A.n: sorry this is so short, here's a cool shell to make up for it 🐚

|| 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ||

The abrupt rip of the paper startled El as she sat there, listening to Mike demonstrate what we learned earlier.

We had all caught a ride to Mike's house and made our way into the basement to fill El in.

"It would take a lot of energy to build a gate like this. But that's got to be what happened. Otherwise, how'd Will get there, right?"

Maybe it was just me, but it seemed like El was hiding something. She seemed to pause before shaking her head casually. "Right."

"What we want to know is, do you know where the gate is?" Lucas asked.

Meanwhile, I turn to look over my shoulder to see my brother walking around the basement, compass in hand and looking very bewildered. I frowned in confusion.

I spared a moment to look to El to see her hesitantly shake her head 'no' in response to Lucas's question.

The anger in my friend was quick to show itself. "Then how do you know about the Upside Down?"

She avoided everyone's eye and looked down to her lap, fidgeting with her fingers. El looked up once more to stare at Dustin confused, drawing everyone's attention, including my own, back to my brother who was still wandering around the basement led by his compass.

"Dustin, what are you doing? Dustin?" Mike asked.

He didn't answer, he only spun around in more circles.

"Dustin!" I shout, grabbing his attention.

"I need to see your compasses." He stuttered.

"What?"

"Your compasses. All of your compasses, right now!" He yelled.

I looked to boys in equal confusion before complying.

In moments, there was a small cluster of compasses scattered across the flipped D&D board.

"What's exciting about this?" Mike asked a little irritated.

"Well, they're all facing north, right?"

"Yeah?" I asked, urging my brother to continue.

"Well, that's not true north."

"What do you mean?" Mike wondered.

"I mean exactly what I just said. That's not true north."

My brother looked to the two boys in shock, then me, noticing I had a hint of a smile on my face as I stare at the board.

"Are you two, seriously this dense? Y/n," He sighed, urging me to explain it to the two boys.

I straighten up, having been leaning on the table previously, and looked between my two friends. "Well, the sun rises in the east, and it sets in the west. Right?" I say gesturing with my arms.

The boys shrug, following.

"Right, which means that is true north." I finish. Gesturing over my shoulder I was standing across from my brother who had the compasses all facing him.

"So what you're saying is the compasses are broken?" Mike said, causing me to sigh.

I'm just about to gently remind the boys how compasses work, but before I can Dustin cuts me off, clearly offended by Mike's lack of knowledge.

"Do you even understand how a compass works?" My brother asked, grabbing a compass off of the table.

"Do you see a battery pack on this?" He asked, waving it around.

"No."

"No, you don't. Because it doesn't need one. The needle's naturally drawn to the Earth's magnetic North Pole," He said, placing the compass back on the table.

"So what's wrong with them?" Lucas asked, shrugging.

"Well, that's what I couldn't figure out, but then I remembered. You can change the direction of a compass with a magnet. If there's the presence of a more powerful magnetic field, the needle deflects to that power. And then I remembered what Mr. Clarke said. The gate would have so much power–"

"It could disrupt the electromagnetic field." Mike finished, looking to Dustin and then back to me and Lucas.

"Exactly."

"Meaning, if we follow the compasses' north..." Lucas trailed off.

"They should lead us to the gate. Right to Will." I beam at my brother, very proud of him.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

We found ourselves walking through the woods once more, our compasses leading the way.

Dustin and Lucas were ahead of me by a few feet, while Mike and El were walking side by side a few feet behind me.

I found myself walking, with nobody to keep me company but my own worries.

'I hope Will is okay. I just hope he is safe. I just need him to be alive.'

I haven't allowed myself to think about it much since that night. The times I did, I was able to convince myself that it was just the overwhelming stream of emotions that flooded me when I saw his 'corpse'. But yet, in the smaller corners of my mind -- deep in my chest, I knew.

There was something there.

It took me far too long to realize.

I was ripped from my thoughts when I heard Lucas speak.

"How much further?"

I saw Dustin's shoulders rise and fall as he shrugged.

"I don't know. These things only tell direction, not distance. You really need to learn more about compasses,"

"I'm just saying. How do we know when we get to the gate?"

"Uh, I think a portal to another dimension is gonna be pretty obvious,"

There is a pause and I see Lucas cast a glance over his shoulder as he looks at El for a moment before turning around again.

"Do you think she's acting weird?" He asked, in a small hush.

Dustin spares a glance in El's direction and then looks to Lucas incredulously. "You're asking if the weirdo is acting weird?"

Lucas scoffed. "I mean, weirder than normal?"

"I don't know. Who cares?" Dustin says while Lucas casts another glance in El's direction.

A few moments pass and I hear the timid voice of El.

"Mike."

"Yeah?"

"Turn back."

"What? Why?" He asked sounding shocked.

There was a small pause, but it was big enough to pique my interest.

"I'm tired."

Mike sighed. "Look, I'm sure we're almost there. Just hold on a little longer, okay?"

The rest of our journey was traveled in silence.