Friday – Hawkins High School
The whispers started before the first bell.
"Did you hear? The art room exploded."
"They say it was cursed."
"New girl was there—Lena, right? Figures."
"She's weird. Stares at things like she can see ghosts."
Lena walked through the halls like a shadow, her face unreadable. She kept her hoodie up, hair tucked in, sketchbook clutched close to her chest like armor. She'd learned a long time ago that it was better to be ignored than noticed.
But Hawkins didn't ignore.
It watched.
Stared.
Waited.
And today… it whispered.
Will saw her first, waiting by the lockers. Her eyes met his across the hall, and the second she looked at him, it felt like the static returned—the electric hum between them, pulsing like a heartbeat.
She walked over slowly, her steps silent even in the echoing hallway.
"You okay?" Will asked, his voice low.
She shrugged. "I've been worse."
He offered a small smile. "That's comforting."
They stood in silence for a beat before she leaned in slightly. "Last night," she whispered, "I saw him again. The boy with the black eyes."
"In your dream?" he asked.
She nodded. "But it wasn't just a dream. I could feel him. Like he was in the room with me. Watching. Breathing."
Will's throat tightened. "What did he do?"
"Smiled. Like he knew something I didn't."
---
They met after school behind the gymnasium, tucked between the fence and the trees.
Will brought his sketchpad.
Lena brought hers.
They traded pages like secrets.
His: the red hallway, the black-eyed boy, the symbol carved into the wall—a spiral with three slashes through it.
Hers: the same symbol, drawn weeks ago before she'd ever met him.
"You think we're connected?" Will asked.
"I don't think it," Lena said. "I know it."
She paused, then flipped to another page—one she hadn't shown anyone.
A drawing of her—Lena—with tendrils of shadow coming from her spine, wrapping around her like vines. In her hands, she held a glowing shard of glass. Inside it? A boy screaming.
Will stared at it. "That's me."
She nodded slowly. "I drew this months ago. Back in Chicago."
---
That night, Lena didn't sleep.
She sat on her bedroom floor, candles lit, books spread around her like a protective circle. Her sketchbook was open to a blank page, and her hands hovered over it, trembling.
She had learned that when the energy built too high—when the static in her chest buzzed like a broken wire—she had to release it. Drawing was the only thing that helped.
She closed her eyes.
And the pencil moved on its own.
Not random scribbles. Not chaos. Purpose.
When she opened her eyes ten minutes later, the page showed a place she'd never been—but one she knew existed.
An old cabin. Deep in the woods. A light inside.
And standing in front of it: the black-eyed boy. But this time… there was another figure behind him. Taller. Arms like twisted branches. Face made of nothing but eyes.
Lena gasped and clutched her head.
The candle flames blew out—without wind.
---
The next morning, she didn't go to school.
Will noticed her absence immediately. Something felt wrong in the air—off. He tried to focus in history class, but every time the teacher spoke, the words dissolved into static.
At lunch, he sat alone again. But this time, he missed her.
He pulled out his sketchpad and began to draw, almost automatically.
A door.
It looked familiar.
He stared at it, then flipped through his older pages.
Lena had drawn this same door in Chapter 1.
And suddenly, something clicked.
---
He found her that afternoon sitting under a tree near the edge of Mirkwood Forest.
She looked like she hadn't slept.
"Hey," Will said, sitting beside her.
"I didn't go because I saw it," she whispered, not even looking at him. "That cabin. It's real. I saw it in the woods this morning."
"You went there?"
"No. But it called to me."
Will swallowed. "Then we need to go together."
Lena turned to him. "You sure?"
He reached out and held her hand.
"Yeah."
---
They snuck out just before sunset. Bikes tucked behind bushes, flashlights in their pockets, adrenaline in their blood.
The woods felt alive. Not with animals—but with breath.
Will stayed close to her, heart thudding hard in his chest. Every crack of a branch, every flutter of leaves made him jump.
After thirty minutes of walking deeper than they should've gone… they saw it.
The cabin from the drawing.
Just like they imagined. Crooked. Moss-covered. One weak light flickering in the window.
They stopped.
Will felt like he couldn't breathe. "Do we knock?"
Lena shook her head. "It wants us to come in."
"How do you know?"
She looked at him.
And her eyes… flickered. Just for a second.
With light.
"I just do."
---
The door creaked as they pushed it open.
Inside was musty. Dust everywhere. An old fireplace, a broken table, and hanging from the ceiling—strings of mirrors. Dozens. All swinging slowly, even though there was no breeze.
Lena stepped inside first, moving between the mirrors.
Will followed cautiously.
Then the cabin door slammed shut.
They spun around—but no one was there.
And when they turned back…
The cabin had changed.
The walls stretched impossibly wide. The mirrors were now windows. Through each one, they saw a different place.
A hallway of red lights.
A lab room with a girl screaming.
The Byers' living room covered in Christmas lights.
And finally… a window showing them, standing in the cabin now.
Lena stepped toward that one.
The mirror rippled.
Then the reflection of Lena—her mirror-self—raised a hand and touched the glass from the other side.
Lena reached out too.
Will yelled, "Don't!"
Too late.
The moment they touched, Lena's body jolted like she'd been electrocuted. Her eyes glowed bright white for a second. She collapsed.
"Lena!" Will caught her before she hit the floor.
Her breathing was shallow. Her skin ice cold.
Suddenly, a deep growl echoed from behind the walls.
The mirrors cracked.
One by one.
The cabin shook.
Will screamed her name again—but she wasn't waking up.
Then—everything went black.
---
Lena opened her eyes in a place she didn't recognize.
The world was upside down—not the Upside Down, but something else.
The sky was dark purple. Lightning crackled in slow motion across the horizon. Trees floated in midair, their roots exposed like veins.
And the boy with black eyes stood in front of her.
"You shouldn't have touched the glass," he said calmly.
"Who are you?" she asked, standing slowly.
"I'm what comes after."
Lena narrowed her eyes. "After what?"
"After Eleven. After Hawkins. After all of this. You're not the next chapter. You're the final page."
Then the sky split open—and something began to crawl through.
---
Back in the real world…
Will held Lena tightly, rocking her gently.
"Wake up," he whispered. "Please wake up."
Then, slowly, her eyes fluttered open.
Will gasped. "Lena!"
She blinked, disoriented. "He… he spoke to me."
Will helped her sit up. "What did he say?"
She looked at him, pale and shaking. "I'm not supposed to be here."
"What?"
"I was never meant to exist."
---
End of Chapter 3