Stranger Things: Rebuilding
Chapter 2 of my Stranger Things story, enjoy.
Reviews
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.
JaynetheFawn: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, well, here we go ;)
Now onto the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Stranger Things or its characters.
Danger
El tensed, the click and the cold circular shape of the metal told her all she needed to know. There was a gun pointed in the back of her neck.
"Don't move." The gunman snarled.
She knew the voice, straining her peripheral vision she could make him out and confirmed her thoughts. It was Troy.
'Seriously, what is he…?'
Her thoughts were cut off by Troy shoving the gun into her again. She hissed, he was going to puncture her skin at this rate.
"Don't move bitch." Troy snarled.
El bit her lip, wondering just what the hell was going on. "Troy, what-"
"Shut up!"
She grimaced. Following the fight in the park, one of her former classmates James Dante had been unmasked and had turned himself in. His evidence had led to a major crack down on the gang that occupied the park at night, he had also revealed Troy was part of the gang still, he had been the one who slashed Anton at the park just before that fight. Now here he was, clearly on edge, with a gun pointed at her.
"What are you-?"
Troy growled. "I said shut up, you're not talking your way out of this!"
As he said this, he dragged the gun from behind her neck to her temple, he had moved around the bench too, standing next to her, gun pressed against her.
She couldn't believe it, she knew that Tory was an arrogant moron, he had bullied Mike and the rest of the boys for years, before turning much more aggressive after joining the gang. He was no stranger to intimidation, but this, he could kill her, he probably wanted to kill her, the look in his eyes was not reassuring in any way.
"I know you killed Justin, you freaky bitch, now you're gonna pay." Troy burst out.
She flinched at that, shocked, as well as a sick feeling growing in her stomach. It wasn't some kind of gang bravado, he wasn't swaggering around trying to be a van. He was sweating, she could see it, the sweat was running down his hand onto the gun. He was deadly serious, partly scared and maybe crazy.
'That was something I didn't get, Hop said that they'd arrested so many members of the gang, but their leader and their leader's brother Justin hadn't been caught. Even though Justin was certainly involved in the fight…' Her thoughts raced. "J-Justin's dead?"
Troy snorted. "Don't try that, we know it was you!"
"I didn't-"
"Bullshit!" He yelled. "Don't mess with me, I know what you did, and now you're gonna die!"
He steadied the gun with both hands, his breathing erratic. El tried to stay calm, to stop her heart racing, her hand slid ever so slightly along the bench.
"I said don't fucking move!"
"Troy, don't." She tried to reason with him. "This is a mistake, you don't want to-"
"Shut up, don't say anything!" He yelled. "You're not talking your way out of this!"
His finger was on the trigger, he was poised, he was going to do it, he was going to shoot her right here, if she moved, he'd shoot her sooner.
Her mind raced like it was in free fall, she needed some sort of distraction, Troy was gearing up, ready to take the shot. But nothing was forthcoming, she'd need to make one. She focused her powers as Troy's gaze was focused more on the gun than her at that moment. She tilted her head ever so slightly.
'CRACK'
The branch on the nearby tree snapped and Troy flinched, spinning around, the gun no longer pointed at her. El took her chance at that and leapt to her feet. With another quick burst of her powers, Troy was blasted off his feet, his gun sent flying far from him. El took no chances and ran, not stopping even as he screamed after her.
"I'll kill you, I'll fucking kill you!"
The screams echoed in her ears, her heart still pounded and the adrenaline buzz kept her going. But she knew it would fade and also knew, things had once more become far more dangerous.
XXXXX
Reaching the cabin, El slipped inside and closed the door behind her, breathing heavily, she was trembling, sweating, only now was she starting to fully appreciate the danger she had been in and her body was finally reacting.
"Kiddo?"
She bit her lip, looking up to see Hopper approaching her, his eyes widened upon seeing the state she was in.
"What the...what happened?" He burst out.
The moment he saw her Hopper knew something had happened to her and now he was worrying, he had been taking precautions against this, despite how much he knew it irked El, but now, seeing her like this, he had to wonder.
"Was it them, did they find you?" He asked anxiously.
She shook her head. "N-No, I...It was Troy."
"Troy...that boy from the school, now part of the gang. He…?" Hopper gasped.
"Yes." El nodded. "He's after her, he had a gun, tried to shoot me. I had to distract him and…"
Hopper shook his head. "It's alright, I know you had no choices. No come on, sit down, tell me the whole story."
They moved over to the sofa and sat down and El finally told him about her entire encounter with Troy. She knew she had to do this, but also knew that it meant she could kiss her freedom goodbye, at least until the gang were completely dismantled.
Seeing how scared she was Hopper didn't hesitate and pulled her close, hugging her.
"It's okay, it's okay kiddo. You're safe now." He told her gently. "Don't worry, James Dante is still spilling all the gang's secrets, we'll take them down, especially Troy."
El nodded. "Y-yeah...thank you...I...I guess that's me then. Straight back here after school from now on?"
Hopper paused for a moment, enough that El became confused, maybe a little hopeful. Finally he sighed and stood up, walking towards a chest of drawers. He opened the top one and rooted around in it for a while. He then found what he was looking for and picked up a box which he brought back to the sofa, sitting down next to El again.
"I don't want to...make things harder on you. I know you hate being cooped up, but we've also got to think about your safety." Hopper explained.
He then opened the small box and took out a watch from within, handing it to El.
"Okay, I want you to take this. Wear it at all times." Hop explained.
She frowned, confused, but put it on. "It's, a watch."
He nodded. "That button on the top right. If you press it, it activates a signal, that I can pick up with this-"
He lifted a small device from the box to show her.
"If you're ever in serious trouble, activate that signal, find somewhere to stay hidden, or try to stall and I'll show up, okay." He finished.
El bit her lip, but then nodded and smiled. Her freedom wasn't curtailed but she now had a means to stay safe while still living her life.
End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.