SINISTER ~ STRANGER THINGS (2)

DERAILED

"So which one is it?"

"How long does it take for her to switch minds?"

"Bianca..."

"I don't want to be wrong. She has to check both."

"What if there's not enough time?"

"I'm in. I see... a girl. A young girl."

"What does she look like?"

"Her hair is black and really long. She has glasses and she's drawing in a purple notebook."

"It's Sam. When she was a kid, she was obsessed with this purple sketchbook. El, what else do you see?"

"Hi," A much younger Steve approaches Sam, holding a pink pen with a furry tip.

"Hi?"

"A boy."

"You, um, you dropped this yesterday. I tried to give it to you, but you like ran inside when the bell rang," he awkwardly passes it to her.

"Thanks," she places the pen next to her, returning to her drawings.

He doesn't move, though, making her look up in confusion. "Is there something else?"

"Well, what's your name?" he sits next to her.

"Samantha," she shortly remarks. "Yours?"

"Steve. Steve Harrington," he brushes his hair out of his face. "What are you drawing?"

"It's Steve."

"El, I think you're in a memory," Mike furrows his eyebrows.

"Is there anything odd or out of place? Any sign of Vecna or the Mind Flayer?"

"It's nothing, really, just something to pass the time. I don't like recess all that much," she sighs, letting him see the drawing.

It was actually a beautiful drawing of the sun, with the word "Luz" at the top.

"What is that? Luz?"

"It's my middle name. It means light in Spanish," she explains.

"It's a cool name. And the drawing is really cool," he compliments. "I'm sorry about Carol. She's a total jerk."

"Most people are," she shrugs.

"Well, they shouldn't be. Don't listen to them. I think you're cool, Luz."

"And that changes everything?"

"Maybe," he shrugs. "Friends?"

"Sure, Steve Harrington."

"No, everything's normal. Except..."

Looking away from the now smiling kids, she spots the Ferris wheel in the middle of the playground.

"There is something that doesn't fit. I think it is another memory."

"A memory within a memory?"

None the wiser, Sam was busy waiting for the group to finish the plan and put her headphones back on so she could be back in the normal dimension.

Of course, as soon as she felt comforted by the setting, the rides begin to eerily slow down, the music growing creepier by the second.

"Sam..." Vecna taunts. "Did you really think you could get away?"

"No," she shakes her head, trying to return to her happy memories as the sky grows red.

"I have you now, Sam."