Stranger Things: Little Miss Perfect (A Prequel Novel)

Chapter 8: "I see a tall-human looking silhouette with buzzed hair"

Here we are. We left Barb's car on the side of Maple Street as it was the closest to the lab, all we needed to do is cut our way through and go straight forward. Our research helped but did not settle our nerves; News reports state that Hawkins lab is extremely secretive, no info ever leaks. It was built during the second World War for whatever reason. The reports suggested that the disappearance of children around Hawkins was due to the lab. Barb was extremely sceptical about the entire thing, there were lawsuits against the lab for various different charges, such as abuse, kidnapping. We were only here for pictures but due to the rabbit hole we dug into at the library, time went by and now it's sun down. We don't have many options because Jonathan works the rest of the weekend and we need the pictures urgently. We decided to ride out and try to get them now, Jonathan knows his way around the forests surprisingly well, claimed he did a lot of hunting down here. 

We had our flashlights by our side and Jonathan had his camera swinging around his neck, we climbed the hill leading up to the forest. We were in the middle of the vast entourage of decrepit trees, all dead to the eye. Every step we took came with a large crunch of twigs. Barb says cautiously, "Animal attacks aren't common in Hawkins guys, we're good."

"Barb, you know how I talked about my cousin and my gun learning certificate?"

I pulled out my revolver that I had hidden away in my wardrobe, mostly because I didn't want my siblings to find it, even if it isn't loaded when I have it in there. 

"I got it for my 12th birthday." I explain, but still doesn't come out right.

Jonathan is quiet but speaks up, "This way."

"Are we just going to skim over the fact that Nancy has guns stored away?" Barb exclaims.

"I'm not 'Little Miss Perfect' anymore." I state.

I can hear Jonathan laughing under his breath. 

There is a cold chill tonight, even colder than the night I was walking home alone. I can't help but feel uneasy as we walk into the darkness of the forest almost like a void.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Barb whispers to Jonathan.

He nods as I have my gun strapped in my jacket, I hope to not need it but who knows what's out there. I am not even talking about the supernatural anymore, there could be wild animals out there.

In the opening of the trees in the far distance, I see a bright glow. "Hey guys." I wave them over.

"It must be the lab's exterior lights" Jonathan exclaims.

We start quickening up our pace so we can get out of here as quick as we can, the ground descends and ascends on rough ground where we trip and stammer our way over. We get there and we see the lab in all it's glory; It was guarded by a barbed wire fence and we could see guards in the distance tiredly doing their rounds.

"Okay, take your shots quickly." I say urgently.

Jonathan pulls the camera from around his neck with great velocity and starts taking chain shots of the building.

After about 20 seconds of this we call it quits, we begin pacing back to Barb's car. We can't distinctively recognise which footsteps are ours anymore. We weren't gonna waste another second in the secluded forest, as we were running I heard a skittering of the bushes again. I didn't know what it was but I grabbed Barb by the arm and exclaimed, "Run!"

Now it was step after step trying not to fall over the unsteadiness of the ground, I was practically holding Barb's hand as we both ran through at full speed. Jonathan was in front with his flashlight, I hope he knows where he is going. As we're running, we hear steps behind us. I turn as we're running and I see a tall-human looking silhouette with buzzed hair, the person was pretty tall and as we scampered we could hear laughing. There were a group of what it seemed like teenagers who were probably scaring people on purpose. In the moonlight, all I could see were biker jackets with various patches that I couldn't make out.

We got to the car and I came to a halt, "I think we were pranked..." I say between suspended breaths.

"There was a group of them in biker jackets." I exclaim.

"Did you recognise any of them?" Jonathan asks.

"No, I didn't. One of them had buzzed hair though."

We all pile into the car as Barb remains strangely quiet. She starts the car as we roll off the pavement past the luxury homes. 

"Barb, did you know these guys" I ask.

There's silence and then she sighs.