A Sister's News

Hawkins, IN

May 10, 1986

Eleven awoke with a smile on her face. She had been dreaming of her boyfriend Mike. She liked it when she dreamed of Mike because they were always happy dreams. Sometimes she had scary dreams where she was still stuck in the Upside-Down, or even worse, back at the lab. When she had those dreams, she would wake up suddenly and not be able to get back to sleep for a long time. Mike had told her those were called nightmares and they were normal. Daddy had explained that it was understandable that she had them so often, as she had been through a lot more scary things than most kids ever had to deal with. When they were really bad, and she woke up screaming, Daddy was always there to help her calm down and he would stay by her bed and rub her back until she fell asleep again. But today was a good day, because it had been a Mike dream.

As her eyes flickered open, she remembered that it was Saturday and bolted up in bed. Saturday meant two things. Saturday afternoon meant a picnic with Mike. And Saturday morning meant waffles!

Last Christmas, Mike had given her something called a waffle iron, along with a bag of powder called waffle mix. The picture on the bag looked a lot like Eggos, just bigger. Daddy had nearly fallen out of his chair laughing as she unwrapped her present, and told Mike that it was the perfect gift for her. Mike had laughed back, and she had started to feel hurt at this shared joke that, once again, she didn't understand. She came back around quickly as Mike recovered and set about explaining just what it was. He had explained to her how Eggos are actually just a frozen, pre-made version of what are called waffles. They are good for a quick breakfast; or lunch, dinner, dessert and snack, as Eleven liked to view them. But real waffles, made from mix and cooked up in a waffle iron, are like super-Eggos. At this, she had stopped opening presents and insisted on making a batch right then. At that first fluffy bite, she was hooked. They were warm and sweet. They were amazing. They were almost better than a kiss from Mike - almost. She wanted to scream at them for keeping this delicious secret away from her despite how much they knew she loved Eggos.

Ever since then, she had insisted that even if they had Eggos sometimes during the week, on Saturday morning she got to make waffles in her waffle iron for breakfast. She looked over at the clock and was overjoyed to see it was already 7:30. Daddy didn't like it when she got up and started breakfast too early on the weekends, but she knew he would be up by now. Sure enough, as she padded down the hall and through the living room, there he was in his favorite chair with a mug of coffee and the newspaper; his coffee and contemplation, as he liked to call it.

"Morning Daddy," she said, wrapping an arm around his neck in a quick hug. "Ready for breakfast?"

"You bet. Want to do french toast today?" he responded with a grin.

"No! Waffles are Saturday," she smiled back as she headed off to the kitchen.

Twenty minutes later they were seated at the kitchen table with a stack of waffles, fried eggs, OJ for Eleven and a fresh mug of coffee Hopper.

Hopper had to admit, among her many gifts, his Jane made perfect waffles; lightly crisp and browned on the outside and tender, fluffy and sweet in the middle. As they ate, he explained that one of his officers had called in sick this morning, so he needed to head in to the station for a few hours. He would be back around 1:00 and would pick Mike up on the way so he didn't have to bike all the way over. At the mere mention of Mike, Eleven brightened into a huge smile.

He reached across the table and tousled her hair a little. "Do you realize your smile gets bigger every time I say that boy's name?" he teased.

"Does not," she returned, in mock defiance, though she knew he was right.

"Oh yeah? Mike," he repeated. She couldn't help it, she smiled again. "Mike. Mike. Mike."

Soon they were choking back fits of giggles. Before she had come into his life, Hopper had forgotten how good it felt to laugh like this. As she cleared the table and started washing the dishes, Hopper headed off to his room to change into his uniform. Coming back into the kitchen, he poured himself one last cup of coffee, in a travel mug this time and gave Eleven a quick kiss on the forehead.

"See you in a few hours," he said. Then, after a pause and a quick grin, he continued, "Try not to get into trouble."

"See you then. Call if you're going to be late," she added.

Though they were pretty sure they were in the clear and no longer being tracked, they still took a few precautions to stay safe. One of those was keeping close track of when the other should be home. On the kitchen counter, right next to the phone, was Hopper's old radio base station. When he was going to be late, he was always certain to call either on the phone, or on the radio, to let her know. And likewise, when she was out with her friends, she would keep him up to date either with the phone, or more usually, with Mike's radio. It was a little thing, but it gave them both some much needed peace of mind knowing the other was safe.

After Hopper had left for the station and Eleven had finished up the dishes, she headed back to her room, trying to decide what to do with her morning. Changing out of her pajamas, she pulled on a t-shirt and sweatpants. Settling on her bed, she decided it was a good time to pay a visit to Kali. After she had come clean to Hopper about exactly what happened on her trip to see Mama, and then to Chicago where she found her sister, he had been understandably upset. However, in the aftermath, he had decided to leave it up to Eleven whether to reach out to her again or not. He never forbade her to make contact, knowing that Kali was probably one of the only people who could truly understand the things she had gone through, growing up in the lab, but he made it pretty clear he didn't want to know about it if she did. And so it was that she waited until quiet days when she had the house to herself to check in on her wayward sister.

After turning her radio on to static, she laid back in bed and pulled the blindfold down over her eyes. Within moments, she had found Kali. Sure enough, she was gathered in the picture room with the rest of her crew, discussing where they would head next in their quest to find the bad men. Eleven had been surprised, after their hasty run from the police in Chicago, that Kali had planned ahead and had copies of all their research hidden in safe locations for just such an emergency. She still wasn't quite sure how she felt about Kali's mission to seek her revenge on the people from the lab; while she knew she didn't want to be a part of the hunt, she agreed that the bad men needed to be punished for what they had done.

Eleven stood in the corner for a minute, just watching and listening. Suddenly, Kali looked right at her. "Good Morning, Jane. Listening in again?"

The rest of the crew looked around the room quickly, but of course they couldn't see her, since it was only her presence in the In-Between. She knew that Kali seemed to sense her whenever she reached out and found her, but normally she didn't call attention to it and just continued on until she could get away for a few quiet minutes to chat. Today, it seemed, Kali had something on her mind and had been expecting her.

"Can we take five?" she addressed the group. "My sister and I need to chat."

The rest of the group got up from the table and began filing out of the room. Even though they couldn't see her, Kali had previously explained to them that Jane could see and hear them just fine. On the way out, they each addressed her.

"Nice to see you again Miss Jane," said Funshine.

"Don't take too long, Shirley," added Axel.

Once they were alone, Kali took a seat at the table and Eleven sat down across from her.

"So, what's up?" Kali began.

"Not much. I just wanted to check on you. Make sure you're still okay."

"Oh, you know us. Still fighting the good fight." she said with a half smile. "Do you see where we are?"

"No," Eleven replied quickly. "I've been practicing. Keeping my mind from pulling back to find where you are. Safer if I don't know."

"Smart," Kali returned. She paused for a long minute and Eleven could see the uncertainty creep onto her face.

"I'm glad you contacted me. There is something serious we need to talk about."

Eleven was understandably startled at the abrupt change in tone. "What is it?"

"It's about Dr. Brenner," she continued slowly.

"Papa?" Eleven was stunned, this was the last thing she expected Kali to bring up.

She went on. "First, I owe you an apology. The night you were here, after what happened with Ray, I put Brenner in your head to try and convince you to stay; to help in the fight. It was manipulative and unfair of me. I'm very sorry, Jane."

Eleven paused a beat before responding. "It's okay. I understand why you did."

A brief look of relief crossed over Kali's face but it faded again just as quickly as she continued. "We found another man; a man from the lab. He is also claiming that Brenner is still alive, still out there. And unlike Ray, he had details about what happened that night at the school. He described the creature just as you did. He claims that after the initial attack, they had been able to fight it off of Brenner. Then, while it was distracted somewhere else in the school, probably with you, they were able to drag him to safety and get him on a plane somewhere into hiding."

Eleven sat paralyzed by what she was hearing. It couldn't possibly be true, could it? Papa had died that night. Was this another trick by Kali? But why?

Kali went on, "He had details about the boys you were with. I know you told me all about Mike, but not about the other two. He says there was a dark-skinned boy with a bandana named Lucas, who refused to release the grip on his wrist-rocket for hours after the attack. And a boy named Dustin with curly hair and missing front teeth who swore a lot while the paramedics were trying to check him over. Are those the other two boys that were with you that night?"

Eleven felt like the world was collapsing in around her. This couldn't really be happening, could it? The edges of her vision were starting to darken and she could barely croak out a reply "Yes."

Kali went on with her plea, "Jane, I can't force you to do this, and I know this is a tremendous burden to ask of you." She paused. "But I would like to you reach out and see if you can find him. If he is still out there, we need to know. If he is out there, we need to stop him."

She waited a long time for a response, and when nothing came, she asked "Jane?"

Suddenly, with rising panic in her voice, Eleven croaked out, "I... I have to go."

With that, Kali felt the presence in her mind fade out, signaling that Jane had left. She didn't know what would happen now, but she knew telling her had been the right thing to do. It was in her hands now. If Brenner was out there, he was far too protected to be found through normal channels; only Jane could find him now, out there in the In-Between.

Alone in her room, Eleven sat bolt upright in bed and ripped the blindfold down from her eyes and let it hang loose around her neck. Her breath was coming shallow and fast as the panic settled deeper into her mind, fighting to process this news. Her pulse was racing ever faster as the first drops of blood fell from her nose, running freely from both nostrils. They fell unseen down the front of her shirt and onto her lap. She wanted to scream, to cry, something, anything, but she was paralyzed by what she just heard.

"Papa can't still be out there," she told herself. "He died that night, in the school. I saw it with my own eyes." She hugged her knees up to her chest, fighting for breath. "The demogorgon jumped on him and started eating him. I saw it. As Dustin carried me down the hall, I saw it on top of him. He has to be dead. Mike saw it happen too. He told me so. Daddy said he's gone, and Daddy doesn't lie."

She was on the verge of breaking, her heart pounding faster than she thought it ever had in her life. Of everything she had faced, finding the demogorgon in the In-Between, fighting it in real-life, dragging it and herself into the Upside-Down, running, hiding, fighting; none of it compared to what she was feeling right now. "What if Papa is really still alive?"

Her breath was coming so shallow and quick she felt like she was choking. Suddenly Hopper's face came into her mind and she could hear his steady, calming voice. "Remember what I taught you, when you feel the panic coming on. Deep breath in. Hold it. Deep breath out. Slow." Her hand shot to her wrist and her fingers instinctively wound themselves around the blue band she wore there. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Focus on the band. Daddy's special band. Sara's band. She never got to know Daddy's first daughter, her sort-of-sister. But the band had been hers. Then it was Daddy's, to give him strength when he thought he couldn't hold on. Now it was her's. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Daddy gave it to her, he trusted it with her, to know he was always there with her. To give her his strength and courage when she didn't have enough of her own; when she felt like falling apart. Deep breath in. Deep breath out.

Finally, reluctantly, her pulse started to slow. Her breath began to come easier again. The blood slowed to a stop under her nose. As she calmed, the tears finally came, falling hard and fast. Like a floodgate opening, she sobbed out everything she was feeling, her face buried in her hands. Somehow, despite telling herself otherwise for two years, she knew Kali was going to be right. She would look out into the In-Between, and there she would find Papa, alive and well. That night in Chicago, through her manipulative projection of Papa, Kali had been right; Eleven had not looked for Papa, terrified that she would actually find him. The thought left her sobbing even harder. She wanted so desperately to be free of him, of her past, and now it was threatening to come crashing back around her.

After what seemed like an eternity, the tears mercifully began to slow and she started to come around and feel a little better again. Eventually, all cried out, she lifted her face from her hands to find they were a sodden mess of tears and blood. She knew her face must look about the same. Looking down, she saw just how much blood was all over her clothes and decided a shower and a new outfit were in order. Stopping by the laundry room, she started her clothes soaking to get the blood out. Thanks to her continued training, with their numerous accompanying nosebleeds, she had gotten good at laundering out blood in the last couple years. In the bathroom, she stepped under the hot spray and let the last of her tension melt away. Years of pent-up fear had been sobbed away and in their place a new determination took hold.

"If Papa is still out there, I will find him. I will deal with him," she thought. "But that is for another day. Today is Saturday, and Saturday means Mike." Despite it all, she couldn't help to smile at the mere thought of him.