Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Steve did NOT sign up for this. After being captured by fucking Russians and fighting a hugh fleshy monster from another dimension, you would think that would be the end of it. But no, of course some wizard would have to show up killing people.

Now he was in the upside down. THE upside down. He was fucked. They were fucked. They are gonna die in some shitty dimension with bats with rabies. Fuck.

“Hey! Big boy! Snap out of it. We gotta move!”

Eddie yelled, gesturing at the swarm of bats that seemed to be flying towards them. Shit.

The group broke into a run, sprinting to the forest. After what seemed like minutes, the screeching sounds of bats disappeared, leaving the forest in an eery silence.

“Shit shit shit what do we do now? We don’t have a way back, VECNA is here and we don’t have anything!”

Shouted Robin, tearing at her hair frantically.

“Guns. I-I have guns! In my room, I keep guns under my bed.”

Said Nancy, a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

“You? The Nancy wheeler. Guns under her bed?”

Exclaimed Eddie in surprise, looking at her incredulously.

“You tend to keep guns around when you encounter a demogorgon multiple times.”

Nancy shrugged.

“It’s not much, but at least we’ll have weapons. Let’s go.”

Steve said, shrugging on the jacket Eddie had offered him a few minutes prior.

After what seemed like an excruciatingly long walk, they finally found the Wheeler house.

They ran in, quickly wrenching the vines off of the door and slamming it past them.

“The guns should be……here..?”

Nancy pulled out a box under her bed only to find a pair of shoes.

“That doesn’t look like guns to me.”

Eddie replied dryly.

“Wait..these shoes. I threw these out years ago. That mirror too! That went to a yard sale!”

“Wait, wait what? So you mean that..”

“The upside down is stuck in 1983. We’re 2 years in the past.”

The group went silent.

“Great. Now we have no way to get guns. Let alone communicate with the others.”

“Wait, Jonathan!”

“Jonathan? What does Jonathan have to do with this?”

“When will went missing, Jonathan and I went looking for the demogorgons. We took guns from his shed!”

Nancy exclaimed, hopeful again.

“Okay then let’s go to the Byers!”

Robin said quickly, wanting to get out of this hellhole as fast as possible.

They thankfully found bikes and went to the Byers in record time.

“Okay we should check the house first. Any knives could be useful and-“

Nancy stopped speaking, the sound of a twig snapping echoing in the eery forest.

The group quickly huddled against each other, not having anything to defend themselves with.

Steve looked at a tree intensely, spotting a movement.

A human eye was staring at them.

“What the fuck.”

Eddie said, eyes widening.

A young boy stared back at them. About 12 years old, short, brown hair and hazel eyes.

Will Byers.

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Will was running. running and running and running. He didn’t know if the demogorgon was behind him anymore. He just kept running.

He eventually collapsed on the dirt. Out of breath and dizzy.

Standing up after a few seconds, he took in his surroundings.

It was just like the forest by his house, only much darker and for some reason weird white particles were floating in the air. Through the trees he could see black and red storm clouds, white lightning crackling.

It was a nightmare. Will started to hyperventilate, stumbling around blindly trying to see anything that wasn’t a tree, desperate to find shelter.

A screech rang throughout the woods, a shiver running up wills spin.

Will started to run in the opposite direction, running blindly again.

After what it seemed like hours of running 9’ adrenaline, he spotted a familiar fort.

Castle Byers.

Immensely relieved, Will ran into the house, curling into a corner of the fort and wrapping the sheets of the fort bed around him in a feeble attempt at hiding. After trembling under the covers for a few hours, Will drifted into a fitful sleep. The fatigue finally catching up to him.

after what seemed like a few hours, Will woke up.

Will started crying. He had hoped that this was a nightmare. The creepy silence of the woods and dark shadows scared him, even though he seemed safe in castle Byers, he could hear some screeching far far away.

After what seemed like an hour, Wills cries subsided, reducing to sniffles.

After running and crying on an empty stomach, wills stomach grumbled, hungry.

He grabbed some chips from the fort floor, inspecting it carefully. It seems okay he guessed, but still he opened it to find black mold and no chips.

So hungry and thirsty, Will knew he had to find food. He might be a shy and scared kid, but if Will knew one thing well, it was how to survive in the wilderness.

Lonnie had teached him. His father had taught him how to shoot a gun, how to ration food, how to survive in the wild. To ‘tougn’ him up he had said. Well it was more a punishment than teaching, but he had learnt a few skills.

Will emptied his backpack. Thankfully he found some snacks from the dnd campaign. Three energy bars, one slice of pizza, and one skittles. He ate the pizza slice since it would spoil fast, and picked up his backpack- ready to move again.

Will went to his house, the door creaking as he went in. He went to the kitchen first, scavenging some cans of food and some knives. After packing supplies, Will started to barricade the house. Home was currently the safest place to stay right now, and the house itself comforted him. Will was in the process of moving some boxes to cover the front door when he heard music. Music.

*you gotta let me know*

*should I stay or should I go*

Will looked around, alarmed by his favorite song coming from…the house..?

There was a radio in the corner, but Will hadn’t turned it on. Will picked up a knife just in case, and walked further into the living room. He spotted a lamp. A lamp that was lit. He hadn’t seen anything emit light other than the cloudy red sky. Will approached the lamp slowly, reaching out his hand to touch it. To his surprise, his had went through the lamp, making light particles appear, leaving a tickling sensation.

Will continued to touch the lamp in fascination until he heard a voice-

*Will? Is that you? Will? Will!*

It was his mom. A surge of hope went through Will as he looked around, desperately trying to locate his moms voice.

“Mom! It’s me! Mom!”

*Will! Will! I’m here! Where are you!*

“I’m right here Mom!“

*Will! Will?*

Realizing that his mom couldn’t hear him, Will desperately turned to the lamp again, using it to try and signal his mom.

*Will! Oh my baby- Will! Is -is that you? Wait baby, I’ll get some more lights! Don’t-don’t go anywhere!*

Will nearly cried in relief.

*I’m back! Will?*

Will quickly touched the lamp again, letting his mom know he was still there.

*Oh thank god-baby? Will? I got some Christmas lights! I painted letters for them! Can-can you use these?*

Suddenly, dull fairy bulbs seemed to appear on the wall. Will could’ve sworn that they weren’t there a few minutes ago. As they flickered to life on-by-one, Will quickly touched the ones spelling out *H-E-R-E*

*Oh baby! Will! Are you okay? Where are you!*

As Will reached out his hand to touch the lights again, a bang rang throughout the house. The back door. It was the demogorgon.

Will panicked, grabbing his backpack and a knife-ready to run again.

*Will? Will! Can you hear me? Will!*

Oh shit his mom. What if-what if the demogorgon went to her? Panicking even more, Will touched the lights in a rush, sprinting out the door as fast as possible and running to the forest again.

*R-U-N*

*Will? Will? Will!*

Leaving the sound of his mother’s frantic shouts, Will ran through the trees. Tears running down his cheeks.

**A Few days later**

Will had been running constantly, climbing high up in the trees to sleep when he was tired and to eat occasionally. It seemed like an eternity. Seeing that he only had few cans of food left, Will decided on returning to his house. While the threat of the demogorgon was still there, Will was sure that after he had ran, the demogorgon had chased him to the woods too. The house would be empty again.

As Will arrived at his house, he heard noise. Thinking it was the demogorgon, Will quickly got his knife out-hiding behind a thick tree.

Suddenly he realized that the sound wasn’t the monster. It was people! It was English!

Will cautiously peeked his head out from behind the trees, accidentally stepping on a twig.

The sound of people talking went silent.

Will looked at the people intensely. There was 2 girls and 2 boys. Huddled in a tight circle. 2 of them looked….familiar.

Steve…. Harrington….?

“What the fuck.”

Steve exclaimed, eyes staring back at Will’s.

(Okay this is the end of chapter 2- hope you like it!! English is not my first language so there might be some grammar mistakes or blank writing. I will be updating in less than a week probably..?

If you have any ideas on the story, leave a comment!

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I would just like to say that this work ISN’T abandoned and I’m still workin on a chapter 3.
The reason why it’s taking so long is cause I got distracted by a fic idea-I’m currently writing a Byler flower shop au too.
And the fact that my finals are due soon too…. It might take a few days but I WILL upload another chapter