Stranger Things: Rebuilding

Chapter 4 of my Stranger Things idea, hope you enjoy it.

Reviews

Boris Yeltsin: Yes, indeed...with more to come.
JaynetheFawn: Yes well, you'll see...eventually. Glad you like them ;)
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks ;)

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Stranger Things or its characters.

Fresh Day, Fresh Concerns

"You have a lot to answer for."

Rochelle swallowed nervously as she stood in the office, glaring at her was a tall thin man, grey haired with cold eyes, fair skin and currently dressed in a simple suit, his lab coat hung on a hook by the door.

He continued. "You were supposed to be watching Eleven?"

"I…"

"Yet she was almost killed today in the park." He explained. "You were nowhere, how did this happen, Rochelle."

Rochelle bowed her head. "I didn't expect her to go to the park again, after all that happened, I didn't expect her to even be allowed to-"

"Learn to expect it!" The man snapped. "Remember Eleven has grown wilful, we need to ensure she is kept safe so she can be brought back and carry out our plans. Only then will those fools accept the truth."

"Dr. Brenner, I-"

Brenner turned away. "We have little time to waste on these ridiculous gang members. You were supposed to kill that punk and scare them off."

"I did kill him, as you ordered." Rochelle countered. "This action is from that. Killing him is what caused this."

He rounded on her, anger flaring in his eyes. "Then you clearly didn't do things properly, I'm warning you, if Eleven is hurt again, I will hold you personally responsible."

With that he ignored Rochelle's fearful reaction and dismissed her, focused instead on the important task of proceeding with his plans.

XXXXX

Tuesday was bright, slightly breezy, a crisp October morning. El had already met up with her friends and they had headed to their first class of the day, their only class that they all shared. El was trying to stay calm and focused, but it wasn't easy, last night still played on her mind. She had to find time to talk to the others. She looked around the classroom where they all sat at various seats, all heads down, working. That was, until the door opened, surprising everyone, the teacher looked up too, it was then they all noticed that it was the Principal. Accompanying him was a girl their age, around middle height with long blonde hair, green eyes and rather pale skin, her clothes were the kind you'd find a thrift store.

"Sorry to interrupt, you have a new student joining you today, this is Tatiana Volkov." He announced to the class. "I want you all to make her feel welcome."

With that he directed Tatiana to an empty seat as the students were already whispering. El looked around at the others again, all making eye contact. It was clear they were all thinking the same thing, they noted the girl's name and began to feel uneasy.

'She's Russian...this...this could cause problems, the way people might treat her…' El thought worriedly.

She just hoped the others were indeed thinking along the same lines as her, but she was still overwhelmed by her memories of last night too, things just kept getting more complicated it seemed.

Finally, during a break between classes, El was with the others and learned that they were worried about her too.

"Are you okay El?" Max asked almost at once. "Mike said you sounded...a little out of it, when you called him last night."

El glanced over at Mike who bit his lip guiltily. She merely shook her head at him and looked around at the others.

"Well, I was. I'm actually still trying to process everything." She admitted. "I...Last night I was nearly shot in the head."

"What?!" All of them stared at her in disbelief.

"It's true, it was Troy…" She began.

She saw the expressions of the others darken and she sighed, before going into detail about what happened, telling them everything.

"Whoa, that's...and the chief is still letting you out?" Dustin wondered in shock.

"I thought that myself, but he did and he gave me this." She told them, showing them the watch.

"A watch?" Lucas queried.

El explained. "Yeah, but that button on the top right, I press it and it sends a signal to Hopper allowing him to find me. Told me to use it if I was in danger."

"Huh, makes sense." Max mused.

The others still looked worried, El couldn't blame them, but she was starting to feel calmer about things herself and hoped they'd be reassured too.

As El and Max began making their way towards their next class, the boys beginning to head to theirs. As they did so, Mike looked over, unable to take his eyes off El, clearly worried. The other boys shared another look at that.

"Mike." Will spoke up, getting his attention. "You're worried about El...perhaps a little more than any of us, aren't you?"

Mike noted the looks he was getting from the other three and grimaced, realizing what they were hinting at.

"Urgh, you guys, this…" He stammered.

"Mike, it's better if you just are truthful with yourself. Besides, don't forget, we're all worried." Lucas added quietly.

Mike hesitated briefly, but then sighed. "Okay, it's true, yeah, I care about El, I...I think I love her. But, but she's not interested...you guys know that, you-"

"Mike, you shouldn't just give up, besides, personally, I think you'd be much better for El than that guy she's obsessing over." Dustin cut in.

Mike sighed sadly, bowing his head, he then glanced over at the direction El and Max had gone again, even though they were gone already. He began to wonder, maybe they were right. But right now, he had other things on his mind too, such as his difficulties with his parents. Now he also had to worry about his worst bully having turned criminal and hunting El down with a gun.

XXXXX

The time had come, Jessica Myles was sure of that as she closed her locker, tucking the red envelope into her bag and waiting for the after school crowd to die down, determined to, for once, avoid collecting the usual half-dozen hangers-on who wanted to accompany her on some shopping spree or such as was usual after school. Seeing her chance she moved down the corridor, she noted Stacey in her peripheral vision but pretending she didn't. She pretended she didn't hear Melanie calling her name and finally she reached the bathroom, she made her way into one of the stalls and waiting for a moment, to see if any of the girls had followed her.

'Honestly, it's getting so I can't even spend one private afternoon with Eric.' She thought to herself.

She usually liked her high visibility and high number of friends, but those girls could be so freakishly needy at times. Satisfied that nobody had followed her into the bathroom, she set her bag down in the mostly dry sink and examined the mirror above it. She wanted to look her best when she went to see Eric after all. Leaning so close that her nose left a tiny grease mark on the mirror's surface. This close she could see the small freckles that spattered across the bridge of her nose and the amber streaks in her light eyes which stopped them being the bona fide true blue that her mother and sister had.

She grimaced, her pores looked big and ugly at this vantage, did Eric see them like that when he kissed her. She quickly pulled away and began rooting through her bag for some power to tame the oil in her forehead and nose and cover those gaping yawning pores. She applied another coat of clear lip gloss and looked once more at the letter in her bag. She knew she'd find Eric at the park, probably playing chess with that poor elderly homeless man he usually played against.

She already had her plan in mind, she'd find him, find some means to get him alone and give him the letter, let him read it and kiss him so he'd know she meant what was said in it Satisfied with her thoughts she slung her bag back onto her shoulder she opened the stall door and stepped out, in time to catch a glimpse of the tousled light brown hair and rather worn overalls of Jane Hopper. At once her heart rate quickened and she felt the blood pulse in her temples.

'Urgh, that bitch is still here, when is she gonna get the hint she isn't wanted at this school and disappear.' Jessica thought in anger.

She hated that girl, so many things she did or caused just by existing, it was enough to set Jessica's teeth on edge as she left the bathroom. She'd have to take time to calm down before heading to the park now. She hated it there too, all because of those monsters, those gang members, the ones that attacked her, but still, none of those fears or her anger were quite so strong as her concern about Eric, especially that time when she was in hospital and he disappeared for some time. Shaking her head she pulled the letter out of her bag again, she had to check it, to make sure it was right.

She had been with Eric for six months now and things were going great, he was the best looking most intelligent guy she knew. He was sexy, even romantic at times, he always went out of his way to make her feel safe. So she wondered why, when she wrote this, was she thinking not of Eric, but of Jane, who she knew was in the hospital at that time Eric disappeared.

'Dear Eric

These last six months have been the best of my life, sorry to be corny but it's true. So I want to celebrate the occasion with a very special night. I'll meet you at your dorm room at eight on Saturday evening and we'll do something we've been talking about for a long time. I know I said I wanted to wait, but I've changed my mind.

You are the one and now is the time.

Love

Jessica.'

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.