*Nikki's POV*
"So you're telling me," Dustin said, "that you went to the Upside Down?"
"Without static?"
"And you saw Barb?"
"They're all alive?"
"And you didn't even know you could do this?"
"Alright, alright, let her breathe." Will stopped them all from interrogating me. After my little episode, we'd all gone back to Hopper's cabin, relaying every detail Will and I could remember.
"Come on, kid," Hopper said. "Are you see this wasn't just wishful thinking?"
"Wishful thinking?" I repeated. "You think I wanted to see my dead boyfriend and two people I hardly even knew?" The space behind my ear was itching like crazy, so I scratched it, despite the stinging pain I got when I did.
"Holy shit, Nik, is that blood?"
At Mike's exclamation, I looked at my hands. A red substance covered the tips of my first two fingers, and had caked it self under my nails.
"Oh my God," I whispered.
Will stood up, took my hand that wasn't covered in blood, and walked me to the bathroom, helping me sit on the counter before grabbing a few washcloths and putting them under the water.
"When did it start?" Will asked. Then clarifying, "The itch."
I flinched as he dabbled the warm, wet washcloth behind my ear. "Er... I don't know. Few days ago? Will, I'm worried."
"About?"
"The fact that this is all happening now. What if it's connected to the Upside Down? What if I'm connected to the Upside Down? What if-"
"Hey." Will stopped me, using the other washcloth to clean the blood from my hand. "We'll figure this all out, alright? For now, let's just focus on stopping the blood."
I nodded. "I can do this if you want to go back-"
"Nah," he interrupted, carefully pulling my hair back to get a better look at the scratch. "Oh my- Oh my God."
I clutched the side of my head nervously. "What? What's wrong?"
"Hopper! Steve! Anybody! Come quick!"
Pounding footsteps announced my brother and the chief of police, followed by Dustin and El, arriving in the door-way.
"Guys," Will said nervously, lifting my hand away and pulling back my hair. "Look."
Dustin and El's eyes widened as Steve looked ready to faint. Hopper was the only one capable of speaking:
"Holy shit."
"Someone please tell me what's going on," I insisted. "Like, now!"
El took the handheld mirror from the vanity drawer, positioning it in front of the big vanity mirror so that I could see my own ear. Three little symbols were behind it. Three little symbols that struck fear into my heart:
002.
"No." I felt myself go numb, falling off the counter. I almost hit the wall when Will and Dustin rushed forward and held me up.
"Mon, don't jump to conclusions," Dustin said in a tone so calm it was obvious he was trying not to collapse himself. "Those little numbers could mean anything."
"I think in this town, kid, there only one thing they could mean." Hopper helped me stand up straight, then walked me outside. "Steve, come on. The rest of you: nobody talk until we come back in."
As the door shut behind us, Steve freaked out.
"Okay, what the fuck? How does she have a number and I didn't even know? Do you think our parents know? Oh my God, is this why they don't like us?"
"Harrington, calm down," Hopper interrupted. "Little Harrington, you can't tell anyone about this, got it? We don't want to worry anyone until we know for sure."
"Know what for sure?"
"If you're really who I think you are!" Hopper had an expression that oozed that I-shouldn't-have-said-that aura. "I- um, I mean-"
"Who do you think I am, Hopper?" I mean, I did have a right to know this one.
Hopper shook his head. "Look: after Hawkins Lab closed down, I took the files Brenner kept on all the subjects in hopes of finding them. The one on Two seems to match up with... well, all of this." The police chief disappeared back into the house.
I followed him through the living room to his little study, Steve close behind as the others watched us go.
"Hopper, you can't just imply that someone's an escaped lab rat and then walk away!"
The chief ignored me, continuing to rifle through a grey steel filing cabinet before pulling out a Manila folder that was slightly thinner than the others.
"This is the one. This is Two's file."
"I think we could have figured that out from the number on the folder, Hop." Steve's fear was turning into sarcasm.
Hopper ignored us again, beginning to read aloud:
"Experimentee Number Two is our first subject volunteered by the parents; Mr. and Mrs. H (who shall receive no further names in this report to keep anonymity) decided they didn't want a second child anymore, so gave her to us. When we tried to give her the number tattoo, she was utterly opposed to it. The only place we could access without her completely throwing a tantrum was the skin behind her ear.
"While still only an infant, the child already exhibits a great deal of potential, traveling anywhere- including other dimensions- using her mind, and can use this to communicate with people, both dead and alive. We've discovered she can most frequently communicate with her grandmother, who died three months ago, when Two was only four months old."
"Can we skip to the part that says how I got out of there, please?" I asked, although curious as to the limits of my alleged power.
Hopper surprisingly nodded, flipping the pages to the last one in the folder:
"Day 1093,
It has been nearly three years since we first began experiments on Two. The parents have decided to stop all experimentation after claiming the Lab stole their daughter, going so far as to threaten a lawsuit. Their memories- including that of their seven-year-old son- have been erased, the child returned, and all is now back to normal. Before being released, Two's memory was also erased in an effort to stop her powers from spiraling out of control. She also has exhibited the ability to-"
When Hopper closed the file, I knew there was something else in there he didn't want me to see. Although, what could be worse than what I'd already heard?
"My- my parents... abandoned me?"
Steve sighed, totally at a loss for words. "Nik, I'm so sorry-"
"Why? They wanted you, Steve."
"They came back for you!"
"To make themselves look good, no doubt."
"Okay, you two, cut it out!" Hopper yelled at us. "As a matter of fact, Nikki, I remember when all of this happened. Your parents told everyone you were a really sick baby- said they sent you away to some special medical facility. Three years later, there you were, toddling and drooling like any three-year-old would. They rambled in about how cute you were, and everything seemed pretty normal. Only no one ever knew what you were being treated for, and we all forgot about it after a while. I know I've never thought of it until now."
I raised my eyebrows at him. "So nobody knows what happened to me? The people who do are dead, and the only other people I could interrogate had their minds swept?" Hopper nodded. "Well, shit. So, what now, Hop? We just... do nothing?"'
"We should tell the other-"
"No, Steve," Hopper interrupted. "We shouldn't tell them. They'd be all over the poor kid, trying to get her to use her mind to travel across the room and look at someone else's Uno cards. We've seen what happens when they-"
"Hold on," I cut in. "What else did that file say I could do?"
Hopper looked away. "Kid, I-"
"No, I wanna know." I grabbed the file from his hand and flipped it to the end, skimming the page to see that the part exhibiting my final power had been painted over with White Out. "Shit."
"Well, that's too-"
"Wait." I had an idea. "Here's a perfect time to test our whether or not I have powers."
"Nik, what are you-"
Steve's voice disappeared as I shut my eyes, immediately sending different colored lights zooming past my eyelids, showing so many different dimensions I didn't even know existed. When my mind skidded to a stop, I found myself in a long, white hallway.
Hawkins Lab.
A man with white hair sat in his office. His wrinkles and evilly charming face was exactly what El and Sarah had described: Brenner.
He was scribbling on a sheet of paper as a child's voice walked past. I spun around to see a little brunette girl, carried by the younger versions of my parents, sobbing as they took her farther down the hall.
Focus, Nikki.
I turned back around to see Brenner still writing on the paper. The last paper in the file. I made out so many of the words.
Day 1093
memories erased
all is now back to normal
When I got to the edge of the page, where the missing words were, I found myself being jerked back into reality.
"Damn it!" I shrieked as my eyes came back into focus, shoving the hand off my shoulder. "Why'd you do that?"
"I'm sorry, Nik." Steve looked at the floor. "You seemed pretty disturbed, I was just trying to-"
"Well, now it's gone." I got up, my eyes clouding with tears, and walked back into the living room.
"Mon?" Dustin stood up, his blurry figure walking toward me.
I collapsed into his arms, blubbering like a baby who'd been abandoned by their family. "Oh m-my God," I sobbed, unable to breathe properly as the reality of everything hit me.
I really was invisible. My own parents didn't even want me after only four months of raising me. And they came back three years later. How was I supposed to have any self-esteem now? I'd been abandoned by the two people who are specifically not supposed to abandon you. That's, like, the one thing a baby doesn't need.
Everyone was staring at me. Of course. Avoiding eye contact with anyone, I quickly wiped my eyes, then walked out to the porch. Nobody followed me. They all somehow knew I had to be alone right now.
Due to crying, my nose was all snotty and gross. I felt it run down my nose to my chin. Quickly, I pulled a Kleenex I had grabbed from my pocket to wipe it. What I didn't expect- although I should have- was to see that instead of just snot, ruby red blood was dribbling down my face.