the red door

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

 Picturing Heather's face in her mind was different from picturing Billy, because Alina didn't know Heather that well. Instead of an animated face that Billy's had been beneath her closed eyelids, Heather's was stagnant, her mouth locked in the smile. It was that, even with El's hand securely in hers, and the background hiss of the showers, it took Alina a few minutes to have Heather's face blossom to life in her mind. When she finally managed to open her eyes in the dark void, it was a sort of fleeting relief before the weight of what she was doing settled over top her again. She didn't know what she was going to see. She didn't know what was happening to Heather, that cheerily smiling girl. She didn't even know if she was still alive.

The first thing Alina saw was El, her hair dried, floating down to her shoulders. After linking hands yet again with the girl, the second sight came into view. It was a white mailbox sitting on a pole, with an address dangling off of it, the water below slightly rippling as it reflected it. Alina squinted in confusion, reading the numbers out loud so that Max could hear. "One four three eight." Where was this?

A couple of questions from Max echoed around the expansive space, but Alina ignored them for now, knowing that she would have plenty of time to talk about it when she emerged. Forcing herself to be brave, Alina walked forward, tugging El along with her, heading up to the pristine white mailbox, which, she noticed now, was glazed with rainwater from the outside storm. El reached out, tracing her hand over it, and then came a whooshing noise that made Alina jump. Looking beyond the mailbox, she spotted a red door, which came into existence much in the way that Billy had disappeared—in wisps of smoke.

The door was average, cherry-red, and Alina assumed by the handle that it was the front door of a house. Even though it was apparently plain, a chill went down her spine at the sight of it. It seemed... menacing. Like it knew about whatever secrets it held on the other side. Alina almost didn't want to approach it, but she was here for a reason.

"Come on," El told her. Alina nodded resolutely, but just before she was about to take a step forward, Max's voice rang through the area.

"What do you see?"

El decided to answer this time. "A door. A red door."

They got closer and closer to the red door, squeezing each other's hands tightly, and then Alina reached out and opened it. It creaked a little as it opened, and Alina blinked when she realized what was on the other side. It was a bathtub, white as cream, resting innocently on the surface of whatever it was Alina and El were standing on. Alina remembered the packets of ice in the bath at Max's place and swallowed.

When she got close enough, a sharp gasp let loose of her throat. She'd expected ice, sure, but not to this extent. The tub was filled to the brim with it, sparkling as the light which came from nowhere hit it, so cold that Alina could feel it on her face as she and El hovered over it. For that single, sparing moment, all was as serene as it could be in the void.

And then a girl's head broke loose of the water. Alina stumbled back with a shriek, nearly causing El to fall. The girl gasped, and Alina, regaining balance, sucked in a breath—the face was unmistakable. It was Heather, wearing the bright red lifeguard bathing suit she was in the picture, but the cheery smile wiped right off her face. Her eyes sparkled with terror, and, like Billy, she looked right at Alina and El. Her voice quivered.

"Help me," she begged. Tears were streaming down her face, her hair clung to her neck, and a chill seemed to emanate off of her. Before Alina and El could react to this, however, Heather was suddenly jerked underwater by some unseen force, sending icy water spilling over the edge of the tub. It lapped at Alina's heels, but she was too busy screaming to notice, reaching out for Heather. El was screaming, too, her voice echoing across the void, and as the two of them touched the bath, it collapsed, spraying them with the same icy water. Another scream permeated the air, and Alina looked down, finding Heather beneath the watery substance that made up the void, sinking deeper and deeper as if an anchor was tied to her ankle, one hand outstretched and grasping for help.

Alina immediately plunged her hand into the water—it felt like thick jelly under her fingers—and tried to reach the girl, but she was getting further and further away by the moment. Heather screamed again ("Help Me!") and the sound was so bone-chilling, so utterly heart-breaking and laced with desperation, that Alina tried harder. Taking a deep gulp of air, Alina let go of El's hand and lunged forward, submerging herself in the water. She was still screaming, but whatever it was she was submerged in cut her screams short, until only bubbles came out of her mouth.

Kicking her legs, Alina tried to somehow swim towards the rapidly vanishing Heather, her pulse skyrocketing in her ears, tears streaming down her face, but she could barely move. And then Heather was swallowed up by darkness.

"No!" again, only bubbles came out of Alina's mouth as she screamed, and then her chest was tight and she was drowning, drowning in this jelly substance, still attempting to kick forward. Her lungs were burning, burning, her legs were like lead, and lights exploded in front of her eyes. Her hand was still reaching out for Heather, who had long gone where Alina could not follow. Who had simply disappeared.

Then her world exploded into light, clean air filled her lungs, and Alina found herself back in the locker room, her face wet with blood and tears, and her body trembling violently. For a moment, she couldn't make the connection—her mind was still drowning, and there was a dull itch at her fingertips—until she heard Max's voice, and it brought her back to the present.

She looked down at her hands. They were sparking with red, red as the door, and Alina flung her energy off of them, trying to scrub herself of that color. There was a faint crash, but Alina barely paid attention to it, because she still heard Heather's screams. They didn't go away.

Someone was shaking her shoulder. "Al! Al!" Max was desperately pleading with her to respond. "Alina, what happened? You were... you were screaming so much I had to take these off." She held up the goggles. Alina's eyes focused on them, just so she could have something to look at. "What did you see, Alina? What's wrong?"

Beside Alina was El, who had her head in her hands, her chest rattling as she gasped for breath. Alina did the same, trying to get oxygen back into her lungs, and focused on her old mantra. Breathe, Alina. Breathe in. Hold. Breathe out. Once she was finally a little more clear-headed, she raised a shaky arm, wiping the blood off of her nose, and turned to Max. Her eyes were wild.

"Heather," was all she said, and then she was standing up, lunging for her raincoat. She had to get to her. She had to save her. She had to do what was right.

Because it seemed like all of her old enemies were coming back.

By the time Gabe reached Will's house, he was thoroughly drenched, and shivering uncontrollably. But he hadn't stopped, because he knew that Will was not okay. And he had to help him. Preferably while drinking hot chocolate and wrapped in warm blankets, sure, but he'd risk a couple more minutes in the rain.

Will hadn't gone inside. Gabe could tell, because the house was dark, absent of any life except for the snow-white face of Skywalker in the window. That meant he'd probably gone to Castle Byers, which had been his fort for years now, and contained many of his most precious memories. He'd invited Gabe there one time. Gabe still remembered it. It had been three months ago, when school had not yet let them free. It was spring, and it was beautiful, and he'd gone over to Will's house as soon as the last bell rung. Alina had gone to Lucas's, and Jonathan and Joyce were at work, so that left the two of them by themselves.

They'd been watching a movie, a bowl of popcorn between them, occasionally reaching out to pet Skywalker, who, although he'd been distrustful of Gabe at first (Alina had explained that this was a common thing, but it still didn't stop him from feeling a little hurt) had soon come to at least a grudging respect for him. Once the credits rolled, Will stood up, and he said he wanted to show Gabe something.

And that was how Gabe had come to be introduced to Castle Byers. Apparently it was a great privilege to be allowed to enter, especially without the usually-mandatory password. Joyce and Jonathan had, obviously, been, and so had Alina, but only because she was his sister. His other friends saw it a few times, but they'd only been allowed to peek their heads in.

But Will had led Gabe right in, and they'd nestled themselves down on the cushions and examined all of the relics. And Gabriel Burton remembered how his love for Will Byers had exploded right then and there, examining the way his face lit up when he talked about his friends and the way the sunlight streaming in caught onto his hair. He didn't think he'd ever forget.

Now was not such a perfect day. Gabe picked his way through the woods, getting even more soaked, getting even colder, his hands numb, his heart light, wondering if he'd ever feel truly dry after this, passing a couple burnt trunks from Alina, scaring a squirrel. He reached Castle Byers in what felt like an eternity, and, sure enough, he could hear faint sniffles coming from inside.

He made his way to the entrance, and knocked on the wood. "Do I still get the password exemption?" he asked, hating the way the cold made his voice chatter. The sniffles from inside Castle Byers stopped abruptly, and then Will was at the entrance, his face glazed with rainwater and tears.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm seeing if you're okay," said Gabe, rubbing his hands to attempt to gather feeling into them. "Back at Mike's... you weren't the only one who fought with him. I did, too. Because he's been a real dick lately. And I... I really care about you."

"Sometimes it seems like you're the only one who does," Will muttered, before his voice got louder again, choked with sobs. "I mean, obviously Lucas and Mike don't. All they care about is their stupid girlfriends." He buried his face in his hands. "It's not fair. I-I just... I want things to go back to the way they were."

"I know you do," said Gabe softly. "I know."

Will sniffed. "You know, we used to spend every day together," he said, stepping back to allow Gabe to enter the Castle. Gabe obliged, thrilled to be (mostly) out of the rain. "It wasn't just playing D&D. But we were inseparable. We were the party: me, Lucas, Mike and Dustin. And we were happy." His voice broke.

Sitting down, he opened up one of his old comics. As he flipped through the pages, Gabe could see pencil markings of where his friends had scribbled. A smiley face by Lucas. A doodle by Dustin. A flower by Mike. Will continued. It was like he was talking to himself now. "It was just us. It was supposed to be us forever."

He turned to look at the collection of photos and drawings he'd set up. A drawing of his D&D character, Will the Wise. A science fair photo with a frame made out of popsicle sticks signed by the party. A picture of Will, Mike, Lucas, Dustin and Alina in their Halloween costumes from last year. He picked that last one up. He truly was crying now.

"Will..." Gabe didn't know what to say. His chest was tight, and he longed to put his arms around Will, but he didn't know if that would cause the boy to run away or not. So, again, just like in Mike's house, he watched.

That was all he could do.

"Stupid," Will whispered at the photo. "So stupid."

And then he tore it in half. Throwing it down with a cry, he moved to his drawing, and crumpled that, too. Then he was taking everything down and ripping it up, desecrating and destroying all of these wonderful memories, and Gabe was lunging forward, trying to get him to stop, because he hated everything being destroyed in front of his eyes. Will shrugged him off, and then he grabbed a baseball bat, moving outside. Gabe hastened to follow, pointless words coming from his lips.

"Will... stop... you don't really want to do this... please."

Will didn't listen. He instead swung his bat and took down Castle Byers. 

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

a/n: not one good thing happened in this chapter, and i am really sorry for that. honestly i was super emotional while i was writing it, especially the part where will rips up many of the relics from his childhood, because it's just so sad. he doesn't think his old friends care about him anymore.

also, this chapter was the start of a sort of subplot i added into the book, if you could call it that. i really wanted to explore alina's guilt over heather in this draft, and how the fact that she failed to save her deeply affects her. alina's the type of person who thinks she has to save everyone (as you've seen with her guilt over bob and brandon's deaths), so seeing someone get flayed right in front of her obviously doesn't help. i swear, i'm always hurting alina lmfao.

'till next time!