𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞:
𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞

Despite Stormi's bat and Willow's machete being the most intimidating weapons in the group's arsenal, they were nowhere near as effective against the Demodogs as water was. After their first adventure together, it hadn't taken them long to notice the liquid practically melt the skin off the bones of the monsters like the Wicked Witch of the West. Yeah, the melee arms were good for distraction, but Anna, Kayla, Dox and Evan were the one with the real firepower in this scenario.

In less than a minute with only a few cuts and bruises to show for it, the teens made short work of the three other-worldly animals in their way. Walking past the three puddles of green and black goop on the floor of the tunnel, the six kids stared with puzzled expressions at the gaping hole they'd discovered in the wall of the passageway.

"A portal?" Stormi raised an eyebrow, glancing around the area just outside the exit of the Aligned, barely lit by the glowing lava veins in the walls behind her. From a single look, it didn't appear to be anything impressive: a dark, wooded area with a road in the distance. If anything, it looked exactly like where they'd just come from earlier. "Didn't we come in this way? Did we just go in a circle?"

"It doesn't make sense," Anna spoke up and stepped up to peek out into the darkness as well. "Wait, where's your car?"

"What are you talking..." Stormi realized Anna was right; her BMW was nowhere to be found. "Oh my god," Before anyone could stop her, the girl bolted through the doorway between worlds and began to sprint toward where she'd parked their ride home. "Shit, oh shit, shit shit shit," Doing her best not to trip over sticks or bushes from within the woods, Stormi made it to the road and ran a stressed hand through her hair. Yeah, her car was gone with no sign of it in sight.

It hadn't looked like much, but her BMW was the first big purchase she'd ever made without the help of her mother and step-father. After working two summer jobs during the week and babysitting on the weekends, she'd managed to buy it almost completely new as well. Her heart began to thunder in her chest and her lungs tightened within her rib cage.

"Stormi, wait!" Anna yelled from behind with the rest of the group in tow. "You can't just run off like that! That's not how we operate anymore!" But Stormi wasn't paying attention, all she could handle at the moment was trying not to have a panic attack over the loss of her only means of transportation.

"Hey, relax," She felt Willow's hand on her shoulder. "We'll figure this out. Until then, you can borrow my car as soon as it's out of the shop." That sentence pulled the girl out of her panicked stupor and she turned her gaze to the girl to her left.

"Really? You'd let me drive your Camaro?"

"No, but I wanted to say something that would make you feel better for a second." Stormi let out a groan of pure annoyance. She couldn't believe it. Less than an hour ago, she'd been safely in her room preparing for a Spanish test, and now Stormi and her munchkins were out in the middle of nowhere with no way back into town besides their own feet. She knew this was going to turn into a disaster, just not one on this scale.

"I think we should go this way," Anna gestured to the right, following the road deeper into the woods. "If we're back where we started before, then that's the way to Mr.Jameson's house. We can borrow his phone and call for someone to pick us up."

"That's a bad idea," Kayla stated in a disgusted tone and folded her arms over her non-existent chest. "Our parents don't know we're out here. If we call them to pick us up, we're all screwed. They'll lock us up until summer break."

"Better to be locked up than kidnapped by some weirdos in a van, or worse," Dox set his water gun down and rubbed the sweat from his freckled brow. "And we'll never make it back to Hawkins on foot before freezing to death in this cold." He had a point; they'd changed their outfits before entering the Aligned into more summer-like attire that would suit the heat. Now that they were back in the cold, dripping in sweat, they'd die of hypothermia if they didn't get to some kind of shelter fast.

"Then we should go the other way. It'll take us maybe an hour or two, but the road runs straight through Main Street. We can warm ourselves up at the diner before getting back home," Kayla countered. Dox rolled his eyes and Anna just scoffed.

"Did you not hear what Dox just said? We won't last that long out here exposed," Anna stepped out of the ditch and onto the road. "You guys can start walking and Dox and I will have someone pick you up once we reach Jameson's if you haven't been kidnapped yet." Dox fell in stride next to her, water guns still half-full in their grasps, and started down the road.

"Hey, you two get back here!" Stormi yelled as she jogged after the duo. "We don't split up like this, we all know better than to do that." She had a point; last time the party split, the shit had hit the fan. And that was something Stormi was hell-bent on avoiding- at least from that moment on. "Anna-!"

Before she could finish, the sound of tires screeching pierced the air like a knife and two bright lights shown brilliantly in the darkness around them. Though it was tough to make out, Stormi squinted and caught sight of the approaching vehicle in more detail. It was a truck, and as it continued to get closer, a familiar feeling began to nip at the back of her mind. She didn't know if it was the way the engine faltered or the erratic behavior of the driver; what she did know was that this truck was something she'd seen before.

"Wait, is that...?" Kayla squinted through the light, lifting her free hand to shield herself from the harsh beams.

"But the news said her truck was totaled," Willow reminded them. "And there's no way the sheriff's department got a new car that fast-"

"Everyone, stand next to me," It was Evan who spoke and was the first to jump into action. As if he were a long-jumper in track season, the boy leaped from the ditch and stood in the very center where the two faded yellow lines parted the road. "In a line, like this." Kayla followed his orders without hesitation, but the others weren't as enthusiastic.

"What are you doing? Standing in the middle of traffic isn't going to help this situation," Anna began to protest, but Stormi sent her a stern look and that was the end of that conversation. In an instant, the oldest of the group had the remaining kids obeying Evan's command.

Was it a stupid command? Yes. Was she questioning her judgement? Possibly. But they'd jumped back into the Aligned for one reason and one reason only: find Evan's mom. Though it seemed they were back in their own dimension, this new development was anything but normal. If this was the sheriff's truck after all, they were going to ask the driver questions whether they liked it or not. And catching said-driver off-guard was their best bet of getting them to stop in the first place.

"Guys, they're not stopping..." Dox wasn't wrong; although the truck was still a quarter of a mile away, the driver refused to slow down. Stormi could sense Anna's worry and took the girl's free hand to boost her confidence.

"They will," The leader of the munchkins responded in a strong, certain tone. "If Evan says they will, I believe him. They'll stop."

"And if Evan's wrong?" Willow asked from Stormi's opposite side.

"Then Evan will make them."

Stopping a moving vehicle wasn't above the boy's abilities. Stormi had heard all the stories; Evan lifting trees, breaking open doors, crashing through walls, etcetera. If you name it, he'd already chucked it or crushed it. And now, if their luck turned for the worst, Stormi and Willow would see those skills in action for the first time with their own eyes.

As the seconds dragged on, the truck's engine roared with each foot it drove closer to the six. They could feel the ground beginning to vibrate beneath their shoes and the kids began to fidget where they stood. Anna tightened her grip on Stormi's hand, thankful for the darkness so her friends couldn't see her in a moment of weakness shared between the ring-leader and her favorite of the kids.

"Stormi..."

"Stay put," She snapped at Willow. "We've come this far, we're not stepping down now."

"I never said anything about stepping down, but I'd rather not be flattened by a truck going thirty-miles above the speed-limit." Stormi smirked and sent Willow a small wink in return, to which Willow could feel her cheeks growing warm.

"Since when have you ever cared about the speed-limit?"

Then the truck was upon them.

***

"Jesus," Hopper groaned from his seat. "Do people around here have a damn death-wish?" It was a good question, but Jean had no intention of answering as she peered through the windshield to the individuals before the vehicle now. It took a moment, but her eyes widened and she quickly fumbled with her seat-belt.

"Oh my god," She muttered under her breath and threw the passenger's door open. Hopper didn't care if this lady was some alternate version of himself; she was an absolute basket-case. "What the hell are you guys doing here?" When one of the kids ran up to the woman and wrapped his arms around her in a bear-hug, Jim decided it was a good time to step out as well.

There were six of them in all, each one with a sort of squirt gun or melee weapon: a boy with a head of shaggy red hair and rosy freckled cheeks, a shorter mousy-looking girl with dark hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, another girl though her hair wasn't as long and was curly as a pig's tail with locks of it sticking out from beneath her backwards baseball cap, and two young women - probably around their late teens - both blonde, although one appeared to flow closer to the 'rock and roll' end of the spectrum while the other seemed more of a typical teen. Then there was Joan's kid, Evan, who was buried too deep in his mother's embrace to get a real good look at.

"Looking for you, sheriff," It was the more-normal of the two young women, the one that appeared to be the leader (or designated driver) of the troupe. Sporting a pair of blue jeans and matching denim jacket, as well as an altered bat that reminded Jim of a torture weapon you'd see in a horror movie, she stepped forward with the rest of the group following suit. "Where the hell have you been? Everyone's worried sick about you."

"It's a long story," Jean began; she and Evan broke apart, though stood beside each other as the conversation progressed. She folded her arms over her chest. "How did you guys get here in the first place?" Then noticed their clothes - or lack of, to be more precise, and shrugged off her sheriff's coat before draping it over Evan's shoulders. "Why the hell aren't you kids wearing your coats? It's cold as balls out here, I thought I told you to never go outside without a coat or jacket in this weather!"

"Mom," Evan groaned in annoyance, glancing sideways at Kayla as his cheeks began to blush from something besides the cold air. Now properly exposed in the shine of the truck's headlights, Jim could get a good look at the kid and he felt a small tug at his chest. Evan could've been El's twin; the same thin, bony structure of his body, the angles of his face, the texture of his hair and color of his eyes. If it wasn't for the slight sharpness of his jaw and the deeper tone of his voice, Jim could've mistaken him for the girl in the woods he'd found nine months ago.

Jean opened her mouth to lecture the boy, Hopper assumed, but didn't get the chance as a heavy, guttural growl began to vibrate through the freezing breeze. Immediately, he reached for his gun but found that it was no longer at his hip; removed after being taken captive. Though it seemed he didn't have to worry too much when the four kids took defensive positions with their water-guns drawn, the two young women readying their bat and what he assumed was a machete, and Jean drawing what used to be his own pistol.

"Kids, your water guns aren't going to do shit against a bear," Hopper told them, but they didn't listen.

"It's not a bear, chief," Blondie-with-a-bat stated in a monotonous voice. Another growl shook the trees, only this time it came from multiple directions. "Evan? How many?"

"Five," Jean's son responded and clenched his fists at his sides. "I don't think they like what we did to their friends." Jean clicked off the safety.

"Sucks for them."

***
𝙎𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜.
𝙎𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜.
𝘿𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙.
𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙.

𝙉𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙗𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙥𝙨.
𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨.
𝘽𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩.
𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙.

𝙁𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙯𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙞𝙧.
𝙃𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙣.
𝘽𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙣.
𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙.

𝙎𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙙.
𝙎𝙤 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚.
𝙎𝙤 𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙜𝙧𝙮.
𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙.

𝙎𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙮.
𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜.
𝙎𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚.
𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙.

𝙂𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧.
𝙊𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙣.
𝙉𝙤𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙪𝙣.
𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙.
𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙.
𝘽.
𝙇.
𝙊.
𝙊.
𝘿.