STARCOURT MALL, known in Hawkins as the only mall and entertainment provider for the small town, was packed with people on a rather gloomy and rain filled afternoon. The bright indoors of the mall brought a shine to the day that was absent before. Parents were seen chasing after their kids, teenagers were gossiping about anything that had even the slightest interest in the small town, and people were working in the many shops that are provided in the mall.
It was an overall normal Sunday afternoon, the parents came home from church only to be bribed by their kids into going to the mall.
In Scoops Ahoy, one Steve Harrington and his best friend Robin Buckley could be seen working the counter, Steve constantly flirting with the female population and Robin continuously counting his loses on her YOU RULE/YOU SUCK board (hint: there are only tallies on the YOU SUCK side.)
But, as the common saying goes, 'nothing good lasts forever', that statement seems to always ring true to the town of Hawkins, and the next second there was a flash of light so blinding many had to shield their eyes.
Next thing we know, the entire mall is seen empty, not just the mall, but the entire town. It seems as if this light had surrounded the whole area and took everyone with it when it left. The only sound to be heard is the birds chirping and the wind blowing past the many trees.
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Of all the things that could possibly happen the Chief of Police, Jim Hopper, definitely did not expect to wake up in, what seems to be, a large theater with the whole damn town in it.
Definitely not on his agenda for today, but stranger things have happened.
From what he could observe, the majority of Hawkins was in this room, from children to police officials. And everyone was just as panicked and confused as the next person.
Teachers were seen trying to account for all of the students in their class which is useless as they were all searching for their families, Parents were seen looking for their kids, the officers were attempting to calm everyone down (unsuccessfully might i add) , and people in lab coats? Were just observing everything from the back of the room with stoic faces.
"Okay, everyone just SHUT UP!" he finally yelled over all the voices, catching everyone's attention. "Calm down so we can figure out what the hell is going on here!"
Powell, an officer at the police station, leaned closer to Hopper and asked him, "Chief, any clue what the hell we should do?"
Before he could even think of replying another bright light appeared and a note fell down right in front of Oliver Munsons face.
He looked at his older brother, Eddie Munson, and then back to the note and then he looked over to the party, all of which were encouraging him to just grab the note and read it as they didn't want to. Everyone else was just staring curiously or impatiently.
"Go on kid" Wayne Munson spoke to his nephew.
"Its okay little bro" Eddie Munson said smiling at his little brother, "a piece of paper wont hurt you."
"Yeah, just go on and read it" Lucas Sinclair spoke encouragingly.
"It cant be too bad" Said Dustin Henderson with optimism, glad that the note hadn't landed in front of him.
Will Byers then spoke smiling softly at his best friend and the person he loved, "Its okay Oli"
Oliver looked over to them and then grabbed the note quickly, everyone sucked in a breath as if expecting something terrible to happen to him. He looked up again with wide doe eyes and the started to read the note.
"To the residents of Hawkins,
The Majority of you should have noticed the odd occurrences that happen constantly around town and you may have questioned what exactly is happening, but have never found an answer.
You will all be getting your answers today.
All of you have been transported into this room to watch the past and the future so that everyone is aware of the shit show that this town truly is and so that you all can prepare for what is to come.
Because trust me it gets worse.
So much worse than anything you have ever gone through before.
Once this letter is finished being read, a screen will appear at the front of the room and couches along with other seating arrangements will be provided so that everyone can sit where they would like.
As this will take a while, accommodations will be met. Food will be provided along with bathrooms during break times.
Time outside of this room has been momentarily paused, and yes, this letter is real, this is no joke.
From,
Unknown."
Oliver trailed off a little as he finished reading the note. He stared at it a little longer before looking up and seeing many faces looking at him as if he had grown another head. He looked over at Eddie with a trembling lip, he was starting to get uncomfortable with all of the stares.
Eddie took one look at his brother's sad face and spoke up, "Hey! Don't look at him like that, he was just reading what the letter said, he didn't write it!"
Everyone quickly went back to their panicking not even considering that what the letter said may be true, despite the fact that they were all literally transported into a theatre without their own knowledge of how.
The party all looked at each other when they realized what these 'odd occurrences' entail. They weren't exactly sure how everyone would react and they definitely aren't prepared to find out.
"So, what do we do?" Mike whispered to the rest of the group that had drifted towards each other, the group consisted of, Max Mayfeild, Will Byers, Mike Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair, Dusting Henderson, Eleven/Jane Hopper and Oliver Munson.
"What do we do?! We are quite literally trapped in a room surrounded by not only all of our family but the whole town. And by just looking around there are no doors in sight! Meaning that there is no leaving! And oh, let's not forget the literal lab rats over there, AND WHERE DO YOU THINK THEY CAME FROM, HUH?!" Dustin whispered harshly to the group as if he had been holding that back since they arrived wherever they were.
"DUDE, calm down" Lucas placed his hands onto Dustin's shoulders in a calming manner, "I mean the letter that Oliver read mentioned that a screen was going to appear right? So, if this isn't a joke than we should just wait until that happens and get on with whatever this is."
And just as he said that, a screen suddenly appeared in front of the room gaining everyone's attention.
Eleven carefully spoke for the first time since they arrived "We should watch."
"But it's probably going to show your past, do you really want anyone else to see that? If anything, it should be your choice." Mike asked concerned for his girlfriend.
The rest of the party nodded in agreement, they knew that Eleven didn't really get to make a lot of her own choices and they didn't really want her to agree to something that she may be uncomfortable with, just to benefit everyone else.
"You heard what the letter said," Eleven brought their attention back to her "Bad things are coming to Hawkins. We need help, they can't help if they don't know"
That caused them all to pause and think for a moment, they really did need the extra help and it would be better to know what's to come.
"The letter did say that whatever is coming is worse than what has already happened." Lucas frowned in worry, his eyes flickering between everyone, "like, way worse...."
"Son of a bitch." Dustin cursed before standing up and sighing in defeat, "Well, we might as well get good seats away from the lab rats and preferably away from parents.."
"Dustin!" Claudia Henderson, Dustin's mother, called out as she made her way towards the group of kids, "Dusty-Bun!"
"Awwww, sonofabitch. as soon as i said that too damn." Dustin grimaced and muttered to himself, before turning and smiling widely at his mother as she fussed over him, "I'm fine mom really, completely and totally fine."
"You don't look fine." Claudia said frowning at her son. "I worry sometimes y'know, and now we don't even know where we are and everyone is confused!"
"Kids!" the yell made them all turn to see Hopper and Joyce making their way towards them, "You guys alright over here? We couldn't find you guys when we first got here." Joyce spotted Will in the group and immediately brought him to her side hugging him tightly, as Hopper made his way toward Eleven giving her a hug as well.
"As good as we can be seeing as the entire town was just kidnapped and forced into a room together!" Mike said sarcastically as Hopper rolled his eyes at him.
"You all know what the letter mentioned right?" Hopper questioned looking at them all, sighing dejectedly when everyone nodded in agreement "Wonderful."
Suddenly the screen at the front of the room began to light up, and the other lights in the room dimmed, dark enough for each individual to see the screen clearly but still have enough light for everyone to still be able to see each other and move around if they wished to.
"Okay, I guess this is really happening." Hopper muttered lowly before raising his voice to speak to everyone clearly , "Everyone find a seat and be quiet!"
With that said everyone found their seat and sat impatiently in anticipation.
The screen slowly flickers on....