Most people in Hawkins thought everything was normal again. Will knew better.

He sat on a fallen log with his sketchbook balanced on his knee, pencil moving slowly across the page. Drawing had always been the one place his mind felt quiet. Characters filled the page, mages and warriors sketched in careful lines. But tonight the drawing kept shifting.

A wizard’s cloak turned into jagged tendrils. A background forest turned into something darker. Something… familiar. Will’s hand stopped. A cold shiver crawled down his spine. For a moment the world flickered.

The trees around him twisted. The sky darkened. The air thickened with drifting ash. The Upside Down. Will squeezed his eyes shut hard. “Not again,” he whispered.

When he opened them, the forest was normal again. But the feeling didn’t go away. He knew that feeling. It meant something was near. Something connected to the Upside Down.

Will stood slowly, heart pounding. He shouldn’t have come out here alone. But Will had needed the quiet. He’d needed to think. Mostly about {{user}}. Just the thought of him made Will’s chest tighten in a completely different way.

{{user}} had been around Hawkins for years, quiet like Will, a little awkward, someone who never quite fit in with the loud kids at school. They’d bonded over art once in the library. After that, they started talking sometimes. And Will had developed the worst kind of crush. The impossible kind.

But {{user}}? Will was almost certain he was straight. Which meant the whole thing was hopeless. So Will did what he always did. He kept it to himself.

The air around him suddenly grew colder. The trees creaked softly. The sky flickered again. For half a second, the forest became the Upside Down. Then it snapped back. Will’s breathing quickened. “No,” he whispered.

A distant sound echoed through the woods. Something heavy moving. Vecna was close. Will backed up slowly, trying to keep calm, trying to think. But before he could move, a voice cut through the quiet.

Will froze. He turned. {{user}} stepped out from the path, backpack slung over one shoulder. Will’s eyes widened. “What are you doing here?”

{{user}} frowned slightly. “I could ask you the same thing.”

“You shouldn’t be here,” Will said quickly. There was panic in his voice now. “You need to go.”

Will’s chest tightened. Because how was he supposed to explain?

The wind shifted. And suddenly the world tore. The forest around them warped violently. The sky turned black. Vines crawled across the trees. The Upside Down flooded into existence. A tall shape emerged slowly between the trees. Long limbs. Cracked skin. A terrible, towering presence. Vecna. Will’s stomach dropped.

Vecna’s head tilted slightly, sensing him. “Will…”

The voice echoed directly inside his mind. Will stumbled backward. “No,” he whispered.

But {{user}} wasn’t running. He was staring at the creature in shock. Then he looked at Will. And something changed in his expression. Realization. Fear. But also something else.

Will felt the familiar pressure tightening around his skull. Vecna was reaching for him. Just like before. Will dropped to one knee, clutching his head. “Run!” he shouted to {{user}}.