Over the years nightmares have been a frequent friend in the Hopper house. Chills and a scream lodged in the back of her throat is the only way that Christine Hopper knows how to wake up. Her father tries hard to believe his daughter has a handle on...
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"Hey, Chief," Melissa, Missy, Jones greets, opening the front door wide. The sun shines into the foyer. Chief Hopper steps inside, taking off his hat politely. Ronda hears their voices from her bedroom and cautiously heads down the stairwell. She peeks around the corner, spotting Chief Hopper. He glances up at Ronda.
"Uh, is Ron home, Missy?"
"Yes. Yes. He's in his office. I'll go get him. Have a seat, Chief. Do you want anything? Water? Coffee?"
"No. No thank you, Missy."
Missy Jones heads down the hallway after gesturing Hopper to take a seat in the lounge. He sits down in an armchair, resting his hat on his knee. Ronda hurries down the stairs on quiet feet, ducking into the longue. "What are you doing here?" she wonders, more curious than accusing.
"Joyce and I have some questions about the LSD experiments that happened with your mother and Terry Ives. You remember her, right?"
Ronda nods. "Yeah, but I thought the baby died...nothing ever came of the Ives case."
"I think there's a kid out there that was taken by Dr. Brenner and the lab. Covered up the Ives story and maybe even faked your siblings' death so people wouldn't dig around after Terry Ives."
"You think our brother is alive?"
"I don't know," he corrects. "It's a possibility. I just need to know a few things about your mother before her death. Maybe there were things she was concerned about...maybe your father heard or saw something he can't explain at the time."
"What about Terry Ives, are you going to see her?"
"We're working on that."
"I'm coming with," Ronda blurts out. These three words seem to be her catchphrase now. She squares her shoulders.
Hopper rolls his eyes. "Do I really have a choice?"
"No. Not anymore."
Chris sits down on the floor, cross-legged. She has her hands on her knees, staring down at the book of Dungeons and Dragons characters. The yellowing pages are spread open on the Shadow Walk page. The picture of someone dressed in long robes and magical forests bores a hole through Chris's eyes. She shoves the book away from her.
"This is stupid, Dustin."
Dustin sits across from her, narrowing his blue eyes in annoyance. He doesn't like to be challenged when he knows he's not being stupid. "Excuse me? I'm not the one that wanted to do this—"
