The Devil Child || Eddie Munson

New in Town

——CHAP ONE——
December 15th, 1985

Lillian came from a well off family, one that moves around only once or twice in a decade, and that buys the nice painted house on the top of the hill. The kind that attends all the social get-togethers in a 20 mile radius, and forces their daughters into pristine little outfits until they're old enough to pick out their own. Lillian loved her family, but god could they be obsessed with their perfect little life.

Lillian, who liked to be called Lily by her friends (if she had any), had often surprised her parents as a child, taking unusual interests and asking for unusual gifts. Ever since she had turned 7 in the year 1975, she had asked for odd things. It started with that book about bugs, and led to the following years with that squirt gun, the pirates costume, the bandannas for her cowboy themed birthday party, a collection of DnD guide books, roller skates, a bike, a camcorder, and the tea set. Her parents had been relieved to get her that set, thinking she finally had 'caught a hint' from the other girls her age.

The same tea set had been quickly taken away a week later when she had been found 'mixing potions' and serving worms.

A few years ago she had even jokingly asked for a playboy magazine, to which she watched the color drain from her mother's face, and received a temporary ban on any more odd gifts. She had decided to play it low for the two years following that incident, saving her 'one odd gift a year' privilege until the year her family decided to move to Hawkins, Indiana. 1986.

Well...technically it was still 1985 when they bought their house and began moving everything in, but New Years was only three weeks away so it was practically 1986 already.

Lily and her older sister Anna were given a week to settle before they had to 'conform to society', for Lily that included getting ready for her senior year of high school at Hawkins high. For Anna, it meant finding a job and popular group of girls to add herself to.

Once the house had been ready, Lily received the second, smaller bedroom on the second floor, with only one window. Unlike the other rooms that had two or more. She still loved it nonetheless, plastering the walls with band posters and postcards of cool places, leaving one of the walls blank to paint on. She had a twin bed in one corner, a desk in the other, the rest of the room featuring an armchair, a full mirror, a bookshelf, and a dresser with a small record player on top. Most of which were painted a darker sage green, minus the armchair which was a classic, flower printed contrast to Lily's green preference, but was the only one her parents had leftover.

She had already put most things away, but decided to get a head start on school supplies. AShe pulled out her class books from her old school in Vermont and rifled through them, picking up the ones she knew pertained to the courses she'd be taking this year at Hawkins.

Her fingers hesitated on her sophomore year chemistry book, her nose immediately scrunching up in distaste. 'Why haven't I burned this book yet?' She thought, before catching sight of the note her father had written on the inside cover. 'Oh yeah, it's a reminder' she huffed, mentally reminded of her conversation with her parents two years ago when she had explained 'a B- in Chemistry isn't that bad Dad, at least I kept my grade average.'

Rolling her eyes at the memory, Lily dropped it back into the box with the other unneeded books and shoved it under her bed, taking the three that she had kept out, and stacking them over next to the full length mirror. She set her schoolbag down next to it and dumped her recently bought school supplies into the bag with no sense of organization. Her parents may preach that a daughter should be a perfect image of an organized housewife, but had yet to wake up and smell their daughters rebellious nature, instead, covering the scent with their candles of ignorance, conveniently vanilla scented.

Grabbing her warm fleece lined denim jacket, sewn with a variety of rock band patches, and throwing on her black Doc Martens with green shoelaces, she rushed out her bedroom door and down the stairs. As she jumped off the last two steps and landed on the wooden floor she spotted her Dad at the Kitchen table in the next room.

"Hey Dad I'm headed downtown, is that cool?" Lily called, already halfway out the door. Her dad set down the morning paper and gave her a look.

"Downtown? At 10:30? Any particular reason?" He asked, causing Lily to stop in her tracks.

"Uh, job hunting?" She responded feebly, figuring that would be a good enough excuse. Her dad grumbled out a 'take your sister why don't you' into his coffee cup, to which Lillian ignored, hopped out of the house, and closed the door behind her.

It took all of 10 seconds for Lily to regret not wearing leggings under her jeans, the cold making goosebumps appear along her legs. The slight chill bit at her cheeks and ears, causing her to tug loose her ponytail and let her light brown hair drop to just beneath her collar bones and cover her ears.

She opened the door into the garage and dragged out her bike, throwing her leg over and beginning the trek into town. She quietly hummed a song to herself as she flew by the frost covered lawns of Hawkins high-class families, cruising down the hill until she passed the trailer park, admiring the lights emitting from each little home. As she took a right onto a busier road, nearly at the town center, she took one hand off the handlebars to adjust the collar of her Duran Duran long sleeve shirt, which had been snagging against her silver chain necklace. Dangling from the chain was a charm that her sister bought her one year, of a Lily flower.

With one final tug to her shirt, she put her hand in her pocket, steering with only her right hand.

Pulling up to the main strip of small businesses, Lily set her bike into the rack and took a glance around the road. Deciding on the general store, she pushed open the doors and was met with a warm gust of air. The middle aged cashier gave a small wave, and she returned it, grabbing a few candy bars and heading over to buy them.

"I haven't seen your face before" the woman said, scanning her items with a smile, a cautionary question clearly implied in her words. Who are you, and do you have any negative intentions with this town?

"My name is Lillian, my family just moved here a few days ago on the North Side" she replied politely, hoping that somehow 'I'm no trouble but I don't appreciate your tone' was conveyed well enough in her voice. The lady nodded, seemingly content with her answer, and handed her the candybars.

"Have a nice day" she said politely, Lily giving her a nod before turning and rushing out the door.

She pulled her bike from the rack, glancing up at a store she hadn't previously seen before.

Family Video

'Huh, I wonder if they're hiring'

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1244 Words

So,,How are we feeling?
This is my first time publishing a story, so I'm a tad nervous. But please share your feedback and suggestions :)

Ps- the lady is NOT Joyce! At this point in the story, she is still in California.

Thanks and enjoy,
-Liz