Over the years nightmares have been a frequent friend in the Hopper house. Chills and a scream lodged in the back of her throat is the only way that Christine Hopper knows how to wake up. Her father tries hard to believe his daughter has a handle on...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
November 4th, 1984 Hawkins, Indiana
The Void is, to Chris, the least familiar part of her abilities. She knows she can walk through dreams. She can see people's dreams, whether she is sleeping next to them or not; it's all about her willpower. She knows she can get to the Upside Down if someone is in there and they shouldn't be, or if she uses her strength to get there herself. She knows that there are other places out there; other dimensions that feel like dreams, similar yet vastly different from the Upside Down. Some of them she will never be able to physically go to; some of them she never wants to go to. Chris understands that the Void is a space in between all of these spaces. A break from all the worlds and dreams around her. A hiding place. A place where kids like Eleven and Nine can go when they need answers.
"El?" calls Chris, seeing the girl sitting on a chair, holding one of her father's old jackets. The reflection below them is faint. A little bit of water laps at Chris's shoes. It takes Chris a moment to recognize the girl.
Eleven has dark make-up around her eyes. Her short curls have been brushed back from her forehead with a lot of hair product. She's wearing an oversized black blazer with large shoulder-pads. El looks like she's been crying. The black make-up around her eyes is smudged.
"Chrissie," the girl whimpers.
Chris hurries over to her. "What the hell happened?" She puts a hand on El's shoulder.
El jerks back in shock, her eyes wide. The whites of her eyes surrounded by the black look she has painted on her face is a little chilling. "Hot."
Frowning, Chris kneels in front of the girl. "El, what's going on?"
"I ran...away."
Chris's eyes widen in shock. "Eleven. Where are you? Are you hurt?"
"I found my sister."
"Sister?" Chris sits back on her heels, confused, but also a little torn. El has a sister, and that means that Chris might not be able to fill the hole of being an older sister and role model to El like she'd subconsciously hoped. Chris loved having Sara as a little sister and having El in her life made her miss how much she loved having siblings and being an older sister. She knew it wasn't right to expect El to fill in the Sara-sized hole Chris needed, but a part of her didn't see the harm in having her as a sister.
"She has powers," says El, staring at Chris with pretty brown eyes. "Like us." Chris listens closely to El, feeling a little uneasy. "But she...hurts people..."
"Are you in danger, El?"
El shakes her head. "No..." She reaches for Chris's hand again, ignoring the heat rising from Chris's skin. She frowns at Chris. "You are." El tightens her grip on Chris. "I'm coming to save you."
Chris squeezes El's hand in her own, relishing the cool touch that El brings. She feels herself feeling less warm, but incredibly dizzy. A ringing starts to grow in her ears and her heartbeat echoes softly in her head, but she tries to ignore it. Chris can tell she's about to vanish from the Void.
"Come home, El. We'll be okay. We're safe, but we need you to come home," says Chris, her voice gentle and pleading.
Tears pool in El's eyes for a second. She blinks and sniffles. "You are my sister, Chrissie."
Chris gives her a breezy smile, hoping to reassure El and have her home soon. As suddenly as this happens, Chris feels herself start to vanish. Her heartbeat pounds inside her head, like the sound of a train coming full-speed ahead down the tracks. Chris awakes, her eyes submerged underwater. She gasps, choking on ice-cold fluid. Her head breaks through the surface and she hears water and ice slosh out the side of the tub. Chris panics, spitting up water and wiping at her face. Her red hair clings to her neck like soft tendrils and she tugs it away. She feels like she's suffocating.
"Breathe, Christine. Breathe. It's okay. It's Steve. You're in the bathtub."
Chris turns her head toward Steve, who is kneeling next to the tub. The front of his shirt and jeans are soaked. He holds out a towel to her, Chris stares at herself in the bathtub. She's been nearly undressed, wearing one of Steve's t-shirts and her underwear.
"You put me in an ice bath?" she asks, gingerly lifting herself up to stand. She shakily steps out of the bath, letting Steve wrap the soft white towel around her shoulders. He sounds a little cold himself. Chris feels her body temperature start to rise again as soon as her skin is no longer in contact with the ice.
"You were burning up. As we were walking back. You sorta fell asleep when we got to the car. Did something happen?"
Chris swallows deeply. She can't tell Steve about El and the Void, because no one is supposed to know about her. Chris shakes her head, looking away from Steve. She hates lying to him, but this would never be her choice to make.
"Shadow Walking has been very weird lately." This isn't a complete lie.
Steve peers at her with deep brown eyes. He presses his lips to her forehead. Chris doesn't feel as warm as normal. This is a good thing in his mind. "I know." Steve wraps the towel and his arms around her tighter then releases her from his grip. He points to her clothes waiting on the counter.
"The kids are in the kitchen. They've been eating all the leftover strawberry pancakes."
"Your parents aren't home?" she wonders, ringing out her curls.
Steve shakes his head, not too bothered by it. "No. Thank God. I don't know how I'd explain to my father why I have three rugrats with me in the middle of the night."
Chris gives him a sweet little smile. "I'm sure your mother wouldn't mind."
He winks at Chris, placing a hand on her cheek. She leans into his touch. "You know Teresa," he teases. "Always asking when we're gonna have kids."
Rolling her eyes, Chris drops the towel to her feet. Her voice is low and pleasant, like how Steve imagines honey to sound. "We're still practicing."
Steve raises an eyebrow at Chris, his eyes traveling the length of her skinny frame. She looks very tiny now. This sickness isn't slowing down, and she'll have to recover a decent amount of body mass once it's all over with. "Right now?"
Chris giggles a little, shaking her head. Steve gives her a swift kiss, ducking out of the bathroom to let her change.
• • •
Chapter Seven doesn't have too much that I wanted to add to my story, so it's a pretty short chapter, but a cute little moment between Chris and Steve. Enjoy! • Kate
