Chapter 1: The Mysterious Appearance of the Firey Redhead
DURING the May of 1985, Eleven's romantic relationship with Mike continued to blossom, much to Jim Hopper's dismay. The boy and girl had been officially declared a couple after the Snow Ball dance.
Mike would come over to the cabin as much as he could, but had to leave early most of the time- like he did this very night- after all, he wasn't allowed to be out late on school nights.
Now, El Hopper was in absolute tranquility.
She was alone, laying down on her bed, reading a magazine. The upbeat music song of "Can't Fight This Feeling" by REO Speedwagon was playing out of Eleven's radio. Said teenager was mouthing along to the lyrics of the song Mike had earlier made her listen to. As she did, El was moving her feet to the rhythm. All was well.
That was until a thunderstorm rumbled throughout the woods.
It was rather odd. There were no previous signs that a storm would be hitting the small town of Hawkins. Eleven though, didn't mind as the rain pattered against her windows.
What stunned the fourteen year old, however, was the lightning that struck so close to her house. It was so intense that prompted her to jump out of her bed in a haste.
El's brown eyes widened as she stared out the foggy glass window, her breathing a bit rapid from the initial shock.
It didn't do the superpower-possessing girl any good when the lights began to flicker.
She abruptly turned her head back to her her radio when static crackling was all that blared from the piece of technology.
Then, she didn't know what was going on, but somehow, at the same time knew what to do. An overwhelming urge to leave her room surged through her.
Almost against her own will, Eleven's feet lead her to the living room, and she stopped by the door to the house. She hesitated. It wasn't against the rules to leave home anymore now that Hopper officially adopted her, but she wasn't allowed to leave without his permission.
Curiosity getting the best of her, El exited the cabin. The wooden stairs creaking as she made her descent to the twig covered ground.
"Hello?" El Hopper yelled out, but it was barely audible with the thunderous booming, and the wind rushing across the fields.
"Any-body here..?" She asked once more, her voice fading out at the end.
Gulping away the lump in her throat, the girl continued to walk around, sensing a presence near her. Maybe it was Hop, she thought.
The rain didn't hold off, drowning the quiet area. The clothes El was wearing hugged her bones and she felt chilly with the rain soaked into her skin.
Despite all her instincts, Jane Hopper advanced deeper into the woods, her eyes darting around in caution.
She stopped in her tracks once she caught sight of something lying on the ground only a feet apart from her.
No, it was someone. An unconscious someone.
Rushing, Eleven strided towards the girl, but quickly halted in her steps when an unbearable ringing invaded her head. The brown haired girl clutched her head in her hands, clenching her eyes shut in pain.
It was excruciating.
Suddenly, images flashed in her head. Memories. But they weren't hers. They belonged to the girl lying out cold against a tree.
El had no control over it, she was practically dragged inside the redhead's mind. She saw a house, a large one, filled with people walking around, incomprehensible chatter. She saw a pretty girl, the very same red head staring at herself in the mirror, gently gesturing her hand as if to reach out for something. But she didn't move, whatever object she wanted to take hold of came to her.
She's like me, El thought between the pressured, projected memories.
A mind numbing headache took over El's senses as the memories got even more intense. Glimpses of a maddeningly quiet place invaded her head, she felt like she couldn't breathe, like she was in a vacuum. A dark, cold place from which there was no escape.
"JEAN!" Someone bellowed.
And then there was fire.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration if the young girl said that her whole being was scorched. She screamed as loud as she could, but nothing came out, she heard only but the sparks of the fiercely blazing arms of the flames. And a girl screaming in agony.
And finally, the torture ceased.
Falling to her knees, El snapped her eyelids open, gasping for air. Frantically, she looked around, her ears still ringing from the experience, her breathing was now in shallow pants.
With a sharp exhale, the brown eyed girl pitifully glanced to the poor, half naked redhead. What caught her by surprise was that the latter was awake.
Approaching the mysterious girl, Eleven couldn't help but notice the look of utter fright the girl had on her face as she looked around frantically, it was a look Jane Hopper had on her very own face not long ago.
Breathing heavily in panic, Jean's pained green eyes landed on the stranger who stood over her.
"Where am I?" Jean whispered, still panting, not recognizing the dark gloomy place she was in. She swallowed thickly, her chest hurting; actually, her whole was body hurting.
Though her eyes were brimming with worry, Eleven looked at her mesmerized. Her eyes almost sparkling, for she had never encountered a person with abilities like her before, save for Kali who had another set of talents.
"Sister?"
A short stammer left the panicked girl's widely open lips, confusion marrying her features. "W-what?"
I have a sister?
Looking over the green eyed girl's form, Eleven inquired, "You okay?"
Jean observed the girl, hoping to recognize her. But the brown haired girl didn't familiarize itself within Jean's hazy mind. "Wh-who are you?"
Jean, still in an alarmed state, quickly got to her bare feet, mud covering her fair skin. "Please tell me how did I get here." Her voice trembling as it left her lips.
Eleven sympathetically pursed her lips, still gazing at her. She didn't know how to answer her desperate question.
"I am El."
Face scrunched in perplexity, Jean raked her brain for that name, for any name actually, trying to recognize the younger girl, but failing miserably.
"Come..with me." El comforted, slowly raising her arm and extending it to the lost female.
Jean took a moment as silence fell upon them. She looked at the girl, suspicious and uncertain, but eventually relented and took her hand.
Jim Hopper anxiously paced throughout the living room, wondering where his daughter was. He'd just arrived from another exhausting day of work to an empty home.
Where the hell could she have gone to?!
Deciding to go look for the teenager -the Wheeler's residence was the first to pop up in his head. Damn that kid, Mike, Jim thought. He could've called to check, but no, that was too timid. These kids have been around each other for so long now and they thought they could do whatever the hell they wanted to. He had to show them who was in charge.
Striding to the cabin's threshold, his timorous hand grabbed the knob and the door flew open. Much to the chief of police's relief, he found Eleven at the other side.
With a sigh, Jim's relaxed look morphed into a stern expression.
"EL! Where the hell have you been?!" Did that Mike kid drag you somewhere?! I swear-"
He paused when he saw El's distraught expression. Something was off. It wasn't like her to timidly shut her mouth when he snapped, not these days, she would usually argue back.
"What's wrong?" His tone dialed down a notch, rather softer in concern.
The brown haired girl looked to her left, gently nodding to the girl to show herself from the left of the house's entry.
What Jim saw gave him a stun. It was a girl. A teenage girl at that. Poorly dressed, her shuddering rather exposed body was soiled with mud. Arms hugging her torso and her eyes directed a gaze at the floor that never faltered.
"So what, we're bringing half naked girls into the house now?!"
"Here you go." Jim spoke as softly as he could, placing the warm cup of coffee on the table for the redhead to drink. He pulled a chair and sat down facing her as Eleven stood by his side, holding a plate, her concerned eyes focused on the strange girl.
The fourteen year old explained to her father how she found her in the woods terrified and confused.
"Thanks." She muttered, pursing her lips as she wrapped her slender fingers around the mug, she inspected it and almost lost herself in the darkness of the drink.
She was calmer now after taking the shower she was offered. Earlier she was covered in dirt and her hair was knotted and not as well combed as it was now. Now she was more beautiful and radiant. Though Hopper's baggy clothes hung loosely on her figure, it was better than nothing.
El put the plate on the table, offering red haired girl waffles and eliciting a grateful nod from her. The teenager didn't know just how much it meant when Eleven offered her precious Eggos.
"Let's start with something simple." Hopper placed his elbows on the table, inspecting the girl before him. "I'm Jim Hopper, Chief of police. And you are?"
His question made her think for a moment.
People shouldn't think twice about answering what their name was, why was she hesitating?
"Jean..." She trailed off, her voice fading at the end. "Jean Grey."
Chief Hopper nodded, a tight lipped smile was on his face. "Okay, Jean. You from around here? I haven't seen you before."
Jean gulped.
"I-I don't know."
Jim's dark brows furrowed. "What do you mean, 'you don't know'?" His tone rising a bit.
Eleven's eyes darted from Jean to Hopper once she saw her flinch. "Hopp." She cautioned.
Hearing his adopted daughter calling his name, Jim tore his eyes from Jean and guided them to the young girl. "What?"
She quickly shifted around and started walking towards the other end of the living room, assuming that Hopper followed her- which he did.
"Like me." She whispered.
"Huh?"
"She's like me." El emphasized. Jim narrowed his eyes, guiding his glance from his daughter to the redhead then back again to El.
"What? That's not possible." He said. Gesturing to Jean, he made Eleven look to the girl sipping at her coffee. "Look, she doesn't even have a numbered tattoo like you do. And the lab, they shut it down months ago."
Eleven almost cringed at the mention of that horrific place. She was kidnapped and raised in the National Laboratory, where she was experimented on for her inherited psychokinetic abilities. The thought of the older girl going through what she's been through made her stomach turn.
Pursing her lips, El Hopper was pulled out of her thoughts. "Like me." She repeated, emphasizing her words.
"Okay, what makes you so sure?" He asked.
"I saw it." Was her simple answer.
"When?"
"Outside, just now. She showed me like Mama." She replied. Those were memories, she was sure of it, just like she'd seen her mother's. The only difference is that she wasn't in the Void like when she went through her mother's head.
"You went through her head? What did you see, anything useful?" He whispered, now hopeful to know who this girl was.
Eleven shook her head. "I saw her using abilities like me."
"You sure?" Questioned Jim, he was still doubtful.
El gave him a quick nod.
Jim pursed his lips as he went back to the anxious looking girl.
"Hey, kid. Did you uh-" He stammered, he hoped this wasn't the case. "Did you run away from the lab?"
"What lab?" Jean asked, her translucent green eyes darting to the older man.
"The Hawkins Lab, did you come from it."
"I don't know what you're talking about?" She said, even more confused.
"Where did you come from?" He asserted, the man was getting more agitated by the minute.
Jean's lower lip trembled, her eyes were turning watery. She raked through her head, but something was blocking her from finding anything.
"I- I don't know, I don't know anything. All I can remember is my name." Tears threatened to fall down her cheeks as she spoke. "You don't believe me?"
Eleven jumped to answer before Hopper could, looking sympathetically at the older female. "We believe."
Sighing, the man looked at both girls, wondering what the hell to do. "Yeah, okay. Why don't you two go to bed for now. We'll figure out whatever this is tomorrow morning." Hopper exclaimed, gently slamming his palms on the table.
A/N:-
Sooo this is the first chapter, I know it's quite uneventful but it will progress faster as we go.
I know this is waaaaay ahead time, but who would you like Jean to end up with? Steve or Billy? I'd love to know what you think!
Don't forget to vote and comment