Chapter 28: A Familiar Beginning
"OK! I'm rested, let's try again!"
Andy opened his eyes. His complexion had regained its healthy color, his breathing was steady, and his eyes once again held a lively look.
Eleven sat quietly on the sofa, watching him, her eyes filled with anticipation and worry.
Andy sat up straight, his tone becoming serious and deliberate. "This time, you help me pinpoint their exact location, and then I'll connect to their consciousness to construct the virtual scene.
This way, I don't have to simultaneously search and construct, so the psychic energy drain will be lower. You won't need to exert too much effort either, and we can extend the observation time."
He paused, then added, "However, the scene constructed this way might be simpler, mainly showing what they directly see, without the extra details I usually add. But at least we'll be able to watch longer."
Eleven nodded, her movement crisp and decisive. "Okay."
Without any hesitation, after nearly a year of learning together, she trusted Andy's judgment and abilities completely.
The two prepared to enter the connected state again, sitting back-to-back on the carpet cross-legged.
"Let's begin!"
Eleven immediately began the positioning. Her breathing became slow and steady, and she quickly entered a state like meditation.
It had to be said, Eleven's positioning ability far surpassed Andy's. Unlike Andy, who needed to spread his psychic power to the corresponding location,
Eleven's mental ability was closer to mind manipulation. When she focused her attention on a specific target, she could transcend physical distance, directly locate the other person's mental state, and even establish a connection.
It was like tuning a radio; find the right frequency, and you could receive the signal.
This time, with Eleven's perception, the mental scenes of the four individuals directly appeared within the Void.
"Wait, who is this?"
As Eleven performed the positioning, the two also saw five people who had just gotten candy from a house.
That's right, five people.
In Eleven's perception, Dustin and Lucas were constantly circling a girl, showing off like peacocks displaying their feathers.
The girl in the middle seemed pretty cool and confident, responding to the boys' corny jokes.
Behind the three of them, Mike followed reluctantly, while Will was recording the moment with his camera.
"Who is this person? A new friend they made?"
"I don't know."
"Alright," Andy said. "Let's connect first. You guide me to the location, and I'll construct the scene."
A few seconds later, the scene was constructed. Andy and Eleven opened their eyes, and together, following the constructed scene, they fell in step beside Mike and Will.
As they walked up to Mike, he was just asking Will, talking with him.
"Did you agree?"
Will lowered the camera and turned to look at Mike, his face full of confusion. "To what?"
"To letting her join our party." Mike's tone carried obvious displeasure.
Will's expression turned awkward. He glanced ahead at the excited Dustin and Lucas, and the smiling girl.
"It's just for Halloween."
"You should have told me first."
A hint of complaint, even... hurt? entered Mike's voice, as if he felt betrayed.
"They were happy," Will explained, somewhat flustered. "I didn't think you'd mind."
"She ruined the best night of the year."
Although Mike still kept his voice low, the anger within it was clearly discernible.
After saying this, he ignored Will, suddenly quickened his pace, and walked forward without looking back, leaving Will alone where he stood.
Will's mouth opened, as if he wanted to call out to Mike, to say something, but ultimately no sound came out.
He just stood there, watching Mike's back disappear into the shadows at the street corner. The expression on his face shifted from awkwardness to... dejection? And a trace of guilt.
Andy and Eleven watched this scene, complex emotions welling up in their hearts.
They didn't know that girl, didn't understand why her joining would make Mike so angry.
This was the worry of ordinary kids, about friendship and loyalty, caring about the issue of "first come, first served."
But for Andy and Eleven, such worries were alien.
Because they'd never had the chance to experience such worries.
In the Lab, they were all assigned as siblings by number. Loyalty was solely for Papa, and friendship only existed between a few individuals.
And now, in their hidden life, they only had each other and Hopper, so they didn't understand why such conflict existed.
Now, through Will's perspective, they were witnessing this ordinary, real interpersonal conflict, and it felt very new.
Seeing this, Andy and Eleven didn't chase after Mike either; they just continued following Will.
The boy stood still for a few seconds, then sighed and raised his camera again.
But the next moment, as the two followed Will's perspective forward, they were both startled along with him by someone who suddenly jumped out to scare Will.
"Watch out, zombie boy!"
"Trick or treat! Freak!"
Before Will could even react, another person yelled, frightening him.
Will startled, took a step back, tripped over his own feet in his distraction, lost his balance, and fell backward.
As he fell, his perspective shook violently. Sky, houses, streetlights, mocking faces... everything spun like a kaleidoscope.
Then—
The sky was dark and gloomy.
The air was filled with a familiar, nauseating stench.
Andy and Eleven, through Will's senses, also experienced this sudden switch.
One moment, they were on the streets of Hawkins, watching Will fall.
The scene of Hawkins completely vanished before their eyes, and Will instantly disappeared from this space.
"Wait, what happened?"
Andy exclaimed in his consciousness. The virtual scene collapsed, everything disappearing like a receding tide, leaving only pure nothingness.
Eleven also felt confused. She lost her mental lock on Will, as if the signal had been suddenly cut off.
But more terrifyingly, the next second, she felt that Will's consciousness seemed to no longer be in the real world.
"Can you find Will?"
Andy quickly looked at Eleven, but Eleven was currently too shocked to speak.
Hearing Andy's words, Eleven also looked at him. Psychic positioning transcended space, and the next second, the two saw Will again within this Void.
Andy saw the look of fear on Will's face through the space, and his psychic power once again constructed the scene through Will's perspective.
"Andy," she said in her consciousness, a tremor in her voice, "here... it feels like..."
She didn't finish, but Andy understood.
That Upside Down world, covered in grayish-white particles, with a perpetually gloomy sky.
Will seemed to have fallen in again.
But this time was different. This time it was in the center of town, with people watching, and they had been connected to Will's mind the whole time, not seeing any sign of a gate or a monster leaping out.
Will was now standing in the same spot, his body trembling violently from fear.
His Ghostbusters costume looked jarringly out of place under the dark red sky, a bright beige standing out like a target amidst the gray and black.
"Mike!"
Will shouted, his voice echoing in the emptiness, sounding exceptionally lonely.
"Mike—"
In the empty world, Will could only try calling for his most trusted friend.
No response.
Only his own echo, distorted as it bounced back from the distance, then swallowed by the silence.
Then, Will lifted his head.
His eyes looked toward the distant sky, and Andy and Eleven followed his gaze.
Then, they saw it.
Under the dark red sky, something was moving.
Then, following Will's perspective, the two saw a huge, distorted shadow suddenly appear in the distant sky.
Like a living black mist, constantly deforming, reassembling.
At first, it had no fixed form. The shadow resembled twisting black fog. However, next, it continuously formed parts resembling limbs, like a giant spider.
Then, under Will's terrified gaze, the monster turned around.
When Will looked at it, it looked back at Will.
Will's breathing almost stopped. Even though he couldn't see the black mist's eyes, he could feel the sensation of that gaze.
Although the distance seemed very far, both Will, and Andy and Eleven observing from the Void, could feel that the monster was looking at Will. Its target was Will!
"Run!"
Andy shouted at Will in his consciousness, though he knew Will couldn't hear. "Will, run!"
Will's instinctive fear drove him to act. The moment the shadow was about to touch the ground, Will turned and ran with all his might in the opposite direction.
Will ran, his heart pounding wildly in his chest.
He didn't dare look back, but he could feel the shadow approaching, could feel that icy malice wrapping around his back like tentacles.
He was going to be caught again, just like a year ago.
He was alone here, in another world, being chased by a monster.
Despair, like cold lead, filled his chest.
"No!"
Seeing this, Andy immediately severed the connection, got up, and headed for the door. Andy and Eleven simultaneously woke up, returning to the cabin.
He stood up, staggered a bit from weak legs, but immediately steadied himself and rushed to the door.
"Will is in danger," he said as he ran, his voice trembling with agitation. "In the Upside Down, caught by something. We have to tell Hopper, we need to..."
His hand had just touched the doorknob when the door was suddenly pushed open from the outside.
Hopper stood in the doorway, one hand still mid-air, looking like he was about to knock.
The originally happy expression on his face instantly changed when he saw Andy's pale face, the blood under his nose, and the equally disheveled Eleven behind him.
Then, he immediately looked around warily, his expression serious as he pushed Andy back inside.
"What happened?" Hopper's voice was low and serious.
"It's Will!" Andy's voice was shrill with urgency.
"He fell into the Upside Down again! Caught by something! A huge shadow, like living fog, it's... going after him!"
Hopper's expression froze. A few seconds of silence as his brain processed this information.
Then, his professional instincts took over.
"Calm down," he said, his voice becoming steady but forceful. "Start from the beginning. Tell me slowly. Tell me everything you saw, exactly."
Andy and Eleven spoke one after the other, their words fast but as clear as possible, describing their recent observation.
Will's fall, then the dimensional shift, the sights of the Upside Down, the huge shadow, Will running.
Hopper listened, his expression growing increasingly grave, his brows tightly furrowed.
"Can you still contact Will now?" Hopper asked.
"Like before at Hawkins Middle School, establish a mental connection, determine his location?"
Andy and Eleven exchanged a glance. Although they might be a bit weak now from prolonged use of their abilities, they could do it with Eleven handling the positioning and Andy managing the connection.
"Yes," Andy said, though his voice trembled slightly from weakness.
The two quickly adjusted the cabin environment, tuned the TV to white noise again, placed Will's photo and the walkie-talkie in front of them, covered their eyes with blindfolds, and re-entered the Void.
But when the two connected to Will again, the scene before their eyes greatly surprised them.
"Will! Wait, Will... seems to be back?"
Through Eleven's positioning, when Andy connected to Will's mind, he had just called out once when he discovered that although Will looked frightened, Mike was right beside him, holding him as they walked back.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Will, who was walking home worriedly with Mike, suddenly felt like he was hearing things. He thought he heard that familiar voice calling him.
So he couldn't help but speak up, whispering tentatively, "Andy?"
Although this whisper was very soft, both Mike beside him and Hopper, who was listening intently to the walkie-talkie, heard it.
"Come out now!" Hopper's expression changed drastically. He immediately picked up the walkie-talkie and switched the TV back to the normal channel.
At the same time, affected by the environmental disruption, the two kids also immediately withdrew from the Void.
"Hopper?" Andy wiped the blood from his nose and looked at Hopper, his eyes filled with confusion.
"You said Will is back?" Looking at Hopper's serious expression, Andy nodded.
"Tell me in detail about the scene you just saw."
Meanwhile, on the other side, Mike, with his arm around Will, returned to the basement of Will's house.
"You mentioned Andy just now... did you sense him?" Mike's voice carried barely restrained excitement.
Startled by Mike's intense reaction, Will blinked somewhat dazedly.
He tried hard to recall that fleeting sensation from a moment ago, but in the end, he only hesitated, slowly nodded, then shook his head again.
"I... I'm not sure." Will's voice was tinged with exhaustion and confusion.
"Just now, for a moment... I thought I heard Andy call my name. But, it might just have been my imagination. Lately, I keep hearing strange sounds."
The spark that had just ignited in Mike's eyes dimmed slightly.
He was silent for a few seconds, his shoulders slumping a little, then sat down on the couch next to Will.
"Okay..." he said softly, "but, what exactly happened to you before? You looked... like you were scared out of your mind, terrified."
Mentioning this, Will's face paled a few shades, his gaze becoming unfocused, as if he were back in that suffocating moment.
"That feeling... it was like being trapped." His voice was very quiet, almost a whisper.
"Trapped?" Mike immediately responded, flashes of dark memories from a year ago crossing his mind, "Trapped in... the Upside Down?"
"No... not exactly." Will struggled to find the right words, "You know in Dungeons & Dragons, how you become..."
"Stuck in between both planes."
Mike understood immediately. He always could quickly grasp Will's thoughts and analogies.
"Yeah, exactly like that." Will seemed to relax a little at being understood, but the fear didn't leave him.
"It's like... one side is the real world... the other side is the Upside Down."
He paused, his breathing becoming a bit rapid, as if re-experiencing that overwhelming sense of oppression.
"And then," he continued, his voice carrying a slight tremor, "there were sounds everywhere, from all directions."
Struggling to remember, Will described haltingly: "And then... I think I saw something too..."
"Was it the Demogorgon?"
Mike held his breath and asked nervously.
"No... not it." Will shook his head, his brow furrowed, "Something else... like a huge shadow in the sky, but it was alive, and it wanted to catch me."
Mike looked at the unmistakable fear on Will's face. It was definitely not an act.
He hesitated, then cautiously asked the question lingering in his mind, and perhaps in others' minds too.
"Will, the things you're saying, those sounds, that shadow... are they real? Or are they just your imagination, like those doctors say?"
Will was silent for an even longer time. He lowered his head, staring at his clasped, slightly trembling hands.
"I... I don't know, Mike."
"I don't know, it's just..." Will wasn't very sure either, but he instinctively wanted to hide all this.
"Please don't tell anyone else, okay? They wouldn't understand."
Hearing Will's request, Mike's expression also turned very serious. He knew what Will meant. He thought of the people who would understand, but they were gone.
"Eleven would understand. Andy would too."
Mentioning these two names, especially the former one, Mike's eyes suddenly grew complex.
His tone unconsciously lowered, carrying a trace of pain and longing that was almost imperceptible.
"Would she?" Will asked softly.
He had heard of Eleven, that girl with amazing powers, like Andy. But he had never actually met her, only knew she was a special presence in Mike's heart, like Andy.
"Yeah." Mike nodded affirmatively, "She always understood those things. Andy does too."
His voice grew even softer, more like he was talking to himself.
"Sometimes, just like you sensed Andy a moment ago, I feel like I can still sense her too. Like she's nearby, just around a corner, but she's not here."
Mike's throat tightened. He shook his head hard, as if trying to shake off the surge of sadness and helplessness.
"I don't know either, Will. Sometimes, I think maybe I'm going crazy too."
This whisper was filled with rare vulnerability.
Will looked at his best friend, and the wall of isolation in his heart seemed to crack open a little.
"Me too." Will responded softly. This simple admission gave him a strange sense of comfort.
Mike turned his head to look at Will. The two gazed at each other in the dim light.
A few seconds later, Mike's mouth curved upward with difficulty, but sincerely, showing the first slightly weary yet determined smile of the evening.
"Hey," he said, his tone regaining strength, "if we're both crazy, then we'll be crazy together, right?"
This familiar, quintessentially Mike promise was like a faint yet warm beam of light, shining into Will's fear-shrouded heart.
"Right." Will finally showed a genuine, though small and real smile. "Crazy together."
Meanwhile, on the other side, the two people whom Mike and Will considered "very understanding" were sitting side by side on a somewhat worn-out couch.
Opposite them, Sheriff Hopper's large frame was sunk into another armchair, his brow deeply furrowed.
"You two are sure..." Hopper rubbed his temples with thick fingers, looking at Andy again.
"That thing... isn't some hallucination cooked up by 'post-traumatic something-or-other'?"
"Post-traumatic... what?"
Andy was hit with this sudden, unfamiliar medical term. His train of thought seemed to jam for a moment.
"Post-traumatic... syndrome? What's that?"
"Trauma... ah, forget it."
Looking at the boy's bewildered face, Hopper gave up on using professional jargon, switching to plainer language.
"What I mean is, are you sure the hellish place you entered and saw is the real Upside Down, and not some... illusion created by Will's brain because of last year's events? A particularly real, particularly terrifying nightmare?"
After hearing this, Andy didn't answer immediately.
He crossed his arms, leaned forward slightly, and sank into careful thought.
He had indeed felt that space's similarity to the Upside Down's nauseating, otherworldly atmosphere. That basic texture of coldness, lifelessness, and malevolence matched.
But... there were also some indescribably strange aspects. It wasn't as complete as the Upside Down he had previously contacted or sensed.
"It looked... very similar."
Andy chose his words carefully, "The feeling there, that sense of dislocation and decay, is very close to my impression of the Upside Down. But..."
He paused, as if trying to capture that fleeting sense of wrongness in his mind, "I just had that feeling, that it should be a scene from the Upside Down, or at least a part of it."
As he spoke, he instinctively turned to look at Eleven beside him.
After all, this consciousness-level positioning was mainly achieved by relying on Eleven's powerful and unique psychic power.
Regarding the nature of that chaotic space, perhaps Eleven had more authority to speak than he did.
Eleven received Andy's gaze.
"We entered... Will's consciousness."
"Will's consciousness?" Hopper's brow furrowed even tighter, "So, the scary things you saw, the shadow in the sky, those sounds... they were all conjured up by Will?"
"No," this time Andy interrupted Hopper's reasoning, "It's not simply a hallucination, Hopper."
"What Eleven means is that Will's body is indeed still in our world, but his consciousness is trapped in that Upside Down."
Hopper digested Andy's words. Suddenly, as if grasping a key point, he sharply looked up at Andy.
"Wait. You said before that you also sensed a feeling similar to the Upside Down, or similar to the Lab, in the real world, right?"
"Yes." Andy nodded, not quite understanding why Hopper suddenly brought this up.
"You said you recently sensed a feeling there similar to the Lab..." Hopper's mind quickly connected the dots.
"And the place where Will's consciousness is trapped now, you feel is very like the Upside Down but not quite right. Could it be... these two things are connected? Is Will's situation related to that damn Lab? Are they up to some new tricks again, creating some freaky thing that can affect people's consciousness, even connect to the Upside Down?"
This possibility sent a chill down Andy's spine.
"Maybe..." Andy's tone also became less certain, but his vigilance greatly increased, "The Lab could indeed still be conducting related research. That place has always given me a really bad feeling. If there's a new leak of the Upside Down's power, or if they actively conducted some dangerous experiment that affected Will, it's not completely impossible."
Hopper let out a heavy sigh, his face full of irritation.
"I see." he said in a low voice, placing the unopened beer can on the side table.
"First thing tomorrow morning, I'm going over to the Lab to 'take a look'. Need to ask Brenner and his crew, or whoever's in charge now, if they've made another mess."
He made his decision, but then, his tone shifted.
His large body rose from the armchair. He walked to the fireplace and picked up a plate of brightly packaged holiday candy and a comic book sitting on it.
He turned around, deliberately forcing a somewhat lighter expression onto his face, though the worry in his eyes hadn't completely faded.
"But today," Hopper's voice rose a bit, carrying an undeniable tone, "today is Halloween. Damn monsters, the Lab, the Upside Down... all of you take a back seat for a while."
He offered the candy plate to Andy and Eleven.
"You two, right now, should be happily celebrating the holiday! Eat candy, or... think of something happy. At least for tonight, forget about them temporarily."
His gaze swept over the boy and girl's faces. It held concern, but also command.
In this crisis-ridden town, moments of peace and happiness were perhaps also a necessary kind of strength.
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