Chapter 38: Summer 1984
Summer hit Hawkins like a wall of humidity. June brought cicadas and heat waves and the last stretch of freedom before senior year.
The basement had become command center. The Map That Updates hung prominent on the wall, showing Hawkins in lazy summer stillness. No red marks. No corruption. Just a town breathing in afternoon heat.
I stood studying it while Chrissy descended the stairs carrying lemonade.
"Still obsessing?"
"Monitoring. Different thing."
"Is it?" She set the drinks down, joined me at the map. "Steve, the town's stable. Has been for months. Maybe you can relax. Enjoy summer."
"148 days until Halloween."
"148 days is almost five months. That's a long time."
Not long enough. Never long enough.
She took my hand. "Can we talk? Really talk?"
"We're talking now."
"No. We're dancing around things. I want the truth."
My stomach tightened. "About what?"
"About everything. The powers. The training. The way you look at Will sometimes like you're seeing something no one else can. The nightmares. The reason you've been preparing for war since you were fifteen." She squeezed my hand. "I love you. But I need to understand who you really are."
The truth. The whole truth would break everything.
"Some truths are dangerous."
"I'm not fragile."
"I know. But this isn't about fragility. It's about..." I searched for words. "Burdens. Knowledge that changes everything. Makes you see the world differently."
"Try me."
I led her to the couch. Sat. Gathered thoughts.
Can't tell her about the transmigration. The show. The meta-knowledge. But I can tell her the rest.
"The Dimensional Backpack isn't just some artifact I found. It's part of me. Connected to my soul somehow." The words came carefully. "When I touch injured people, I can absorb their pain. Accelerate healing. But I feel everything they feel."
"That's why you shake after healing Will."
"Yeah. His corruption isn't just physical pain. It's dimensional contamination. Feeling the Mind Flayer's presence. And every time I absorb it, the connection grows stronger."
Chrissy processed this. "So the nightmares—"
"Are the Mind Flayer talking directly to me. Through the corruption link. It knows I'm preparing to fight it. And it's preparing too."
"Jesus, Steve."
"There's more. The Fight Master ability—learning combat techniques instantly, enhanced physicality—that's also from dimensional exposure. My soul was... changed. By something. I don't fully understand it. But I know these powers are tied to the Upside Down. Tied to what's coming."
"What is coming? Specifically?"
"The Mind Flayer will return on Halloween. It'll infect more people. Create tunnels under Hawkins. Try to open permanent gates." I met her eyes. "People will die. Unless I stop it."
"That's why the training. The caches. The obsessive preparation."
"That's why everything." I took a breath. "And I know this sounds insane. I know asking you to believe dimensional monsters and psychic corruption and fighting abilities is asking for a lot—"
"I believe you."
I stopped. "What?"
"I believe you. Because I've seen you, Steve. Really seen you. The way you fight—that's not normal. The way you heal people—I've watched bruises fade in minutes. And the way you look at the future..." She touched my face. "You see something coming. Something terrible. And you're trying to save everyone."
"Even if it makes me seem crazy?"
"Especially because it makes you seem crazy. Sane people don't sacrifice their entire teenage years preparing for interdimensional war. But heroes do."
My throat tightened. "I'm not a hero."
"Yes, you are. You just don't see it." She kissed me. "I love you. All of you. The fighter, the healer, the boy who knows too much and carries too much weight. I love all of it."
"Even the weird dimensional stuff?"
"Especially the weird dimensional stuff."
We held each other on the couch, summer afternoon light filtering through basement windows, and for the first time in three years I felt less alone.
Not completely unburdened. The transmigration secret remained locked away.
But lighter.
Chrissy knew enough. Accepted enough. Loved enough.
"148 days," she said quietly. "Then what?"
"Then we fight. And we win."
"Promise?"
"I promise to try. That's all I can guarantee."
"Good enough."
Steve - July, Various Locations
The Party had transformed over summer.
No longer just kids playing at adventure. They'd become something else. Something dangerous and capable and ready.
I watched them run drills in the woods behind my house. El combined telekinesis with hand-to-hand combat, lifting Dustin off the ground then gently setting him down after demonstrating a throw. Mike coordinated movement patterns using military tactics I'd taught him. Lucas handled logistics—supply checks, equipment maintenance, route planning. Max brought aggression—every strike meant to disable, every movement efficient and brutal.
And Will...
Will watched everything with haunted eyes, absorbing techniques, understanding the enemy in ways none of the others could.
"They're ready," Hopper observed, standing beside me.
"As ready as twelve and thirteen-year-olds can be."
"That's not what I meant. Look at them. Really look."
I did. The Party moved with coordination. Communicated with hand signals. Covered each other's blind spots. They'd internalized the training.
"They're a team," Hopper continued. "Maybe even a strike force. You did that."
"You helped. The self-defense training. The discipline."
"I provided basic cop training. You turned them into something else." He pulled out cigarettes, lit one. "Just make sure they stay kids too. They need that."
"I know."
"Do you? Because I watch you sometimes, Steve, and I see a soldier. Not a teenager. And I worry you're making them into soldiers too."
He's right. I've been turning children into weapons. But what choice do I have?
"Would you rather they were helpless when the Mind Flayer returns?"
"I'd rather it didn't return at all."
"That's not an option."
"I know." Hopper exhaled smoke. "Just... remember they're kids. Let them be kids when possible."
I watched El laugh at something Dustin said. Mike smile. Max high-five Lucas. Will almost grin.
They were still kids. Despite everything.
I had to keep them that way.
For as long as possible.
Steve - August, Harrington House
Final preparations consumed August.
I upgraded all five supply caches—restocked weapons, rotated food supplies, tested communication equipment. The quarry cache now held enough resources for a week-long siege. Mirkwood cache included medical supplies for field surgery. The bunker expanded to include sleeping quarters, reinforced walls, emergency escape tunnel.
Investment portfolio hit $50,000. Father called, astonished.
"How the hell did you do this?"
"Research. Good instincts. Luck."
"This is Ivy League tuition money. MIT. Stanford. Yale."
"I'm thinking local. Stay close to home."
"Why would you—Steve, you've got opportunities now. Real opportunities. Don't throw them away."
Because in 118 days the Mind Flayer returns and I need to be here to stop it.
"I'll think about it."
"You do that. This is your future we're talking about."
My future is saving Hawkins. College can wait.
They'd be home soon, they promised. After Tokyo, then London, then wherever came next. Soon.
I didn't believe them. Didn't matter.
My real family was here.
Steve - August 30, 1984
The last day of summer vacation.
The Party gathered at the quarry, swimming and laughing and pretending the world was normal. El practiced floating in the water using gentle telekinesis. Dustin tried explaining quantum mechanics to Max (she threw him in the lake). Lucas and Mike arm-wrestled. Will sat on the shore, watching clouds.
I joined him.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. Just thinking."
"About?"
"How this is the last normal day. Before everything changes."
He knows. Somehow he knows.
"What makes you think things will change?"
"I can feel it. Out there." Will pointed vaguely east, toward the woods, toward the place where the gate had been. "It's waiting. Watching. Getting ready."
"The Mind Flayer?"
"It's patient. But impatient too. Like... it knows it'll win eventually. Just waiting for the right moment."
I put my arm around his shoulders. "We won't let it win."
"Steve?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you. For trying to save me. For healing me. Even though it hurts you."
"That's what family does."
Will leaned against me. Twelve years old. Carrying corruption from another dimension. Still somehow innocent.
"118 days," he whispered.
"You know the date?"
"I feel it. Halloween. That's when it comes back."
The corruption speaking. Will's connection showing him the truth.
"Then we'll be ready."
That evening, senior year eve, I stood in my basement surveying preparations. Three years of work. Weapons, supplies, intelligence, training.
The Map That Updates showed Hawkins in late summer twilight. Still clean. Still uncorrupted.
Fight Master at 90% Phase 2 completion. Pain Heal functional despite contamination. Dimensional Backpack charging steadily toward next milestone.
Everyone trained. Everyone equipped. Everyone ready as they'd ever be.
The Mind Flayer whispered: 118 days. Are you ready, traveler? Have you prepared enough? Or will you watch them fall despite your best efforts?
I'm ready.
We'll see.
Senior year started tomorrow. Then fall. Then Halloween.
Then war.
But tonight—this final night of peace—I let myself breathe. Let myself believe preparation might be enough.
Chrissy found me in the dark basement, wrapped arms around me from behind.
"Thinking too much?"
"Always."
"Come to bed. Tomorrow's a school day."
"When did you become the responsible one?"
"When you became the warrior preparing for apocalypse. Someone has to balance you out."
We climbed the stairs. The Map stayed behind, breathing softly in the dark.
118 days.
Ready or not.
Note:
Please give good reviews and power stones itrings more people and more people means more chapters?
My Patreon is all about exploring 'What If' timelines, and you can get instant access to chapters far ahead of the public release.
Choose your journey:
Timeline Viewer ($6): Get 10 chapters of early access + 5 new chapters weekly.
Timeline Explorer ($9): Jump 15-20 chapters ahead of everyone.
Timeline Keeper ($15): Get Instant Access to chapters the moment I finish writing them. No more waiting.
Read the raw, unfiltered story as it unfolds. Your support makes this possible!
👉 Find it all at patreon.com/Whatif0