"I swear, if I'm dying tonight because of you, I'm gonna haunt your ass so hard, Harrington!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah! I'm gonna go full Poltergeist and shit!"
"Then bring it, Graveswood."
"Challenge accepted."
***
In which after years of suppressing their...
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Chapter Eighty-One: The Snow Ball Dance
(The Gate, Pt. 8)
***
"Since the release of the incendiary tape, the once quiet town of Hawkins, Indiana, has spent time in a place it never expected—the national spotlight. Under mounting pressure, several high-ranking members from the U. S. Department of Energy have admitted involvement in the death and cover-up of Hawkins resident Barbara Holland, who died due to exposure to an experimental chemical asphyxiant, which had leaked from the grounds of the lab. We sent our own April Kline to Hawkins to speak to resi—"
CLICK.
Rowan turned the TV off, silencing the reporter midway through her sentence, having already heard it before. Standing from the couch, Rowan headed to her brother's bedroom, rapping her knuckles against the closed door.
"Is it safe to come in, squirt?" Rowan asked.
"Yes," came the muffled response and Rowan swung the door open, letting her see her brother.
"Wow, you look really handsome, squirt!" Rowan complimented, grinning.
Alistair flushed, fiddling with his collar. "Thanks, Rowan. You think Cami will think I look handsome?"
"Al, she'd have to be blind to not see how handsome you look right now," Rowan assured, while also thinking, Will would probably think you look handsome, too. "Now, c'mere and let me fix your collar up."
As Rowan kneeled down and adjusted her brother's collar, Alistair asked, "Hey, was that another report on Hawkins Lab?"
Rowan stilled, before she nodded. "Yeah. Yeah it was."
It had been a month since a tape sent anonymously to multiple papers had exposed the truth that Hawkins Lab was responsible for Barb's death, and that plus the resulting media storm and pressure forced the lab to close for good—Rowan had even accompanied her aunt and Murray to gleefully farewell the last of the Hawkins Lab military personnel. That Nancy, Jonathan and Aunt Aco and Murray were responsible for.
The chemical leak that was the cover up for Barb's real death, but had still resulted in justice for her, and closure for her parents. They'd finally been able to know what happened to their daughter, and as much as it wrecked them, Rowan knew they were at peace knowing Barb's fate instead of tearing themselves apart trying to find her when they couldn't. Rowan, Alistair and Aunt Aco had attended her funeral, and after the funeral service, Alistair had gone quieter than he already had and wandered off before he came back and pulled Nancy aside and talked to her, which Rowan had eavesdropped on.
