CARLA'S EYES OPENED AND SCANNED ACROSS THE TINTED ROOM.

Another nightmare, and it had only been a day.  Carla knew that it couldn't mean anything good. Last year, her nightmares came when something bad was about to happen, something important.  And, here she was again, trapped within the vines and particles.

But, instead of being her own room, it was the Byers' house this time.  The couch was the same, the pictures were still taped on the wall.  Carla suspected that Joyce, Will and  Mike were all asleep, but she didn't want to see their messed up faces.  But, a small voice urged her closer to the room.

"Carla?"

Carla knew she shouldn't follow his voice.  Last time she did, Will had choked her out, saying that the mind flayer wanted her.  The Wheeler didn't know if she could trust Will after what happened last time.  She knew that her Will didn't want to hurt anyone, but whatever was taking him over sure did.

"Carla, it's me."

She sighed, and quietly made her way to the boy's room, careful not to step on any vines.  She creaked the door open and saw him at once, sitting on the bed.  He looked more normal here.  His eyes were still green, and he didn't look as scared, or sick as he did when she was awake.

"Will?" Carla muttered.

"Carla." Will replied, getting off of the bed and walking over to her.  He stepped over what the brunette assumed to be Mike, but she wouldn't look to see if she was right.  She couldn't see her brother in such a state.

Without a word, Will wrapped his arms around the girl in an embrace.  Carla quickly flinched, but realized that it was him.  Not the mind flayer.   At this moment, Will was his true self.   The Wheeler accepted, and pulled him close, happy to have at least a moment with him.  "Your still here."

"I don't know how long I will be." Will replied, pulling away.  He grabbed her hand, and started walking out of his room.  She was confused, but followed.  For some reason, Carla still slightly trusted the boy.  She knew that this was the true Will, and that he could be trusted.  If something happened, it wasn't him.  It was the mind flayer. "And, I-I don't want to hurt you, so we need to hurry."

"Will, you can't hurt me here." Carla stated.  It was true.  If he hurt her, or tried to do anything, she'd just wake up back in the real world.  As far as she knew, she couldn't die here.  But, that was something to be debated. 

"You don't know that, Carla." Will sounded so mature as he spoke, walking out of his house without another care. It sounded as if he were the adult and she was the child, helplessly following after him. 

Her bike was still there, and so was Mike's.  Will quickly hopped on to the latter, and Carla got on her's without a question, following as he pedaled off into his front yard, towards the woods that stood right near it—which was an Upside Down only thing.

The forest was dark, and a little creepy, even to Carla.  Maybe he was trying to hide the two, or maybe he'd just leave her for the mind flayer.  Like Will had said, the creature wanted her, and it wouldn't stop until it did.   Why not just leave her now and get the whole thing over with?

The familiar low growling took Carla from her thoughts, and she watched as Will's eyes widened.  He quickly hopped from the bike, allowing it to crash on the slimy Upside Down ground.  The Wheeler did the same and ran after him, running a little ahead of the boy.  

She wasn't sure where to go, but she knew she needed to run.  If the mind flayer caught her, if he finally had her, she didn't want to turn into will.  She couldn't do that to her family or boys, or Steve.

She'd just gotten him back, and if she got taken by this creature—just like Will had—she'd have to leave him again, and hide away with the Byers' until she got better....unless she didn't.  Carla didn't know what would eventually happen to Will, and she didn't want to think about herself in the situation.

The growling got louder, and Carla tried to run as fast as she could.  At this point, she just hoped Will could get somewhere safe.  The trees surrounded her, and at some point, she was going to get lost.  Breathing hard, and eye's darting around the forest, that's when she saw it.

There was a tree a few feet ahead of her. But, not just any tree.  Just like the one her and Nancy had found the year prior.  Carla didn't even take a second to think before she darted for the tree, pushing for her lungs and feet to keep going.

The tree had entered her into the Upside Down, but now that she was already here, would it take her back home? There was only one way to find out, and Carla was ready to take the risk.

She could hear footsteps behind her, but she didn't care.  The Wheeler took in a breath before sticking as much as her upper body through the hole as she could, cringing as the slimy substance covered her clothes and dripped down on her skin.

Ignoring the thoughts of last year, she crawled through, trying to see what was on the other side, but before she could spot anything, something cold grabbed a hold of her ankle.  Carla's heart dropped.

Before she could look behind her, the cold grasp began pulling at her ankle, pulling her from the hole.  Carla tried to kick the grasp from her foot, letting out an angered sob as she did.   But, the grasp kept pulling, causing her to grip on to whatever she could to stay put.  "Get off me! Let go!"

Her screams were helpless, and her fingers felt weak as they gripped for dear life.  The Wheeler had no clue what outside that hole was, but something inside her urged to scream for any sort of help. "Help! Please!"

The grasp then harshly pulled and she slid right out of the hole, getting tossed on the ground almost like a rag doll.  She let out a small cry, and looked up to see Will standing over her.  His eyes were brown again, and he had that cold look to him.

"I'm sorry." Will spoke, before grabbing her wrist and snapping it with ease. Carla didn't even have time to process what had happened before she screamed, just as she had when the demogorgan did the exact same thing.

Carla's eyes widened and she sat up, breathing heavily just as she had the moment before.  Her wrist tingled as if it really had been snapped—even though, it obviously hadn't.   The Wheeler's eyes landed on her scars, and she was relieved to see they were still sealed up, still their to proved she'd survived.

"Carla, honey, your okay." Joyce popped right up beside her, placing an arm on her shoulder.  The mother looked like she hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, and that she'd been sitting out here for most of it. 

"Sorry, I had another nightmare—" Carla didn't have much time to finish when Will and Mike came from down the hall, rushing over to Joyce.  Seeing Will gave an odd feeling to Carla after her nightmare.  He'd tried to kill her, twice now, and she didn't know what to expect from him now. 

"Mom?" 

"Yeah."

"I saw him."

"You saw who, baby?"

"Hopper." Will replied, "I think he's in trouble. I think he's going to die."

Joyce didn't need to be told twice before putting at his desk, handing him a sheet of wrapping paper and crayons.   Carla and Mike had followed the frantic mother and son into his room, standing to the side as he scribbled away on the sheet with purple, blue and black crayons—the main color palate of the Upside Down.

"Sleep alright?" Carla asked her younger brother, looking down at the shorter boy. 

"I guess, that sleeping bag wasn't too comfortable." Mike slightly laughed, kicking at the thing beneath his feet.  Carla remembered all the times she'd used that over the years, especially when her and Jonathan were kids.  She could see the dried nail polish stains, and the slightly torn seam of it.  It brought a small smile to her face as she thought about when everything was normal.

"What do you mean? I lived in that thing when I was your age." Carla replied, slightly ruffling his hair.

"Will woke me up anyway, he had a few nightmares last night." Mike added, crossing his arms over his chest.  Did Will have the same nightmares as Carla?  She wasn't sure whether the Will in her dreams was truly him or just a made up figure that Carla's mind used to mess with her, but she always hoped that his words, his pleads were actually him trying to get through.  And maybe it was him, he just forgot about everything when he awoke.

"Hey, is this where you saw him?" Joyce asked, taking the Wheeler's back to Will's drawings, eyes trying to spot whatever he'd drawn. "Is-Is this where you saw Hopper?"

"I think so. Yeah." Will's voice was monotone as he replied, staring straight ahead as if she hadn't been speaking to him.  Mike and Joyce then ran out of the room in search of where this piece went in the puzzle, leaving Carla and Will alone.

At first, it was silent.  Will continued to stare ahead towards his curtained window, as if he was looking right outside it.  She wanted to ask him if he'd been having nightmares too, so that's exactly what she did. "Hey, Will?"

The brunette boy slightly turned in his chair, "Yeah?"

"Have you....I don't know, been having nightmares recently?" Carla rubbed the back of her neck, awkwardly waiting for the boy to answer her question.  It was either a yes or no, and either answer would be helpful to the girl.

"Yeah, I had one tonight, actually."

"What happened exactly?" Carla didn't want to push the boy, but she wanted to know whether she reoccurred in his nightmares the same way he did hers. Obviously, he wasn't stuck in the Upside Down this year, meaning it wasn't actually him there this year, unless he said she was in it.  Then it showed their nightmares connected.

"I-I don't remember much." Will responded, "But, I wasn't me.  I had my body, and my voice, but I felt cold. And you were there, Carla.  We were biking away from something, but then you disappeared, and something got me.  Afterwards, all I remember was blackness."

It seemed as if whenever Will got possessed, he didn't remember anything.  Someone took over his mind, and let him remember minor things, if he even remembered at all.  The Wheeler gave a small nod, and was about to say something else when the slamming of a car door took her attention away.

"Uh, I'll be right back." Carla walked into the living room again, where Mike and Joyce had left for.  Mike was by the fridge, taping up the sheet of paper Will had drawn, and the Byers woman was no where to be seen.

The brunette appeared next to the window, watching as Bob walked up to Joyce, a collection of games in his hands.  Carla felt slightly bad that Bob was left completely clueless about this whole Will ordeal, but it was for the best.

A few moments later, and Bob Newby was in the houses, eyes trailing across all the walls as he was met with the sight of all the drawings. Carla realized that Joyce was trying to get an idea of where Hopper was using Bob's knowledge of Hawkins. 

Bob was silent for a moment before turning to look at Will, who'd appeared behind him. "Huh. You drew all these yourself?"

Will gave a small nod, and Bob continued, confused about what exactly he was looking at, and why.  If Carla was in his shoes, she would have acted just the same.  "Why, exactly?"

"It would be better if you didn't ask questions, Bob." Carla replied, just as she'd heard Joyce tell the man.  He gave a small nod, keeping his eyes on the drawings, his lips closing to keep quiet.

"We just need you to help us figure out what—" Joyce stopped when she realized Bob was still frozen in place. "Bob! Bob! Over here."  The man then handed over the games to Mike—who he actually hadn't met yet—and followed after his girlfriend.

Joyce was in front of the fridge where Mike had been, drawing a big red 'X' over the most recent drawing. "—where this is."

"That's the objective. Find the X. " Mike added.

 "Yeah? What's at the X? Pirate Treasure?" Bob looked down at the drawing, slightly chuckling at his own words.  Carla slightly frowned at his playful attitude—Bob couldn't help it, he was confused, and that was just the person he was.  She didn't know how Joyce would be able to keep him serious without revealing something.

"Bob, no questions." Joyce's eyes were dead panned as she started at Bob, her tone nothing but serious. After a moment of silence, the Newby excused him and the Byers' woman to talk privately, which left Carla even more anxious.

She knew she could trust Joyce with keeping the secret about Will and everything that had unfolded the year prior, but at some point, Bob had to start questioning, especially if this got more serious.

"I-I'm gonna go home." Carla spoke up, looking over at her brother.  She just needed to go back to her own home for a minute, maybe shower up and get a change of clothes, and then she'd return. Heck, maybe she could get some more info from Nancy—if she'd returned, that is. "I'll be back in a little bit, tell Joyce for me."

"Uh, alright." Mike replied, "Bye."

And with that, Carla was out the door, kicking the kickstand up and biking off towards the Wheeler household.  Somewhere inside the brunette regretted just leaving like that.  She should stay with Mrs Byers' until they found Hopper, or to help keep Bob quiet, but she just needed a minute to herself.

Fall was beginning to show in Hawkins, and Carla could tell as she biked through the empty roads.  There were leaves falling off trees, piles of orange, red and brown piling up in people's yards, and there were even some pumpkins still out, waiting to rot away.

Fall had to be Carla's favorite season.  In her opinion, it was the best time of year in Hawkins, Indiana.  The weather was a perfect mix where jeans and a light jacket would do you just fine.   The air was crisp and had that after holiday feeling to it, the feeling that gave everyone exactly 23 days to relax before Thanksgiving rolled around.

Carla knew the weather should be the last thing on her mind, but she at the moment, she'd rather be thinking about anything other than the mind flayer and Hopper.

Meanwhile, at the Wheeler household, Dustin Henderson urgently rings their doorbell, impatient with how long it was taking for someone to get the door.  He was already upset enough as it was—not only had he lied to the group and kept Dart, but now Mews had been eaten and he had to somehow get his mother to believe she'd just gone missing—and the fact that the Wheeler's phone had been busy for more than two hours, thanks to Mrs. Wheeler, wasn't helping.

He needed to speak to Mike, or Carla.  Heck, even Nancy would do.  Someone who understood the urgency of this.

The door swung open, and Dustin was met with an un-amused looking Mr. Wheeler standing in front of him.  "Your line has been busy for over two hours, Mr. Wheeler.  Do you realize this?"

Ted nodded his head, "Oh, I realize."

"Is Mike home?" Dustin got straight to the point. He didn't have time for small talk.

"No."

"No?" Dustin's eyebrows furrowed together.  He expected Mike to be home, why wouldn't he be home on a Saturday morning? With Will sick, and Lucas out, there was nowhere to be. "Well, where the hell is he?"

"Karen, where's our son?"

"Will's!"

Ted turned back towards the curly haired boy, beginning to shut the door on him. "Will's."

"Okay, uh, what about Carla? Is she home?" Dustin was running out of options, and Carla was his last hope at this point.  Sure, he could go for Nancy, if she wasn't here, but he felt as if Carla should be the one he told first.  It would get around eventually.

"Karen, where's Carla?"

"With, Mike!"

"Also at Will's." Ted replied, deadpanned.

"No one's picking up there." Dustin sighed in defeat, "Nancy. What about Nancy?"

"Karen, where's Nancy?"

Karen seemed rather agitated at this point, answering a final time with, "Ally's!"

"Ally's." Ted slightly leaned forward towards the younger boy, "Our children don't live here anymore.  You didn't know that?"

"Seriously?"

"Am I done here?"

"Son of a bitch. You're really no help at all, you know that?" Dustin snapped, turning around in defeat, not minding the 'language' he'd gotten from the older man.  Who was gonna help him now? He picked up his bike, about to head back home to think when a voice stopped him.

"Dustin?"

Carla stepped off of her bike, eyebrows furrowed as she watched the boy's head perk up at her.  He gave a small wave, and she approached, ditching her bike at the top of her driveway. "Hey.  Mike's not home, if you're looking for him."

"Well, I was, but, you'll do just fine." Dustin responded. "I've been trying to get a hold of someone for hours, so thank god you're here."

"Is everything okay?" Carla asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"It's a long story..." Dustin trailed off, before taking in a breath and looking at her seriously, more serious than he ever had.  It must be something important. "So, you remember Dart—"

His words were stopped when a maroon BMW pulled up right beside the Wheeler residence, Steve Harrington stepping out and beginning to walk up to the house, flowers in hand.  He was stopped when the curly haired boy yelled his name, "Steve!"

Steve then redirected himself towards the two, a small smile on his face when he realized Carla was standing there with the boy.  Dustin on the other hand, was less than amused as the boy walked up, and spoke up. "Are those for Mr. or Mrs. Wheeler?"

"No, they're for her." Steve replied, narrowing his eyes at the boy for a minute before lightening his expression as he looked at the brunette girl.  He handed over the flowers—Carla noticed they were roses, one of her favorites—and Carla took them with a smile. "Here, they were supposed to be a surprise, but.."

"Thank you, I love them." Carla replied, twirling the bouquet around in her hand.  Forgetting that Dustin was standing right in between the two, the Wheeler walked over to the Harrington, pressing a quick kiss against his lips.

"Uh, okay." Dustin raised his eyebrows,  eyes darting between the two teens. "Are you guys together all of the sudden?"

"Uh, yeah." Steve replied, slightly blushing.  It felt weird finally saying out loud that they were a thing again, but to Carla, it felt good.  It felt good to know that she was finally out with him. "We're together."

"Thanks for telling me, by the way." the boy replied sarcastically.

"Well, we were keeping it quiet—"

"Whatever! This is getting off topic. We have bigger problems than your guys' love life." Dustin walked over to Steve's car as if it were his own, opening the side door before looking back at Steve. "Do you still have that bat?"

"Bat? What bat?"

"The one with the nails." Dustin replied, waving his hands in the air.

Face painted with confusion, Steve answered, "Why?"

"I'll explain on the way." the Henderson responded, as if that gave them any clue on what they were in for.  Well, Carla had some idea based on the few words he'd spoken before Steve arrived.  Something on Dart, the weird lizard creature they'd searched for a few days beforehand.

"Now?"

"Yes, now!"

Both teens gave each other a look before following after Dustin, Carla taking the passenger seat.  As Carla directed her boyfriend towards the boy's house, he began to talk about why he was taking the two there in the first place, and Carla was right.

It was Dart.

She slightly cringed at the name, and her scars felt like they'd been reopened.  Whatever happened with Dart couldn't have been good.  Not only had he lied to his friends, her included, now, the thing was stirring up trouble.  Carla couldn't relive last year, she just couldn't.

"Wait a sec. How big?" Steve asked after the car had gone rather silent. He didn't want to keep the conversation going, especially if Carla—who'd been toying around with her bouquet—was uncomfortable, but he needed to know what he was working with, especially if it was Upside Down related.

"First it was like that." Dustin slightly spread his thumb and second finger out, showing how big he was when Carla had seen him.  He then put up both his arms, spreading them a good length apart, "Now he's like this."

"I swear to God, man, it's just some little lizard, okay?" Steve replied.

"It's not a lizard."

"How do you know?"

"How do I know if it's not a lizard?"

"Yeah, how do you know it's not just a lizard?" Steve's voice rose with annoyance as he spoke, slightly hitting his hand against the wheel.

"Because his face opened up and he ate my cat." Dustin blurted, rather calmly for the words that had just left his mouth.

Carla's head popped up, and her eyes slightly widened, "Oh my god, it ate Mews?"

The whole car then went silent, and the Wheeler looked over at her boyfriend, mouth slightly agape as she realized how serious this was getting.  If he got any bigger, he wouldn't just be eating animals.  

The Harrington then pulled into the Henderson driveway, the three getting out of the car and heading to the trunk, where Steve pulled out the spiked bat—just as Dustin wanted.  Carla was honestly a little surprised he still had it.  It was almost like a souvenir that said, 'You survived' just as Carla's scars were.  But, she supposed it was good he still had—it was definitely about to come in handy.

When Dustin led the couple to where Dart was, it seemed as if there was nothing at all.  Carla couldn't hear any sort of banging or growling—the only sound was the crickets chirping, it had gotten dark—and she could tell her boyfriend couldn't either.  But, she didn't doubt Dustin.  She'd seen the creature, and she could trust him.

But, Steve on the other hand, was tired, and getting weary of the Henderson's claims. "I don't hear shit."

"He's in there."

Steve, who was still weary, even after the boy's reassurance, hit his bat against the doors, waiting to see if any sort of disturbance from the creature followed.  After a moment of silence, he turned back to Dustin, his eyes narrowed. "Alright, listen, kid. I swear, if this is some sort of Halloween prank—" He shined the flashlight directly in Dustin's face. "—you're dead."

"It's not." Dustin replied, before getting agitated at Steve's still standing disbelieving. "It's not a prank!"

"I saw the thing, Steve." Carla spoke up, slightly stepping forward. Steve turned to her, lighting his weary expression. "It's definitely real."

"Get that out of my face."

"You got a key for this thing?" Steve turned back towards Dustin.

After Dustin tossed Steve the key, the teen knelt down, opening the doors to the old cellar.  Carla cringed as the thing squeaked open, praying that Dart was sleeping away.  All three squinted down, trying to see as much as they could, before Steve snatched the flashlight from Dustin—who's hands had been rather shaky with it—shining it down below.

As the light shined down on the cellar, Carla began to actually question if Dart was actually hiding.  If the creaking or banging didn't reveal their presence, surely this bright light did.  She just found it odd that there was no sign of him ever being down there at all.

"He must be further down there." Dustin stated, before slightly stepping back. "I'll stay up here in case he tries to.....escape."  Steve looked up at the boy in annoyance, before noticing his serious expression and shaking his head in a sigh.

"Are you seriously gonna make him go down there?" Carla looked at Dustin, crossing her arms across her chest.  Sure, she didn't want to go down instead, nor did she want to force Dustin, but maybe they could just wait, or throw down bait. Anything other than putting someone in danger.  "I mean, we could just come back tomorrow, see if he's up and active."

"No, I'll be fine, Carla." Steve replied, looking at her for a moment, before filing down the stairs, flashlight in front of him.  Carla watched him carefully until he was fully down the stairs, out of view from the two.

Dustin rolled his eyes, mocking the boy in a dramatic tone of voice. "I'll be fine, Carla." 

Carla narrowed her eyes at him, "Very mature, Dusty."

"What? You guys are so gross."

"Wait until you're in love, Dustin." Carla slightly smiled, before returning to gaze at the cellar below, waiting for Steve to say something or come running back up.  Something to prove that Dart was still there.

"Steve? Steve, what's going on down there?" Dustin called out, stepping closer towards the cellar.  He was met with no answer, and suddenly, Carla started to get slight worried, but all the worry was put on hold when Steve's flashlight jerked up at them, causing Dustin to jump back—the Wheeler placing a hand on his shoulder to steady him again.

"Get down here." The Harrington said without any explanation, and after a small glance between the boy and the Wheeler, they both followed down, confused on what could have happened.  But, that confusion didn't last too long.  The minute they met with Steve, he held up his bat, which held up a Dart's—rather slimy—shed skin.

"Oh, shit."

In silence, Steve then points his bat towards the giant hole in the wall causing the other two to look over at it.  Carla's heart dropped as she walked closer to it, and she leaned her head back, mentally cursing.

"Oh, shit...."

Now, Dart had escaped into Hawkins, and Carla had no clue what they were going to do to get him back.

mara's misc!

chapter ten has arrived!

so i was contemplating having carla stay with the byers' this chapter, and going to the hospital with will, and eventually leaving.....but i actually like what i did much better. it's simpler, and i get to write more starla time, which is needed.

i also like the way i changed it to dustin's pov for a small portion, and maybe i'll do it again with steve for another chapter, idk.

hope you enjoyed <3  see you back with chapter eleven!