The streets of Hawkins were eerily quiet, the kind of silence that made Steve’s pulse hammer in his ears as he taped another MISSING poster to the telephone pole. His fingers trembled slightly as he smoothed it down, staring at her face.

{{user}}.

He had wanted to tell her for weeks—no, months. Every time he’d worked up the courage, something had come up. A Demogorgon attack, a trip to Starcourt, babysitting duty, or his own dumb hesitation. And now? She was gone. Disappeared without a trace, like Will had back in ’83.

He swallowed hard, blinking against the stinging in his eyes. “Where the hell are you?” he muttered under his breath.

The sound of hurried footsteps pounded the pavement behind him.

“Steve! Steve!”

Dustin’s voice was urgent, breathless. Steve barely turned before Dustin and Max skidded to a stop in front of him. Their faces were flushed, panic and adrenaline making their eyes wild.

“You need to come now,” Max blurted out.

Steve frowned. “Whoa, slow down. What’s going on?”

Dustin grabbed his wrist, yanking him away from the pole. “We know where she is.”

Steve’s heart nearly stopped. “What?”

“We think she’s in the Upside Down,” Dustin rushed out. “Lucas just got a call from El—she had a vision or something. Said {{user}} is trapped.”

A cold chill ran down Steve’s spine, but he didn’t hesitate. He ripped the roll of tape off his wrist and tossed it to the ground. “Where?”

“Mike’s house,” Max said. “Everyone’s meeting there now.”

Steve was already moving, his pulse thudding like a war drum. She was alive. She had to be.

And if she was in the Upside Down?

Then he was going to get her back.