Home // A Stranger Things Story

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I should've known that I can't have a moments peace. Even in my rare moments of sleep, memories and dreams are stuffed into my head. I opened my eyes to the void. I blinked several times, seeing if I could pull out, but nothing happened.

A scream pierced through the air, stopping my attempts to break free. I whirled around to see a hospital bed while my heart raced. There was a woman inside, covered in blood. She let out another ear shattering shriek before going completely limp, breathing hard. Someone else appeared next to her. It was a doctor. 

The doctor had something in his arms that was making a quiet squeaking sound. He handed it to the woman, who cradled it close to her chest. I took a hesitant step closer and realized that it was a baby. Tears of joy streamed down her cheeks. I walked closer until I stood at the side of her bed.

 It was peacefully quiet for just a moment, the only sound being the baby's cooing. I peered down at the baby to see that she had eyes like mine. One blue, one green. It took be a moment to realize that the baby was me, and the woman holding her was my mother.

"Mama?" I whispered. I reached out and placed my shaking hand onto hers.

The sound of static suddenly filled my ears, growing louder by the minute. I covered my ears and crumpled to the ground. My mother and the doctor dissolved before my eyes, the static going with them. I cautiously uncovered my ears, wanting nothing more than to wake up in my own room. And then I was back to being alone. I hugged my knees to my chest, hoping it was over, but of course it wasn't. Several thoughts, sounds, and emotions slammed into me all at once.

A baby crying in a soft looking grey blanket.
A pair of eyes, one green and one blue.
Pure love and admiration.
Safe.
A small blue car driving slowly down a road.
A news story.
Mother found murdered, newborn still missing.
Shattered car windows.
Blood everywhere.
A body bag being loaded into a firetruck.
An empty car seat.
No.
No.
No!

The buzzing got so loud it made my head feel as if it were splitting in two. I screamed out of pain and fear, hoping it would help get me out. Nothing happened.

"Hopper?" I screamed over the noise. I could barely hear myself. "El? Eleven? Hopper? No!" I screamed again, feeling blood rush out of my nose and my throat go raw. "Stop it! Stop! No!"

I was slowly dragged back to reality, but it was not the reality I was hoping for. The rot of the Upside Down filled my surroundings.

In the void, I felt heavy everywhere, my energy dropping rapidly. I looked around slowly, trying to keep myself from breaking down. I could faintly hear the panicked voices of Eleven and Hopper, but I didn't have the energy to try and figure out what they were saying. I could feel them trying to shake me awake as I involuntarily thrashed up above, but nothing happened. I pushed against their minds as hard as I could, straining to keep them out of the Upside Down.

The more I fought, the more energy I lost. I felt blood gurgle up in my throat. It dripped from the corner of my mouth and I knew I had to get out and stop using my abilities. It hurt so bad to be pushing like that. My entire body was screaming in agony, but I couldn't stop. I had lost control. 

I was pulled into yet another mind, but it wasn't a surface memory. It was a memory that had been buried deep down and locked up tight, as if not thinking about it would make the reality of it go away. 

It was incredibly blurry, and I couldn't tell if it was tears in my eyes or the fact that the flashback was so old. Probably both.

I only caught small details, it was too blurred and mixed up to fully understand.