"What was Will saying? Like home... Like home... but dark?" Mike asked.

"And empty." Lucas carried on. Alex was still passed out.

"[sighs] Empty and cold. Wait, did he say cold?" Dustin asked.

"I don't know. The stupid radio kept going in and out." Lucas answered.

"[sighs] It's like riddles in the dark." Dustin carries on,

"Like home. Like his house?" Mike asked.

"Or maybe like Hawkins." Lucas continued.

"Upside down.." El said waking up beside me.

"What'd she say?" Lucas asked

"Upside down." I answered sitting up.

"What?" Lucas asked.

"Upside down. When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board over, remember? [she demonstrates] Upside down. Dark. Empty." I explain.

"Do you understand what she's talking about?" Lucas asked Dustin.

"No." Dustin answered.

"Guys, come on, think about it. When El took us to find Will, she took us to his house, right?" I asked.

"Yeah. And he wasn't there." Lucas answered.

"But what if he was there? What if we just couldn't see him? What if he was on the other side? What if this is Hawkins and... [she flips the board upside down] this is where Will is? The Upside Down." I carry on explaining.

"Like the Vale of Shadows." Dustin carried on. Dustin gets out a dungeons and dragons book.

"'The Vale of Shadows, is a dimension that is a dark reflection or echo of our world. It is a place of decay and death.'" Dustin explained. 

"'A plane out of phase. A place of monsters. It is right next to you, and you don't even see it.'" I helped out looking over his shoulder trying to help for once.

"An alternate dimension. But... how... how do we get there?" Mike asked.

"You cast Shadow Walk." Dustin answered.

"In real life, dummy." Lucas carried on. I looked at El with panic in my eyes.

"We can't shadow walk, but... maybe they can." Dustin says he motions to El and Alex.

"Do you know how we get there? To the Upside Down?" Mike asked. El shakes her head.

"No I don't I wish I did." I lied. I was a grate at lying since I lied to my dad.

"[sighing] Oh, my God!" Lucas said clearly upset. The two boys left and me and Mike went to our separate rooms.

"Ah! Dad, you're... you're choking me." I heard from Mike's room.

"Ah... there. It's supposed to be a little tight. Looks good." Ted answered. There was a zipper closing – in Nancy's room we see Karen Alex and Nancy.

"Here we go. [sighs] You two look nice, sweetie. Anything else? You can borrow my black heels if you want. The ones you wore to Cathy's birthday." Karen said to Nancy.

"I'm fine. Thanks." Nancy answered.

"If she won't can I please mom." I answered she nodded. 

""Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." It's times like these that our faith is challenged. How, if He is truly benevolent... could God take from us someone so young, so innocent. It would be easy to turn away from God... but we must remember that nothing, not even tragedy, can separate us from His love. We are here today to find comfort in the truth of scripture and to surround Will and his family... [continues indistinctly]" Pastor Charles went on.

"Just wait till we tell Will that Jennifer Hayes was crying at his funeral." Dustin whispered to me. Karen shushes us.

"Mr. Clarke?" I asked.

"Oh, hey, there. How are you boys and Alex holding up?" He asked. Dustin was munching.

"We're... in... mourning." Lucas answered grabbing my hand slightly.

"Man, these aren't real Nilla Wafers." Dustin stated. I just hit his head with my free hand.

"We were wondering if you had time to talk?" I asked.

"We have some questions." Lucas answered.

"A lot of questions." Mike carried on. We sit at a table to discuss.

"So, you know how in Cosmos, Carl Sagan talks about other dimensions? Like, beyond our world?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, sure. Theoretically." Mr Clarke answered.

"Right, theoretically." I answered.

"So, theoretically, how do we travel there?" Lucas asked.

"You guys have been thinking about Hugh Everett's Many-Worlds Interpretation, haven't you? Well, basically, there are parallel universes. Just like our world, but just infinite variations of it. Which means there's a world out there where none of this tragic stuff ever happened." Mr Clarke explained.

"Yeah, that's not what we're talking about." Lucas stated.

"Oh.." Mr Clarke answered.

"We were thinking of more of an evil dimension, like the Vale of Shadows. You know the Vale of Shadows?" Dustin asked.

"An echo of the Material Plane, where necrotic and shadow magic-" Mr Clarke tried.

"Yeah, exactly. If that did exist, a place like the Vale of Shadows, how would we travel there?" I asked.

"Theoretically." Lucas carried on.

"Well... [he grabs a paper plate and starts drawing a rough diagram as he speaks] Picture... an acrobat... standing on a tightrope. Now, the tightrope is our dimension. And our dimension has rules. You can move forwards, or backwards. But, what if... right next to our acrobat, there is a flea? Now, the flea can also travel back and forth, just like the acrobat. Right?" Mr Clarke asked.

"Right." I answered looking between the group.

"Here's where things get really interesting. The flea can also travel this way... along the side of the rope. He can even go... underneath the rope." Mr Clarke carried on.

"Upside down." We answered for him.

"Exactly." Mr Clarke said.

"But we're not the flea, we're the acrobat." Mike carried on.

"In this metaphor, yes, we're the acrobat." Mr Clarke answered.

"So we can't go upside down?" I asked.

"No." Mr Clarke answered.

"Well, is there any way for the acrobat to get to the Upside Down?" I asked him again.

"Well... you'd have to create a massive amount of energy. More than humans are currently capable of creating, mind you, to open up some kind of tear in time and space, and then... [he stabs his pen through the paper plate] you create a doorway." Mr Clarke explained.

"Like a gate?" Dustin asked.

"Sure. Like a gate. But again, this is all-" Mr Clarke tried.

"Theoretical." I butted in.

"But... but what if this gate already existed?" Mike asked.

"Well, if it did, I... I think we'd know. It would disrupt gravity, the magnetic field, our environment. Heck, it might even swallow us up whole. Science is neat. But I'm afraid it's not very forgiving." Mr Clarke explained to the four of us. The funeral for Will had ended and we all went back to Mike's to explain what Mr. Clarke had told us to El.

"[having just shown El the diagram Mr. Clarke showed them] It would take a lot of energy to build a gate like this. But that's got to be what happened. Otherwise, how'd Will get there, right?" Mike explained.

"Right." El answered.

"What we want to know is, do you know where the gate is?" Lucas asked. Me and El shakes our head.

"Then how do you know about the Upside Down?" Lucas asked. We see Dustin pacing back and forth holding a compass.

"Dustin, what are you doing? Dustin? Dustin!" Mike tried.

"Dustin!" I yelled to him so he could hear me.

"I... I need to see your compasses." Dustin answers.

"What?" I asked.

"Your compasses. All of your compasses, right now!" Dustin said we all handed him our compasses he lays them out on the table.

"What's exciting about this?" I asked.

"Well, they're all facing north, right?" Dustin asked.

"Yeah, so?" Lucas asked.

"Well, that's not true north." Dustin answered.

"What do you mean by that Dustin?" I asked.

"I mean exactly what I just said. That's not true north. Are you both seriously this dense? The sun rises in the east, and it sets in the west. Right? Which means that's true north." Dustin explained. 

"So what you're saying is the compasses are broken." I stated.

"[sighs] Do you even understand how a compass works? Do you see a battery pack on this?" Dustin explained to us.

"No." Mike answered.

"No, you don't. Because it doesn't need one. The needle's naturally drawn to the Earth's magnetic North Pole." Dustin explained.

"So what's wrong with them?" I asked.

"Well, that's what I couldn't figure out, but then I remembered. You can change the direction of a compass with a magnet. If there's the presence of a more powerful magnetic field, the needle deflects to that power. And then I remembered what Mr. Clarke said. The gate would have so much power-" Dustin tried.

"It could disrupt the electromagnetic field." Mike butted in.

"Exactly." Dustin carried on.

"Meaning, if we follow the compasses' north..." Lucas continues.

"They should lead us to the gate." Dustin carries on. El looks at me worried. Dustin dragged us to the railway. 

"[sighs] How much further?" Lucas asked. I was standing next to El.

"I don't know. These only tell direction, not distance. You really need to learn more about compasses." Dustin answered.

"I'm just saying. How do we know when we get to the gate?" Lucas asked.

"Uh, I think a portal to another dimension is gonna be pretty obvious." Dustin answered.

"[sighs] Do you think she's acting weird? Her and Alex?" I heard Lucas ask.

"You're asking if the two weirdos are acting weird?" Dustin asked.

"I mean, weirder than normal?" Lucas asked again.

"I don't know. Who cares?" Dustin carried on.

Flashback

"How far, Papa?" I asked.

"Farther than we've ever gone before." Brenner answered.

"The bath?" I asked.

"Yes. Yes, the bath. Is that okay?" Brenner asked.

"Okay." I answered.

End Flashback

"Lucas." I yelled to Lucas.

"Yeah?" Lucas asked.

"Turn back please." I answered.

"What? Why?" He asked walking up to me.

"I'm tired." I lied to him.

"[sighs] Look, I'm sure we're almost there. Just hold on a little longer, okay? " Lucas asked I nodded my head slightly.

"Oh, no." Dustin said as we walked into the scrapyard. 

"'Oh, no?' What's, 'Oh, no?'" Lucas asked.

"We're headed back home." Dustin answered.

"What?" Mike questioned.

"Are you sure?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Setting sun, right there. We looped right back around." Dustin explained.

"And you're just realizing this now?" Lucas asked.

"Why is this all on me?" Dustin asked.

"Because you're the compass genius!" Lucas answered.

"What do yours say?" Dustin asked.

"North." We all answered. I had to cover up the fact about what me and El were doing Lucas sighs.

"Makes no damn sense." Dustin says.

"[sighs] Maybe the gate moved." Mike suggested.

"No, I don't think it's the gate. I think it's something else screwing with the compasses." Dustin tries.

"Maybe it's something here." Mike tried again.

"No, it has to be like a super magnet." Dustin tries.

"It's not a magnet. She's been acting weirder than normal. If she can slam doors with her mind, she can definitely screw up a compass." Lucas says pointing to El.

"Why would she do that?" Mike asked.

"Because she's trying to sabotage our mission. Because she's a traitor!" Lucas yelled.

"Lucas, what are you doing?" I asked. Lucas approaches me and El.

"You did it, didn't you? You don't want us to reach the gate. You don't want us to find Will." Lucas says to El.

"Lucas, come on, seriously, just leave her alone!" I said trying to pull him away.

"Admit it." Lucas say.

"No-" I tried for El.

"Admit it! [he grabs her arm to check her sleeve] Fresh blood. I knew it." Lucas says.

"Lucas, come on!" Mike tried.

"I saw her wiping her nose on the tracks! She was using her powers!" Lucas answered.

"Bull! That's old blood. Right, El? Right, Alex?" Mike asked.

"[crying] It's... not... it's not safe." I said while crying.

"What did I tell you? She's been playing us from the beginning!" Lucas yelled.

"That's not true. She helped us find Will!" Mike tried.

"Find Will? Find Will? Where is he, then? Huh? I don't see him." Lucas answers.

"Yeah, you know what I mean." Mike tried.

"No, I actually don't. Just think about it, Mike. She could've, both of them could've, just told us where the Upside Down was right away, but she didn't. She just made us run around like headless chickens." Lucas tries.

"All right, calm down!" Dustin tried.

"No! She used us, all of us! She helped just enough so she could get what she wants. Food and a bed. She's like a stray dog. Alex is no better then she is." Lucas yells.

"Screw you, Lucas!" Mike yells

"No! Screw you, Mike. You're blind.. blind because you like that a girl's not grossed out by you. But wake up, man! Wake the hell up! She knows where Will is, they both do, and now they are just letting him die in the Upside Down." Lucas yelled.

"Shut up!" Mike exclaimed.

"For all we know, it's her fault. Both of their faults." Lucas said.

"Shut up." Mike tried.

"We're looking for some stupid monster... but did you ever stop to think that maybe she's the monster they are both the monster?" Lucas asked.

"I said shut up!" Mike answered and they start fighting.

"Stop!" I tried.

"Knock it off, you idiots." Dustin yells.

"Stop it!" El tries this time.

"Mike, get off!" Dustin continues yelling.

"Stop it! [screams – accidentally sends Lucas flying back into a metal sheet and knocks him out]" I scream not meaning to hurt Lucas. El gets behind me scared.

"Jesus!" Dustin tells.

"Lucas! Lucas! Lucas, are you all right?" Mike asked.

"Lucas. Lucas, come on!" Dustin tries.

"Lucas, wake up! Lucas." Mike says shaking Lucas.

"Come on, Lucas!" Dustin yelled.

"Why would you do that?" Mike asked me.

"Come on." Dustin tried.

"What's wrong with you? [distorted] What is wrong with you?" Mike asks again. Me and El are sobbing.

"Come on, wake up. Come on!" Dustin tries again.

"Lucas... Lucas, come on!" Mike continues trying. Lucas wakes up Dustin chuckles Mike exhales.

"Lucas. Lucas, you okay?" Mike asked.

"Lucas... Lucas, how many fingers am I holding up? Lucas, how many fingers?" Dustin asked.

"Let me see your head." Mike tried.

"Get off of me!" Lucas yelled.

"Just... Lucas. Lucas, let me see." Mike kept trying.

"Get off of me!" Lucas exclaims.

"Lucas, come on." Mike tries.

"Let him go. Man, let him go." Dustin says they let Lucas storm off but notice that El and Alex are gone.

"Where is El? Alex? El? Alex? El!" Mike yelled.

"Eleven! Ten!" Dustin yelled.

"El! Ten! Eleven! Tess!" Mike kept trying.

"El! Tess!" Dustin tried.

"Eleven! Ten!" Mike kept yelling.