*ೃ༄𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐄𝐋, 𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑
It was the Fourth of July.
And that big family bash Magdalena's cousin had been advertising for the past month was long forgotten. The girl didn't want to go on the account of having personal issues which were weighing her mood down immensely.
Still, Magdalena could taste the alcohol in her mouth that she should've indulged in at the party. But along with that came an imagined sour taste caused by the fact that her boyfriend hadn't bothered to interact with her for a number of days. Magdalena honestly wasn't able to keep track anymore. She didn't know where Billy was, what he was doing, possibly who he was doing that something with. Her mind instantly went to the same conclusion as before: Billy was cheating on her. But then Magdalena backtracked and yelled at herself mentally once more for even considering the possibility of Billy fucking some other girl. Her mind was playing tug of war with itself and truthfully, Billy was devoted to Magdalena and Magdalena only. The brunette just wanted to know where her sweet boyfriend was. She wanted to be certain that he was fine.
Right now the television was on and after another stressful workday at Starcourt, Magdalena could sit back on the couch with her dad and her little rabbit—aptly named Sunny the Bunny—to watch a movie randomly selected by none other than the eccentric older man. The brunette chewed on her lower lip as she thought about the rude, obnoxious customers that she had to interact with today. She really believed working in a pet store would be a cakewalk. Spoiler: it wasn't. Magdalena had to hold herself back from getting into a physical altercation with a middle-aged woman after she deemed that she knew more about how to care for a rodent than Magdalena.
Then the poor girl had to tell several children to stop tapping on the glass enclosures and make sure the animals didn't get stressed out. Magdalena May took her job more seriously than any of her other colleagues and this was simply because she cared for animals more than people sometimes.
Other than the intrusive thoughts comprised of her hectic workday, family movie night was all going well. The popcorn was warm and buttery. The blankets covering Magdalena and her father were fuzzy and comfortable. Nothing could've ruined the night. Granted, that's what Magdalena was thinking as well up until the answering machine near the living room announced an incoming message:
I tried calling and for some reason, a ringing phone means nothing to you, but there's something seriously wrong going on. I just—you're gonna think I'm fucking crazy, but I just witnessed a girl with mind powers take down some...some flesh monster! She's friends with Max apparently. I don't fucking know the rest. There's, like, a group of middle schoolers here and I am so goddamn confused. Come to Starcourt! I repeat, come to Starcourt, Magdalena! Right now!
Lulu Hayashi's voice brought forth a whole boatload of questions for Magdalena as she continued staring at the TV with a resilient intensity that her father took note of. The brunette blamed it on Lulu's vivid imagination, although the tone in her voice sounded quite real and frightened. Why Starcourt? Why did she need to go there? And some girl apparently had mind powers. It was insane. Lulu sounded deranged. Magdalena's leg began bouncing up and down, her mind completely tuning out the movie as she digested what her best friend left on the answering machine.
Magdalena's dad took a sip from his beer bottle and chuckled to himself about Lulu's words. The raven-haired girl had always been a bit of a drama queen with a talent for making up the craziest shit. Marion May dismissed the urgency in a heartbeat. But Magdalena had a hard time doing so. Lulu had won this round because, with a deep, disgruntled sigh, Magdalena carefully picked up Sunny the Bunny and walked into her room to put the rabbit back into her cage. Once the small animal was situated, Magdalena grabbed a sweatshirt and headed out the door, sending her dad a short-lived farewell in the process.
Her dad's response consisted of:
"Alright, darling girl. Don't stay out too late."
✧･ﾟ:
For reasons unbeknownst to Magdalena May, she believed that the monologue Lulu left on her answering machine was a desperate attempt to get her to leave the house. The brunette was wrong. Nothing felt more out of body than walking right into an empty mall on the night of July Fourth—a place in where Magdalena was met by the several familiar faces that she'd come to know during her lifelong existence in Hawkins. Aside from one: a young girl with a haircut akin to Lulu's. As Max Mayfield introduced, the mystery girl's name was Eleven and she was apparently special.
Like, very special.
"Special how? She skip a grade in school or something?"
Magdalena inquired directly (and quite impatiently) after Max vaguely explained who the young brunette was.
"Special as in she was born with telekinetic powers. It's a long story."
That had been the redhead's reply which unsurprisingly left Magdalena May speechless and feeling like she'd been lied to by Max. The younger girl swore the anecdotes about the supernatural happenings and their relations to Eleven were kept from Magdalena in order to protect her. Still, the brunette felt like she didn't know her hometown anymore. For the past two years, according to Max, strange occurrences have taken place. Magdalena wondered how she could've been so blind to them all. Were her own troubles so consuming that she failed to see the bigger picture? Was she really that self-involved?
The brunette—as she conversed with Max—found out more about Hawkins than she cared to admit. A whole entire conspiracy right under her nose and she'd been none the wiser. However, her interaction with Eleven was quite...peculiar for lack of better words. The shorter brunette physically appeared to have been to Hell and back, covered in faint scratches and bruises. Not to mention the expertly bandaged wound near her ankle and how perspiration coated her skin.
Instantly, when Magdalena's bright orbs met Eleven's gorgeous, deep chestnut-colored eyes, the older girl could sense exhaustion and trepidation, conjoining with bravery. Eleven sensed something else upon meeting Magdalena's eyes...something out of the ordinary. When witnessing Eleven stick her hand out harshly, Magdalena May presumed the action to be indicative of a handshake, but once her hand reached out as well to take the younger girl's, Magdalena was taken aback by how her hand was snatched into a rather tight hold. It didn't hurt. It was just unbelievably bizarre.
With eyebrows drawn together in utter hesitancy, Magdalena dared not take her eyes off Eleven and vice versa. From a few feet away, Max, Mike, and Lulu all watched in astonishment and confusion as the two girls continued their impromptu staring contest, Eleven's hand still holding onto Magdalena, steadily trailing up to find the older brunette's moist palm. Once the girl with mind powers squeezed down even more on Magdalena's hand, Eleven stared up at her with an intense expression that contained disbelief.
"Power."
Was the single term that slipped out of Eleven's mouth. It left Magdalena with the impression that maybe Max's friend was delusional. With an awkward grin that faltered after a few seconds, the older brunette slipped her hand from Eleven's grasp and walked over to Lulu—the two young women almost inaudibly gossiping amongst themselves about the whole affair. And that's how another ten minutes were spent. Waiting and more waiting.
Magdalena was still skeptical about this "flesh monster" as Lulu had put it so eloquently. Though maybe something was amiss considering Nancy Wheeler was present as well and Magdalena knew all too well that Nancy didn't indulge in mind-numbing, childish bullshit. So why exactly was she here? Plus, Wheeler looked terrible as well. The more Magdalena examined, the more she realized that everyone looked awful and tired. Even her best friend. Lulu's makeup had begun to run prior in the night and the way she hastily wiped it away completely smeared it across her otherwise smooth skin.
And as Magdalena began to formulate guesses as to what happened earlier, a deep rumbling shook the ground, forcing the brunette to crane her head in the direction of the noise...which happened to be the skylight ceiling of Starcourt. Magdalena was straining her ears, hoping to hear the sound again to possibly identify it. Unfortunately, the rumbling was at the forefront of everyone's attention. Magdalena pursed her lips, the initial essence of her fight or flight reaction deciding to bubble to the surface.
"W-What the...hell is that?"
That telltale shake within Lulu's voice was highly evident as she inched closer and closer to Magdalena until both of them were side by side, with barely any space between them. Lulu's coffee-hued irises anxiously shifted from her best friend to the unknown source of the unnatural noise. Her breaths came out in short-lived, barely audible pants like a frightened animal. No one could provide Lulu with an adequate answer—or rather, everyone seemed preoccupied to do so. In a state of controlled panic, it was now the brunette's turn to demand information.
"Gingersnap, I'm gonna need you to formulate a very good explanation for all of this. What is happ—"
Magdalena began formulating her strained words, only to be cut off by Max when the redhead abruptly shushed her and began shaking her head. It was a way to noiselessly tell Magdalena to shut her mouth. It worked. Which was more than anyone could ever do to subdue a dominant force like Magdalena May. The brunette in question frowned partially upon hearing the rumbling growing deeper and...closer.
With her frustrations increasing more than she was willing to accept, Magdalena clenched her hand into a fist—those sharp nails creating perfect crescent-shaped indents in her supple palm. Whilst harshly swallowing the saliva building up in her mouth, Magdalena's eyes widened significantly when she saw the ceiling of Starcourt begin to crack open. In a fit of adrenaline, the brunette gripped Lulu's wrist and pulled her away from the center of the mall where they stood.
The two young women had no barely any time to think, but they collectively decided to scurry over to the same Greek restaurant Lulu had attempted to avoid just a few days ago. They ran behind the order counter, ducking down in record time as the glass ceiling of the mall shattered entirely. Magdalena flinched at the massive thump that rocked the ground and the impressively large building altogether which was followed up by an ear-splitting shriek produced by a nightmarish creature as the neon lighting flickered wildly. Lulu pulled Magdalena over to herself, both their backs resting against the hidden side of the counter.
With shallow breaths being the only option to fill her lungs with oxygen, Magdalena felt herself be placed on the edge of passing out, still, her strong-willed attitude canceled that out as she slithered out of Lulu's hold—earning plenty of hushed protests from the raven-haired girl. Magdalena got on her hands and knees to scoot closer to the side of the counter, peering out cautiously and in the same moment, regretting her decision. The brunette's blood ran cold when laying her eyes on a gigantic creature prowling around ripped from the nightmares of a disturbed person. Silently scooting back towards Lulu, Magdalena's own choppy breathing distracted her from how hard her heart was pumping—that noticeable boom, boom, boom right in her ears as blood rushed through her body.
"I-It's the flesh monster. We—We're all going to die here and no one's gonna know. Magdalena...I-I'm scared."
Lulu confessed, her voice cracking and fading away as she fought through several quiet hiccups—brought on by her silent tears—that interrupted her speech. The raven-haired young woman dared not make any eye contact with her best friend and continued fearfully eyeing the tiled wall in front of her. Lulu was placed into a near catatonic state all the while hot droplets mixing with the mascara flowed from the outermost corners of her eyes. Her petite body vibrated as she battled to hold back sobs. Lulu Hayashi was horrified by many things, but the eminently permanent nature of death was what the young woman feared the most.
"Shhh, everything's gonna be alright. Just stay calm, okay?"
Magdalena quietly assured the weeping girl next to her, though the brunette's words may as well have been meant for herself to pull it together and think of something—something that would ensure her chance of getting out of such a fucked up, terrifying situation. For one, Magdalena didn't see where everyone else ran off to which left her with a pit in her stomach. Right now it was just her and Lulu. In the end, all of Magdalena's contemplative thoughts were abandoned when the..."flesh monster" neared her and Lulu's hiding place.
Both girls squeezed their eyes shut as their hands found each other's, fingers intertwining and never even thinking of letting go. Magdalena found herself clenching her jaw so tightly that her molars began to ache when the ghastly creature let out a roar that forced even more tears to fall from Lulu's eyes as her cheeks took on the shade of ripe pomegranates. Time seemed to still as the creature fixed its gaze on the counter the two best friends were cowering behind. But that feeling of doom thankfully evaporated sooner than they anticipated. The two girls let out a breath they didn't realize they were holding in when the reverberating footsteps of the monster retreated to another area of the ground floor.
Searching for something she could use to her advantage, Magdalena's unoccupied hand blindly rummaged through the single attached to the underside of the order counter. There was nothing aside from spare sauce packets and plastic utensils. Biting down on her lower lip, Magdalena kept her anger at bay in the only way she knew how. It wasn't until the brunette accidentally got hold of a small metal bucket—possibly used for tips—that she felt a glimmer of relief for the first time in the day. Drawing in a long, deep breath, Magdalena May got on her knees and turned around with the tiny bucket in her hand. The brunette let go of Lulu's hand and gripped the edge of the counter, balancing herself as she peered over the cold surface. From the other side of the mall, Magdalena luckily witnessed Max, Mike, and Eleven run into the Gap for whatever reason.
The brunette nearly lost all her composure again when the monster chased after the three children, breaking through the clothing store completely. In a moment of valor, Magdalena threw the small bucket as far as she could, hoping it would be good enough for a distraction so the fleshy creature would leave the middle schoolers alone. As the metal object clattered against the polished floor, the creature stilled for a second, debating on whether or not to search for the source of the sound, and just when Magdalena believed her efforts to be all for naught, Lucas had the same idea of a distraction and used his slingshot to execute his plan.
The middle schooler and Magdalena silently nodded to each other in understanding before both of them immediately ducked down when the monster turned around ferociously to find its next target. It continued to roam around inside the nearly collapsed building, but that was now the least of Magdalena's concerns. She continued to search for a possible weapon she could use just in case. Lulu on the other hand was still frozen in fear, barely able to formulate a coherent sentence. But somehow she managed:
"We need to go, Maggie. We have to go with them. We're not safe here."
Magdalena May didn't listen. When did she ever listen? She went along with the terrible advice her conscience provided her with and right now, that Godawful inner monologue of hers was yelling at her to fight back. However, there was still nothing useful nearby. No sharp knives. No random metal pieces. Nothing. Those thumping steps the creature took still shook the ground like an earthquake, still Magdalena worked to keep herself and Lulu alive by any means necessary. Though, soon enough there was no need for that notion when Magdalena watched the flesh monster begin to climb out of the hole in the ceiling it created earlier and situate itself on the roof of Starcourt.
The brunette mumbled profanities under her breath as she watched the creature roar at something or someone and then began to go after whatever it spotted. Those earth-shaking footsteps grew fainter and fainter until the sound ceased altogether. With trembling legs, Magdalena fully straightened her back when standing up, surrounded by a deep silence not counting the collective hum of the neon lights all around them as they relentlessly flickered.
An oncoming migraine hit Magdalena as the brunette placed her palms on the counter and in turn, all her weight on it. The brunette lowly groaned to herself, feeling perspiration build up at the base of her neck and her forehead, allowing strands of hair to stick to her skin.
"Wait...I think it's—that...thing is gone, but I don't know for how long. I-I need to know that Max is safe. She—I don't know where the fuck she ran off to. I don't know what happened to her."
Magdalena expressed with slight aggression mixed with determination as her head continued to pound. She hoped Max was safe. All she could do was hope while struggling to come with a plan of action. Hearing a sniffle come from beside her, from the corner of her eye Magdalena observed how Lulu steadily pulled herself up from the ground using the counter. Resembling a newborn baby deer, the raven-haired girl felt her knees quiver under her weight just the same as her best friend.
Taking a second to wipe away her tears with the back of her hand—and in the process smearing her makeup even more—Lulu Hayashi felt nothing short of lightheaded. Using whatever strength she had left, the young woman ambled over to a nearby column and leaned her back against it, her body collapsing in on itself which left Lulu slinking down to the floor while using said column as support. Magdalena wordlessly watched on as her friend closed her eyes and in a matter of minutes was out like a light. The brunette made her way over to Lulu and sat down beside her, guarding her while she rested.
✧･ﾟ:
Nearly twenty minutes later, Lulu opened her eyes to find herself in a fit of hysteria as her brain finally caught her up to speed on the tragic reality she was currently facing.
"What are we supposed to do!? It's just the two of us? That girl with the freak brainwave powers isn't here anymore. She ran off with Max and Mike. God, this cannot be happening."
Lulu yammered on and on as she—with the help of a boost of anxiety-induced energy—pulled herself up from the ground and began pacing back and forth, nearly burning a hole in the tiled floor of Starcourt. Her short black hair was now even more tousled after the young woman had led her fingers through the strands more times than she could count. Lulu almost fully convinced herself she had been living through a traumatic nightmare, but whenever she rubbed her eyes, she was still in the same place. In a newly dilapidated mall which she worked at...or used to work at. The raven-haired girl wasn't sure about the technicalities involving the state of her summer employment. It wasn't until Magdalena scolded her—from the same spot on the ground—that Lulu turned her attention back on her brown-haired friend.
"Stop it! Don't give me any of that shit right now, Lulu. None of that panicky bullshit. Get a grip and think! Think about what happened last time you encountered that...that flesh monster. Maybe we can prepare for when it decides to come back. There has to be something we can do."
"Like—shit—like I said, our only hope was Eleven and she's MIA. I-I-I can't do this. What power do we have compared to that fucking thing...Oh, my God..."
Lulu's words began to trail off when something on the other side of the mall caught her eye. Her hand reflexively flew to her necklace which showed off her initials in perfect cursive and she began clutching the silvery metal firmly. All Lulu could do was mouth another "Oh, my God" to herself when continuing to view the inconceivable sight. Right as Magdalena stood up to take her place next to Lulu, the flesh monster returned for a second time, causing another significant amount of damage. Magdalena, however, could worry about nothing other than her boyfriend standing on the opposite end of the mall with a seemingly unconscious Eleven lying on the ground. Billy looked nothing like the boy Magdalena had known for a year and some months. He looked worn and torn and...and there was an aura of emptiness surrounding him. Connecting the dots almost instantaneously, Magdalena took notice of the way her vision started to blur all the while the hippocampus of her brain began to flood with thoughts of Billy. Not the possessed person standing across from her—but her sweet boyfriend, Billy Hargrove who swore to her that everything would be alright. He promised.
"No. No, that can't—No. No. No!"
Magdalena didn't bother containing her emotions when she finally found her voice again. Not wanting to become the next victim of the fleshy creature, Lulu—with no hesitation—covered her friend's mouth with her hand to muffle Magdalena's resounding yells of disbelief and protest. The raven-haired girl was all the more grateful for the opportune distraction consisting of fireworks being thrown from the balcony of Starcourt. During flashes of colorful lights and loud explosions, Lulu noticed that everyone had returned to seek revenge and permanently rid the town of the disturbing creature. In an effort to get to safety, Lulu attempted to pull Magdalena away from the scene, though that proved to be harder than expected.
"Magdalena! Snap out of it! We're not safe out in the open like this! Holy shit! C'mon, we need to go!"
Lulu urged vehemently as Magdalena thrashed around violently in her hold—soon enough the brunette gained the upper hand and ripped Lulu's hand off her mouth. There was no way Magdalena could respect her friend's wish to get to a safer location. Not when seeing her boyfriend crumple to the floor each time a firework collided with the freaky flesh monster. The brunette impulsively tried to run over to where Billy stood, but Lulu held her back again—this time harshly grabbing her arm with both hands. Lulu's sorrowful pleas for Magdalena to remain stagnant echoed through the mall alongside the pained screeches of the monster. Lulu's heart broke for Magdalena especially when the two friends stared into each other's eyes. Both sets of eyes were teary just for different reasons. The raven-haired girl's lips quivered while she shook her head, entirely restricting Magdalena from reaching the other side of Starcourt.
"No! Stop! It's hurting him! Let me go! Please, Lulu! I need to do something!"
Magdalena wailed helplessly, struggling to rip her arm out of Lulu's hands. Once again, Lulu remained silent and only shook her head defiantly with tears streaming down her cheeks. For the brunette, witnessing such haunting imagery all in one night ate away at her from the inside. But witnessing her boyfriend sacrifice himself to save others shattered Magdalena May.
It broke her.
𝐕. 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 —
the way this chapter put
me in my feels...i just
want to give maggie a
hug. writing this was
worse than i thought.