heartbreak at the arcade

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

Alina made her way to the Palace Arcade to look for Lucas, still pedaling hard. Her calves burned, but as usual, she didn't mind. Her heart thudded hard in her chest, and in her head, she repeated her old mantra. Breathe, Alina. Breathe in. Hold. Breathe out. It made her feel a little better. A little more normal. A little more like there wasn't a shadow monster that had taken root inside her housemate. But everything had changed, yet again. Last year it had been the discovery of Eleven, the Demogorgon, and the powers sparking at her palms. This year it was somehow worse.

At the arcade, Alina dismounted her bike, suddenly reluctant to go inside. A million thoughts whirled through her mind, and her panic grew, but that was when Alina realized she had to go inside. Not just for Will, but because she had to face her fears. That was her whole thing, wasn't it? After Brandon and Eleven's death? And so Alina forced herself to open the door and walk inside.

As usual, the arcade was packed, the air heavy with the smell of pretzels and the sound of whirring machines, little sad jingles playing as games were ended, the boy or girl standing at them letting out a scream of frustration as the screen went black. Alina wove her way through the crowds of people, thinking she'd try looking at the Dig Dug machine, but when she arrived, she found there was a piece of paper plastered to the screen.

Out of Order.

Shit. Alina was just about to check Dragon's Lair instead when the sound of munching met her ears. "Yeah, that one's out of order," a voice said, and Alina turned around to meet the eyes of Keith, who was, as usual, eating his beloved Cheeto Puffs. As she watched, Keith popped another one into his mouth, smearing his lips with the orange dust. He crunched loudly "Sorry."

"I don't want to play," said Alina. "I'm looking for someone. Do you know where Lucas is?"

Keith let out a scoff. "You expect me to remember all the names of your friends?" he said incredulously, fishing another of his favorite snack out of the bag. "Psh. You're going to have to be more specific."

"Uh..." Alina thought of a way to describe her friend. "Short dark hair, brown eyes...?" Keith still stared at her blankly, and Alina sighed. "He's the one who wanted you to get that date with Nancy so we could know who Mad Max was. We found that out, by the way, no thanks to you."

Keith rolled his eyes. "Well, I know who you're talking about," he said. He smacked his lips, licking Cheeto Dust off his finger before pointing at the room in the back marked Employees Only. "He's in there with your 'Mad Max.' Said he needed somewhere private. Offered me a date with Nancy Wheeler for it." He smiled dreamily. "Can you imagine?"

"Private?" Alina repeated, her voice suddenly high. "Why?"

Keith looked back at her, noticing the way her lip was beginning to quiver. "Oh, shit, you like, like him, don't you?" He took out another Cheeto Puff from his bag and looked towards the door. "Sorry, but he's definitely into the redhead. I told them to keep it PG in there, but who knows what might be happening right now. I guess you better stop chasing him. You don't want to be after someone who's already taken. Take it from me, kid." He popped another Cheeto Puff in his mouth like a conclusion to his statement, and put a Cheeto dusted hand on her shoulder.

"'Chasing after someone who's taken?'" Alina repeated, trying to suppress the sob choking itself in her throat. She shrugged off Keith's hand. "Isn't that what you're doing with Nancy?"

"That's completely different," said Keith, affronted, but Alina was already running. She pushed through the crowds of people and burst out back into the afternoon air, tears already beginning to slide down her cheeks. She'd known that Lucas had liked Max. It was practically impossible not to notice. She just hadn't had much time to think about it during the past couple of days, too consumed with anxieties about Will and Dart. But now it was crashing right back onto her.

She sank onto a bench and let some tears fall. The stalking, the wanted inclusion in the party, the invitation to trick-or-treating, and now this... Alina couldn't deny it any longer. Lucas had replaced her. Gotten bored with her, decided to move from one girl to the next. From a girl with smooth brown skin to a girl with skin the color of the moonlight. From a girl with untamed curly hair to one with perfect wavy locks. From one with hand-me-down clothes to one with clothes that perfectly fit.

Was she that replaceable in his eyes? Did she mean so little to Lucas Sinclair? Alina wondered. She continued to sit on the bench, tears trickling down her cheeks, before realizing she had to go. However much this hurt you, she had to help Will. He was always more important. So Alina Fairgrieves wiped away her tears, got on her bike, and pedaled home.

If only she hadn't stopped, but sometimes the tears were too much to ignore. Alina hopped off her bike, making her way to the playground she used to stay in before becoming friends with the party. Sitting on the swing, Alina twisted the chains and hoped Hopper was all right. She'd done nothing for him, she realized, but he probably didn't need the help of other inexperienced young teenagers. She just hoped that her family would find him soon.

Alina stopped twisting the chains. Her family. She'd thought that so casually, but she realized it was true. Bob, Joyce, Jonathan and Will... she thought of them all as family. She thought she'd had nothing but Skywalker after her dad died, but it turned out she didn't. At least she had someone, when Lucas had decided he didn't want her anymore.

Frustration welled up inside of her. The fact that Lucas had a crush on Max, and how she probably liked him back. The fact that the stupid shadow monster was inside Will. The fact that Hopper was in trouble. Even the fact that she didn't have powers anymore, just when she'd started to realize she could control them. Alina would've been a lot more useful now with them.

She dug her foot into the rocks, sending them flying into the air.

And as it sometimes happened when she was upset, her father visited.

He sat on the swing beside her, his hands curled over the chains. He wasn't swinging. He just sat beside her, looking healthy and whole. There were no claw marks marring his chest. No blood bubbling out of his mouth. He smiled at her, and Alina realized he wasn't wearing his lab coat—he was wearing his apron. The one with the flowers and cherries.

"D-daddy?" Alina gasped, staring at her father in shock. She sounded like she was five years old again.

"Ally," said Brandon softly. "I've missed you."

And then the tears just started pouring. Alina cried harder than she had in ages—in fact, the last time she'd cried like this, her dad had just died right in front of her. She cried because everything she'd been bottling up in the past couple of days had just exploded, and her dad was here, right in front of her.

"I'm so scared, dad," Alina admitted through her sobs. "Something's wrong with Will and Dustin's pet might be from the Upside Down and Lucas doesn't like me anymore and something's happening to me and I feel like everything's going wrong. I just—I don't know what to do, and I'm so scared. I feel like it's all going to happen again, and I'm going to lose someone else, and I d-d-don't want to."

Brandon reached out a hand, and Alina took it, tears blurring her vision. "Ally," he said, and she nearly cried harder at the sound of her old nickname on his lips. "I understand that you're scared, sweetie. I know you're having a rough time right now, and I don't blame you. Nobody should have to go through what you did. Just know that I love you, Ally. I love you so much." He stroked her cheek, and Alina leaned into the gesture, guilt flooding through her.

"Daddy, I'm so sorry," she said, speaking the words she had always wanted to say after her dad's death. "I'm sorry I didn't trust you. I should've known that you would go against the lab. I should've known that you would've tried to protect me." She closed her eyes. "I love you so much. I just—I don't know how I can cope without you."

"Ally," said Brandon, his voice getting softer now, "you don't have to worry about that. I'll always be with you, okay? I love you. So, so much."

And when Alina opened her eyes, he was gone.

She let out a gasp, tumbling off the swings and landed hard on the rough ground below. Wincing, Alina rubbed her aching elbows, picking bits of stones out of them, and wiped the drool off her cheek. She'd fallen asleep, and for who knew how long—now the sky was darkening. Strangely, though, even though Alina still cried, the pep talk her dad had given her had cheered her up, and she got on her bike with more resolution now. It didn't matter if she couldn't help Hopper or Will. It only mattered that she tried.

So Alina biked home, this time resolving to do everything she could to help her friends. Last year, she had managed to make an impact. And this year she was determined she would.

There was only one little snag in her philosophy, however, and that was the fact that when Alina arrived home, her house was dark. Empty. Joyce, Mike and Will were gone.

"Shit!" Alina stepped inside her house, nearly tripping over Skywalker, who was meowing by the door, pawing at one of Will's drawings, and slumped onto the couch. "SHIT! I missed them!"

Because of course they would've gone to find him just as she had resolved to be a better help. They wouldn't have wanted to wait for a bitter teenager to come back. Alina pressed her face into the pillow and let out a frustrated scream. Perhaps she would've been content to lie there for the rest of the night if not for the most beautiful sounds Alina's ears had ever heard of crackling from the next room.

Her walkie talkie.

"Will? Mike? Al? Do any of you copy?"

Alina leaped off the couch, sprinting into her room, and grabbed her walkie talkie from the top bunk. "Dustin! Shit, shit, shit, yes, yes, I copy!"

"Al!" Dustin's voice was filled with relief. "Thank God, I've been trying to contact you guys for ages. Where's Will? And Mike?"

"They're out," said Alina. "But that doesn't matter. We kind of have a situation on our hands."

"Me too," said Dustin. "It's a code red. Can you come over? Preferably as fast as possible? I'm with Steve, and we have a little problem." Alina could hear him hesitate from the other end of the line before he spoke again. "It's a problem with Dart."

Alina breathed out a sigh. "Shit." She looked around her room before realizing she was still in her pajamas. She looked down at them. Well, that was awkward. But it didn't matter, because she was going to help Dustin. She might just have to change first.

Alina pressed the walkie talkie button. "Don't worry, Dustin," she said. "I'll be right over."

Some moments are just meant to be. If Alina hadn't stopped at the playground, she would've been home on time to go out with Joyce, Will, Mike and Bob to find the others. If Dustin hadn't kept Dart, he wouldn't have been calling her right now. If Lucas hadn't gone to the arcade so early, he would've been with them.

And if Gabriel Burton hadn't decided to go for a walk after breakfast the next day, he wouldn't have found the junkyard, and been sitting in it with his newspaper a few hours later like was waiting for the others to arrive.

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

a/n: me posting that last chapter and dipping: 🏃💨LMAOO i know you're all mad at me right now and probably even more because of what happened this chapter, but this doesn't even reach the levels of fury you guys are gonna hold soon, so just look out for that :)

i guess y'all elina shippers were right 🙈 (speaking of, i didn't even make up that ship name, which is super cool). 

and btw, brandon's appearance wasn't a hallucination or anything, it was kind of just alina picturing in her head what he would say to her. it's a technique she uses to calm herself down, and i'm just letting you know in case it wasn't obvious.

okay final thing, if you're interested in the origins of the acatalepsy series (just book one and two, because, obviously, i'm not spoiling book three), check out my spam book! i did a whole chapter on it and posted the original prologue for acatalepsy and the original first chapter for mad'ouk. so go check it out! if you want. i'm not forcing you to do anything.

'till next time!