|Rule The World| Steve Harrington

Prologue

1977, Nov. 9th

The room was lit up by a nightlight, which was placed on a table near Melissa's bed. Her father had just finished reading a bedtime story about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It was Melissa and her father's agreement that if she got ready for sleep by ten pm, he would read her a bedtime story.

When Melissa's father noticed her letting out soft snores, he carefully placed the book in its place on the shelf, trying to make no noise so that his daughter wouldn't wake up. The man then bent down and kissed Melissa on the forehead. "Sleep well, my beautiful princess."

Melissa's father quietly closed the door behind him and walked down the stairs to the kitchen, where he knew that he would be able to find his wife.

What the man didn't know was that Melissa wasn't sleeping. Because of the frequent nightmares, she feared falling asleep. The little girl didn't want to worry her parents, so she would always pretend to fall asleep during bedtime stories.

Melissa waited a few minutes, and when she could hear her parents quietly talking downstairs, the little girl silently sneaked out of her room. She sat down at the top of the stairs and eavesdropped on her parents' conversation.

"You don't have to worry about anything. I have a meeting with a reporter in thirty minutes. All of their sick experiments will go public, and the police will shut them down for good." Hushed whispers of her father could be heard.

It wasn't the first time that Melissa eavesdropped on their parents. She was a curious kid. Even if she couldn't understand what exactly their parents were talking about, she liked to think she was the daughter of secret agents'.

"Don't you want to talk with Jim about it first?" Her mother suggested.

But her father quickly shut down the idea. "No! No. He's going through a lot right now with Sarah. I don't want to bring him into this mess."

There was a moment of silence, and then the sound of a smooch could be heard. Melissa looked at her teddy bear in her hands and made a face of disgust as her parents kissed.

"I want you to pack your things. Tomorrow, first thing in the morning, we get the hell out of here. They will be looking for us, but we will be long gone." Melissa's mother didn't say anything. "Hey, look at me. Everything will be fine."

Donna kissed her husband one more time. "Okay... Just, please, be safe."

"I will." And with that, Melissa's father went to the front door. However, Melissa heard his footsteps too late and wasn't quick enough to hide, so her father caught sight of her sitting at the top of the stairs.

He didn't say anything, just sent her an air kiss, and left through the door. Melissa quickly ran to her bedroom's window and watched as her father's car pulled out of the driveway.

The next morning, she found her mother crying loudly on the kitchen floor. She watched with wide eyes as Hopper hugged the woman with tears in his eyes, trying to provide as much comfort for her as he could.

Melissa didn't need an explanation on what had happened. Somehow, she understood.

Just as Hopper opened his mouth to say something, Melissa ran through the door and got on her bike. She rode through the streets in nothing but her pajamas and tears in her eyes towards her best friend's house.

It was the first time the Harrington boy had seen her cry.