His Tenebris Moenibus - A Stranger Things Story

000

September 1985

"Freshmen? Eddie, really?" Emily scoffed, taking the head off of another baby carrot while fidgeting with her clock shaped pendant. "We're not babysitters."

"No, no, hear me out on this. Most of us are graduating this year and we need them to carry on for us, y'know?" Eddie said, gesturing to the three boys next to him.

"You've got a lot of faith, Munson. You're legally allowed to drink and you still haven't left this shithole."

"I could say the same about you, Ripley." Eddie shot back. "In fact, you have even less say because you're even older than I am."

"Well, yes, but see, the difference is that you actually try and keep failing. I stopped giving a shit years ago. I know none of the teachers and they don't know me." Emily shifted to place her left leg over the right on the cafeteria table, the bottoms of her boots directly in Eddie's face. "But hey, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Say you do graduate, then I'm now the DM. I win either way."

"How do you win if I stay?"

"Because then I would be right. Again." Emily smirked, flicking the rest of the carrot into her mouth. "So who are the shrimps?"

Everyone was silent for a moment before Eddie nudged the curly haired boy right next to him.

"I'm Dustin." He said, a slight lisp in his diction.

"Dustin who?" Emily pressed.

"Henderson."

"Lucas Sinclair." The dark skinned boy next to him offered.

"Mike W-"

"No, wait, don't tell me. Wheeler?"

"Y-yeah... How'd you know that?"

Emily paused for a second.

"Your reporter sister, Nancy. She was a freshman during my first Senior year."

"Wow you have been here a long time." Mike spluttered. Emily just shrugged.

"Now, Em, how about you be nice and introduce yourself?" Eddie offered. She curled her upper lip up in a mocking sneer. Eddie replicated the expression.

"Emily Ripley, level 15 Tiefling Sorcerer, and--"

"The biggest stick up my ass." Eddie cut in.

"Bite me, Munson."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I have to ask, what's the relationship here? Like... are you two a thing or...?" Lucas asked. Emily gave a haughty laugh.

"Eddie couldn't get this if he tried, or any girl for that matter." She said.

"Right, and somehow your loser ass has one?" Eddie said, folding his arms.

"I've told you, he lives in... another city." Emily said, as if that ended her point.

"I've never met him. What was his name again? Something basic."

"Peter, thank you very much."

"So you named your fictional boyfriend after a comic book character?"

"You think I made him up just to name him after Spider-Man?"

"If the shoe fits."

"For your information, Munson, Peter has blonde hair and blue eyes and the only think he might have in common with Spider-Man is the... dexterity." Emily smirked, then stuck her tongue out at Eddie's disgusted expression. She turned to the three boys, glancing at each other awkwardly. "What about you boys? Anyone in your lives?"

"Well--" Dustin spoke up.

"No, wait... Lives in another state, dumped you more times than you have fingers, moved across the country." She pointed to each boy in turn.

"How'd you know that?" Mike asked again.

"I'm good at reading people." Emily shrugged. Eddie sighed, sitting down in a plastic chair adjacent from Emily and shoving her boots off the table. She retaliated by plopping them right back up. The boys just looked at her before she rolled her eyes and gestured for them to sit down. They obliged, almost sitting in unison. They sat in silence for a moment or two before Emily spoke up.

"I'll each let you ask me one question. Then I'll decide if Eddie throws you back into the cold or not."

"Hey. It's my club." Eddie argued. Emily closed her fingers in a shush gesture.

"Henderson. Go." She said, snapping her fingers in his direction.

"Oh, uh... what happened to your face?" He asked quickly.

"Bold choice." Emily said, finally taking her feet off the table to lean forward as if interrogating the boys. "It was an... electric fence. My... younger sister pushed me into it. Our... father crafted it himself so it was unregulated and highly dangerous." Emily traced the branch like scars on her face that ran from the corner of her nose, down her neck, and then down her right arm. She then tapped the side of the affected eye, the iris a cloudy grey. "I can't see out of my right eye."

Dustin just nodded, leaning back and staring at his sad looking school lunch.

"Sinclair." Emily said.

"What are your tattoos for?" He asked straight away. Emily gave a small smile and a nod. She pointed to her left arm, rolling up the black mesh sleeve. She made a point of keeping the outside of her wrist facing the boys.

"The brambles around my childhood home with the flowers growing on them." The black vines curled and twisted up her arm with red flowers similar to roses dotting the edges. She then pulled her shirt down to show her left shoulder, also covered in scars. "A blue rose like the color of the house... and incidentally, Peter's eyes."

"Barf." Eddie groaned. She shot him a look.

"You seem connected to your childhood." Lucas observed.

"You could say so." Emily pushed the sleeve back up and leaned back. "Wheeler."

"Oh... uh..." Mike paused for a moment, staring at Emily. "How did you meet Peter?"

"We both had rough childhoods. He had emotional issues and felt disconnected from his family. My mother was absent and my... younger sister was treated better than I was by our father. We just kind of... gravitated towards each other." She said. Emily studied the three boys carefully.

"Henderson, your first instict was to ask me about my scars, a topic most people like to avoid. You're brave and to the point. Sinclair, you were ready with your question and made the appropriate connections. You're prepared and observant. Wheeler, you called Peter by name and trusted that I was telling the truth enough to ask. You're competent and the right amount of trusting." She leaned back with a satisfied smile, her hands in her lap. "Welcome to Hellfire."

The bell rang, indicating the end of the lunch period. The boys grabbed their trays and went to deposit them into the bin and head for class. Emily smirked with a shrug, eating another carrot.

"Once again, that wasn't your call to make" Eddie protested.

"You already wanted them in, I assumed you were on board." Emily said.

"Well, yeah, but--"

"If you're so dead set on graduating this year, you better move your ass so you're not late. I'll break the news to the others if I see them before you do."

"And what're you gonna do for the rest of the day?"

"Go out into the woods and find spiders to shove into your backpack."

"Yeah right, you're terrified of the damn things."

"I can make an exception for you, Munson." Eddie moved to protest before Emily made her shushing gesture. "Move your ass."

Eddie shoved her shoulder before grabbing his things and leaving the now deserted lunchroom. Emily watched him go, absently rubbing the inside of her left wrist with her thumb. She looked at the spot with a grim smile, tracing the digets with her thumbnail.

004.