Black specks begin to flood Alex's vision. The bat's slender tail tightens around her neck, constricting her windpipe so firmly she thinks it might snap. She attempts to pry the creature's tail off with her hands, but the makeshift noose only tightens more. She looks toward the murky red and grey sky through her ever growing blurry vision. Closing her eyes as a few tears squeeze out, Alex Byers accepts that this is how it all ends for her. As her eyes blink close, she only hopes that everything works out for everyone else.
An unknown amount of time later, Alex's eyes shoot open. She's completely disoriented and missing several of her senses. Her vision comes back first, albeit a bit blurry. Eddie's face is directly over hers, his lips moving but no sound hits Alex's ears. He looks worried, scared even. Her sense of touch returns next, though she almost wishes it didn't. An aching pain reverberates through Alex's neck. Instantly, she remembers the bat's tail around her neck and the gushing wound on her leg and what she thought was her own death. She feels Eddie's cool palms against her cheeks. His touch is so tender, it's nearly enough to replace the ache in her neck and the sting in her leg. Lastly, she regains her hearing.
"Alex? Alex, baby, you with me?" Eddie speaks, fear evident in his voice.
"I… didn't… die…" she groans out in response. She moves her hand toward her throat, but Eddie gingerly grabs it and holds it still.
"Of course you didn't die. We got you. I got you."
She could stay lost in his sweet brown eyes forever, but she remembers why she ended up in this scenario in the first place. Wincing, she gets to her feet, while Eddie stands beside her cautiously to prevent her from taking a tumble on her wobbly legs. She breathes in deeply, the damp smell of the Upside Down smacking her in the face.
Alex glances around the dark landscape, her vision still a bit fuzzy. Her eyes halt when they land on Steve. He stands, slightly hunched with bite wounds adorning his abdomen. "Jesus, Steve are you okay?"
"Me? Yeah, I'm fine. You're the one you should be worried about," Steve says with a slight wince.
At his words, Alex glances down at her leg. The pain suddenly hits her like a truck, but the real concern is the steady stream of blood oozing from her leg.
Before they can address Alex's blood loss, a small group of the bat creatures land on the nearby ground. Both Eddie and Steve slightly nudge Alex behind them, blocking her view of the chittering creatures.
"It's not that many," Steve murmurs. "We can take them."
Alex wasn't exactly conscious for whatever happened to the previous bats that attacked her and Steve. Judging by the dismembered bat caracasses, she assumes that Steve, Nancy, Robin, and Eddie fought them off while she lay passed out in a puddle of her own blood. She thinks the group can take on the creatures again, until a swarm materializes over the horizon.
"You were saying?" Robin asks.
Nancy whips her head around to scan the area. She comes up with a plan instantly. "The woods. Come on. Someone get Alex."
"It's fine, really. I can walk. See?" Alex tries to mask the pain as she takes a step. The movement causes even more blood to ooze out.
"Nope, absolutely not," Eddie says, and he scoops her up.
Alex doesn't want to be a burden, but she also doesn't protest as the group runs toward the woods. She keeps her head rested against Eddie's chest, while she focuses on the rapid thudding of his heart to distract from the steady dripping of her own blood onto the ground below. She tries to keep her eyes from lulling closed as her head bobs. The last thing she sees is the group carefully jogging through the dark, vine-ridden landscape.
She comes back to consciousness. Yet again, Eddie is peering down at her with panicked eyes and her back is against stone. She tries to sit up, but even with Eddie's careful hand holding her steady, she can't keep herself upright.
"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!" Robin repeats over and over again as she paces around in the narrow space underneath the Upside Down's version of Skull Rock. Alex thinks Robin is panicking because of their close encounter with the bats, until she can finally muster up the strength to lift her head and peer down at her wound. There's a new ever-growing puddle of blood forming around her leg with no apparent end in sight.
"She's losing way too much blood," Nancy says, kneeling down beside Alex and examining the wound.
"Yeah, she's a hemophiliac," Eddie says, even though everyone is already aware of Alex's condition.
"We have to stop the bleeding somehow." Nancy looks to Steve, who also kneels beside Alex on the side opposite of Eddie.
"Do we have anything we can use to give her stitches?" Steve asks.
"Stitches?!" Robin yells out, taking a small reprieve from her panicked pacing. "Last time I checked, no one here is a doctor."
"We don't have a choice," Nancy says, then she turns solemn and speaks again. This time her voice is barely above a whisper. "If she passes out again… I don't know if she'll wake back up."
"Oh, no, no, no…" Eddie says, his voice quiet too. Ever since Alex woke up from being passed out the first time, Eddie had been incredibly calm. But the thought of Alex potentially dying has him spiraling into panic.
Alex gathers the strength to sit upright and succeeds, but just barely. "Guys, I'll be okay. Just get me something to wrap it with and it'll be fine. We have much more important things to do–like defeating Vecna–instead of worrying about me."
Eddie pulls his black bandana from his pocket and presses it against Alex's bloody thigh without hesitation. Alex tries to hold back any sign of the pain it causes, but a sharp hiss escapes from her lips. Eddie hastily murmurs his apology and tries to release some of the pressure, but Alex places her own hand over his and gives it a reassuring squeeze.
"C'mon, let's do it," a determined Steve says, completely ignoring Alex's attempts to put the fight against Vecna before her own life. "What do we need?"
Nancy pulls something from the waistband of her pants. "I have a safety pin we can use. Does anyone have a lighter?"
"Yeah, of course." Eddie pulls his lighter from his pocket and hands it over to Nancy. It takes a couple tries, but the flame finally ignites and she uses it to sterilize the safety pin that she has mutilated to expose the sharp end.
Alex lets out a subtle sigh of relief. She is trying to keep her cool for her friends, but there is no convincing herself that she was fine. She is utterly and irrevocably terrified.
"Okay, now we just need to find something to use as the actual stitches…" Nancy says, thinking out loud. Unfortunately, the Upside Down isn't a place with readily available resources.
"Steve!" Robin yells suddenly, pulling everyone's attention. "You remember when we were on the boat earlier and I found that roll of fishing line and I said, 'hey, what if we need this fishing line?' and you said, 'why would we need fishing line?'"
"Yes?"
"Well, I put it in my pocket anyway." Robin's hand dives into her front pocket and returns with a spool of fishing line.
Nancy snatches it from her hands and is already kneeled beside Alex's injured leg. "Robin, I could kiss you!"
"What can we do?" Steve asks from beside Alex.
"Just keep her awake and keep her calm. It's going to hurt." Nancy's hands move with fervor as she readies Alex's leg. The sound of fabric ripping echoes underneath their rock shelter as Nancy widens the hole in Alex's jeans. Her fingers tremble ever so slightly as she threads the fishing line through the needle. As she finishes, she looks toward Alex. "Ready?"
"Well, it's not really like I can say no." Alex weakly laughs.
Eddie and Steve each take one of her hands into theirs. With a slight nod from Alex, Nancy begins. The pain is immediate and sharp and fiery. Alex keeps her eyes on the dark ceiling above her to keep herself from seeing the needle being forcefully drug through her skin.
After a moment, Alex starts to feel her hisses of pain and Robin's words of panic get quieter. Her vision follows by getting spotty and she knows she's about to pass out again. She remembers what Nancy said could happen if she passed out again.
Alex looks toward Eddie. "I… I… think I'm going."
"What?" Eddie asks, not understanding her. When he realizes, his eyes double in size. "No, no, no, baby. You can't go. There's so many things we still have to do together!"
Alex's heart warms at Eddie's words, but she feels her whole body getting fuzzy. She can't help but let her eyes flutter shut. It's the second time today that she's been certain she was going to die. She doesn't think she'll get lucky twice, but this time she's okay with her last vision of this life being Eddie's face. "Tired…" She whispers.
"No, no, no, no!" Eddie cries out. His hands leave her limp grip and find their way to her face. He grips her cheeks firmly. "C'mon, baby! Let me see those pretty brown eyes."
When his pleads don't work, Eddie lifts Alex upward into a sitting position. Between Eddie rocking her body and the drowned out pleads from her friends, Alex can still feel herself hanging on, but just ever so slightly. She wants to give in. She wants to just float off. But she lets herself reminisce for just a moment. Her life had been tough. From the second she entered this world she was already down on her luck, but her mom had saved her. Even though her father was horrible, her mother and brothers had always treated her with love and compassion. Despite the bullying at school, she had managed to find an amazing tight-knit group of friends. And now she had just started a relationship with the one person she'd had her eye on for years. She wasn't ready to give up her family, her friends, or Eddie. Even if Vecna kills her tomorrow, she still needs to fight to see them again today.
Alex fights against the heaviness in her eyelids and pries them open. Never in her life did she think that a task so simple would prove so difficult. When her eyes focus she finds Eddie again. He smiles at her and she manages to smile back, though she's fairly certain that she looks crazy. When he wraps her in a tight hug, she's certain that she made the right choice to stay and fight.
Steve bear hugs her next. "Can you please stop almost dying on us?" He whispers into her ear, and she laughs. Laughing feels good; she's glad she didn't give that up either.
"Thank you," Alex croaks to Nancy, who is done with her suturing and sitting with her head in her hands by Alex's legs.
"Of course," Nancy whispers back.
"I thought-I thought you were gone," Robin says lowly from her spot pressed against the opposite side of the rock. "I thought you were gone and I did nothing."
"It's okay, Robin," Alex says, still finding her voice.
"It really looked like you were gone for a minute there," Steve says. "What brought you back to us?"
Alex takes a big gulp of air and realizes that something as simple as that would be missed had she let herself go. "I realized that no matter what you guys did, I had to be the one to bring myself back. I thought about everything: you guys, my family, the rest of my friends. I decided that I wanted to fight for it. Even if I only make it the rest of the day, I want to fight."
A guttural sob escapes Robin. She catches everyone off guard by pushing herself off of the rock and rushing toward Alex. She collapses against Alex in a giant bear hug, and Alex graciously accepts it. The squeeze of Robin's arms around her torso is enough to subside the dull ache in her thigh. Steve joins the hug next, then Eddie, and finally Nancy until they're all in one massive and woefully teary group hug. They sit under the rock formation for a few minutes, just holding each other tight like they might lose someone if they let go.
"I love you guys," Alex finally croaks out. "But we need to focus on what we're doing here."
Nancy pulls away. "Are you sure you're able to move so soon after you- after that whole ordeal?"
"I'll be good. Just give me a few more minutes to rest while you patch up Stevie boy over there." Alex nods toward Steve who is leaning against the rock looking faint.
Nancy and Robin rush over to take a look at Steve. Alex tunes out the frantic babbling from Robin about rabies and instead turns her attention toward Eddie. The pair sit together, with Alex's back against his chest.
"So what was all that stuff we haven't got to do together yet?" Alex teases.
"Oh, you heard that?"
Alex nods.
"Well, there's tons of stuff. We have lots of horror movies we need to watch," Eddie says.
"And we can smoke a joint beforehand! And I can cook us some dinner."
"What, no junk food?"
"Well, sometimes junk food. Sometimes I'll cook us something healthy."
"Sounds perfect to me, but I think you should cook then smoke. Otherwise, you'll be tumbling all over the kitchen."
"Hey-" Alex interjects his teasing but is cut off by a short kiss and changes course. "But, sure. Cook, then smoke, then eat, then horror movie."
"Then sex?" Eddie asks, not-so-innocently batting his eyes.
"Then sex," Alex says with a laugh. "On another completely unrelated note, I really hope my family is okay. I've been trying not to think about it with everything else going on, but I just can't rid my mind of the thought that maybe something terrible happened to them."
"You have every right to be worried, but I'm sure they're okay. I bet as soon as we're done clearing this up we'll be able to get a hold of them."
Alex gives Eddie a slight smile to show him that she appreciates how good he is at reassurance. "I sure hope so. You'll love them, and they'll love you. You have to play Dungeons and Dragons with Will."
"You sure they would be okay with you dating not only a freak, but a freak that's wanted for murder?"
Alex's body still involuntarily jolts at the mention of dating. After everything they'd been through so far, she would think she would be used to it. But she still feels jittery and full of butterflies when Eddie mentions words like dating and boyfriend and girlfriend. They have still yet to have a conversation about their relationship, but Eddie seems eager to label it even without a conversation.
Alex brushes the thoughts away. "Again, I think you're forgetting that I'm considered a freak around these parts too. And as far as the wanted for murder thing, my family has been screwed over by the Upside Down more times than we can count. Trust me, if anyone would understand, it's them."
"So… you really want to keep me around? For-for a while, I mean?" Eddie asks, insecurity falling through his voice.
"What? Of course-" Alex starts, a bit confused on why Eddie would think she wouldn't want to keep him around. She gets cut off by Nancy.
"I hate to rush you, but do you think you'll be ready to move soon?" Nancy asks.
"Yep, good as new." Eddie helps Alex to her feet. She still feels a bit woozy and her leg has a dull throb of pain with movement, but she disguises it. They've got dire circumstances and she's more determined now than ever.
Eddie leaves her side to tramp up a slanted rock so he can observe the Upside Down from a higher vantage point. "So, uh, this place is like Hawkins, but with monsters and nasty shit?"
"Pretty much," Alex answers.
Satisfied with the answer, Eddie starts to come back down, but Nancy stops him. "Wait, watch out for the vines. It's all a hive mind."
"It's all a what?"
"All the creepy crawlies around here, dude. They're, like, one or something," Steve answers.
"If you step on a vine or a bat, you're stepping on Vecna," Alex adds.
"Shit," Eddie nods and makes his way down the rock carefully.
"But everything from our world is still here, right? Except people?" Robin pipes up.
"As far as we understand, yeah," Nancy answers.
"So, theoretically, we could go to the police station and steal guns and grenades and whatever we need to blow up those bat things that are guarding the gate," Robin pitches her idea as if it's a simple fix.
"I highly doubt the Hawkins PD has grenades, Robin. But guns, yeah, sure." Steve pulls as the makeshift bandage wrapped around his torso. Alex imagines he's suppressing pain just like her.
"Well, we don't have to go all the way downtown for guns," Nancy says, seriously. "I have guns in my bedroom."
Eddie jumps the last step off of the rock. "You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns, plural in your bedroom?"
Alex smiles at Eddie. "Oh, Nancy is strapped. I told you she was a badass."
"A Russian Makarov and a revolver," Nancy clarifies.
"Yeah, almost been shot with that one," Steve murmurs from beside Alex.
Eddie removes his denim vest, and Alex isn't sure why until she sees Eddie chuck it at Steve's hairy chest. Steve isn't expecting it, so he's shocked when the fabric collides with his body. "For your modesty, dude."
"You better be careful with that, Steve," Alex says, watching Steve put the vest over his dirty and bloodied torso. "We take Dio very seriously."
Steve is laughing and about to retort to Alex when the ground beneath them shakes violently. Alex had already experienced two small earthquakes from her time in California, but earthquakes in Indiana were exceptionally rare, and Alex has a feeling that earthquakes aren't a natural occurrence in the Upside Down.
The instant the ground rumbles, Alex's leg gives out. Thankfully, Steve is there to catch her. He holds her close as the shaking of the Earth reverberates through their bodies. Nancy and Robin shield each other. Eddie keeps himself steady, though his eyes stay planted on Alex and Steve. Alex wants to run toward Eddie, but she knows she's not going anywhere until the rumbling subsides. The second the ground stills, she's at Eddie's side.
"Guns seem like a pretty good idea to me," Eddie mumbles through the hug Alex has wrapped him in.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Steve asks once everyone is to their feet again.
The group silently trudges off into the desolate woods, watching each and every step to avoid one of the many vines that adorns the ground. Steve stops Alex by gently rubbing her shoulder.
"You good to walk? Or do you need a lift?" Steve asks.
"I'm okay, Steve. But thanks for asking."
Eddie swoops in to replace Steve and instantly intertwines his fingers with Alex's. "Let me know if you need carried because I'll do it in an instant."
"Like I told Steve, I'm fine. But if I happen not to be, you'll be the first to know." Alex lets out a simple laugh. "Three years ago I never would've guessed that I would be in the woods of a creepy version of my hometown with Steve Harrington and Eddie Munson competing to see who could be the biggest gentleman."
Eddie smirks. "I totally win though, right?"
Alex smiles at him. "Sure. You've got lots of sides. There's your badass, don't-give-a-fuck side that you show to pretty much everyone. Then there's your softie side, and then there's also the side of you I saw last night after our showers…"
"What can I say? I'm a complex guy. Those last two sides I only let you see though, baby." He says. "It sucks that our clothes are soaked again. Too bad we can't take them off like last time."
Robin whips around on her heels, a look of shock on her face shows that she heard what Eddie said. Steve and Nancy turn around much calmer than Robin, but Alex can tell by their expressions that they heard too.
"You took your clothes off?!" Robin exclaims, and Nancy shushes her.
"Yeah, but it wasn't like that. Well, I mean it was like that. But at first it wasn't supposed to be?" Alex offers with a shrug and a goofy smile.
Steve clamps his hands over Robin's ears and leads her away while whisper-yelling, "Perverts!"
"What a bunch of prudes," Eddie says jokingly.
"Well Steve definitely isn't," Alex says.
Eddie tenses immediately. Alex senses the change in demeanor instantly. She's sensed it before several times when she's brought up Steve or been around Steve. She had let it slide in the past without comment because she thought maybe Eddie's worries about her and Steve's friendship would dissipate as their romantic relationship grew. Now, it's starting to look like this isn't something that will go away on its own.
"How do you know that?" Eddie asks.
"Steve is very open about his escapades."
"You sure?" He pries.
"Eddie, I've never slept with Steve," Alex starts. "He is my friend. My best friend. I've been through Hell and back with him on more than one occasion. I know it's not really normal for a guy and a girl to be as close as we are without there being underlying romantic feelings, but don't we both pride ourselves on being not normal? I can assure you that there is nothing there, there never was, and there never will be. I just need you to understand that, because I desperately want the both of you in my life."
By the time Alex finishes, she's embarrassed to admit that she's borderline pleading. She's never had to have a conversation of this magnitude before, so she isn't really sure what to say. All she knows is that she has to do something to keep the both of them in her life.
Eddie sighs. "I know. I know, and I'm sorry. It's just really hard to finally have a chance with my dream girl who just so happens to be King Steve Harrington's best friend. I mean, he's the most popular guy in this whole town who could have any girl he wants. And I'm just- I'm just the town freak who sells drugs and lives in a trailer park."
My dream girl. Alex has to focus hard on the ache in her leg to distract from the buzz in her head and stomach that his words bring.
He laughs a bit bitterly. "I always acted like I was so tough and nothing could bother me, but I guess I'm just another insecure asshole, huh?"
She smiles at him, though he probably can't see it from the lack of light. "I mean I get it. You're dating the girl who's the talk of the Hawkin's boy's locker room. You've got big shoes to fill."
Alex is obviously joking, so the two of them share a quick and quiet laugh. If they were in other circumstances, Alex could see them giggling for ten minutes about it. But the Upside Down has a way of putting a damper on everyone's moods.
After a minute or so, Steve appears beside the couple. "Hey, could I talk to you for a second, man?"
A look of shock and maybe a hint of fear flashes across Eddie's face. "Go, I'm okay," Alex whispers to him. The two trudge off on their own. Alex knows Eddie is nervous, and she understands why, but she also knows it will be good for the two of them to talk. Despite their major differences, the two of them could be great friends–just like Alex and Steve.
Up ahead, Robin and Nancy walk together and it warms Alex's heart. They would make great friends too. Alex tries to look on the bright side that maybe once all this is over they can have one big party with everyone she loves.
The ground below Alex's feet rumbles again. On her own this time, she tumbles forward, her hands catching on the damp feel of a tree in front of her. She holds on tight and presses her eyes closed, waiting for it to end. Oddly enough, the second the earthquake begins, her head begins to pound. She winces, glad that no one is nearby to see. She'll keep the pounding headache a secret, she decides. Steve and Eddie would treat her like a china doll, and Robin would probably think she had rabies. It's for the best.
The dark forest floor stills, and Eddie and Steve bound over to Alex's small figure which is still clutching onto the tree trunk for dear life. "Hey, you okay?" Steve asks from her side, then backs up. "Sorry, forgot, man."
Eddie puts his hand up. "Nah, man, you're her best friend. I'm glad she has someone else that cares about her."
Steve snorts. "Yeah, always gotta' keep an eye out for little Byers. She's always getting herself into danger."
Alex smiles through her headache and leg pain. Eddie and Steve's little chat had done some good after all. "Actually, I think I'm the one that needs to keep an eye on you, Harrington."
The sound of Robin yelling after Nancy pierces the ears of the trio. Through the darkness, Alex spots Nancy's fleeing figure darting through the trees. They follow after her and catch up in a clearing. Overhead, the deep grey sky lightens with flashes of red lighting. In the clearing lies remnants of the electrical grid. Useless in the Upside Down, they lie smashed and broken on the ground. Just beyond, is the Wheeler family house. Nancy leads the way, and as the group gets closer, Alex sees that the once welcoming home is now decrepit and covered by the hideous vines.
The group stands on the blackened welcome mat in front of the front door. Nancy twists the door knob and the vine-ridden door creaks open. They all file in the entryway of the Wheeler home, an eerie feeling spreading throughout Alex's veins.
"Might be time to get a maid, Wheeler," Robin jokes, as the beam of Steve's flashlight highlights a particularly large vine on the dining table.
"Come on. I don't want to stay here longer than we have to," Nancy says quickly, leading the group upstairs.
However weird Alex is feeling right now, she knows it's ten times worse for Nancy being in the Upside Down version of her own home. Alex never got to see her former home in the Upside Down during Will's rescue, but the short description she had gotten out of her mother was chilling.
They make their way to Nancy's once bright pink striped room. Alex crosses the threshold of the room and realizes that Steve is no longer behind her. She turns to go find him, but Eddie grabs her wrist. "Where you going?" He whispers.
"Steve's not behind us anymore. Must've seen something downstairs. I'm gonna' go meet up with him."
Eddie shakes his head and urges her into the room. "He'll catch up with us. You really shouldn't be alone right now." She tries once more to convince him but he's still shaking his head. "Steve would agree with me. Let's grab the guns and go meet him."
Alex reluctantly agrees and heads into the room just as Nancy is pulling back the doors to her closet. Nancy grabs a shoe box from the top shelf. Slamming it down on her dresser, she pulls off the lid and tosses aside some tissue paper to reveal nothing but a pair of scuffed up heels.
"Those… aren't guns," Eddie says.
"Those heels are pointy, but I was hoping for a deadly projectile," Robin says.
"I don't understand," Nancy mumbles, a look of utter confusion on her face.
"Maybe you left them somewhere else?" Eddie offers.
"There's a six-year-old in the house. I know where I keep my guns," Nancy says seriously.
"Yeah, Nancy showed me the guns before. They were in this box in that exact spot in the closet," Alex backs up Nancy.
"And also, I threw these away years ago," Nancy says, her voice trailing off when she notices something else on the dresser that catches her eye.
Nancy takes a stack of smudged notecards in her hands and flips through them. Alex reads them over Nancy's shoulder and her stomach drops. Alex had never seen these exact notecards before, but she instantly recognizes them. She was in the same chemistry class as Nancy, and had the exact same exam the morning after Will had gone missing. Steve had told Alex all about what he was doing the night Will went missing–helping Nancy study. Just as their parents' generation remembered exactly where they were and what they were doing during the moon landing, those involved will always remember what they were doing when Will went missing.
"I get that grades are important, but perhaps studying can wait until we get out?" Robin asks.
"These are from sophomore chemistry," Nancy says solemnly, then her eyes move to the wall in front of her. "And this… this wallpaper, this is old wallpaper." She moves to another spot in her room, the rest of the group trailing behind her. "And this mirror, this went to a yard sale." She picks up a stuffed animal from her bed. Clutching the dirty plush material in her hands, she speaks to it. "And you… you're not supposed to be here. No, I gave you to Cousin Joanna two years ago."
Nancy's final stop is to grab the diary off of her bedside table. Nancy flips through it until she stops at a page that makes a grim realization appear on her face. Alex doesn't need to look at the diary, because she's already pretty certain that she and Nancy are thinking the same thing. The thought makes Alex's stomach lurch and she wishes she could sit down to take a moment, but this version of Nancy's bed is covered in vines.
"What is it? What's going on?" Eddie asks, looking between Nancy and a pale faced Alex.
"Yeah, you guys are freaking me out," Robin says.
"I think the reason that my guns aren't here… is because they don't exist yet."
"They don't… exist?" Eddie asks.
"This diary should be full of entries. It's not. The last entry is-"
"November 6, 1983," Alex answers with a deep breath, ringing her hands together. "The day Will went missing."
"And the day the gate opened," Nancy adds.
"We're in the past," Alex confirms.
Eddie and Robin both look at Alex to gauge her reaction, but Alex tries her best to remain stoic despite the heaviness weighing down on her. She has decided that she's already wasted enough of their time. Eddie gingerly takes her own tense hand in his and swipes his thumb along the skin of her hand that has somehow managed to stay soft throughout all of this.
"Dustin! Dustin!" Steve's muffled yells waft upstairs.
The group barely has time to make eye contact before Alex is bounding down the stairs with everyone else following behind. At the bottom of the stairs, Alex finds Steve wandering in a small circle around the dark dining room, shouting out awkwardly for Dustin over and over again.
"Maybe he really does have rabies…" Robin murmurs to the rest of the group, who look on at Steve's antics in confusion.
"Steve, what are you doing?" Alex asks.
Steve whips around and shines the flashlight into Alex's face. "He's here. Henderson. That little shit, he's here. He's like in the walls or something. Just listen!"
Steve continues to wander around screaming out for Dustin. Dustin is in the walls? If they were in a better scenario Alex would laugh at Steve. But then Alex thinks back to that night a few years ago, when her mom and Hopper had gone to the Upside Down to rescue Will. In Hawkins the lights had flickered when her mom had walked through the hall of their home. Maybe her mom had sensed her too on the other side?
"I hear him too…" Alex whispers when she first makes out the subtle sound of her friend's voice.
At first Eddie, Robin, and Nancy look at the two questionably. But soon enough, realization spreads across their features.
The group splits up and frantically traverses the house, screaming out Dustin's name and peeling back curtains to look for Dustin. Alex stays planted in her spot, thinking.
"Dustin isn't in the walls, guys," she says after a moment. "He's in the lights. Or rather, we are."
She's met with confused looks, so she continues. "Remember when Will was missing, and he found a way to communicate with my mom? He talked to her through the lights."
"Yes, you're right!" Nancy all but shouts. She runs to a nearby lamp and tries to switch it on to no avail.
Steve shines his flashlight toward the dining room chandelier. The illumination reveals a shimmery mist around the light fixture. Nancy is first to stick her hand into the mysterious haze, and Steve is next to join her. Robin and Eddie approach in awe.
"You coming?" Eddie asks Alex who stands still a step or two behind the others.
"Can't reach," Alex murmurs sheepishly.
"Well, c'mon then." Eddie helps Alex onto a chair beside the table, careful so as not to reopen her wound.
The second Alex's hand touches the glowing aura, everything suddenly becomes too real. The mist is unlike anything she had felt before. It wasn't good; it wasn't bad. Is this the same feeling that Will had discovered when he was scared and all alone and being hunted by a bloodthirsty monster three times his size?
"It almost… tickles," Eddie mumbles beside her, bringing her back.
"Does anyone know Morse code?" Nancy asks.
"Not well," Alex responds. Will had taught her a few things several years ago, but nothing much she remembered.
"Wait, like SOS?" Eddie asks. "Is that good?"
"Hell yeah, it's good!" Alex beams.
Alex hops off the chair as gingerly as possible to make room for Eddie to work his magic. She steps back a bit and waits, straining her ears to listen for Dustin. Eddie moves his hand in and out of the mist and after a minute Alex hears a faint yet familiar voice. She grins.
"I think it worked. And I think he may have just called us stupid."
"Okay, that's great, but now what?" Steve asks. "I mean how do they help us from there?"
Alex shushes Steve and strains her ears again, but this time she doesn't have to try so hard. Dustin is screaming, though it still comes through somewhat muffled. "Hold on… Meet us in Nancy's room… Getting Lite Brite."
"They're getting a Lite Brite and we need to meet them in Nancy's room," Alex relays.
After sprinting up the stairs, they beat the Hawkins group. They wait with anticipation, staring at the bed waiting for a shimmery mist to appear. Alex can practically feel the ants in Robin's pants.
It appears and Dustin shouts to them again once more, "Guys seeing this?"
Nancy reaches her hand toward the mist but promptly retracts it. She turns toward Alex with an odd look on her face. "This is weird, but I almost feel like you should do it?" Because your brother did it when he was trapped here.
"Yeah, totally. I got it."
Nancy scooches to the side and Alex takes her place. She reaches her hand out into the mist. The same feeling starts in her fingers and creeps up her arm. She hears giggling and cheering from the other side, then, "Not moving it… Unplug it… Stand by."
They wait and the mist dissipates. Dustin's voice comes through again, "Try it now?"
Alex can feel the others holding their breath, depending on her to help save them right now from this terrifying place. She holds her finger up and traces two letters in the air, hoping that her shaky hand isn't that obvious. H-I
"Hi? Worked!"
Alex looks around at her friends as they cheer. "Hi!" Eddie yells in triumph, though those on the other side can't hear him.
"Who speaking to?"
Alex raises her finger again to trace letters in the air, but this time it's less shaky. A-L-E-X
"Alex!?" Dustin's voice comes through muffled, but there's a sense of comfort in his voice. "Why… Upside Down?"
S-T-U-C-K Alex's fingers spell, then she adds a frowny face for good measure.
"Stuck… Upside Down…" Another voice comes through, this time Alex recognizes Lucas.
"Yes, we are stuck?" Robin says enthusiastically.
"Watergate?" Dustin's voice sounds.
"What the hell is Watergate?" Steve asks.
Alex can't help but roll her eyes. "He's talking about the gate we went through."
"Oh, because it's a gate and it's in water," Robin nods in understanding.
"That's cute," Eddie says.
Alex gets back to business and tries her best to convey the situation to her friends on the other side when she only has so little space to do so. G-U-A-R-D-E-D
It takes a moment, but Dustin's voice comes through, "Watergate guarded…"
"Yes! Perfect!" Steve cheers.
"Theory… can help…"
"Genius child," Robin murmurs.
"Watergate isn't… only gate… there's gate… murder site…"
"Does anybody understand what he's talking about?" Nancy says at Dustin's revelation, but everyone else only has looks of confusion. Alex traces a question mark back to them.
"Many times… have to be right… trust me?!" Despite being in a different dimension, everyone can still hear Dustin's angry tone.
"Jesus Christ, this kid's gotta' get his ego in check," Steve says.
"It's his tone, right?" Eddie says, leaning toward Steve.
"I know," Steve mumbles back, and Alex has to hide a smile to see the two of them being friendly.
"We need to go to your trailer," Alex says to Eddie.
"It's like seven miles away."
"I know your house here is, like, weirdly, creepily frozen in time and shit, but haven't you always had bikes?" Robin asks Nancy.
Nancy nods. "Yeah, yeah. They should be in the garage."
Alex traces one last message to her friends back home. G-O-I-N-G 2 E-D-D-I-E-S
Everyone follows Nancy downstairs and through the eerie version of her house. It's nearly pitch black in the garage, and the only light source they have is Steve's flashlight which conveniently starts to flicker. Steve gives it a few good smacks and the beam of light stays strong. It'll work for now, but every one of them knows they need to get out here soon.
"There!" Says Robin, pointing to a stack of bikes illuminated by the flashlight. They're leaning against the wall near the far corner of the garage.
"Shit!" Nancy says. "I just remembered we only had four then. One for me, Mike, Mom, and Dad.
"We can share," Eddie speaks up. "Me and Alex."
"You sure?" Nancy asks.
"Yeah, no problem." Though it isn't like they have much choice.
Steve rolls the garage door open while everyone else picks their bike out. As Eddie climbs onto Mike's bike and helps Alex climb on after him, she can't help but wonder how long it's been since Eddie has ridden a bike. She knows he's had his van for almost four years now.
They take off down the dark desolate road and Alex holds onto Eddie tightly, hoping that they get out of the nightmarish land soon. As they get closer and closer, red lightning flashes more often. A swarm of bats festers in the dark sky above in the distance.
"Eddie… the bats," Alex whispers. With her injury, her condition, and no weapons, she isn't sure she would survive another impromptu attack.
"We're almost there," he whispers back and begins pedaling faster.
When they reach the trailer park, Alex marvels at how different yet similar it is. It's dark and unwelcoming, just like the rest of the Upside Down, but she recognizes Eddie's trailer, what in the future becomes Max's trailer, and the awning the group had sat under. The one thing that's missing is Eddie van, but she knows exactly where it is: The Hideout, just like she had been on that fateful night three years ago.
They veer off and drop their bikes onto Eddie's front lawn. A few of them stretch out or rub at their leg muscles.
"That's gotta' be a Guinness World Record. Most miles traveled interdimensionally," Robin says.
"Just inhaled a bunch of that crap. It's stuck in my throat," Steve says while coughing, trying to play off the fact that he's winded. Though Alex is a bit concerned about all of them spending so much time here. The lab had told her mom that the atmosphere was toxic when she went to collect Will, though perhaps they could have lied.
At first, the inside of Eddie's trailer is familiar minus the eeriness and vines, but then Alex sees the ceiling in the living area. Right above the couch Eddie's uncle had been watching TV at the night she had visited lies a glowing red membrane just like the one they had come through under Lover's Lake. Dustin was right; they had found another gate.
"This is where Chrissy died," Eddie says. "Like, right where she died."
Alex slips her hand into Eddie's for comfort. So much had happened recently that it was hard to remember the horror that Eddie had experienced was merely a few days ago.
"I think something is in there," Robin says, barely above a whisper.
"What the hell is that?" Eddie asks.
Something from the other side pokes at the red fleshy membrane. Softly at first, and then harshly. The membrane splits open in an instant, a horrible squelching noise echoing around the small trailer. Robin yelps and everyone jumps back.
Alex starts to creep forward. Steve tries to grab at her arm to stop her but Alex shoos it away. While the others creep up behind her, a bright smile crosses Alex's face. Staring back at her are Dustin, Erica, Lucas, and Max who appear to be upside down, though she imagines she's the one who is actually upside down.
"Holy shit, this is trippy," Robin says as the two groups cheer and greet each other.
"Bada-bada-boom!" Dustin says from the other side, laughing maniacally. Then he changes to be serious. "But, seriously we gotta' get you guys out of there."
"Yeah, any ideas?" Steve asks.
"Yeah, no idea if it's going to work though. Eddie, we're gonna' need your mattress and a lot of sheets or towels," Dustin commands.
"Uh, yeah. Bedroom is straight back and sheets and stuff are in the closet by the bathroom."
Dustin drags the rest of them away and the group stuck in the Upside Down can do nothing but wait anxiously. After several minutes, they return–this time with Eddie's mattress being plopped down right underneath the opening.
"Those stains are, uh… I don't know what those stains are," Eddie mumbles when his stained up mattress is put on show. Robin makes a sort-of-disgusted noise while Alex simply laughs.
Dustin comes back into view holding a long rope of sheets tied together and Alex sees where this is going. "Not quite sure how these physics work, but, uh, here goes nothing."
Dustin tosses the makeshift rope up through the gate which perfectly hangs from the ceiling on Alex's side of things. "There we go. And if my theory is correct…" He lets go of the end of the rope he is holding and it stays, half in one dimension and half in another.
"Pull on it! See if it holds!" He shouts back to them.
Robin grabs the rope and pulls her whole body weight on it. The rope doesn't move one bit.
"This is the craziest shit I've ever seen in my life, and I've seen some crazy shit," Erica says. Alex had missed her wit.
"Guess I'm the guinea pig," Robin says, then she struggles to climb up the rope. When she reaches the opening of the gate she falls through and lands on her back on Eddie's mattress. "That was fun!"
"Ladies first?" Steve says gesturing between Nancy and Alex.
"You go ahead," Alex says. "I'm probably going to need some help because of my leg."
"Yeah, I doubt you could climb that rope even if your leg was fine," Steve says.
"Ouch," Alex says, placing a hand over her heart, but she knows it's probably true.
Nancy climbs through and thuds on the mattress, just like Robin had. "Okay, I guess you guys help me now," Alex says.
Eddie and Steve each get low to the ground to be able to get one of Alex's feet to boost her upward. "See you on the other side," Steve jokes.
Alex climbs the rest of the rope herself, then feels herself fall just like the others had, but instead of falling a few feet, she feels like she falls through an endless abyss. She finally feels herself roughly land, but the ground isn't a cushy mattress, it's the hard ground. She sits up and looks around disoriented, but she knows right away she's not in Eddie's trailer safe and sound. She's in her childhood home, and she hears her dad coming down the hall, and he doesn't sound happy.
Back at Eddie's trailer, Alex's body levitates just below the gate back to her own dimension, her eyes rolled back into her head. Eddie and Steve try to shake her awake, but to no avail. Everyone knows what this means.
Author's Note: Hi, long time no see! I just love a good cliff hanger. I apologize for another late update but my New Year's Resolution this year is to keep up with my writing. We're almost to the end of this season. Are you scared? I'm scared. I do think I may have a little surprise up my sleeve at the end of this season... And if there's anyone still there reading this: as always, reviews are much appreciated. I love to hear what people think.
