Circa 1985, Hawkins, Indiana

Will Byers watched the road pass by his car window as he gazed outside, cheek resting comfortably in the palm of his hand. It seemed like forever since the last time he had been on a family trip, or any trip really. The last couple of years had been hectic for the young boy and his group of friends. Dealing with another dimension and creepy monsters was enough to take a toll on anyone.

A smile was brought to Will's face upon hearing a sarcastic remark from his best friend Mike who was beside him. His older brother Jonathan was sitting at the other window so Mike was sandwiched between the two boys. Joyce Byers was taking up the passenger seat while Chief Jim Hopper was currently taking the wheel. It was a little weird for the head of Hawkins Police to be joining them on this trip, but Will could tell that something was going on between the Sheriff and his Mom. He wasn't too opposed to it since Hopper did seem to make her happy, and he'd really been there for the Byers family throughout their entire ordeal.

Joyce had suggested that they all get away for awhile, taking a trip together and enjoying the first few months of Summer while they were just beginning. The more the merrier she'd said, so with permission from their families, the entire Hawkins Squad was hitting the road together. The car behind the Byers's was none other than Steve Harrington's. The teenager had been adopted into the friend group after becoming good friends with Dustin Henderson, who was riding shotgun with him. In the back seat was Nancy Wheeler, Mike's older sister, and Robin Buckley, Steve's newest friend whom he had started working with at their job in the newly built Starcourt Mall.

The last car in the procession was occupied by Max Mayfield, Lucas Sinclair, and Eleven aka "El", the girl with awesome psychic powers whom the boys had found in the woods and befriended. In the driver's seat was Max's difficult stepbrother Billy Hargrove. He had been reluctant to come, thinking he was too good to be towing around his younger stepsister and her friends, but was basically forced by his Dad since there wasn't enough room in the other cars. Usually he would be jabbing at Max and being a well rounded asshole, but El was there to keep a close eye on him as well as Max, having earned a pinch of respect after standing up to Billy once before.

Joyce hadn't really said where they were going, instead responding with "Wherever the road takes us!" Although she did have a location in mind. Unfortunately for the Hawkins Squad, this wasn't exactly going to be the "Summer Getaway" they were hoping for...

* * * *

"My bet is we're going to Disney World. We're going in the right direction for it, so why not?" Mike was throwing his guesses around.

"I don't think so, although that would be fun. My guess is... New York?" Will offered.

"Nah, big city life doesn't seem like your Mom's style. Maybe.. maybe we're going to a Renaissance Fair! Or an IRL D&D campaign! You'd get to finally share 'Will the Wise' with the world. They'd love him, I know." Mike went on. That was one of the things Will liked about Mike, how supportive he always was and how he hyped Will up about his interests and characters.

"Let's just hope wherever it is, she's equipped to handle the chaos that is our party." Will grinned as he went back to watching the trees go by.

Meanwhile...

"I can't see shit through these binoculars. That's just great, I paid a pretty penny for this piece of garbage!" Dustin complained in the next car as he squinted out his own window trying to see through his binoculars.

"That's because you didn't remove the cover from the eye piece genius." Steve rolled his eyes as he tried to reach for the pair while Dustin slapped his hand away.

"Don't touch me! I got this- just- get your grubby hands off my gear!" Dustin started getting into a slap fight with Steve.

"Can you dinguses stop fighting for three seconds? Harrington's gotta keep an eye on the road so we don't die." Robin spoke up from the back, stealing the binoculars away much to Dustin's dismay. She fixed them easily, handing them back with a cheeky smile.

"I'm so lucky to have this pleasure of riding with you guys." Nancy crossed her arms as she wondered what was happening in the Byers's car.

Behind them, it was going surprisingly well considering everyone being in a confined space with Billy. The boy was pretty fine with his unfortunate situation, as long as he got to pick the music and play it as loud as he wanted too. Max didn't complain, it was a small price to pay for no arguing.

"Loud." El looked over at Max with a little smile as she referenced Billy's choice of music.

"Yeah, but at least he can't really hear us." Max shrugged smiling back as she motioned to Billy drumming his hands on the steering wheel to the music.

"Let's just hope this ride goes by quickly." Lucas was between the two girls, trying to make the best of the situation.

Up ahead in the Byers's car, Joyce was looking on the roadmap so she could keep Hopper steered in the right direction. Out of nowhere a low rumbling seemed to overcome the calm.

"What's that?" Will became alert at once, a little on edge.

"Probably just some construction on the road coming up." Joyce tried to reassure her son, although she wasn't quite at ease herself. Suddenly, to their left a bright blue light flashed through the trees, the rumbling sending a jolt through the ground.

"Woah! Hang on-!" Hopper swerved the wheel and hit the brakes, sending their car skidding to a halt.

"Shit!" Steve slammed his brakes immediately after, swerving to avoid hitting the Byers car. Billy's Camaro was quick to follow, the kids in the back hanging on for dear life as all three cars came to a screeching stop. There was a moment of brief silence before everyone could react again.

"Jesus- What the hell happened Harrington?! If this car has even the slightest scratch on it-" Billy was already clambering out of the Camaro and making his way to Steve.

"Is everyone alright?" Joyce asked quickly, looking back at the kids.

"We're fine- what the hell was that?" Jonathan asked, looking towards the woods with concern. Will tensed in his seat, feeling an all too familiar chill run up his spine. The uneasy feeling is what he usually felt when something bad was about to happen.. or if the Mindflayer was near.

El, Max, and Lucas were quick to rush to their friends, looking towards the woods. "Mike-" El embraced her boyfriend as he got out of the car.

"Did you guys see that? What was it?" Dustin jumped out of Steve's car and ran to his party.

"We don't know.. it just flashed from the woods." Jonathan explained.

"Everyone stay here, I'll go check it out." Hopper told them.

"Alone? Absolutely not." Joyce butted in.

"Or, just a suggestion, we could ignore it and be on our merry way?" Dustin offered, earning a glare from everyone. Soon the entire squad was bickering amongst themselves over what they should do.

"Let me go with you. I can help." El tried to reason with Hopper. "You know I can fight if it gets bad."

"No kid, I can't have any of you getting in danger. Summer's just begun for Pete's sake!" He shook his head.

"Who's Pete..?" El tilted her head in confusion.

While everyone was talking, Will couldn't stop looking towards the forest. Even now he could see a blue light emanating from within. He felt... drawn to it. Slowly he started walking towards it, the voices of his friends getting fainter and fainter.

"Wait- Where's Will?" Mike noticed first, looking around. "Will?" Soon everyone else was drawn to attention.

"Will? Honey where are you? Will!" Joyce started panicking, not ready to lose her son again.

"In there.." Eleven pointed to the forest, the pulsing blue light visible. "We have to find him."

"I'm going in." Mike started heading towards the trees.

"Not alone." Hopper butted in.

"Then we'll all go. Right guys?" Max looked at everyone and the kids nodded. Eleven took Mike's hand as they all started for the woods.

"Look man, you can beat me up later for almost wrecking your precious car. I think something is happening so if you excuse me I'm going to follow my friends." Steve was still arguing with Billy. "Now are you coming or staying here alone?"

"I don't know why you idiots are going towards the weird light, but if anything happens to my little shit of a stepsister my dad will kill me." Billy huffed as he begrudgingly started following the group. As they approached the light and went deeper into the forest, they all could feel a sense of foreboding. Whatever this was, it wasn't natural.

Ahead, Will had come face to face with the strange light, frozen with fear and wonder as he stared at what appeared to be some type of portal. It was somehow different from the ones he'd seen in the Upside Down. This one seemed entirely made of light, and was just.. floating there. Why he was drawn to it, he couldn't say. But a part of him was trying to go into it. Just as he was about to take a step, he heard a voice.

"Will! No!" It was his mom. "Will, come to me. Get away from..." Joyce was at a loss seeing the strange portal.

"Holy..." Dustin dropped his binoculars as he saw the light.

"Is anyone going to explain what the hell is happening?!" Billy demanded answers, never having seen anything like this before unlike the others.

"Mom-" Will started but was cut off as the portal suddenly seemed to turn into a giant vacuum, beginning to draw him in with incredible force. "Help!"

"Will!" Mike shot forward and grabbed Will's hand, attempting to pull him away. It wasn't working. "Guys, help!" He shouted. Lucas shot into action, linking hands with Mike. A chain was created as everyone tried to pull, Eleven at the end, focusing with all her might to pull with her mind. Whatever this otherworldly energy was, it was stronger than her powers. There was a loud whirring, and a blinding flash of light- then nothing.

The next thing Nancy Wheeler knew was she was picking herself off of the forest floor. She felt someone helping her and saw Jonathan. "Jonathan! You're ok... what happened?" She asked. Immediately she could tell by his face something wasn't right.

"They're gone..." He looked at her.

"Gone? Who-" Nancy looked and saw Hopper standing where the portal had once been, now simply an empty forest once more. What he said next only confirmed her rising fear.

"It took them."