It was a normal day at the police station. It was typical December. Hopper saw people putting up Christmas decorations. He wasn't that fond of the holiday. But with El now in his cabin, he thought he would carry on what he did last year for her. Last year, he gave her a silver necklace. He remembered Mike, Will, and Joyce stopped by for dinner to surprise her, who were like family to her.
Hopper thought of what to give her this year. Maybe he should teach her about the Christmas list. He knew he would have to invite Mike and Joyce again. He would have loved to let El visit people by herself, but he remembered what Sam Owens told him. She may have needed a year away from public, so it wouldn't have been so suspicious with people seeing her around. The year was almost over, and Hopper was excited for El to start exploring on her own.
Suddenly, the phone rang. He picked it up. "Hawkins police, Hopper speaking." The person on the other end was talking exteremely fast. Hopper couldn't understand. "Okay, slow down. What's going on?"
The person said there was a robbery at a local grocery store. Hopper and some other police officers headed down to inspect the scene, and saw a group of people around a grocery store. Hopper met with the manager. "Alright, what happened?" He asked. "There was this girl. Around... I don't know, Thirteen to Fourteen. Anyways, I saw her with a bag of cereal, candy bars, and a soda bottle. She didn't go to the checkout line, right for the door. I ran forward to stop her, but suddenly, she was gone." Hopper was confused. "What do you mean gone?" He asked. "Well, one moment she was in one area. The next, she just vanished. Gone with the bag. Didn't even see her walk through the doors, or out in the parking lot." He said. Hopper was concerned. "What did she look like?" He asked, taking out a notebook. "Well, she had long, brown hair. A black sweatshirt, jeans, and blue eyes." He said. Hopper finished his notes. It wasn't Eleven. So maybe there was someone like her in Hawkins. Hopper knew he would have to do some investigating into this.
There was a forest near the store. Lookng through the trees was a girl, matching the store managers descriptions. This girl was Winter Newman. Her nose suddenly started bleeding. She wiped it off with the sleeve of her jacket. She unrolled her sleeve, and looked at the numbers on her arm. 012. She knew what she did was wrong. But she was hungry, and knew she had to do anything for food.
As the girl walked into the forest, there was a campsite. The girl took out a match, and lit a fire. She put her hands near it. The fire warmed her up from the winter chill. Then, a twig snapped behind her. She turned around. A fox was behind her, with a rabbit in its mouth. Winter took the rabbit out of the foxes mouth, placing it on a tree stump. "Found lunch, huh? I'll get the pan." Winter said to the fox.
*I know the ending might not make much sense. It will make sense later in the story.*