In the state of Indiana, under a near constant cover of clouds and rain, there's a small town called Hawkins. Most of it's dwindling population are clueless to it's dark secrets but those who do know are trying to desperately forget.
But Valerie H...
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By the time Valerie made it back to the cabin, the sun had begun to rise over Hawkins. Every ray of light that touched her skin through the foliage of the trees felt like it was burning her from the inside out. As she fell into a fever-like state, it suddenly made sense the Mind Flayer hid in the depths of the cold, dark basement.
Stumbling through the front door, she let out a cry of pain when she realised no one was home. Being sick wasn't that bad when her Dad was there to bring her chicken soup but while she was left to care for herself it sucked. Her body crashed into the freezer before she managed to drag every bag of ice they owned into the bathroom. As soon as she'd ran a bath of cold water and dumped the contents of the bags in it, she immediately collapsed into the tub with a sigh of relief.
Val stayed frozen in time until a soft voice called her name. Her head rolled to the side and she nearly jumped back when she saw El crouched down next to her. A deep purple bruise was wrapped around the young girl's neck and Val lifted her hand out of the water to gently touch it.
"Who did this to you?" Valerie asked, concern laced through her tone.
"Billy."
"It's not his fault. The Mind Flayer-"
"-I know" she interrupted, "We trapped him in the sauna last night but he escaped."
An idea burst into Valerie's head and she quickly submerged her body under the water before jumping out and running out of the room. When she returned she slammed hers and Hoppers yearbooks on the wet floor before circling names and faces in them with a red marker.
"Don't trust these people." Val stated, thinking of all the people and the sound of their screams, "there are others- I just don't know who they are...sorry."
When she turned towards El and pushed the books into her arms, Valerie noticed something was off.
"You're not really here are you?" she asked and El shook her head.
