Tʜᴇ Fᴏʀɢᴏᴛᴛᴇɴ- Bᴀʀʙᴀʀᴀ Hᴏʟʟᴀɴᴅ

ᑭᗩᖇT ᔕᗴᐯᗴᑎ

Sun started to set as Barbara Holland hunched over her desk, pencil propped in-between her teeth. The room became stuffy over time, and all she had managed to achieve so far was a simple flick through each page, a skim read here and there if it looked interesting. What she had learned from the few entrances that she had actually taken the time to read, is that Martin Brenner was a terrifyingly creepy man. Like come on, stealing literal children to attempt mind control? Surely that wasn't right. It made Barbara's skin crawl, thinking of the poor infants that had to go through pointless treatment for something that blatantly didn't exist. Suddenly her situation had felt a lot more normal.

The girl breathed out, placing the pencil down on the desk she was slumped over. Night was fast approaching, and after refusing dinner saying "I had quite a big lunch", stomach was empty and eyes were fighting to stay awake. Her body could've slept easily, but body and mind were two different things. It was fascinating how you could let your frame fall asleep, but not your soul. That numb feeling where you can't feel your own limbs, all until you send signals to your brain to allow you to take over and control once again.

-

Atmosphere grew dark as the moon showed itself, peeking through the gap in the curtains like it was a game of hide and seek. Barb still sat in her chair, leaning fully over the wooden table, arm used as a pillow. She stared at her glasses with a hazy view, eyes tracing over the clear plastic rim. They were yellowing slightly in some spots, but she didn't feel the need to replace them any time soon. It gave them personality.
Eyelids became unbearably heavy as time ticked on by, an annoying tic dispersing at each and every jolt of the hand- but as much as she wanted them to close and her mind to drift off into a sound state of sleep, they didn't. They stayed awake, overthinking everything. Both the past and the present seemed to haunt her in those hours, and even the time that had never existed played on her mind.

The girl wished that she could remove her mind for a while, replace it with a shiny new one- not filled with any worry. Perhaps she could ask Mr Clarke about it. He'd think it was a joke, but Barbara would know that it wasn't.
As absurd as it sounded, she honestly would consider it if the success rate was high on brain replacement- which it definitely wouldn't be if the procedure was common.

Insomnia kicking in, Barbara shut out any incoming thoughts, and busied herself with staring at the clock. Her arm started numbing as her head continued to rest, watching the arm rotate around one of her two variations of clock.

-

4am was the time Barbara's brain kicked into gear again. The moment in tiredness where you get that extra kick of adrenaline, aka your body trying to keep you from passing out- not figuratively, literally.
The revising was on again, and she was going to scan those pages like there was no tomorrow, except for the fact that there was.
Realising the strain that would put her under having to go to school the next day, Barbara had already visualised a detailed plan on how she was going to get the day off. Actually, it was pretty simple. Having not even be able to remember the last day off where it wasn't for doctors appointments or arrangements alike, Barbara knew that her parents wouldn't question her need of absence if she asked for it. If it wasn't common, it must be serious.

Collecting her thoughts and boxing them away for later, she started the search.
Ten minutes in, Barbara had found nothing of interest. Twenty, thirty, forty minutes still presented nothing on past or present chemical leaks.
The only thing that seemed to be of importance was the Brenner man, the conspiracies and confirmation of his sickening actions.
Having nothing more to research on, as her previous plans had failed, Barbara- in the attempt of keeping her brain busy- started exploring the Hawkins lab tragedies in more detail.

Fingers tracing over the roughened paper of the stories, the girl moved another booklet under the desk lamp and started reading.

Martin Brenner to blame again? Child reveals to be under his care after missing for several years
Another news report on the man Dr (Martin) Brenner has left thousands in shock. Conspiracies of his capture of innocent newborns and toddlers has recently been proven true, and police are investigating more on the matter. The amount they'll find though, doesn't look promising. The government in control of Hawkins National Laboratory are leaving many citizens completely in the dark, refusing to communicate publicly with anyone outside of their trusted circles.

News reports of orphans roaming the streets have been piling in slowly but surely, some even saying that 'things had moved without me touching them when they were near'.
The children, all approximately ten years old, are displayed with a buzz-cut hairstyle, and we politely ask to report any sightings to this number-

Barbara's breath hitched as she read on.

After many investigations and questionings, we have traced the one child back to its beginning, having Terry Ives as a mother. Miss Ives had previously reported her child being taken from her after birth in 1971, whereas the doctors reported the child as stillborn.
"Stillborn babies don't cry, and scream." Terry stated, visually agitated.
Everyone else who was involved state the baby deceased, but some think differently.
Some, including Miss Ives, believe the child to have telekinetic powers, but we'll leave that one up to you to decide.

More updates in next weeks copy of Hawkins News. Stay tuned.

Two years ago, 1981. This entry was recent, not old. Somehow, it made the situation a lot more real, a lot more...scary. Barbara took a breath, trying to stop the excitement brewing inside of her. This was way more exciting than a boring old chemical leak, as much as it bugged her.

And for the first time in weeks, Barbara Holland felt alive.