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"You don't get to to die and be
reborn the same. You come back,
but you come back wrong. This is
the price you pay for resurrection."
~Nathaniel Orion G. K.
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Scarlett's chest rose and fell rapidly as she skidded to a stop by an intersection of three tunnels. Growls sounded down all those tunnels. Everything was dark, the only light was the faint red glow from some of the vines.

Some of the vines started to move around Scarlett's ankle and the girl rose to her feet and took off running again. The lack of glasses on Scarlett's face made her survival all the more difficult. The cardigan that had once upon a time been baby blue had long turned brown and red due to a mixture of blood, grime and dirt.

The brunette jogged further into the tunnel, eyes scanning around for any sign of a way out. Time had melted together and Scarlett was completely unaware of how long she had spent in the Upside Down. It was unfathomable to Scarlett that Will and Blake had spent a week and almost a week respectively down there without any knowledge of the world. Scarlett was no expert on the Upside Down and she was in no way prepared to survive out in the wild, but at least Scarlett had fought a demogorgan before and at least knew what the hell was going on to some extent.

Neither Blake nor Will ever really talked about the Upside Down, but from their short statements and Will's drawings Scarlett gathered that the Upside Down was a dark mirror dimension of their own world. Yet these tunnels looked nothing like Hawkins. However long Scarlett had been in the Upside Down she had been searching for a way out of the tunnels or the Upside Down. If she could get to the house of one of her friends she could communicate through the lights or something at least. And if she couldn't find a way out she could at least die in the foil of a place she knew.

Lost in her thoughts, Scarlett didn't pay attention to her footing. Her right foot got caught behind a vine and the girl face planted onto the slimy ground. Having all the wind knocked out of her, Scarlett allowed herself a moment to heave on the ground before rolling over onto her back.

The faintest amount of sunlight trickled onto Scarlett's face and the teen pushed herself up, left hand reaching up to the ceiling of the tunnel. Scarlett rolled onto the tips of her toes so she could reach. There was a small hole above Scarlett, in between the vines she could clearly see earth and sunlight.

A loud screech that rattled Scarlett's bones sounded far too close to her. Scarlett looked down the corridor before looking back from where she had come before. Scarlett recognised the scream and she for one did not want to face off to one of those features again, especially since she was unarmed and alone.

Frantically Scarlett scratched at the dirt, trying, hoping to just get out of there before it was too late. The soft skin of Scarlett's fingers tore open and blood oozed down her hands, onto her wrists where it further stained her pink turtleneck. The pain was worth it however as three of Scarlett's fingers broke through and she felt some lades before grass before a war tongue licked her fingers.

Startled Scarlett drew back her hands before she heard barking and scratching, after which some dirt peppered onto her face. A semi relieved laugh left Scarlett's lips. A dog. "Hey buddy," She whispered, leaning up and digging further. "Mind helping me out here?"

The dog continued to dig and Scarlett promised to shower that dog in love for the rest of his or her life. The small hole grew steadily as did the cracks in Scarlett's nails. Scarlett wiggled her left hand through the hole, her fingers gently petting the snout of her helper.

The two of them continued to dig and just as Scarlett wanted to weasel both her arms out to lift herself, a vine stretched out. A scream curled from Scarlett's lips as she was forcefully dragged away from her way out. Her torso slammed onto the ground and Scarlett patted the ground trying to hold onto something as she was dragged away.

The dog that had been aiding Scarlett whined and barked, nudging the hole. "Tootie!" Robin's voice rang out across the park as the dirty blonde bound up towards her dog. "What are you doing?" The girl asked as she bent down, fingers threading through the semi long fur of Tootie who whimpered as the hole grew shut which Robin didn't seem to notice. "Weird dog," Robin muttered.

The dirty blonde attached Tootie's leash to his collar before she stood up, threw her long braid over her shoulder and started walking towards her house. Tootie resisted, trying to nudge his owner towards the weird closing hole, but Robin was more stubborn. And so Tootie and Robin left towards the Buckley residence.

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In the Byers house Blake, Hopper and Joyce were gathered in the living rom, countless of papers which were covered in erratic lines which made no sense to the three. Blake had changed into some clothes she had left at the Byers during a previous sleepover and her long red hair hung around her as a curtain.

"Either Will is shitting with us, or he has suddenly forgotten how to draw," Blake huffed while holding up one of the drawings, turning it against the light to look for any messages in the drawing.

Joyce who was already more twitchy than usual, was set off even more by Blake's words and Hopper sent a dark glare to Blake who shrugged innocently. "Just saying what we're all thinking," Blake whispered to Hopper.

"It's not what I'm thinking," Hopper hissed back, staring the teen down.

An unnerving smile played on Blake's lips and she tilted her head at the chief. "Well then I guess the white straight man is excluded from the narrative for once."

Hopper raised a finger and pointed it at Blake's face, his mouth opened to speak but was interrupted by Joyce calling out for both of them.

"Wait! Hop, Blake!" The two narrowed their eyes at one another one last time before both rushed to Joyce's side. The woman held two drawings and started lining them up. "These black lines, see?" Joyce lined up the black lines, leaving the coloured in part to form a tube like thing.

Hopper didn't understand and to be fair neither did Blake. "What?" The sheriff asked.

"Look they connect," Joyce took some tape and stuck the pieces together. "They connect."

Blake turned away from Joyce and Hopper, her gaze settling on the living room that was littered with many many drawings. Where were Scarlett and Jonathan when she needed them. One time the two had invited Blake to join their puzzle club and Blake had begrudgingly accepted and had visibly despised every second she was at the CJS Puzzle Club. Puzzles were their thing, Blake's thing was unnecessary comments and leaching off her friends.

The redhead glanced at the crooked clock by the front door. If she were to leave now she would only be a little late for English class. She could go to school, claim she cared for her academic career. Then again Joyce had come to know the girl very well after Blake spent multiple nights at the Byers house and introduced Joyce and Bob to one another and Joyce knew Blake despised school.

Blake peered down at her bare feet, only to find herself standing on one of the drawings. She bent down to pick it up. A flash of the Upside Down crossed her mind, a familiar wail that Blake couldn't quite place rang in Blake's ears. Fine she thought, marching over to grab some tape and starting the seemingly impossible task of fitting everything together.

While Hopper moved the couch and coffee table out of the way, Blake and Joyce started connecting the drawings and soon enough Hopper joined them. Minutes flew by as the three adults worked together. Every few minutes either Blake or Will would trail into Will's room and return with their arms overflowing with drawings.

At one point Blake had gently touched Will's shoulder and shuddered at his temperature. He was even colder than he had been in the Upside Down.

When the demogorgon dragged Blake away from her front door and into the Upside Down she had ran around trying to escape the monster when she came across Castle Byers. The sign although childish gave her some hope and she rushed inside, praying the beast hadn't seen her. There she was almost whacked over the head by little Will who was holding a rock.

Luckily they both recognised one another from passing glances when at Dustin's house or other instances the kids went to talk to Dustin's older sister. They worked together after that to stay out of the demogorgons' grasps. When Will started to turn deathly cold after a few days, Blake bundled him up in her jacket and fought to keep him away. When the vines came for them in the end, the two were holding one another in an embrace and neither of them had the energy to fight. A vine had been making it's way into Blake when Hopper and Joyce arrived to save the day. Blake watched as they revived Will and later both the adults pressed their oxygen masks to the two kids and Hopper carried Will to safety while Joyce supported Blake's weight.

After what felt like hours the Byers living room was covered in papers that were messily taped together. Everything branched out almost like tentacles of an octopus but then with many, many, many legs. The drawings reached out and creeped over the couch, coffee table and stretched out into the hallway and kitchen.

"Does this mean anything to you?" Hopper questioned, dark gaze floating around the room.

A deep sigh left Joyce's lips and she set a few careful steps. Blake meanwhile shook her head, despite Hopper's question having been directed at Joyce.

The brunette woman looked at her son's creation, shaking her head softly. "I mean," She craned her neck. "Is it some sort of maze or... or a road?" Joyce walked further into the heart of what Will had illustrated.

"It can't be the roads of Hawkins..." Blake trailed off as she tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. "I also don't remember a pattern like this from the Upside Down.."

Looking away from Blake, Hopper looked towards Joyce. "You think it's that storm?" Hopper asked, thinking back of the last appointment at the lab with Will. Blake meanwhile remembered her vision from the previous day.

However Joyce shook her head. "No, the storm he drew was completely different. He used red," She stared at one of the drawings. "And this is all blue and it has some weird dirt colour." Joyce grimaced.

"Maybe it's like a tunnel?" Blake wondered aloud. "Or roots?" Joyce nodded along to Blake's later statement.

"Yeah, cause remember, he was saying it was spreading and—" Joyce was interrupted by Hopper who had a sudden realisation.

"Killing," He stomped forward, shoulder nearly knocking into Blake. "He said they were killing," He grabbed his hat and put it on. "Vines. He's drawing vines." With that the chief walked out the door, slamming the door behind him. Joyce turned with a raised brow to Blake who shrugged in response.

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While being dragged through the corridors to an unknown location Scarlett reached into the pockets of her jeans. A silent prayer left her lips as Scarlett's fingers brushed over her lighter. Sure smoking would ruin her lungs, already had probably, but in that moment it would save her.

Scarlett grabbed the lighter and flicked it open. With a groan Scarlett turned around and found another tendril reaching for her. Scarlett shoved the small flame at the tendril which shot away from her.

The vine that had been dragging Scarlett stopped and the brunette crawled back, lighter still on in her hand. Scarlett found herself in what seemed like an intersection of many tunnels. Despite her bad eyesight Scarlett saw various carcasses around her of various animals.

She was in a tomb.

Again something growled. Scarlett licked her lips and stumbled to her feet and towards one of the carcasses. She closed her eyes, biting her lip. She scrunched her nose and reached her hand into the rotting body and wrapped her fingers around one of the broken ribs and with a swift tug she ribbed the bone out.

Bile tickled Scarlett's throat and she clamped her lighter clamping her hand over her lips to keep herself from throwing up. Shaking her head to recompose herself, Scarlett shrugged off her stained and tattered cardigan and wrapped it around the rib. Little bits of flesh fell off the bone and Scarlett took a deep breath through her nose.

The young woman held her lighter up to the makeshift torch. She flicked it on but the flame snuffed out. Scarlett tried a second time, a third, a fourth, a fifth and still there was no flame. The growling grew closer.

Was this how Scarlett Beatrice Henderson was going to die? Alone, tired and scared in a parallel universe?

Scarlett dropped the torch and fell to her knees, fresh tears raced down her cheeks. They left pale trails behind where the blood and grime were washed away.

A tendril shot out, wrapping around Scarlett's right hand. A scream sounded from Scarlett's lips and she desperately tried to free herself to no avail. The tendril wrapped itself around Scarlett's hand tighter and tighter until her bones started to bulge up until they eventually snapped with a sickening crunch.

Scarlett's entire arm burned and she still tried to run away but the vine's grip only tightened. Then Scarlett's cracked fingernails were pushed up as smaller tendrils shot underneath them and started slithering their way into Scarlett's hand.

Despite the pain a memory that had been deeply buried in Scarlett's brain came up. Scarlett dove for the torch and grabbed her cardigan and tightly tied it just under her elbow, making a tourniquet just like her father had taught her a lifetime ago.

The teen could see the vines moving under her skin, trying to get further.

Scarlett peered up at the dark ceiling of the tunnel. "I'm sorry," She whispered. She would die alone in the cold dirty tunnel and her body would probably never even be found again. Poor Dustin will have buried two young family members as a child and dear Claudia would have lost her husband and daughter. Little Mews would forever wonder where his owner had gone. Floyd and his parents would have to stand by the other Henderson's as they buried an empty casket. Blake Perkins would loose the woman she had found to be her sister. Nancy and Jonathan would loose their original monster hunting buddy. And then Steve... Steve would loose the person who he had come to see as his best friend.

But at least Scarlett would see Bill again. And this time she wouldn't be the scared little girl she had been at 10, she would be the axe wielding young woman she had become at 18.

Exhausted Scarlett stopped struggling and laid back down. She recalled her fondest memories, the first one being of when Bill had introduced baby Dustin to Scarlett.

"Hey, Arla," Scarlett looked up from the doll at her feet and up at her father who approached her. "Come meet your brother." Bill reached his hand out to the little girl and Scarlett bound up to her father, leaving Sam Owens behind. The two work colleagues shared a fond smile, a friendship had developed between them as they seemed to share a moral compass at their lab. One that many others did not.

In the hospital room, Claudia was groggily holding a tiny baby in her arms. Her face was deathly pale, she had lost a lot of blood in the long and difficult labour. But it had all been worth it.

Pressing a gentle kiss to Claudia's forehead, Bill whisked up the tiny baby and walked towards Scarlett who he instructed to sit down on a chair. "Meet your brother Dustin." Bill gently moved the blanket from the baby's face and Scarlett was greeted by a baby with curious eyes that examined her.

Hesitantly Scarlett reached out to touch Dustin before her hand remained hovering in the air, silently asking for permission Scarlett looked up at her dad who gave her an encouraging smile. Scarlett touched Dustin's cheek as tho he might break and instantly Dustin let out a happy sounding gurgle making Scarlett giggle.

"Do you want to hold him, Arla?" Bill asked quietly.

Scarlett looked up at her dad with big green eyes. "Can I?"

Bill nodded. "Of course, just be careful," Bill instructed Scarlett how to hold her arms. "Be sure to support his head," Bill said as he slipped Dustin in Scarlett's arms, his large hand still supporting his son's head.

Instantly Scarlett fell in love, she hadn't ever felt this protective about anyone. The girl's lips turned up even further. "Hey Dustin, I'm your sister. I'm Scarlett," She whispered before as careful as humanly possible she pressed a kiss to Dustin's forehead, making Dustin reach out and grab one of Scarlett's curls in his tiny fist. "I'm going to make sure you're always safe and happy, okay? Until the end."

The next memory started to slowly form before someone sliced the vine's loose from her hand. "Come on Scarlett, don't die on me," Hopper grumbled as he struggled to lift the Henderson girl up.

After a few minutes Hopper rose to his feet, a nearly unconscious Scarlett in his arms. He jogged off in a random direction where he hoped it would be safer. At another intersection Hopper gently laid down Scarlett who was fading in and out of consciousness. He slapped her cheeks a few times. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, stay awake," He commanded.

Hopper light a torch he made in the same way that Scarlett had tried to before. After ensuring the source of fire Hopper turned to Scarlett's arm, he gently took hold of her hand and grimaced. He knew Scarlett had dreams of becoming an illustrator, now he wasn't a doctor but her hand was very gravely injured.

Gently the man inspected the tourniquet, he wanted to undo it before Scarlett's hand clasped his. "Don't," She croaked softly. Hopper frowned and asked why, her hand was badly injured but he didn't think it required those measurements. Cautiously Scarlet tugged up the sleeve of her turtleneck.

It was a sight Hopper wished he could erase from his mind. Scarlett's skin looked about ready to burst with five things crawling under her skin, inching around the tourniquet. From the looks of it Scarlett had already had the tourniquet on for at least an hour and a half, she would soon have to make a difficult choice. Keep the tourniquet on and risk irreversible damage to her arm, or remove the tourniquet but risk the tendrils doing damage to her.

There was one other option, and neither Hopper nor Scarlett would like it. The sheriff eyed the pocketknife he had on him. He had a small flask on him and they had fire. "Scarlett..." He knew he did not have to explain his plan Scarlett was very good at biology and had taken a first aid course with him when she was working at the police station. Scarlett's teachers had advised her to consider nursing or medical school.

Scarlett weighed her options before she gave the smallest nod to Hopper. "Are you sure?" He asked, and Scarlett managed another faint nod and Hopper got to work.

He ripped off a part of his undershirt to serve as bandages before he disinfected his pocketknife. Scarlett bit down on a bundle of her cardigan before Hopper set to work.

It was the most pain Scarlett had ever felt and she let out a bone chilling scream that made Hopper wince. The man however continued to work as he cut open Scarlett's skin and extracted whatever tendrils he saw, meanwhile Scarlett wept all the tears she had left.

Eventually Hopper tied up the arm with the previously made bandages before he gently took off the tourniquet after which Scarlett dropped the cardigan from her mouth and dropped her head back out of exhaustion.

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Meanwhile Steve's car pulled up by the Henderson house, a bouquet of roses in his hands. "I love you and I'm sorry," He muttered to himself before frowning. "Love? I can't tell her that, I'll scare her away," Steve grumbled as he walked up towards the front door while fixing his hair.

In that moment Dustin whizzed by his house on his bike, making his way towards the Byers house after Mike and Floyd appeared to not be home. The boy noted the car by his house and he recognised Steve from the few times he had been over studying with Scarlett and the whole demogorogon events the previous year.

Dustin rode up onto his lawn and dropped his bike and ran towards the front door where Steve was still practicing his little speech. "Steve!" Said boy turned to look at Dustin which elected a groan from the older brunet. "Are those for my sister?"

Steve glanced down at the flowers he held, his cheeks turning to match the flowers. "Uh yeah, why?"

He did not receive an answer for Dustin snatched the bouquet away from Steve. "Good."

Steve frowned at the action. "What the hell dude?"

"Scar isn't home, she's missing. Besides Scar hates roses, everyone knows that," Dustin gave Steve a disappointed look. "Everyone knows she likes forget-me-nots. Besides we have bigger problems than you not being able to ask my sister out."

"Missing? Since when?!?!?"

"I told my mom she was staying at Seth but we need to find her, and I also have this other situation..." Dustin rambled on.

"Hey I'm the one you called Seth dickhead!" Steve hollered at Dustin.

Dustin looked back at Steve. "You still got that bat?"

"Bat? What bat?" Steve questioned to which Dustin rolled his eyes. Why were all of Scarlett's boyfriends idiots?

"The one with the nails."

"Why?"

When this was all over Dustin really needed to sit Scarlett down and talk to her about her taste in men. "Didn't you hear me. Scarlett is missing and my cat is dead!"

"Mews is dead?" Steve was completely lost at that point.

"Yeah Dart's face opened up and ate Mews."

"Dart?"

Another pointed look from Dustin shut Steve up and the older boy jogged up to his car.

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By the time Bob and Joyce arrived, Scarlett and Hopper were covered in vines. Everything passed in a blur after that. Scarlett could faintly recall men in hazmat suits she knew from the lab approaching them and some faint memory of Will convulsing on the ground.

When Scarlett awoke in a hospital bed in Hawkins Lab Blake and Sam were by her side and Scarlett's right hand was in her cast while her underarm was bandaged.

Only then did Scarlett discover she had in fact spent almost two nights in the Upside Down and Blake filled Scarlett in on everything that was going on with Will.

a/n:
look for obvious reasons i've been in a stranger things mood so voila a chapter.
i adore writing young scarlett and her dad, they deserved the world.
also i adore the steve x dustin dynamic here whahahah, they're already an iconic
duo but dusty would be so salty about starlett at first. oh but poor baby scar, i've had
this planned for ages and I still feel so bad about it. poor scar's dreams crushed but also just
poor girl get mauled by the upside down every single season the girl deserves a break.

[minor s4 spoilers]

what were your thoughts on s4 vol 1? ngl annoyed they're pushing nancy x steve again,
happy about how out robin is, love argyle and eddie with my whole heart, i do feel like
it's just all happening rlly quickly but that's not a bad thing persee, kind of feel let down
by the fact that they rlly made a big deal of will having a crush in the trailers and in the show
it's like not a big deal. overall love it, the visuals and directing (other than the bad vecna make up)
are phenomenal and the storyline feels very good.

funny post

soo accurate hahahaha except mr clarke as the himbo. how would you tag scarlett?
blake is the gay vodka aunt 100%, floyd is the precious mlm, scarlett as the sleep deprived
aunt?
date published: 2 June 2022
word count: 4189