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All she saw was darkness, and then, in a fraction of a second there was light, not just any light, a familiar one. She looked around and saw houses, cars, street signs, and people. Was this Hawkins? She ran around the corner and saw something she never thought she would see again. A house, with a car in the drive, and a small blonde girl in the front yard.
“Mike?” She whispered
She broke into a sprint, running as fast as she could towards the basement door. Unlocked it and went in. But, it was empty, the couch was gone, the table was gone, everything was, gone. Confused, El walked upstairs, and saw Mike’s mom. She walked up to her.
“Hello?” El asked
“Who! Oh, hi, how are you? Did Holly let you in?” Karen asked
El nodded, thinking of no better explanation of how she got into the house.
“Who are you?” Asked Karen, still a little confused why there was a random girl in the house, covered in moss.
“El.” El replied
“Ok, El. Why are you here?” Karen asked, she knew the name, but couldn’t quite remember where she had heard it.
“I came to see Mike.” El answered
Karen’s face immediately dropped, she knew where the name was from now, it’s who Mike talked about back then.
“W-Why don’t you go ask his friends where he is.” Karen replied. She didn’t want to tell that story again, it just made it more real.
“O-Ok.” El said, confused.
She ran to Will’s house, and knocked on the door.
“I’ll get it!” She could hear Joyce yell
“Hello-“ Joyce said as she answered door, stopping when she saw who was in front of her.
“El!” Joyce yelled.
“El?” Hopper yelled from the back of the house, running to the front.
“Hi” El said once Hopper got there.
“H-how did you get here, what happened?” Hopper asked
“Jim! Let her sit down for a second.” Said Joyce
Joyce led Eleven and Hopper to the living room.
“Where is Mike?” El asked.
“I think I’ll let your friends explain that.” Joyce said gloomily.
El was confused, why would no one tell her where Mike was? She didn’t think it was that hard of question.
“What happened?” Asked Hopper
“Upside Down, Demogorgon.” El said, wanting to forget the memories.
“How’d you get back?” Hopper asked curiously.
“Enough, she doesn’t want to go back there, neither do you or I, just give her some time.” Joyce said protectively. It was true, she didn’t want to think of that place again, and neither did Hopper.
Suddenly, the door sprung open.
“No, the Thessylhydra wouldn’t take me out in one turn!” Protested Dustin
“Yes, it would! Think about it, giant Thessylhydra, tiny human.” Said Lucas
“Guys, come on, we’ll finish this tonight, when we plan the campaign.” Said Will
“Fine, later tonig-“ Stopped Dustin, noticing the brown-haired girl in the living room.
“Guys, it’s El she’s here!” Yelled Dustin, running to her.
“El! When did you get here! What happened?” Asked Lucas.
“Upside down.” She said
The boys looked concerned
“Hi.” Said Will.
El waved.
“Where’s Mike?” El asked, and was returned with grim faces.
Why was everyone so sad to tell her where Mike was?
“El, he umm.” Said Dustin
“He, he ran away, around four months after you disappeared.” Said Lucas
“He left a note, saying he was going to go find you, no matter what the cost.” Said Will
“That’s why we don’t talk about him that much anymore. Said Hopper
“Where is he?” Asked El
“We, we don’t know. He could be anywhere in the country.” Said Dustin
El didn’t know how to process this, she couldn’t find him either, when looking for people, she normally knows generally where to look, but Mike could be on the other side of the world right now. It could take years, maybe decades before she found him.
She was lost.