The Overcomer, Stranger Things

The first reunion

Joyce bounced her leg up and down as she waited for the plane to land. She and Hopper have been watching the news the entire ride and things in Russia seem to be getting worse. Although one good thing did come out of it, they had found out the prison camp was in the Kamchatka Peninsula so at least now they knew where to go.

"Hey," Hopper placed a hand on her knee, getting the woman to stop, "it's gonna be okay. We're gonna get her back."

"She's been at that place for almost a year Hop," Joyce whispered, looking straight ahead at the seat before turning to look at him. His heart nearly broke at the obvious pain and guilt in her eyes. "How could I not have known? How could I have not known that my daughter was alive?"

"It's not your fault, Joyce," Hopper held her hand as the brunette shook her head. "We all saw her die. We all thought that she was dead--"

"But I'm her mother!" Joyce exploded, slightly startling the man. "I should have known. She's my baby. She's only ten and she's been through more trauma than most people would've been through in five lifetimes--"

"Joyce," Hopper moved his hand up to her face, cupping her chin and turning her to face him. "Gwen is alive," he continued, causing a small smile to appear on the woman's face. "She is alive and you are going to get her back. Focus on that, don't think about anything else. You're gonna see your daughter again."

"Do you promise?"

"I promise."

~:~

The wail of the prison's siren blared in Gwen's ears as she slowly came to consciousness. She slowly blinked her eyes open, her eyebrows furrowing when she saw that she was laying down on the floor. Ignoring the throbbing pain in the back of her head, she slowly sat up and looked around. The Byers girl seemed to be in some sort of control room. Her eyes widened in horror when she glanced to her left to see the now mangled body of Corporal Molotov a few feet away from her. Gwen scrambled away from the corpse, her breathing heavy, as she rose to her feet. She tilted her head to the side as she stared at Molotov for a few more seconds before shrugging her shoulders and turning away. He kind of deserved that.

Gwen wrapped her arms around herself, attempting to get warm as she turned towards the monitors, trying to see what was going on. The 10-year-old's mouth fell open when she realized that there was a huge claw mark that ran through all of the screens. As she got a closer look at the room, she saw that there were scratches all over the walls and shattered glass littering the floor. A trail of crimson blood led her to a metal door at the top of the stairs.

~:~

Joyce and Hopper sat in silence as they drove towards Kamchatka Prison camp. The nearer they got, the more anxious the couple became. However, the Byer's mother's worry turned into confusion when she saw that the gate to get into the camp had been torn off. Her bewilderment only increased when she realized that the place seemed to be deserted.

"Where are the guards?" Joyce asked as she looked around.

"Maybe this will be easier than we thought," Hopper responded, trying to lighten the mood as he kept driving. Neither of them heard the terrified screams and the gunshots that were coming from the radio.

~:~

Gwen felt goosebumps rise on her arms as she slowly turned the doorknob, the hinges making a loud creaking noise as the door opened to reveal an empty hallway. The Byers girl creased her eyebrows when she realized that she didn't hear the alarm blaring anymore, in fact, everything seemed to be completely silent, peaceful almost. She stepped through the threshold, her eyes widening in horror when she saw that she was no longer in a hallway, but in the crematorium.