Jamie stood in the middle of the dark street and looked around. She heard her name being whispered from behind her, and turned around to nothing.
"What the fuck", she whispered. "Who's there?"
"You know who I am", a voice said.
Her chest heavily rose and fell with every breath as she stared into the dark street.
"What do you want?!",
"You must stop them."
"Who?!"
"They hurt you, Jamie. Now it's time that you hurt them."
"I don't know what that means!", she shouted in frustration.
"You must stop them", the voice repeated.
"It's just in my head. It's just in my head", she repeated to herself while closing her eyes and covering her ears in an attempt to drown the voice out.
When she opened her eyes after taking a few deep breaths, Barb's decaying body laid on the ground in front of her.
"Wake up. Wake up", Barb croaked as she reached out for Jamie's leg.
Jamie screamed to the top of her lungs which was enough to wake herself up. She quickly sat up in the unfamiliar bed and immediately tasted the blood that dripped into her mouth from her nose.
"Hey, heyyy, it's okay. Everything's alright", Hopper whispered as rubbed her shoulder and wiped her nose.
"You're alright", he repeated.
"Where is she?!", Jamie asked out of breath while frantically kicking the covers off of her and looking over the side of the bed.
"What is this? Where am I?!"
"Shhh, this is your medicine. It was just a dream, okay. It was just a bad dream."
Jamie took the pill and without hesitation swallowed it immediately. She finger brushed her hair out of her face and finally looked around the room.
"Where are we? Where's mom?! I want my mom."
"It's alright, she's down stairs getting the table ready. Do you remember anything?", he replied, avoiding her first question.
"There was a red headed girl with glasses an-and she looked dead... IT WAS THE GIRL FROM STE—"
"No, no, hey, hey, shhh. Don't get yourself worked up, okay? I'm talking about back at the hospital? Do you remember anything?"
"Back at the hospital? What? Hospital?...", she whispered before quickly thinking to herself.
Hopper watched her think with his mouth slightly agape. Her eyes raced a mile a minute as her breathing slowed before she finally spoke.
"Me and El. We were waiting and... and we went to get food and we were in line and then... and then-"
"And then....?", he asked while continuing to examine her face.
"They hurt me", she whispered as if she had come to a realization.
"They hurt me", she repeated louder and with more confidence.
"Who? Who hurt you? The doctors?"
"No, the soldiers. And he didn't like that."
Hopper stared at Jamie as fear started to slowly grow inside him. They locked eyes for a few seconds before Hopper shook his head and broke eye contact.
"Where is he hiding, Jamie? Did he show you anything like a... like a portal or a or something?"
As Hopper pushed jamie for more information, Jamie started to loose focus as her eyes grew heavy and started racing under her eyelids.
Hopper caught on and immediately grabbed her shoulders and shook her aggressively.
"Hey! Look at me! Focus! Did he show you anything? Anything?!"
Jamie looked at him in fear with wide open eyes. He stared at her for a few seconds as he awaited her answer.
"Where am I?", she asked while looking at the bedroom's boarded windows.
Hopper felt his heart drop to the pit of his stomach as he quickly thought of a plan.
"Wait here."
"Where am I?! Who's room is this-"
"Wait there! Don't move!"
Jamie huffed and threw her arms in the air as he left the room. She noticed a few of her belongings in the corner and started to head over there before Hopper quickly returned with a dirty stuffed tiger that had a nearly ripped picture pinned to it. Jamie instantly became overwhelmed with emotions as he held the tiger to her face.
"Do you recognize this?", he asked seemingly impatient.
Jamie's eyes grew wide and started to water as she held her breath. She stared at the stuffed animal for a few seconds before Hopper repeated himself.
"Do you recognize this?!"
"Gimmie", she replied, snatching the tiger away from him.
She instantly walked over to the closet for privacy and shut the door behind her as Hopper followed closely behind. As he pulled on the handle, Jamie kept it shut as she turned on the light with blood starting to drip down her nose. Tears piled in her eyes as she held Sarah's stuffed tiger and looked at the picture.
Hopper and Diane had finally agreed to let Jamie shave her head bald so that her and Sarah could be twins one last time. Blood and tears dripped onto the polaroid picture as she looked at their matching shirts, headbands, and stuffed animals.
Hopper leaned against the closet door frame and rested his head against it after giving up on trying to get it open. He thanked God that she seemed to be herself and listened to her sniffles for a bit before the door slowly opened and he saw her sitting on the floor.
"You kept it", she sniffed.
"Yes, I did", he responded, extending his arm to help her up.
"Jim?!", Joyce called in annoyance for the third time.
"Shit!", he whispered to himself. "Wipe your face and let's go eat before she has our ass."
"Wait, eat? What?"
"Yes, eat. It's Thanksgiving, now let's go."
"What? Already?"
"Well you've been in and out of it because of the medicine so we decided to bring you home and let you rest. Didn't want you to wake up in the hospital on Thanksgiving and Joyce was not spending the holiday eating hospital food so there you go", he said before leaving the room and quickly heading downstairs.
Jamie looked at herself in the dresser mirror and wiped her eyes on her arm. She tossed the stuffed animal on the bed and headed in the hallway. She briefly looked into every door she passed before she got to the stairs.
Everyone watched as Jamie slowly crept down the stairs. Joyce sat at the end of the table with the baby monitor sitting on the edge while Hopper returned to the dining room from the kitchen with two glasses of wine.
"Who's house is this?", Jamie asked.
"Ours. I bought it and decided it's big enough to have our first Thanksgiving in with the babies and everyone else", Hopper replied.
Jamie looked at the front windows which were covered up with thick blankets.
"Why are all the windows covered?"
"Enough with the questions, come sit. We're ready to eat."
Jamie looked around at everyone at the table and started counting to herself as she took one of two empty seats.
"El, Mike, Jonathan, Nancy, Will, Mom, Dad, me...."
"How come are there 9 plates but it's only 8 of us?"
Hopper looked over at the empty chair, and before he could speak, the doorbell rang.
"It's about time", Joyce whispered while looking at her watch. "When I say 6 o'clock thats what I mean."
Hopper slid from the table and walked over to the front door.
Jamie looked across the table at Mike who gave a slight smile and a quick wave. The corner of Jamie's mouth twitched slightly as she realized she was the only one who felt out of place. She dropped her head and wished she could crawl back into bed before the sound of the chair next to her sliding across the floor caught her attention.
"Hey", Steve said with a smile as he took his hat off and sat down.
"Hey, you", Jamie responded as they both greeted each other with a hug and wide smile.
"I got you these", he said, handing her a bouquet of flowers.
"Oh my goodness, Steve. Thanks, I wasn't expecting anything?", she responded in shock.
"Aww, look babe", Joyce whispered as she nudged Hopper's arm. "Isn't that sweet? I'll have to find a vase for it."
"Mhm", Hopper mumbled sarcastically.
"Can we eat now? I'm starving", Mike asked from the other end of the table.
"Agreed", Jonathan added while grabbing a hold of Nancy's hand in which everyone followed suit to say their prayers.
Jamie dropped her head and smiled as she and Steve held hands and gave his a gentle squeeze.
After everyone had been eating and catching up, Hopper's radio started going off in the bedroom.
"Ugh, what the fuck is it", he mumbled as he slid his chair back against the wood floor.
"Are you really going to answer that? It's Thanksgiving for crying out loud", Joyce said.
"I know, which is why I'm about to tell them to fuck off", he responded and disappeared in the bedroom.
Joyce continued to eat and listen to Nancy's story about Jonathan until Hopper emerged from the bedroom in his full uniform.
"I gotta run", he said seeing the look on Joyce's face.
"Are you kidding me? You are literally on paternity leave with two new borns not even a week old."
"I know, but they need me. I'll be back before everyone gets to bed. Promise", he said as he kissed Joyce, grabbed his entire plate, and headed out the door into the developing snow storm.
Joyce mumbled something under her breath as everyone resumed their conversation. They all sat at the table for almost an hour before Joyce decided to get a head start and make the babies bottles.
Everyone else took that as a cue to clear the table and put the food away, while Jamie and Steve took the job of wiping everything down.
"So, you're not allowed to leave?", he asked.
"Pretty much", she said as she wiped bits of food on the floor for Sammy.
"But I thought you said you may be going back to school?"
"I don't know. I feel like things just keep getting worse and worse."
Steve didn't say anything and sighed to himself.
"I feel like maybe if I ask my mom, then she'll know what's going on."
"Wait..., she didn't tell you about everything that went on with Will?"
"What? Why would she know anything about Will?"
Steve furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head.
"Are you talking about Diane?"
"Yes, duh."
"No. No-"
"Yes. I can just ask her I'm pretty sure she'll atleast know something. I can't just sit here and let all this shit happen to me."
"Jamie, for one your dad got a restraining order against her. And two, didn't she have you kidnapped?! I'm sorry but the bitch is fucking insane."
Jamie slowly stopped wiping the table and dropped the rag. She didn't make eye contact with Steve and instead turned around and headed for the living room.
"Don't talk about my mom", she mumbled which caught Steve by surprise.
Steve dropped the towel and followed her to the couch where she tried to distract herself by watching tv. As everyone finished in the kitchen, they all filed into their respective rooms which gave Steve a chance to make things right.
"Hey, I'm sorr-"
"Whatever. Let's just... watch a movie or something", she interrupted and looked over at the covered windows and then back at the tv.
Steve sighed and grabbed the couch pillow to place under his arm as he leaned on the opposite side of the couch.
~~~
"What the hell's going on?", Hopper asked as he stepped out of the blazer amongst the other sqad cars that were parked crookedly with their lights on.
"Mrs. Driscoll's locked herself in the closet with her son's handgun. Said she saw someone else in the house with her and she isn't coming out but...", Powell started to look around before whispering. "You know she's a bipolar schizophrenic. She said she doesn't want to talk to us, she wants to talk to you."
Hopper furrowed his eyebrow and slowly turned as he walked towards the front door. He peeked his head inside and held his hand on his gun as he stepped in.
"Mrs. Driscoll", he called out as he looked around.
After no response, Hopper slowly walked down the hall and nearly shot himself in the foot as a rat ran across his boot.
"Jesus", he mumbled to himself as he regained his composure and put his gun back in the holster.
"Mrs. Driscoll!", he called out again as he approached the bedroom door.
After no response again, Hopper slowly pushed the bedroom door open with his knuckle and peeked inside.
"Chief? Is that you?", a weak voice called out from the closet.
Hopper stepped into the room and looked at the closed closet door. He slowly walked over and stood to the side incase any bullets came through.
"Hey, it's me. I'm here. I heard you wanted to talk to me?"
Mrs. Driscoll pushed the door open and peeked her head out.
"Is he gone?"
"Well, my guys said that they don't think anyone was here. Are you for sure you saw someone?", he repled, keeping his eyes on the gun.
Mrs. Driscoll noticed him watching and immediately moved the gun away from her.
"I don't mean to keep you on edge. I know I heard a mans voice. I may be crazy but I know what I heard."
"What did the man say?"
"Well, I was making my famous sweet potato pie when all of a sudden I hear this mans voice. He was telling me to go back. Now go back where I don't know and I can only assume he was talking about my bedroom. That's when I walked in here and got my son's gun and called you guys."
Hopper started to wonder around the room and look around. When she mentioned going back, he immediately froze and looked at her. Before he could speak, he looked into the kitchen through the doorway and noticed that one of her plants were tipped over.
Hopper walked towards the doorway and turned on the light. He stared at the plant, and then looked over at Mrs. Driscoll who finally emerged from the closet.
"You... you said you were baking a pie?", he asked.
"Why, yes I was."
Hopper stepped into the kitchen with his mouth slightly agape. He stared at the pie pan that was filled with pie crust and the dirt from the plant. Mrs. Driscoll stepped into the kitchen with dirty hands and licked her fingers as if nothing was wrong. Hopper immediately reached for his phone before quickly heading to the front door into the snow storm that started to pick up.
~~~~~~
Jamie started to doze off on the couch with Steve who had already fallen asleep. She looked at the movie that continued to play and then looked at covered windows.
She yawned and carefully got up from the couch, and moved part of the blanket to look outside. A thick blanket of snow covered every tree and building around them which gave no hint to Jamie as to where she was.
She turned around and walked into the kitchen, opened the cabinet to grab a glass, and let the cabinet slam shut as she filled it with water from the sink.
"Could you be any louder?", Steve looked over and groaned while rubbing his eye.
"Sorry, I was thirsty", she said quietly remembering that there were now two infants in the house.
Steve rolled off the couch and slowly walked over as Jamie decided to take out another glass for him.
"I got it, because you're just like a bull in a china shop over here", he said, taking the glass from her and quietly closing the cabinet.
Jamie chuckled, hopped on top of the kitchen counter, and swung her feet while she watched Steve fill his glass with water.
"It's late, why are you still up?"
"I was trying to wait for my dad because he hasn't called yet, and it's starting to get bad out but I'm getting tired."
"Why don't you just go to sleep then?"
"I don't know", she shrugged. "I feel like I need to wait for him so that I know he's okay. What if something happened to him."
"You're such a daddy's girl", Steve chuckled almost to himself as he moved to stand between her legs.
"And that's a problem because?", she joked.
"I'm pretty sure he's supposed to stay up late wondering where you are, not the other way around", he chuckled again.
"Well my have the tables turned", she laughed.
"Yeah, I guess they have", he responded, placing his hand on her thigh.
They sat there in silence for a few seconds staring at each other until Jamie placed her hand on top of Steve's.
"I miss seeing you everyday... I like what we had going on", she whispered and smiled.
"I miss you too. My mornings aren't the same."
They both fell silent again, and Jamie placed her hand on Steve's cheek.
As they both leaned into each other and started kissing, Jamie felt chills run down her spine as his hands found their way under her shirt and slowly made their way up her spine and stopped at her bra strap.
Jamie pulled her face away from his and hesitated once he unhooked her bra which caused Steve to immediately withdraw his hands from under her shirt.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I'm not trying to force this upon you. You don't have to do anything you don't want-"
"No, it's okay... I- I want to", she responded, finally looking up at him.
"Are you sure?", he asked, looking into her eyes for genuineness.
Jamie took a deep breath, swallowed spit, and nodded her head.
"Yes. I'm sure"
He stood there for a second before Jamie hopped off the counter, tip toed past her parent's bedroom and up the stairs , and quietly entered her room with him in tow.
Jamie sat down on the bed as Steve came between her legs and pulled her shirt off along with her bra. He began to slowly caress her body and guided her to lay down before she pulled his shirt off.
She breathed heavily against his neck as his hands found their way into her shorts. As Steve's fingers became wetter from exploring between her legs, he leaned in and started kissing her neck.
Jamie quietly moaned in his ear as he slid both of their shorts off. He allowed his bulge to slowly grind against her while he reached for his shorts and pulled his wallet out. Jamie raised an eyebrow as he pulled a condom out and started to open it.
"Don't think I don't just have these in here because I'm constantly having sex or anything. You just never know who needs-"
"Steve, shut up", Jamie chuckled.
Steve sat up on his knees and put the condom on before he suddenly thought of an important aspect.
"Wait, we need a safe word", he said quietly.
"Dad's coming", she whispered back.
"Ha... yeah", Steve laughed and proceeded to put the empty wrapper back in his wallet.
Steve ran his hands between her legs one last time before Jamie stopped him.
"Will you go slow?"
"Of course", he whispered as he planted a gentle kiss on her lips.
Steve slowly guided himself to her opening and slowly pushed himself inside.
Jamie gasped in pleasure as Steve sharply inhaled.
"F-ffuck", he groaned in her ear as he entered slowly. "You're s-so tight."
Jamie wrapped her arms around Steve's neck and wrapped her legs around him as he continued to push inside of her.
After a few minutes of silent moans and hair pulling, Steve quickly pulled out and finished inside the condom. He carefully pulled the condom off, tossed it in the trash canr, and olled over next to Jamie out of breath.
The both caught their breath and stared at the ceiling until Jamie started crying which caused him to immediately sit up.
"What's wrong? Are you okay? Did this just bring up bad memories?!"
"No... Just, thank you. Thank you for this", she replied, wiping her eyes.
Steve sat there for a second as he balanced his weight on his arm.
"Um, you're welcome?", he replied before laying back down.
"I love you", Jamie whispered.
Steve looked over, and although he couldn't see her, his smile still spread from ear to ear.
"I love you, too."
~~~~~
Hopper finally pulled into the driveway and cursed as he saw the time and stepped out into the freezing cold. He pulled off his gloves and fumbled through his keys before openeing the door.
He entered and quietly kicked off his boots and noticed a few extra pair of shoes near the door. He then walked over to the tv, turned it off, and headed to the kitchen.
As he took a fork and ate a few cold left overs straight from the containers, he peeked his head into the bedroom to find Joyce and both babies sleeping in their bassinet.
He started to head upstairs and poked his head in every room he passed, lingering a little longer when he got to El's to make sure Mike hadn't found his way in there.
Jamie sat up in bed and listened to the approaching footsteps. As she heard the sound of doors opening, she immediately panicked.
"Dad's coming!", she whispered while aggressively shaking Steve awake.
Steve turned over and groaned while pulling the covers over his head.
"That's only for when you're actually doing it—"
"No, my dad's coming! Get the fuck up!", she whispered again, this time pushing him.
Steve jumped up and frantically looked around in the dark for a place to hide. He ran around to the other side of the bed and ducked down as Hopper's footsteps stopped outside of the door.
Hopper approached Jamie's door and started to open it before he heard Jacob starting to cry down stairs. He quickly and quietly ran down the hall and down the stairs to get him before Grace started crying or Joyce woke up.
Hopper took him out of the bassinet and rocked him in his arms while warming the breast milk that Joyce kept in the freezer. After finally getting the bottle ready, Jacob settled down and Hopper walked into the nursery to sit in the rocking chair while listening to the quiet lullabies that played on the speaker.
After burping him and placing the empty bottle in the sink, Hopper returned Jacob to the bassinet and finally changed into his pajamas. As he got into bed, Joyce immediately snuggled into him.
Hopper stared at the ceiling for a while until he finally started to doze off. As he closed his eyes for the final time, Grace stared to stir and whine which caused his eyes to immediately fly open as he groaned and rolled back out of bed.