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NINETEEN!
trapped in labyrinth
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         Dark and cold, those were the only words that could be used to describe the brutal conditions of the Upside Down. It was physically a dark place to the point that you couldn't see a foot in front of your face unless you held a flashlight. It was also so bitterly cold that frost bite was regular occurrence.

The place was basically a reincarnation of hell, despite having a similar appearance to the regular world. The Upside Down was practically the breeding spot for misfortune and gruesome death.

If the gross interior of sticky ooze that made you cringe, didn't turn you off enough than I bet you the idea of blood thirsty monsters would. The thought of the mysterious creature, known as the demogorgan, roaming around and feasting on the flesh of its victims, is enough to tell you that this place is bad news.

The worst of all about the Upside Down was that once you arrived to the dreaded dimension, it was hard to escape. Every person who was sucked into this Hellhole of a place, usually ended up as worm food to the demogorgan. It also didn't help that the portal back to the normal world, often shifted throughout the dimension, making it even harder for the prey to plot their escape.

Only a handful of lucky people had been able to escape the Upside Down, Stanley Harrington, Nancy Wheeler, Jim Hopper, Joyce Byers and her son, Will. But even than, each and every one of them were cutting it close.

The Upside Down was a dangerous place to play as you never knew when the target is going to land on your back and you become the next victim. And unfortunately, Wendy Harrington was the latest victim of the Upside Down.

The preteen girl was awoken with a harsh jolt as if she was electrocuted awake. She shot up from the ground, gasping for harsh breathes. It felt like the oxygen supply had been cut off for the last few hours and this was the first time in a while that she could physically suck in such a large amount of air for her lungs to function normally.

But it didn't help that the air in the Upside Down was so polluted. It felt like her lungs were slowly suffocating with each breath. This caused a burning sensation to overtake her sore throat. The tense pressure in the air had caused her insides to tangle itself in uncomfortably tight knots and the only way to relieve that tightness was to dry heave.

Wendy had spent a few minutes or so, dry heaving the tightness in her stomach with shut eyes. She had squeezed her eyes together to allow herself to focus on her own breaths and drown out the disgusting sight of the Upside Down. She had yet to completely comprehend that she was trapped alone in that dreaded world.

But when she did, she immediately jumped to her feet, ignoring the aches in her knees to begin searching for someone of importance.

"El!"

"Nina!"

"Stanley!"

"Mike!"

"Dustin!"

"Lucas!"

"Anyone! Please help me!" The girl was practically running around the Upside Down's version of Hawkins middle school like a chicken with its head cut off.

The school was already confusing in broad daylight due to its excessive amount of winding hallways but it looked like a complete maze in the dark. She must of been running in circles for what felt like hours as she had yet to find any sort of exit.

"Mike?! Mike?!" A familiar female voice caused Wendy Harrington to immediately freeze in her tracks.

The sudden stop had almost caused her to tumble over as she had abruptly dug her sneakers into the ground. She was actually so surprised that she could even hear the loud call as she had lost her hearing aids a long time ago at the middle school. It was assuring to know that her hearing was still somewhat intact.

"Mike?!" This second calling for the familiar boy had made Wendy take off in a sprint.

She had no idea where that voice was coming from but she knew it belonged to one person and one person only, Eleven. She needed to get sight of the girl immediately as it was the only sense of comfort she could receive in this exact moment.

Wendy Harrington went sprinting down the vine infested hallways until she met the girl in question. Eleven was in the same outfit she had on when she had faced the demogorgan, meaning it had only been a day or so after the event. The telekinetic was spinning around in circles, calling for the boy she so desperately wanted in this moment.

"Eleven! Eleven, it's me!" The shorter girl had turned around upon hearing her name called and was on the verge of bursting into tears when she made eye contact with her friend.

"Wendy." Eleven mumbled, trying to suppress her own sobs of sorrow.

Wendy then pulled the girl in for a tight but comforting hug. This was her way of assuring Eleven that she was indeed real and that the girl was no longer alone in this awful place. The two shared a moment of comforting silence before pulling apart and staring into each other's eyes.

"Where are we?" Wendy questioned worryingly.

"Upside Down." Eleven answered, causing the Harrington girl's face to drop.

Wendy had never experienced anything like this. This was actually the last thing on her mind. She never expected that her, of all people, would actually get stuck in another dimension but this was no ordinary dimension.

This was a dimension were death was more common than anything else. A place where misfortune tend to breed. It was not the greatest place to be in but to be stuck in the place, was practically a death wish. And Wendy Harrington never agreed to this death wish.

"Oh, shit! We gotta get out of here." Wendy panicked, beginning to pace around the girl. "Do you think there's a gate nearby?"

"Yes, I saw it." Eleven nodded.

"Really? Where?" Wendy was now excited and she was now practically trying to stop herself from bouncing on the spot or tackling the girl.

The thought of actually leaving this horrendous place was like a dream come true.

"This way." Eleven just simply took the other girl's hand and dragged her down another hallway that was opposite from where they were standing.

It took a few minutes for the two girls aimlessly wandering the dense hallways to purposely stumble upon the gate but when they did, they were pushed back into their own skins in shock.

The two were practically attracted to flaming red spot light of a portal that refracted throughout the entire hallway. The gate was practically begging for someone to pull back its slimy cobwebs and step through to the other side. The two girls gently stepped towards to investigate the sight but were still cautious.

"You go first." Wendy invited, wanting to stay behind in case something went wrong and she had the push the girl through herself.

Eleven nodded before gently pushing her hand through the slimy cobwebs covering the gate. The sudden pressure her hand had placed on the protective barrier, caused a hole to be punctured through. Her hand was now in the present world.

Eleven retracted her hand with a look of disgust but it was Wendy's smile of relief and nodding of reassurance that caused the girl to continue pushing through the gate.

Eleven stepped backwards, raising her right hand to begin channeling her telekinesis powers into ripping open the gate. Bricks from the walls began to crumble as the outline of the gate began to expand to big enough for the two girls to fight through.

Once Eleven had used up the last of her energy to widened the gate, she decided to take a step forward towards the regular world.

Wendy took the girl's hand to help her step up without falling. Eleven got halfway through before she ended up stumbling forward, hitting the tile floor of Hawkins middle school.

"I'm through." Eleven confirmed happily.

"Great!" Wendy exclaimed excitedly.

"Take my hand." Eleven held her hand out for the Harrington girl to take.

As soon as Wendy grasped the girl's hand in hers, the gate began to shrink. The two girls eyes widened at the sight of the opening decreasing in size.

The Harrington girl tried to step through quickly but each time her foot had made it through, she was met with a harsh burning sensation. It felt as if someone was holding a blowtorch to her skin and it was unbearable to say the least. She flinched, stumbling backwards and flying across the floor.

When she had sat up, the gate decreased in size dramatically. "No! No! No! No!" Wendy jumped up with a screech, running at full speed towards the gate to make it through in time.

But it was already too late. The gate had completely shut on her, sealing her off from the normal dimension of her world.

Wendy slid down the wall, letting her own suppressed sobs of sorrow overtake her body like harsh waves crashing and threatening to swallow her whole. She was stuck. She was stuck in this horrendous place with no escape.

Her only way back had completely closed in on her and she had no idea where the closest gate was to her or if she could actually find another way out of the Upside Down.

For now, she was trapped with no way to escape. It was like a never ending nightmare that kept getting worse and worse. Wendy Harrington didn't know if she would be able to find her way out or if she would be stuck in the Upside Side forever.

★ 𝐎𝐃𝐃 𝐄𝐘𝐄 ! stranger things fanfic ★
(© 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝘆𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱)