STRANGER THINGS: Sojourn
Steve marks another tally on a wall already full of tallies. Eight-hundred and eight. That's how many days he and his (ex) girlfriend Nancy had been trapped in the nightmare. He writes out the number and chuckles at it seemingly spelling out BOB. He shakes his head, remembering what they had to endure for each one. He tries to calculate how many more tallies it would take to reach eighty-thousand and eighty-five, but he's never been a math wiz, and gives up as he tries to subtract eight from five. His thoughts drift off as the numbers become meaningless to him. He stands, stretches his arms above his head, then drops them to hang at his sides as he looks around.
His life from before seems so far away now, almost like a dream. Maybe this is reality and everything before was just a fantasy. What had he and Nancy been doing in the Laboratory anyway? He can't remember. He remembers entering, the mist, (who turned on the fog machine?), and then the monster. And then many more monsters, and running (take a lap, take a lap). And after that... nothing but blank spaces filled with pain, and blood, of screaming the sound of breaking glass, and more screaming. And always the fear. The fear that would follow every move they made. The horror of it has worn away at his insides and there's not a thing anyone could do to stop it or even understand the true nature of its existence. And Nancy. Oh god. How many times has she saved his ass?
He'd found himself in many different places too. His favorite was the cornfield. It was dark there for a really long time, but just recently he'd seen the sun again. The tall, golden-yellow stalks reaching up toward the sun. The sun was comforting. But even in the fields he'd hear screams.
He liked the cornfield better than the lab, even with the idiot hope that the gates would lead him back home (were there gates when he first got there?) but it always led back to the campfire. And that was comforting too. He'd see Nancy there sometimes, but she wouldn't talk with him, none of the others did either. So he'd put on a brave face and puff out his chest, surely that would inspire them. Just like on the basketball court. Rally the troops, as his coach would say (can't remember his name anymore). He wanted to go to school and play sports again. He wished he could be with Nancy all the time. It reminded him that there was a before. And he could still smell her, the perfume. That's all he needed.
Today is a lucky day. Today he got the gates open and he got to protect Nancy. He wants to hold her hand as they step through the invisible barrier that stops the monsters from following them to the campfire (where's the light?), but she starts moving before he gets the chance. The campfire isn't there this time. He walks through the gates and into the outskirts of Hawkins, Indiana.
"This is new." He says aloud.
Nancy turns to him, shock written on her face.
"What?" He asks with an uneasy grin.
"Steve you talked!" Nancy shouts, and then covers mouth, her eyes wide and unbelieving. She shakes her head, trying to process it, but it just doesn't add up.
That's right; they hadn't talked since they walked into the lab. They had tried, but the words always got caught in their throats.
It had been so long since he had Nancy talk to him that he found himself wrapping his arms around her and spinning her around. And then, finally, pressing his lips against hers. He pulls away with tears of happiness and confusion running down both of their cheeks.
Why was he here again? Something about Bob? Nancy probably knows, he'll ask her later. But for now he wants a burger, his stomach rumbling will ruin his date. That's what they were doing here, right? They were on a date?
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Observation #4206
To think of the Entity's realm as inescapable is accurate, there certainly is no "escaping." However, in rare circumstances, the Entity has been known to simply puke out subjects it has lost interest in, or finds too troublesome to continue digesting. As was the case for the pair I dubbed The Lovers. But the time they spent here wasn't just an illusion. Their experiences in this world were all very real... although not in any way they could have imagined before entering its clutches. Whether they wanted to or not, they have left their mark on the Entity, and in the memories of its subjects. Consequently, it is not uncommon to spot the remnant "ghosts" of these two. Thusly, the pale-skinned demon they brought with them is manifested with less regularity, but is still a slot in the Entity's eternal roulette.
Comments
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If anyone doesn't understand the significance of 808 days
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that was great
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