Dark Angel (A 001 prequel story)

1 - Hawkins National Lab

Hawkins, IN, 1977

Beep beep beep.
She was floating in the darkness.
Who was she?
She couldn't tell.
The annoying beep was her only companion in that emptiness.
Then images flashes in her mind.
Awful images.
The beeps increased in frequency and she heard voices around her.
Someone called her and shook her.

With a big effort, she opened her eyes, blinking at the strong light.
A couple of shadows were blurred under that light.

"Rose? Can you hear me?" a female voice asked in English, moving to get a better view of her.
A stranger.
"Welcome back, Rose" another voice, a male one said, from the other side of hers.
Rose.
That was her name.
She realized she was lying on a hospital bed in a white room and wired where attached to her body, connecting her to the device that was emitting that annoying noise.
How did she get in there?
The last thing she remembered was...

The beeping turned wild.
"Hey, it's alright. You're safe here" the man said leaning over her and grabbing her shoulders "Rose, look at me. You're safe".
She forced herself away from her memories and focused on the man.
He wore a suit and looked in his mid forties.
He looked like someone important compared to the woman next to him who was dressed as a nurse.
"Breathe with me" the man kept asking, inhaling deeply, holding for a moment, then exhaling.
Something so easy, but Rose paid some effort in doing it.
Inhaling.
Holding.
Exhaling.

It took a while to hear the beeping lowering to a normal pace.
"Here" the man said offering her a plastic glass of water.
Rose felt paralyzed, so he helped her drinking.
She took small gulps, the liquid feeling foreign in her dry mouth.
She tasted something bitter and grimaced, wondering how many medicines she had been given while unconscious.

"Where am I?" she asked feebly, her voice sounding so strange.
"You're in Hawkins".
Not so far from home. In Madinsonville.
"Hawkins, in Indiana" the man corrected her.
She winced, feeling speechless as many questions rose in her mouth.
She noticed unfamiliar clothes on her, so she asked.
"How long...?".
"You've been here for three days" he replied promptly, before she could finish the question.
Three days?
She had been unconscious for three days? She hated not knowing what happened to her in that time.
"And where are...?" she feared asking it and saw the same anguish reflected into the kind man's eyes.
"I'm really sorry. You're the only survivor".
Rose stared blankly at him.
Only survivor?
Her whole family had been invited to that party in Mexico.
Why was she the only survivor.
The man pulled a chair next to her bed and sat. His hand rested on hers.
"I knew your father. We followed the same courses when we were younger. When I heard the terrible news, I had to do something. So I went to get you".
Hearing that he wasn't a stranger to her family was a little comforting to her.
"Who are you?".
"I'm Dr. Brenner" he replied after a moment of hesitation "Do you remember your name?".
"Rose" she said slowly "Penfield".
"That's right. Do you remember how old are you?".
"I'm nineteen".
"Very good. You're recovering fast" he said with a proud smile and nodded to the silent nurse "Emily here thinks that it's better if you stay in bed for another day, letting your body recover better. I'll be visiting you constantly".
Brenner dismissed her and when he was gone, Rose let out the annoyed breath she was holding.
Another day in bed.
Her body already felt sore and not alright.
Part of her wanted to escape, to run away from everything.
The only survivor.
Rose couldn't believe it, but her memories gave her little hope.
She had witnessed the massacre.
Tears filled her eyes.
But she didn't want to cry, not for a family she didn't feel she belonged to. Although now that everyone was gone, she felt the weight of the loss.
Emily, the nurse, wasn't as kind as Brenner. She wasn't talkative nor delicate. Ie felt like she disliked her job.
Or simply she saw Rose as a liability.
Little Rosita.
Rose could still hear her parents' voice calling her, as if just few hours passed since the last time she saw them.
She pictured them sitting together while drinking some cocktail, laughing at some joke. They were to happy and too young to die.
Emily took some blood to test it, then checked her vitals.
Rose hated hospitals.
She hadn't met many doctors except for the few ones that her parents trusted the most.
She didn't hear many noises she expected from hospitals. It was like she was the only patient in that building.
As promised, Brenner visited her again, this time in white coat, finally looking like a real doctor.
He checked her vital again and decided to free her from the wires.
He spoke of how her body was recovering and how he hoped to help her mind recovering as well, although Rose didn't believe he was capable of erasing traumatic events.