𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 | stranger things

two

Wren crept quietly down the stairs, tiptoeing lightly across the hardwood floor as she went into the kitchen for a late night snack. She slowly opened up the creaky pantry, pausing and listening for any sound for a moment before pushing away the boxes of gummy fruit snacks, granola bars, and trail mix, revealing the silver wrapping of the blueberry Pop-Tarts she'd hidden from her brother.

Mike was always taking her snacks without asking. It was bad enough that she had to share the womb with him; the least he could do was not touch what clearly had WREN written on it in Sharpie.

She carefully opened the packaging and broke off a bite. Normally, she'd pop them in the toaster for a minute or two, but seeing as it was almost midnight, she couldn't risk waking up her mom or dad.

As she was walking back to the stairs, she heard voices coming from the basement. Frowning, she went over to investigate, her brows pulling together. She went down the first couple steps and peered down.

What the hell were Dustin Henderson and Lucas Sinclair doing here?

"Michael, what are they doing here?!" Wren asked in a demanding whisper as she descended the rest of the stairs, instantly noticing the sliver of light coming through the cracked bathroom door. "Who's in there?"

Mike, Lucas, and Dustin exchanged glances, whispering quietly to each other. Lucas and Dustin headed up the stairs, avoiding eye contact with Wren. She raised a brow at her brother, who sighed. "Look, you have to promise not to freak out and tell Mom, okay?"

Wren gasped when the bathroom door opened, revealing a girl their age with a shaved head. "You brought a girl—"

"Shh!" Mike quickly covered Wren's mouth with his hand. She watched as the girl walked over to the blanket fort that had been set up against the wall. "We found her in the woods when we were looking for Will. We couldn't just leave her out in that storm, Wren," he said, removing his hand from his sister's mouth.

"You could get into so much trouble for this if Mom and Dad find out. And don't even get me started on Nancy." Wren sighed, rubbing her temple with her fingers. She followed Mike over to the girl, and they both knelt down in front of her. "So, what's your name, anyway?"

She pulled up the sleeve of the shirt that Mike had given her, revealing a tattooed 011 on her forearm. Wren's eyes widened.

"Is that real?" Mike asked. He reached out to touch the girl's arm, but she yanked it back. Thunder cracked outside. "Sorry, I've just . . . never seen a kid with a tattoo before. What's it mean? Eleven?"

She pointed at herself.

"That's your name?" Wren questioned. Eleven nodded.

"Eleven," Mike said. "Okay. Um, well, my name's Mike. Short for Michael. And this is Wren, short for Lauren. Maybe we can call you 'El.' Short for Eleven."

Eleven nodded at the suggestion. Mike told her goodnight, and he and Wren went upstairs. Wren entered her room and sat down on her bed, munching on her Pop-Tart before turning off the lamp on her nightstand. She laid her head on her pillow, closing her eyes as thoughts of the strange girl in their basement filled her mind. She didn't know what her brother was thinking keeping her down there, but she wasn't going to stick around and get accused of helping him when he got caught.

****

Nancy glared at Mike out of the corner of her eye as he woofed down his Eggos the next morning at breakfast. "Slow down, Mike, that's disgusting."

Mike looked up at her, his eyes narrowing. "Do a lot of studying last night?" he asked with his mouth full. Wren's nose scrunched.

Nancy pursed her lips together and shot him a you-better-keep-your-mouth-shut look before saying, "Yeah, actually, I did."