¤The Pollywog¤

"Hold on and don't let go. If we fall down, then you should know that we could just be blowing florets."

"I want to know what love is." Rowan sang dramatically, shimmying her shoulders as she pulled her hair up into a ponytail. A large clatter from the living room followed by several voices caught her attention, making her look up in her mirror wide eyed. "Guys, you okay?" She called out only to get no response.

Grabbing the only weapon in sight - her hair brush - she tip toed out of her room. "I found them!" Someone chirped from behind her making her squeal and whack them in the chest with her brush. She froze, wide eyed, brush brandished, starring up at her Mom's boyfriend who was rubbing at his chest with a pout. "Wowza, you can really pack a punch." He let out an awkward chuckle, moving around her to Joyce with her keys.

Her eyebrows shot up as her arms fell to her sides, silently sharing a look with Johnathan across the room. "Thank you," Joyce kissed his cheek before grabbing her daughter by the shoulders and steering her towards her two sons. "Johnathan, can you take them to school, I can't be late again."

"He's staying over now?" Johnathan asked the real questions, his voice barely above a whisper. Rowan turned to look at her Mom curiously, wanting the answer to that question herself.

Joyce tossed him a look that said 'not right now', "Can you just take Rowan and Will, please?"

"I can take them." Bob spoke up before Johnathan could answer, making all four members of the Byers family look over at him.

"Will you make sure they get in, okay?" Joyce asked, making Rowan's eyes snapped to her next. She was actually considering this? They'd only known the man like what? 4 months?

"Of course," He laughed like the idea of him doing anything else was crazy. "What do you guys say, wanna take a ride in the Bobmobile." Will and Rowan shared a reluctant look.

"As tempting as that offer sounds, I promised the boys I'd bike with them to school. I haven't done that in a while so." She grabbed her bag to fix over her shoulders and started or the door.

Joyce was the one to stop, "You know I don't like you riding by yourself."

"Mom, it's just down the street, promise I won't take any shortcuts through the woods," She turned walking backwards to the front door the whole time and turning to sprint out before anyone else could stop her. Hopping on her bike quickly she got a running start before pedaling off to go meet up with Mike.

It ended up only being her, Mike, and Lucas to bike to school which was odd, but she didn't stress the curly haired boys absence unless he didn't show up to first hour. Which he did. He came running in late while Mr. Clarke was talking about some guy names Phineas who had a rod stuck through his head or something like that. Rowan wasn't paying attention. She had her feet kicked up on the sides of Mike's chair, the boy holding her by the ankles so they didn't slip off as she sketched mindlessly in her notebook.

The door hit the wall dramatically making Rowan jerk up, her eyes wide as she saw Dustin come barreling in, out of breath. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Clarke. So sorry. Please, continue with class." Rowan let her feet drop to the floor with a bang, sitting forward as Dustin took his usual seat in front of Will.

"Dustin, what the Hell?" She whispered, leaning up between Mike and Will.

Dustin turned, all five of them in a practical huddle while still in their seats, "We have to meet. All of us. At lunch. AV club."

"Why?" Mike asked, all of them talking in low whispers.

"I have something you won't believe."

Rowan deadpanned, "have you not been present the last year? There's not much I won't believe." Dustin tossed her a look that had her nodding in agreement, slumping down in her seat. She watched with a frown as he peered down the other row, mouthing the same thing. She turned to see who he was talking to - more surprised than she should've been when she saw it was Max.

"Dustin," Mr. Clarke called his attention, causing the curly haired boy to whip around in his seat.

"Yes, my lord?"

"Care to join the class?" He asked and Dustin nodded curtly, sinking in his seat slightly, getting out his text book to open to page 104 where they were studying Phineas Gage. He peeked back at Max again, tossing her a thumbs up and a wide grin that made his eyes turn to slits.

Once the bell rang for lunch Rowan hauled it out of her math class, holding onto the strap of her messenger bag as she made her way to the AV club, having a harder time than usual as everyone was literally headed in the opposite direction to get to the cafeteria and the field. When she got there everyone else was already there.

She dropped her bag onto the floor and hopped up on the edge of the table, "so, what's so big that you couldn't wait until after school to show us?" She asked, leaning back on her one hand and her dark curls tumbling over her arm.

Dustin smirked up at her, he pulled out his ghost trap from his Halloween costume and dropped it onto the table. "I call him D'artagnan," he told them as he flipped open the trap to reveal some dark slug moving around in it.

"Is that real?" She jumped up to come up beside him, tilting the trap slightly to get a better look.

He picked it up gently in his hands for her to see, holding it up to her, "cute, right?" He asked. Rowan smiled half in disbelief, half in astonishment, running two fingers along the back of the creature causing it to let out something like a squeak.

"D'artagnan?" Mike asked, frowning at the weird name.

"Dart for short." Dustin told them and Rowan got all sorts of flashbacks when they first met Eleven.

"And he was in your trash?" Max asked in complete disbelief.

"Foraging for food," Dustin smiled at her. "You wanna hold him?" He asked, and despite the red head's protests he placed the newly found creature in her hands.

She cringed, "Oh, it's so slimy." She turned and dumped it into Lucas' hand who than quickly passed it off to Will. It went around the whole group - each one seeming more disgusted then the last until Rowan scooped the slug out of her twin brothers hands.

"Give it here you Puss," She rolled her eyes at how dramatic they were being. She held her palm up flat to get a better look at the slug named Dart, raising him up to eye level. He was like a greenish brown with slimy skin, a small mouth and no eyes.

"What are you?" Rowan looked up at the voice, only for Mike to be hovering right over her shoulder. She was honestly wondering the same thing.

"My question exactly." Dustin said and the girl easily slipped Dart back into the box as Dustin pulled out a set of books from his bag, dropping them heavily on the table top. "At first I thought it was some type of Pollywog - another name for a tadpole," He added when he noticed Max's confused face. "A tadpole is the larva state-"

"I know what a tadpole is." Max cut him off, tossing him a deflated look.

"Alright, well then you know most Tadpole's are aquatic, right?" Rowan nodded in agreement even though she knew he wasn't really asking her. "Well, Dart isn't. He doesn't need water."

"Unless he's a terrestrial Pollywog," Rowan added, leaning her hand onto the table top once more up beside the curly haired boy to look at the books.

Dustin looked up at her briefly, smiling, "exactly. Indirana Semipalmata," he said, flipping open another book for her to see. "And the Adenomera Andreae. One's from India and one's from South America. So, how did one end up in my trash?"

"Maybe some scientist brought it here and it escaped." Max offered.

Though no one really payed her suggestion any mind as Mike was quick to point out something with Dart. "Do you guys see that? It looks like something is moving inside of it." Rowan squinted as she leaned in, seeing the faint thumping against the side of the creature, like when you get a sudden muscle spasm and you can see it contract beneath your skin.

Mike moved the lamp over to get a better look only for the creature to actually hiss and make a break for it, nearly falling off the table top. Dustin was quick to catch him, "I got you little guy, I know you don't like that." He whispered to it, a wide smile on his face. Rowan watched him with a 'weird, but cute' smile, shaking her head slightly. His eyes suddenly shot up like he remembered something, "that's another thing. Reptiles are cold blooded, right? They love heat. Dart hates it. It hurts him."

"So, if he's not a Pollywog, or a Reptile..." Lucas trailed off waiting for someone to fill in the blank.

"Then I discovered a new species." Dustin stated proudly, making Rowan's eyebrows shoot up. The bell rang suddenly, making them all jump up and gather their things to head to their afternoon classes - though, after what just happened, Rowan had a hard time concentrating on anything else.

Mike and Rowan got out of their seventh period Language Arts class and headed down the hall to meet up with Will. They were all going to go show Mr. Clarke the 'new discovery' that Dustin had made. "So, um..." Rowan began, tucking some loose curls behind her ear. "Not to sound like a total bitch, but since when did Max join the party?" She looked up at Mike since he was kind of like the unspoken leader.

"She's not." He shot down the idea quickly, his voice bitter. Rowan frowned slightly, but never really got the chance to question his tone or why Max kept hanging around if she wasn't apart of the party because that's when they finally caught Will at his locker. "Will, you coming? Let's go show Mr. Clarke." Will didn't say anything as he slowly closed his locker, his eyes darting between Mike and his sister.

Rowan frowned at the look on his face, "What's wrong? What is it?"

"It's about D'artagnan." He said, a certain look in his eyes that sparked goosebumps to rise on Rowan's arms. She only ever go that feeling when Will had his episodes.

She slowly looked down at her exposed arm and then u at her brother. "We have to find Dustin." She barely tossed Mike a look before she took off running down the hall towards Mr. Clarke's room. If this things was from where she thought it was, they were all in trouble. And Dustin showing Mr. Clarke this thing - this Pollywog - was only going to bring him into it.

"Dustin, stop!" Rowan threw open the door - Mike shouted the same thing, making her aware of the fact that him and Will had in fact followed her. The door handle hit the wall with a bang making everyone look at the three new arrivals wide eyed.

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Clarke. It was just a stupid prank." Mike hurried out as Rowan pushed up between Lucas and Max to grab the trap, glad that they made it on time. "I tried to tell him to stop."

"What the Hell are you doing?" Dustin looked at them wide eyed, before turning questioning eyes on Rowan since she was the one holding Dart captive.

"We need to go," She told him seriously, her eyes boring into his as she tried to make him understand the situation without telling him in words. "We need to go. Now!" Mike jerked on her book bag, making her look up at him instead as he pulled her out of the classroom with him. Several footsteps clamored against the tile as they all followed the two.

She led them to the AV room where Mike cut Max off before she could get inside and said 'party members only' before slamming the door in her face and locking it. Rowan moved around the table to set the trap down as the four boys gathered around it with her. Max was pounding against the door, her muffled protests not even thought of as Mike and Rowan began to explain the scene they just caused in Mr. Clarke's class.

"I don't understand." Lucas said, running both his hands through his fuzz top.

Mike frowned at him, "What don't you understand?"

"Will saw something that looked like Dart last year?" Lucas asked, looking between the three of them. 

Rowan looked over at her brother to see him nod timidly, "yeah, just without a tail."

"And yesterday, he heard the exact same sound." Mike added, since Will had explained more to him as they raced after Rowan only moments before. Rowan had been staying oddly quiet during the explanation, the same feeling tingling her skin as she stared at the closed trap.

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Dustin asked, sounding annoyed.

"I wasn't sure."

"So, it's a coincidence."

"What if it's not." Rowan finally spoke up and all four boys looked at her. She licked her lips hesitantly, resting a hand on the table top in front of her. "What if while he was in the Upside Down, Will acquired true sight."

Her attention flickered to Lucas when he spoke up, "True sight?"

"It gives you the power to see into the ethereal plane." Dustin answered for her and the brunette nodded, keeping her attention on the curly haired boy when he looked across the table at her. "I thought you had the true sight?"

"No. No, I'm just connected to Will." She explained to him, slowly, since she was still trying to understand it herself. "I see what he sees and I feel what he feels. So, when Will's having his 'episodes' It's like I'm there too. And... and it doesn't feel like memories." She finally admitted what she'd been thinking for the past year out loud, glancing over at her brother. "They feel real."

"Maybe Will and you, can somehow see into the Upside Down." Mike elaborated further getting a nod in agreement from Rowan.

"So, that would mean..." Lucas trailed off, waiting for them to fill in what he didn't want to say out loud.

"Dart is from the Upside Down." Mike finished. Rowan's eyes fell to Dustin immediately, gauging his reaction of the news

"We should take him to Hopper." Rowan whispered, nodding timidly as it seemed like the best way to go with this.

"No way!" Dustin shot down the idea immediately. "If we take him to Hopper, Dart's as good as dead."

"Maybe he should be dead." Mike shrugged.

"How can you say that!"

"Dustin, calm down." Rowan tried to ease the tension, but her words were drowned out by Mike shouting.

"How can you not, he's from the Upside Down!"

"Mike, just-" Rowan tried again, but her attempts were futile.

"That doesn't make him automatically bad."

Mike narrowed his eyes, looking at the boy like he literally couldn't comprehend how stupid he was being. "That's like saying just because you're from the death star, it doesn't make you bad."

"We have a bond." Dustin whispered.

"A bond?" Mike echoed, his voice shrill in disbelief. "Just because he likes Nougat."

"He trusts me."

"Guys!" Rowan yelled, officially pulling their banter to a halt. She nudged passed Mike to get up next to Dustin, forcing him to look at her. "No one's saying kill him. But, it's not exactly the smartest thing to be carrying around this - whatever - if he's from the Upside Down. If not Hopper, than my Mom, at least." She tried to reason with him. Five middle schoolers carrying around a creature from another dimension just spelled all kinds of trouble.

Before anyone could answer, there was sudden screeching from the trap as Dart jerked around noisily. Rowan's eyes widened as she jerked back from the table like it was on fire. "What the f-" She broke off purposely, instinctively reaching out to grip the sleeve of Mike's shirt. The trap flipped suddenly, making Mike jumped to grab the microphone off the table, ready to squash it.

"Don't hurt him." Dustin pointed a stern finger at his taller friend.

"Only if he attacks." Mike shot back. Fair enough.

"Just open it already." Lucas said making Rowan look at him wide eyed.

"How about, no." She said, not listened to her and she desperately pulled back on Dustin's shirt as he moved to open it.

Dustin ignored her pleas and flipped it open, and a much larger, more developed Dart flopped out of the trap making Dustin drop the controller. "Holy shit."

It crawled forward, juice splattering on the table as it grew some legs. Rowan's eyes were the size of saucers as she looked from Dart to Mike. "I don't think that's gonna work." She whispered, pointing timidly to the Microphone he still held as a weapon. It growled suddenly making her jump a foot in the air and let out a "Jesus, shit."

Mike pushed Rowan out of the way and swung at the thing, only for Dustin to jump forward and block it. Rowan gaped at him, "Dustin!"

Dart dropped off the ground and started flopping towards the door. Rowan's eyes flew open as did the door, giving Dart the perfect chance to escape. "Shit, shit, shit, shit," She mumbled over and over again, chasing after Dart and trampling Max in the process. The two girls were a tangled mess on the tile as the four boys came running out after her with the same goal. Find Dart.

Rowan propped up on her hands over Max, "fancy meeting you here." Max rolled her eyes and shoved at the girls shoulders. The two climbed to their feet and Rowan was instantly on alert, "where is he?"

"What was that?" Max shrilled, looking at the five of them like they were crazy. Which, at this point, they probably were.

"Dart!" Both Rowan and Mike snapped, annoyed with her ill timed questions. "You let him escape!" Mike continued, snapping at the red head with accusing eyes.

"Mike, we don't have time for this." Rowan cut off whatever Max was going to say, grabbing the older boys jacket. His eyes dropped to hers and he nodded, the two taking off in search of the rapidly growing creature with Dustin calling after them not to hurt Dart.

They all split up, each taking different sections. Rowan had been the one to check outside around the field only to come up with absolute zilch. "Outsides a wasteland. I'm coming back in." She said into the Walkie, scanning the grounds one last time before turning and barreling through the double doors. She knew this was going to end bad - as soon as she figured out what the thing was or where it was from, it was only a matter of time before it all went sour. And it did in like five minutes flat. That had to be some sort of record.

"Where'd you go you little bastard." She heard someone mumble and she turned the corner to see Mike starting down the hall.

"Right here. You don't have to be so rude." She joked a hand on her hip.

Mike looked up, a little startled by her presence, but still managed a smile for the joke she made. "Come on, I still need to check the gym." He nodded for her to follow, which she did. The school was practically a waste land as everyone had already left for the day. The lights in the gym were dimmed and it seemed like their footsteps were gun shots with how loud they echoed through the empty room. "This is po-"

"Sh," Rowan gripped his arm, silencing him immediately. She nodded her head over towards the door on the far end that was swinging back and forth like someone just walked through it. She shared a silent look with Mike, asking if they should check it out. With a nod of confirmation the two best friends crept along the gym floor and through the door. The hallway led to a dim locker room and Mike was the one to grab the broom stick for a weapon.

"Age before beauty," Rowan said, taking a step back and gesturing for Mike to go first. He tossed her an incredulous look, but didn't see the point in arguing and led her through the dark room. A clamor came from the distance and Rowan bit back a squeal as Mike grabbed the back of her shirt and hauled her out of sight against the lockers. He held up a finger to his lips, getting a silent nod in response.

Mike jumped out with a cry, brandishing the broom stick as a weapon only for what they thought to be Dart turn out to be Max, making Rowan rolled her eyes and cross her arm. "What the Hell are you doing?" She asked, looking between Mike and Rowan.

"I could ask you the same thing." Rowan shot back.

"I'm looking for Dart."

"This is the boys room." Mike argued weakly, getting a weird look from both girls.

Max rolled her eyes, "yeah, so."

"So..." Mike let out a heavy sigh. This girl had no idea what she was getting herself into and she was just going to screw things up worse than she already did. "So, you should-"

"You should go home." Rowan finished for him, turning on her toes and stalking out of the room, Mike was quick to follow. Honestly, she had nothing against Max as a person. But as an outsider to the party who had no idea how messed up everything actually was she couldn't just be barging in on their business. She could get someone hurt, or worse, she could get herself hurt.

"Why do you two hate me so much?" Max followed after them, making Rowan roll her eyes.

"I don't hate you," the two responded simultaneously, but it was Mike who continued with, "How can I hate you? I don't even know you."

"Yeah, but you don't want me in your party."

"Correct." Mike responded snidely over his shoulder.

"Why not?"

"Because you're annoying," Rowan was finally the one to snap, whirling on the red headed girl who thought she could just infiltrate their lives, get involved in things she knew nothing about, and tug Lucas and Dustin back and forth like a fish on a hook. "Because, you're right, I don't like you. And because we don't need another party member. It's always been the six of us and that's the way it's going to stay.

"Six?" Max frowned, but neither Rowan nor Mike noticed what she said.

"Right, I'm our Paladin," Mike added on and Rowan nodded in agreement. "Rowan's our Warloack, Will's our Cleric, Dustin's our Bard, Lucas' our Ranger, and El is our Mage."

"El? Who's El?" Hearing another person say her name, let alone Max, was enough to sober Mike's racing thoughts and Rowan to realize what they had said.

Rowan felt Mike tense beside her and turned big brown eyes on him in worry, he didn't talk much about El. Not after she... well, not after whatever happened to her. "Someone. No one."

"Someone or no one?" Max snapped.

Rowan cocked her head to the side, "how about she's- mind your own damn business." She snapped, sensing Mike's distress over the topic. "She was in our party awhile ago, but she moved away." Rowan tossed the girl a pointed look, basically telling her to back off before she turned to catch up to Mike. She rested a hand on his arm, eliciting him to look at her, "you okay?" She asked quietly.

He shrugged off her concern, "I'm fine." Rowan gave him a look that made it clear she didn't believe him, but she didn't get the chance to call him out on it since Max decided to follow them again. This time on her skateboard.

"She was a Mage?" She asked, sliding up on the other side of Mike easily. "What, could she do like Magic Tricks or something?"

"Or something." Mike muttered.

Max huffed at their response, or lack thereof, and hopped off her skateboard right in front of them; cutting them off. "Well, I could be your zoomer."

Mike rolled his eyes, "that's not even a real thing."

"Well, it could be." She hopped up on her board once more, rolling in circles around the pair with her arms held out in a 'Ta-da' manner. "See? Zoomer."

Rowan gave a slow sarcastic clap, "mind blowing. I'm truly amazed."

"Come on, you know you're impressed. Both of you are." She tossed them a half smile, cockiness written in her words. It made Rowan roll her eyes this time and Mike huff out a heavy breath. They shared a look, both coming to the conclusion that this girl wasn't going to just give up and back off.

"I don't see any tricks," Mike finally said, crossing his arms. "You're just going around in a circle."

"No, Michael it's an Oval," Rowan corrected, enough sarcasm dripping from her voice to get a chuckle from the boy next to her. "They're much more complex and way more impressive."

Max scoffed at her teasing, "If it's so easy, you try it."

"That's not going to happen." Rowan deadpanned, her hands on her hips and her head cocked to the side.

"Okay, you're making me dizzy," Mike heaved, watching the girl circle around them. "Please, just stop."

"I'll stop if you let me join your party." She countered and Rowan let out a short, disbelieving laugh at the audacity of the girl. She was almost as stubborn as Rowan was.

"Come on, just stop!" Mike snapped, not being able to escape the circle she was surely indenting into the tile.

"It's a simple question." Max met the older Byers twin's gaze briefly as she slid by. "Am I in or out?" Rowan rolled her eyes, but she couldn't deny the small smile tugging at her lips. She looked over at Mike in defeat, basically saying the choice was up to him. Max gave the boy a small grin, like she knew that her fate in the party rested with him.

Suddenly, the board slid out from under her, causing her to go tumbling to the ground. Rowan gasped, jerking forward to help her instinctively. "Are you okay?"

"What happened?" Mike asked, clasping his hand with hers to help her up as Rowan grabbed the girls Skate Board that was slowly rolling off.

"I don't know, it was like... a magnet or something pulled on my board." Rowan, who was in the middle of handing the red head her board, slowly let go of it, her eyebrows furrowed at the description. "I know that sounds crazy."

Except for Mike and Rowan it wasn't that crazy, they shared a quick wide eyed look before both started darting their eyes around the room. There was only one person who could do that, that they knew of, and if that were true; it meant that Eleven was alive and she was here. Rowan's heart raced at the thought, but she didn't see the bald girl anywhere.

Rushed footsteps caught her attention and she turned to see Mike racing for the double doors, she was quick to follow. Her eyes went up and down the empty hallways making her heart sink in defeat. Her eyes turned up to meet Mike's, seeing the same shattered hope she was feeling reflected in his eyes. She gave him a small smile, taking his hand in hers and giving it a reassuring squeeze. She knew how hard this year without Eleven had been for him and she just wished their was something she could do to make him feel better.

"Guys, I found him," Will's voice crackled through the speaker. Rowan was quick to pull her Walkie off her belt loop and lift it to her ear to hear better. "In the bathrooms by Mr. Salerno's."

"Copy that," Mike said into his own Walkie, nodding for Rowan to follow as they took off down the hall, heading in the direction that Will said he was.

As she was walking, she felt a suddenly chill of fear go up her spine that made her heart hammering violently in her chest. She gasped, clutching at her shirt and her other hand grabbing Mike's sleeve. His wide eyes turned back to her, "what's wrong?" He asked, but his voice was distorted to her, like it was coming from a million miles away.

Mike's eyes widen in panic as she gasped for breath like she couldn't breathe, slowly sinking to her knees. He was quick to follow, holding both her arms in his hands and trying to shake her from whatever episode she was experiencing. "Rowan! Rowan, hey! Look at me!" His hands slid up to cup her face, forcing her to meet his gaze, but it was like she was looking right through him.

Her brown eyes were glazed over with unshed tears and she jerked widely in his grip like there was something surrounding her, but when Mike looked around there was nothing. They were the only two in the hallway. "Rowan!" He yelled like if he made his voice louder she'd hear him. "Rowan, come on! Look at me!" He felt his own heart hammer in his chest wildly, panic constricting at his being. He'd been there for a lot of her little episodes before, but they'd never been this bad. Had this been what she'd been going through this entire year.

"Go away," she whispered, whimpering softly and her bottom lip quivering. Mike shook his head helplessly, not knowing what to do. "Go away." Her voice croaked, her eyes turned slightly upward like she was starring at something just behind him, something he couldn't see. "Go away..." her body started convulsing making Mike's eyes widen.

"Rowan! Rowan!" He pulled her body into him, holding her tighter than he ever had as her whole body shook and the words 'go away' kept falling from her lips in soft whimpers. And just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. Her whole body went weak and his wide eyes dropped to her relaxed features. "Rowan..." he timidly tapped her cheek waiting for her eyes to flutter open, but they never did. If it wasn't for the fact he could hear her breathing his mind would've automatically assumed the worst.

"It's okay. You're okay," he mumbled, resting up against the wall and pulling her into his chest. "Everything's going to be okay." He kept one hand on her head, holding her against him as the other reached for his Walkie. He had to call the others.