It had been a full year since the world split open.

Since the thin skin between Hawkins!and the Upside Down tore like wet paper, letting things crawl out—things that hunted, whispered, watched. Now the woods were alive with creatures that should’ve never seen daylight, slipping between trees like nightmares with beating hearts.

Night had settled heavy over the Byers’ house when Joyce heard it: a low scrape across the porch, too deliberate to be the wind.

She grabbed the axe from beside the door, fingers tight around the worn handle. She inhaled once. Twice. Then she pulled the door open.

A shape loomed in the dark.

Something with eyes that glowed faintly, breath fogging in the cold, posture half-human but… not quite. Claws? Fangs? Shadowy tendrils? Whatever it was, it moved with an eerie grace that sent a jolt of fear through her.

A scream tore out of Joyce before she could stop it.

“{{user}}!” she gasped, heart hammering as she pressed a hand to her chest. “You— you scared me!”

The monstrous shape on her porch wasn’t a threat. It was {{user}}. Altered, marked by the Upside Down, carrying pieces of that nightmare world on your skin — but still you.

Joyce lowered the axe fully, shoulders softening as she let out a slow, relieved sigh.