FIFTEEN: THE VALE OF SHADOWS

FINALLY, THAT HORRID ASSEMBLY WAS OVER. There was nothing worse than having someone call you gay in front of pretty much the entire school, especially when Daniel just came out to his best friend. That was harrowing enough, he didn't need the whole school finding out, too. True to his word, Mister Clarke gave them the Heathkit for the rest of the day. After running out of that gymnasium as fast as the could, they locked themselves in the office and sat Eleven down in front of the radio. Mike, who definitely knew more about the radio than Daniel did, adjusted a few knobs. Daniel wished he had some kind of idea of what he was doing, but the Heathkit was foreign to him. Any other radio he could take apart and put back together in minutes, but he had never been able to get his hands on a Heathkit before. Once Mike was done, Eleven closed her eyes and began to concentrate.

Daniel had to give her some credit, that stunt she pulled with Troy was pretty amazing. Since their small school lacks any kind of gossip, that one was sure to be talked about forever. Forever meaning a few months at best, but you know.

After a few moments of dead silence, nothing besides the radio static, the lights cut out. Mike knew Daniel hated the dark, subconsciously grabbing Daniel's hand, squeezing it briefly without letting it go.

"Holy. . ." Lucas muttered, his voice trailing off as everyone's eyes trained on Eleven.

Then, there was a clanging sound. The sound wasn't coming from inside the room, but it was coming from the radio. Daniel squeezed Mike's hand a little tighter. He was so scared Mike was going to drop the little things like this once Daniel told him the truth, but the Wheeler boy seemed unbothered. If there was any kind of disdain or hesitation, Mike was hiding the signs of it.

"What is that?" Dustin asked. All four of the boys were leaned in close, listening to the simple yet terrifying sound coming through the static.

Then, shocking everyone, a voice came through.

"Mom?" the voice called. Daniel recognized it instantly.

"Will," Daniel mumbled. This was officially insane.

"No way!" Lucas exclaimed, the underlying shock in his voice matching Daniel's.

The voice sounded again, more desperate, "Mom!"

"Will!" Mike shouted, causing Daniel to jump.

Lucas yelled into the radio as well, "Will, it's us! Are you there?"

"Can you hear us?" Dustin called, "We're here!"

Daniel remained silent, the shock settling in his bones stopped his mind from forming any coherent sentences. So there were two things that could possibly be going on. Either Will was dead and communicated from beyond the grave via the radio or he was like Eleven said the night they found his body. Hiding. Then who's body was found in the quarry?

"Hello? Mom?" the voice became more distorted, the static beginning to overpower it, but it was still one-hundred-percent Will's voice.

"Why can't he hear us?" Lucas asked, sounding aggravated.

"I don't know!" was Mike's answer, his voice just as frustrated as Lucas's. Daniel squeezed Mike's hand, figuring the boy could use a little comfort in these incredibly trying times.

Daniel's voice was soft as if his mind wasn't sure it wanted him to speak or not. "Is, is he alive? Or, or is this like, his ghost or something?"

"Alive," was all Eleven said, her eyes still closed. Daniel sighed with relief. Of course, he might not know how reliable the girl was, but the word alone was comforting to hear. "Not here," she said next.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lucas groaned, his hands gripping the edge of the table as if to steady himself.

"It's like home, but it's so dark!" Will's voice, less distorted and more echoed, spoke. "It's so dark and empty. And it's cold! Mom? Mom!"

"What? Where, where is he?" Daniel asked, his voice ghostly quiet and barely above a whisper. A sharp contrast to the yells of the other boys.

There was no answer to that question because, with Will's last exclamation, the Heathkit burst into flames. The fire alarm went off and Dustin immediately went to grab the fire extinguisher, dousing the radio with it. Daniel didn't realize how tight he was squeezing Mike's hand until Mike let go, pulling the curly-haired boy in for a quick hug instead.

Eleven, who was unmoving, probably weak due to the extended use of her powers, was pulled out of the office by all four of the boys. They got her onto a rolling cart, turning down a hallway which branched off from the students who were currently being evacuated. At least the fire alarm provided a good cover to get Eleven out of there.

Once they were out of school, they rode all the way back home, Eleven leaning on the back of Mike almost lifelessly while Daniel shared a bike with Lucas. They snuck into the basement of Mike's house where they allowed Eleven to lay on the couch and rest. So, it appears her powers did have some sort of limit to them.

"What was Will saying?" Mike asked once all of the boys were settled down. The Wheeler boy was sitting on the couch, Eleven's legs barely reaching him, where Daniel leaned against the front of the couch with Mike's legs right next to him. He leaned his head against them as soon as Mike sat down like second nature. "Like home. . . Like home but dark?"

"And empty," Lucas added, his voice filled with confusion just like everybody else's.

"Empty and cold," Dustin sighed. "Wait, did he say cold?"

"I don't know, the stupid radio kept going in and out," Lucas scoffed.

"Dark, empty, cold, but just like home," Daniel listed off all of the things that came through the radio. He swore those words would be burned in his brain, hearing the disparity in his best friend's voice, the unmatched fear, and just pure sadness. "Could he mean Hawkins?"

"Like home, like his house?" Mike continued. He had gotten up, pacing around the room. Daniel missed the warmth.

Lucas nodded along with both ideas. "Maybe!"

"Upside down," an exhausted Eleven spoke up.

"What'd she say?" Lucas furrowed his brow, looking around at the other boys.

"Upside down," Mike repeated.

"What?"

"Upside down!" he said again before jogging to go grab something. Mike sat down at the D&D table to where the board from the other night was still flipped, showing its plain black underside. "When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board over, remember? Upside down." Daniel remembered how confused and tired he was when she did that. At that point, he was sure she was just playing mind games with them which he definitely did not like. All the boys crowded around the table, Daniel leaning over Mike's shoulder out of habit.

Dustin sighed, nodding towards the empty seat, "Dan, just take Will's seat."

"I-I-" Daniel never sat at the table, like ever. It was pretty much used for D&D campaigns only and it would feel weird taking Will's spot. Dustin patted the empty chair, all three boys looking at him. Drawing in a deep breath, he sat down. This already felt like a betrayal.

"All right. Upside down," Mike continued, now that everyone was settled. "Dark, empty."

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

Dustin shook his head, but Daniel thought he had some idea. "Will, I think Will is in the upside down? Or am I totally off here?"

"See? Daniel's got it!" the Wheeler boy exclaimed, "Come on, just think about it. When El took us to find Will, she took us to his house, right?"

"Yeah," Lucas agreed although his voice was slightly patronizing, "and he wasn't there."

Mike sighed, "But what if he was there?"

"Just not here," Daniel spoke, emphasizing the final word.

"Exactly, what if we just couldn't see him? What if he was on the other side?" Mike flipped over the board to its proper side, "What if this was Hawkins and. . ." he flipped it to the blank side, "this is where Will is? The Upside Down"

"It's too early in the day for the multiverse theory, Mike," Daniel sighed, resting his elbows on the table.

Dustin seemed to finally grasp what the two boys were trying to say, "Like the Vale of Shadows." Daniel actually had no idea what that meant, assuming it had something to do with Dungeons & Dragons.

Mike nodded, getting up and grabbing something before slamming down his book of D&D related trivia on the table. Daniel tried to read through it once, but it honestly just gave him a headache.

Dustin took the book and found the page he was looking for and began to read. "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. A plane out of phase. A place of monsters. It is right next to you and you don't even see it."

"An alternate dimension," Mike mumbled.

"I have a headache," Daniel sighed, resting his head on the table.

"But how do we get there?" Lucas asked slowly, sounding like he was starting to grasp what they were talking about.

"You cast Shadow Walk." Yeah, Daniel had no idea what the hell that was. It was times like this he wished he understood D&D speak. Actually, no he didn't.

Lucas, who had a similar attitude to Daniel, sounded exasperated, "In real life, dummy."

"We can't shadow walk, but. . ." Dustin drifted off, his eyes roaming over to where Eleven was laying on the couch, "maybe she can."

"Certainly not right now," Daniel scoffed, eyeing the girl's exhausted condition. She could probably barely lift a pencil right now let alone execute whatever this shadow walk thing was.

Mike looked at Daniel with a small, but meaningless glare before they all turned to Eleven, Mike speaking to her. "Do you know how we get there? To the Upside Down?"

Eleven shook her head. Daniel was starting to remember why he disliked her in the first place.

"Oh my god," Lucas groaned, leaning back in his chair. Daniel could honestly say he felt the same.

"Listen," Daniel started with a sigh, "We're clearly all tired, but my mom is going to whoop my ass if she learns I ditched school and it's just about the time they're getting out, so why don't we call it a night and reconvene tomorrow?"

"Will's funeral is tomorrow," Lucas muttered.

"That's not Will. We know that now," Daniel's voice was soft and fragile-sounding as if his words were thin glass. "Let's just act all mournful and shit and we'll figure something out, okay?"

Dustin's face lit up, likely with an idea, "Everyone who knew Will is gonna be there! So, wouldn't Mister Clarke be there? We can ask him!"

"Wouldn't he be suspicious?" Lucas furrowed his brow, squinting his eyes at the other boy. "I mean, what boys would ask weird science questions at their best friend's funeral."

"Lucas, we'd be lying if we said that wouldn't be us," Daniel said, with a small but humorless laugh. "I'm gonna head home. I guess I guess I'll see you guys at Will's funeral."

Daniel got up from the table, pushing Will's chair back in. As he began to leave, Mike asked him if he needed a ride. He observed the scene with tired eyes, his friend's eyes all on him. He shrugged. "I'll walk."

GETTING READY FOR WILL'S FUNERAL WAS LESS PAINFUL THAN DANIEL THOUGHT. Knowing in the back of his mind that Will wasn't dead was comforting him. Even with his sister's tearful eyes staring at him as her small hands tied his tie for him.

"I'm so sorry, Daniel," she spoke, her voice broken, "What I said that night," she hesitated, "I never wanted it to be true. I can never express how truly sorry I am about that and I'm even more sorry that I was right."

He shrugged, his eyes numb and staring ahead. His voice was barely above a whisper. "I'm just glad we didn't put money on it."

Heather laughed sadly, wiping away her tears and standing up straight. She looked in the mirror Daniel had been standing in front of, pushing a lock of curly hair behind her ear. It was likely a piece that had escaped from the curls she shoved into a bun. She was wearing a black dress that went to the middle of her calf while Daniel wore a suit.

"You kids ready to go?" their mother's voice shouted from downstairs. There was a certain sadness to it, just like everybody else in Hawkins today.

The funeral was boring. Daniel had been to one before and he thought the same thing. It was for his grandfather on his dad's side, but he never knew the late relative. His mom insisted he met him once when he was two or three, but his mind had let go of any memories from that event. Knowing Will wasn't dead made the funeral even more unbearable.

Dustin nudged the shoulders of the boys, turning their attention to a blonde girl who was crying. The boy smirked, "Just wait until we tell Will Jennifer Hayes was crying at his funeral." He was instantly shushed by Mike's mom. Daniel refrained from rolling his eyes.

Once the ceremony was over, everyone got in a line and tossed yellow flowers onto the casket. What this was supposed to symbolize, Daniel had no idea.

As soon as everyone was settled into the reception, the boys had a mission: Find Mister Clarke. This was easy since he was front in line at the food table.

"Mister Clarke?" Mike asked, getting his attention.

"Oh, hey, there," the man said, offering them a sad smile. "How are you boys holding up?"

Daniel put on his best "pity me" look and answered, "Fine, I guess, this all just feels so unreal." Yeah, because it was.

Lucas and Mike nodded while Dustin ate some of the food. Lucas added onto the statement with the oh-so-clever, "We're. . . in. . . mourning."

"Man," Dustin interrupted, sounding disappointed, "These aren't real Nilla Wafers." All the boys looked at him with the same expression: "Are you serious?"

Mike sighed, turning back to Mister Clarke, "We were wondering if you had some time to talk?"

"We have some questions," Lucas nodded.

"A lot of questions," Mike continued for dramatic effect.

Daniel sighed as he eyed Dustin stuffing his face before turning back to Mister Clarke, "And we think you can give us the answers we need."

The five settled down at a table and Mike didn't give the man one breath of air before he started asking things, "So you know how in Cosmos, Carl Sagen talks about other dimensions? Like, beyond our world?"

"Yeah, sure, theoretically."

"Right theoretically," Mike repeated. Daniel snickered. He wished this was only theoretical.

"So, theoretically," Lucas continued. Okay, Daniel was starting to get tired of this word, "How do we travel there?"

Mister Clarke nodded, acknowledging the questions, "You guys have been thinking about Hugh Everett's Many-Worlds Interpretation, haven't you?" Daniel couldn't say for the other boys, but he knew that certainly wasn't on his mind. According to the looks the boys shared, they hadn't either. "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."

Lucas shook his head, thankfully cutting off Mister Clarke before he could go into whatever lament he was planning. "Yeah, that's not what we're talking about."

Mister Clarke looked disappointed, "Oh."

"Sorry," Daniel shrugged, offering a look of sympathy while Dustin began to explain.

"We were thinking of more of an evil dimension like the Vale of Shadows." If Daniel could just drop his head in his hands abruptly, he would. Way to blow it, Dustin. "You know the Vale of Shadows?"

Unsurprisingly, the man knew exactly what they were talking about. "An echo of the material plane where necrotic and shadow magic —"

"Yeah exactly," Mike cut him off, which Daniel was thankful for as he was about to fall asleep. "If that did exist, a place like the Vale of Shadows, how would we travel there?" Ah yes, because that was a normal question to ask at your best friend's funeral.

"Theoretically," Lucas added. God, Daniel was tired of that word. What was the point of adding that? Mister Clarke, as any normal human would, is probably assuming this is all theoretical anyway.

Mister Clarke hesitated, "Well. . ." He grabbed an empty paper plate and pen that, of course, he kept in his pocket like the teacher he was, and began drawing what Daniel assumed was a diagram. "Picture. . . an acrobat. Standing on a tightrope. Now, the tightrope is our dimension and our dimension as 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?"

"Right," Mike confirmed, all of the boys nodded. Daniel was silently thanking Mister Clarke for the so-far simple diagram as he could barely grasp science even on a normal level.

"Here's where things get really interesting," he continued, leaning in as he drew and explained, "The flea can also travel this way —" Mister Clarke drew more arrows, "Along the sides of the rope. He can even go underneath the rope." This got the boys' attention since as far as they knew, Will was underneath the "rope."

"Upside Down," they all mumbled at the same time, nearing creepy-twins type of sync.

Mister Clarke nodded, "Exactly."

"But we're not the flea, we're the acrobat," Mike stated the obvious.

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

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

"Of course, we can't," Daniel sighed.

Mister Clarke offered a sad smile and shook his head, "No."

"Well is there any way for the acrobat to the Upside Down?" Dustin exclaimed, sounding as exasperated as Daniel felt.

The man thought for a moment, figuring out his answer before speaking, "Well. . . you'd have to create a massive amount of energy. More than humans are currently capable of creating, mind you, to open some kind of tear in time and space and then. . ." Mister Clarke folded the plate in half, stabbing a hole through it with his pen and causing the boys to jolt in their seats. "You create a doorway."

"Like a gate?" Dustin asked.

"Sure, like a gate. But again, this is all —"

"Theoretical," Lucas cut off, starting to sound just as tired of the word as Daniel was.

"But. . ." Mike started, "What if this gate already existed?"

The man began to explain with a curious look, "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 whole. Science is neat, but I'm afraid it's not very forgiving." Yeah, that's for sure.

( note! )

this chapter was so long!! i planned on getting half of it done tonight and the rest tomorrow, but i just got it all done tonight anyway!! sorry for not a lot of Daniel in the funeral scene, but my lil boy doesnt get science so when people are explaining he just likes to stay quiet and understand so!! y'all can't complain tho bc u got cute hand holding in the first scene so ha