A blink of an eye. That was all it took from Mary standing in the smokey hallway of Joyce Byers' house to the middle of the road outside of it, in a state of darkness, snow falling from somewhere above her. She was back inside The Upside Down. Just like that.
Mary spun around, facing Corina whom was bent over a little, her hands on her thighs as she caught her breath, her chest heaving as she struggled with the easy process of breathing, "Corina, are you alright?" Mary couldnt believe the question coming from her mouth, but the girl did look to be in not such a good condition. And she needed answers.
Corina stood up straight, revealing that her nose was bleeding a little and she reached up, wiping it with the back of her hand before she scoffed to herself as she looked down at the blood smeared on her pale skin, "Havent felt that in a while." She mumbled to herself, wiping the blood on her skirt.
Mary watched her silently for a moment, excpeting her to start explaining and when she didnt, she threw her hands up impatiently, "Well? Arent you going to give me an explination? You showed up out of nowhere! Started infiltrating my life and now we find out that you're like Eleven and suddenly want to help!" She exclaimed, gesturing rapidly with her hands, her face scrunched up.
Corina tiresomly rolled her eyes, "We can talk whilst walking. I dont know where the demogorgon went and I dont want it catching up to us too quickly." She said and Mary sighed, though she did in fact agree and the pair began walking side by side.
Mary took their moment of silence to check her surroundings. Jonathan's street was exaclty the same but completely different. The ground was cracked as though it had been rattled apart by a earthquake. The houses were covered in thick vines that resembled seaweed, as if an ocean had wiped over the entire town. Cars lay abandoed, doors wide open, windows smashed in. Mary found herself wondering if they were actually in Hell.
Looking back to Corina, who's orange flaiming hair seemed to stand out against the dark colour of blue around them, she decided to start her interrogation, "Alright so, you're... Number six?" She asked and Corina sighed heavily, staring straight ahead, her heels clacking against the broken cement.
"I used to be," She corrected, "I was in Hawkins Lab until I turned twelve. They experimented on me, they tested me for everything, they made me use my powers for things I didnt want to use them for. But in the end, they were only making me stronger, stronger than them." She explained, staring far off into the distance.
Mary finally asked what she had been drying to ask since finding out Corina was like Eleven, "What exactly can you do?" She asked her, narrowing her eyes and Corina looked down at the ground with a small smile.
"They called it Darkness Manipulation," She stated, "My mind it's connected with dark energy. I can control darkness and everything that lies in it. It was terrifying as a kid, I used to wake up screaming because my cell was swirling in these awful dark shadows. Dr Brenner used to tell me that it was a gift and that I had the capability to control it. I never wanted to." When Corina was speaking of her time in Hawkins Lab she seemed to get this far off look that Mary recognised from seeing it on Eleven. And it made Mary question exactly what they had gone through in that lab.
"But I didnt have a choice, I had to do their little tests and I found myself growing stronger and stronger. I still dont know the capasity of what I can do but the last thing I did in that lab was get myself out. Brenner was getting me to conjur a portal. He made me think hard of where I wanted to go, which was the room beside me, that I had been in before. See, I can warp myself anywhere, only as long as I've been there before or if I've saw it. Like in a photograph or someone else's mind." Mary was listening ever so well, hanging onto each word that left Corina's red lips.
"That test was Brenner's biggest mistake," She told Mary, a sly smile crossing her pretty feautures, "I happened to touch him and I got all of these images of places I had never been before or even seen. And before I knew it, within s blink of an eye I was sitting on a highway in Maine, in a little town called Corinna." Mary started at Corina, amazed by what she was telling her.
"Is that why you call yourself Corina?"
The red head nodded, "Yeah. I hadn't ever experienced the outdoors before, I didnt know what a normal life was, even now there's things I dont understand. I spent twelve years of my life in a labratory... But one thing I did know was that everyone inside that Lab had a name and I knew I didnt, I knew six was a number. So I had to give myself a name and I chose Corina..." Mary stared at the side of Corina's face, a sympathetic look on her face.
"It must have been hard for you," Mary said, making Corina look at her for the first time, her lips parted and eyes on her, "There's so much you must have had to learn —"
"I'm still learning," Corina interrupted, "I'm not exaclty a people person as you very well know." She said, giving a small smile that was genuine for the first time and Mary chuckled a little, nodding in agreement.
"But I cant help it. It's an involuntary response to be mean and cruel... I dont know if its because of how I was raised — if you can even call it that or bcause my power is controlling the darkness of the universe. But I'm not going to apologise becasue I know if we survive this I wont change." She told her, looking away and Mary nodded her head in understanding.
"Hey, I cant judge. I'm not the worlds sweetest either and you've been through a lot, Corina. You're still figuring things out and you can be whoever you want to be during that time," That earned the smallest of smiles, "So, how did you end up with my boyfriends jacket?" She asked curiously as they turned into another street, heading down the deserted road where many abandoned cars lay.
Corina sighed, "I was driving into town with a car I just so happened to steal," Corina glared at Mary, "Dont give me that look. I dont have a drivers liscense and I had only driven a few times. But either way, the car broke down. I was freezing and Charlie was driving by, he stopped and said he was a mechanic — I didnt know what that meant but I hoped it was good and he fixed up the car. He gave me his jacket because I was cold."
Mary smilled a little, "That sounds like Charlie."
"I was coming to town because I heard about a little girl with powers here in Hawkins. I wanted to help her. When I got here I found her, with those little kids. I listened in on what they spoke about over their walkie things -"
"Using your mind like Eleven?"
Corina looked at her flatly, "No, we all have serperate powers. But darkness travels. I just had to imagine where the sound was going and coming from and I could hear it. It's how I found out about the demogorgon and The Upside Down. And then I found out about you and I guess its terrible but you had this almost perfect life and I just wanted to... Why are you laughing?" Corina demanded, giving her a spitedful glare as Mary chuckled.
"Sweetheart, my life is far from perfect," She told her, "It's a mess, maybe not a locked away inside a labratory since birth but its been hell'ova messy. Me and my parents havent had the greatest relationship since Sara died and I guess I havent really been the same since either." Mary admitted, her lips parting, surprised that she was opeening up to the likes of Corina.
The girl was looking at her with that curious look as they walked, "Sara, she was your sister, right?" She asked her and Mary nodded. Corina sighed loudly, "I dont understand the whole family situation or what it's like to have a sibling. To me, I feel nothing over what happened to your sister, I dont even understand what it's like to have one. Or a family. And I'm glad, it seems like a messy bunch of shit with too many emotions."
Mary scoffed, "You're not big on emotions are you?"
Corina pursed her lips, "I dont understand them." She admitted which only made Mary feel sorry for her, which she found she had been doing a lot in the last fifteen minutes. It didnt mean that she suddenly liked Corina, because god she didnt and didnt think she ever would, but still, she felt empathetic towards her.
Corina flipped her hair as she came to a stop, putting her hands on her hips and facing Mary, "So, where do you think your Charlie could be?" She asked, green eyes on Mary whom shifted at her question, not quite sure.
She shrugged, throwing her hands up, "I'm not sure. Where would anyone want to go in a place like this?" She rhetorically asked, but seemingly not understanding the point of a rhetorical question, Corina answered after she looked at their surroundings.
"Somewhere they feel safe."
Mary thought it over, staring straight ahead before her face lit up and her eyes met Corina's again, "Well go on, dont hold back, I already want out of here." Corina demanded, throwing her hand out at her.
"After Sara died when we were little, Charlie used to take me down to the quarry. Even as a kid he was wise, he used to say that it was his special place, that when he's high up looking down everything else was inferrior and only little problems... It became our spot. He always told me it was a safe place." She remembered and Corina stepped closer to her, yet again so close it were as if she didnt understand personal space and after hearing her story Mary realised maybe she didnt.
"Do you have a mental image of the place? I can get us there."
Mary rapidly nodded as Corina held her hands out and Mary accepted them quickly. The dark smoke that looked light a lightening cloud crackling began to form around them, "This is creepy as shit by the way." Mary commented.
"Shhh," Corina shushed her in irritation, closing her eyes in iritation as she tried focusing on the image in Mary's head, "What's a quarry anyway?" Corina asked, opening one eye to look at Mary. She could see various images of places, but she werent sure which the quarry was.
"It's like a clif and theres water really far down. Its so green you can see straight to the bottom." She explained as Corina's brows furrowed together, searching for the image, the shadows continuing to swirl around them and Mary understood why Corina was afraid of them as a child. They were scary.
"Got it." And just like that, Mary felt a whoosh in her stomach before the scenary around her changed and she let out a heavy breath, her insides feeling weak.
Corina was breathing heavily, still holding onto Mary's hands, her nose bleeding again, "Does this always happen?" She asked in concern, nodding to her bleeding nose.
Corina shook her head pulling herself from Mary's grip, "It's this place," She insisted, "There's so much darkness it's making it difficult for me to warp with ease... I'll be fine." She assured Mary, swatting her away with her hand.
Mary looked around, seeing that she were in fact at the quarry, however the ground was dried up and cracked, not to mention the fact there was no water at the bottom anymore, it was just dry land.
Mary spun around, her brows pulled together, "He should be here, this is his safe place, he..." Mary trailed off, suddenly remembering the cave where there was a footpath to inside the cliff before she took off in the direction, Corina jogging at a slower pace behind her.
Mary hoped with all she had that she'd find Charlie down there because if she didn't she couldnt think of anywhere else that he could have been. And if she couldnt find him then was he even alive?
The girl rushed down the footpath, slidding a little on the greasy slime below her feet before she reached the dark cave that appeared to be empty and she reached up, tangling her hands in her hair in distress before she spotted something on the far end of the cave and she squinted her eyes, stepping closer as Corina stayed behind.
"Charlie?"