The Overcomer, Stranger Things

Benched with the three stages of psychosis

Gwen Byers grinned slightly as she felt someone nuzzle their face into her hand. However, her dopey smile soon morphed into an expression of confusion when she opened her eyes to be staring up at her ceiling fan. How the heck did she get here? The blond's question was answered when she slowly craned her neck over to see her weeping mother repeatedly kissing her tiny hand.

"Oh," Gwen realized out loud as she brought her other hand to her forehead, inevitably attracting the rest of the room's attention. "That's how I got here!"

The Byers girl let out a squeal when out of nowhere, four bodies piled on top of her. Will, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin wrapped their arms around their missing friend tightly, only to get shoved off by an overprotective mother bear.

"Be careful with her! She's fragile," Joyce scolded half-heartedly as she climbed in next to her daughter and hugged her carefully. Johnathan let out a laugh at his mother's overprotectiveness.

"Momma, I'm fine" Gwen smiled up at her as she gently pushed her away before attempting to get up. The 8-year-old let out a groan, holding her head as she suddenly got very lightheaded. The room seemed to spin as she fell back onto her bed. Gwen looked up at her mother, her expression turning annoyed when she saw an 'I-told-you-so' look on her face.

"Yeah, yeah," the blond huffed as she crossed her arms. "I know."

Gwen giggled as her mom grabbed her and held onto her tightly, practically squeezing the life out of the tiny girl. Her face turned beat red when her mom cupped one side of her face and started peppering the other side with kisses.

"Mom," Gwen whined as she tried to squirm away. "My friends are watching!"

Joyce completely ignored her and continued to dote on her daughter. Meanwhile, Gwen's eyes widened in horror when she saw Will slowly take out Johnathan's camera, most likely for blackmailing purposes. Her chagrin only grew when Hopper walked over and joined the boys in putting the Byers girl to shame. The 8-year-old let out a loud, annoyed, groan as they pointed the camera at her and laughed obnoxiously.

"You just wait till I can get away from her!" Gwen warned as her mother brought her into another hug. The Byer's girl's voice was slightly muffled when she proclaimed her next threat. "You'll be sorry!"

~:~

"What happened out there, baby?" Joyce asked Gwen, as she stroked her arm lovingly.

Joyce was sitting on the right side of her daughter's bed with Hopper taking the left, guarding the blond like loyal puppy dogs. Both of them wanted to address the elephant in the room: the elephant being why they found the 8-year-old buried alive under a pumpkin patch. The members of the party were all east dropping on the other side of the door, while Johnathan actually listened to his mother and gave them some privacy. Although, he had walked past his little sister's closed door a suspicious amount of times. Gwen cast a worried glance at Hopper, silently asking if her mother should hear this, making the man give her an encouraging nod. She took a deep breath and latched onto her mom's hand before beginning.

"I- I saw something out there," Gwen whispered as her mom pecked her hand and Hopper rubbed her back soothingly. She wet her cracked lips before continuing, "Something I don't think I was supposed to see."

"What did you see?" Joyce asked as she tucked some hair behind the blond's ear, trying to get a better look at her face as she told her story. The worried mother's eyes watched her daughter carefully as Gwen closed her eyes, seemingly taking herself back to the pumpkin patch.

The soil surrounding where the older girl had been turned an icy blue color.

"The soil at the pumpkin patch... it was blue," the 8-year-old let out as she furrowed her eyebrows, Joyce and Hopper exchanging a worried glance.