¤The Flea and The Acrobat¤

"Sounds so weak, it sounds so Fey, it doesn't sound like what I meant to say. I speak to you with borrowed tongue, should I stop right now, or blindly carry on."

She had a killer headache. It was different to all the other times, this time it was like she had a killer hangover. That's what led her to be slumped on the stairs, her knees pulled up into her chest and her forehead resting forward against the back of Dustin's shoulder who was sitting in front of her. Mike was across the room on his couch, next to Eleven who was sprawled out on the couch beside her, looking just as drained as she felt, maybe worse.

"What was Will saying? Like home... but dark?" Mike was saying, pushing off the couch to cross his basement floor, away from Eleven and closer to the other three.

"And empty." Lucas added from where he was lounging in the Camo arm chair.

"Empty and cold," Dustin added, his voice vibrating through his chest and to Rowan, forcing her to sit up, squinting at the light. "Wait, did he say cold?"

She groaned at the pain that erupted through her skull. "If he didn't he sure felt it." She mumbled, hugging her arms uncomfortably around herself. She could still feel the bone chilling sensation running through her, like someone just poured a pitcher of ice cold water down her back. Dustin jerked around to look at her, as she crunched up her face in pain and instead leaned into the railing

"Home?" Mike echoed, tasting the word on his tongue as he paced the floor. "Like his house."

"Or like Hawkins," Luke sat upright suddenly, his eyes wide.

"Rowan, what did you see?" Dustin asked.

Rowan peeked her eye open to see all three boys looking at her. She groaned in annoyance and sat up, her hands still tucked into her jacket pockets. "It was the outside of my house, like the porch. And- and he was trying to get in..." She shook her head, zoning out at the carpeted floor in front of her. "But, he couldn't. He was stuck."

Will pounded desperately on the door, his heart racing a mile a minute in his chest. His wide, frantic eyes peeking over his shoulder every other second like he was waiting for someone to get him.

"Everything was so dark and cold - colder than I've ever felt," Her wide eyes snapped up to meet Mike's curious ones. "And it was like everything was rotted... dead."

"Upside down..." Eleven muttered. All four eyes snapped to her.

"What'd she say?" Lucas frowned back at the other three.

"Upside down." Mike echoed.

"Oh, my God..." Rowan's wide eyes met Mike's and in that moment she knew he was thinking the same thing she was. She scrambled to her feet and over to the table where the board game still lied, flipped upside down. She dropped into her seat, feeling Mike hovering over her shoulder. "The night El showed us where my brother was, she flipped the board game over, remember." Dustin and Lucas were quick to take the two seats on either side of her and she flipped the board right side up and then back over to the black. "Upside down."

"Dark. Empty." Mike added from behind her, resting his hands on the back of her chair and leaning into it.

"Do you understand what they're talking about?" Lucas asked, looking over at Dustin like the two weren't standing right there.

Dustin shook his head, "no."

"Come on, guys just think about it," Mike urged them to see what they saw. "When El took us to find Will, she took us to his house, right?"

"Yeah, and he wasn't there." Lucas reminded them of something they were all vividly aware of.

"But, what if he was there. What if we just couldn't see him." Mike said and Rowan nodded eagerly along, seemingly being the only to understand what exactly Mike was trying to say in so many vague words. "What if he was on the other side?"

Rowan sighed in exasperation when she realized they still weren't catching on and flipped the board right side up. "What if this is Hawkins, and this is the upside down." She flipped the board back over to the black and looked between the other two boys in the room expectantly. "This is where Will is. The Upside Down. I saw it myself."

Dustin's jaw dropped as his eye lit up with recognizable realization, "like the Vale of Shadows."

Rowan snapped and pointed at him, "exactly like that. Mike." She looked back at him expectantly and seemed to get the hint without her even saying anything.

"Got it," he ran over to the book case and pulled out the file he put together about Dungeons and Dragons like the true nerd he was. He dropped it onto the table in front of Rowan and pulled up a chair between her and Dustin to take a seat himself.

Dustin pulled the book over to him, flipping through the pages until it came across a black and white picture with the words 'Vale of Shadows' written across the top. "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." Dustin slowly looked up, the four of them sharing a forlorning look, no one liking the sound of that.

"An alternate dimension," Mike whispered and Rowan cocked her head to the side to look at him, seeing him starring down at the table top in thought.

"But... how do we get there?" Lucas was the one to ask.

Rowan sighed, slamming her back into the back of the chair, "there's gotta be a gate or portal or something." She looked over at Dustin for confirmation seeing as he was the one with the reference book.

"We cast shadow walk."

Rowan closed her eyes to control her irritation at the stupid response, raising her hand slightly. "I meant in real life, Dustin." She said slowly, smiling a bittersweet smile at the curly haired boy.

"None of this is real life, Rowan," He said in the same tone, making her eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "We can't shadow walk, but maybe she can." He jerked his chin over at where Eleven was, and they all turned to look at her, silently asking her the same question they were all thinking.

"Do you know how to get there?" Mike asked the tired girl. "To the Upside Down." She simply shook her head. Rowan sighed out in defeat, crossing her arms on the table top and dropping her head onto her crossed arms.

"I need to go home." Rowan finally decided, sucking in a sharp breath as she pushed up out of the chair. "It's late and I'm tired and my Mom's probably called the police by now." She mumbled the words more so to herself than anyone else, grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. She turned to leave, only for Dustin to be standing right there. She jerked back, startled. She hadn't even noticed him get up. "Jesus..."

"Are you sure you're okay, riding by yourself?" He asked, the worry clear in his eyes. Her eyes were bloodshot and she looked like she was going to pass out at any moment.

She smiled weakly at him, "you doubting me, Henderson." She managed a joke, crossing her arms and raising her chin defiantly.

His lips turned up into a cute smile as some of her old attitude resurfaced. "Never, Byers."

She laughed, touching his arm gently as she moved around him for the stairs, "I'll see you tomorrow. Bye." She heard all three boys chorus a parting back at her as she hurried up the stairs. Tonight, for some reason, it seemed like the bike ride from Mike's house to her own was hours long, not just twenty minutes. She parked her bike at the side of the house and weakly climbed the porch steps to get into the house.

She was halted in the threshold, by Johnathan standing right there, blocking her. Curiously, she peeked around him to see her Dad standing there, her Mom looked like a train wreck on the couch and a garbage bag covering a hole in the wall on the far end of the room. "What the Hell..." She whispered, all eyes on her then.

"Rowan, sweetheart." Her Dad smiled, walking up to her for what she assumed was a hug and numbly she let him. She couldn't even remember the last time she saw him.

She was thrown back into the present, the present of her Dad walking out on her and her family about six years ago. She jerked back from him like he was on fire and he noticed. "I'm tired." Was all she said, hurrying around him to run off into her room.

The next morning was the funeral for her not so dead brother, but just because she knew he wasn't dead didn't mean others didn't think that. And with her Dad back, she'd have to play the role of the weeping sister like her life depended on it. And for all she knew, it did. The only good thing that came out of funerals, was being able to wear all black and not have everyone look at you like you're a freak for doing so.

Rowan wouldn't be caught dead in a dress. So, instead, she wore a black blouse with a pair of her black bell bottoms. She pulled her hair back into a low ponytail, save for a few locks that framed her face. Throwing on her best game face she left her room and headed next door to her brothers, knocking on the door frame softly.

His eyes snapped to hers through the mirror he was trying to fix his tie up in, and offered a weak smile. "Hey, Row. How you holding up?"

"As good as I can be," She shrugged weakly. She gestured for him to turn to her and she took the tie in her hands, and began lacing them together. She used to do Will's all the time, be it for picture day or a school function. Their Dad was never around to show them how and Johnathan was atrocious at it. So, one day she asked Hopper to teach her how to do it, so she could help Johnathan and Will whenever the time arised. "I'm sorry for being such a bitch lately, I didn't mean to take it out on you."

Johnathan offered her a half smile, "you don't have to apologize to me. We've all been going through a lot." Rowan tilted her head up to look at him, pulling the tie tight, and smiled.

She smoothed her hands across the top of his blazer, removing any wrinkles it might have had. "There, all done."

"Johnathan! Rowan!" Their Dad called and just the sound of his voice was enough to make Rowan roll her eyes. Johnathan immediately noticed the shift in her attitude and held out the crook of his elbow to her. She gave him a soft smile, latching onto his arm and letting him lead her out to where their parents were waiting to head to Will's funeral together.

It was almost like the whole town turned up for the event, even though half of them had no idea who he was. Rowan sat in the front row, right by the casket, next to her big brother, leaning in on his shoulder. She peeked over to where Mike and the others were standing at the end of the row of chairs with their families, barely paying attention to the priest that was droning on and on.

When the time called, Rowan walked up to the edge of the six feet deep hole and dropped a white rose into it, letting it land on the casket. "See you soon, loser." She winked, fighting off a smile as she headed over to where the boys had gathered, away from the others.

"Did you see Jennifer Hayes crying," Dustin turned to the dark haired girl as soon as she walked up to them. "I can't wait to tell Will."

Rowan rolled her eyes at his enthusiasm with a fond smile on her lips, "I saw Mr. Clarke go inside for the food." Her eyebrows shot up in the silent implication, remembering the plan they made when they met up before the service.

"Right," Mike was quick to agree and the four of them made their way into the small room in the church where the reception was being held. Rowan lingered behind the three boys as they addressed their favorite teacher. "Mr. Clarke?"

"Hey, there," Mr. Clarke smiled at the four of them. Dustin came up beside Rowan, holding out a cookie that she politely declined. She was too focused to eat. "How are you four holding up?"

"We're... in... mourning..." Lucas said slowly, trying to sound distraught.

Dustin's crunching was all the more evident when they stopped talking. He shook his head in disappointment, "man, these aren't real Nilla Wafers." Rowan elbowed his side subtly and tossed him a silent look to shut up.

Mike shook his head at his two best friends, "We were wondering if you had time to talk?"

"We have questions." Lucas added.

"A lot of questions." Mike emphasized.

Mr. Clarke let out a slow sigh, looking between the four Middle schoolers he taught Science to. Finally, he nodded, "I guess, I have time."

"Great," Rowan smiled brightly, grabbing the sleeve of his suit jacket and dragging him along to an open table with the boys following. She nudged him down into his chair before moving around him to sit on the other side of him, in between Mr. Clarke and Dustin, as the boys filled up the rest of the round table.

"So, you know how in Cosmos, Carl Sagen talks about other dimensions," Mike got right down to business. Rowan sat forward, clasping her hands together on the table and watching her Science teacher curiously. "Like, beyond our world?"

Mr. Clarke nodded, "Yeah, theoretically."

"Right, theoretically." Mike agreed, knowing how weird the questions would sound if they just came right up to bat.

"So, theoretically, how do we travel there?" Rowan asked, tilting her head to look up at the older man.

"You guys have been thinking about Hugh Everett's; 'Many Worlds', haven't you?" He asked with a knowing look. Rowan's eyebrows threaded together in confusion, looking across the table at the other boys, but they looked just as lost as she was. "Well, basically, there are parallel universes. Just like our world, but infinite versions of it. Which means that there's a world out there where none of this tragic stuff happened."

Lucas shook his head, not liking where his teacher was taking this conversation, "Yeah, that's not what we're talking about."

"We were thinking of more of an evil dimension," Dustin corrected and Rowan nodded along in confirmation. "Like the 'Vale of Shadows'. You know the 'Vale of Shadows'?" He asked, stuffing another cookie into his mouth.

Mr. Clarke frowned at them, "An echo of the material plane where necrotic and shadow magic-"

"That's the one," Rowan cut him off impatiently, and fluttering her eyelashes innocently. "If, theoretically, a place like the Vale of Shadows did exist, then, theoretically, how would we travel there... theoretically." She gave a firm nod at the end of her sentence.

"Well..." He trailed off, pulling the second paper plate from under the first one and a pen from his suit jacket. "Picture... an Acrobat," he drew two lines on the plate and then a simple stick figure above the top line. "Standing on a tightrope. Now, the tightrope is our dimension. And our dimension has rules; you can move forwards or backwards." He drew two arrows, one pointing in either direction. "But, what if, right next to our Acrobat, there is a flea. Now, the Flea can also travel back and forth, just like out Acrobat, right?"

"Right," Mike nodded.

"Here's where things get really interesting. The flea can also travel this way," he drew another arrow, this one in between the two original lines. "Along the side of the rope. He can even go-"

"Upside down," Rowan whispered along with the three boys, an accomplished smile pulling at her lips into a toothy grin.

"Exactly," Mr. Clarke agreed after drawing the arrow.

"But, we're not the Flea, we're the Acrobat." Mike pointed out and Rowan had a feeling they knew someone who was more like the Flea than they were.

"In this Metaphor, yes," The balding man nodded. "We're the Acrobat."

Lucas frowned, trying to comprehend what he was just told, "So, we can't go upside down?"

"No."

"Well, is there anyway for the Acrobat to get to the Upside Down?" Dustin asked and Rowan snapped her eyes to her Science teacher, waiting for the answer.

"Well... you'd have to create a massive amount of energy - more than humans are capable of creating, mind you - to open up some kind of tear in time and space. And then..." He trailed off, folding the paper plate in half and stabbing a hole through it with his pen. "You create a doorway."

"Like a gate," Rowan piped up, straightening up in her seat.

"Sure, like a gate," Mr. Clarke nodded at her. "But, again. This is all-"

"Theoretical," Rowan cut him off impatiently, surprised when all three boys did exactly the same. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth to stop herself from laughing at the face Mr. Clarke made.

"But, what if this gate already existed?" Mike continued questioningly.

"Well, if it did, I think we'd know," Rowan perked at this. Of course she knew there was a place like that already out there, that's how Will got there and the Shadow man kept getting through. "It would disrupt gravity, the magnetic field, our environment. Heck, it might even swallow us up hole." Rowan shared a startled look with the boys at that revelation. It definitely didn't sound good. "Science is neat, but I'm afraid it isn't very forgiving."

"It is, it's very neat." Rowan nodded in fake interest, tapping her fingers tips together. "You know, who I think would love to hear all about this. My cousin," she smiled brightly over to the three boys who immediately seemed to get the idea. "In fact, we should go tell her now." Rowan didn't wait for a response, shooting up from her chair and taking off to go find Johnathan and ask for a ride to the Wheelers house. She heard the boys call back overlapping goodbyes to their favorite teacher as they rushed to follow after the girl.

***

"Rose! Rose!"

The young brunette frowned at the voice hissing her name and she peeked over her shoulder from where she was sitting with her Mom, eating at the reception to see Nancy in the doorway that led outside. She waved the girl over frantically and Rosemary's eyes widened as she straightened back in her seat.

"Mom, I'm gonna head out of here, okay?" She whispered, not waiting for a response before she pushed out of her chair and hurried out of the reception room towards Nancy. She stopped with wide eyes when she saw Jonathan hovering behind her. "What's going on?"

"We think we know where this things hunting grounds are," she whispered, grabbing the girls arm to lead her away from any prying ears.

Her eyebrows pulled together thickly, "what do you mean?" Her eyes darted between Nancy and Jonathan quickly. "You guys wanna go after it?"

"Yeah, I could really use your help," Nancy admitted honestly and Rosemary let out a long sigh, her face softening.

"How do you even plan to stop this thing?"

"I got that covered. Come on," Jonathan nodded for her to follow as he hurried back towards his car and Rosemary shared a quick look with Nancy before following after him. The girl explained it to her in the car, that all the places this Monster had been seen were all within a mile of each other. Where they found Will's bike, Will's house and Steve's house, it had to be somewhere in there.

They dropped Nancy off at her house to get somethings together and Rosemary instead opted to go with Jonathan. He said he was going to practice his shooting for whenever they went out to go find this monster. She was sitting in the grass a few feet back from him and sorting through her bag of stuff that they had grabbed from her house on the way out here.

Couple of flashlights, some first aid stuff just in case anything happened, and a crowbar she found in her garage. She pulled it out and held it in her hand, checking the weight of it in her hands. Slowly her eyes turned up to see Jonathan practicing his shooting and absolutely failing at doing so.

"You're kind of bad at that," she admitted bluntly and she watched Jonathan's shoulders sag as he lowered the gun before turning to look at her.

"I'm trying."

Rosemary snorted at that, shaking her head. She heard him scoff under his breath as he turned back to the empty soda cans he had lined up. "Do you remember when you did that whole photoshoot for me before our 8th grade graduation?"

Jonathan slowly turned back to her, and she could hear the click of the safety of the gun being turned back on followed by the crunching of the dead grass as he walked over to her. "Yeah, I do," he admitted.

A small smile pulled up onto her lips, "I was wearing the most hideous, puffy pink dress. I still can't believe you didn't say anything to me about how awful it looked." She squinted at the sunlight as she leaned back to look up at him.

He shrugged, rubbing at the back of his head almost awkwardly, "I didn't think you looked that bad."

"I looked like a giant ball of Cotton Candy," she admitted, laughing under her breath and she saw the corner of his mouth turn up slightly. "We used to be pretty good friends, I don't know what happened."

Jonathan let out a long sigh, slowly dropping down into the grass to sit across from her. "High School," he admitted with a shrug. "We all just started to do our own things. You had your own friends, and I didn't want to be that weird guy you had to apologize for whenever your other friends were around."

She shook her head slightly, "well, I didn't really have many other friends," she admitted, her nose crunching up as she frowned at him. "Nancy was my only other friend and we stopped hanging out once we got to High School too. Even more so now that she's dating Harrington."

"So, uh..." he cleared his throat, ducking his head slightly so his hair blocked his face. "Her and that guy are actually dating?"

"I think so," she shrugged, pausing in twirling the crowbar to look up at Jonathan. She narrowed her eyes slightly when she noticed him not making eye contact with her, "why? You got a thing for her or something?" He only shrugged and Rosemary let out a short laugh at that. "Well, little piece of advice? If you like a girl, maybe try talking to her instead taking creepy photos of her half naked."

"I thought you were practicing." A voice called out before he could think of a response to that and both looked up to see Nancy coming over with a bag over her shoulder and a bat in her hands.

"He was, but he's absolutely terrible at it," Rosemary called over to the approaching girl, grinning at the look that passed over Jonathan's face. He got up quickly to join Nancy and Rosemary ignored their conversation, twirling the crowbar in her hands as her mind drifted to what they were about to do.

She didn't think they stood a chance against whatever this was but what were they supposed to do? Ignore as it's out there claiming lives?

***

And as soon as they got to Mike's house, that's what they did. Explained the theory to Eleven. "It would take a lot of energy to build a gate like this," Mike was telling her, sitting beside her on the couch, while Rowan took her other side. Lucas resumed his spot from last night, on the arm chair across from them and Dustin had picked up pacing the floor. "That's gotta be what happened, otherwise, how'd Will get there? Right?"

"Right..." Eleven agreed softly.

"What we want to know is, do you know where the gate is?" Lucas asked. Rowan's attention was pulled from Eleven to Dustin who was swinging his arm around, holding a Compass. She frowned at his frantic movements. "Then how do you know about the Upside Down!?"

"Dustin," She said suddenly, seeing him going in circles and every other way randomly. "What in the Hell are you doing?"

Dustin snapped his head up suddenly, like he'd forgotten for a moment that they were there. "I... I need to see your compasses."

"What?" Mike frowned, startled by the sudden request.

"Your Compasses. All of your Compasses, right now!" He snapped and Rowan watched as Mike scrambled to find every Compass he could in his house. She slowly made her way over to Dustin's side, her arms crossed and peering down at the table top that Lucas and Mike had thrown the collected devices down on.

"What's exciting about this?" Mike asked, confused.

"They're all facing North."

"Yeah, so..." Lucas said slowly.

Rowan frowned, slowly picking up one of the Compasses in her hands. "That's not true North." She whispered, frowning at the direction the device was facing, that all of them were being drawn to.

"Exactly!" Dustin clapped his hands together excitedly as she actually understood what he was saying, gesturing to the brunette beside him.

Still, both Mike and Lucas looked confused and Rowan was hit with the vivid flashbacks of the other night when Lucas and Dustin weren't catching on to what Mike and her were trying to say. "What do you mean?"

"She means exactly what she just said," Dustin said for her as the brunette hurried over to the window to check which way the sun was setting and if she was right about her theory. "That's not true North. Are you both seriously this dense?" Lucas simply shrugged.

"The sun rises in the East and sets in the West," Rowan began to explain, turning from the window and starting back over to them, her brown and pink locks whipping around her. "Which makes that true North," Rowan pointed passed Mike and then held up the Compass for them to see. "The Compass dial isn't facing that way."

"So, what you're saying is that the Compasses are broken," Mike stated more than asked and Rowan could sense the frustration rolling off of Dustin. It was actually quite entertaining to watch.

"Do you even know how a Compass works?" Dustin asked, looking at him like he was stupid. "Do you see a battery pack on this thing?" He held one up for show and Mike shook his head. "No, you don't because it doesn't need one." Dustin continued before he could get a word out.

"It's a magnet, basically," Rowan piped up over his shoulder.

"Right," Dustin nodded back at the girl but didn't take his eyes off his two friends that he was trying to explain this to. "The needle is drawn to the Earth's magnetic North Pole." He set it back onto the table top.

"So, what's wrong with them?" Lucas asked the question they were all thinking, all except Dustin and Rowan.

"You can change the direction with a magnet," She crossed her arms. "So, say there was one strong enough to eclipse the pull of true North than..." She trailed off as it all made sense, her wide eyes meeting Dustin's. "The needle will deflect to that one than."

"Exactly, and then I remembered what Mr. Clarke said," Dustin took over the reigns, looking between Lucas and Mike, growing more excited with each moment and every word. "The gate would have so much power-"

"It would disrupt the electromagnetic field." Mike finished, his eyes lighting up with familiar realization as he figured out what Dustin and Rowan were talking about.

Lucas' wasn't that far off their train of thought either, "meaning if we follow the Compasses North-"

"It should lead us to the gate," Rowan finished for him with a smile and a curt nod. "What're we waiting for?" Rowan was quick to change with some of the clothes she had over here from when she was giving Eleven a make over - she didn't know what kind of style the girl would go for - some jeans and an old Beatles T-shirt and Dustin's jacket that she still hadn't returned to him. Not knowing what terrain they were going to hit, they didn't take their bikes, but they did take their 'survival kit' book bags and followed Dustin's lead since he had the Compass.

Rowan jogged to catch up to the curly haired boy, holding onto the straps of her book bag and slowing to an easy walk when she was up beside him on the Train tracks. "How much further do you think it is?" She asked, feeling her feet already begin to grow sore.

Dustin shrugged, "these only tell direction, not distance."

"Point taken," Rowan nodded, giggling softly at her own stupid question. She dropped her gaze to the ground around her feet, watching her own Converse covered feet take one step in front of the other.

"I saw your Dad at the funeral," He spoke up after a silent moment and Rowan snapped her big, brown eyes up to him. "How's that going?"

She let out a dry laugh, shaking her head, "he hasn't given a damn about Will, about any of us for six years. Why start now, you know?" She hooked her fingers around the straps of her book bag, peeking over at him with a small smile.

"Well, I'm here if you need to talk," He told her, nudging his elbow into her side and tossing her a small smile.

She tilted her head to peer up at him, seeing as he was a good three inches taller than her. "I know." She smiled at him, leaning her head onto his shoulder as they walked. Dustin found his eyes lingering on the brunette beside him a little longer than he should've. Taking in her cute little smile, and the soft tinge of pink of her baby faced cheeks, feeling his smile widen.

"Hey, do you think she's acting weird," Lucas managed to push his way up in between the two. Rowan didn't seem to mind as much, but Dustin did. He cleared his throat, dropping his eyes down to his feet and shaking his head slightly. What was wrong with him?

Rowan crossed her arms, "I don't know, you're the one who thinks she's a weirdo."

Lucas rolled his eye impatiently, "I mean, weirder than normal."

"I don't know, who cares?" Dustin rolled his eyes and Rowan frowned at his sudden attitude.

"Alrighty, then." Rowan shook her head, hiking up her book bag straps onto her shoulders keeping silent for the rest of the trip.

***

Rosemary huffed, grabbing onto Jonathan's shoulder to hike herself over an overturned tree trunk and squinted up at the sky. She didn't know what time it was or how much time had passed but it had to have been getting into the late afternoon as she could see the sun getting lower in the sky.

"You never said what I was saying," Nancy was the one to speak up and break the silence and Rosemary nearly rolled her eyes at the topic that kept being brought up. If she was in Nancy's position you would not hear her bringing up a half naked photo some guy took of her without her knowing every five seconds. But, that was just her.

Jonathan frowned over at the girl, "What?"

"Yesterday," She shrugged, and Rosemary fell back to walk just behind the pair of them, watching them with a slight frown. "You said I was saying something and that's why you took my picture."

"Oh, I don't know," he began and Rosemary listened with interest for what possible answer he head to that. "I guess I saw this girl, you know trying to be someone else but for that moment you were alone or you thought you were and you could just be yourself."

"That is..." Nancy trailed off, letting out a slight scoff. "Such bullshit," she finally said and Rosemary scoffed out a short laugh.

Jonathan looked over at her startled, "What?"

"I am not trying to be someone else, just because I'm dating Steve and you don't like him-"

"You know, what? Forget it," Jonathan waved her off, picking up his pace to get away from the girl and Rosemary actually did roll her eyes this time. Not sure why he was getting so defensive like he wasn't in the wrong, but she wasn't about to get in the middle of that argument. "I just thought it was a good picture."

"He's actually a good guy," she continued, trying to convince Jonathan of something she didn't need to convince him of - Rosemary wasn't sure why she cared so much if Jonathan Byers of all people liked her boyfriend.

"Okay," he scoffed.

"Yesterday, with the camera... he's not like that at all. He was just trying to be protective."

"Yeah that's one word for it," he said and Rosemary let out a humorless laugh.

"I would've done more than break the camera," she muttered to herself, kicking up some of the dry leaves as she walked.

"And what you did was okay?"

Jonathan came to a jerky stop to whirl on the girl and Rosemary herself had to stop so she didn't run right through the arguing pair. "I never said it was."

"He had every right to be mad about that."

"Okay, alright. Does that mean I have to like him?"

Nancy's face crunched up in obvious frustration, "No."

"Listen, don't take it personally. I don't like most people, he's in the vast majority," Jonathan assured her and Rosemary let out a long sigh, but she could tell that neither heard her nor did she think they remembered she was even there.

"You know, I was actually starting to think that you were okay," Nancy rolled her eyes.

"Yeah?" he challenged.

"Yeah. yeah, I was thinking... Jonathan Byers maybe he's not the pretentious creep everyone thinks he is," She sneered and Rosemary's eyebrows shot up in shock at how much venom was in the girls tone. She was expecting that from little miss perfect Nancy Wheeler.

"You know, I was just starting to think you were okay. I was thinking... Nancy Wheeler, she's not just some suburban girl who thinks she's rebelling by doing exactly what every suburban girl does... until that phase passes until they marrying some boring one time jock who now works sales, and they live out a perfectly boring little life at the end of a cup-de-sac," He spat out and you could see the hurt pass through Nancy's eyes, mixed with anger and Rosemary almost cut in the cut the argument short but it seemed like Jonathan had the same idea.

"Exactly like their parents who they thought were so depressing, but now, hey, they get it," Jonathan threw his hands out in frustration, waving the girl off as he took off ahead of them. Nancy's wide eyes turned to Rosemary, gesturing out to Jonathan with a scoff and all the Henderson girl could offer her was a shrug.

She was so not getting in the middle of all of that.

***

The Compass led them to a Junkyard, where about a million worn out cars and buses sat, like an automobile graveyard. Rowan ran her hand along the side of a bus, her eyes working to take everything in.

"Oh, no." Dustin uttered only two syllables, but they were enough to root everyone in their spot.

"Oh, no?" Lucas echoed. "What's 'Oh, no'?"

"We're headed back home," He told them, turning on his toes to face his three best friends and the strange girl they took in.

Rowan turned to and raised a hand to shield her eyes from the setting son. "Setting sun, right there. We looped back around." She pointed out, spinning on her toes in frustration. "Son of a bitch..."

"And you're just realizing this now?" Lucas snapped.

Rowan gaped at him, "Why is this all on me?"

"Cause you and Dustin are the Compass genius."

"Leave her alone, Lucas," Dustin turned to his dark skinned friend, scoffing at his attitude. "It's not her fault."

"Of course, you'd take her side." Lucas crossed his arms.

Rowan's eyebrows shot up at his tone, taking a slight step back, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Now's not the time guys," Dustin cut in, quickly coming to Rowan's aid making Lucas roll his eyes once more. "What do your Compasses say."

"North," Lucas and Mike answered simultaneously and Dustin turned questioning eyes onto Rowan.

She huffed out a tired sigh, bringing up the face of her Compass to check it, "North." She muttered, nodding. "Which makes no sense." She mumbled, running a hand through her hair and looking around the junkyard to see if maybe the gate was here, but so far, nothing out of the ordinary stuck out to her.

"Maybe the gate moved." Mike suggested suddenly.

"No, it's not the gate." Dustin shot down the idea easily. Rowan groaned out in frustration, she walked all this way for nothing. Her legs were killing her, she was starving, and she was tired. She dropped her bag off her shoulders, and kneaded the palm of her hand into her aching muscles.

"Maybe it's something here." Mike suggested next.

Rowan was shaking her head before he even finished his sentence, "No, it'd have to be like a super magnet or something."

"Not a super magnet," Rowan snapped her eyes to Lucas at the suspicious tone in his voice and saw him looking at Eleven, who was lingering a few paces away. "She's been acting weirder than normal. If she can slam doors with her mind, she can definitely screw with a Compass."

"Why would she do that?" Mike shrilled, not believing it for a second.

"Because, she's trying to sabotage our mission. Because she's a traitor," Lucas accused, his eyes slits as he glared at the faux blonde, stalking up to her.

Mike's eyes widened, running after his friend, "Lucas, what're you doing?" His question went ignored.

"You did it, didn't you?" Lucas asked the strange girl, who simply stared back at him. "You don't want us to find the gate. You don't want us to find Will." Rowan lingered back with Dustin, deciding for now to just let it all play out.

"Lucas, come on. Seriously, just leave her alone." Mike snapped, but he went ignored, again.

"Admit it," Lucas wasn't about to back down anytime soon, not until he got the answers he was looking for. "Admit it!" He grabbed her arm, checking her sleeve for the evidence. "Fresh blood! I knew it."

"Lucas, come on!"

Lucas was quick to whirl on his best friend who was so quick to defend the girl, despite the evidence. "I saw her wiping her nose on the tracks. She was using her powers!"

"Bull! That's old blood! Right, El?" Mike looked desperately at the faux blonde for answers, but he didn't get any. Rowan frowned watching Eleven's lip tremble and the tears gather in her brown eyes. "Right, El?"

"It's... not..." She strained to get the two words out. "It's not safe."

Rowan scoffed, swinging back her shoulders as she turned away from them. "I can't believe this."

"What did I tell you? She's been playing us from the beginning!" Lucas snapped, whirling on Mike and getting all up in his face. You could practically feel the anger rolling off the both of them.

"That's not true," Mike argued easily. "She helped us find Will!" Rowan chewed on her thumb nail, her eyes darting between the two screaming boys nervously.

"Find Will?" Lucas echoed incredulously. "Find Will? Where is he then, huh? I don't see him!"

"Should we do something?" Dustin whispered to the brunette next to him.

Mike rolled his eyes at his friends dramatics, "yeah, you know what I mean."

"No, I don't know what you mean!" Lucas didn't miss a beat. "Just think about it, Mike. She could've told us where the Upside Down was, right away, but she didn't!" Lucas flung a hand out in the direction of the faux blonde who had sought shelter in the shade. "She just made us run around like headless chickens."

Rowan huffed, having enough of this, "both of you need to calm down," She jerked Lucas back by his shoulder.

"No!" He wrenched out of her grip. "She used us! All of us! She helped just enough so she could get what she wants, food and a bed. She's like a stray dog!"

"Screw you, Lucas!"

"No, screw you Mike!" Lucas shot back, taking a menacing step forward. "You're blind because you like the fact a girl who's not Rowan, isn't not grossed out by you! But, wake up, man! Wake the Hell up! She knows where Will is, and now she's just letting him die in the Upside Down."

"Shut up!"

"For all we know, it's her fault!" Lucas spat. Rowan felt a hand grab her arm and pull her back out of the line of fire, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the argument. "We're looking for some monster, well, did you ever stop to think that maybe she's the monster!" Lucas shoved at Mike's chest. And that was the last straw for Mike, as he grabbed at Lucas and sent them both down to the ground, wrestling.

"Stop it!" Rowan shouted, hearing both Dustin and Eleven shout about the same thing, trying to get the two supposed best friends to stop fighting. Suddenly, Eleven let out an ear piercing scream and Lucas went flying back into an old pile of rubble. Rowan's hands flew up to cover her mouth in shock as both Dustin and Mike ran to his aid.

She took a few steps forward to try and see what was going on, then whirled on Eleven. The girl was breathing heavily, tears flowing from her eyes and blood dripping from her nose. "What the Hell is wrong with you?" She shook her head in disbelief, before running over to check on Lucas herself. She dropped to her knees between Mike and Dustin, shaking Lucas by his shoulders until he jerked awake.

She let out a breath of relief, helping him sit up and checking him over for any injuries, "Are you okay?" He didn't answer her, looking a bit distorted.

"Lucas, how many fingers am I holding up?" Dustin held up three fingers, and Rowan tossed him a deflated look.

"Let me check your head-"

"Get off of me!" Lucas suddenly snapped at Mike, slapping his hand away as he pulled himself to his feet. Mike tried to reach for him again only to get the same reaction. "Get off of me!" Lucas voice cracked slightly as he shoved passed the three of them to stalk away.

"Lucas," Mike started after his friend only to get hauled back by Dustin and for Rowan to rest a hand on his chest, keeping him back.

"Let him go." Dustin muttered, all three of them watching their friend walk away. Rowan's hand slipped from Mike's chest when she realized he was going to stay put and let out a heavy sigh, finally feeling the adrenaline leave her body and make her painfully aware of how exhausted she was.

"Oh, my God..." She breathed out, rubbing at her forehead as she felt the beginnings of a massive headache coming on.

"Where's El?" Rowan jerked her head up at Mike's question, her eyes darting around to try and find the girl, but she was no where to be seen. That definitely couldn't be good.

***

Sighing heavily, Rosemary dug the palm of her hand into the back of her neck. The sun had long since set in the sky and the whole forest was shrouded in darkness. She watched her flashlight beam bounce around from tree to tree and she walked just a few steps in front of Nancy, and a couple behind Jonathan. It had been painstakingly quiet since their argument and all she wanted to do was go home and go to bed.

She heard Nancy gasp and she paused in her step, turning to see the girl frowning around at the darkness around them. "What? Are you tired?" She heard Jonathan ask and the Henderson girl nearly rolled her eyes.

"Shut up," Nancy muttered, turning in her spot slowly like she was looking for something.

"What is it Nancy?" Rosemary was the one to ask, her voice quiet as she stepped closer to the girl.

"I heard something. This way," she waved the two along and hurried off towards the left, deeper into the forest. Malinda looked back at Jonathan briefly before quickly following after the girl. She came to a jerky halt when she found Nancy again, her flashlight beam trained onto a bleeding deer. "Oh, God... It's been hit by a car."

Rosemary turned in her spot quickly, her eyes darting through the tree for any sign of life. "We can't just leave it," she heard Nancy say and she turned quickly to see the gun in Nancy's hand.

Her eyes widened, "yes, we can," she said quickly but they both ignored her. There was no way a gunshot through the silent night was a good idea.

"I'll do it," Jonathan said suddenly, reaching for the little gun.

"I thought you said-"

"I'm not Nine anymore," Jonathan insisted and after a hesitant moment Nancy handed the gun over to him.

Rosemary blinked slowly, her eyes wide as she watched the two of them. "Guys, I don't think this is a good idea," she hissed at them, grabbing at Jonathan's arm before he could shoot anything.

Nancy whirled on her with a short scoff, "Rose, come on, it's suffering."

The Deer was suddenly snatched out of sight by a grisly looking pale arm and a loud growl. Rosemary jumped nearly a foot in the air, her hands fisting the sleeve of Jonathan's jacket. "Son of a bitch!" She shouted, her heart pounding painfully against her ribcage.

"What was that?" Nancy hissed. She took off after the direction they saw the Deer disappear - Rosemary forced to follow when Jonathan went after her. "Where'd it go?"

"I think we should get out of here," the Henderson girl muttered, tugging at Jonathan's sleeve as her wide eyes darted around the forest.

"Do you see anymore blood?" Jonathan asked, ignoring the brunette girl freaking out just beside him.

"No."

Rosemary felt her fingers slip from Jonathan's sleeve as she gripped the crowbar tighter in her hands. "Oh, my God. Oh, my God," she muttered, her eyes searching for anything in the trees. She felt her heart hammering in her chest and panicked sweat clinging to her skin.

Hands grabbed her arms suddenly and she let out a short scream, wide eyes turning to see it was Jonathan who grabbed her. "Rose, relax."

"Don't tell me to relax Jonathan!" She snapped at him. "What the Hell was that thing?"

Jonathan raised his hands in surrender when she smacked his hands off of her. "I don't know," he admitted quietly and the girls took in a deep breath to try and calm her racing heart. "I don't know, but you need to calm down."

"I'm trying," she admitted in a soft voice and Jonathan gave her a small smile, giving her arm a quick squeeze as she took in another deep breath to try and calm down. Her eyes darted around the tree line, noticing they were one member short. "Where's Nancy?"

Just then a distant scream echoed through the forest and the pair shared a wide eyed look as they took off in the direction the sound came from. "Nancy!" She heard Jonathan shouted.

She came to a jerky halt when she saw Jonathan kneel down, as she got closer she saw it was Nancy's bat on the floor. That was not good.

"Nancy, where did you go!" Malinda shouted, turning in her spot to try and find the girl in the darkness.

"Nancy!"