Chapter Text
The night was cold, and as you watched the quiet street from your bedroom window, the only source of light outside came from the warm orange streetlamp across the road. You were lost in your thoughts, chasing different fantasies that followed the whimsical plots of the novels you read obsessively. Thinking of the protagonists in your stories who found themselves in magical lands far from home, you wished for such an adventure.
You had moved to Hawkins for your senior year of high school, but it was not long before an earthquake came and tore your town apart, leaving life at a standstill. The military had put the town into quarantine, and now you were stuck in the middle of nowhere in Indiana for the foreseeable future, whether you graduated or not. So instead, you picked up a part-time job at the radio station in town with your friend Robin. You would usually help run the evening programs alone. But you did not mind. It was kind of fun being able to curate a music hour to your taste.
Though something was tugging at you, slipping throughout your fantasies, tainting them, and you tried to push them down, you couldn't stop thinking about them, about him.
You had met Henry at the Hawkins High School library, which had become the public library since the military decided to occupy the remains of the old library that had been torn down by the earthquakes. He had come up to you unexpectedly, to talk about the book you were reading. He seemed a couple of years older than you and quite handsome. And ever since that day at the library, you had begun to see Henry almost everywhere, at the supermarket, on walks throughout town, and even at the Hawk movie theater. And over time, you had formed a friendship with Henry. Even having occasional outings together. And over the time that you spent with him, he started to tell you the truth about Hawkins that you could not share with anyone else, the truth about the earthquakes, and why so many people had gone missing in this town. He explained to you that none of these tragedies were mere coincidences, but something more.
He had explained that these monsters, these creatures, were monsters that had come to Hawkins through another world. And that they planned to take over the town and kill everyone in it. To most, it might have sounded insane, but Henry had a way with words that you could not exactly bring yourself to believe he was lying. Henry assured you that it was all right because he knew a place where the monsters could not reach us, and he would take you there when the time was right.
You wondered where exactly the place was that Henry had found that was safe from all this; you imagined the place based on the description he gave you. You thought of the large, blue Victorian house with a blue rose door. It sounded so lovely.
And as you began to doze off, and your fantasies turned into dreams, you dreamed of Henry. Because, maybe just maybe, you might like him more than you would like to admit.
The next morning, you found yourself at a cafe in town, sitting for some coffee. You just sat down when you saw Robin from across the cafe, you two both locked eyes, and she came over to talk to you.
"Good morning, Robin. I didn't expect to see you here so early. I thought you had your early morning Rockin' Robin segment right about now?" you greet her as she comes to sit down with you.
"Oh, yeah, I just had Steve come in today to fill in for me; he isn't great, but it's better than Nancy taking over the turntables," Robin responds, you don't see her much as she has the day shift at the Squawk and you have the nightshift, and she seems to always be too busy to hangout. You don't blame her, she is probably running around with Vicky, her girlfriend she told you about when you first started working at the radio station.
"Order for Robin!" The clerk at the window yells out, and it just so happens that your order comes out at the same time as Robin's, you offer to go up as Robin is just about halfway through the morning sudoku. As you go up to the clerk, you see Henry at the register ordering coffee.
"Henry!" you call out from the window.
Henry looks up as if expecting you and comes over, "I didn't expect to see you here."
"I could say the same, are we still on for this evening?" He winces at the mention, "actually something came up for this evening, but I can do tomorrow."
"Well, could you stay for coffee now? I am here with my friend Robin, you know? From the Squawk, I've been wanting to introduce you to her!" You turn your head around, and you can't see Robin at your booth. "That's weird," you muttered, "Probably just went to the bathroom." When you turn your head back around, Henry is gone, and a hand is placed on your shoulder.
Shocked, you jerk around to see Robin, "Hey, are you alright, you're up here talking to yourself, are those night shifts finally getting to you?"
"No, no, my friend Henry was just here, he just kind of evaporated just now, I've mentioned him to you before, right? I turned around for a second, and I have no clue where he went."
A wave of concern that almost looks like fear washes over Robin's face, "I guess I just didn't see him, ha ha! Funny, let's go eat. I'm starving!" You guys go sit down and eat, and after the meal, you decide to go with Robin to the Squawk to spend the rest of your day, given that Henry isn't free tonight.
"Here comes our little nightbird. I wasn't expecting you here so early." Steve mocks as you come through the door. Steve was always like this, with his nicknames and his passive-aggressive attempts at flirting. And though they were not exactly effective, you still had to admit he was charming. But you knew about his history with Nancy and assumed that you likely stood no shot with Steve "The Hair" Harrington.
You liked hanging out with Robin during the day, because somehow, her had found a smuggler and was able to smuggle in all kinds of things that were usually sold out or just not even sold at the super market anymore, it was a delicacy you only felt good about enjoying during the day because it felt like stealing when you tried to sneak anything at night. Aside from the food, you enjoyed just having company, people to argue about music with, and just to talk to.
This was one of the days that Jonathan and Nancy weren't there, and you were kind of glad because of that. You honestly admired Nancy; she was beautiful and smart, and you understood why half of Hawkins sought after her beauty. But the tension created between Jonathan and Steve, especially when Nancy was there, put a damper on everything you enjoy about being there during the day. It kind of pissed you off how Steve acted around Nancy, and how he even now, still tries to flirt with her.
You had tried to vent your anger about the radio station's love triangle to Henry once, but you might've made your thing for Steve a little too obvious. "You're leagues above this guy. I wouldn't worry about him if I were you." He'd say, and always dismissed it in a similar manner when you would mention it again. You assumed Henry didn't take much pleasure in trivial things like that.
For most of the morning, you hung around the station with Robin, gossiping and catching up. You had lost track of time when Steve said he was going to run out, something about "Santa's delivery for this week." He had made a point to make sure you didn't need anything before he left, asking a million times if you were sure. But eventually he left, realizing the sun was setting, and you didn't have a show scheduled tonight, you figured you'd head home as well.
"He likes you, you know that, right?" Robin says, as you were packing up.
Your face went red, and you fumbled with whatever you were grabbing for your bag, "What!? No way he likes me, you see how he acts around Nancy."
"Yeah, no, I think that's just his regular personality. He has kind of gotten over her, but you, my dear friend, he has spent the last two weeks begging me to get you here for the day shift, and I mean begging. Whenever you are around, he's always kind of off."
"What if I told you I don't believe you, and I think you're trying to make a fool of me." No way Steve liked you, sure, he was flirty, but you assumed that was just because that's who he was.
"Believe what you want to believe, but if one of you doesn't make a move, I think our precious Steven is going to explode," Robin responds.
Robin continues on about her reasoning and pleas as to why you should just try to ask Harrington out, and you try to ignore her; the concept is just too overwhelming to you, and even now, Henry is floating through your head with his "You're too good for him" mantra. And Robin does eventually switch conversation topics, and as an apology for dumping the "Harrington affair" onto you, offers to drive you home.
Upon arrival at your home, you find that your mom isn't home and is still picking up hospital night shifts, so you invite Robin in for a while. You don't really know why, either; you kind of miss talking to people besides Henry, something a little more real. Robin felt real and made you feel real, whereas Henry had the opposite affect. And though you didn't hate it, it was nice to feel ground to reality at times.
Around 9pm, Robin leaves, and you're getting ready in your pajamas for bed, you are wearing a pink nightdress that you had been gifted a while ago. You found yourself downstairs in the kitchen, boiling water, sitting on one of the counters, waiting for your tea to boil.
You are suddenly disturbed by a pounding coming from what feels like inside the walls. They were loud, as if something was trying to break through. All the lights around you in the kitchen began to start violently flickering, as you looked up for the source of this din, you seen the cracks forming in your ceiling. You reach for a kitchen knife lying nearby, ready for whatever you are about to face, and then you see it, the creatures Henry had told you about. You scream and run for the backdoor which is locked, and as you are trying to unlock the door, the creature throughs you across the room. You hit the wall with a crash and can feel a liquid warmth pouring out from the back of your head. Everything starts to go dark, and all you can remember as you are trying to stay awake is the monster dragging you across your kitchen by the leg, leaving a trail of crimson behind you.