Triple Trouble - Stranger Things

Papa

     Early in the morning, the sun began to rise. It was a dreadful morning. It was a silent morning. Everyone sat gathered in the trailer of what now belonged to Dani, and Dani herself. Utterly alone. No one dared to make a noise, feeling like it would be wrong to say anything in the moment.

     In the back of the trailer, in one of the rooms, that was no longer shared, laid Dani. Under her soft covers being held by Lucas. He stared down at his girlfriends red and tear stained face, feeling the heartbreak that she felt only hours before. When she screamed and wailed for her sister to come back to her. But she was silent now, her eyes closed, her breathing steady as half her face remained buried in Lucas' chest. He had not one thought of letting her go.

     In front of them the bedroom door slowly opened, a head popped in, it was Dustin, coming to check on his friends after a terrible night. "Hey." He started. In response he got a light shush from Lucas. "Sorry." He mouthed. He slipped his hat off and stepped in, lightly taking a seat on the edge of Dani's bed.

"How is she?" Dustin asked in a whisper.

"Just got her to sleep. She's been crying all night." Lucas said sadly. Dani shifted slightly, moving to lay more on her side, an object in her arms more visible. It happened to be an old shirt of Eli's, looking scrunched and wrinkled from sitting in a drawer for a long time.

"He showed me things that haven't happened yet." Nancy shared in the living room. Her voice soft and shaky. 'The most awful things...I saw a dark cloud, spreading over Hawkins. Downtown on fire. Dead soldiers. and this...giant creature with a gaping mouth. And this creature wasn't alone. There were so many monsters. An army. And they were coming into Hawkins. Into our neighborhoods. Our homes. And then...he showed my mom...and Holly...Mike. And they...they were all..." She trailed off, taking in a shaky breath.

"Okay but...he's trying to scare you Nance. Right? I mean...I mean, it's not real." Steve said.

"Not yet. But there...there was something else. He showed me gates. Four gates. Spreading across Hawkins. And these gates, they looked like the one inside of Eddies trailer, but...they didn't stop growing. And this wasn't the upside down Hawkins. This was our Hawkins. Our home."

"Four chimes." Someone said. Everyone turned their attention down the hallway where Dani stood, Lucas and Dustin behind her. "Vecna's clock. It always chimes four times. Four exactly." She said quietly.

"I heard them too." Nancy said. "He's been telling us his plan the whole time."

"Yeah, 'cept we screwed it up. Which is why he came after me instead. He knew Eli..." She froze for a minute, inhaling deep. "He knew Eli wasn't as easy. He didn't have her where he wanted her anymore. So he chose me, and finished her off."

"Four kills. Four gates. The end of the world." Lucas trailed.

"If that's true. Then he's only one kill away." Dustin said.

"Oh Jesus Christ...Jesus Christ!" Eddie exclaimed.

     Nancy stood up from her seat and walked over to the window, staring out into the bright morning. Dani looked away from her and towards the bathroom where Vecna's pet was locked up. They didn't want her out in the open knowing the high possibilities of Vecna hearing anything and everything they have to say.

"We have to go back in there. Back into the upside down." Nancy said. Everyone expressed their displeasure after hearing those words.

"Let's think this through." Steve said.

"What is there to think through?"

"We barely made it out of there. Eli didn't make it out of there."

"Because we weren't prepared. But this time we will be. We'll get weapons and protection. We'll go through the gate, we'll find his lair, and we'll kill him."