Should I be posting another story? No.

Am I? Yes.

I'm hoping people like Sonni. I wanted to see how things would go if someone with horror game/movie knowledge effected things and then it kinda of spiraled from there.

Please let me know what you think of what's been written so far!

"Fuck you, Mom," Sonni huffed quietly as to not draw attention to herself. "Video games really did help save my life."

Especially Resident Evil, that one with the really gross mold monsters.

But let's back up.

Her world Ended on a day like any other.

Meaning Sonni was forced to wake up and trudge her ass to school. Her brother had warned her junior year was hell. She'd thought he was just saying it to stress her out.

He wasn't.

Not that she would tell him that. Kit had just gotten over his smugness at being right about her girlfriend using her for popularity. That was after he'd sicced his best friend, who was also a girl, that's an important distinction on her for breaking his little sister's heart.

School was normal too. That morning she'd met with the karate team since they had a meet coming up and they couldn't meet after school since she had cheer practice.

It was the drive home that things went…wonky.

Her family lived in an old house, mansion really if she was honest, out in the boonies surrounded by trees that had been there for centuries, wildflowers, and even a creek a mile or two away. It had been in the family for generations, to quote her grandpa. She was just happy the place wasn't some old plantation or something like she knew some other rich families in the area lived in. Their house may have been way too big for four people–her grandma liked her dad the best, thus why he was given the house to the ire of the rest of the family–but at least it wasn't built on the backs of slaves…well, no more than any house built before the 1900s.

But yes, she'd grown up privileged and knew it. Luckily for her and the others around her, her mom had grown up poor and damn near beat humility into her and her brother. Sonni was convinced without her mom they'd have the same stuck up, cunt attitude her cousins had. Really everything boiled down to be a good person to everyone not just other richie rich's…at least until they gave you a reason not to.

Oh and never trust any establishment, especially cops and the government.

All that being said, the drive to her house was a bitch. Over 30 minutes away from school and half of it was uphill and on a dangerously curvy road on a good, sunny, non-windy day.

Today was not a good, sunny, non-windy day. It was basically the exact opposite with pouring rain, clouds so dark they bordered on black, and the occasional crack of thunder in the distance. Sonni's 30 minute drive to the boonies was doubled.

Humming along to 'God is a Freak' by Peach PRC, Sonni slowed down as she hit the curvy, cliffy part of the drive. Normally she'd take it pretty fast, used to where the dangerous parts are, but in the storm it was better safe than sorry. Feeling a vibration on her console, she looked down to a text from her mom. Glancing back up to the road, her eyes went wide as a, a something ran out in front of her car and stayed there.

Slamming on her breaks, her car spun on the wet asphalt, the back part of the car catching the animal–it had to be an animal– was the only thing that saved her from going right off the side of the road and down the ravine. All the while, Sonni was trying somewhat successfully not to scream inside her spinning death trap.

Finally, she stilled, passenger side of her car smashed into a tree, metal crunching and windows shattering as it did. Taking a deep breath, she looked around. No sight of the animal, creature, thing that had stood–Stood! On two legs! What kind of animal?–in her sights. Having played one too many survival/horror games, Sonni grabbed her gym bag, containing her wallet, chargers, laptop, her gym clothes, and most importantly, bear mace. Dialing 911, she reported her accident before putting her phone in her bag too. Before she could second guess herself, she opened the door, wincing at the sting of pain on her arm. She didn't get out of the crash scott-free, now a sad owner of quite a few new bumps and bruises.

Was leaving her car a stupid thing to do? She wasn't insane, she knew it was. She'd hit something that looked like it was straight out of Silent Hill. No way was she sitting still and letting whatever that was get her without a fight. Was it probably just an albino bear or something spooked by her headlights? Obviously, but on the literal .001% chance it's some crazy hillbilly that's only lived off raw fish and lost hikers their whole life, sitting and waiting to be grabbed was more stupid than leaving the car.

Frowning at the mud getting on her converse–they were a birthday present from her brother–Sonni looked around her, groaning at the sight of her poor car. She loved her impala. It had been a restoration project between her and her dad the past two summers. Now one side was completely crushed and a huge dent with gouges on the back trunk…

She walked closer to the back trunk area. Holding her hand up to the gouges, her heart sped up as each finger lined up perfectly with a cut. Ripping her hand away she quickly unlocked her trunk and grabbed an actual genuine katana she used at a con last week and was too lazy to take inside.

Thank any and all gods she liked cosplaying. And actually took lessons to know how to use the damn hunk of shiny metal. Wrapping the strap around her so the sheath was on her back, Sonni froze as a click-y growl echoed around her. Spinning around to face the noise, she saw a large, light grey form crawl up from the ravine. Her car had knocked it clean off when it had slammed into it earlier.

Not that that was what she was thinking about. No, Sonni watched as DFH, meaning Demented Flower Head, managed to pick up on her small noise and swung itself in her direction. With speed she didn't expect from the thing, it bound up to her. With barely any time, Sonni unsheathed the sword and swung it without any technique behind it. But technique or no, she managed to catch DFH in the shoulder.

It roared in pain, but didn't stop. Hand–no claw–reaching out, it clasped her arm and pulled.

Screaming at the burning pain, she barely heard the 'pop' she knew was her shoulder dislocating. Not that she could do anything because DFH was running now, her arm still in its grasp. Tightening her grip on the sword so she didn't lose it, Sonni was forced to follow after.

Closing her eyes tight, she tried to, unsuccessfully, stop the tears of pain before she felt the air change and the rain suddenly stop. Opening her eyes only to widen them. All around her was a rather disgusting moving vine covered…everything with no sun in the sky and what looked like large ash particles floating everywhere. The sky was an angry red with black clouds rolling in the air. All around her were houses that looked like they came from her grandparents' generation. You know, if her grandparents had been born in a nightmare world that would give Hell a run for its creepy money.

A harsh jerk reminded her of the monster that had her in its grasp. Not one to be a damsel, Sonni dried her tears, metaphorically, and gripped her sword tight before swinging down on the monster's arm as hard as she could.

With a wet slosh, the arm was severed, claw still holding onto her arm. Yanking it off, she turned and ran. Considering the noise the monster made, if there were people around she'd have expected them to at least look out, but with no curtain movements, Sonni was given her first major piece of knowledge.

There weren't any living people in the area. Maybe not in the whole place…world? Dimension? Whatever it was called.

So she ran. There was no way she'd be able to kill it, not with her shoulder dislocated, puncture wounds from its claws, and all the other stuff wrong with her from the crash, like the twinging in her ribs.

Pink converse slapping on the ground, she ignored the sounds from behind her. She couldn't look back. That was horror shit 101. You look back, you fall and get caught.

Instead, she zig zagged through houses and deserted streets, noting the signs that pointed to this town being stuck in the 80s. The old cars sitting in the driveways, the general décor that lay in the yards and on porches, nothing looked very 21st century. Plus, the church she'd passed said something about '83. If she was stuck in some nightmare town that was in the 80s she was going to kill herself just to get out of it. She hated the 80s.

But that didn't matter right now; other than giving her ideas on where to hide. Her best one? Find the school. Schools in the 80s still had boiler rooms with industrial locks, steel walls, and doors that were made to take a damn explosion–because that's what boiler rooms did, explode–and a lot of small nooks and crannies to hide in. So she headed to where the town seemed to converge. If this town was like any other small town, the high school would be on or near main street.

As she flew past windows she used the dim reflections to keep an eye on where the monster was. She didn't know if the red lightning helped her ability to see him or made it worse. By worse, she meant more frightening. Was a one and a half armed, flesh eat, ashy grey, man-shaped monster more or less frightening in red or did it lessen the sheer terror it installed? Though, on a good note, it seemed like losing a limb, even if it was below the elbow, had slowed it a fraction.

Not a ton. No, that would be too much to ask. But she had gained some distance, enough she was starting to lose sight of him for a couple of seconds when she rounded corners. At the same time, she had to keep an eye on the ground. Those disgusting vines, the ones that had looked like they were breathing with every movement, were reaching out to her as she ran.

And Sonni wasn't about to roleplay tentacle hentai IRL.

If one got a hold of her, she was done for. Everything in the whole place acted like it was out to get her, so jumping and ducking anytime one actually lunged was a must. Finally, as she rounded the corner to main street, she saw a sign for 'Hawkins High'. It had some quirky saying under it in block letters all schools used, even in her time. 'Gobble Gobble Gobble, come on down to Hawkins High on Nov, 24th to get stuffed on turkey and move that our FHA crew are making. We're just around the corner!'

Hope blooming in her chest at the idea she may find a semblance of respite from the gripping fear, the pain in her whole body from everything that had happened that she'd been making worse by marathoning through a random small town, and from the damn running. She may be an active person but there was a reason her coach always made suicide runs her punishment.

Around the corner. It's just around the corner.

Pushing herself further, Sonni gained a bit of speed, pain shooting up her calves even more as she did. Bounding around the bend, DFH not even close to her just yet, she grinned around her panting at the sight of a school. Brick walls and promise of locker filled hallways never seemed so good. Without missing a beat, she took the steps two at a time until she slammed into the glass double doors, twin thuds echoing through the empty entrance way.

Glancing around, she glimpsed a wall map, quickly crouching behind a counter in the office just in case DFH comes in. The only sound in the palce was her panting as she tried to catch her breath. After a couple of seconds she leaned over just a smidge so she could study the map, her eyes very quickly locating the room labeled 'Boiler'. Just like she had thought; below the gym. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the gint of keys in the red lights and her hand snatched them up.

Sonni had no idea if the room was locked. Better to have the keys than not. She could, maybe, pick the lock if she had ample time, but considering she had been chased by a mutant monster, it was doubtful the time was available.

Peeking out the glass doors, her heart picked back up. DFH had just rounded the bend and was quickly heading this way.

Fuck, did it use smell to find her? Sound? She had been panting pretty hard in an effort to get her breath back, so when she hid she didn't make as much noise, but had that lured the monster to her?

Either way, she wasn't staying around to find out. Zooming from behind the counter, Sonni ignored the roar from the courtyard, instead heading the way she saw the gym was. Feet squeaking on the linoleum, she flinched at the shattering of glass. DFH had entered the building.

But she was at the home stretch, in front of her was the doors to the gym. Slowing just a bit to not bang the doors and give away her position, Sonni quickly, but quietly, made herway to the locker rooms. According to the map, the door to the boiler room was in the boy's locker room. Cursing as she strode through the swinging door, she smashed her hand into her bag, fumbling around until she found her phone.

No windows meant absolutely no light, even if it was red tinted. She needed a flashlight to even find the door and she didn't want to test the light switch just in case it alerted DFH or something. Switching on her phone's flash, Sonni squinted at the sudden white light. And would have screamed if she hadn't slammed her hand over her mouth. All around were vines, near double what was in the hallways, but they didn't move even with the sudden light. Jumping and tiptoeing around the vines, she heaved a relieved sigh at the door labeled 'Boiler'.

Pausing to listen for DFH, relief washed over her to hear it sounded like it'd gone to the other end of the school. Unlocking her fist from around the keys, she started tying them. One, two, three, four, until finally, the fifth key slid home and turned.

Wincing at the squeaky hinges, she slipped into the barely opened door, locking it behind her. Flashlight sliding through the room, happy to see that the vines seemed to keep away from here somewhat. Sure they were still grouped near the corners and darker places, but as a whole? The room was pretty clear.

Before Sonni got comfortable, though, she put her ear to the door. Faintly she heard only what she could describe as a frustrated cry from DFH. Probably because she'd gotten away, maybe because it couldn't find her…either way. She was, momentarily, in the clear.

With shaky limbs, she tiptoed down the concrete stairs to the floor below, making sure to keep an eye on any vines. They didn't move, not like the ones from outside. Maybe they didn't know she was here? Maybe they couldn't know she was here. Not without the monster's "eyes" on her.

Making a mental note to stay away from the vines specifically, Sonni winced in pain as she lowered her ass onto the final step, not able to continue now that her adrenaline was fading. And fading fast. As it did, the pain in her body was suddenly thrust violently to the front of her mind. She didn't know what hurt worse, her shoulder–that she was certain was dislocated if her lack of mobility in it was anything to go by–her ribs–not broken but definitely bruised–or the four claw marks raking halfway down her forearm.

That's not even getting to the other bumps and bruises caused by the crash.

She knew time was passing. She could feel herself growing tired, but all she did was sit there, phone flashlight pointed at the floor as she hung her head; her very soul numb.

Was she dead? Did the crash actually do her in? Was her Great-grandpa right and her "blasphemous" lifestyle really condemn her to an afterlife running from a nightmare monster?

Shaking her head roughly, grunting as it jostled her injuries, Sonni blinked back into her beat-up body. Hell or not, she needed to get her shoulder back in place. Not sure when she had sheathed her sword, but apparently she had as she went to pull her gym back over her head and her hand came in contact with her hilt. Deciding it was better than losing her only weapon, she dropped her bag to the floor as she heaved herself to her feet. Wobbling in place as her eyesight blackened, she grabbed the railing to keep upright.

Waiting for her eyes to clear, Sonni focused on finding a doorway deep enough to leverage her shoulder back in place. Flashlight scanning the room at the same pace as her eyes, she noticed an area of pipes that were low enough her short ass could grab it with her fucked up arm. Watching her steps even if there wasn't vines in the middle of the room, she stood under the water pipe.

Furrowing her brow, she leaned her flashlight against a ramshackled metal shelf, light illuminating the pipes and ceiling around her. Taking a deep breath, Sonni used her good hand to lift her bad arm to the pipe, stopping a pain-filled scream in her throat to not get found. Once her arm was at the pipe, leaving it at an angle, she stopped breathing and pushed.

Pushed quick and hard against her arm, against her shoulder joint. With a sickening, wet pop her shoulder gained movement and a wave of relief flushed her body. Body ragdolling at the sudden lack of pain, the only thing keeping her on her feet was the hand she had holding onto the pipe. After resting there for a moment, she nodded.

"Come on, Monroe. You got shit to do."

Time to clean her claw marks…as much as she could in this place, at least. Though considering the ash or whatever was floating in the air, the wounds were probably already infected or on their way to an infection. There was nothing that she could do for bruised ribs besides suffer through healing. So she grabbed her phone and made her way back to the stairs. Now that she had both arms somewhat functioning, she needed light. Her phone wouldn't last long and she didn't really want to be without her phone, even if it didn't have service. Her phone was basically her safety blanket.

Walking along the outer wall, stepping over and round vines as she did so, she finally found a light switch behind the staircase. Flipping the switch, she frowned at the weird light that was emitting from the bare bulb in the middle of the room. Sure, she could see a bit better, but it was as if the light was being filtered through a deep fog. There were even little specks floating around it, as if they were tiny reflective bits just hanging in the air.

Ignoring the weirdness of the electricity in the hell dimension. Sonni shuffled her way over to the bare sink at the back of the room. It wasn't until she'd already turned the water on that she realized she should probably be worried about vines or something in the plumbing. But before she could even think about turning it off, clear water started flowing from the faucet.

A relieved sigh passed through her lips, before she took the edge of her shirt and ripped. From a long shirt to a rough crop top, she shivered as the cold that she'd been steadfast in ignoring hit her bare skin. Wetting her makeshift cloth, she hissed as she softly rubbed the blood and dirt off. The claw marks went around her forearm, five lacerations luckily stopping only after an inch or two.

Slowly but steadily her arm was cleaned, the wounds already stopped bleeding before she'd even made it to the school, so all she did was leave the wet 'rag' next to the sink and figured she could use some clothes from her gym bag as a bandage. She didn't know how the monster hunted but since it didn't seem to have eyes, she'd assume smell and sound. And nothing smelled more appetizing to predators than blood.

Grimacing in pain as she sat back down, Sonni ripped her bag's zipper open to figure out what would be useful or not. The first thing out and put aside to repack were the things that were important but not needed for survival; laptop, chargers, and wallet. Important to her but ultimately probably would help keep her alive.

The gym clothes could be used for bandages or warmth if she couldn't find any clothes after she left the boiler room. She was shivering just sitting here even though she was wearing a pair of thick flare jeans and a long sleeved knit sweater tucked into them–or it had been until she'd ripped it. She even had a cute white puffer vest, but not even that was keeping her warm. It felt more like the middle of winter instead of the nice fall time she had come from. Whenever she left, she would have to find clothes, or some form of warmth or else she'd probably die of hypothermia before the monster got her.

Throwing the clothes on the laptop, Sonni quietly cheered to herself at the sight of the giant bag of almonds her cheer team had jokingly gifted her a couple of weeks ago on her birthday. She was a snacker, even during practice, and the amount of times they'd caught her sneaking some form of food in between routines was comical. Thus, the four pound bag of almonds that she'd accidentally been carrying around with her in the gym bag.

If she ever left this world she'd probably never want to eat almonds again, but at least safe food wasn't a worry for a couple of days.

Frowning at the only half full water bottle, she put it aside. There was enough water for the day, but tomorrow she'd have to leave to find some store to see if there was bottled water. She didn't trust drinking from the tap in her world, let alone from a hell dimension. She'd get like super parasites.

Lastly was the bear mace and throwing knives. Thankful for some backup weapons, even if she doubted they'd make a dent in DFH–she wasn't blind. That cut she'd made earlier had already been healed within minutes. It did, though, make her feel better to have them.

Realizing that, while she could maybe make it a day in the boiler room, there was no long term solution for her. With everything she had laid out, it was clear. Sonni would have to venture out after she slept. For water, for clothes, and for pain medicine because she could ignore the aches and pains for the night due to fatigue; tomorrow was a different story.

Packing everything back up, least important on the bottom, she figured her only option for sleep was the concrete floor. Using her gym clothes as a sort of makeshift blanket and her gym bag as a pillow, Sonni settled down at the bottom of the stairs to sleep. Overhead light still on.

Just in case.

Pain was what woke Sonni up some hours later, and pain was what pushed her to leave the boiler room. Personal effects packed away, she slowly and quietly left her little safe haven. Head swiveling left and right in an effort to try and see if she would have to run, Sonni decided her first order of business was to find some sort of grocery store. She needed Tylenol. And lots of it. What had been a dull but constant ache in her ribs and shoulder had swelled to a sharp burning. The only good news was when she checked her arm wounds, they didn't seem to be any redder than yesterday, so an infection hadn't set in.

Ears straining to catch any sound that wasn't the sort of rumble that came with the red lightning, Sonni crept through the school, heading to the front entrance she'd used yesterday. Despite her town wide marathon, she didn't particularly remember where, or if, there was a store nearby. Instead she'd follow the signs to main street and hope.

Walking along, she kept her hand on her bag to make sure it didn't bang about or make any noise. She didn't think anything would pick up the rustling noise over the thunder rumbles but as a precaution, she wanted her stuff silent. Eyes watching the wiggling vines to not step on them, her pink converse clad feet brought her to her savior.

Melvald's General Store

She'd never been so happy to see some rundown mom and pop store in her life. Checking that opening the door wouldn't hit any vines, Sonni skipped in. Plucking herself a shopping basket, she immediately headed to their meager medicine selection. But no matter how sparse it was, Tylenol still greeted her life water to a man dying of thirst. Not even thinking about it, Sonni tore open the bottle, dumping two pills into her hand before tossing them back dry.

Tylenol acquired, she moved on to her other things. Grimacing at the grime on the outside of the water bottle packages, she tore into it, praying that the bottles within were clean and clear. Like she'd decided yesterday, she didn't trust water from the faucets not to be contaminated by something gnarly.

Smile gracing her lips as the bottle left the package clean, nothing dirtying up the outside, and certainly nothing on the inside. She had clean water. Probably. She should probably boil it but considering everything going on, she'd hold off until she knew more about the world and the situation.

Pain meds and water checked off her list, Sonni crossed her fingers that her luck held out and in the back of the store she'd find some warmer clothes. If the school billboard was truthful, whenever this town descended into the hell dimension, it was November.

Rounding the bend to the very back, Sonni fist pumped, tiny quiet cheer escaping in her excitement."Hell yeah. Warmth~" There on the racks were many jackets and shirts and even pants and underwear. Thank fuck for capitalism, even in the 80s, and people's need to have all their wants met in one store.

Without even wasting a second to think about it, Sonni tore off her ripped shirt and replaced it with two long sleeved shirts from the rack. Both scratchy ass hell and a dusty pink color that may have been decent before ash and debris tainted it. Over top of those, she put an equally pink hoodie before slipping on her puffer vest for even more warmth.

Her upper body suitably layered up, Sonni went searching through the clothes for some bottoms to put under her jeans. After a couple of minutes, she found some ugly neon leggings that had to be intended for some aerobics class. Or 80s fashion was just worse than she'd thought. Ugly or not, she was desperate for any clothes she could germ so with a frown she put two layers of those on before covering the line green monstrosities with her jeans.

The last thing she stole were some socks and underwear and stuffed those into her gym bag. Shoulder slumping as the weight of gathering supplies fell away, Sonni took a deep breath. She had the necessities; food, water, warmth, and any of the houses would work for shelter. The only thing she didn't have was a guarantee the monster wouldn't come back for her.

She hadn't heard the thing since the day before when it had roared its anger at losing her, but she knew it was probably still searching for her. For what? Hell if she knew, but considering it had literally ripped her from everything she knew, there was zero chance it was done with her.

Following what every survival horror game she'd played taught her, Sonni headed to where she'd initially been dragged to by DFH. Considering she'd sprinted the whole distance in about 30 minutes the day before, her walk back took longer than she'd hoped. Since there wasn't a sun or moon to tell how much time passed, she used her phone to keep track. The sprint had lengthened to a whole four hours, mainly due to her keeping to the shadows and pausing every and any time she heard something she even suspected was DFH.

Despite the time and the rightful paranoia, Sonni finally made it to the first street she'd seen after being dragged through the slimy portal. Looking around but not seeing the monster, she'd headed off towards the woods. She had come through right at the edge, so maybe the portal was still there? Or maybe she'd find some type of clue or insight to how she could get back.

Because Sonni would be making it out of here. Dying via monster with what was essentially a nightmare inducing flower for a face and mouth was not on Allison 'Sonni' Monroe's to do list.

Furrowing her brow as she got to the tree, Sonni was certain she'd come through, disappointment filled her as the only sign she'd been there was a smudge footprint in the mud. Spinning around to maybe, just maybe, find something, find anything. Her breathing transformed from soft and easy to short, fast pants, as if no matter how much oxygen she pulled into her lungs, she would never have enough.

Her back slammed into a tree next to her as she attempted to keep herself on her feet as the world started darkening even more. But despite her best efforts, she lost her competition against gravity as her shaky knees gave out. It was only the four layers she was wearing that kept her back from being torn up by the bark, not that she would have cared either way.

Sonni sat there, in the mud, blinking away her tears as her situation finally hit her. She was stranded in a weird dimension, possibly until she died or was killed by DFH whichever came first. She would never see a friendly face again.

She…was alone. She'd never been alone her whole life. From her parents who spent their life caring and raising her, to her brother who at the end of the day was her best friend, to ber friends from school, to her cheer, karate, and gymnastics teams.

Sonni had never been alone.

Until now. Now she was faced with a life spent in fear all by herself.

Alone. Alone. Alone ALONE

A

L

O

N

E

Sonni didn't know how long she sat in the mud, tears flowing from her eyes before a scream sliced through the air. Head jerking hard enough her braids snagged the park pulling some blonde strands out. Eyes wide and searching anywhere she could see from her spot on the ground. Then another scream echoed from somewhere.

Only this time she could make out a word.

"HELP!"

Before she could even think, she was scrambling up from her place in the dirt, jeans collecting mud stains like they were diamonds. Sonni booked it towards where she thought the screams were coming from. Passing the small amount of woods, she was greeted by what she expected had been a middle class home when it wasn't taken over by the general hell dimension-ness.

A few big crashes came from the woods. Sonni spun around trying to pinpoint anything before pausing. A few moments passed before she decided it was probably safe to move on. As her dirty shoes hit the driveway another yell came from inside the house. Now that she was closer she felt her heart clinch. It was a kid.

Some poor child had been dragged in, probably not unlike how she'd been pulled in and was just as scared as she was. She doubted some little kid had the know-how to survive in such a hostile place, let alone get water or food. But…

It was then Sonni's brain restarted and she stopped, gravel shifting at the suddenness of it. What if the scream was to lure her in? What if the minute she was past the threshold DFH would be on her?

…But what if it was a kid? Could her consciousness take ignoring some child's call for help?

Eyes shutting in acceptance as she sighed, Sonni unsheathed her sword and started back towards the door. To her annoyance, even as she stepped softly, her feet still crunched as the grave shifted with her weight.

Luck holding out, no monster showed up despite the rather loud approach. It was probably because the kid inside was crying loud enough to cover any sound she made.

Testing the doorknob, Sonni grinned as the door silently opened. Score one for her. With the door open she could make out more of the words being cried. A mixture of terror filled 'help me's' mixed in with quite a few 'moms' it made Sonni's heart hurt hearing any kid sound so scared.

She didn't know if the monster's actions were an act of directionless cruelty or if something or someone was commanding him, but either way, if this really was a kid in here, DFH was getting sliced up the next time she saw it. No one deserved to be as terrified as this kid sounded.

Door open, Sonni was greeted not by teeth and pain, but a ransacked living room. The couch was torn and thrown halfway down an adjacent hallway. The chair was flat out crushed and full blown body sized holes were in the walls. From what she could see, the destruction continued on throughout the house.

All the destruction looked new, like something had recently tore through everything since even the vines that were growing on the walls, floor, and furniture were torn and severed. Taking a few steps in, Sonni purposefully stomped her foot, letting the sound echo through the house.

The crying and words stopped at her step. But, after a few beats, no monster appeared like she had expected. That meant those words, those screams and cries was really a kid.

Apprehension filled her as an idea popped into her head. If she was wrong, she was dead.

"Kid?" She hissed, the sound barely passing her lips.

No one answered.

A little louder. "Kid?"

There was a creak, as if someone was shifting their weight somewhere in the house.

One last try. "Kid? I promise I'm just a normal teenager. My face won't open up to eat your innards."

More creaking before down the darkened hallway, Sonni watched as a panel opened up and out peered a dirty, tear-streaked, little boy's face. His eyes were so wide, for half a second, she thought he was some kind of bug child hybrid before the whole situation hit her and her breath wooshed out of her. Some poor woman's child was stuck here with her.

She ignored the pang of despair that struck her heart as her own mother's face flashed in her mind. She must be so broken up. Everyone must think she's dead. Fallen down into the ravine after her crash and washed up the creek, never to be seen again.

Shaking her head, Sonni focused back on the child, pushing her emotions away. She couldn't worry about everyone right now. Survival for her and now, if he would let her, the kid was her priority. Grief could wait.

"Hey," She whispered in what she hoped was a kind voice. "It seems we're in similar boats, Bug. Are you hurt?"

Ever so slowly the kid shook his head. His eyes stayed zeroed in on her though. Like he thought she would transform and attack him if he looked away.

Sonni sighed, thankful he didn;t get hurt like she had in her transportation to this world. "Good. That's really good. Do you want to come out here-"

A shudder traveled through the kid as he jerked back into the perceived safety of the hallway cabinet. Violently, he shook his head no.

Hand going up in the universal sign of safety, she took a step back. "Right, stupid to ask. How about I come to you? That way you stay in the cabinet all safe and I don't have to talk louder than I particularly feel safe doing?"

There was a pause as the kid thought about her offer before nodding. "Talking loud would draw it, wouldn't it?"

She grinned as she slowly started walking to him. Finally in front of him, she winked as she whispered. "You're a pretty smart bug, ain't cha?"

"Not a bug." He grumbled as he looked her over now that she was closer.

She could only guess at what he saw. Short and slight, Sonni knew with her platinum blonde hair toned to be closer to white than blonde, she normally resembled a pixie–this was on purpose. But in here? WIth her bloody wrapped arm, swollen shoulder joint, and stiff gait because of her ribs, she probably resembled a war victim more than anything. That's not even including the dirty that she was worried had fused to her body plus the multiple layers of cheap clothes? She really wasn't putting her best foot forward.

But that wasn't what he was focusing on. "You're hurt!" He whispered at her urgently, looking at her arm. It wasn't bleeding. It hadn't since the night before, but with how it was wrapped, it was clear to anyone with a brain she was injured.

"Don't worry about it, Bug. I got my injuries under control." She waved him away. "I'm more worried about keeping us away and out of the monster's grasp. How long have you been here? I got dragged in less than 24 hours ago.

"I've slept once, so a day, maybe a day and a half? I got taken at night." He said, uncertain how much time had truly passed and no way to tell. "My name isn't Bug, either. It's Will, Will Byers."

Sonni bit her lip. Two days if she rounded up. She'd bet her left foot if he drank water at all it was from the kitchen sink, which ew, and was probably half starved with no food to eat. "Alrighty then, Will, I'm Sonni. Do you want some water and some Almonds? Not really the food for us champions, but it's better than starving like I'm sure you are."

Before he could even answer, she leaned her sword against the wall–ain't no way she would be sheathing that unless she was somewhere behind steel walls–And reached into her gym bag, pulling out the aforementioned almonds and one of the water bottles she'd nicked earlier. Will, seeing the food and water, leaned forward and snatched the stuff right out of her hands. Putting the giant bag of almonds next to him, he ripped open the water before downing it so fast he had droplets leaking out of his mouth leaving clear paths as it rolled down his chin.

It was only once the water was finished that he sheepishly looked at her. "Thank you…I didn't just drink all your water, did I?" As he waited for her answer, he pulled open the bag of almonds and dropped some into his mouth.

"Naw, I took those from the store in town. Bottled water seemed safer to drink from the tap, you know?" She shrugged. Now that the kid had food and water, she needed to get some information. "I'm assuming you know about the monster, DFH or whatever you call it, when was the last time you saw it?

Will shrunk in on himself at the topic change. She hated bringing it up, but he said he'd been here two days. And she very much doubted he'd traveled as much as she had around the town. That meant the monster had transported her not half a mile from his hiding place. Out of the whole town, it was right in the woods next to the house. That couldn't be a coincidence. Bringing someone here once was a coincidence, bringing both of them? That was a pattern.

Whispering as if even mentioning it would summon the thing, Will answered. "It comes and goes. Last time was a bit ago when I was trying to contact my mom again. But I had to hide in here. I can…I can hear my mom calling for me so I know she's looking in the house. That she's listening for me."

In four sentences Will changed everything for her. Contacting his mom? Saying she was looking, listening for him in the house? He spoke like this house was his. But if it was, then he was from the 80s.

Wearily looking around the house with new eyes, she finally noticed the pictures of the kid,horrifying bowl cut and all, lining the walls. Along with what she assumed was his mother and another guy around Sonni's age. She had to ask.

She didn't want to know.

"Will…What was the date when you got brought here? The full date, year and all."

"November 6th, 1983."

An involuntary whimper left her now trembling lips. 40 years. She had assumed that the town had descended into the hell dimension, but what if it was modeled after some place? Some place it had taken a tighter hold of than her own town and time? Could she even make it home? To her own time? If the place had a deeper hold on this 1980's 'Hawkings' would a portal out even drop her back home or was she lost to space and time?

"Sone? A-are you…okay?" Will asked, seeing the tears gather and fall. It scared him.

Clearing her throat, Sonni pushed it all down. Wiping her face, she decided; not in front of Will. Walking into the house despite the possibility of being killed and eaten was her choosing to save whatever kid was inside. Crying could wait in the same place as her grief. "Yeah, Bug, just put some information together that was kind of devastating. But you said you can contact your mom? How?"

"What did you put together?"

"Just that I don't think I'll be making it home even if we get out of here."

Will furrowed his brow. "What do you mean? I'm sure your mom is looking for you too. And if my mom gets me out, you can come with and go home."

Sonni smiled bittersweet. "Except my home is about 40 years into the future, Bug. I doubt your mom knows how to time travel, as amazing as she sounds." She sighed before asking her questions again, not wanting to swell and make Will even more distressed as he was. "How can you contact your mom? What have you been doing?"

Seeing the change of topic for what it was–smart kid–Will shooed her with his hands, needing space to get down from the cabinet. Before he didn't want to, clearly not knowing if she was safe or not, but she figured feeding and watering him had gained her some trust. Enough that he felt like he could leave his safe space. Grabbing her sword, she followed behind him to the intersection of the kitchen and living room.

"Do you see the sparkles around the lights?" He asked, pointing to the reflective particles Sonni had noticed the boiler room light had. But unlike the boiler room, the sparkles were just floating in the middle of the hallway, as if moved away from where the lamp originally sat on the living room side table. "If you mess with the sparkles it flickers the lights in the real world. Listen," Before she could even tell him to wait, Will shoved his hand in the middle of the sparkles, wiggling his fingers as he did. "Come on, Mom. Please."

There was a few moments of silence before, "Will? Is that you, Baby?" A garbled voice echoed through the room, as if layered on top of itself and speaking through choppy water. No matter what it sounded like, the hope and desperation was clear to both of them.

"You can really talk to her…" Sonni breathed, amazed.

"Will Turned to her, proud grin on his dirty face. "Isn't my mom amazing?"

"Yeah, I'll say she is." She wanted to say it was unbelievable, but the woman's child was missing. A mom, a good mom, would believe anything if it meant getting their child back. "Is that all you can do?"

Sighing, he nodded taking his hand out of the sparkles. "I tried the phone but my words don't go through hardly at all and if they d it fries the phone on Mom's end. So far the lights have been my best success. Mom has even plugged new lights in. That's why there's more sparkles. Anytime a light gets turned on on her side, we get sparkles."

Sonni didn't care that the phones didn't work. Walking over to the bundle of sparkles, she mused his dirty bowl cut with a grin. "The lights work perfect. Now tell me, Bug, how's your morse code?"

"I know how to say SOS!"

"That's a start." She smirked. "More importantly, you think your mom would know Morse code?"

Will winced. "No…" He bit his lip before perking back up. "But she's really good at noticing a pattern. If I do SOS over and over again, she'd definitely notice and probably tell Jonathan. My brother absolutely knows morse code. He's the one that taught me SOS."

Sitting down on one of the dining table chairs that had been pulled into the hallway, she thought about a plan. The important things were the phone, the lights, and keeping an eye out for the monster. She also needed to figure out the rules of this world. Will had said it was November 6th the night he was taken, but it was still November 6th when she had been taken too, a day later. So was time passing at all? There was obviously no day or night, but if time wasn't moving forwarded did that mean was nothing moving forward unless they changed something themselves? Gravity obviously worked, but was there less air friction or more? Could they throw stuff harder? Faster? IF she could figure stuff out, she may have a better chance against the monster.

Figuring she needed to know more, Sonni decided on a course of action. It leaned heavy on Will to keep up contact but she thought the kid could do it. He was scared, terrified really, but the bravery and smarts he'd shown in learning how to contact his mom? It was nothing short of amazing.

"Alright, here's what we're going to do. You're going to keep at the lights. Just do SOS again and again. Even if your mom begs you to stop, keep doing it. The only reason you stop is if she figures out what it is you're saying or…the monster appears. That's when you scream. Scream as loud as possible and run. It'll save you." Sonni explained holding her hand up to stop Will's burgeoning questions. "If you think the phone will work, try that or any other idea as long as you stay safe."

"What are you going to do?" Will inquired once it was clear she was done.

Sonni looked out the living room window to the nightmare world outside. "I'm going to test this world within an inch of its existence. I need to know how stuff works here. I'll be right outside in the backyard, Bug, so don't think I won't come running if you need me to." Will stared down at his fidgeting feet but didn't argue. Standing back up, Sonni made her way over to the scared boy. Putting her hand under his chin, she lifted his eyes to meet her own. "Hey, I know we literally just met, but I'm not some consciousness cretin. I won't leave some ten year old to fend for themselves in what is essentially hell."

"Promise?"

Sonni smirked, kneeling down to Will's height, holding out her pinky to him. "Pinky promises are sacred, Bug, once we lock pinkies it seals our fates together for life."

Will grinned and locked his pinky around her own. There was a pause as they shook their locked hands before he giggled. "I'm also twelve, not ten."

"Oh, shut up and go play with the pretty lights."

Thank you for reading!