Who was Dr. Brenner?

Chapter 001

One year before everything went horribly wrong.

DECEMBER 12TH, 1993

Enola's POV:

Everyone was laughing, then again, it was almost Christmas. We were all down stairs, Papa was upstairs. I'm not exactly sure why he designed downstairs the way he did, it always felt like Papa was laying down clues or something for us. As soon as you got downstairs, there was a long hallway. About three doors on each side and one large-ish door at the end of the hallway. The lights flickered a lot, no one really knows why and Papa just ignores the question when you ask. We were all in the first room to the right. It was the children's bedroom. The couch turned into a bed and there was a bunk bed, with beanbags and such scatter across the room. Papa was a bit old-fashioned when it came to technology, the only movies we could watch were the ones he had on VHS. Our options were Peter Pan, Beauty and the Beast, The Music Man, and some other random movies. Everyone was deciding on a movie when I got up.

"Hey Ell! Where are you going?" Tim was always so nosey, he had to know my every move. It was getting annoying.

"The bathroom." I said in response. He might think he knows everything, but in reality..he knows nothing about me.

I was actually gonna go upstairs, it was around 4:00pm and we were all staying the night at his house. I preferred his house over mine, my parents were controlling and manipulative, my brother was- well my brother. I guess it's not as bad as our old house, which was haunted. Growing up Papa always said we need to move, that the lights flickering weren't normal and that something was in the walls that could hurt us eventually. He told his son, my father, that it was just mold he was worried about, but I could tell he was lying. My father, being himself, didn't want to make Papa mad, so he just went with that. That was about eight years ago, we used to live in Hawkin's, Indiana. We bought the house from the Byers family and after a lot of pressure from Papa, my parents finally agreed to move across the country with him. Which is why we're living by the Redwood National Forest. My aunt was already living here when we moved and our cousins were more than happy to see us.

"Oh hello, Enola. Are you here to grab some cookies or coloring supplies?" It was Nana, I guess she'd seen me 'sneak' up.

"Just for the coloring supplies, Nana...that's all!" Unfortunately, my grandmother wasn't easily convinced like my brother and cousins were.

"Papa's outside, in his work space dear." She smiled then went to the kitchen and started washing dishes.

I just decided to stay silent after that. I walked outside, down the steps, towards Papa's workspace. I could see the ocean from where I was standing, yet all around me were trees. Papa had built his house on a hill, hidden from everyone. It took about an hour to get to my house from there, which was a small farm a block or two from the water. Sam and Barb lived a house down from us.

As I walked to Papa's workspace, which was a shed hidden in the trees, I remembered something. He had told us to never go into his workspace without permission, I was about to turn back when I heard "hello little one." It was Papa. Too late to turn back now.

"Hello, Papa" I said while turning back to face him.

He smiled slightly and then continued. "You weren't about to break the rule, were you?"

"No, Papa. I just have a question." I didn't know what to say at the moment, I just had to think of something to change the topic.

"Oh? Well what is it?" I quickly thought of a question, while he said that.

"My parents said you wanted to name me Henry if I was a boy, but then when you found out I was going to be a girl you changed it to Enola. ..which backwards spells 'alone'..was there a reason for that? Was it a clue? Is it supposed to mean something?" I had often pondered this, but was always too afraid to ask about it.

"I'm afraid I don't understand, Ell." THAT'S ALL HE SAYS IN RESPONSE?!

"Then let me clarify it for you. Do you know someone named Henry who is alone?" He ignored your question and started walking back to the house.

"Is that the hint?" He stopped in his tracks and faced you again.

"What do you mean by that?" You just scoffed.

"The way downstairs is designed, our names, your workspace, everything! ..it has to mean something, right? Everything you do around here are just pieces of a big puzzle..." He stayed silent.

"Am I wrong!?" You realized that just trying to change the topic turned into wanting answers. All these things that you never really thought about before, coming to your mind like someone was giving you these thoughts.

"You'll find out when you're ready. Until then, you aren't safe." As soon as he said that he walked off. You didn't take long to follow behind him.

When you both got back inside, you heard your cousins and brother downstairs laughing. It always seemed like they had more fun when you weren't there. You sat on the couch looking at the Christmas tree and the decorations, when you thought of an idea.

If Papa won't tell me, I'll just have to figure it out myself.

Of course you didn't want to do it by yourself, you didn't know what to expect. Reluctantly you decided to wait. What were you waiting for? You had no clue. Perhaps a sign? You didn't when or if it would ever show though. You walked downstairs, but didn't enter the room where everyone was. You walked straight down the hall. Just as you were about to turn the handle you heard someone.

"Are you gonna come back? You've been gone for a really long time." It was Sam.

"Yes, Sam. I'm on my way." You said this then let go of the handle and walked back to the room with everyone else.