There's No Place Like Hawkins//Stranger Things. SH

SEVENTY TWO

Cat shook her head, her eyes fixed to her father's body against her will. She wanted to look away, to run to safety where her friends were. But it was as if something had a hold over her, she couldn't move her eyes away from his lifeless body. "No." She whispered. "No, no, no. That's not true. It's not true." She choked out, tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes. "You're lying."

The sounds of bones cracking echoed around the room as the corpse of James Henderson rose to a sitting position. Cat screwed her eyes shut, trying to shut out whatever it was she was seeing. "Open your eyes." A voice instructed her, though this one sounded like it was coming from inside her head.

"No." Cat said firmly, shaking her head. "No." She repeated, grimacing when she felt a presence in front of her.

"You're the reason that I'm like this." Her father's voice spoke, this time closer than it had been before. "You're the reason I'm dead. Sweetheart."

Cat clasped her hands over her ears. "No, no, no, no." She muttered. "Go away, go away."

James' face fell. "Isn't this what you wanted? To find out the truth." He stated. "You shouldn't go hunting for things you know you won't like."

"You're not real." Cat mumbled to herself, refusing to open her eyes. She couldn't see her father like that, not again. "You're not really here."

"Oh, but I am." Cat's eyes flew open against her will and she found herself staring straight at the bloody corpse of her father. "You wanted answers, I'm gonna give them to you." Cat shook her head, pressing her hands harder against her ears. James knelt down in front of his daughter, a sinister smile working its way onto his face. "I died because of you. I came to this house to find out why you were kept at the lab as a baby. Why you are so... different." His head tilted to the side as he spoke. "My own child, a lab experiment." He spat on the floor out of disgust. "No wonder I loved Dustin more than you."

"Don't bring Dustin into this." Cat whispered harshly, gritting her teeth.

"The stupid number on your arm, 001. The first of Dr. Brenner's experiments." James continued. Cat tried to block out his words, but it wasn't working. She wished the others would find her and rescue her from the demon her father had become. "You were a failure. To all of us. That's why Brenner scrapped you, replaced you with 002 and never spoke of you or your namesake ever again."

Cat's face scrunched up with confusion, her hands slowly lowering from the sides of her face. This was the first she had heard about any of this. "Namesake?" She questioned.

James let out a sort of chuckle, but even that sounded demented to Cat's ears. "No, not namesake. I mean number. You weren't the first 001, Catherine." Cat shuddered at the use of her proper name. "But I've already told you too much about that."

The man before her shifted into a new person, and Cat had to stifle her scream. Stood before her was Billy Hargrove, blood pouring from the wounds that the Mind Flayer had caused. He towered over Cat, leaning closer to her face. "Miss me, Henderson?" He whispered into her ear.

"No, you can't be here." Cat breathed out, shuffling back away from him. She didn't make it very far before her back hit the wall behind her. "You're... you're dead. I watched you die." Tears began to flow freely down her cheeks, the guilt of not being able to save Billy finally bubbling to the surface

"You let me die." Billy spat out, walking menacingly towards her. "You wanted me to die, just like Maxine did."

Cat shook her head harshly. "No, no, no." She whispered. "I wanted to save you, Billy. I promise you. I- I tried to save you. I just... I don't have any control over my powers."