Reflection: A Stranger Things Fanfiction

~𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞: 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬~

But all memory of the pain disappeared at the sight of Evan on his hands and knees, fingers digging into the soil and a dull humming sound beginning to vibrate across the ground.

Stormi released her grip on Dox and Kayla, though she made sure she stood between the two and whatever was happening with Evan. Willow set Anna down next to her as well; she also kept a grip on the girl's wrist in case she tried to do something crazy. At this point, there was no telling what any of these kids would do next.

"Evan-"

"Shhh!" Dox didn't hesitate to silence Kayla, who'd gone wide-eyed since Evan began this strange choice of action. The girl should've been used to his abilities after two years, but considering Kayla's relationship with Evan, no one held her wanting to make sure he was alright against her. Stormi understood completely.

If Evan had heard anything, he didn't show it. As Anna and Kayla began to shine their lights around the area once more, shadows danced across the grass where rocks, sticks, and general litter had begun to float in the air. The heavier objects remained closer to the earth, but the leaves and loose blades of grass reached well above their heads, skimming the branches above. The humming in the ground grew louder, harder, to the point where they could feel the vibrations through their shoes.

Though their lights could've just been playing tricks on them, Stormi could've sworn she saw something in Evan's eyes glowing. Like a blue ember buried beneath ash, it stuck out in the darkness just enough to leave her wondering if she'd even seen it in the first place.

And then all at once, it ended.

As if the breath from his lungs had been sucked from his mouth, the psychedelic boy gasped and the scattered floating foliage fell back into the dirt with an unceremonious thump. But before anyone could ask the human-experiment if he was okay, Evan stood up, wiped the tears of blood from his eyes, and pointed into the woods.

"They took her that way."

***

They didn't have much of a choice but to go deeper into the dark, although Stormi made sure to retrieve some of the loot in her trunk from their last dangerous adventure.

"Why do you still have all this in here?" Willow questioned when Stormi pulled out her own personalized weapon - a lead pipe with hundreds of  shards of broken metal welded to its top and sides. "If the cops pull you over someday and see that, you're screwed."

"Considering our background with the sheriff," Stormi started and handed Willow what appeared to be a lawn-mower blade converted into a sort of make-shift machete. The girl took one final puff of her cigarette before dropping it, putting it out with the bottom of her boot, and grabbing hold of the weapon with a low, impressed whistle. "I'm pretty sure we won't have too much of a problem."

"How the hell do you come up with this shit?" Willow questioned and gave the blade a few experimental swings. "I mean, I'm not complaining." It made a satisfying swish sound with each movement and Stormi grinned at her obvious amusement. She might regret giving the ex-bully a lethal weapon later, but she was down with it for now. Better to wish you hadn't done something than wish you had.

"What? You guys get machetes?" Anna whined as she and the other three kids peered into Stormi's trunk. "I want something bad-ass too." She huffed and folded her arms over her chest in protest.

"Hold your horses, cranky-pants," Stormi swiped the girl's cap from her head by its bill and pulled it down on top of her own before reaching back into the trunk for something else. "You guys get to be cool too, just in a different way." She grabbed a handful of clothes from the farthest corner of the compartment and tossed one shirt to each kid. Dox, Kayla, Anna, and Evan all exchanged questionable glances, but slid the shirts on none the less.