986Ɩ 'ɥʇϛᄅ ɥɔɹɐW

"Maybe he does have rabies," Lorraine chuckled, as the four of them looked at Steve. He was screaming Dustin's name into the still, dusty air, mumbling things under his breath. She looked over to Robin who gave her a sly grin and a small chuckle.

What connection… Vecna… Lake…

Lorraine's gaze widened as she looked at Robin, who immediately mimicked her expression. She could have sworn she had just heard Dustin talking, frantically, but it was faint. Almost like when you would try to scream in a dream, only to have a whisper come out.

"I can hear him," Nancy said, shocking the others. Lorraine was glad that she wasn't going crazy.

"How is that possible?" Lorraine questioned, looking at Nancy.

"Will managed it," She said, turning to her sharply, before she and Steve began running around the house, trying to flip the lights on. "He communicated through the lights."

Lorraine, not sure exactly what Nancy meant by communicating through the lights, let her eyes look over the ceiling, watching the lights Nancy had tried turning on. Just out of the corner of her eye, she could see the chandelier of the dining room twinkle, almost unperceivable. She walked slowly to the room, staring at what looked like small golden particles floating around the bulbs, almost like pixie dust.

"Uh, guys..." She croaked out, "Come look at this.."

The others gathered around her, getting as close as they could to the light that was, on its own, almost sparkling. Lorraine raised a hand towards it, feeling how the temperature changed as she got closer to it. It was warm, like a summer breeze caressing her fingers, whipping around her wrist and holding tight. As she did, the golden specs began to glow a brighter yellow. She quickly took her hand away, scared that something was going to happen.

As she did so, she looked over to Eddie, a worried look on her face. Without thinking, he took his hand to hers secretly, almost like he didn't want the others to know that she was scared, that he was scared. His thumb caressed the back side of her hand, as they all lifted a hand and reached out for the golden dust.

Breaking her gaze from Eddie, Lorraine could feel a tear find its way down her cheek. The warmth, the feeling around her hand made her almost break into a sob. She bit the inside of her lip, squeezing Eddie's hand in hers. It reminded her of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches after school, of her Mom braiding her hair in the summer, waking up late on a Saturday and hearing someone mow their lawn. Whatever it was, it was like the only happiness that existed on this plane was right there, floating above their heads.

"It actually feels… nice." Robin said, whisking her fingers around the dust as it glowed even more with all five of their hands in it. Eddie looked over to Lorraine once more, a small smirk on his face. He could feel the dust around his fingers, causing him to feel butterflies flutter in his chest. It was like a lazy hug in between cold sheets, like reading the ending of a good story, or finally mastering a difficult riff on his guitar.

Lorraine pulled her hand away, looking to Eddie as he did the same, their eyes twinkling against the golden light that warmed the dining room. She felt everything wash away as she looked at him, taking in a deep breath as she wiped her cheeks with her free hand, intertwining her fingers with his.

"Does anyone know morse code?" Nancy blurted in the silence, as the others looked at each other waiting for someone's response.

"Does.." Eddie mumbled, "Does S.O.S count? Does that help?"

Eddie and Nancy were geniuses. As soon as he began poking his hand in and out of the cloud of golden dust, the lamp began to glow with their message of help. They could all hear Dustin, shouting out to them as he instructed them to go to Nancy's room. Without hesitating, they did so, almost falling as they all tried to cram themselves on the steps and ran to the dark room.

There on her bed was another dust cloud. It seemed that Dustin, Lucas and what Lorraine thought was Lucas' sister were able to manage something for them to communicate directly. Nancy held out her hand to the cloud, as they all knelt beside the bed, eager to see if it was working. It started to glow, just like the one downstairs.

Lorraine could hear screams of joy in the distance, smiling in relief as it was only confirmation that it was working.

We're.. Unplug… hold on!

The dust cloud disappeared for a moment, but Nancy quickly tried to spell something, a quick message of 'hello'. Lorraine heard the kids shout in amazement, sighing in relief as she finally could see herself getting out of this hell hole. Eddie, in excitement, almost growled a sharp 'hi' behind her ear as he leaned into the bed. She tried not to laugh, but couldn't help it, it was the most adorable greeting she had ever heard.

They could hear Dustin mention Watergate, which made Robin and Lorriane chuckle, understanding the stupid referenace that Dustin had made. As they communicated, Dustin explained the best way he could, that the gates were opening at the murder sites. That meant, wherever Patrick died, there was a gate.

"Does anyone follow?" Nancy said, a little confused. Lorraine shrugged, not sure if she truly understood what the hell was going on. As Nancy drew a question mark in the air, they could hear Dustin swear at them, frustrated. Lorraine could sum up that they had to go to Eddie's trailer, which she dreaded.

"He really needs to adjust his attitude," Steve said, scoffing.

"It's his tone, right?" Eddie added, nodding his head in agreement.

"So," Robin said, interrupting the boys "I know this is a weird, older version of your house but, like, you've always had bikes, right?"

Nancy quickly drew a small bicycle over the bed, hearing the confirmation of the others echoing in her room. They quickly stood up, rushing themselves out of the room and heading to Nancy's garage.

Lorraine held onto Eddie tightly as she sat on the bicycle seat, meanwhile Eddie peddled like a maniac, trying to reach the trailer park as fast as he could. Her hands were placed around his waist, feeling how his hips shifted up and down, only to stop and allow the wheels to move for them. Eddie looked around his shoulder quickly, checking on Lorraine. He smiled, as he saw how she was holding on tight to him, her nose scrunched up , turning back and settling his eyes on the road once more.

"Just over there," Eddie pointed out to the others, as they slowly came to a stop and hopped off their bikes. Eddie threw his hand on his head, exhausted by the sprint they had just done. Lorraine laughed softly as she saw the sweat drip from Eddie's temple, he eyed her for a moment, only to give her a small smirk.

"That's gotta be a Guinness World Record. Most miles traveled interdimensionally." Robin said in a breathy laugh, as she got closer to Eddie's door.

"Just inhaled a bunch of that crap," Steve coughed, turning on his flashlight. "It's stuck in my throat."

Eddie swung the door open eagerly, hoping that they could get out of there as soon as possible. His heart leapt into his throat as he saw a deep red gash on the ceiling of his house, something that wasn't normally there. Flashes ran through his mind of Chrissy hanging there, bones breaking, eyes popping. His breath grew shorter as the adrenaline began to consume him, feeling that he should run. Again.

He felt Lorraine's cold fingers wrap around his, making him turn quickly to look at her. She blinked slowly, squeezing his fingers gently. He nodded, faintly, before turning around once more to stare at the red glow that came from what he could only assume was another gate.

"This is where Chrissy died." He said in a soft voice. "Like, right there."

They all peered into the red glow, almost admiring it, as they waited for something to happen. Lorraine didn't quiet understand what they were waiting for, a flash of light or a stupid vine to grab them. She pushed herself between everyone, stepping forward to get a closer look.

"I.. I think something's in there.." She whispered, looking up. Something suddenly came poking out, like it was struggling against the membrane tinted red. Lorraine jumped back, Eddie quickly grabbed her arm pulling her closer to him.

"What the hell is that?" Eddie shouted, as it began to move vigorously, poking and stabbing itself against the skin like texture. It suddenly popped, making everyone jump, Eddie pulling her behind him almost to shelter her from the debri that started to fall out of what looked like a hole.

"Gross.." Robin gagged, as black and red slush began to fall from the hole.

Nancy began to walk to the hole, Steve close behind her as he hovered his hand over her arm, ready to pull her out of any danger. Robin, Eddie and Lorraine followed them closely, slowly seeing exactly what was on the other side.

Lorraine began to laugh, chuckling deeply as she saw Dustin, Lucas, Max and only who she could assume was Lucas' sister, Erika. They were looking down at them, like if they were glued onto the ceiling.

"No way.." Robin said, looking at Lorraine as she joined in her laughter.

"Hi!" Dustin said, cheekily, a wide smile on his face. The kids began waving at them, like they were passing each other at the supermarket.

Lorraine lifted her hand, giving a soft wave. "Holy shit, this is trippy."

"Bada-bada-boom!" Dustin shouted, clapping his hands as the others celebrated finding the lost members of their crew.