prologue,
little whispers.
MOURNING WAS THE TIME that the waves of grief washed over her pretty little face, tears eager to pass. It was a road of baby steps, allowing the sombre lullaby to register and put the grief to rest. She would allow herself to sob into her cheap pillow and all of her emotions could ripple into it. Sure, her mascara and eyeliner would surely smudge but it was better than abandoning her self worth. Small steps to recovery, no more emptiness just a small hole left behind like a battle scar.
Unfortunately, Gwen Sharps did not follow the baby steps of mourning. The girl had tossed herself into the deepest, darkest ocean of pure ecstasy. Bliss was what she craved. The glimmer of happiness that wouldn't be snuffed out by a slight gust of wind. Gwen replaced her serotonin, missing the silly chemical, with pills and smoke. The missing serotonin was due to her twin's disappearance, one night he went without a word. Around the same time, Barbra Holland was announced dead due to Hawkins Lab.
He was gone for almost two years, a year of mourning and another of spiralling.
Standing in the forest, she continued on her journey of spiralling, waiting for her vice. Gwen stood alone, the midnight sky twinkling above her, hidden within shrubs and bushes. Her plump but dry lips shivered due to the air tinkling her bare legs, it was not skirt season, or was it due to the aching pain in her stomach. The pain was making her restless, the waiting was making her restless, and she needed something to keep her warm and safe. Where is he? She continued to shiver while bouncing on the spot, waiting for her dealer to arrive in the unusual location, attempting to keep her blood warm.
A snap of a twig halted her workout, instantly capturing her attention with wide eyes. Her brows furrowed, squinting into the void, trying to find the source of the sound. Gwen sighed in frustration, knowing exactly what lurked in the shadows.
"Eddie, you're not going to scare me," Gwen announced. Eddie Munson, her dealer, was always the town trickster. Surprisingly, Gwen had been acquainted with him even before her drug-taking, he had been close friends with her twin brother. There was no reply, to her call.
"Hello?" Gwen muttered, now timid. Her heart rate picked up and her already clammy hands began to shake, what was behind those bushes? "This isn't funny, Munson. I'm shivering as it is, I don't need to be pissing my pants." Still no reply.
Cautiously, she began to approach the sound as the shrub began to rustle. Her dry lips had seized wobbling, hot blood pumping through her veins, eyes fixated on the moving shrub. Waves of sweat began to pour from her, fear striking her down. Fear tingled her spine, as it consumed her to suffocate her. Then, there was a lingering whisper tickling her brain muttering her name like a melody, the voice all too familiar. Her twin brother.
"Devin?!" She screamed out, in disbelief, as tears glazed her eyes. Gwen was petrified.
All of a sudden, a shadow leapt out of the bush heading straight for her. The figure collided with her arm, forcing her to stumble to the heap of leaves below her boots. Instantly, Gwen realised a cry of pain, an insufferable surge of pain coursed through her right arm. Slowly, she manoeuvred herself to gaze at her arm to see a laceration. It had clawed its way through her leather, crimson liquid seeping from the injury.
Grabbing her attention once more, a growl was heard behind her, vulnerable body that laid in the soil. Turning her pulsing skull, she was met with horror. There stood, on all fours, an unearthly creature. A monster. A demon. Within seconds, Gwen was panting and crawling away from the beast. Its skin was thick and light grey that glistened in the moonlight. Adrenaline had replaced her usual high, heart still thumping with terror. Gwen attempted to scream however her now shivering lip prevented her to utter a word. All she could accomplish was scramble away from the disfigured hell hound.
At Gwen's abrupt movements, the creature hissed revealing what Gwen could only assume was its mouth due to the hideous amounts of drooling. The sight was engraved into her brain, burning deeper than any memory she ever had. Gwen was convinced this was hell and a demon was prepared to gobble her up.
Her back collided with a tree, and Gwen began to sob, this was the end. The horrified girl shut her eyes tightly not wanting to stare death in the face, Gwen wouldn't give it the satisfaction.
"Get up, Gwenie." His voice again. "The rock! Grab the rock on your left, you idiot!" Devin's voice rumbled in her brain. She was so high but what better option did she have.
Swiftly, listening to 'Devin's' demand, she pivoted to her left with her visions still covered. Gwen felt the large rock instantly and she clutched it with her remaining energy. Hit it! Opening her eyes, she swung with a mighty roar.
"Woah, Woah, Gwen!" That's not him...
Her eyes encountered with friendly eyes, halting her actions. Crouched to her level in the dirt, Eddie Munson stared with worry. The man had his arms shielding himself, prepared for her mighty blow. The creature had vanished. There was only Eddie. Feeling safer, she allowed a wail to fall from her lips, dropping the stone carelessly. Tears streamed like waterfalls, all of her emotional waves releasing from her tear duct.
Eddie was mortified at the mess before him. She was a sickly pale and sobbing uncontrollably. "Gwen? What happened?" He questioned, his gaze travelling across her body, finding the wound. "Shit, your arm. What have you taken, man." He began to grab his rag from his back pocket, tying it around her bleeding arm, her flinching not going unnoticed.
Gwen had cocooned herself, sobbing into her arms, against the tree. "Demon...Devin...Demon." The unrecognisable girl repeated, dumb to her surroundings.
The Munson was immediately struck with guilt. His mind was riddled with the image of his missing friend and what he would think of his twin sister in this way. She was a mess, an unrecognisable mess of emotions. He had been the gateway to her own self medicating that led to this horror before him. Eddie manoeuvred to sit beside the puddle of her, all she needed was company.
That twilight night was the last time she would visit her sinful vice, the tempting drugs that sat in Eddie's back pocket. The next day, the traumatised girl would find herself in a white room located within Hawkin's Rehab centre but the voice in the back of her mind had perished.
author's note,
I'm sorry if its messy but I'm so excited ahhhhhh!! Gwen is by far my favourite oc and her little perk might even come in handy ;)