(Season 1- Ep. 8: The Upside Down)

Waiting seemed to be the worst part about this.

Swaying her nailed bat like a pendulum, Gwen's knuckles were turning white from her tight grip. She kept glancing up at the Christmas lights every few seconds, waiting for a flicker or any sign the monster was coming.

Still in shock from having learned her hometown used their lab to experiment with something beyond their reach, only left her wishing to return to her boring life as it's way better than dealing with this.

Of course, it's not like she can complain. She was finally able to punch Steve Harrington in the face along with crashing his car, so it's not like this mess didn't bring anything good.

"Did you guys hear that?" Nancy asked, startled when hearing a faint creaking sound.

Gwen tried getting a better listen. She held her breath and pressed her finger to her lips. The creaking seemed to have been a one time thing because there's nothing but silence after.

"It's just the wind, Nancy," Jonathan tried reassuring her before he walked to his best friend's side. He noticed the concentrated creases on Gwen's forehead and the intense hold on her bat. She's definitely trying to keep up a tough facade to hide the fact of just how afraid she is.

"We're going to be fine, okay?" He gently grabbed her hand and stared into her eyes, which made his own concerns diminish once he felt the warmth of her touch.

Gwen took a deep breath and nodded her head, feeling quite silly on how afraid she was when the monster was not even here yet. "I sure hope so."

Nancy started bobbing her foot up and down, her eyes glancing in between every corner and every light while trying to convince herself everything will be fine. Now that she knew Barb was gone, all she wanted was to kill that monster and make it pay for what its done.

"Hey," Gwen and Jonathan took a seat next to her as they offered a gentle smile. "His mom said the lights speak when it comes so we're good for now."

Nancy raised her brows in confusion, not understanding how the lights are a source of communication. "Speak? How is that possible?"

"Blink. Think of them as alarms," Jonathan corrected before looking down at his best friend's bandaged hand that appeared to still be bleeding. "Did you wrap it well enough?"

"What?" Gwen questioned. He pointed to her hand and tried reaching for it to check if it's been well bandaged.

Nancy stared attentively at Jonathan as he gave a longing look to his best friend. She's always suspected he had feelings for Gwen based on the way he acts around her or even looks at her. When involving herself into this, she knew she'd be feeling like a third wheel so it was something she needed to try and ignore.

It sure doesn't help when seeing the way their fingers are touching, almost as if they're playing with each other all while Jonathan keeps staring at her with lovestruck eyes. "Gwen?"

She looked up and returned the look before saying, "Yeah?"

Nancy folded her arms across her chest and tried ignoring them. She really disliked that over this entire mission, she started developing feelings for him. Considering the situation she's in with Steve, it makes her feel ridiculous for crushing on someone who's clearly in love with their best friend.

She stood up and glanced at each of the light bulbs for a distraction and paced around the room while trying to fade out the low voices coming from the pair.

The living room suddenly turned eerily silent, almost like it's the calm before the storm. Nancy walked over to the window and looked through the blinds, when she noticed Steve running towards the front porch.

"Jonathan?" Steve asked, banging loudly against the door that made the three exchange equally confused looks.

Gwen rolled her eyes, irritated when hearing his insufferable voice. Can't he ever just leave us alone? She looked over at her friends as they stared cluelessly wondering what to do.

They know they can't leave him out there. Not with this demogorgon coming at any time now. Even if Gwen hated him, she can't just let him get taken by the monster.

"Are you there, man? It's... it's Steve!"

None of them said anything. Maybe he'll leave when not receiving a response.

"Listen, I just want to talk!"

Gwen groaned and leaned back against the couch. Her hands ran through her hair in frustration as she's really tempted to just open the door and try to get rid of him the hard way.

"What do we do? We can't just leave him out there," Jonathan really didn't want to deal with him, especially with this monster coming at any second.

"I'll handle it," Nancy stated and walked over to the door. She took a brief pause and took a deep breath before unlocking it and opening the door halfway. "Steve, listen to me-"

"Hey, Nancy," Steve sighed in relief when seeing his girlfriend, yet became confused when wondering why she's here with Jonathan. "Wait, what are you doing-"

"You need to leave," Nancy ordered, hoping her boyfriend would listen just once and not be his stubborn self.

"I'm not trying to start anything, okay?" Steve's voice was pleading and almost breaking.

"I don't care about that. You need to leave."

Gwen let out a frustrated breath as her nails dug deeper into her palms from how hard her fist was clenched. She really can't stand hearing his voice or even having him get involved in this. Just means they have to try and look over him when they have no desire in doing so, because how is a coward like him going to be able to deal with all of this?

"No, no, no! Listen, I messed up, okay? I messed..." Steve's words were breathless, almost tearful as he pleaded for his girlfriend to listen to him. "I messed up, okay? Really, please."

Nancy shook her head and pressed her palm against the door to try and close it. Just seeing him this desperate to speak to her almost made her want to give him a chance, but the reminder of what's coming only shut that part out.

"Steve, you have to-"

"I just want to make things right," he begged, "Okay? Please. Please..." His brows creased in worry when he noticed her bandaged hand, bringing the fear of something being wrong to take over. "What happened to your hand? Is that blood?" Steve gently grabbed it and started inspecting it while ignoring her complaints.

"It's nothing. It was just an accident."

"What's going on?"

"Nothing," she repeated, only it's of no use since Steve didn't seem the slightest bit convinced.

The sudden thought that Jonathan hurt her began creeping into his thoughts. A wave of anger ran through him as he couldn't even imagine what he'd do to him if he dared hurt her. "Did he do this to you?!"

"No!" Nancy attempted to close the door, but Steve launched forward and made it hard for her to fully shut it. He tried reasoning his way inside, which isn't helpful since Nancy kept trying to shut the door in his face.

"Nancy, let me in!"

"No!" It's too late now as Steve had now entered the Byers' living room.

Gwen had never seen such a shocked look on him before. She almost felt pity for him in having to witness something incredibly confusing, but the reminder that this is the same guy who allowed his friends to slut-shame his girlfriend, along with spreading the rumor that all three of them were in some kind of relationship, only made her swallow any sympathetic feelings for him.

She stood in front of Jonathan with her bat hanging by her side. Steve's going to have to go through her if he wanted to hurt him, which she won't make it easy on him to do.

"What is..." Steve looked around the room in pure astonishment, noticing the traps and weapons all around that raised his worry and anger that the two freak best friends had involved his girlfriend in something terrible. "What is this-"

One of the light bulbs above them started flickering, indicating the monster was now coming and they needed to get this asshole out of here. Gwen and Jonathan exchanged knowing glances and nodded at each other for him to take the lead in this.

Jonathan placed his hand on Steve's shoulder to try and push him out as he demanded, "You need to get out of here."

Steve shoved his arm off in protest and continued staring around in confusion. "What is all-"

"Listen to me, I'm not asking you. I'm telling you to get out of here!"

"What is that smell?!" Steve exclaimed, not noticing Gwen making her way to him in a fury.

Gwen pushed Jonathan's arm off and slammed the Harrington boy into the wall. She swung her bat to the spot next to him, the nails barely missing from hitting him that sent him sliding down with his hands in the air in a panic.

"What the hell, Henderson?! Get that shit away from me!"

"Listen you useless asshole! You need to get the hell out of here right now!" She swung the bat over her shoulder and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt to drag him out the door.

Steve glared at her as he grabbed her wrist and harshly shoved her into Jonathan's chest. His eyes were filled with hatred and annoyance as his hands formed into tight fists. "What did you do to my girlfriend?! Did you freaks get her-"

"Steve, get out!" Nancy's had enough of this arguing that she had to resort to other measures. Without even thinking, she grabbed her gun and pointed it directly at him. Now with the gun waving in the air, Jonathan and Gwen moved away from the Harrington boy to try and avoid Nancy's aim - even if it wasn't directed at them.

"Wait, what?!" Steve raised his hands in the air, mirroring the early action he performed. Only he was now questioning his girlfriend on whether or not she'd actually shoot him. He was just grateful it wasn't Gwen as he wouldn't put it past her. "Nance, what the hell?! What's going on?!"

The lights started to flicker again. Both Gwen and Jonathan were the only ones to notice as they came to the conclusion of needing to trust Nancy that she'll be able to handle her douchebag boyfriend in time.

Still pointing the gun at him, Nancy demanded, "You have five seconds to get out of here!"

"Okay is this a joke?" Steve let out a nervous laugh and took one step back. "Just please put the gun down!"

"I'm doing this for you," Nancy's gaze softened, the grip of her gun was slowly losing itself when seeing how afraid he was of her.

"Nancy," Jonathan alerted her.

"Wait," Steve was trying to put the puzzle pieces together since it was pretty clear his girlfriend was still angry with him. What he didn't understand is why she was with the two freaks and if this could be some sort of revenge against him. "Is this a... what is this?"

Gwen's patience had now disappeared. It's clear this idiot wasn't planning on leaving and Nancy's actions aren't getting through to him. She walked past Jonathan and quickly took control of Nancy's gun.

"Sorry about this," she told her best friend, which made Steve take another step back since Gwen would definitely shoot him without thinking twice. A loud shot is fired into the ceiling, sending white particles to fall upon them before she pointed the gun back at Steve. "Look, I don't give a shit if you live or die, but Nancy does, so I suggest for you to leave right now or else this ceiling won't be the only thing that gets fired at!"

"Gwen!" Nancy snapped at how far she had gone with this. She slowly placed her hand over the gun and regained control of it when she finally realized the flickering lights.

"It's here!"

Gwen reached for her nailed bat and stared intensely around the room. Her back was now facing Jonathan and Nancy as they looked in every corner for any sign of the monster creeping in.

"Wait, what's here?" Steve yelled in a fit of panic, only he was ignored as the others had no intention of dealing with him anymore.

"Where is it?" The trio moved in a circle as they frantically searched the living room for its presence. Steve remained frozen in place and just watched Nancy wielding her gun and Gwen holding a firm grip of her bat.

"I don't know!" she yelled in frustration.

"I don't see it!"

"Where is what?" the Harrington boy asked again. Gwen turned her gaze away from the room, feeling adrenaline course through her veins when seeing the lights flickering faster now. "Hello? Will someone please explain to me what the hell is going on-"

Before anyone could say anything, a loud roar came from the ceiling of the Byers' living room. Bricks fell like a cascade to the ground while the monster growled menacingly at its prey. Its claws destroyed every inch of the entrance as it made its way into the fabrication of their reality.

Nancy fired her gun at the creature, aiming as best as she could until realizing it's of no use when seeing bullets didn't hurt the monster at all. Jonathan reached over and pulled her into the hall, coming to his senses fighting that thing with guns is completely useless. He used his free hand to grab his best friend, and he nearly managed to hold her when she surprised him by returning back to the room.

Gwen was met by Steve's fearful eyes as he kept staring at the monster. He stood paralyzed with fear and as much as she really didn't care what happened to him, she couldn't have him die at the hands of that creature. Without thinking, she reached over and grabbed his wrist to drag him into the next room. "Don't just stand there! We gotta go!"

The demogorgon growled at them and without meaning to, their hands become interlocked as she warned him about the trap. "Jump!"

"Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" Gwen and Steve leaped over the wire trap successfully, his yells continuing despite the whole chaos behind them. She didn't really want to admit how similar he was to her brother since he tends to panic the same way. Either way, she tried releasing his hand, but he was holding a firm hold on it with no intentions of letting go.

The group ran into Will's bedroom, ignoring the 'No Trespassing' sign and slammed the door shut.

"You okay?" Jonathan ran over to check on his best friend, only he stopped halfway when seeing Steve holding her hand.

"Jesus!" Steve gasped, not even noticing how hard Gwen was trying to get him to release her. "Jesus! What the hell was that?!"

Gwen rolled her eyes and shoved him off, sending him falling onto the bed as he continued to panic and demand for answers.

The three of them seemed to have had enough of him when they yelled, "SHUT UP!!!"

Having heard them snap at him helped Steve try to regain some composure. He ran his hands through his hair in exasperation and let them take charge since they're the only ones wielding weapons while he has nothing.

Gwen turned away from him and raised her bat to get ready to swing it, while Jonathan lit his lighter and Nancy aimed her gun at the door. The seconds felt like an eternity as they listened for any sound, for anything, even the faintest creaking. There were footsteps getting louder and then stopping, almost as if the monster was deciding to claw its way in or not.

"What's it doing?" she seethes, growing more impatient just waiting in this eternal silence. Instead of just standing here doing nothing, she'd much rather face that thing and kill it already. After everything its done in taking Will and her friend, Barb, killing it is the only way to avenge them.

"I don't know." The lights continued to flicker incessantly, making them take low yet ragged breaths as their hearts pounded against their chest. Their eyes glanced down at the bright yellow yoyo with a smiley face as they waited for any movement from its part, but nothing was happening. It remained intact despite the growling and footsteps from outside.

Then everything just... stopped.

"Do you guys hear anything?" Nancy asked in a low voice as her aim remained steady.

This didn't make any sense. They had been careful to elaborate this plan and set it into action. It was fool proof, so it seemed strange this monster didn't fall for it when one wrong move would set the trap off.

"No," Jonathan replied and started walking over to the door. He glanced back at the two girls and nodded at them as if to warn them to get ready for anything. Their footsteps brought the floorboards to creak, something that was incredibly sinister to hear earlier and now sounded like a relief.

Only there's nothing relieving about this. The monster may be gone for now, but it doesn't mean it's not coming back. One way or the other, it will make its way back and attempt to hunt them again.

The four slowly stepped out into the middle of the hall, noticing the bear trap remained intact. Gwen realized they underestimated this creature. It was smarter and extremely cunning. They were fools to believe they could outsmart something from another dimension.

With Jonathan leading the way, the rest made sure to make as little noise as possible in case the monster was lurking around. They reached the living room to find there was nothing. No monster. Just them. The three of them started thinking of another backup plan all while ignoring the annoying mutters of a hysteric Steve.

"This is crazy. This is crazy. This is crazy!"

Gwen turned to look at him, feeling her sympathy return since he just came here to possibly apologize to Jonathan and instead he became dragged into this mess. She noticed he hadn't done a great job attending to his injuries based on the way his eye had dried blood around it, and his cheek had a cut that started to reopen.

For a minute, just a small fraction of time, she felt the tiniest bit of guilt for having punched him earlier. Well, it's not like he didn't deserve it since he was being a complete asshole and insulted them with such an appalling accusation.

"This is crazy! This is crazy! This is crazy!" Steve's hysteria took over when he dashed to the phone and started dialing. The others exchanged frustrated looks before Gwen managed to tear the phone from his hand. "What do you think you're doing?! Are you insane?!"

"That thing is going to come back so you need to leave!"

Steve ignored her and reached for the phone again. Within a quick second, both of them were fighting over it like a couple of kids trying to obtain the better toy. "We need help with this, Henderson! Stop being a bitch and give it back!"

That's when Gwen decided to release her hold on it, which ended up with Steve falling back against the wall and gave her the opportunity to yank the entire phone line and toss it across the room.

Nancy rushed over to them and helped her boyfriend up. Obviously she still cared for him and despite being hurt over what he did, she couldn't allow him to become a part of something so dangerous.

"It's going to come back, Steve!" she snapped, "So you need to leave... please."

Steve glanced over at the others, his gaze falling shortly on Gwen as he remained frozen in place. He didn't want to leave his girl behind, but something told him he won't be of much help if he just stayed and panicked.

His abrupt exit didn't come as a surprise for Gwen since she already had low expectations of him. A coward like him could never be able to handle something like this. If it doesn't have anything to do with his social hierarchy or humiliating others, he's willing to run off and do nothing.

Just as he left, the lights started flickering again. All of them rushed into the living room and stood back to back as they studied every corner to try and anticipate where the monster could come in from.

"Where is it?" Nancy asked the pair, receiving no response as they didn't have a clue on what to say since they're at a loss themselves.

"Come on," Jonathan challenged, "Come on, you son of a bitch!"

"Damn it, you guys see it?" Gwen peered behind her shoulder, not ready to lose sight of any of her blind spots.

"No," Nancy breathed out, already losing every bit of patience for this creature.

"Come on!" Gwen taunted the monster, although she felt a tinge of regret since she didn't want to anger the thing even more. "We're right here, you piece of shit!"

The flickering lights continued, becoming much faster that it nearly made her dizzy. That is until the room turned completely dark.

And then there was silence.

Gwen blinked profusely, trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness when she suddenly heard a low growl coming from behind her. Her heart dropped as her hands started trembling over her tight grip on the bat. Quickly, she turned around and that's when she saw it.

Standing behind a clueless Jonathan, the creature hovered menacingly and opened its mouth in a loud roar.

"Jonathan!" She and Nancy reached over to drag him away, but it was too late when the monster launched itself on top of him, sending him sprawled onto the floor with nothing but a horrified expression as the creature snarled at his face.

Gwen gave a quick spin to her bat and aimed it directly to its thick skin. Nancy followed her lead and shot aimlessly until the last remaining of her bullets fell short. The Henderson girl continued to strike it, using every ounce of strength to attempt injuring it, only it was of no use when she suddenly felt the piercing claws run through her chest.

The bat flew across the room as her body slammed against the wall. Despite the pain spreading all around her body, she started looking for the weapon all while maintaining her eyes on the creature. The monster chose to leave Jonathan behind and started charging right at her, soon submerging her with its weight.

"Gwen!" Jonathan screamed as he ran over to try and help her while Nancy stood in the far corner searching in her pockets for any bullets.

Gwen tried scurrying back, her feet slid against the floorboards as she felt a new sense of doom wash over her. Her mind started plaguing her with images of the terrifying dimension, wondering if for some reason, this beast would drag her away like it did with Will instead of killing her. She could feel the heavy weight on her body and its disgusting breath on her face, making her turn to the side as drool fell over her. She's not sure why her face hasn't been bitten off, but either way, she was fairly grateful to not be dead just yet.

Slowly opening her eyes, a new sense of surprise and relief overcame her when seeing none other than Steve freaking Harrington wielding the bat and smashing it onto the creature.

"Steve!" Nancy exclaimed.

The demogorgon lost interest in Gwen and shifted his attention to its new attacker. Its mouth opened, revealing more of its pointy teeth as it swung one of its arms at him. Steve managed to duck the attack and took a step back to direct the monster into the trap he saw earlier in the hall.

Gwen ignored the piercing pain spreading through her chest and the rest her body and started getting up. Her hand held on to the wall for some kind of balance and she swore she was doing perfectly fine. That is until the room started spinning that made her fall to the ground, only she was caught by Jonathan as he placed her arm around his shoulder while his wrapped around her waist.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice evident with panic and concern.

"Yeah, I'm great!" she snapped, her tone filled with sarcasm as she pushed her way out of his arms and hurried in the direction of Steve.

Steve was continuing his attacks, dodging every swing from the creature as he kept his eyes glued to the trap behind it and the way it was slowly starting to head in its direction. He sent another hit into its torso and then directly at its face. Low grunts were released from his lips as he buried the nails deep into its skin that teared off a few pieces.

"Where's the goddamn lighter?!" Gwen exclaimed as she frantically searched the room for it.

For a brief moment, her eyes glanced over at Steve as he provided yet another impressive swing. The Christmas lights reflected onto his skin, giving her the right opportunity to notice the way his hair cascaded down his face like dominos and showed the determination in his eyes. Maybe she was now starting to understand Nancy's attraction to him.

Her heart was practically leaping out of her chest since she had to admit, it was an attractive thing to witness, but just as quick as the feeling took over, she resumed her search for the lighter until finally finding it under the couch.

"Jonathan!" she yelled, tossing the lighter at him once his attention fell on her.

The bat suddenly landed a couple few feet from her. Steve's panicked screams could be heard that sent a wave of hysteria that something terrible had happened. Her fingers curled around the wooden base, her grip tight and determined as she hurried in his direction to prevent the monster from taking someone else again.

She pushed Jonathan out of the way and without thinking, she smashed the metal deep into its skin. The monster let out an agonized shriek and backed into the hall, not without taking another chance to attack at her. She gritted her teeth and tightened her hands around the base even more and pricked at the monster again.

Steve slowly came to his senses and opened his eyes. Through the blurriness of his vision, he was able to make out the person that saved him had been Gwen. He was shocked and amazed that the girl who threatened to shoot him earlier had just saved his life. He smirked in satisfaction and began looking around for anything to help her with. That is until he heard the most gut wrenching screech that made his heart drop when seeing the monster on top of her and the bat falling out of her reach.

"Henderson!" he panicked, his body moving faster than a bolt of lightning. He regained control of the bat and smashed its nails deep into its skin. The monster started backing away, shrieking in pain as he finally landed on the bear trap. "He's in the trap!"

Jonathan flicked the lighter on and tossed it gracefully in its direction. The orange flames appeared all throughout the trail of the gasoline drenched carpet, engulfing the beast as it writhed in pain and let out horrendous screeches.

Without realizing it, Steve had been holding Gwen close to him. His arms were around her as they stared completely frozen at the creature burning. She didn't even notice the position she was in until Nancy made her way past them with a fire extinguisher in hand.

"Get off me," she shoved his arms off and quickly stood up, leaving him startled at her abrupt change in tone.

Nancy started spraying the foam onto the carpet and slowly, the fire started to vanish. Soon leaving then in complete darkness from the Christmas lights having stopped their flickering.

Smoke engulfed the halls and since there's not a single window or door open, it made it harder for the teens to breathe. They covered their noses and mouths with their elbows and now with Gwen leading the way, they slowly made their way to where the monster was once trapped in.

Instead of finding a body, there was nothing but emptiness.

Steve gripped tighter onto his bat while Gwen tried steadying herself by holding on to Jonathan's hand. Not even noticing the curious glance the Harrington boy gave them when seeing their hands colliding.

"Where did it go?" Nancy disrupted his line of sight, reminding him of the situation they're in.

Gwen could feel the burning in her chest and as much as she tried convincing herself that it's probably nothing, she gathers every ounce of courage to look down. The sight of blood seeping through her shirt made her weak to the knees that causes her to stumble backwards.

Expecting to fall to the ground, she's surprised when feeling the arms of Steve holding her steady. His eyes are wide in sudden fear that his action would bring her to punch him in the face again that he quickly releases her and moves to the opposite side.

She glanced over at him and is surprised he's already doing the same. As much as she wanted to be angry at him, Gwen can't help but feel relieved he's here. He saved her life, twice, which made her fairly grateful.

"No," Jonathan is still in denial that the monster managed to survive this. Even when sensing the others have given up hope, he's not willing to let go of his just yet. "It has to be dead. It has to be."

"Are you really sure about that?" Gwen took a deep breath and leaned herself onto the wall as she started feeling slightly dizzy.

"Hey, you okay?" Jonathan walked over to her and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. A wave of guilt washed over him from not having done enough to keep her safe. If it wasn't for Steve stepping in on time, who knows what could've happened? So in a way, everything he did to him was fading to the back of his mind. Harrington had saved her, which leaves him in his debt.

Gwen dismissed his question and waved him off as she looked down at the trap. This is just a scratch and nothing more, and they were all safe. They won this round which only means they have to regain strength and prepare for its return.

She could only wonder if by killing this monster, would everything return to the way it was? Would their lives finally return to normal?

Of course, only time will tell.