"Hello?" One's voice echoed through the darkness as she weaved between sinister trees, stained black by the perpetual ash falling around her. James' ripped leather jacket snagged on taunting branches, and she continuously batted away clumps of hair banded together by dried blood to keep her vision clear. "Steve? Dad? El? Anybody?"

Monstrous shrieks echoed a response, crying for blood and death in the empty wasteland. One's pulse quickened with her pace as she stumbled through the evil wood. After nearly tripping over an upturned root, she took pause and tried to summon a portal. Crackles of light erupted before immediately fading away. She was out of juice.

One knew where she was but she didn't know where she was, let alone when she was. All she could do was continue to trek away from the hungry howls until she had enough energy to get herself the hell out of there. A large crack echoed thirty feet to her left and she found herself praying that it would be soon.

One looked up at the monotonous sky above and noticed that the tops of the leafless trees curled in towards her, either to shield her or to eat her. Black weeds grew in place of grass and licked at her ankles as she tread over them; tasting her exposed, bloody skin. With every step, the forest seemed to shrink smaller and smaller.

When the claustrophobia was seconds away from consuming One, a clearing finally revealed itself to her in the distance. She sprinted for the minimal light that shined through it, uprooting the weeds that wrapped themselves around her and tried to hold her back. The forest wouldn't hold her prisoner anymore.

When One came to the other side of the clearing, the scene before her sent her careening back into her memories. Small gray house. Broken down green Pinto. Tattered clothesline whipping around in the invisible wind. It wasn't exactly the same as she knew it to be, but it solidified where she was.

Her portal hadn't taken her far. She was still in Snikwah.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

"Ready."

"Ready.

A chorus of "ready"'s followed after in different voices.

It was time.

The party was once more huddled in the living room of Hopper's cabin, preparing themselves for the danger to come. Their trap was set, with Mike, Will, Lucas, Dustin, and Max positioned around the edges of the net hanging above them with nails and hammers in their hands. Joyce and Hopper stood off to the sides, each armed with a shotgun. And at the forefront, and the only ones that would be visible through the portal, stood One with Steve and Eleven at either side.

One stared ahead at the door with a determination that could shake worlds. She was going to destroy Papa. She was going to get James back. She was going to put her past behind her and finally live a normal life with her family. Human contact broke One's focus for a split second and she looked down to see Steve's fingers intertwined in hers.

"You've got this," Steve said confidently with a curt nod of his head.

One gave him a small smile back and squeezed his hand in hers. For a second, she almost wanted to put a halt to the whole plan and remain in that moment with Steve, her family, and her friends. Later on, she would have wished she had...

One turned her head back forward and once more studied the wooden front door. She got lost in the way that the grains weaved in between each other, like her and Steve's hands, painting pictures that disappeared the second you looked away. When she found a spot that almost resembled a heart, she set her eyes on it in an unblinking stare.

Darkness.

Ash.

Monsters.

James.

One's body shook as she forced images of the Upside Down into her head. Old screams lodged themselves in her throat, battling to break free into the stiff cabin air. Never did she ever think she'd purposely open a portal back to her nightmares. And the pain only became harder to bear as she extended her focus to another point of misery: Dr. Brenner.

Steve and Eleven watched worriedly as One's face contorted itself into a look of fear. Furrowed brows, twitching eyelids, and a scrunched up nose settled upon One's features as a whirling ball of light grew before their eyes. With each rotation, sparks shot off the portal and fizzled into the air.

One continued to expand the portal until it was large enough for somebody to step through...that somebody being Dr. Brenner. The party gasped as sinister features of the Upside Down became noticeable through the portal. When the portal had reached its full size, One switched her focus to studying its interior.

Initially One was disappointed. While she had managed to successfully open a portal to the Upside Down, it was difficult to discern whether it had opened to Upside Down Hawkins, or Snikwah, as Dustin insisted on calling it. The scene before her was as vacant and monotonous as most of her memories of the Upside Down.

One was about to shut the portal and try again when a rustling echoed from within the portal somewhere out of frame. The party listened silently with still breaths as the sound got closer and closer to them. Preparing themselves for whatever appeared, everyone lifted their weapons: Joyce and Hopper, their guns; Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max, their hammers; and Steve, his precious spiked bat. Eleven prepared herself to use her powers.

"So you've changed your mind after all," Dr. Brenner's menacing voice announced his presence as he stepped into sight. One could feel Eleven tense at her side as Dr. Brenner's good eye landed on her. "And look, you even brought Eleven. What a delight."

"No," One responded firmly. "I'm here for James. Where is he?"

"Seven is...otherwise engaged at the moment," Dr. Brenner answered with a wicked smile. The end of his sentence was punctuated by a scream that echoed through the Upside Down and filled the cabin.

A pang tore through One's heart when she realized that she recognized the scream. It was James.

"James!" One yelled, instinctively moving towards the sound of his screaming. Having anticipated this, Steve reached out and grabbed her arm to hold her back.

"Not yet," Steve whispered. "We can't get to James until we get through Dr. Brenner."

Irritated, One yanked her arm free of Steve's grip but she remained where she was. "What are you doing to him?" she asked Dr. Brenner, her sight still fixed on him.

"Oh he's fine...for now," Dr. Brenner assured her.

Another scream rippled through the air and One once again tensed.

Joyce had kept her eyes locked on Hopper the entire time, worried about what he might do. When she noticed Hopper raise his gun slightly and his muscles twitch, she met his eyes and gave him a firm shake no from across the room. It subdued him for the time being.

"Fine," One said at last. She knew the others wouldn't like it but she was going to change the plan. She couldn't bear the echos of James' screams inside her head any longer. "I'll go with you. I'll be part of your family. If you let James go."

Dr. Brenner toyed with the idea for a moment before addressing her again, "Without a fuss?"

"Without a fuss," One repeated in agreement.

"Then we have a deal," Dr. Brenner responded, raising his arms out towards One to invite her in.

"Show me James first," One demanded. Dr. Brenner just responded with laughter.

"That's not how this works," Dr. Brenner tutted. "Perhaps we should negotiate another time."

Dr. Brenner turned to walk away when One stopped him. Another scream echoed in the distance. She needed to get James out of there now.

"No! Wait!" One shouted after him, stopping him mid-stride. She took a few steps towards him. "I'll go with you."

A look of surprise swept around the room when the party realized that One was being serious. Hopper and Steve moved to stop her but Eleven took action first. Capitalizing on Dr. Brenner's surprise, Eleven focused all her energy on the deranged scientist and pulled him out of the portal with her powers. A drop of blood fell from her nose after both his feet crossed the threshold and he toppled to the ground.

"Now!" Mike yelled to the others, yanking the rope that sent the net plummeting down on Dr. Brenner.

Mike, Will, Lucas, Dustin, and Max all grabbed a corner and stretched the net taut to keep Dr. Brenner on the ground before quickly nailing their sides into the wooden floorboards. Dr. Brenner roared and struggled under his woven cage, while the rest of the party cheered and celebrated their success.

"Hey guys..." Steve spoke up after he quickly surveilled the room, interrupting the current festivities. "Where's Sarah?"

The celebration ceased when an ominous cackle arose from below them and the party looked down to see Dr. Brenner in a fit of crazed laughter. "Say goodbye to your friend," Dr. Brenner smiled as he turned his head towards the portal.

The party looked up just in time to catch One running through the Upside Down before she disappeared into the thick fog.

★ ☆ ★ ☆ ★