The girl awoke.
Violently ripped from sleep as usual, her eyes flew open, heart pounding as she sucked in a gasping breath. Once she confirmed she wasn't in immediate danger she rolled over, tightening the blankets around herself and tucking her knees up to her chest. It was always so cold here.
Before she could forget, she reached for the knife under her pillow and gouged another line into the wood panelling next to her. It was the only method she had for tracking time in this place. Running her fingers over the rows of jagged marks, she let herself wonder about what was going on on the other side. She wondered if it was still winter there. The Snow Ball would have surely happened by now, without her. Maybe she would get to go to the next one.
White flakes fell around her like always, floating through the air like snow. Snow. Had she ever seen snow? She couldn't be sure. But if she had never seen it then how did she know what it was?
She tried to recall the feel of it, conjure up the taste of a snowflake landing on her tongue, but nothing came. It must have just been something she had seen in one of the picture books in the lab. She knew that snow was white.
The girl knew white.
White walls, white floors, white lab coats; white, slicked back hair and big white teeth, grinning at her and telling her in a calm, quiet voice to focus, just focus and listen and do exactly as he said.
The girl also knew dark. Soft, dark eyes. Wavy, dark hair. A shy smile that meant safety and friendship and trust and made her insides feel funny. Mike.
A rumbling sound broke through the silence and she pressed a hand to her empty stomach. Hungry, tired, cold. Those were the feelings that rotated through her these days. Usually, it was all three at once. It had been so long since she had felt anything else. Any warm, happy emotions were reserved for her dreams, and even then it was not enough.
Sitting up, she ran her fingers through her almost shoulder-length hair. She was glad it was growing out so quickly. At the lab, they had never let it get too long before shaving it again so the sensors could fit. Soon it would be as long as that fake hair she'd worn when she had been pretending to be Mike's cousin. Not that he had ever cared. He'd liked her without it too.
Pretty, she could still hear his voice say. Really pretty…
She pulled back the polka dot sheet hanging in front of her and crawled out from under the table, eyes sweeping around the basement for any signs of danger.
After waking up on the floor of the school all those weeks ago, she had searched for what felt like hours for a way back to the other side, but there had been nothing. She had tried desperately to tear a new gate through the walls, but it was like her powers were gone—she could barely even budge a single brick.
Weak and freezing, she'd known she had to take shelter somewhere before the monsters discovered her. She had snuck her way through the decaying replica of Hawkins, following the powerlines until she found Mike's house. It was infested with vines and the white, webby material that covered everything in this place, but thankfully free of any creatures.
She could have taken one of the bedrooms upstairs, but this basement had been the first place she had ever felt safe, so she did her best at recreating the hiding place he had made for her, although the pillows and blankets here were filthy and falling apart and there was no small light plugged into the wall to help her feel less afraid.
Sometimes she swore she could hear him talking to her. It was like he was right there, just on the other side. She would shut her eyes and try to call out to him, try to reach into the void to see him even just for a second. But he never heard her, and his voice always faded away before she could reach him.
It had been a long time now since she had heard anything at all.
The girl ascended the creaking stairs to the kitchen, dodging the slimy vines and roots extending across each step. At the top, she paused to listen for any sounds of intruders.
She had spent the entire first day here moving heavy furniture in front of all the doors and covering the windows so the creatures couldn't get in if they caught her scent. She'd been lucky so far, but she never felt safe enough to let her guard down.
She made her way to the small room that had shelves full of food, pulling the door half-shut behind her and taking a seat on the floor.
Grabbing the open box of round, orange crackers, she took out exactly three and ate them slowly, closing her eyes and pretending that instead of crumbly and dry, they were warm and filling, like the food that nice man had given her when she'd first escaped the lab.
Mike's house was well stocked, but she knew she would soon have to venture to other houses to look for food, or maybe even the store, which was always a risk. Any fruit or vegetables in this place looked like they had gone bad a long time ago—mushy and covered in some kind of black, sticky substance; and any meat seemed to have been found by the creatures, so her only options were things in boxes or cans that tasted like dust in her mouth.
The first thing she was going to do when she got back to the other side was to eat so many Eggo's. Well, after she hugged Mike and the other boys. And maybe she'd also finally get to try whatever chocolate pudding was.
She wasn't sure what the creatures had been feeding on since the main gate at the lab was closed. One day she'd made the trek to scope it out, only to find the entire building empty and the spot where the gate had been nothing more than a black stain on the wall.
There might have been other gates that they were using, but she stayed far, far away from them, so she couldn't be sure. Besides, she didn't need their gates anymore.
Standing up, she wiped the crumbs off of herself before retucking the hem of her striped shirt into her tightly belted pants. As attached as she had been to the pink dress she was wearing when she'd arrived, it wasn't exactly warm or practical for sneaking around, so she had taken to wearing pants and long-sleeved shirts from Mike's closet.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, testing for the familiar tingling in her fingertips and the base of her skull that meant her powers were strong again. She flexed and extended her fingers.
It was time to go.
She pushed aside the table that was blocking the side door and pulled the sheet away from the small window to peer outside. The sky was dark, like always. There was no day or night in this place. She scanned for any signs of movement but saw nothing.
Slowly, she opened the door and stepped outside, holding her breath as she listened for any telltale snapping and snarling. Still nothing.
She started down her usual route, staying in the shadows close to the houses in case she needed a hiding place.
One of the first things she had learned upon arrival was that the thick, slimy vines on the ground were somehow connected to the creatures. As soon as she had tripped over one in the school the familiar, bone-chilling screech of a Demogorgon could be heard somewhere in the distance and the vine began to slither, winding itself around her ankle.
She'd almost given up then.
Lying face down on the linoleum, barely able to move, it hadn't seemed so bad to just let the monster find her and end it all. She had done her part—Mike and his friends were safe. But then the thought came to her that she would never see them again, never feel the warm embrace of friendship, and it suddenly felt unfathomable. She knew then that she would do whatever it took to get back to them.
They were like a family, and she had never had one of those before. The mental image of Mike's wide, toothy smile had given her the strength she needed to peel herself off of the floor and somehow get herself to safety.
Having to be so careful meant her progress through the town was slow. She finally made it to the halfway point of Hawkins Public Library when she heard a shriek from above and looked up. A flock of the winged, eyeless creatures was circling, swooping through the darkness and emitting high-pitched squeals that hurt her ears.
Moving quickly, the girl backed into an alcove and flattened herself against the brick wall. So far she had seen three types of monsters in this place—the Demogorgans, huge and grotesque; the younger ones that ran quickly on all fours, and the ones that could fly.
The small ones were easier to kill. If she happened to have the misfortune of encountering a full-grown Demogorgan, destroying it completely drained her of energy and once she fled back to her hiding place she would slip into unconsciousness for what felt like days. She often wondered exactly how many days she had missed carving into the wall for that very reason.
Of course, she tried to avoid killing any of them at all, because that just seemed to alert more of them to her location.
There had been a few instances where she had barely managed to escape in time to reach a building she could barricade herself inside. And then she would end up waiting for what could have been hours until they tired themselves out or lost interest.
Her heart thumped against the wall of her chest as she forced herself to stay still, not daring to even breathe too hard in case they heard her.
The sound of flapping wings didn't go away. Instead, it sounded like they were getting closer. She clenched her teeth. She didn't like wasting her powers but the creatures weren't leaving and she did not have time for this.
Squinting across the street, she spotted a large metal trash can in the white light of the streetlamps, relatively free of vines and roots. She narrowed her eyes and focused on her target, and with a nod of her chin launched it in the opposite direction, as far away from her as possible. It clanged noisily when it landed, the sound echoing through the stillness.
Immediately, the creatures dove towards the disturbance with an ear-splitting shriek, wings beating as they vanished into the darkness. The girl let out the breath she'd been holding and wiped away the blood leaking out of her nose with a strip of cloth from her pocket which she carried for that exact purpose before continuing on her way.
She followed her landmarks—Will's house, the gnarled tree stump that marked the entrance to the woods, the large rock shaped like an old man's face, and finally the rotting log she had to clamber over. Exactly ten more steps and–
There it was.
A crack between the worlds, at the base of a massive oak tree. Crouching on the forest floor, she swiped aside the twigs and dead leaves she had used to conceal it last time.
She had stumbled upon it by accident weeks ago when she'd been looking for the lab and got lost, nearly walking right past it when the faint pinpoint of warm light caught her eye and led her to investigate.
Every day since, she would come here and work on widening the gap, using her diminished powers to chip away at it and expose more of the membrane until she was fully depleted. Every time she stopped, however, the opening would start to close up again almost immediately, although a little less each time.
It was incredibly frustrating, but the fact that she was making even a minuscule amount of progress encouraged her to keep coming back. It was her only hope. The opening had been smaller than the tip of her finger when she'd first found it. Now it was the size of her fist, glowing red and pulsating with energy like it was breathing.
Settling on her knees, she took a deep breath and concentrated, holding out her hand and feeling the energy flow from the center of her chest outwards into her fingertips as she channelled every ounce of her strength into weakening the barrier that kept her trapped in this evil place.
The gnarled vines crisscrossing over it began to retract and dissolve into dust, reacting to her efforts, but she could feel it resisting her intrusion. She grit her teeth, pushing harder, sweat beading on her forehead as she strained against the invisible force holding the gate shut.
Her eyes closed as she visualized the world beyond the gate—the hallways of Hawkins Middle School, teeming with children; the feeling of rain on her skin, the soft light of Mike's basement and the smell of his mother's cooking wafting down from upstairs.
She felt the familiar warm trickle of blood in her nostril, the ends of her hair beginning to lift slightly as her power intensified, leaving her feeling stronger than she had in a long time.
Her eyes flew open to see the red light emanating from the crack flickering, getting steadily brighter as the skin-like layer got thinner. Just a little more and tiny holes would start appearing and she would be able to tear right through the translucent membrane. With a grunt of exertion, she arched her fingers, forcing the edges of the bark surrounding the opening to crumble away.
She knew she was straining the limits of her abilities, could feel her powers draining from her the longer she went. It was infuriating. She used to be so much stronger. Even in her earliest memories of the lab, it had never felt this difficult.
Once more, she closed her eyes and thought about what she was doing this for, what was waiting for her on the other side. Genuine love and affection. She pictured Will's mother and her soft, soothing voice; the police officer with the kind eyes who had protected them, the way that Mike–
Suddenly, a surge of resistance pushed back, as if the gate itself was fighting her. The girl was flung backwards, gasping as she caught herself on her palms. She looked up to see the fissure already knitting back together, undoing all the progress she had been making. No!
Scrambling to her feet, she stood and squared her shoulders, focusing all her remaining energy on the task at hand. Her eyes blazed with intensity as she reached out again with both arms this time, her hands trembling with effort.
Promise, she heard Mike's voice whisper.
Promise… A deeper voice that time, but just as familiar. Papa. A spark of anger raced through her. Papa had lied to her.
A sudden wave of power came over her then, her abilities spiking in strength and allowing her to hold the edges of the gate at bay. An image of him came to the forefront of her mind—that fake, placating smile he'd give her just before informing her of her next task, spreading menacingly over his face. He did not love her. He treated her like an object. A weapon. He'd made her a monster.
Her chest heaved, blood rushing hot through her veins as she directed all her fury into the tips of her fingers. She didn't push those unpleasant memories away like she normally did. This time she let them come.
The image of Papa morphed into the smiling blonde woman from the lab who had come looking for her, and then the men with guns who had chased them through the town and hunted them down in the school. Bad men. So many bad men who wanted to hurt her and her friends. Like the men in white uniforms dragging her down the white corridor, throwing her into the small room and locking her inside as she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Even though she knew she shouldn't, she pushed herself just a little further. Her muscles were burning with effort, but she was so close she could almost taste it, she just–
The connection broke. She fell to her knees with a grunt, bracing herself on her hands as she gasped for air, fully depleted of strength. A chill ran down her spine when she heard a familiar growl in the distance.
She needed to get out of there.
Dark spots swam in her vision as she quickly covered the opening with leaves before staggering to her feet. The metallic taste of blood was sharp on her tongue, and she could feel the wetness of it dripping down her chin from the river pouring out of her nose.
Fumbling for the cloth in her pocket, she wiped clumsily at her face as she began to stumble through the pitch-dark woods. She needed to lie down. Her limbs felt too heavy, like they were encased in stone. There was no way she was making it back to Mike's. She would have to find–
A cry caught in her throat as she tripped over a root, barely stopping herself from falling to the ground. Bracing her hands on her knees, she squinted into the darkness, trying to orient herself. There was the cluster of three pine trees that formed a triangle, which meant it should be right… there.
Relief washed over her as her eyes landed on the silhouette of the small, crooked structure in the distance. Castle Byers. Just as she had seen it in her mind when Will had been trapped here, its tattered flag hanging limply from a branch on the roof. She'd spent the night there once before, the first time she had pushed herself too hard trying to tear open the gate.
At the entrance she dropped to her knees, crawling in past the worn-out sheet. The world was spinning as she collapsed onto the dirt floor, her vision blacking out around the edges.
A memory came to her then, as vivid as if it was happening right in front of her. My parents can get you an actual bed for the basement… They'll take care of you… Promise…
The thought of him warmed her from the inside out. She had no recollection of ever having anything that belonged just to her. But somehow she knew from that very first night that he was hers, and she was his.
Nothing would stand in the way of her finding her way back to him so they could have the life that he had promised. Nothing.
And as the world around her faded to black, she pictured brown eyes and light freckles, and there was a small smile on her face as she thought, Soon…
Oh hey guys… I'm just gonna… slowly back out of the room…
:D