𝙾𝚒𝚕 𝙿𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 & 𝙶𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜 (Eddie Munson Fanfic)

SUMMER OF 85

Summer had just begun, starting off with a warm and sunny week. Most would see that as a good thing, Nicole did too. It wasn't her favorite kind of weather but she liked painting the orange, setting sun, especially if it was setting over a body of water. Painting was something she had done a lot that summer– visiting different places all around Hawkins, painting the sceneries she found worth painting. She didn't have a summer job, not because didn't get one, but because she'd rather use her time doing the things she enjoyed in life.

Even though the summer started out like a regular one, but it did not end like a regular one. Nicole had heard about the strange things that had occurred prior to her living there. They had been played off as accidental deaths with the government being at fault, though it all seemed a bit 'iffy'. Maybe she just found it weird that it all was happening in such a small town? Or perhaps the teen girl just had the tendency to read into things a bit too much.

Had she not been at Starcourt Mall that night, then Nicole would have continued to believe that it was all in her head, but what had once been paranoid thoughts of a troubled teenager became a reality once she saw what actually happened to the mall that night... The news said it was a fire, but it was more than just that.

The girl in question was not sure what exactly she had seen that night though she was sure something massive moved around inside the building. Screams were heard from where she stood a few hundred feet away, but that was way before the fire happened and as the fire broke out a few people left the building. You'd think that if someone came out from a burning building they'd have burns, coughing due to smoke inhalation or at least be covered in dust, yet one of those who she saw leaving showed any signs of those things.

But why was Nicole Robinson at Starcourt Mall to begin with? It wasn't to go shopping, it was way too late for that. The reason for the teen being there was as innocent as wanting to paint the building and its neon colors at the dead of night when the lights would've looked the nicest. Nicola had barely started painting when she noticed commotion from inside the mall; she had stayed in her place and watched from afar, focusing more on what could be happening inside that on the painting she came there to create.

After the event at Starcourt Mall, Billy Hargrove who was one class above Nicole had been pronounced dead at the scene. It was said that he died in the fire, but she didn't buy that after seeing what looked like Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers and a few others she didn't recognize. The only reason she even recognized those two was due to seeing them together in school and the fact that Nancy was in the same grade as her.

After the incident and Billy's death it seemed as if Hawkins went back to being a boring little town once again, the rest of the summer being uneventful. Nicole thought a lot about that night at the mall, finishing the painting she had started from memory. What had been planned to be a painting with the neon lights in focus turned into a painting that had the focus of the 'party' leaving the building with the ominous shadow lurking within it.

For some reason, this painting in particular made the girl frustrated whenever she looked at it, feeling as if she had missed a few details that made the painting look off. She kept it rolled up by her bed until summer was over, pairing the painting with a small note before bringing it with her to school.

Nicole didn't know Nancy personally, but on the first day back she made sure to note which locker belonged to her and thereafter planted the painting and note in her locker during a period she had skipped. Nancy never approached her about the painting, but from the random glances in class and in the hallways, Nicola could tell that her little message had been received by the recipient.

There was still that small chance that the Hawkins newcomer could be wrong, but she knew that the noises she heard and the flickerings she saw were more than a fire, it had to be...

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A/N:

Short chapter, I know.

This was more of another informative chapter. I promise that when I get into it and the story gets going, chapters will be longer.