Chapter Nineteen
The shrill shrieking sound of the bats above echoed through the Upside Down along with the sound of thunder rolling behind the dark cloud. Piper felt like her lungs were struggling to take in a breath as she forced her legs forward and trailed behind Steve and Nancy. She couldn't help but look over her shoulder to make sure that Robin and Eddie were sticking close behind – along with making sure the bats weren't closer. The moment they started to enter into the darkness of the decollate trees, for a small moment, Piper felt the panic leave. But the moment was so small she barely felt it.
The sound of their call became more and more distant.
Piper's legs felt heavy and tired, but she continued to push herself, the sound of the twigs and sticks beneath her sneakers.
"Straight over here!" Steve yelled out, Piper barely able to hear him over the thunderous noise, "We'll hide over here!"
Piper staggered slightly and stopped as her lungs let out a strangled puff of air. From behind her, she felt a gentle hand rest on her back, and when she looked up, her emerald eyes met dark doe eyes. Eddie's dark curls framed his face as he looked down at her.
"You good?" He asked, a look of worry crossing his face for a moment.
"Y-yeah," Piper nodded her head, noticing Robin coming up beside Eddie, the same worried look coming over her face. "Let's go!"
Piper pushed down the ache of her lungs and her legs before leading the other two to where Steve and Nancy stood. A feeling of déjà vu, a nightmare version, of Skull Rock came into view as they raced forward. Piper was the first to move into the small opening beneath the boulders. She sat with her knees tight to her chest as Robin and Eddie followed close behind.
As the sound of the chittering grew closer, Steve moved slowly to peek his head out and look toward the sky. Flashes of red flickered across his face as thunder continued to move through the sky.
No one spoke a word. Robin pressed tightly into Piper's side as they sat there and waited. Soon the sound of the bats was far enough in the distance that the panic started to let up from the hold it had on Piper's chest.
"Ok, I think we're all clear," Steve spoke softly, moving from beneath Skull Rock as he spoke.
Nancy was next to move, before soon being followed out by Eddie, Robin, and then finally Piper. All of them looked toward the sky expecting to see the monsters flying above them, straggling behind and ready to alert the others of their location. But it never came.
They were safe.
For now.
"That was close," Robin panted softly.
"Yeah," Eddie's voice cracked slightly, "A little too close."
Piper opened her mouth to speak but stopped at the sound of pain sounding to her left. She turned quickly as Steve stumbled back before catching himself on the side of the boulders. His face twisted in pain as he leaned back. Piper's eyes moved down to his sides and saw that the vicious bites the bats had left behind were bleeding. Steve's pale skin was slowly starting to turn different hues of blue and purple with bruises.
"Jesus Christ! Steve!" Nancy yelled out, moving quickly to Steve. But her hands hesitated from touching him, in fear of making the pain worse.
"We need to get that bleeding to stop," Piper spoke as she moved to stand at Nancy's side.
"Guys, I'm fine," Steve spoke through clenched teeth, his eyes still screwed tight.
"Nance, your scarf," Piper pointed out.
Nancy moved quickly to grab the thin scarf that was wrapped loosely around her neck. She stepped forward before kneeling in front of Steve and using her scarf as a bandage. Steve's chest rose and fell quickly with each labored breath he took. His face was still twisted in pain as Nancy frantically moved to cover his wounds.
"Well, good news…I'm pretty sure that wooziness isn't a side effect of rabies." Robin began to ramble, "But are you hallucinating or muscle spasms? O-Or if you start feeling really aggravated or agitated like you want to punch me in the face, let me know."
"Robin," Steve groaned, causing her rambling to stop short. His eyes looking to focus on her.
"Yeah?"
"I kind of wanna punch you,"
Robin laughed lightly, a smile turning the corner of her lips slightly, "Oh! A sense of humor, that's a good sign."
"Again, I think rabies is the least of our worries," Piper spoke up, taking a few steps away and turning her focus back on the sky. She could still hear those creatures in her head, making her feel paranoid. "Even if this gets the bleeding to stop, there is still the possibility of infection…which down here…seems pretty easy to get."
"Well, going back to the gate at Lover's Lake is out," Nancy spoke finishing off by tying her scarf around Steve's waist.
A loud roll of thunder sounded from above them causing both Piper and Robin to jump slightly. Eddie took a few steps away from the small group and slowly moved to climb on top of one of the smaller boulders of Skull Rock. Once at the top, he looked around slowly – it was weird how the world they were in was both familiar and unfamiliar to him.
"So this place is like… Hawkins…but with monsters and freaky stuff?" Eddie asked, turning around slowly as he spoke.
"Basically," Piper nodded.
"Well…shit…" Eddie muttered before shuffling slowly off the boulder.
"Wait!" Robin screamed the moment his foot nearly came into contact with a thick, slimy vine that moved across the surface. "Watch out for the vine!"
Eddie froze mid-step with widened eyes.
"It's all a hive mind," Piper spoke taking a few tentative steps toward the metal head.
"I'm sorry…a what?" He questioned.
"A hive mind. Everything you see around you is connected. All the creepy crawlies…the monsters…they are all one. You step on a piece of the hive mind…you're stepping on Vecna." Steve clarified.
"Fuck," Eddie muttered, mostly to himself, before slowly moving down.
Piper took a couple of steps forward and reached out her hand for him to grab. Eddie was thankful for it, wanting to get as far away from the vine as possible. The moment he was close enough, he grabbed for her hand, before jumping down.
"Thanks," He sheepishly smiled at her.
"If this is Hawkins, but the nightmare edition, that means that everything here is the same except for people right?" Robin asked.
"Essentially yes," Nancy answered, "Why?"
"Think about it, if everything is the same that means that there is a police station that we could go to." Robin spoke excitedly as she spoke her thoughts, "Which means if there is a police station, then it's gotta have guns or grenades, no? And we could use those guns to shoot the little bat monsters away and go through the gate."
"Grenades? No. I highly doubt that Hawkins PD would have grenades," Piper sighed, "But guns, absolutely."
"Hawkins PD is a little far from where we are right now, god only knows what else we're going to run into in this place." Steve countered, "That could be a bigger risk than we need to take."
"My house is closer," Nancy spoke up, "Well, close to the police department. And I have guns in my bedroom."
"You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns…plural, hidden away in your bedroom?" Eddie asked, a dumbfounded look on his face.
Piper chuckled softly, understanding Eddie's question and astonishment. Without knowing the background of everything that Nancy had gone through – it did seem pretty outlandish to think Nancy Wheeler had guns in her bedroom.
"Full of surprises isn't she?" Robin spoke nervously.
"Yes," Nancy spoke matter of factly "A Russian Makarov and a revolver."
Steve chuckled, "Remember you nearly taking my head off with one of those."
A small, flirty, smile crossed Nancy's lips "And you might've deserved it."
The tension was cut with the smack of denim hitting Steve in the face. He stumbled back a small step, before catching the article of clothing in his hand. Quickly Steve's eyes shot across toward Eddie, who now only wore his leather jacket.
"For your dignity dude," Eddie shook his head slowly.
Before anyone could speak a word, suddenly, the earth beneath them began to shake violently. Piper felt her feet come from beneath her as she fell against the forest floor. As everything shook around her, for a moment, the air was knocked from her lungs making it hard to breathe. She could hear Robin's scream of surprise along with the others. Robin soon joined her down on the ground along with Eddie right beside her. But as quickly as everything started – it stopped.
Piper coughed a few times to catch her breath before slowly sitting up.
Everything was silent, too silent, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand.
"I think guns are a really good idea," Eddie spoke up from behind Piper, "Like a really good idea."
"Yeah, I second that," Robin's voice cracked slightly as she spoke.
Robin was the first to move, quickly helping Piper, before one by one they walked down the trail away from Hawkins. Steve leading the way, now wearing Eddie's denim vest, with Nancy right behind him.
Time seemed to pass by slowly as the five of them walked through the dark, decrepit woods of the Upside Down. Piper couldn't figure out if the anxious feeling that seemed to build with each of those slow seconds was because they were in the Upside Down – or the fact she was in the Upside Down with Vecna's curse still looming over her head. She tried not to think about it, but it was hard not to with the situation they found themselves in.
"How much longer do we have? I feel like we've been walking around in circles for hours." Robin whined from beside Piper.
"I'm sure we don't have that much longer," Piper answered, reaching up to rub her fingers along her temples.
"Woah, a-are you ok? You're not feeling…him are you? Do I need to start singing that song?" Robin began to ramble nervously.
Piper laughed lightly and shook her head, "No…no, don't…you don't need to do that."
Robin nodded her head, but still looked at her nervously as they walked, "But d-do you still feel him?"
Piper hesitated for a moment before slightly nodding her head, "It's hard to explain. It's like a headache at the back of my head that I'm fully aware of, but nothing is making it go away."
"That doesn't exactly feel like a good thing."
"No," Piper shook her head and let out a dry laugh, "It doesn't. And I don't know what in the hell I dove in after Nancy, I-I…Eddie's right, I'm the last person that should be here."
"You dove in cause you care about your friends, and knew Steve was in danger." Robin clarified, "You are one to always look out for your friends, it's just in your nature."
"But what if 'what's in my nature' gets me killed?" Piper frowned.
Robin's frown deepened, "We're not going to let that happen, I'm not going to let that happen. You're my best friend, Piper – I'm not going to just sit by and let this freak monster get you. And neither is anyone else."
Piper nodded her head, "I know…I know you won't."
And that's what Piper was afraid of. The last thing that she wanted was for someone to get hurt because of her. But she remembered the promise that she made both Nancy and Robin take – and hoped to god that they'd hold their end of the bargain.
The Upside Down began to go through another earthquake causing all of them to brace themselves or reach out to something for support. Piper's legs buckled slightly before she could catch herself on a tree beside her, Robin doing the same with another.
"Earthquakes are really moving up on a list of things that I can't stand," Robin spoke with irritation.
A quick and sudden movement caught Piper's attention. She turned her head slightly to watch as Nancy began running quickly through the trees.
"Nancy?! Nancy?!" Robin shouted after her.
Robin and Piper moved and started to run after their friend, the Upside Down still going through its earthquake around them. They all moved, jumped, and dodged any of the vines that moved across the forest floor as they followed after Nancy. Piper and Robin came up to her first as they saw her standing on the outskirts of the forest – staring at something. When they got closer, the two of them were able to make out the shapes of homes on the other side of the street.
The Wheeler Household was the first home that Piper recognized.
"Holy shit, finally!" Eddie spoke from behind them, panting slightly from the run.
"Come on, let's go," Nancy spoke before running forward to her home.
The familiar neighborhood was creepy with the vines of the Upside Down overtaking the home.
The front door opened easily as they all filed in one by one into the home. The overtaking of the vines was worse when you stepped in through the front door. There wasn't an inch of the home that didn't come into contact with the monstrosity.
"Think it's time that you get a maid, Nance." Robin joked.
"Let's just…get this over with, I don't want to be here any longer than I need to be," Nancy said before turning toward the front staircase and running up to the second floor.
Robin and Eddie followed close behind, leaving Steve and Piper down on the first floor. Steve moved toward the back of the house, holding his flashlight forward, and Piper stood nervously in the front foyer. The house fell silent for a moment between the two of them before the soft echoes of a familiar voice could be heard. Piper's back straightened slightly as she looked around quickly looking for the source. Seconds later, Steve came quickly from the back of the house, a shocked look on his face.
"Do you hear that?" Steve asked before the echoing of the voice sounded again, causing them both to look around again.
"Dustin?" Piper whispered.
And as if he was answering, Dustin's voice sounded again. More so the tone, but the words were muffled like he was rooms away having a conversation.
"Dustin!? Dustin!?" Steve shouted, moving through the foyer to the den to follow and find the younger teenager. "Dustin!?"
"Dustin!? Can you hear us?!" Piper followed along, moving through to the living room, and connected to the dining room. "Dustin, Hello!?"
Coming down from the second floor, Nancy came rushing down with Robin and Eddie following close behind her. The three of them expected to see Dustin Henderson standing with Piper and Steve as they were shouting his name. But they weren't. Instead, they were welcomed by Piper and Steve frantically moving through the bottom level of the Wheeler home, looking as if they were searching for someone. The three of them stood there in confusion and astonishment.
"Maybe he does have rabies?" Robin whispered as she leaned slightly closer to Nancy, "And possibly spread to Piper? Is that a thing? I mean they both have to be hallucinating no?"
"Hello? Hello!? Dustin, goddamn it!" Piper screamed out in frustration, before coming through the archway of the dining room and noticing them standing in the hallway. "Don't you guys hear that?"
"Hear what, sweetie? You're kind of scaring us," Robin asked with a nervous chuckle.
"He's here! He's fuckin' here." Steve came through from the kitchen, "That little shit, he's here. It's like he's in the wall or something. Just listen…listen…"
Everyone stopped for a second. Robin shot a look of worry to Eddie and Nancy before Steve let out a shout.
"Aha! Dustin?!" Steve shouted moving back through the other hallway with Piper close behind him, "Can you hear me?"
The other three stood in their places with the look of worry and a small mix of fear on their faces as they watched their friends seemingly lose their minds.
Until the soft muffled echo of Dustin's voice met their ears.
"…and that brings us to the question you first raise…" Dustin spoke, his voice coming in and out. "How and why is there a gate at Lover's Lake…"
"Holy shit," Eddie whispered, "I hear him. Dustin!? Hello!?"
The calling of Dustin's name continued for a few more minutes, each other them checking under furniture and in rooms. But no matter how hard they looked the source of Dustin's voice couldn't be found.
"Alright, either this shit is messing with us, or he really can't hear us." Steve sighed heavily.
"Well, Will found a way," Nancy said as she walked back into the front hallway. "He found a way to communicate while he was stuck on this side."
"The lights?" Piper added, everyone turning to look at her, "Yeah…I-I remember my Uncle telling me about that. He used Christmas lights to communicate."
"Lights…s-so we just have to figure out a way to do that?"
"Exactly," Nancy spoke before rushing over to a lamp that sat on the table in the living room.
She worked to twist the lever a few times, but nothing worked, the room still sat in darkness.
Piper walked over to a light switch and flicked it a few times, but the same happened, no light.
"Uh…guys…" Steve spoke with a softened tone, his eyes locked on something. "You seeing this?"
Following his line of direction Piper was able to see what had caught his attention. The small, dangling, light fixture in the middle of the Wheeler's living room had a sparkling, nearly iridescent mist around it.
It reminded Piper of what she'd imagine pixie dust would look like.
Slowly they all moved toward the fixture till they were standing beneath it in a small semicircle. All of their eyes locked on the dancing mist.
Nancy was the first to reach her hand up, the tips of her fingers moving into it, causing it to brighten slightly.
"Does it hurt?" Robin questioned.
"No…weirdly…it sort of tingles," Nancy pulled her hand away.
"Keep doing that Nance," Piper said, "The light was getting brighter the longer you touched it."
Nancy reached her hand forward and Piper moved to stand a little closer, reaching her hand up as well. With both of their hands dancing along the sparkling mist, the lights within the fixture turned brighter. The others joined in not long after bringing it to its brightest.
"Does anyone know Morse code?" Nancy asked, looking around at everyone beside her.
"No," Steve and Robin spoke in unison while Piper shook her head.
"Does SOS count?" Eddie questioned, causing everyone's eyes to turn toward Eddie. "Is…is that…good?"
"Yes Eddie, that is good." Piper smiled, "Use your hand to create the code using the light."
The other three took a few steps back and watched as Eddie started to move his hand up and down, creating the SOS signal with the brightening and dimming of the light. It started to create a soft thrumming sound from the energy coming from the lights.
Dustin's voice was still nearby, the same muffled sound coming through to them. Mixed in with his Piper could make out Erica's and Lucas's as well. Their conversation, from what she could make out, centered around Vecna. But she was only able to hear what seemed to be every fourth or fifth sentence. But then it all stopped and went silent.
"I think it's working," She spoke up with a small smile.
"Remember how I said they weren't stupid enough to go through the Watergate?" Dustin's voice was clearer like he was right in the room with him.
"…I overestimated them…"
"Alright, that was a little harsh, not like we had much of a choice, dude," Steve spoke as if Dustin could hear him and answer back.
AN: Hello! Long time, no…chapter. I am sorry for that. I have had a bit of a rough time in my normal life and needed to take a mental health pause from writing. It wasn't bringing me joy there for a moment because of everything else going around – but I am back. I hope to be able to upload more often. If you are still sticking by the story – I deeply appreciate you! Thank you.
