THE GROUP sat in silence for a while, only having each other and the contents of the Wheeler basement to look at. Mike was cooped up in a chair, his hands in his pockets, Lucas stared off into space, Dustin sat on the stairs, Allison sat in the chair opposite of Lucas, staring down at her hands, and Cherry sat on the couch, Eleven laid her head in the blonde's lap, worn out from earlier.

      Cherry couldn't find it within herself to speak. Will sounded so afraid-she was relieved the boy was alright, but worried for his safety wherever he was.

      Allison looked up at her sister for a second, taking in her form. She could tell Cherry was on edge-trying to keep herself from falling apart in front of them. She wanted to call her out on it, but this was who Cherry was.

      Cherry always had to be the strong one, the person who held everyone else together when she herself was probably falling apart. She was the one to wrap you in her arms and whisper sweet nothings, when in honesty, she was the one who needed them the most. Cherry was the one who would mold everyone back together when she was falling apart.

      "Like home," Mike wondered out loud. "Like home but dark?"

      "And empty," Lucas and Allison added.

      "Empty," Cherry began.

      "Cold," Dustin finished, he then paused and looked up at them all. "Wait, did he say cold?"

      "I don't know." Lucas said frustratedly. "The stupid radio kept going in and out."

      "It's like riddles in the dark," Dustin groaned.

      "Like home..." Allison trailed off, trying to find answers within her mind.

      "Like his house?"

      "Or maybe like Hawkins," Lucas suggested.

       "Upside down," Eleven croaked out, lifting her head lightly off Cherry's lap.

      "What'd she say?"

      "Upside down," Mike and Cherry repeated her words.

      "What?"

      "Upside down," Mike exclaimed in realization. He raced over to the table, grabbing ahold of the Dungeons and Dragons board and flipping it over. The group with the exception of Eleven walked over to the table crowding around the Wheeler boy.

      "When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board over, remember?" Mike spoke quickly, trying to explain his point to his friends. He flipped the board back and forth. "Upside down. Dark. Empty."

      "Do you understand what he's talking about?"

      "No."

      Cherry pinched her nose and groaned, "Guys, come on, think about it."

      Mike threw Cherry a thankful look before explaining more, "When El took us to find Will, she took us to his house, right?"

      "And he wasn't there."

       "But what if he was there?" Cherry finally spoke up, understanding Mike's view on the situation. "What if we just couldn't see him?"

      "What if he was on the other side?" Mike said. "What if this is Hawkins," he flipped the board to the original game board before flipping it to the back. "And this is where Will is?"

      "The Upside Down," Allison spoke.

      "Like the Vale of Shadows," Dustin threw out. He grabbed a pamphlet book, reading out the information. "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 place of monsters. It is right next to you, and you don't even see it."

      "An alternate dimension."

      "But how how do we get there?"

      "You cast Shadow Walk."

      Cherry face palmed, "In real life, Dustin."

      "We can't shadow walk," Dustin responded.

      "But maybe El and Cherry can!" Allison exclaims in excitement, not seeing the warning look she got from Cherry and the looks of confusion from the kids.

      "I've seen Cherry do some pretty awesome things-but she's no Eleven," Dustin laughed in response to Allison's statement.

      "She's a witch!" Allison countered.

      "Allison!" Cherry exclaimed, staring at her sister in anger. "You aren't supposed to-"

      "Is your sister...okay?" Mike asked the blonde, staring at her elder sister.

      "Are you actually a-"

      "Yes," Cherry snapped, not letting Lucas get the rest of his sentence out. "I'm a witch, but that isn't our concern right now. We need to focus on the Upside Down, period."

      The three boys all shared a look, knowing that when Cherry held that amount of authority in her voice, there was no room for questioning her. Cherry surely had an alpha personality, and it really showed in moments like these.

      Deciding to be the first on to break the silence, Mike looks to El. "Do you know how we get there? To the Upside Down?"

      Eleven shook her head.

      Cherry frowned in thought, maybe the grimore had something they could use. "Maybe El doesn't, but I think I might."

________

      The Jones girls, Eleven, and the three boys all sat in Cherry's living room, making use of all the space they had in it. Eleven looked around in wonder, she had only ever known the Wheeler's living room, but even then she found Cherry's living room to be awfully pretty.

      The Jones living room was well put together, the beige furniture matching well with the beige walls of the manor. The coffee table sat a family portrait smack in the middle-a picture of the Jones girls and their mother-they all wore big smiles, Cherry in between her sister and mother. From what Eleven could tell, the living room held more pictures than it did anything else. Pictures hung on the walls and were pushed off to the side of shelves, but it was picture in particular that caught El's attention in particular.

      It was a picture of Cherry, the boys, and Will. Out of all the pictures El had seen, Cherry seemed the happiest in that one.

      Eleven knew she wanted Cherry to be that happy again. She wanted her friend-no, her sister happy.

      "So, do you have to cast spells or can you do stuff with your mind like El?" Dustin questioned Cherry.

      "Do you get visions?" Lucas asked.

      "Can you predict the future?" Mike pondered.

      The boys didn't mean to ask so many questions, but the only girl with superpowers they had met, was El. They couldn't imagine the girl they had know all their life-was a witch. Cherry couldn't blame them so she took her time answering their questions while Allison went upstairs to retrieve the grimore and other necessities.

      "Most of the time I have to cast spells, but sometimes it just happens. Yes, I get visions, they actually started the night we found El. I don't predict the future to the point where I can tell you exactly what's going to happen, but I do get glimpses," Cherry made sure to answer their questions to the best of her ability.

      "Awesome," the boys muttered in unison, Eleven even smiled slightly at the blonde.

      Cherry smiled at their acceptance, feeling a sense of warmth spread through her.

      "Will would love this," Dustin muttered.

      Cherry smiled sadly, "Yeah, he would."

      "You have this big book of spells? Called a..."

      Just that moment, Allison came racing down the stairs with said book in hand, "Grimore!"

      Cherry thanked her sister and took the book, everyone leaned in, staring at the book in interest.

      "Grimore," El repeated in confusion, staring up at Cherry.

      "Basically a witch cookbook," Cherry joked. "Okay..."

      All six of them gazed at each other awkwardly, constantly looking between them selves and the spell book.

      "Where's the magic?" Dustin asked incredulously earning a smack to the chest from Lucas.

      "I....have no idea what I'm looking for," Cherry admitted.

      Suddenly, as if it was alive, the book flipped its own pages. Landing on a page titled A Guide to Alternate Dimensions.

      "Oddly specific," Lucas muttered, shocked at book.

      "Does it tell you how to travel to one?" Mike asked.

      Cherry's eyes skimmed the page, "It's a spell on how to look at one. Kind of like-"

      "Astral projection," Dustin cut her off excitedly. "Holy shit! This is awesome!"

      "How do you do it?" Allison asked, looking over her sisters shoulder.

      "I need candles."

      "Why candles?"

      "Makes me feel more witchy."

________

GIF MADE BY; silversolara