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Will awoke from his nightmare with a gasp, choking and sputtering on the cold night air.
Air that was too cold, Will thought—and suspiciously thick. His heart plummeted into his stomach, and he knew before even opening his eyes that he was no longer in his sleeping bag on Mike’s bedroom floor.
Sure enough, the sky above was like a pool of navy-blue ink with burning flashes of lightning cutting through it. Thunder rumbled in the distance, but Will knew there would be no rain.
He knew this had to be the Upside Down, but everything was different and unfamiliar. He was somewhere new.
The land around him was barren. The woods were gone; there was only rocks, dead grass, and—sand? Will crouched down and sifted his fingers through the tiny grains. It was sand—but how? What was this place?
Wiping his hands on his pants, Will stood back up and eyed his surroundings. He had to figure out a way to get back home to Hawkins, but there was nothing helpful to go off of. There wasn’t much of anything here at all, really, except miles of dirty sand and—
Oh.
Oh, wow.
Will found himself frozen in place, staring out into the distance at what must’ve been the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.
Several yards ahead, the grungy ground gave way to spectacular, electric-blue water that lapped gently on the shoreline. Will had never seen anything like it before. He felt captivated by it, wanting to get a closer look.
As he grew nearer, he noticed parts of the sand were glowing too. Jonathan once told him that they touched briefly on bioluminescence in sophomore chemistry, but Will hadn’t paid much attention to that conversation. He now regretted that.
He lowered himself to the ground and repeated the same motion from earlier, hesitantly running a hand through the blue-speckled sand. It was cool to the touch but not quite cold—and tingled against his fingertips. Will thought it actually felt rather nice.
He gazed out at the water. This should’ve been impossible. He’d never seen water in the Upside Down before. Well, there was the one time—in his bathroom in 1983. After he had spit up Dart, he’d turned the faucet on and it continued to run even when the world blinked into the Upside Down.
But was that different than physically being here—since that had only been the result of his true sight? Did this mean that Will was physically here now, and that this wasn’t just some elaborate illusion conjured up by Vecna or even his own mind?
He shook his head, his thoughts swirling around faster than the clouds. Wait, the clouds were—moving? Will forced his attention back to the environment before him.
As he looked up, everything seemed to shift. The dark clouds melted away until only a calm horizon remained. There was no more thunder, no more lightning; just a vast stretch of soft purple that disappeared into the dark water.
Then, a chitter rang out from somewhere behind him. His stomach dropped in apprehension, and he was reminded of the dangers lurking inside this dimension. He slowly turned around, fear gripping his heart like a vice.
It was like Will was twelve years old again; standing frozen inside the wooden shed. He could feel the scream fighting to escape, but his throat felt closed off. He could only gape, wide-eyed and defenseless.
There, only a few feet away, stood a demogorgon. But like Will’s surroundings, the creature was different than how he remembered it.
Its skin was what he could only describe as a deep shade of phthalo green. It was less slimy-looking and more velvety, and it was covered in tiny blue dots reminiscent of the bioluminescent-coated beach. However, this is where the differences ended.
Its claws were still very much sharp, and Will knew that they could rip his flesh to shreds in a matter of seconds. Its face was closed, sparing him the horrific sight of the creature’s hundreds of razor-like teeth.
Will was pulled from his thoughts when the creature let out another chitter, its mouth opening only slightly. The demogorgon approached him timidly, and Will instinctively scrambled backwards. It startled and retreated a few steps.
Oh, no.
Confused, Will chanced an apprehensive glance over his shoulder. Whatever could make the scariest monster Will had ever seen tremble like that was surely bad news.
But when he craned his neck, there was nothing there—only the strange water foaming over the muddy sand.
This only confused Will further. Was the demogorgon afraid… of him?
Will turned his gaze back to the towering creature. It was closer now; it must’ve closed some distance while he was focused on the nonexistent threat behind him. Will was trembling, but he stood his ground this time. It tilted its face up and sniffed in his direction.
It seemed almost, curious. And honestly? Will couldn’t help but feel the same. This entire encounter with the Upside Down was so different than his previous ones.
The demogorgon closed the gap between them and crouched down on all fours. There was only about two feet of distance between them now. The creature let out a quiet noise somewhere between a chitter and a purr.
He couldn’t explain why exactly, but Will no longer felt afraid. It was like a wave of calmness had rolled over his mind and body. He felt surprisingly… at peace.
Without thinking, he closed his eyes and reached out a hand to the creature. It was as if he was watching himself from outside of his own body.
The rational part of his brain was telling him to stop—to yank his arm away and run as fast as possible in the opposite direction. But another part of him was mesmerized, intrigued.
He didn’t dare touch it, though. Something inside him whispered that to do so would be counterproductive. So, he opted for holding his palm out in front of it, just a few inches from its face.
After several long moments of waiting with bated breath, Will finally felt the monster’s cold flesh make contact with his; and millions of images flashed behind his closed eyelids.
He saw himself, riding his bike down Mirkwood that fateful November night. His shivering body cradled inside Castle Byers. Lain in a hospital bed with a worried Mike watching him sleep. Crouched behind a car with his knees pulled up to his chin.
He saw Max, Bob, Barbara, and so many others he didn’t even recognize. Then, there was Hawkins; the rift split four ways throughout his hometown.
He saw a dark cloud of smoke and dust particles. Then, a man—blonde and dressed in a bloodied white uniform—morphed into something inhuman. Will realized this must’ve been Henry—Vecna. He reached his burnt hand out to the cloud, and Will saw—the Mind Flayer.
Lastly, he saw this place—glowing sand, purple skies, strange plants, and more monsters than Will could count. There were demodogs, demogorgons, and what he could only assume were the demobats Dustin had described.
But there were so many more. Visions of them flashed before him, and Will couldn’t help but notice that they were similar to the wildlife in his world.
That was the moment Will understood.
This realm—it hadn’t always been like this. It used to be vibrant and full of life. And these creatures weren’t monsters; or at least, not in the traditional sense. They were apart of a unique ecosystem, and that ecosystem had been corrupted by an outside force.
By the Mind Flayer. By Vecna.
Will felt something whisper to him again like before. It wasn’t a voice, though—it was a feeling. But it was nothing like the Mind Flayer—Vecna, Will corrected himself. It was light and full of pleading. It was asking for help. It was asking for his help.
He opened his eyes and looked up at the creature before him. It was like Will was seeing it with new eyes. He no longer saw a monster or terrifying predator, but a wounded creature with its life stolen away from it. Will knew that feeling all too well.
But he still didn’t quite understand. He didn’t have powers like El or Vecna. What could he do? How could he possibly help?
The demogorgon chittered lowly, and Will jumped when it nudged his shoulder. But still, it didn’t attack him.
Will wasn’t sure why the Upside Down chose him, but the fact of the matter was that it did. Vecna had taken everything from this realm, just as he’d taken everything from Will. He had to at least try.
Something settled inside Will, and he realized that he didn’t just feel compelled to help the Upside Down—he wanted to help it.