambled on, until something even scarier cut her off.

They all heard a roar of something bigger in the sky, like something was about to come closer. Lorraine's brows raised, she swore it sounded similar to a dragon, like something was about to fly over them and kill them. Instantly.

She hadn't noticed that the others had begun to run towards the forest, searching for shelter. Eddie, seeing that Lorraine was mesmerized by the strange world they had just stepped in, turned quickly and grabbed her hand, squeezing it in his as he began to run towards the others.

They all reached Skull Rock once more, but it wasn't quite like Skull Rock. It was almost like you were trying to draw something you haven't seen in years by memory. It felt like certain details weren't right, certain rocks shouldn't have been there. The sky was eternally dark, cold. It felt like the few minutes before a storm would roll in, but it never did. It made her feel like she had to stay on her toes, that any noise, any movement would immediately mean she had to run. Fast.

Nancy and Robin tended to Steve's wounds, as he continued to bleed from his sides, where the bats had bitten him and ripped deep into his skin. Lorraine, still looking around, began to climb one of the large boulders that surrounded Skull Rock, trying to find a high point and see how far this 'storm' went.

She crouched on the rock, blinking furiously as she still felt like she was in a nightmare, that she would wake up any second. That this really wasn't happening.

"Are you okay?" A raspy voice made her jump, turning her head slightly to see Eddie crouching next to her.

She chuckled ironically, shaking her head. "Fan-fucking-tastic."

Eddie grinned, turning to look at the same area Lorraine was looking at. "So, is this Hawkins, but with monsters and nasty shit?"

"Yeah," She huffed, pushing the stray hairs behind her ears. "Looks like it."

He looked at Lorraine, his brows stringing together. He studied her face, which was stern and worried, her jaw clenched so tight she could see the muscles cramp under her skin. He reached a hand to her knee, caressing it, but Lorraine didn't react to him. She continued to look on, studying the strange place, he could see the anger build in her.

"Careful with the vines!" Nancy shouted at them, whipping their heads quickly.

"It's like a hivemind." Steve grunted, touching the cloth that Nancy had placed around his waist to stop the bleeding.

Both Eddie and Lorraine looked at each other, raising their brows, almost about to have a laughing fit as they tried to slowly get off the rock without touching the slimy vines that riddled the forest floor.

As they reached the group, Eddie took off his jean vest, chucking it at Steve so that he could cover himself up. Lorraine thought it was somewhat out of character for him, since he seemed to hate Steve Harrington with a passion. They decided on a plan together, to try to find any weapon they could and hopefully fight off Vecna, or anything else that they would encounter. To both Eddie and Lorraine's surprise, Nancy said that she had two guns at her house. Lorraine knew that if this was a carbon copy of Hawkins, then whatever was on the other side, had to be there.

"So we go and ge-" Lorraine began to say, but was shaken to the ground, like an earthquake had just struck. Robin fell on top of Eddie, who quickly grabbed her, making sure she was okay. Steve took a hold of Nancy, trying to shelter themselves under Skull Rock.

Once the earthquake seemed to pass, Lorraine looked at Eddie. "I think guns sound like a pretty good idea right now."

Nodding their heads in agreement, they quickly got up and began to take the long hike towards Nancy's house, or at least this version of it.

Lorraine seemed to be, not exactly herself. It was like everything she had felt before she jumped into the water was completely wiped away. She felt angry, terrified, worried - but she couldn't make a sound, she couldn't look at Eddie almost. Everytime she looked at him, all she could see was a disfigured version of him, a darker one. Her panic and worry was taking a toll on her, she wasn't hungry or tired, she was just simply… there.

Eddie had been walking behind her, speaking to Steve. She could only hear snippets of their conversation, but it seemed that they were calling a truce, in their own way. Eddie compared him to Ozzy Ozborne, although Steve didn't understand the reference. She chuckled, as she crossed her arms and continued walking behind Nancy and Robin, watching her step as she tried not to touch the vines.

Lorraine had finally heard Eddie admit that he did care for Dustin, admitting how much he talked about Steve to the both of them. That he was even jealous, in fact. She smiled, kicking a small stone beneath her feet. For a moment, Eddie admitted that he wasn't a hero, that he would rather run away than face danger head on. Lorraine pursed her lips, knowing that that wasn't completely true.

She knew that he could sometimes seem like he was a coward, or that he rather not mix himself into a situation that would result in conflict, but in this case, he had every right to run away. There is no hero in this story, or nightmare, just a bunch of kids trying to figure out how to save their friends. He continued to talk about how Nancy immediately reacted to Steve's disappearance under the lake's water. It was sweet, she thought, that he was trying to bond with him, trying to make him see that Nancy truly still loved him.

"That was as unambiguous a sign of true love as these cynical eyes have ever seen." Eddie said, his voice so serious and true, it felt like someone had suddenly stabbed Lorraine in the chest.

What?

The anger began to grow in her stomach, but before she could even grasp the words in her head she was thrown to the floor once more, another earthquake seemed to hit them. She almost landed completely on her face, dirt and leaves getting into her mouth as she struggled to stay still, her arms and legs fighting to find something to hold onto.

"Nancy!", she screamed as she saw Nancy suddenly start to sprint straight forwards. "Where are you going?!"

Once she could finally find her balance, she began to run with the others, reaching Nancy at the end of the forest line. They stood there, silent, looking at what looked like a runned down version of the Wheeler house.

Nancy swung the door open to a house that looked like it was swallowed by a jungle, a dead jungle. Vines covered the walls and floor, gripping every object it could find in its moist claws. She shuddered at the thought that those things were connected somehow to Vecna, that he could be watching, or even listening, to them at this very moment.

"You should really get a maid," Robin joked, as they all looked around the house that they've been to so many times before.

"Let's go. I don't wanna stay here longer than we have to." Nancy demanded, as she and Robin ran up the stairs to get the guns from her bedroom.

Steve wandered around the house, flashing his light at the walls, almost entranced by how familiar it was, but how different it felt. The atmosphere was like a cemetery, it was like time had stopped and there was no air, no breeze, like dust collecting an old book you haven't opened in years.

"Hey," Eddie whispered beside Lorraine's ear, causing her to almost jump. "Are you sure you're good?"

"I'm fine." She said sternly, almost shooting daggers with her tongue, not even acknowledging how close Eddie was to her face. Maybe it was because they were in this horrid place, maybe because she hadn't had a decent night's sleep, or even how disgusting, dirty and hungry she felt. She crossed her arms, almost like a child, as she wandered into the living room of the house.

Maybe she felt hurt by his words, as unambiguous a sign of true love as these cynical eyes have ever seen. Why did those words hurt her so much, when she knew damn well how Eddie felt about her, how she felt for him. She couldn't shake the words out of her head, pursing her lips and scrunching her nose as she looked at the furniture littered with vines and dust, trying to act casually.

"No, you're not." Eddie continued, as he followed her into the room. He spoke playfully, leaning on his toes and bending his waist towards her. "I know you, you're all in your head."

She scrunched her nose once more, her brows furrowing as she continued to ignore Eddie's playful words.

Eddie's face dropped, feeling like the temperature suddenly became colder, looking at the back of Lorraine's head. He remembered the first night he saw her in the city, pleasantly surprised but heartbroken by how she seemed to kick him out as fast as she could. She was pushing him away, again, but he didn't understand why.

"Are- Are you mad at me?" He questioned surprisingly, pointing a finger to his chest although Lorraine wasn't looking.

She turned her head over her shoulder, with a blank stare. "Sorry, you're right. Your cynical eyes can see right through me."

Eddie tilted his head, opening his mouth to say something but Steve's shouts from the other room made them both turn and run towards him, thinking that something terrible had happened.

"Dustin!" He shouted, looking at the ceiling. Robin and Nancy both came down the stairs running, only to find Steve almost talking to himself.

He looked them in the eye, his heart pumping out of his chest. "They're here. I can hear them. That little shit is here."