Chapter Text
[Upside Down, Hawkins Indiana, November 6, 1983]
Will Byers did not scream when the world turned upside-down. He didn't shout out loud when Hawkins turned into some grayish, cold, empty place.
He stood there frozen. Just like the weather in this other dimension, he froze. He didn't know what to do.
It's still Hawkins. Just empty.
Just lonely.
Not that he was actually alone. With these flower-faced teethed monsters he doesn't know what to call, he has no choice but to run. Until he can no longer see them, until he feels safe.
But what can a 12 year old boy do against a monster that is much taller, bigger and stronger than him.
Nothing.
As the creepy creatures take him, he remembers the last thing he told Mike.
“The Demogorgon, it got me.”
‘A Demogorgon, yes. It really got me.’
[Hawkins, Indiana, November 12, 1983]
Will is alive and is in the other dimension. That is what they know. After El talked to him, they got hope.
“Hurry.” Is what the young boy last said before it all vanished. But at least they know, there's still a chance.
A chance to save him and bring him back.
Joyce and Hopper enter the gate. It was cold, it was nothing they could imagine about.
But really, they don't care. What they want is to find the missing boy. Will Byers.
“Will? Will?” Joyce called into the void. Hopper is walking beside her, also searching for the boy.
But then they stop.
They froze as they see the trail of blood creating a path. As if someone gets dragged in it.
‘Oh God no.’ Joyce muttered in her head.
They follow the path, which then leads to the library. The Hawkins Library. And what they saw leaves nothing in their imagination.
The library was supposedly full of books. However, this library was full of bodies, lifeless bodies of several people for who knows how long.
“Will?” Joyce shouted. As if she's waiting for someone to reply.
But the stillness and coldness of the upside-down cannot be comprehended. The only thing she hears is her own voice being echoed in the room. But hope is what they have right now, and they continue their search for Will. But then.
Hopper stops on his tracks. Joyce, still unaware, continues to search and call for Will, her voice echoing through the gray place. She glances back at him and notices how the Hawkins Police Chief’s flashlight trembles. His face got pale, his posture became somehow weird. That makes Joyce curious.
“Hopper, did you see something?” She asked, voice tight.
He didn't answer. He just steps forward slowly, a frantic weight in his chest. Joyce nervously follows, fidgeting the flashlight she holds.
And then she sees it.
The body lies in the center of the library. Pale. Twisted.. It's face gone, as if it got devoured and left nothing but its hard skull. Blood streaks covered the floor with various books scattered. A horrid scenery for anyone to see.
Joyce doesn't want to believe. It is not his son. No, his son can't die. But it was already given away.
The vest. The bright yellow vest she gave him. The vest that is stubbornly clinging onto the lifeless body.
Joyce freezes. Her stomach twists. She looks at Hopper, eyes wide. His jaw shut tight, his hand trembled. She then turned to the body once again.
“No… no… no…” she breathes, stepping closer to look and hold the body. She reaches toward the vest. Her hand shakes violently. “Will…?”
Hopper swallow, he stood there saying nothing. He knows how words won't even help.
The body is already faceless. Bloody. Cold. Lifeless. And the truth hit them like a sick hammer in the heart.
Will Byers is dead.
Joyce collapses on her knees besides the vest, sobs wracking her body. Hopper could only put a hand on her shoulder, helpless.
All of the hope they had earlier, all the pleas. Gone. It came crashing down on them.
The upside-down quiet and cold swallow Joyce's cries. The upside-down remains still in the breakdown of the mother of the child they took.
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However, what they didn't know. There is still a little boy, barely breathing in the dark. Hidden.
Far away from them, far away from being found.
Will.