Number Four

The Centre of the Web

—Bonnie woke up.

Okay, this is not funny and it needs to stop right now!

She leapt from the bed, yanked the dress from the hanger and hurriedly threw it on- black with a panel in the front of the bodice, depicting a rose like the one on the door.

She flew out of the door and down the stairs, stomping into the dining room to where Henry sat waiting. "You cannot just put me to sleep every time you don't get your way-!"

Henry put down his cup and leant back in his chair. "I have been making preparations for your training. Have your breakfast, we will meet in the attic after."

Bonnie's jaw gaped. "Oh... Oh." The wind taken from her sails, she meekly sat down next to him, out of a lack of something better to do. "Well, yes. Quite right. Because we had a deal."

"We do have a deal." Henry agreed, sliding scones onto her plate, and then handing her over the jam, which she took gratefully, digging her knife into. "You should perhaps stop assuming the worst of me. Despite what you may think, I do tend to keep my promises."

Bonnie thought, unbidden, of the darkness of solitary, but quashed it down. If he was to be believed, that was not his fault.

So that was how, following breakfast, Bonnie found herself cresting the stairs to the long-forbidden attic. As she stepped inside, everything seemed to change and suddenly it was as if the whole world shifted. She could feel it- faint, buried deep, but definitely there- the familiar prickling of her powers.

Henry seemed to notice the change in her before she had even reacted. He smiled, shadows dancing through his golden hair. "Feels good, doesn't it?" He put his hands behind his back, and stepped away to the other side of the gloom. "Since you seem to have a handle on your emotional manipulation, I thought we might begin by focusing on expanding some of your weaker skills."

"Oh." Bonnie nodded. "Right." Clever— not trusting her with her full abilities. "... And what does that entail?"

The room was very dark; strange shapes lay hidden along the walls. Things moved, just out of sight.

"I think," Henry said, his face half-distorted with shadow; a pattern like vines marred his pale skin. "We should set your mind off on a journey, and see whatever it finds."

"... I don't really like doing that." It was true; she was not like the others. She was too easily pulled astray, set adrift, lost in the space between universes; broken into stardust and made a part of something or someone else.

"I know." Henry's smile was as sharp as knives.

Suddenly, a long tendril emerged from the darkness, reaching out towards her. Bonnie stepped back in horror. All around, she could see it now, the place was covered in hideous black vines; every cast over in a cold, eerie light.

"What is it?" Bonnie exclaimed.

"It will help you— amplify your powers, strengthen your abilities. It will not harm you."

Bonnie swallowed, unsure about that.

"Touch it." He urged.

Bonnie swallowed again, clenching her fist, and then tentatively reached out her hand. The tendril darted out and seized her, wrapping around her arm. Bonnie suppressed a shudder— its touch was corpse-like cold.

All of a sudden, there was a pull somewhere inside, and Bonnie was yanked under.

***

Bonnie found herself floating in a kind of... nothingness. It was not so much that she could see, more that everything was just pure sensation. It was like she was surrounded by light, but the light was people and she could feel them, separated from her by a veil.

Unlike the others, she could not read their thoughts; instead, their emotions flooded through her— fear, sadness, joy, hatred, love, lust, despair... There were some people she recognised; some she did not.

She could sense them— Nancy, Steve and the others; blood boiling, they were planning something. There was Max, a shining beacon all on her own.

Bonnie wished she could push through, reach them, say something to them, anything; but that was not her skill.

A thought occurred to Bonnie. Suddenly determined, she struck out; pushing her mind further and further, reaching out, beyond Hawkins, seeking. She could see in her minds eye where she was going, who she was searching for.

Then, it was as if everything went black, and Bonnie was snatched from the air and pinned in place. Across from her was a girl, her hair shaven close to her head; Bonnie did not recognise who she was, although she seemed eerily familiar.

"Hello?" The girl asked.

"Hey." Bonnie replied in a half-whisper.

Eleven took a step forward. "Who are you?"

Bonnie made to respond, but all of a sudden she was fading, fading away...

...Back into her body, where she was being pulled from the vine's grasp by Henry.

"I think that's enough for now." Bonnie's eyes burned; she could feel blood streaming down her face. He caught her as she staggered back, half collapsing against him; producing a stark white handkerchief for her to wipe her eyes.

Bonnie clung to him, face in his shirt, overcome by a wave of exhaustion. Holding her close, he spoke low in her ear. "How did it feel?"

Bonnie looked up. "Good." And she pulled him down for a kiss.

A/N: Where were you going for a moment there, Bonnie? Do you have a secret second home we don't know about or something? XD

Apologies for the wait— there's a reason I don't usually do longer chapters, they don't come out quick XD

Anyway, don't forget to leave a like and comment!