¤Trick or Treat, Freak¤

"It's different, I mean it. I wake up, it's different"

"He did the mash, he did the monster mash," Rowan sang, sliding out into the kitchen on her sock covered feet, her lips split into a wide grin. She stopped, seeing her older brother making breakfast - eggs and toast. Halloween was always her favorite holiday, you get to be whoever you want for one night, plus all that free candy. It was a no brainer.

"Someone's excited." Johnathan pointed out with a smile, setting the plate in front of his little sister.

She beamed up at him, "It is literally the best day of the whole year - it's the reason I live. Of course I'm happy." She scooped up a forkful of the fluffy eggs and shoveled it into her mouth with a hum of satisfaction. Johnathan could only smile at her in that moment.

"Right, and it has nothing to do with a date you went on last night." Rowan managed to choke on her breakfast at his question, glancing back at him with wide eyes.

She opened her mouth to ask how the Hell he knew that, when it hit her like a ton of bricks. "William Byers." She grumbled, her eyes narrowed. "I'm going to kill him." That got a laugh from Johnathan.

"Johnathan? Rowan?" Rowan looked up from her food, her eyebrow furrowing together when she saw the worried look on her Mom's face. "Where's Will."

"He's not in his room?" Johnathan asked. Rowan looked between her Mom and her brother, not knowing what to say as her heart raced in her chest. A clatter came from down the hall and before either of the Byers siblings could question it, she was running down in that direction.

"Well, that was something. I have to go get changed." Rowan smirked widely as she ran off into her room to go get changed into her Halloween costume. The four boys were going as Ghostbusters, so to stay in theme Rowan was going as Dana Barrett. She had her hair down in tight, blown out curls by her Mom, and wore the orange drape dress with her Converse and her messenger bag over her shoulders.

She came running into her twin brothers room where her Mom was helping him put on his own costume and struck a pose in the doorway, "I know, I know. I'm too fabulous to look at." She said dramatically, whipping her face to the side and pressing the back of her hand against her forehead. Will actually laughed at that, bringing a smile to Rowan's face as she reached out to grab his hand. "Come on, Johnny's taking pictures."

They had a whole mini photo shoot with Johnathan before it was time for school, that had Rowan smiling the whole ride there. Rowan hopped out of the back seat - Will won the coin toss for front this time - and didn't even bother to wait for him before she ran over to their three friends who were parking their bikes in the bike rack.

"Who you gonna call?" She heard them say.

"Ghostbusters!" She shouted, striking a pose as her bright, toothy smile took up her whole face. All three boys whipped around, only to freeze in their spot. Her smile faltered, "what? Do you not like it." She asked self consciously, pulling at the orange dress. She turned to Will as he came jogging up, "You said it looked good."

"It does." Will frowned, not seeing what was wrong.

"No, no, it does Rowan." Mike jumped in quickly, realizing their mistake. "You looked really good, Rowan. Promise."

Rowan's smile came back, this one a little more shyly as she tucked some of the wild curls out of her face. Her smile turned into a grimace when she noticed two of the boys wearing the same name tag. "I would say, let's go Venkman. But, I don't know which one to choose." She placed her hands on her hips.

Mike frowned at that, looking down at his shirt then around at his others friends before they landed on Lucas. "Why are you Venkman?"

"Because I'm Venkman." Lucas said like it was obvious

"But, I'm Venkman." Mike argued just as stupidly, neither of them making any real valid points.

Will threw his hands out to the side, trying to ease the tension. "Why can't there be two Venkman's."

"Because there's only one Venkman in real life. We planned this months ago; I'm Venkman, Dustin's Stanz, you're Egon," He told Will and then waved a hand out at the curly haired brunette next to him. "Rowan's Dana, and you're Winston." Mike jabbed a hand out at Lucas.

Lucas crossed his arm, "I specifically didn't agree to Winston."

"Yes, you did."

"No, he didn't." Rowan broke in, grimacing like she didn't want to break the news to her boyfriend. She crossed her arms with a light shake of her head, "No one wants to be Winston."

Mike frowned at that, noticing all his friends shaking their head to pretty much say the same thing. "What's wrong with Winston?"

Lucas looked at him like he was crazy for even asking that. "He joined the team super late, he's not funny, and he's not even a scientist." He listed off one by one, raising a finger for each point.

"Yeah, but he's still cool."

"If he's so cool than you be Winston." Lucas gave him a pointed look, knowing that Mike wouldn't agree to that.

"I can't." Mike argued, simply.

"Why not?" Lucas challenged. Mike stuttered over his words, what he was trying to say obvious, but he wouldn't say it. "Because you're not black?" Lucas mocked him.

Mike immediately got defensive, his eyes going wide. "I didn't say that."

"You thought it." Lucas shot back.

Rowan let out a short laugh at how flustered Mike was getting and rested a hand on his arm. "Black's not a bad word Mike, you can say it."

Mike jerked back from her like she'd burned him, his cheeks flushing in embarrassment. "I wasn't going to say that!"

"Guys!" Dustin suddenly yelled, capturing the four arguing Middle schoolers attentions. "Why is no one else wearing costumes?" he asked and a slow horror settled over the four boys as they realized that none of the kids flooding into the school were wearing anything close to a costume.

"Cause they're lame?" Rowan placed a hand on her waist, cocking out a hip. Her lips pulled down into a slight frown as the four boys continued to look around them in horrified realization. "Is it really that bad?" They all whirled on her, giving her an incredulous look that made her raise her hands in surrender and laugh softly. "Alright, I'm gonna give you a quick Rowan Byers lesson." She laced one arm through Mike's and the other through Lucas'. "Keep your chin up, look them dead in the eyes, say screw you. Come on, Venkman's." She gave them both a pointed look and dragged them into the school with Will and Dustin on the other side of Lucas.

Dustin's eyes took in the hallway filled with kids laughing at them. "When do people make these decisions?" He whispered, looking over at Mike and Rowan.

"Everyone dressed up last year." Will said in a small voice, his cheeks a light pink as everyone stared at him, whispering to their friends and laughing.

"It's a conspiracy I'm telling you." Dustin snapped.

Rowan let out a huff of air, untangling her arms from the boys and turning to walk backwards in front of them with a wide smile. "Just calm down guys, it's not that bad." They tossed her a deflated look that made her giggle. Their embarrassment was actually quite amusing and adorable. The bell chimed over head, forcing her to a stop and turn her eyes skyward. "Well, good luck. I have to get to class. You guys look awesome by the way." She reached out to touch Mike's arm to push up and kiss his cheek before giving a smile to the others and then ruffled Will's bowl cut as she moved passed them to head to her class.

The day dragged on, all the classes mulling together until the final bell rang to signal the end of the school bell. Rowan wasted no time in jumping up and racing out the door to go meet up with the boys before her Mom came to pick up her and Will. She smiled when she saw Dustin and Lucas at the end of the hall, jogging to catch up tot hem, only to be rooted in her spot when she saw them talking with Max.

She could only see the back of Max's head, but she could see the shy smiles on both the boys faces as they stuttered trying to talk to her. Rowan's head cocked to the side with a curious frown as Dustin pulled out his trap to show her how he got it to open and close. The red head wasn't nearly as impressed as Rowan was when he showed her.

"So, we were talking last night," Dustin was saying as Rowan slowly made her way up behind the red head. "You're new here and you probably don't have a lot of friends to take you trick or treating and you're scared of bullies, so, uh, we were thinking that it'd be okay if you came with us."

"It'd be okay?" She echoed, cocking her head to the side.

"Yeah, our parties a democracy and the majority voted you could come." Dustin told her, referring to the fact he, Lucas, and Will agreed to invite her because Rowan was not aware that there was ever a voting to invite the new girl.

"I didn't realize it was such an honor to go trick or treating with you." She drawled out sarcastically.

"It really is," Rowan spoke up from behind her, a bitter sweet smile on her lips when Max turned around to look at her. "I'm Rowan Byers, vice president of our little party," She boasted, flipping her hair over her shoulder. Lucas opened his mouth to argue the same argument they've had a million times since she rejoined the party, but Rowan rose a hand. "Not now Lucas. What I was saying is, I've lived here my whole life - I know where to get all the big candy bars and I know which houses you can hit multiple times without them realizing. So, yeah, it's kind of a big deal to come with us." She crossed her arms, not knowing why she was being so sassy, but knowing she couldn't stop herself.

Max simply scoffed and rolled her eyes before taking her skateboard in her hands and maneuvering around the brunette to stalk off. Rowan peeked back over her shoulder to watch her go, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. "Rowan, why'd you do that?" Dustin asked and the girl whirled back around to see him and Lucas looking at her incredulously.

Rowan shrugged uncomfortably. "She was being ungrateful. Come on, Mike and Will are waiting." She hiked her book bag up on her shoulder, pushing through them to head for the double doors that led out to the parking lot. She said a quick goodbye to the three boys before following her twin brother to the parking lot where she knew her Mom was waiting, only to stop at the familiar truck.

"Hopper!" She shouted, her lips splitting into a wide smile as she abandoned her brother's side to run up to the older man. He dropped the cigarette on the round in time to catch the hug the girl threw at him. "What're you doing here?" She asked, pulling back from him.

"Uh, think of this as me making up for not being there for movie night." He smiled, ruffling her brown curls and stepping aside to let the twins hop into the car.

"We watched Mr. Mom," Rowan complained with a giggle, hoping up into the front seat and peeking back at the older man. "Nothing will ever make up for that." Hopper actually laughed at that. He dropped the kids off at their house, only to leave a few minutes later saying he needed to check out something at the station. Rowan was a little disappointed, but told him she understood and went to her room to go do her homework before having to meet up with the boys at 7.

Since she was already in costume she only had to touch up the light makeup her Mom let her do for tonight and some loose hairs that fell out of the hair do.

"Listen, stay close to your brother - both of you," Joyce was going over the rules for tonight to the twins for the hundredth time while Bob showed Johnathan how to work the camera. She took Will by the shoulders to get him to look at her, "Listen, if you get a bad feeling about anything, you tell him to take you straight home." Will nodded and Joyce looked at her only daughter. "And you keep an eye out for him okay. If he starts acting strange-"

"Tell Johnny and haul his ass back home." Rowan finished.

Joyce looked like she was going to say something about the language, but decided against it and sighed heavily, "yes, exactly."

"Alright, you two ready?" Johnathan asked, walking up to his two little siblings.

"Yeah," Will nodded with a smile, following his older brother to the door.

"Shotgun!" Rowan shouted, touching her nose and pushing through her two brothers to get out the front door and head for the car. Will begrudgingly got into the back seat, and then it was off to Maple Street, to meet up.

"I just don't get what she sees in him." Johnathan was saying, him and Rowan having an intense conversation about their mother's love life halfway down the road as Will was zoned out in the back seat.

"Right," Rowan agreed instantly, pulling her feet up onto the seat as she slumped in it. "She should be with someone who knows what's going on with all of us. Shared trauma and everything." She said more to herself than anything, listening to the dull thump of Aerosmith coming from the speakers.

"What're you talking about?" Johnathan frowned at her.

"I just..." She shrugged, shaking her head. "Nevermind." It was an unspoken fantasy that her Mom and Hopper would ever get together in the back of her head. She knew it was pointless to even think of that, that in the end, she'd just end up disappointed, but she couldn't help it.

"What're you guys talking about?" Will asked, finally coming back to reality to lean forward through the front seats.

"Bob," both his older siblings answered, looking back at him briefly.

"At least he doesn't treat me any different." Will muttered.

Rowan frowned at that, turning fully in her seat to look at him. "What're you talking about?" She turned the question around on him, her dark eyebrows drawing together.

"I just mean, I can't even go trick or treating by myself." Will huffed, shrugging his shoulders helplessly. "It's lame."

"You mean, you don't want to go trick or treating with me." Rowan grabbed at her chest like he physically struck - even though she knew he didn't mean it like that.

Will tossed her a look that basically said that, "I didn't mean it like that." Will told her tiredly and Rowan smiled understandingly in response. "I just mean... it's not like Nancy's coming over to look over Mike."

"Johnny would love that." Rowan mumbled with a knowing smile, getting a nudge in the arm from her older brother and a 'shut up' that made her laugh. Her attention was pulled out the front wind shield when they pulled up to Mike's house - seeing the three boys making their way down the driveway.

"Hey, listen," Johnathan started before the Twins could get out of the car. "If I let you two go on your own, do you promise to stay in the neighborhood?"

Will lit up like a little boy on Christmas morning, at what his older brother was insinuating, "Yeah. Yeah, totally."

"And be back at Mike's by 9."

"Nine... thirty..." Rowan said slowly, pushing their luck for sure.

"Don't push it." Johnathan said, getting a laugh from both the twins as they thanked him and piled out of the car. "Hey, Rowan. Don't let any of your spazzy friends use this." He held out the video camera making her laugh once more as she took it from him.

"Hello, my spazzy friends," Rowan greeted the three boys as she started up her camera and crossed the street to them. Mike looked back at her, the question on the tip of his tongue, but she cut him off. "Long story."

"Helloooo, Dana," Dustin drew out the two words, bouncing his eyebrows at her. "You ready for tonight?"

"Definitely." She smiled brightly, already starting down the road. Tonight wasn't going to be awesome unless her bag was over flowing and she crashed from a sugar high by the end of the night. They'd hit about a dozen houses within the first hour, Rowan's bag was starting to weigh down on her shoulders as she struggled to carry the video camera at the same time. The boys started to argue about their favorite candy bars, Dustin saying that 3 Musketeers was in his top three.

"No, no, my top three are Reece's Cups," She told him, counting it off on her fingers. The boys always found it odd that Reece's Cups were her favorite candy, but just the smell of Reece's Pieces made her gag. She didn't understand it either. "Pay Day's, and Carmello's."

"Give me a break." Mike said, rolling his eyes making Rowan laugh. Her laugh turned to a terrified shriek when a person in a mask jumped out of no where and scared the living daylights out of the five of them.

"Holy shit!" The girl pulled off the mask to reveal her real face. Mad Max. "You should've seen your guys faces." She laughed. Rowan rolled her eyes, scowling as she tried to calm her racing heart. "And you?" She nodded at Lucas. "Who screams like that? You sound like a little girl?"

"Bitch..." Rowan breathed out, pushing some loose curls out of her face.

Max stopped, turning back when she realized no one was following her. "Are you guys coming or not? I heard we should hit up Loch Nora, that's where the rich people live, right?" She looked specifically at Rowan and the brunette was brought back to the talk they had earlier that day at school.

"Right," She nodded slowly, forcing a small smile.

Both Lucas and Dustin shared an excited grin before jogging to catch up to the girl they'd both developed a crush on, Will following and leaving Rowan and Mike behind. The older Byers rolled her eyes dramatically, sharing a look with Mike, both knowing it was going to be a long night now before reluctantly following the others.

She lagged behind the trio with a small frown pulling at her lips, walking alongside her brother and Mike as they made their way down the streets of Loch Nora. She looked up at Mike to see him scowling ahead of himself, then she looked down at his free hand swinging beside him. She grabbed it suddenly, lacing her fingers through his and getting him to look at her. "It's not that bad. It's only one night." She reminded him.

"It's the best night of the year," he said, making her smile softly. "And she's ruining it."

"I don't know, I still think it's pretty good. I mean, we got a shit ton of candy," she pointed out, swinging their arms lazily together. She smiled up at him, "I'm hanging out with you," she nudged him slightly, getting a small smile to flicker up onto his lips. "Tonight's like, 'awesome city, totally the bomb." She mocked a girl voice, twirling a curl around her finger that had Mike actually laughing.

She smiled at the sound, but it immediately faltered as she got this cold chill down her spine, flashes of the Upside Down flickering before her eyes like strobe lights. She gasped, "Will." She whispered, snatching her hand from Mike's to look around for her brother, but he was no where.

"What?"

Rowan looked up at him with wide urgent eyes, "Will." Was all she said before she just turned and ran back the way they came, passing Lucas and Dustin who shouted after her. She found Will on the ground with a couple of kids in masks taunting him.

"Hey, back off assholes," Rowan shoved the boy away from her fallen brother, glaring at him. The boy just laughed, walking off with his two friends. Rowan turned to her brother then, grabbing his arm and helping him sit up as she knelt beside him, "Will? Will, are you okay?" Will blinked at her like he was seeing her for the first time, tears in his eyes. "Let's go home. Come on." Rowan helped him to his feet, then hooked her arm around his shoulders. She started them up the driveway again, only to run right into Max and the boys, looking at them worriedly.

"What happened?" Dustin asked, worry clear in his eyes and in his tone. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, just..." She looked over them with a tight lipped smile, before her eyes landed on Mike. "Can you just take us back to your house so I can call Johnny."

"Yeah, of course." Mike didn't even think of arguing. Dustin and Lucas tried to go with them, but Mike just shrugged them off and snapped at them, "Just keep on trick or treating. I was bored anyway." With that he took the twins back home where they could wait for their brother to come get them at nine.

Rowan came padding down the steps to the basement, where Mike and Will were already sitting. "It's- it's like I'm stuck." Will was saying as she sat Indian style on the ground, across the coffee table from them, her candy bag in her lap.

"Like- Like stuck in the Upside Down?" Mike asked.

Will shook his head, groping for the right words to describe it, "you know, how in the View Master when it like..."

"Get's caught between two slides." Rowan finished for him, knowing what he was talking about. It was like she was there, but here at the same time - flickering back and forth between the two worlds. "Like one sides our world and the others the Upside Down."

"Yeah..." Will agreed slowly, frowning at her. "How'd you know that?"

Rowan stuttered, opening and closing her mouth a couple of times. "I can feel it; see it sometimes." Rowan finally admitted, feeling her heart race at just saying it out loud. She never told Will, she didn't want him thinking about how he was affecting her when he should just be worried about getting better himself.

Mike noticed her hesitation and jumped in to her aid, "when you were stuck in the Upside Down last year, Rowan would get these flashes," he explained for her, and the girl dropped her gaze to her hands in her lap, chewing on her bottom lip. "It was like she could- she could see what you saw and feel what you feel. Eleven called it Twinepathy."

"Because we're Twins?" Will asked, slowly looking from his best friend to his sister.

Rowan nodded, "that's the working theory."

"And you still get them now?" He asked, his lips pulled down into a deep frown when she nodded timidly. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to distract you from getting better," Rowan said quickly, instantly thinking he was mad at her for not telling him.

"You can see everything?" He asked, a silent question in his eyes that he didn't want to ask.

She nodded, "yeah, sorta. It's almost like I'm looking through your eyes." She told him, holding his terrified and curious gaze. "It was like all rotted, and the clouds looked angry - like they were coming right for me- or you. And this shadow thing-" She broke off not knowing how to describe it.

"The Demogorgan?" Mike asked, looking between the two twins that both shook their heads.

"It was like this huge shadow in the sky," Will told him this time, picking up where his sister left off. "Only, it was alive. And it was coming for me." Rowan pushed up onto her knees to reach across the table and take her brothers hand comfortingly in hers.

"Is this all real?" Mike asked, looking between them. "Or is it like what the doctors say, all in your head?"

"I don't know, just..." Will trailed off, shaking his head helplessly. "Just don't tell the others, okay? They won't understand."

Mike nodded, his face turning somber as he stared at the carpet around his feet. "Eleven would," he said so quietly, Rowan almost didn't hear it. "She always understood."

"Michael..." Rowan whispered, not wasting anytime in getting up and moving to take a seat next to him on the couch. Without a word, because honestly, she had no idea what to say to make him feel better, she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug and rested her head on his shoulder. It was the only comfort she could offer him.

She pulled back just enough to look at him, and he offered her a small smile in thanks, "sometimes, I feel like I still see her." He admitted quietly to her and Rowan nodded in understanding. "Like she's still around, but she never is." Mike shook his head, taking a steadying breath. "I don't know, sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy."

"Me too." She whispered, her lips turned up into a half smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Me three." Will added from beside them, getting a soft smile from Rowan before she dropped her head back onto Mike's shoulder. Honestly, their whole lives were crazy, so it wasn't a surprise that they were themselves.

"Well, if we are going crazy," she mumbled, starring out ahead of herself. "At least we're doing it together, right?"

Will let out a short laugh, "yeah, crazy together." He reached across Mike's lap to take Rowan's hand - the girl instantly bringing both her hands up to cup around his one.