A few days passed, and Jonathan missed a couple days of school. But today he finally came back. I saw him enter school, and people were staring at him, rumors about Will's death swirling the entire town. It was something everyone was talking about, and most of it was negative against the family. It felt terrible listening to the horrible conversations about how the blame goes on Mrs. Byers and Jonathan. They had no idea what was truly going on, how there was something much bigger at play than just the apparent death of a little boy.

Will's funeral was just yesterday, and I didn't go. I wasn't invited personally by Jonathan so I didn't dare go. He was still furious with me, and it hurt me a lot knowing he was so upset with me.

No one approached Jonathan, and he kept walking with his head down. When he saw me, his face distorted with fury. Jonathan made his way to his locker without talking or even looking at me. "Jonathan," I said almost exasperated. He didn't answer, and he opened his locker. "Jonathan, please talk to me."

"About what? About how you lied to me that Will was alive?! I saw his dead body. I...I identified it at the morgue..." Tears were forming in Jonathan's eyes and he was holding it back. "I have nothing to say to you anymore. Don't ever talk to me again." After quickly grabbing his things, he slammed his locker shut and stormed off. It was so unfair. Why was he blaming me? Will was still alive...or at least, I thought so. I hadn't seen him in my dreams for a while, and it started getting to me. Maybe he really is dead. Maybe that really is Will's dead body, and I was too late to save him. But then...he'd have my wolf ring, right?

"Hey Valerie," Steve said walking with Nance and his two friends Carol and Tommy. "What was that about with Byers?"

"Nothing." I could see that Nance was still bothered by Barb's disappearance by the way she was so anxious all the time. We talked after Nance tried looking for Barb. She told me she saw a picture of the monster in Jonathan's picture and that they were going to try to find the monster in the woods. I didn't say anything when she told me. I was afraid I'd cast a curse upon Nancy. I don't know why but Jonathan ignited a fire inside me, a fire that burned anyone in my path.

"Guy's got some anger issues, huh?" Tommy mocked.

"His little brother just died," I shot back angrily at Tommy even though we were complete strangers. "Have some sympathy."

"Hey, don't talk to my boyfriend like that," Carol said defending Tommy.

"Whatever," I mumbled and walked away from the group without another word. The entire day was a terrible mess. I couldn't concentrate on any of my work knowing Jonathan was furious with me. It was one of the worst days of my life, and it only got worse when I was called into the principal's office. The moment I opened the door to the principal's office, there was the principal, Dr. Clayton, Sheriff Hopper, and a woman I had never met before.

"Ah, Ms. Chandler. Come in," Dr. Clayton said. I stepped in and took a seat around the table with the principal, sheriff, and the lady. The sheriff looked at the principal so that she could excuse herself.

"Dr. Clayton, do you mind?" the sheriff asked.

"In my office? Yes, I do mind, Hopper," she answered very firmly. It almost made me tense how stern the principal was even to the sheriff. She took no shit from anyone.

"Really, Dr. Please." It almost sounded like begging from the sheriff. It caught the lady and Dr. Clayton off guard.

"I'm afraid not, Hopper. This is my office. If you want to converse in here, it will be in my presence." The lady eyed the sheriff and he nodded. All 4 of us sat around Dr. Clayton's table looking at one another.

"You know what happened to Will Byers," he stated to me. "I...we want you to give a statement down at the station."

"Statement about what?" I asked confused at what he was getting at.

"Everything you know about Will Byers."

"...I don't know anything." That didn't convince anyone in the room, not even myself.

"Ms. Chandler," Dr. Clayton said looking at me. "Help the sheriff. Go down to the station after school and submit your statement with your father."

"I'm grounded. My dad wouldn't let me."

"I'm sure he will once he knows what's going on," the sheriff replied.

"Please," the lady said looking at me with pleading eyes. Her voice was familiar, and I looked into her sad eyes. "Please help me find closure for my boy." So this was Will and Jonathan's mom, Mrs. Byers. This was the lady talking to Will that one time I saw him in my dreams.

"Maybe it'll be better if we go now," I suggested.

"Are you sure about that?" Dr. Clayton asked.

"Yes." I needed more help. I knew I couldn't track down the monster myself, and I knew Mrs. Byers knew what was going on with the monster. I could see it in her eyes. The sheriff, Mrs. Byers, and I walked out of school and hopped into the sheriff's car. He drove off, and we drove in silence. He parked in a driveway at Jonathan's house and I was confused. "Why aren't we going to the station?"

"Because it's not safe to talk there," Hopper answered. "Let's go in the house." I stared at a curtain covering up the gigantic hole in the wall of Jonathan's house, and I could see the Christmas lights still inside. We entered Jonathan's house, and I took a moment to see the disheveled mess. The mess nearly represented how disheveled the Byers' life really was after Will's disappearance. It took a huge toll on the family for worse. Mrs. Byers sat down on her couch first, and I followed next. The sheriff sat on a chair right across from me to take a good look at me. "So, when was the last time you talked to Will?" he asked getting right into it.

"A couple days ago I guess. Maybe a week ago?"

"H-how did you talk to him?" Mrs. Byers asked.

"...if I tell you, you wouldn't believe me."

"Try us," the sheriff answered seriously and leaned forward.

"...it was in my dreams. I tried to keep him safe from the monster with no face."

"I know the monster you're talking about," Mrs. Byers said believing every word I was saying.

"My mother told me to watch out for the beast, the monster. It must be destroyed, and I need your help."

"How?" the sheriff asked.

"I need to track the monster down. I have no idea how though."

"I know where it came from," he answered. I looked at him with disbelief. "I've been through...to the other side."

"What?" Now I really couldn't believe it. How could this man have gone to hell? "How can you be sure you were there?"

"It's a dark, cold, dreadful place. There's no light anywhere, and it feels like the darkness is never-ending." I couldn't believe it. That was my dream he was describing.

"How did you get there?" I asked.

"There's some kind of portal in Hawkins Lab that led me there. They got a lab in the basement where they keep it."

"So what's the plan?" Mrs. Byers asked looking at the sheriff.

"When I was there, I saw a picture. Stick figures and things like that, something a little kid would draw. I'm thinking that's where they're keeping Will."

"No, no that's not my Will. Look." Mrs. Byers went and got a drawing from the kitchen. She showed it to us, and it was a well-drawn picture not with stick figures. It was a drawing of a black snake looking right into your eyes through the paper. The drawing resonated with me. "That's what Will does."

"So the room must be for another child," I said connecting the dots. "El."

"El?" Mrs. Byers and the sheriff asked at the same time.

"This girl I met, young. She had a shaved head."

"Shaved head? Wait a minute, wait a minute. Benny mentioned a kid with a shaved head, couldn't tell if it was a boy or girl," the sheriff mumbled audibly.

"It has to be the same girl, right?" Mrs. Byers asked with hope.

"Very likely," I suggested."But the question is, who is this girl and why was she living in a lab?"

"Maybe she knows something about Will," Mrs. Byers said. "I mean, they're both the same age, right? Maybe...maybe they're doing some weird experiment over there on kids."

"First we gotta figure out who the missing girl is," the sheriff offered. "I still got the station at my disposal, so it looks like I've got a little bit of researching to do."

"I'll find a way to destroy this monster. I have my mother's books, but there's a ton of them."

"Your mother has books on what?" Mrs. Byers asked curious.

"On monsters," I answered truthfully. I looked at Mrs. Byers and held her hands firmly surprising her. "I promise, Mrs. Byers, I'll bring Will home." She started tearing up and quickly wiped the tears away with her sleeve.

"I'm going with you, Hopper," Mrs. Byers said bravely. "I'll help you find this girl."

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yeah. I won't be any help to Valerie here, so I'll go with you."

"Alright. Let's go then," the sheriff said looking at me and Mrs. Byers. We walked out of the Byer's house, and I looked at the two adults, strangers really. "Need a ride, kid?"

"I can walk back home. Thank you, sheriff," I answered.

"We'll keep in touch," the sheriff said and hopped back into his truck. Mrs. Byers walked towards me and looked in my eyes.

"Can you keep an eye on my oldest son, Jonathan?"

"He won't talk to me," I replied quite sadly. I'm sure she heard the tone in my voice. "He thinks I lied to him about Will being alive."

"Jonathan," she sighed loudly and shook her head. "He's always been kind of a hard-head. Just...please, don't tell him what's going on."

"You mean he doesn't know anything?"

"Nothing. I don't think he can take it right now. He's still mourning Will."

"He's stronger than you think."

"Just...please don't tell him where I am and what I'm doing."

"Alright," I answered with a nod. "Good luck with finding the girl, Mrs. Byers." Mrs. Byers went back into the sheriff's truck and they drove away. I ran back home as quickly as I could to make it on time. I pretended as if nothing had happened and locked myself in my room. I continued sifting through my mother's collection of books. I ended up with a book on ancient Egypt religion specifically about Amun-Ra and Amunet. I knew in my heart that this was it, this was the answer I was looking for. I opened the book and started reading an excerpt.

Amunet was the consort of Amun-Ra, one of the great gods.

I lied down on my bed holding onto that book and thinking about everything I just read. I closed my eyes and fell asleep to dream, hoping to find either my mother or Will in that other world.

He was the first 'Hidden One.' The original serpent prince. So named not for any particular reptilian qualities, but for the power of rebirth; like a snake shedding it's skin.

I was there again in that world, in the same forest. I walked through quietly, and it was eerily silent. As I kept walking, a shriek sounded in the distance. "Nance?" I could hear someone shouting her name.

"Jonathan!" Nancy shouted back. I made a run for it towards the sounds, and there I saw Nancy hiding behind a tree breathing rapidly. I could hear Jonathan's voice clearly calling out for Nancy. And there, sniffing for her was the monster.

Everlasting, perpetual life... sustained by feeding on the souls of others.

"I won't let you hurt Nancy," I grumbled to myself as I made my way towards her and the monster. She was shocked seeing me here in this other world with her.

"Val?" she asked in disbelief. Jonathan froze hearing Nance's voice whisper my name. "Val? Is that you?"

"Valerie?" Jonathan asked. I could hear him say my name, and it made my heart jump.

Amunet and Amun-Ra never appeared in the same incantation. It is inconceivable in Pharaonic Religion to conjoin them, their narratives are kept completely separate...

"Hide, Val. Hide now," Nancy pleaded me. I walked boldly past Nancy and she gasped in shock. She watched me make my way towards the monster who was now staring right at me on all 4's, snarling like an animal. "Val, what are you doing?" Jonathan's heart pounded hearing Nancy shouting this.

"Valerie!" he shouted as if pleading me to not do anything unwise.

Because if they ever came together, Amunet would become the mother of evil.

I continued to walk towards the monster and Nancy started shouting at me. "Val, come back! Val!" Not being able to see what I was doing made Jonathan go crazy, but he knew I was doing something stupid. He frantically tried to search for me and Nancy, but all he could find was her backpack near a tree.

"Run, Nance," I shouted right back. "Go now. Trust me, I'll be fine."

"Val, don't be stupid!"

"I said go!"

All light would end, the world would live in darkness.

Nancy hesitated but made a run for it away from me and the monster. She gasped seeing a portal on a tree a distance away. It was slowly closing, and she ran even faster. "Jonathan!" she shouted as she ran.

I started chanting in Verbis Diablis, trying to summon the monster away.

The hidden ones would emerge and rule.

The monster shrieked and backed up as I walked forward. I didn't dare break my stare and continued to chant my spell without a flinch.

Amunet-Amun-Ra conjoined. This is a spell foretelling the annihilation of man and the coming of the beast.

I stopped chanting the moment I heard a distant echo of a girl's voice speaking in Verbis Diablis. It sounded like a chant I had never heard before. I listened carefully to the chant, and the monster shrieked loudly then suddenly collapsed, dead. The voices stopped, and I woke up in a cold sweat. My alarm was sounding off, and I turned it off. My head was pounding after the intense dream. I wondered to myself who was speaking the language of the devil. All I knew was that it managed to kill the monster, and I needed to look that spell up.

I quickly got ready for school, and I walked alone in the rain. It was pouring cats and dogs, odd because there was no news of a storm. The moment I stepped in school I could feel something was different. There was a strange aura in the school, such strong emotions sparked.

I could see from the entrance of the school that people were surrounding Nancy's locker. Before I could make my way there to see what was going on, I felt a pang in my chest. It knocked the breath out of me and I couldn't breathe for a couple of seconds. I gasped for air and tried to compose myself quickly. There was a strong presence drawing near me and I felt a bit faint.

I looked around and my eyes stopped at someone I thought I'd never see again. "Barb?"