Chapter Twenty
Piper's hurried footsteps were muffled as she followed behind Nancy, Robin, and Steve up the stairs toward Nancy's bedroom. Once they were all able to get a hold of Dustin on the other side, it quickly became apparent they were going to need something as a form of communication. It was Dustin's idea to use the Lite Brite. The plan was to plug in all the lights creating a light source, hopefully, on the other side.
Piper nervously bit onto her nail beds as she silently prayed that this would work, and they'd be able to work on getting out of this place. The feeling of Vecna was still apparent as the ache at the back of her head only seemed to grow stronger with each passing moment. She was afraid of what could happen if she stayed in that place any longer.
They all huddled one by one on the side of Nancy's bed, knowing that Dustin and the others would be in the same spot on the other side. They all stared down at the stained blankets and sheets of Nancy's bed waiting for the small, sparkling light source to appear.
"Do we honestly think that this is going to work?" Robin asked, with a nervous shakiness in her voice.
The faint, echoing, sound of Dustin and the others on the other side could soon be heard – just as it had downstairs.
"We can hope and pray at this point," Steve sighed as they all stared intensely down at the bed. "Come on, Dustin…"
"…are you guys seeing this?" Dustin's voice echoed out, a second before the shimmering light appeared over Nancy's bed.
Piper's eyes widened as she watched it intensify Nancy reached forward and moved her hands through it.
"Holy fuckin' shit," Eddie muttered from beside Piper.
"…we're gonna unplug it! Hold on!" Dustin screamed, the shimmer dimming slightly but still there. "Alright! Try now!"
Nancy hesitated for a moment before reaching her hand forward and moving her fingers through it slowly. Within the shimmer, you could see the letters she was tracing out.
"H….I….Hi!" Dustin's voice echoed out "Hi! That worked!"
Piper couldn't stop the giggle that passed through her lips as a moment of relief moved through her body. The others around her had the same sentiment as they cheered, Robin wrapping her arm around Piper and pulling her in close. It wasn't long till Nancy leaned forward and slowly moved her fingers through the shimmer again.
S….T…U…C…K.
"You can't get back through Watergate?" Dustin asked.
"Watergate? What the hell is Watergate?" Steve asked, confusion clear on his face.
"It's a gate…and it's in water…Watergate." Robin explained slowly.
"Oh…that's cute," Eddie shrugged slightly.
G…U…A…R…D…E…D
From the other side, the mix of Dustin, Erica, and Lucas's voices could be heard as they spelled out the words Nancy traced out letter by letter.
"…we have a theory that could help with that…" Dustin spoke up louder.
"Thank you, Dustin!" Piper sighed.
"Genius child…" Robin added.
"We don't think that Watergate is the only gate…." Dustin continued "gate…at…murder site…"
"There is a gate at every murder site?" Nancy repeated back. "Does anyone understand what he's talking about?"
"No idea," Eddie muttered slightly, as everyone looked around at each other confused for a moment.
Piper straightened her back as it hit her, her green eyes widening as she looked toward her friends. "Eddie…how far is your trailer from here."
"Seven miles" Eddie answered quickly as he looked down to her, his large brown eyes holding confusion.
"Nancy, may I?" Piper asked, leaning more toward the bed. Nancy nodded her head and moved closer to Steve to give the girl room.
"Ok…uh…" Piper hesitated for a moment before pointing out one of her fingers, and slowly tracing out letters.
T…R…A…I…L…E…R…?
"….trailer….yes! Every murder site most likely created a gate just like the lake!" Dustin confirmed.
"Holy fuck, Piper…" Robin muttered, "How…"
"I think I know what Dustin means. When Vecna killed Patrick, it created a smaller gate from the Upside Down into the lakebed. If that is true, then there has to be one created at Eddie's trailer…from Chrissy." Piper frowned slightly, her eyes darting to Eddie for a moment and seeing a moment of sadness casting over his face. "Meaning if Dustin's theory is in true correct…"
"…then we can take that gate to get back into Hawkins." Nancy finished "That's genius!"
"Quick question, how are we going to make it seven miles across this place?" Steve asked.
"If this place is weirdly frozen in time and such…Nancy, hasn't your family always had bikes and stuff?" Robin asked.
Slowly they wrote out the plan to Dustin and the others before making their way downstairs into the Wheeler's garage – where the Wheeler family bikes sat waiting.
"Steve, are you going to be able to ride with your side?" Piper asked, her eyes darting to his wound quickly before moving back up to his.
"I'll push through it," Steve nodded, "Let's just get out of here? Yeah?"
"We only have four bikes." Nancy pointed out.
Piper looked around for a second before noticing the type of bike that Eddie had straddled himself on.
"I'll ride on the back spoke hub." Piper pointed before moving toward Eddie, "Mind having a passenger, Munson?"
Eddie smirked "I'll take good care of ya, sweetheart."
Piper steadied herself, grabbing onto Eddie's shoulders, as she moved to stand on the back of the bike. One by one they filed out of the garage and toward the main road that led out toward Forest Hills Trailer Park.
Above the sky rolled with thunder and red lightening as they peddled toward the trailer park. Piper looked up toward the sky looking for any sign that the bats, Vecna, or any other creature had spotted them. But the further they made it down the road the higher her hope rose they'd be able to make it out of the Upside Down uneventfully. Eddie led the way toward his trailer as they made it into the park, heading toward the back before stopping in front of a large white trailer covered in vines just like everything else within the Upside Down.
"Home Sweet Home," Eddie chuckled nervously before grabbing the front handle of the door and pulling it open.
Everyone filed in one by one, but the moment they all walked in, it was very evident where within the Munson trailer that Chrissy had died. On the ceiling was the same red, pulsing, orifice that had been at the bottom of Lovers Lake.
"Holy shit," Piper whispered to herself as she stepped deeper into the trailer.
"That's right where Chrissy died…like right there…" Eddie spoke a heavy sadness in his voice. Piper felt compelled to reach out a comforting hand.
"Why does it look like something is in there?" Robin asked.
Looking closer toward the ceiling something looked to be moving within the thin layer that spread across the gate. Piper felt like her heart had leaped into her throat as she watched the movement scrap across the surface, before it exploded, causing a liquid and fragments of the layer to rain down into the trailer. The five of them stumbled back toward the small kitchen, huddling together, expecting something to break free and attack them. But when nothing happened, they all looked at each other confused, before Steve slowly moved forward.
His dark eyes stayed trained on the ceiling in case something were to jump out at him. But the closer he got to being directly beneath it, the more something started to come into view. One by one he was able to make out Dustin, Lucas, Erica, Max, and Billy. All standing in Eddie's living room…upside down.
"Holy…shit…" He slowly spoke in disbelief.
The four others moved to stand beside him and looked on in amazement at what was in front of them.
"This is trippy…as hell…" Robin spoke up, a small laugh leaving her lips.
"Trippy indeed," Piper agreed
Once the amazement of everything wore off, one by one, they came up with a plan. Lucas and Max dragged Eddie's mattress out from his bedroom to place it beneath the gate. While Dustin and Eric worked on creating some kind of rope that could be used to either pull the others through, or climb up. Eddie's mattress was thrown down with a loud thud – the stained mattress in plain view.
"Those stains are…." Eddie started, trying to explain, "I don't know where those stains are from."
"Mmhm," Robin spoke, before clapping her hand down on his shoulders a few times.
"Now…I'm not completely sure how the physics of this is going to work," Dustin spoke from the other side, his voice a little clearer than back at the Wheeler's house. "But here goes nothing."
Bundled in Dustin's hands was the tied-together rope that he made with Erica. He threw up toward the gate sending half of it through to the other side, where it landed with a soft thud onto the murky carpet.
"Now if I am correct…" Dustin spoke before slowly letting go of it, the rope staying perfectly in place.
"Oh my god," Max gasped, everyone else making sounds of amazement.
"Dustin, you genius little boy, I could kiss you right now." Piper laughed
"Pull on your end! Make sure it holds!" Dustin shouts through.
Robin quickly stepped forward, gripped with two hands, before pulling down onto it while placing her body weight down. It didn't budge or move.
"Alright…guess I'm the guinea pig," Robin spoke with a smile, before moving to hoist herself up the rope and climbing toward the opening.
The others stood back and watched as she moved her way up, but the moment she made it halfway through the gate, gravity took over and she flipped through. Her body landed on Eddie's mattress with a muffled thud. Piper looked up and watched as a large smile spread across Robin's face and Dustin reached a hand to help her up. Nancy moved next moving upward just the same as Robin had. When it came to who was next, Eddie looked down toward the other two, but no one moved.
"Guess I'll go next…" He shrugged before stepping forward.
He made it through safely just like the others.
"You go," Steve nodded his head toward the rope, "It would be best we got you out of here as soon as possible."
Piper smiled up toward Steve before nodding her head and stepping up to the rope. But as Steve stepped back to give her room, it was like she suddenly was frozen. Her hand reached up and grasped tightly onto the rope – but she was unmoving.
"Piper?" Steve asked, "Piper…hey…."
Steve stepped forward and gently placed a hand on her shoulder, moving slowly to step in front of her.
"Harrington…what's going on!?" Billy shouted from the other side of the gate.
"Piper," Steve spoke softly, grabbing her shoulders before turning her toward him more.
Steve's stomach dropped as he saw her eyelids flutter and her eyes rolled toward the back of her head. The whites more apparent as she stood there before him.
"Piper! Piper!" Steve shouted, grabbing tighter to her shoulders and shaking her.
On the other side, the others stood helpless as they watched Steve desperately shake his friend to get her attention. To bring her back.
"Vecna," Max spoke
AN: Hope you enjoyed this new chapter! I am having a bit of some laptop issues, that's why it's been a second since a update, I am saving up for a new one and hope to have one by the end of next month! My laptop is super old and sometimes it's willing to work and not shut down or freeze!