Summary: You're trapped in the Upside Down when you find Castle Byers.
QOTP: Johnathan or Steve?
Word Count: 5670
Your eyes are unfocused, staring at nothing. Blurred shapes you've studied for who knows how long, having nothing else to look at.
You won't go outside.
You can't.
There's nothing of use out there, anyway.
An unearthly snarl meets your ears, one you're familiar with. Before, it terrified you, made you stop in your tracks, eyes wide as you looked for the source in the dark. You don't even react now.
You're a caged animal, and you have been for quiet some time.
At first, you ran.
This place looks like your home, only dark, dilapidated, and overgrown. You thought there was something here. A way out. You searched for food and water, but mostly, you searched for people. You found none.
It's been months, though it feels like longer, and you've forgotten what people look like - the ones you want the most. Your parents, your friends. You'll settle for anyone, though. Loneliness is crippling.
After you searched the whole town of Hawkins, you began to lose hope and headed for the woods.
That's where you found it.
It was made of sticks, lined up and tied together like a child's fort, but impressively bigger - a tree house on the ground. There was an American flag staked on top. Back home, it'd be blowing in the wind proudly. Here, it hung down, as sad as the rest of this place.
The door was a bed sheet hanging in an opening in the sticks. Over the door, three signs were hung, written in neat, yet child-like handwriting:
CASTLE BYERS
HOME OF WILL THE WISE
ALL FRIENDS WELCOME
Will Byers.
The name sounded familiar, but you couldn't remember what he looked like. He went to your school, but you didn't have any classes together. You thought he was in AV club with those boys he always hung around with. Their names were lost on you.
You'd never really spoken to Will, just seen him around. Hawkins wasn't a particularly big town.
You looked up at the sign again.
ALL FRIENDS WELCOME
You weren't friends, but maybe you could've been. You stepped inside, pushing the sheet back.
You could see the surrounding woods through the gaps in the sticks. Drawings were posted up on the makeshift walls, scattered all over. There were three small tables next to a low bed made of a tattered mattress, a gray comforter, and a single pillow.
One table sat to the upper right, holding art supplies. Another was near the door, empty. The last was on the left of the bed, and a lamp sat atop it. You tried to turn it on, but it didn't have a bulb.
You decided to rest for a while, considering you hadn't slept in a few days, if time even passed here at all. When you laid down, you laid on something and moved, finding a stuffed tiger. Gingerly, you held it and pulled the covers up over your head, as if it would keep the monster at bay.
It did, though - or the monster had just lost interest in you for a few hours.
You got up and went for the door, but stopped. There was nothing out there as far as you knew, and a few more hours of restless sleep wouldn't hurt.
You've been here ever since.
Sure, you get out of the bed, but only when necessary.
What's the point? You're going to die here, and Castle Byers doesn't seem like such a horrible place to die.
Weeks pass. You become weaker, paler. You get hungry and find food in what you assume is the Byer's house, then come right back.
You look at the drawings a thousand times, then make a few of your own with the art supplies. Things you remember from home.
You mostly sleep, clutching the stuffed animal like a lifeline. That's what you're doing when you hear the monster.
You drift off again not long after, then jolt awake thirty minutes later.
The nightmare.
You were coming home late from your friend's house. It was past your curfew, and you knew you were in trouble, worrying yourself to death over how long you'd be grounded, picking your nails nervously. You picked them down to the quick; you were bleeding.
That's how it found you.
You wish you were grounded - you wish you'd made it home, no matter how much your mother would've yelled.
It was sudden. There was a scream - yours, though it didn't sound like it. It was blood-curdling, fueled by pure terror and the desperate wish to make it out alive.
That's when you wake up.
The tiger had been tossed off the bed, so you reach to pick it up when you hear a twig snap.
You freeze.
The monster is too loud. This is something different.
The curtain is flung back a few seconds later, barely giving you time to hide. A face stares back at you, pale and surprised.
Will Byers.
You back away, towards the far corner. "Wh-" Your question dies in your throat as you cough profusely, your hands flying to your chest. You haven't spoken since the night you were taken. You haven't been drinking much water, either.
Will starts toward you a little, wanting to help, but not sure if he should get any closer. Your coughing ceases and he ventures to ask a question. "Are you Y/N Y/L/N?"
You back away even farther, knocking the lamp off the table and startling you both. "How do you know my name?" Your voice is still hoarse, and you're surprised he understands a word you're saying.
"You were on the news everyday for a few weeks. You disappeared."
You relax a little, but you still keep your guard up. "Are you Will Byers?"
