CHAPTER 8
THE UPSIDE DOWN

_____

   The war had begun.

The three teenagers had a battle plan set and already taken off for preparation. They left the school immediately, and got to work once they snuck into the police station, taking back their monster hunting supplies. The fear hadn't set in yet, all there was left was determination and strive.

They were all working on separate things at separate times, focusing on their tasks. It was already almost prepared within an hour, until they had the final step.

"Remember-" Jonathan was about to explain the plan, but Laurel knew it like the back of her hand.

"Straight into Will's room, and-"

"Don't step on the trap," Nancy added on.

Laurel continued the explanation. "Wait for the yo-yo to move-"

"Then..." Jonathan trailed off, flicking open the lighter in his hands.

Laurel couldn't wait to burn that son of a bitch to the ground.

"Alright...you guys ready?" Jonathan asked, holding out the three sets of knives in his hand. Laurel couldn't help but feel more afraid about cutting herself than the actual monster that loomed underneath their world.

Laurel and Nancy shared a knowing look before nodding simultaneously.

Handing them out, Laurel grabbed hers and placed it over her palm with a trembling hand.

"One...two...you don't have to do this Laurel-"

"Jonathan shut up."

"I'm just saying-"

"Three!" Laurel interrupted for the second time, trying not to think about it when she pushed the knife downwards, slicing it across her palm. Wincing through gritted teeth, her whole body shivered as the slice burned through her skin. It was way worse than any paper cut she'd endured, which she thought was the worst feeling ever.

"Holy shit that hurts..." Nancy mumbled, holding her trembling hand. Laurel nodded in agreement as Jonathan quickly handed each of them their bandages. Hopefully this was enough blood for the creature to smell.

"Okay, let me just double check everything," Jonathan said after bandaging up his hand, disappearing down the hall.

Laurel sat herself down on the couch, shaking lightly as she gingerly wrapped the bandage around her hand, every movement feeling a burning sting. But she knew she'd do anything for Will, even cutting her own skin.

Nancy sat down with her, trying to wrap her own hand up. A small creaking sound erupted from the front porch, making both girls turn in fear. Laurel's heart raced at every little sound she could hear.

"Did you hear that?" Nancy asked, eyes staring worriedly at the door.

"It's probably nothing..." Laurel tried to soothe, but both girls were extremely worried.

Laurel could tell though, that Nancy was even worse off than her, seeing as she'd seen this creature before.

Laurel scooched closer to Nancy. "Don't worry...we just have to watch for the lights. My mom...she said the lights blink when it comes..." Even saying it out loud made it sound stupid, even if it was the truth.

Laurel glanced down, blinking at the sight below. She hadn't even realized that she had began helping Nancy wrap her bandage, it even seemed like Nancy just noticed too. Laurel didn't seem to mind, and neither did Nancy.

"Too tight?" Laurel asked in a hushed tone.

"No, it's fine, thank you..." Nancy could barely raise her voice over a whisper either as she carefully watched Laurel wrap the bandage. It was almost too loose, seeing as Laurel was a little too cautious and worried of her wrapping skills.

The bandage had been finally wrapped, Laurel's hand lingering in Nancy's, which she didn't seem to mind. Two small hands, wrapped in each other, was like the perfect puzzle closing in.

Laurel's lip trembled, a warm feeling rising up to her cheeks. "Nancy?" She said slowly, as if she was afraid to make any small mistake saying her name, like it was sacred to her.

"Yeah?" Nancy replied, looking up at the eyes that bored into her own. Nancy gulped, searching the mysterious girl's eyes as they practically swam in hers.

She was drowning in Nancy's gaze, and she didn't want to come out.

The thing about drowning is that you're not fully conscious, or aware of what's happening, it's such a lifeless and surreal situation that you find yourself sinking, further and further till you realize what's going on around you. So when Laurel's lips pushed into Nancy's she was barely aware of what she had done. But the warm, buzzing feeling woke her up, as if someone had just performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on her drowning body. Laurel almost gasped at the contact, but kept it down her throat, taking in the feeling of Nancy Wheeler's lips.

It was nothing like she'd dreamt of.

It felt like warm honey, or tanned skin of a sun-kissed day. It felt like silk wrapping around her mouth, suffocating her graciously. It felt like she could drown like this forever.

But nothing lasts forever.

The two broke apart, Laurel reluctantly opening her eyes to see Nancy's reaction. It was almost too dark to tell. A mixture of shock, but she seemed content. Nancy's lips were still parted, as if she hadn't known the kiss had ended.

Banging on the door erupted, making a soft gasp escape Laurel's throat, jumping a foot off her couch.

"LAUREL? JONATHAN?" A familiar voice sounded behind the door, Laurel's tense body relaxing, knowing it wasn't the monster.

But this person was worse than one, so why was she relieved?

"Are you there? It's Steve!" He shouted, both girls glancing at each other, wondering if they should open it to him. Jonathan peered from the hallway, glancing worriedly at Laurel, as if asking her permission. "Listen I just wanna talk!"

This was the wrong time for a talk. The banging continued.

Before she could even give her brother an answer Nancy marched towards the door and yanked it open.

"Steve, listen, you need to leave," Nancy stated slowly, a shocked and confused look rising on Steve's face, from what Laurel could see from the couch.

"Look, I'm not trying to start anything-"

"Look, I don't care about that."

"No, no, no, no, listen, I-I..." Steve stumbled, banging on the screen door in frustration. "I messed up! Okay? Really, please. I'm trying to make things right. Okay? Please?"

Laurel's mouth hung open, wondering who this man was and what did he do with Steve. What convinced him to have a change of heart?

Suddenly it seemed to dawn on Steve that something was wrong here. "Wait, what happened to your hand? Is that blood?"

Nancy stumbled to form words. "Nothing, it was an accident."

"What's going on?"

"Nothing!"

"Wait a second...did one of them do this to you?"

Between their lines of protests Laurel shrunk herself further into the couch, this night was just getting more and more complicated.

Suddenly as he ordered to come in, he ran past her, eyes widening at the scenery around him. Any sane person would react the way he was after seeing what the Byers home looked like.

Laurel stood up, ready to explain herself, before Jonathan ran to Laurel's side, pushing her slightly behind him. Steve's eyes trailed from the the one twin, to the next, then to Jonathan's bat full of nails.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Jonathan ran up to Steve, holding his shirt. "Listen, you need to get out of here."

"I don't-"

"I'm not asking you!"

The two boys continued their yelling, Laurel's body trembling at the thought of another fight ensuing.

The click of a gun was heard, as Nancy aimed her pistol at Steve. He was probably losing his mind right now. "Steve, get out!"

"What, w-w-wait! WHAT! What is going on?"

"You have five seconds to get out of here-"

"Okay, this is a joke, stop it, put the gun down."

"I'm doing this for you."

"Laurel," Jonathan's voice broke the fight, only Laurel seeming to notice him call her. Once her concentration was pulled from the two teenagers fighting, Laurel noticed the lights all around them beginning to flicker, an uneasy feeling sinking into her stomach.

Her blood grew cold, her feet planted on the flooring as she watched all the lights flicker on and off. This was really happening. Between the monster about to appear and the girl who was about to shoot her sort-of-boyfriend's head off, Laurel had enough.

"NANCY!" Laurel shouted, pulling Nancy from her gaze. Finally she noticed it too. "The lights, it's here!"

Voices upon voices overlapped each other, everyone scrambling for something to fight with.

Laurel grabbed the closest thing to her, being a crowbar she found in the shed, and held it tightly between her fingers.

The three teenagers went back to back, circling the living room, all while Steve was about to have a panic attack.

"Where is it?"

"I don't know."

"Where's WHAT?" Steve boomed. "HELLO, WILL SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO ME-"

No more explaining was needed once the sound of wood crashing filled their ears, everyone turning to the wall in question. But it wasn't the wall, as Laurel glanced higher, seeing a hole emerge from the ceiling. All energy seemed to drain from her, but at the same time more pumped through. She felt like she could pass out from the adrenaline in her veins.

Laurel took one last breath from her inhaler before readying her crowbar, as if she was heading into battle.

Nancy was already trying to fight it, shooting at the thing emerging from the ceiling.

"Go go go!" Jonathan called, pulling Nancy back, along with his sister. They would have to follow the plan no matter what. Laurel darted towards the hallway and Will's room, refusing to look at it for the time being, seeing at she didn't want to get herself distracted from the plan.

"C'mon!" Laurel shouted, seeing Steve had planted himself on the floor, mesmerized by the creature falling from the ceiling. Laurel grasped his hand, pulling him down the hall with her and into Will's room.

"Jump!" Laurel yelled with shaky breaths, hopping over the bear trap while trying to drown out Steve's repeating "oh my gods".

The door finally shut, leaving the four teenagers stuck in the room with no way out. This had to work.

"Jesus Christ, what the hell was that?" Steve yelled, probably thinking this was all a dream.

Both Nancy and Laurel turned towards the whining boy. "Shut up!' They yelled before turning back to the door, weapons at the ready. Jonathan had the lighter, Nancy had the pistol, and Laurel had the crowbar.

The monster crept along the hallway, its screeching whispers sending shivers down Laurel's spine.

"What's it doing?" Nancy asked, never pulling her eyes away from the door.

"I don't know..." Laurel whispered, afraid that any small sound would trigger its senses. All he had to do was try and open that door, triggering the yo-yo to set the trap.

But the lights stopped flickering, and it seemed like the end of it. But...how? It was right outside that door? Everyone glanced at each other, wondering if they had any answers.

"D'you hear anything?" Nancy asked.

Laurel couldn't hear a single thing besides their heaving breaths.

Jonathan flicked his lighter closed. "No."

Carefully, he opened the door, walking out into the empty hall, Laurel trailing behind. It was incredibly and awfully silent.

Silence was worse, knowing that there was at least something there was better than knowing nothing at all.

They made their way ito the empty living room, trying to find any trace of the monster. None could be found.

"This is crazy, this is actually crazy, this is CRAZY!" Steve said to himself, running towards the phone on the wall; the same phone that shocked Laurel. That seemed like months and months ago, but it was simply last week.

Nancy ran up to Steve, pulling the phone off the wall and smashing it to bits. In any other situation Laurel would've been mad, but it had to be done. No one would believe them anyway.

"Are you insane?" Steve asked.

"It's going to come back!" Nancy shouted back. "So you need to leave. Right now."

It didn't take long for Steve to run out of their house. Good riddance.

But it wasn't good for long, as the lights began to flicker again, Laurel taking in a deep breath, shaking the dizziness from her head, and gripping the crowbar tight.

"Where is the damn thing?" Laurel wondered out loud.

"C'mon you sonofabitch," Jonathan taunted, the three in a circle again, scanning the area for the creature.

"You see it?"

"No!"

It was almost too hard to tell where it was in between the darkness of the night and the drawn out periods of on and offs the lights experienced.

Grumbling filled the room, and the lights completely turned off, leaving Laurel in the complete dark. Her breath trembled, feeling a large presence behind her, breathing down her neck. Laurel turned around, immediately regretting it as she could barely make out the figure looming over her. It was the stuff of nightmares.

"JONATHAN!" Laurel screamed, pushing Nancy to the side when the monster lunged. Laurel squeezed her eyes shut, expecting something to hit her, but nothing came. She opened her eyes to witness the humongous monster laying over Jonathan's body. Nancy began calling out his name, but the creature with the face that seemed to open didn't scare Laurel anymore.

Once her brother was involved, the fear felt so miniscule she could crush it.

"GO TO HELL WHERE YOU BELONG YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Laurel screamed at the top of her lungs, throat going dry, the pent up anger from all that week building up inside of her as she threw her arms backwards, swinging the tip of the crowbar across its body. The monster screeched loudly, Laurel swinging the other way with her now bloodied crowbar. Blood splattered across her denim jeans and flushed cheeks.

Laurel's anger seemed to die down, now feeling the fear she once did, as the creature stood up, facing towards her. The lights were flickering again, and in between the darkness stood something so dark, so disgusting, it definitely belonged in hell. Its face was wide and it opened like a poisonous flower, but its growl was like a deranged dog.

Laurel tried to take one last swing at it, but it seemed to sense her energy had drained. The creature flung the crowbar out of her arms, and with the other hand swiping across her stomach, Laurel screaming out in pain. It was with such force that she fell to the ground, clutching her burning stomach.

She now knew what was way worse than the cut on her hand.

Jonathan's screaming of her name filled her ears, but they were ringing too loud to hear. Laurel's trembling body couldn't get itself up. She could hear bullets in the distance. Nancy was going to get herself killed. Then Jonathan. Then Laurel. They would be known as the three teenagers who died mysteriously, the case never to be solved.

"Steve!" She heard Nancy call out, and Laurel let out a sigh of relief. Maybe they had another chance. From where she was laying she could see a figure swinging a bat at the creature, and somebody else running to Laurel's side.

"Oh my god, you're bleeding!" Nancy yelled, eyes going back and forth between Laurel's gash across her stomach and Steve's fight with the monster. Nancy attempted to stand Laurel up, but all they could do was sit up.

One hit after another, Steve swung the monster into the hallway, before Laurel could hear a clunking noise.

"He's in the trap!" Steve yelled.

"Jonathan now!" Laurel yelled, being able to now be pulled up by Nancy who she had for support. Making their way over to the hall, they watched as Jonathan threw the lighter onto the gasoline that was pouring, watching the creature die in the huge flames. A gust of heat hit them all as they staggered backwards, watching in anticipation for its downfall.

"Get back!" Jonathan said while running over with an extinguisher, emitting it all over the flames. The creature was now gone, but it had to be in a pile of ash, or at least a dead body.

But nothing, absolutely nothing, was on the floor.

"Where did it go?" Nancy asked.

"It's dead, it has to be," Jonathan explained, but Laurel found it hard to believe.

Laurel almost stiffened when she noticed a few lights beginning to flicker, until she realized it was a different kind of flicker. It was more of a light blinking, and it made her feel safer than the blinding flickering they experienced before.

The blinking lights trailed down the hall, each new bulb turning on, following the door. It was as if there was somebody guiding them.

"Mom..." Jonathan breathed out, and Laurel knew it had to be true. There mother was safe. She was in the upside-down. She was alive.

And most importantly, their mission was complete.

_____

   Laurel hadn't slept for the last 16 hours, but this time it was for a good reason. Because her brother was finally back, safe and sound where he belonged, and Laurel wouldn't be leaving this hospital room till he would open his eyes. Even seeing his chest rising up and down wasn't enough proof for Laurel, she needed to see him speak to her. It had only been a week, but it felt like years. After taking care of her gash across her lower stomach, they allowed her to quickly join Will in his room.

After they had gotten rid of the demogorgon, as the kids liked to call it, their mother and Hopper eventually found Will's body and Hopper got him breathing again. Unfortunately, the kids who were left at the school got tracked down by the people searching for Eleven. The demogorgon, somehow not dead, ventured its way over. Thankfully Eleven was able to kill it, but it cost her her own life. Her body had just disappeared, and she heard that Mike was pretty upset about it. But at least they had their friend back.

The Byers family all sat around Will's hospital bed, waiting for him to wake. Fortunately it was before Laurel could fall asleep on Jonathan's shoulder or before they'd urge Laurel back to her room for more treatment. All heads turned upwards as they saw him beginning to stir, a weight falling off of Laurel's chest.

It was finally over.

"Hey, hi sweetheart," Joyce cooed, brushing away the hair on his forehead. Will's eyes opened, trailing from one family member to the next. Laurel began to smile for what felt like the first time in a very long time, biting her lip to contain her excitement.

"Hey bug," Laurel said, referring him to his nickname she gave him many years ago.

He smiled lightly. "Where am I?"

Jonathan leaned forward. "You're home, you're home now. You're safe.

"Jonathan, Laurel," he mumbled, finally noticing his two favourite siblings.

"Yeah, it's us buddy," Jonathan replied, tears forming in his eyes.

Laurel couldn't help but do the same. "We missed you so much."

Will's eyebrows furrowed as he glanced at their bandaged hands. "Are you okay?"

"Just a small cut," Laurel assured. She always admired but hated how he worried too much about other people. He always put others before himself. She wouldn't be telling him about the cut on her stomach till later.

"Oh, wait!" Laurel added on, turning behind her and lifting a small box full of toys and games onto the hospital bed. "We brought you some stuff, y'know, so you don't get bored here. Hospitals kinda suck." Laurel could give proof that they sucked, since she had to stay in one for 3 days when she ended up having her appendix removed when she was 12, and that night having to get a huge cut stitched up.

And as Jonathan began showing him the new mixtape he made for Will, for once since that very long week, everything was right in the world.

_____

   2 weeks. 2 weeks and 5 days had gone by since that night. Most people remembered it as the night they saved Will, but to herself she would always add on and the night I kissed Nancy Wheeler.

It had been 2 weeks of sitting through meaningless classes, trying to wrap her head around the kiss. Their friendship had sort of resorted just to hanging out at school. Laurel wanted to talk about it, bring it up, but her mind would always go blank and the words would fumble off her tongue.

So she kept putting it off.

But one day, only one week till christmas, Laurel wanted to do it. She wanted to finally ask her out. Maybe not to be her girlfriend—no, that was too rushed. She would ask if she wanted to go to the park the next day—no, the coffee shop. Wait, no...they would have hot cocoa downtown and window shop. That seemed like a very Nancy thing.

Laurel couldn't stop thinking about it all day. Christmas break was coming up, and classes were getting less and less important. All Laurel had on mind was the perfect date.

After class she raced to the floral shop her mother recommended—okay, maybe Joyce had a bit of input with the date idea—and picked out a bouquet filled with pure white tulips (they reminded her of the snow) and tied them together with a red and green ribbon. It was Christmas soon, after all.

Along with a tin filled with homemade chocolate chip cookies, she pulled up to the Wheeler house and sat, waiting till she felt like it was the right moment. Laurel spent the last 3 weeks finally doing her drivers test just so she could drive Nancy around, which Jonathan thought was pretty funny seeing as Laurel used to keep putting it off.

And now she sat, as white flakes fell slowly onto the snowy streets, she sat with the bouquet and cookies in hand, having a battle within herself on when to leave the car.

Finally after 14 minutes of pondering, she hopped out, running towards the front entrance, feeling eager to get out from the cold. Stopping in front of the stairs, she stood on her tiptoes, glancing into their living room. A warm smile stretched across her frozen cheeks when she spotted Nancy sitting by the fire, a book in her hand. Laurel could just imagine sitting next to her, cuddled up in her arms, reading the book with her, they would-

Her thoughts were interrupted as a figure walked into the room, two glasses in his hands, sitting down right next to her—too close to her. Laurel's heart sunk below the ground, watching as Steve and Nancy cuddled up beside each other, and they kissed.

They kissed. Nancy kissed somebody and it wasn't Laurel.

The warmness of her smile suddenly felt cold, and she let it drop. Her heart, plunged deep in the earth, felt like it shrunk deeper into the snow till it went numb. Her trembled hands almost dropped the tin, but she spun on her heel, tearing her eyes away from the scene in front of her.

With heaving breaths, she ran into her car, dropped the items into the passenger seat, and just sat there.

Completely still.

Her body caved in on itself, like a deflating balloon. She wanted to get farther and farther away from everything around her. She wanted to stop the aching in her heart, even as it turned numb, she wanted to stop the tears. Maybe they would freeze from the coldness of her heart.

But they didn't. As soon as she realized she was crying, it all came out, like ocean waves crashing against the shore.

No, she wouldn't be thinking of pretty metaphors or ways to simplify what she felt, because it wasn't pretty. It was ugly and it fucking hurt.

Nancy broke her heart into more pieces than her heart was made of.

Laurel's cries became hysterical, they came out more as wails, coupled with choking sobs. The more she tried to stop it by covering her mouth the more it broke through, she couldn't stop the running water with a damn. Her hands gripped the steering wheel, her chest heaving ferociously as the sobs continued endlessly.

Was love supposed to hurt like this? This wasn't love. This couldn't be the thing they showed in movies that portrayed the happily ever after.

What they had wasn't love. But whatever it was, it had all fallen apart. It was gone.

_____

Christmas was the worst time to feel sad. Christmas was meant to be a time of joy, a time where nothing bad was supposed to happen. That's why Laurel looked forward to it so much, because it was a break from all the bad things in her life.

But this Christmas was different. This Christmas wasn't as magical as before.

She came running home that night, soaked of snowflakes, tin and tulips dropped on the floor with a crash. Joyce spun towards her daughter, smile fading away once she saw the distraught in her eyes and the tears that ceased to roll down her cheeks.

Never had Joyce seen Laurel cry that much in her entire 16 years of knowing her.

But today was Christmas eve. She was supposed to be sitting with her family by the fire opening early presents, or eating Christmas dinner. But tonight she was sitting in front of her vanity, wondering what was the best way to cover up tear stained cheeks and red, puffy eyes.

Somehow she got to a point where her looks satisfied her, even if her sorrows couldn't be covered up completely.

Maybe it was for the best, she didn't want to give her family a version of herself she wasn't.

With a deep sigh, she smoothed her red plaid skirt, and exited her bedroom. As she walked into the dining room, all eyes landed on her. She hated when they did that, but they couldn't help it. They're probably wondering how much crying I've done today.

"I helped make some of your favourite garlic mashed potatoes Laurel," Will said, a warm but soothing smile stretching across his lips. Laurel laughed through her nostrils; she never deserved her undeniably caring brother.

"But they turned out way too runny..." Jonathan mumbled, plunging a spoon into the liquidy substance.

That made Laurel's mouth twitch into a smile. "It's perfect."

And that was all they needed to hear, even from the girl who was trying her best. Sitting down, the rest of her sorrows were tucked away in the back of her mind, because today and tomorrow would be filled with family and love. Just for those 2 days.

And just for those two days, she didn't feel as jealous of Nancy anymore. She wasn't jealous of the rain that fell in her hair, she wasn't jealous of the wind that kissed her skin.

She felt nothing.

_____

holy shiit. well. that just happened

on a scale of 1 to 10 how distraught r u

thoughts on the chapter though? what did you think about the kiss? predictions for season 2?

the chapters for next season r gonna be even more angsty and more interaction between laurel and others and more stuff happening all around so i hope ur all reaaaddyyyy