Chapter Text
Mike Wheeler had just come to Hawkins when it happened.
Him, Will, Jonathan, Argyle and El were driving from Nevada to Indiana after rescuing El from the military. During that drive, they had learnt a lot. There was this new villain called Henry Creel, who wasn’t really new. He was actually the guy behind everything to do with the Upside Down. Will going missing then getting possessed, the flaying of almost half of Hawkins, that flesh monster that destroyed the mall; that was all the work of one man. And according to El, he was doing even more while they were all in California. All of the killing he was doing was to open a portal. And it seemed like it worked. As they were coming into Hawkins, it looked apocalyptic. There were cracks everywhere and something was leaking from them.
Jonathan had to stop to be checked when they were entering the town. The man there was making sure he had ID, drivers license, all the boring stuff. He was also extremely suspicious. He wondered why anyone would come to Hawkins when it just had an earthquake.
The kids took this time to get some fresh air. But just as they were all stepping out, Mike started to feel dizzy. It probably just me getting up to fast, he thought to himself. After a few minutes, it got worse. He tried to hide to; after everything that happened, he wouldn’t want to concern anyone with some minor stuff. But Will noticed.
“Mike, are you ok?” He asked, seeing his friend’s worn out expression. They were all tired, but Mike looked like he was sick.
“I’m fine.” Mike said. He didn’t get how Will noticed. He was usually good at covering up stuff like this. But moreover, why would Will be concerned. Mike had treated him like shit all spring break. My life began when I found you in the woods, that’s when Will went missing. And even before he came to California, he hadn’t even been trying to contact Will. Only a few calls and no letters. Well, he hadn’t even been sending El that many letters, his own girlfriend. How could he be isolating from everyone he knew.
You’re just hiding from the truth, Mike began to think. You can’t even face your own feelings for those two. Well, more like your lack of love for El. But the thoughts in Mike’s head started to sound different. The voice changed and distorted, until it became monstrous. His head spun and his vision went blurry.
“Mike, what’s wrong?” El came to her boyfriend, extremely worried. If Henry was attacking Mike, she didn’t have the resources or energy to get into his head. And anyways, she had defeated him while in Max’s head. But her attention was diverted by Will, who had pointed out something wrong with Mike.
“El, he’s passed out!” He shouted. Will also noticed something. “What’s wrong with his eyes, why are they white?”
Mike felt like he’d only passed out for a few seconds, but his setting entirely changed. He wasn’t on the edge of Hawkins anymore. He was in his garage. He’d been here before, and he recognised the memory. He saw himself, standing with someone else. Will. They were both younger. Mike knew what would happened next, and he needed to stop it. But he couldn’t move; he was frozen in place. I’ll just shout at them, he thought, but no matter how loudly he screamed, they couldn’t hear him. He’d just have to stand there, and watch himself.
“El’s not stupid, and it’s not my fault you don’t like girls!” His younger self shouted at Will. Those words were almost amplified. They stood out from the sound of the rain on the roof. Whatever brought him here wanted Mike to watch this. It wanted him to suffer. He watched as Will left the garage, getting soaked in the rain. Suddenly, Mike could move again. He needed to follow him, tell him that he didn’t mean anything, that he was just being a fucking idiot.
He was running faster than he ever had in his life, as Will was on bike. He was shouting at Will to stop, that he wanted to apologise, but it was as if he was deaf. Finally Will stopped somewhere in the woods: Castle Byers. It was his safe space, when the bullies or his dad got too bad for him. It was the only place where Will could have some peace. And in his hand was a baseball bat.
Will started to attack the shelter. Splinters of wood and painted signs lay in the mud. After a few minutes of destroying, he picked up something from the wet rubble. It was a picture of him and his friends at Halloween. They were all in ghostbusters costumes. Without any thoughts, Will ripped in half, dividing the photo into two. Mike shouted at him, asking him why he’d do that. Then, someone else came. It was younger Mike and Lucas.
But then the scene melted away like ice on a radiator.
Mike was back in the garage again, but it was different. It was in the Upside Down, or it had at least infected the place. Vines had grown on the walls, and the rain had went away. But the most concerning thing was the shadowy mass in the sky. It reminded Mike of a spider, with its many legs. He got curious and decided to get a closer look at it. Any instinct he would’ve had when it came to danger was gone.
“What the fuck?” Mike whispered to himself, as he moved toward the shadow. It was way bigger than he thought, and the legs were more like tornadoes. But as he was leaving, he heard a sudden rush of wind behind him. The shadow was moving towards him.
Mike tried to desperately outrun it. What even was this thing, he thought to himself, and why is it chasing me? But one of the shadow’s tornado-legs caught up to him in just a few seconds. Mike was now in the shadow. All he could see was darkness and ashes. Then from the dark mist, tendrils started to come out and go into Mike. First his eyes, then his nose and mouth. It felt like someone was pushing him under ice-cold water. Whatever this thing was, it made Mike feel so dreaful and shaky. Soon, he was losing himself to this thing. He started to hear his worst memories, things that he’d repressed into the darkest corners of his mind. But it was all over just as quickly as it had happened.
Mike woke up to his two friends shouting at him, asking if he was ok. Will was borderline shaking his friend. After a bit, Mike opened his eyes fully. He was in the back of Argyle’s van. As he looked out the window, he saw that they were still in the same place they’d stopped.
“Mike, are you ok.” Will asked, looking very worried.
“Yea, why wouldn’t I be?” Mike told him. He felt weirdly energetic, as if someone had revived him. It was a sort of twisted pleasure. But this new feeling also felt foreign, like it was someone else’s.
”You fainted for a really long time and your eyes were white.” El said. “We thought Henry had gotten to your head.”
“Guys, I’m ok.” Mike affirmed. “I actually feel really good.”
Just as Will was about to ask his friend something, Jonathan hopped back into the van and told them to get in. They all sat down. Mike was lost in thought, his face unreadable. El was relived that he was ok. But Will wasn’t convinced Mike was fine. Maybe it was just the Upside Down creeping into the town, but Will felt that familiar sensation he hadn’t felt for six months, but it was stronger than ever. He had felt that tingle (now more like a sting) on his neck when he was talking to Mike.