Stranger Things Imagines

Old Friend

Given my traumatic past, I'm glad that I have been fortunate enough to get a job that allows me to work from home. I have to convince people to buy stuff they don't need over the phone - plus I make my own hours. It's pretty perfect for me. I'm taking an extended lunch break purely because I'm not in the mood to work much today.

I've had a prolonged feeling of dread lately. The same thing happened around the time the mall fire happened - plus a little bit in the couple of years prior. Somehow, I feel that it's related. Suddenly, there's a frantic knock at the door. Who is it? Nobody ever comes here. I clutch onto the baseball bat I keep for safety as I slowly approach and open the door.

"Hi." It's a group of teenagers.

"Uh, hi... Can I help you?"

"Are you Y/N L/N?" An older girl with short hair and a determined look in her eyes asks me.

"Who's asking?"

"Some people who really need your help." A younger boy with dark curly hair speaks up.

"Can we come in and talk?"

Though extremely hesitant, I let them all in - quick to shut the door behind them. I offer them drinks as they take seats and introduce themselves. With that out of the way, I sit in the chair in front of them ready to figure this thing out.

"I don't understand. How am I essential to helping you with whatever your problem is?"

"We need information about the experiments at staff at the Hawkins lab." Steve states.

"H-how do you know about the lab?" I question as the memory comes flooding back.

"We're friends with Eleven." Max informs me.

"What? You know Eleven? Where is she? Is she okay?" I bombard them with questions. They explain how they met her and where she's at. "At least she's okay. This whole time I thought she was dead. I blamed myself for running away instead of trying to help her. I always liked Eleven. She was a sweet girl - the runt of the litter. The other kids would bully her a lot - so I tried to be kind whenever we interacted. That was almost impossible to do without being punished."

"You were an orderly, right?" Dustin asks for clarification.

"Yeah, but not by choice." They look to me for elaboration. "I had been out of school for a couple years and I was struggling to find something I wanted to do. One day an internship opened up for scientific research at the lab. Obviously I took the opportunity. I thought it'd be a good way to get into the industry. As soon as I walked in I never came out again. I didn't see sun for years. Given everything went on, that's the last thing I should complain about."

"What about Henry?" Robin shocks me at the mention of his name.

"How do you know about Henry? We didn't really have names there though he went by Peter. I was the only person who knew his actual name." They proceed to tell me about what 'Vecna' has done to innocent teenagers including Max and what he showed Nancy.

"We need to kill him before he kills red here and merges the dimensions." Eddie gestures to Max.

"She escaped him once but she's still cursed." Lucas reiterates.

"So, you want me to risk my life again to save Hawkins and potentially the world?"

"We wouldn't be here if we weren't desperate." Nancy states.

"Like really desperate." Robin clarifies.

"Super. Super desperate." Steve adds.

"I know, I just wanted to clarify. I thought I was just gonna be giving you information."