There was one slight problem with my brilliant new plan.
The Hawkins Public Library was fucking far away.
I stopped at the edge of the woods and stared towards the road.
Right.
Hadn't really considered that part.
In normal Hawkins, this wouldn't have been much of a problem.
I'd have my bike.
Unfortunately, my bike was currently in another dimension.
And walking all the way from Castle Byers to the library while avoiding every vine in Hawkins would take way too long.
I looked towards the road again.
There had to be a faster way.
Cars were useless.
I was ten years old. Even if I found one with the keys conveniently sitting inside, I couldn't exactly drive it.
And unfortunately, my previous life wasn't any help there either. I'd been a broke teenager with no car, so getting my driver's licence had never exactly been a priority.
In case of an emergency, Clint had tried to teach me how to drive in this life, but his lessons mostly consisted of me steering while he controlled everything important.
Apparently, "being able to reach the pedals" was considered necessary.
Discrimination against short people.
My eyes moved over the houses nearby.
Then the garages.
Then the driveways.
A bike.
There had to be a bike somewhere around here.
This was Hawkins.
Half the children in this town seemed to travel exclusively on two wheels.
Finding one shouldn't be difficult.
Finding one that wasn't covered in sentient murder-vines might be slightly more complicated.
I started searching.
It took me three houses.
The first bike had a vine wrapped through both wheels.
Absolutely not.
The second was missing a front tyre.
Because apparently even alternate dimensions had standards for making my life difficult.
The third—
I stopped.
"Oh, thank God."
An old bicycle lay on its side beside a garage.
Slightly rusted.
Probably hadn't been particularly impressive even before the Upside Down got hold of it, and the dimension's degradation had only made it worse.
Beautiful.
I loved it.
I carefully lifted it and checked the wheels.
They turned.
Good enough for me.
I climbed on.
My shoulder immediately reminded me that it had recently been sliced open.
"Fuck."
I adjusted my grip on the handlebars.
Better.
Not comfortable.
But better.
I looked down the empty road.
The library was still a long way from here.
Standing around wasn't going to make it any closer.
I pushed off.
The bike rolled forward.
And I started making my way towards what I sincerely hoped wasn't my doom.
By the time the library finally came into view, my legs were starting to hate me.
I slowed down.
There it was.
Hawkins Public Library.
I didn't go any closer.
Instead, I got off the bike and wheeled it behind the remains of a hedge, leaving it far enough away from the library that I could hopefully retrieve it later.
Then I moved forward on foot.
The closer I got, the more cover I used.
Trees.
Abandoned cars.
Anything that kept me from casually strolling into view of whatever might be watching the building.
Eventually, I crouched behind an old car across the street from the library.
Close enough to see the front.
Far enough away that I wasn't standing directly on its doorstep like an idiot.
I carefully looked over the bonnet.
The library stood directly ahead of me.
Vines crawled across the brick walls and twisted around parts of the entrance, with more spreading across the pavement and climbing the trees surrounding the building.
That same disgusting layer of decay covered everything.
And beneath the building, almost hidden by the darkness, I could make out a faint reddish glow.
Great.
Very welcoming.
I stayed where I was and watched.
Going inside came later.
First, I needed to know what the fuck I was walking into.
My eyes moved over the building.
Anywhere something could come from.
Anything I could use to get inside.
More importantly, anything I could use to get back out if shit hit the fan.
Natasha had drilled that one into me.
Never enter somewhere without knowing how you planned to leave it.
Preferably with more than one option.
I studied the front entrance first.
The doors were accessible.
That was something.
Then again, going straight through the front door was the kind of stupid shit that got people killed in a horror movie.
I refused to become one of those idiots.
I shifted my attention to the windows.
Some were intact.
Others were broken.
Several looked low enough for me to reach.
Better.
I filed those away.
Then I looked towards the sides of the building.
I couldn't see much from here.
I'd need to circle around.
Maybe there was another entrance.
Maybe a window.
Maybe something that didn't require me to walk straight through the front doors of an interdimensional monster nest.
That would be nice.
A broken window was looking increasingly attractive.
I lowered myself behind the car.
Time to see what the rest of the building had to offer.
I slipped away from my cover and started working my way around the library.
The first window I reached was intact.
Immediately eliminated.
If I wanted to get through it, I'd have to break the glass, and nothing screamed someone's trying to sneak in quite like smashing a fucking window.
I'd rather not alert whatever was inside before I even got anywhere near Will.
I kept going.
The next window was lower.
And broken.
Much better.
I crouched beneath it, then slowly raised my head until I could see through the remaining glass.
Darkness.
Rows of shelves.
Tables.
Chairs.
Vines.
I couldn't see much farther than that from this angle.
Could I fit through?
Probably.
Should I?
Different question.
I examined the broken glass around the frame.
Most of it had already fallen away, but enough remained to turn climbing through into an excellent opportunity to open several new holes in myself.
I'd already deliberately cut myself once tonight.
I wasn't interested in making it a hobby.
Not yet.
I kept moving.
If there was one broken window, there could be another.
Preferably one designed with ten-year-old infiltration in mind.
I reached the back corner.
Stopped.
Peeked around it.
And immediately pulled my head back.
A Demogorgon.
My hand tightened around the mace.
I stayed completely still.
One second.
Two.
Three.
No screech.
No footsteps.
Nothing came around the corner.
Okay.
It hadn't seen me.
Probably.
I very slowly looked again.
The creature stood near the back of the library.
Not moving.
Its head was closed, those disgusting petals folded together.
For a moment, I thought it might actually be asleep.
Did Demogorgons sleep?
Fantastic question.
Not one I particularly wanted to conduct field research on.
I lowered myself behind the corner again.
Well.
That answered one question.
The library definitely wasn't empty.
I could kill it.
Maybe.
I'd already killed one tonight.
But that had been with preparation, surprise and an extremely convenient position.
Starting a fight now would be stupid.
Even if I won, the noise could attract everything else nearby.
And I had absolutely no idea how many more were inside.
No.
Avoid it.
That was the better option.
Which meant whatever the back had to offer was officially off the table.
I glanced back towards the broken window.
Suddenly, a little glass didn't seem quite so inconvenient.
I quietly retraced my steps.
When I reached the window again, I crouched beneath it and pulled off my backpack.
Then I removed my jacket and wrapped it around my hand before carefully reaching up.
One piece of glass.
I gripped it.
Slowly worked it loose.
Caught it before it could fall.
Placed it on the ground.
Then another.
And another.
No smashing.
No dramatic entrance.
No unnecessary noise.
The spies in Natasha and Clint would've approved.
Tony, on the other hand, was a fucking drama queen and probably would've disagreed.
Why sneak in quietly when you could storm the place and make sure everyone knew you'd arrived with an iconic dramatic entrance?
Yeah.
I was sticking with the spies.
Eventually, the opening was clear enough.
I carefully laid my jacket over the bottom of the window frame, making sure any tiny pieces of glass I'd missed wouldn't accidentally cut me.
Then I placed both hands on the frame and pulled myself up.
My shoulder screamed.
I froze halfway through.
My teeth clenched.
Don't make a sound.
I waited for the worst of the pain to pass.
Then continued.
One leg through.
Then the other.
I lowered myself as far as I could.
And dropped.
My boots touched the floor.
Quietly.
I immediately crouched.
Nothing came charging towards me.
Good start.
I carefully retrieved my jacket and shook off any pieces of glass that might have stuck to it.
Then I put my jacket and backpack back on.
Bow secure.
Mace ready.
I looked around.
The vines were even worse from inside.
They covered entire sections of the floor, twisting around furniture and disappearing deeper between the shelves.
I couldn't take three steps in a straight line without touching one.
So much for the easy part.
I tightened my grip on the mace and stared into the darkness ahead.
All right.
I was inside.