He lit a tea candle, and he hugged it close to his chest as the dark pressure of the world lifted once more.

Will could feel the christmas lights the moment they were plugged in - the electric potential, hovering so close. The candle was lit by his feet, cupboard closed tightly to keep in the smell and heat.

"Will."

He kept his eyes closed, throat tightening in joyous despair.

"Are you here?"

She was here. She knew he was here, and she was trying to communicate in the only way they knew how.

He reached out to the lights, sending potential rising through them, until the pops became one sound, and he felt them light, on the other side. She gasped, the sound echoing metallic as if the lights themselves had turned into tiny speakers playing back her voice.

"Ok, good good good good good. Alright. Um." He stifled a choked laugh, clenching his hands to his mouth and keeping his eyes closed, straining to make sure he heard her. "Blink- Once for yes, and twice for no. Ok, can you do that for me sweetie? Can you-"

His mom was so damn smart, his heart ached with appreciation. He sent a glow, barely cognizant of the hot tears streaking over his knuckles, fingers still digging into his cheeks to keep the silence.

"Oh, good. Good boy, good boy." Any other time, he'd have whined at her for treating him like a dog, but her voice had broken, straining to hold back tears. He choked on a small sob behind his palms, hating to see her upset, but so so happy that he could at least talk to her - that there WAS a connection to the real world, still.

"Baby, I need to know." It hurt to listen to her breaths so ragged. "Are you alive?"

Oh-

Yes, yes he was alive. He sent a glow, as strong as he could, breath catching as he tried to inhale, the stuccato hitch of his breath just a moment away from breaking. She must have been so worried, to think he was dead. How long had he been gone? Her breath of relief was so clear.

"Are you safe?"

Will swallowed tightly, hesitating. The moment drew out, and he could feel the guilt creeping up, even as he reached out to answer.

Two blinks.

No, he wasn't safe here.

"I need to know where to find you." Her voice was commanding, straightforward. "Honey, where are you?" An order if he ever heard one, but he couldn't… that wasn't a yes or no question. "Can- Can you tell me where you are? Can you-" How was he supposed to-?

"Please, baby. I need to find you. Tell me what to do!"

Her throat sounded as tight as his felt, and despair began to sink in once more. How? How was he supposed to?

"Please."

"Mom, I don't know how." His voice was barely a whisper, mumbled against his own palm, knees practically up around his ears.

He felt the candle burn out, its purifying warmth slowly fading from his surroundings. The crisp control of the ball of lights faded with it. Or, perhaps it was his sobs, wrenched out of him in muffled bites of sound jumping past his helpless and failing grab for self control.

His awareness of the other world, its light - its life….

It drained away, eaten by the hungry cold.

He listened to her movements as long as he could, tucked away in the little storage space.

Will let out a shuddering exhale, curling his arms in tightly around himself, tucking his knees up in an instinctual gesture to stay warm.

"Thank you." He whispered into his knees, his heart still warm despite the world. His mom knew about him - knew he was alive. Even though he couldn't think of a thing that she could do to help him get out, it was still good - so good, to be known.

Will leaned his head back, glancing toward the opposite wall.

He furrowed his brows.

Black fluid was oozing up out of the wall in little splotches on the wall. Alarm came first, and Will quickly shut the door of his cupboard, covering his mouth and trying to be as quiet and still as possible. Nothing happened, and he risked leaning forward to look out the crack, every scary story he'd ever seen telling him the moment he did this, something would look back at him.

But nothing did.

He watched as the black oozed out, shiny and oily, but unmistakably letters.

"Oh."

The word was breathed out, and Will climbed out of his hidey hole, picking up the half-burnt candle. They were letters, under each light. She was trying to let him spell out… She could hear the faint echoes of her whispered voice, not quite audible, but present.

"Mom, you're a genius." He didn't bother hiding the admiration in his voice, a tiny grin on his face as he fumbled together his makeshift lighter, the wire burning cherry red for a moment before the wick smoked and caught flame.

"Okay baby, talk to me, talk to me, where are you?"

He realized he… didn't actually have any good answers for that. He didn't know WHERE exactly he was, only that it was a creepy, deadly reflection of his living room. Overlapping, somehow.

"R! Good, good, good… That's good, come on, come on."

He pointed to the lights, listening to her spell it out aloud. Something tickled the edges of his senses.

"-I-G-H-T-H-E-R-E.. Right here. I- i… I don't know what that means? " He tuned her out, listening to the rush of… wind? Or… the hairs on his arms stood on end, and he edged back toward the cupboard.

All at once, chaos erupted.

Danny burst through the back door, a bundle in his arms. He kicked the door shut and fumbled to lock it, shouting at Will, "Get to me! Now!"

Will froze, fear and alarm tensing all his muscles down. He realized the rushing sound had evolved, limbs tearing through dead leaves and underbrush now crawling up over the house, scratching at the doors.

"What's going on?" He wasn't proud of the tremble in his voice, but it was either that or pee his pants in fear, as hundreds of the monsters converged on their house, crawling over the walls like ants.

"Tell them to stay out! This is your house! Tell them!"

"What?"

"Tell them!" Will recoiled as Danny rounded on him, blood streaking his face, eyes blazing green. The air felt alive with electricity, buzzing in his hair and over his skin in what he could only think of as an aura.

"Stay out?"

Scratches on the door, and Will turned fearfully toward the front door - he remembered one of them unlocking it last time.

"Look at me." Wet, sticky hands grabbed his cheeks, forcing him to look into swirling, acid-green lights. "Believe they cannot enter without your permission. Tell them to stay out. The doors are closed to them."

Will pulled away, smelling blood and… whatever that was, the candle in his hand flickering with the quick movement. He could hear their shrieking outside, and the scratching on glass. Why hadn't they just broken in? Unless they couldn't. Unless they truly were…

"Stay. Out." He demanded, turning toward the windows. There was a pause, and he took a small step back. A spot on the wall started rippling, peeling back like lips away from gums, or a surgery with invisible tools. Through the thin membrane, he could see the faint glow of Christmas lights, all different colors strung across the room.
The dots connected together faster than he thought possible.

The thin spots. The monsters could travel through. That's how they found him. That's how they brought him here. How he could get out.

How they could get in.

Mom.

"...what should I do?" Her worried voice had trailed off a while ago, and she was probably waiting anxiously in the living room while this swarm converged.

He turned toward the wall, clutching his candle to his chest and reaching out to the life in the bulbs.

R.

U.

N.

Fleshy sounds behind him. He turned to see the portal twisting, pushing out and sinking in like something was leaning its face against the other side of a thin cloth. Or a thin skin. His connection to the lights flared, and he stepped back, whispering under his breath "Stay out, stay out, stay out, you're not welcome here. Out. Out Out."

He could hear his mom scream, and his heart dropped into his feet. He was right. They could go through to the real world. She was in danger.

He could hear Danny mess with something wet, and Will stumbled, the candle falling from his hands and flickering out as it bounced and spilled wax across the rotted carpet.

The thin spot rippled again, and stilled. The Christmas lights weren't visible behind it anymore - or perhaps they had simply turned off. Either way, though he could hear the monsters prowling outside, breathing hisses and low growls , they didn't seem to be actively trying to get inside any longer.

Will turned to see what Danny was doing, hoping it involved some sort of weapon, and not the…

He wiped his cheek off on his sleeve, eyes widening. It had been blood.

He edged into the kitchen, wiping off his cheeks, anxiously watching Danny crouch over some dark figure on the ground. A low moan, and one of the limbs shifted. It was-

Those were jeans.

That was a person.

He rushed around Danny, a small part of him relieved that the teen wasn't eating the person or something crazy, but the rest of him squashed it, branding it as ridiculous.

"Get some bandages. Try to find enough candles to boil water. We need to clean her wounds."

Danny's voice cut in before he could ask how he could help, and Will rushed to find the supplies, jumping every time a monster so much as moved within viewing distance of the windows.

The person sobbed, choking on something wet while Danny shushed them, murmuring soft platitudes. Will grabbed all the candles he could remember mom having, taking out the first aid kit from the kitchen (not brave enough to grab the one tucked in her actual room. That was too far away from Danny.

He set the supplies down, grimacing as the plastic first aid kit opened and stretched and tore a weird sort of skin over the plastic. Thankfully, everything inside seemed fairly clean.

"Water first."

Oh, right.

Will lit the candles, pulling out the least-disgusting pot he could find and worked to scrub it off before finding the emergency water under the sink and dumping it inside to heat up.

It took… longer than he would have liked for those meagre candles to heat up a pot of water, all while the person twitched and gasped, making low noises of pain every time Danny did… whatever he was doing.

Will finally plucked up the urge to look away from the water, gaze traveling hesitantly up the bloodied hand, over… oh, lord, a horribly gashed arm, up to a face that he didn't recognize at first, thick furrows in neat lines tearing into the skin on her cheeks and neck. The freckles gave it away.

Will was glad he was already on his knees, or he'd have sunk down to them in shock.

"...Barb?"