𝘌𝘕𝘋𝘌𝘈𝘝𝘖𝘙 || 𝘋𝘔𝘐𝘛𝘙𝘐 𝘈𝘕𝘛𝘖𝘕𝘖𝘝

||ꜰɪᴠᴇ||

Hopper stared at Dmitri in shock, trying to catch his breath.

''Your eyes don't deceive you. I'm a prisoner now. Like you" Dmitri told him, signaling toward them both.

Hopper used the wall as support as he stood next to me, inching closer and closer to the former prison guard. 

''Yuri, the smugger, he betrayed me. Betrayed us.'' 

I knew what was about to happen. 

Hopper's facial expressions turned angry as he raised his fist and hit Dmitri. I jumped in front of them, trying to stop Hopper from doing anything permanent.

I stood in between the two men, Russian prisoners cheering them on.

''It's not his fault,'' I said gasping, looking at both of them.

Hopper took deep breaths as he calmed down and slid down the brick wall near us; the Russian prisoners gave me disapproving looks and spat on the ground.

I sat on the cold floor, glaring at both of them.

Hopper began panicking.

''Joyce. What about Joyce?''

-----------

I sat against the cell walls, tuning out of Dmitri and Hopper's conversation.

I'm going to die. I'm never going to get to say goodbye to everyone I love.

I started to sob into my sleeves, pulling my knees up to my chest. I must've caught the attention of Dmitri, because he came and collapsed next to me.

He pulled me in for a hug. I cried into him as I felt his warmth surround me. 

I looked up to see Hopper staring into the distance concerningly.

I heard a distant snarl. Dmitri spoke something to Hopper, and glanced back out through the cell bars.

I lifted my head as I heard Dmitri finish his sentence.

''You're right. We are going to die in here.''

I rested my head back on him for what felt like hours.

Much to my surprise, there was a clinking sound near our cell door. Someone was unlocking our cell door.

Us and the other prisoners jumped up as we saw a guard standing at the entrance.

''Out. Let's go.'' The guard spoke, motioning to hallways.

We all slowly trailed behind, watching closely as the guards led us into a small room.

The room was dimly lit, with a large dining room taking up most of the space in the room. I stared in amazement at all the food on the dining table. There was at least enough food to fill a small village.

''Am I dreaming, Americans? Or is this real?'' Dmitri spoke, laughing.

All 20 of the prisoners, sat down at the table as Hopper and I looked at each other. 

I joined Dmitri on a seat and dug into the food, as Hopper grabbed a cup and the bottle of alcohol and settled at the end of the table.

I watched as the men dug into the food, stuffing their mouths with chicken and bread.

I poked at the food on my plate suspiciously.

''What's wrong with your American friend?'' One of the prisoners spoke, pointing at Hopper.

''He has lost his spirit to live'' Dmitri replied with his mouth full.

''And he is not my friend.'' He added

I gave Dmitri a hostile look.

I felt bad for Hopper. He was probably too busy worrying about Joyce. I was worried too, but I just handled it differently.

''Isn't that right, cursed one, you have lost your spirit to live?'' Dmitri yelled to Hopper

''Yeah, something like that,'' He muttered to himself as he fell onto the ground.

I rushed to him, helping him to lean against me. The prisoner sat next to Dmitri started to speak about the noises we kept hearing at night.

''That, is a monster. Not from this world''

They continued to speak about it as Hopper joined in.

Hopper started to describe a Demogorgon.

''I've seen one; fought one. All your theories about it. They're all wrong. We're not here to train this monster. We're here to entertain it. And this food, this food is here to make us plump.'' He said, smashing a walnut on the table.

Dmitri continued to translate everything into Russian.

''So eat up. Enjoy. This is your last meal''

A dark feeling filled the room as Hopper happily reached for the rest of the alcohol.

The prisoners sat and resumed eating, only this time they were silent.

The smell of smoke filled my nose as the familiar prison guard led us out of the room and back onto a small court in the middle of the prison, a perfect view from all the cells.

''You are making them lose hope. We are not dying. I'm not dying with everyone thinking I'm a traitor.'' Dmitri spoke.

Hopper took one look at him and then turned to me. 

''What about you? Have you lost hope yet?'' Hopper said to me, bitterly.

''I've been stuck in a Russian prison for months. Of course, I've lost hope, Jim''

I continued to walk toward Dmitri.

''You've always been so pessimistic. Always playing the victim'' Hopper spoke to me.

''Quit it'' Dmitri warned him

The guards started to yell at us, telling us to keep following them.

Hopper carried on insulting me.

''You've got no one to blame but yourself. Or maybe everyone in your family is like you. Awful. You are the reason we're going to die in here''

Anger filled me as I took a swing at him. I heard a crack and saw his nose bleeding.

I was pulled back by a guard, but Dmitri wrestled him to the ground, hitting him.

Hopper began attacking the guards, pulling one of them to the icy floor.

All three of us were dragged back to our shared cell.

''Are you happy now, Jim? Was it worth it?'' I yelled at him.

He started speaking about the Demogorgon to Dmitri as I zoned out.

My eyes were caught by the liquor bottle he pulled out of one of his pockets. And a lighter he must've stolen from the guard. He looked at me.

''To answer your question about if it was worth it, yes, it was worth it.''

The two men began laughing, clutching their stomachs.

I gazed at the ground, expressionless.

''Hey kid, you know I didn't mean it, right?'' Hopper told me, nudging my shoulder.

I looked at him, as he pulled me in for a hug.