adella hopper was not born to the man who gave her her last name. she was born in a split family in cuba, only to be transported from her home to hawkins, not knowing what would happen to her because of it.
she escapes the place she was taken to, k...
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adella, robin and nancy are led through the garden of the asylum by hatch who seemed proud of his job. many patients were around the area, doing whatever they pleased which included stroking bushes and wandering around.
"these are our gardens." hatch said. "beautiful, aren't they?" the patient stroking the bush looked at the three women and they averted their eyes. "we allow them two hours of outside time a day."
"can't they just escape?" robin inquired.
"they could. but the vast majority choose to be here." hatch replied and adella found that unlikely. "they like it here." they walked into a building a hatch pushed open the door to a room where classical music could be heard. "this is one of our more popular areas. the listening room. we found that music has a particularly calming effect on the broken mind. the right song, particularly one which holds some personal meaning, can prove a salient stimulus. but there are those who are beyond a cure."
robin and adella took a glance at one another before they were led even further but down some stairs instead of into another room. as they got down the steps, nancy spoke up, "um, dr. hatch, do you think it might be possible for us to speak to victor alone?"
"alone?" hatch asked.
"we would just love the challenge of speaking to victor without your professionalism." adella spoke up quickly. thank god for hopper's word of the day, she thought.
"then we could really rub it in professor bradley's face-"
"professor bradley?" hatch interrupted robin who gulped. "i don't believe i know a professor bradley."
"brantley." nancy said hurriedly. "she... she meant to say brantley."
"didn't i say brantley? what did i say?" robin faked a giggle, looking between the two girls who smiled nervously. "sorry, silly me. words, letters. guess i'm just nervous. i mean, excited. so excited to speak with victor. preferably, as she said, alone?"
hatch stared at them and nancy gave him a bigger smile and robin batted her eyelashes with a small grin while adella copied their actions. he smiled finally, "yes. why not? you've caught me in a rebellious mood. and there's something rather urgent i need to check on anyway, so... sure. keep a close eye on them."
he walked past them to go up the stairs and adella looked at him, "thank you, dr. hatch."
the security guard unlocked the bar door and it grinned open. patients could be heard clamouring in their cells and the hallway looked long and terrifying. adella felt like she was in a film. they walked close together through the hallway, the security guard speaking.
"do not startle him. do not touch him. do not pass him anything. stand five feet away from the bars at all times. is that clear?" he asked as a patient hissed at the women by the bars of their cell.
"yes, sir." all three replied.
the guard rattled his baton across victor's bar door, "victor. today's your lucky day! you got visitors. real pretty ones." all they heard was the scratching of victor's nails on his metal table. "must be in one of his moods. have fun."
"victor?" nancy asked carefully as the scratching continued making adella grimace when the sound hit her ears. "my name is nancy. nancy wheeler. and this is..."
"robin buckley." robin spoke up.
"and i'm adella hopper." adella introduced, nervously messing with her fingers.
"um, we have some questions." nancy said.
"i don't talk to reporters." victor spoke firmly. "hatch knows that.
"we're not reporters." nancy assured, walking closer to the bars and robin and adella did the same with a little more hesitance. "we're here because... we believe you. and because we need your help."
"whatever killed your family, we think it's back." robin added and adella looked down, trying not to overthink her headache again.
victor spam around in his chair and the girls breathing hitched when they saw how his eyelids were scratched over and blocking his vision. adella reached for robin's hand out of shock and their fingers locked together, squeezing tightly in fear. only adella was wondering if she and max would end up like his family or possibly even like victor.
after a moment, nancy started speaking again, "when he attacks, our friend described it as a trance. like a waking nightmare. that's why we think he's coming for her next. does any of this, anything we've told you, sound like what happened to your family?" victor breathed shakily. "victor."
"give him a second." adella ordered quietly. it's not exactly easy to tell the story of how your family died horrible, gruesome deaths.
"i know this is hard-"
"you don't know anything!" victor yelled angrily, cutting nancy off.
"you're right." nancy nodded. "we don't know. that's why we're here. to learn, to understand."
"we need to know how you survived that night." robin added.
victor laughed in disbelief and turned back to them and stood up, "survived? is that what you call this? did i survive? no, i assure you, i am still very much in hell. i had been back from the war some 14 years. her great-uncle had died, leaving us a small fortune. enough to buy a new home, a new life. it was a magnificent home. alice said it looked like it was from a fairy tale."
"alice. was this your daughter?" nancy asked.
"hm. yeah. but henry, my... my boy, he was a sensitive child... and i could see he felt something was wrong. we had one month of peace in that house. and then it began." victor started. "dead animals, mutilated, tortured, began to appear near our home. rabbits, squirrels, chickens, even dogs. the police chief blamed the attacks on a wildcat. this..." victor laughed in disbelief again, "this was no wildcat. this was an evil. an evil neither animal nor human. this was a spawn of satan. a demon. and it was even closer than i realised. my family began to have encounters conjured by this demon. nightmares. waking, living nightmares. this demon, it seemed to take pleasure in tormenting us. even poor, innocent alice. it wasn't long before i began to have encounters of my own. i suppose all evil must have a home. and though i had not a rational explanation for it, i... i could sense this demon, always close. i became convinced it was hiding, nesting, somewhere within the shadows of our home. it had cursed our town. it had cursed our home. it had cursed us." he explained that the radio had flickered on before disorientating one night at dinner before the first murder occurred. "it took virginia first. i tried to get the children out, to save them. but i was back to france, back in the war. it... it was a memory. i had thought german soldiers were inside. i ordered its shelling. i was wrong. this demon, it was taunting me. and i was sure it would take me, just as he'd taken my virginia. but then... i heard... another voice. at first, i believed it was an angel. and i... i followed her, only to find myself... in a nightmare far worse. while i was away, the demon took my children. henry slipped into a coma shortly after that. a week later, he died. i tried to join them. i tried." victor said, hinting to his eyes. "hatch stopped the bleeding. he wouldn't let me join them."
victor lay down on his bed and adella spoke this time, "the angel you followed, who was she?"
victor then started humming dream a little dream of me, rocking on his bed as he hugged his pillow. nancy didn't understand, "victor? victor."
the door to the row of cells snapped open and hatch stormed down, "is he everything you hoped he would be? i just had a very interesting conversation with professor brantley. perhaps we should discuss in my office while we wait for the police."
