the flea and the acrobat

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

Alina stood beside Lucas at Will's funeral, listening to the priest speak, digging her sandals into the dirt. It was chilly, causing goosebumps to sweep over her bare arms, making her wish that she'd had warmer attire for this event. She huddled close to Lucas, whose parents stood behind him, sorrow etched onto their faces, and Lucas put his arm around her. The feeling of his hands on her bare shoulders sent an electrifying feeling down her spine, and she turned her face away from his so he couldn't see the blush forming on her face.

She still felt like Ally, instead of Alina, someone she never thought she'd be showing to her friends. When she'd arrived at the graveyard, meeting up with Lucas, Dustin and Mike, Lucas's eyes had widened at the sight of her in a dress, the look of her hair in a slightly messy braid. Dustin had laughed a little, telling her that she almost looked like a girl now, and she'd smacked him, feeling slightly better.

But not that much better.

"It's times like these that our faith is challenged," the priest was saying. "How, if He is truly benevolent, could God take from us someone so young, so innocent? It would be easy to turn away from God, but we must remember that nothing, not even tragedy, can separate us from His love."

Although Alina was still afraid for Will, still trembling in the fear of whatever had been chasing him when the overheard him on the radio, still imagining a thousand deaths for him, Dustin had taken a different route, the mere fact that Will was alive overjoying him. Which is why when he nudged them, he was smiling.

He gestured to a girl standing a little way away from him, a pretty blonde in their class who had tears rolling down her face. It was acknowledged by the students at Hawkins Middle that she was the prettiest in the school, as well as one of the most popular. But she wasn't an asshole like many of the other students, in fact, she was labelled as "the goody-two-shoes of Hawkins Middle." So it was no surprise to see her here, although she hadn't known or spoken to Will at all.

"Just wait 'till we tell Will that Jennifer Hayes was crying at his funeral," said Dustin, snickering softly at the sight of the distraught girl. Mrs. Wheeler shushed him, but the damage had already been done, Mike and Lucas dissolving into giggles as well.

Alina kicked up dirt from the ground, thinking about Will. The real one, not whatever was in that coffin, hair probably fixed, wearing a nice suit, all ready to be lowered into the ground with a grave. No, she was thinking of the Will in another universe, calling out for his mom, running away from monsters. Mom, it's coming. It's like home, but dark.

Will. He was stronger than anyone knew. Alina was sure that she wouldn't survive five minutes in the Upside Down, her fear gluing her limbs to the ground. She could solve mysteries and find hidden people, but she couldn't do the hiding herself.

After the eulogies, each guest was presented with a tulip, meant to be dropped over the fake Will's coffin. Alina's stomach growled, the bitter wind causing her nose to turn pink. She wasn't crying, though, and kept her head down as she threw the tulip over Will's coffin. The yellow tulip spun in midair for a second before landing on the coffin.

After the tossing of the tulips, they were led inside. Lucas and Alina went together, brushing past Joyce Byers as she did so, guilt flooding through her. Throughout the entire funeral, her eyes had been blank, empty, without any tears shed. She was lost without her son, and Alina knowing he was alive but being unable to tell his grieving mother was one of the worst things she'd ever had to do.

But she kept walking, heading inside, where she was finally spared of the chilly November air.

Brandon Fairgrieves stood behind Doctor Brenner, who was holding a pair of headphones up to his ear. In it, he could faintly hear the screams of Will Byers, intermixed in with the pleading of Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson and Lucas Sinclair, who were friends of the boy. Brenner's brow furrowed as another voice joined the recording, a girl's voice that wasn't Subject Eleven's.

"Will? It's me, Alina. I'm here with Dustin, Mike, and Lucas. Can you hear us? Are you okay?"

Brandon's eyes widened at the voice, and he stepped away from the table. Shit. This wasn't good, not at all. This was the complete opposite of good.

Brandon blew a nervous plume of smoke out of his cigarette as Dr. Brenner put down the headphones. "She was there," Dr. Brenner said quietly. "And so was your daughter, Brandon."

"I heard," Brandon replied, taking another puff of his cigarette. He didn't usually smoke, but this time he needed something to do with his hands, something to distract himself from what he'd just heard on the radio. "She knows. She might know everything. I knew she was acting different, I should've known that she'd figure it out. She's never content to just let things go."

Brenner stood up. "It's not your fault, Brandon. You did the best you could. But she knows about the Subject and she knows about the Byers boy."

"What am I going to do?" each possible answer frightened him. He hadn't seen it, hadn't seen the way his daughter had shrunk away from him whenever he touched her, the way she avoided his eyes every time he tried to speak to her. He hadn't seen it. He should've known she'd find out about the Subject. Alina had always told him that she wanted to be a detective. And she hadn't let that go.

"Wait," said Brenner. "For now. The girl has slipped out of our hands one too many times. This time, when we find her, we'll make sure she doesn't get away."

"What are you going to do with them?" Brandon asked. "The kids?"

Damn group project Mike Wheeler. He should've seen it from a mile away. But even though the boy—as well as the other two, Dustin and Lucas—had figured everything out, Brandon couldn't stand to have another child hurt. Not after Subject Eleven, possibly the greatest guilt he had kept inside of him for twelve years.

"We'll get there," said Brenner casually. "Your daughter won't be harmed, of course, if she comes quietly. But if she tries anything, I can't promise my men will be gentle with her on the way here. You better come with me, just in case. Understand?"

A chill went down his spine, but Brandon Fairgrieves kept his face blank. "Yes, sir."

Inside the funeral home was quiet, people talking softly over the provided food, occasionally wandering over to give Joyce Byers their condolences. Alina stood near the food table, and when nobody was looking, she grabbed handfuls of donut holes, wrapping them up in napkins before passing them off to Mike, who put them in his pocket. They were for Eleven, who had, of course, been instructed to stay home during the ceremony, and who was probably starving, although she might've been able to sneak something from the fridge.

According to Dustin, the best person to ask about the whole "parallel universe" thing, and how to travel there, was Mr. Clarke, as although he was only a grade seven science teacher, he knew a lot more about the world than he let on. So that was how Alina found herself following the three other boys up to him during this service, where he was quietly serving himself a plate of food.

"Mr. Clarke?" Mike called, causing their teacher to turn as Dustin helped himself to some vanilla wafers set out for the guests.

"Oh, hey there," said Mr. Clarke, smiling sadly at them. "How are you four holding up?"

Once again, Alina had to be the one to convince him of their apparent mourning, and she lowered her eyes yet again, letting them fill with tears. She didn't even have to pinch herself this time, merely thinking about Will and her dad to let the floodgates to open.

Beside her, Lucas assumed an expression that he most likely believed was sadness but looked more like he was trying not to laugh. "We're... in... mourning," he said robotically, causing Alina to lean over slightly and pinch him. Lucas jumped a little, his jaw clenched so he wouldn't cry out, and he glared at Alina.

Emotion, she mouthed to him, and he rolled his eyes.

"Man," said Dustin suddenly, mouth full of food. "These aren't real Nilla wafers."

Alina let out a sigh.

"We were wondering if you had time to talk?" asked Mike.

"We have some questions," said Lucas, with a better tone now.

"A lot of questions."

Mr. Clarke nodded. "Of course," he said, and followed Mike as he led the group to a table at the back, where they were unlikely to be overheard. Mike took a deep breath after they were all settled—Dustin with a plate of food—and begun. They all knew this was risky, but it was the best chance they had to discover a way to get into the Upside Down.

"So," Mike started, "you know how in Cosmos, Carl Sagan talks about other dimensions? Like, beyond our world?"

"Yeah, sure," said Mr. Clarke. "Theoretically."

"Right, theoretically."

"So," said Lucas, "theoretically, how do we travel there?"

"If it was possible," added Alina. "Uh, theoretically."

"You guys have been thinking about Hugh Everett's Many-Worlds Interpretation, haven't you?" Mr. Clarke asked, leaning forward. And when none of the four showed any sign of knowing what it meant, he cleared his throat. "Well, basically, there are parallel universes. Just like our world, but just infinite variations of it. Which means there's a world out there where none of this tragic stuff ever happened."

Alina leaned forward in her own seat. Although Mr. Clarke wasn't quite accurate on what they were trying to talk to him about, the idea of parallel universes, of infinite variations of the world, sounded pretty good to her. It meant that there was a world where she wasn't a freak. A world where she wasn't a monster. A world where Linda was the best mother she could ask for, and her dad wasn't hiding any secrets.

But it also meant that there was a world where she didn't exist, a world where Brandon and Linda had never met, much less fallen in love. It meant there was also a world where Alina had already died, perhaps on the night Linda ran off, her breathing stilled, and her spirit shaken loose from her body.

"Yeah, that's not what we're talking about," said Lucas, startling her back into the conversation. Alina swallowed, letting her mind focus back on what really mattered. Not possibly make-believe other dimensions, but the two they knew existed.

"Oh."

"We were thinking of more of an evil dimension, like the Vale of Shadows," Dustin piped up. "You know the Vale of Shadows?"

"An echo of the Material Plane," said Mr. Clarke, earning himself grins from Dustin and Mike at his knowledge, "where necrotic and shadow magic—"

"Yeah, exactly," said Mike. "If that did exist, a place like the Vale of Shadows, how would we travel there?"

"Theoretically," added Lucas.

"Well..." Mr. Clarke grabbed an empty paper plate and dug a pen out of his jacket pocket. Holding the plate up for them, he began to draw two straight lines. "Picture an acrobat," he said, drawing a small stick figure on the lines. "standing on a tightrope. Now, the tightrope is our dimension. And our dimension has rules. You can move forwards..." he drew an arrow facing right, "...our backwards." He made another facing left. "But, what if, right next to our acrobat, there is a flea?"

Mr. Clarke drew a tiny bug beside the stick-figure acrobat. "Now, the flea can also travel back and forth, just like the acrobat. Right?"

"Right," Mike nodded.

"Here's where things get really interesting. The flea can also travel this way," Mr. Clarke drew another set of arrows on his sketched lines, "along the side of the rope. He can even go..." he drew another line, "...underneath the rope."

"Upside down." The four pre-teens spoke at once, their eyes wide, and Mr. Clarke seemed amused by their enthusiasm.

"Exactly."

"But... we're not the flea," Mike pointed out. "We're the acrobat."

"In this metaphor, yes, we're the acrobat," said Mr. Clarke.

"So, we can't go upside down?" Lucas asked.

Mr. Clarke shook his head. "No."

"Is there any way for the acrobat to get to the upside down?" Alina asked. "Like, if the flea somehow was able to bring the acrobat with it, or...?"

"Well," said Mr. Clarke, "you'd have to create a massive amount of energy. More than humans are currently capable of creating, mind you, to open up some kind of tear in time and space, and then..." Mr. Clarke folded the paper plate in half before puncturing a hole in it with his pen, "... you create a doorway."

"Like a gate?" Dustin asked.

"Sure. Like a gate. But again, this is all—"

"Theoretical," Alina finished. "We know."

"But... but what if this gate already existed?" asked Mike.

"Well, if it did," said Mr. Clarke, "I... I think we'd know. It would disrupt gravity, the magnetic field, our environment. Heck, it might even swallow us up whole." He sighed. "Science is neat. But I'm afraid it's not very forgiving."

Science shouldn't be forgiving. But after seeing a girl with telekinesis and experiencing strange abilities herself, as well as having a classmate being taken into this Upside Down, a place he was not supposed to access? Well.

It was more forgiving than it seemed.

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

a/n: and so acatalepsy week begins! y'all will be getting seven chapters this week! 

finally, we see the perspective of brandon! honestly, i really enjoy writing in his point of view, and you guys are going to get some more of his thoughts as this book goes on! only twenty chapters left now!

hope you enjoyed this chapter, if you did, make sure to vote/comment, it'd make my day. :)

'till next time!