Chapter Text
The world is stuck in shades of blue and Joyce has to suppress the groan in her chest. Ash falls from the sky sticking to her hair and clothes. The screams of monsters in the distance make her heart clench in fear. She has to take steadying breaths to remind herself of the truth.
She has been having the same nightmare for a few days, approaching the anniversary of Will’s disappearance she’d almost expected them to come. She would find herself stuck in the middle of the upside down. When she would scream for Will, Jonathan, Hopper, anyone all she would be met with is the writhing sounds. Alone in the darkness until the footsteps begin approaching.
Almost on cue she can hear them coming. Screams of monstrous agony and shuffling steps come barreling towards her. She takes two breaths before she takes off. She bolts through the trees dodging branches and roots that she had missed previous times. She’s not entirely sure what she’s running to but her feet don’t listen to her brain. All she knows is she can’t let them get her.
The woods don’t look familiar in this place. If she could just find the cabin, maybe she could get to safety.
She gets further than before. Her hands push off a tree that she’d crashed into in a previous dream. Her heart is pounding in her ears with the sound of her footsteps crashing through the mud. She feels like she’s getting close. Hope daring to bubble in her chest as the surroundings look more and more familiar.
She misses the way a vine wraps around her ankle.
She crashes to the ground, arms catch the blunt of her fall sending shockwaves of pain up her shoulders. She kicks at the thing blindly before she’s being wrenched back, her fingers desperately clawing at the ground to stop from being dragged behind. It's useless as they slide helplessly through the mud unable to get purchase on anything.
“No, no!”
“Joyce!” She springs up in the bed still kicking at the vine that wasn’t there. Her back presses against the cold headboard and she jumps at the new sensation. “Easy! Easy.” Hopper is by her side, hands on her shoulders. It takes her a few seconds to recognize that she isn’t in the dream anymore. She’s not in the upside down, she’s back in their bedroom safe.
“Sorry.” She mutters, leaning forward to bury her face in her hands. She knew the dreams would get worse. There’s only a week until the anniversary. The date looms like a guillotine over her family. Hopper’s moods seem mild in comparison to the three Byers. Jonathan is distant, favoring shutting himself in his room with a pair of headphones. Only listening to people when he has to. Will is the opposite, clinging to anyone that will stay with him but with an uncharacteristically short temper. If anyone mentions that the day is getting closer or shows pity for him, he snaps.
And herself? The lack of sleep is getting to her. She mostly wakes in the middle of the night from these dreams. Unable to fall back asleep without a shower or a cigarette on the porch. She relies on coffee and keeping busy to distract from the lull of sleep. Yet every time she closes her eyes she has the same nightmare.
“Don’t be.” Hopper pulls her into his arms dropping a kiss to the top of her head. “Same dream?” She nods. He’s the only one she’s told about them. They’re no different from her previous ones. Nightmares plagued her long before Will went missing. Yet, never like this. Her nightmares had frightening originality. Her mind loved to torture her with new ways that everything could go wrong. “You wanna go check on them?”
She wants to say no. She’d accidentally woke Jonathon one night doing exactly that. The light from the hallway spilled into his room and it’d been difficult to explain why she was checking on him more than a murmured ‘nightmare’. She didn’t miss the worried expression that had settled over his face. She managed to dodge questions since but he’s smart enough to see the exhaustion settling into her bones.
Against her better judgment, she nods. He climbs out of bed with her, passing one of his t-shirts to slide over the tanktop she’d worn to bed. The shirt is massive on her but it provides comfort that she didn’t know she needed. He walks with her down the hallway, a steady hand on her back as she peeks into the rooms. She is careful when she checks Jonathon’s. She’s thankful to see he fell asleep with the headphones on. She could scold him about it another day, how it would damage his hearing. Right now, all that she cares about is that he’s out like a light. Next, Will. She’s not shocked when she finds El in there too. She has a habit of crawling into other’s beds when she can’t fall asleep on her own.
The two of them are sprawled like starfish, limbs thrown wildly and crossing over each other. It can’t be comfortable and yet they’re both snoring away in restful bliss. There’s an ache in her heart when she thinks that standing here, she could almost see them as siblings. If she let herself she could imagine them as kids, an unstoppable duo.
She settles back against Hopper letting herself relax again.
“Better?” He whispers against her hair. She nods silently. Knowing that they’re all here was more than enough. She could handle nightmares of her being in danger. Hell, she could battle an army of those monsters alone if it meant they stayed safe.
“Yeah.” She lingers longer than she should. She wants to savor this peace. It isn’t until Will stirs that she shuts the door quietly. “I’m going to shower.” She wanted to wash the feeling of the ash and dirt off her. Even if it wasn’t real.
“You want me to come with?” If it were any other situation, she might take the question as suggestive. Though, in the months since they returned, Hopper had become her normal. She didn’t like to be alone, especially after her nightmares. Rather she would cling to him until sleep found her again.
“No, you have an early shift tomorrow.” She leans up, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. “Go back to bed.”
“Won’t be able to go back to sleep without you there.”
“I won’t be long. Promise.” That seems to convince him enough. He reluctantly lets her go. She stalks her way to the bathroom, almost turning around and changing her mind twice. Still, he needs the sleep as much as she does. He’s been up with her almost every night. Comforting her until she can either sleep or at least relax.
He needed rest. She could handle a quick shower on her own.
She winces when she flicks the light on. It takes her a few seconds to adjust as she strips herself of the pajamas she’d fallen asleep in. She hisses as the clothing slides over her arms. She flips them over finding red scratches embedded into her skin.
Shit.
It’d been a long time since a nightmare like this. One where she’d accidentally scratched herself in her sleep. She would have to wear a flannel tomorrow to avoid explaining the marks to the kids. Hopper would inevitably see and ask but she could handle that later.
She slides the rest of her clothes off and steps into the shower. She tests the water temperature with her foot first but a shock of pain has her pulling back, suddenly wide awake. She flicks on the shower with a curse. Her foot is throbbing now, but the water was still cold on her back so it wasn’t that. Her heart almost stops in her chest when she looks down.
Her ankle is wrapped in a dark purple bruise. It loops all the way around and when she reaches out to touch it the same pain shoots up her leg again. Fear and dread settles into her as her mind races, water cascading down her spine. There was no way she had gotten that bruise. Not here at least. It was the same foot that got caught by the vine in her dream.