Meet the Hawkins ~ Stranger Things

Chapter 1

November 7th, 1983

Hawkins Indiana

Cornwallis Rd

Jasper

The young police officer gently rubbed his eyes before speaking over the radio. It was the usual log he had to do whenever he did something in uniform. Location, time, and what he was planning on doing. No one was receiving the log right now. Looking at the clock, Jasper saw that it was just after midnight. A pang of jealousy hit Jasper in the heart. He had to be the one who checked in on a power outage while his colleagues were probably getting a good night's sleep. Well, maybe a drunken night's sleep in Hopper's case.

Once Jasper finished his log, he stepped out of his car into near complete darkness. Jasper was smart enough to keep the headlights on, giving him enough light to get to his trunk and find his large flashlight.

Looking around the neighborhood, Jasper's eyes were instantly drawn to the Harrington house. Standing tall and proud on a tall hill that overlooked the rest of the neighborhood, was the residence of the Harringtons, rich people who bought a cheap house in the smallest and poorest neighborhood in town then expanded it with renovations. Jasper knew Steeve Harrington, the only child of the family, since he and Kenneth were friends. And because of that, he knew the Harrington's were so rich, they could afford their own top of the line generator.

It was that fact that confused Jasper the most. The Harringtons wasted no expense on luxury and comfort. They'd rather die than go without power for a night, how else would poor Stevey do his hair. But since they had their own generator, why wasn't it on? The streetlamps and the rest of the houses on Cornwallis were all connected by the same power lines, and they were just as dark as the Harringtons.

Most of the houses on Cornwallis were off the main road, with long driveways that were flanked by the tall, dark trees. The woods here went on for miles and surrounded Lake Jordan, but that was just to the south of the road. To the north was the Hawkins National Laboratory. The only place in this town that had the name Hawkins that wasn't owned by Jasper's family.

Looking through the trees, Jasper was unable to find a single light source, and the only noise he could hear was from the wildlife that resided in the woods. Jasper heard mostly insects, crickets and grasshoppers chirping non stop, with a low chittering sound hiding amongst the noise bugs.

Jasper shined his light between the trees, looking down each driveway as he walked down the street, seeing nothing of note. A slight hint of disappointment and relief hit Jasper at once. When he finally got to be a cop and put his training to good use, it was just a waste of time.

But then he saw something.

Jasper froze and pointed his light towards an odd-looking tree. It was about eight feet tall. Slim with two long skinny branches coming out of either side. It was in the middle of a small clearing, making Jasper think the tree just wasn't getting enough water or sunlight since the much larger trees hung over it. But as Jasper stepped forward, the chittering sound got louder while not a single cricket or grasshopper could be heard. The closer Jasper got to it; he could see the tree... sweating? It was glistening against the light of Jasper's flashlight. And when a strong gust of wind blew by the trees, making them sway to the left and pulling leaves off the trees.

But this tree didn't move in the wind. Didn't sway. It had no leaves to pull off. And once Jasper was close enough to finally see this thing fully, he heard a snap of a branch to his right.

Jasper snapped his head to the right, shining his light towards the source of the noise and placing his hand on his gun belt. As he turned, he heard a loud screech coming from the tree. Jasper whirled back around and saw that the tree was gone and there were a few branches snapped in half, either dangling off the tree or completely ripped off.