Secrets

003: Eleven

It was a bright day outside Hawkins Lab. Dr. Brenner was standing outside in a suit, waiting for some people to show up. Once they got out of their car with their fancy suits and briefcases, one of them walked right up to Brenner and firmly shook his hand. They got led inside to a scientist which then led them somewhere, informing them about the situation on the way.

"This way, gentlemen." The scientist said. "The entire east wing will be evacuated within the hour. We've sealed off this area following quarantine protocol." The scientist led them to a place that was sealed with a see-through material. They all walked in and put on suits and masks for their safety, as if that was going to protect them for whatever they were facing. They walked into an elevator once they were suited up and it led them down to a place. The place was ragged, the lights were flashing and there was mold, or that's what you assume it is, covering the wall. Once they walked down the ominous hallway, they met a door which was covered as well. At the elevator, you could hear growling but it was barely audible. Now, it was louder than ever.

"This is where it came from?" One of the men asked Brenner.

"Yes." Brenner responded.

"And the girl?" The same man asked.

"She can't have gone far."

Meanwhile, the girl they were talking about, was outside of a burger shop. She was barefoot as she walked along the leaves, them crunching with each step. She had a shaved head, you could say she looks like a boy. There was nothing ordinary about her, she even had on a hospital gown which was ripped. She stared at the place for a minute, taking in everything that was happening. She then saw a man come out of the back, throwing away some trash.

She walked into the shop through the same door she saw the man come out of. She tried not making any noise but it didn't pose as much of a problem as there was music blasting throughout the entire building.

She peaked around a corner to see some men talking to the same man from earlier. She walked into the kitchen and saw a basket of fries sitting on the counter. She was extremely hungry, so she tried one, and she loved it. She stuffed her face with the freshly baked fries but was interrupted when the man turned around.

"Hey!" The man yelled which caused her to immediately look up. "Come here!" He chased after her and she almost got away, but he caught her in the storage room and grabbed her, making her drop the fries basket she had taken with her. "You think you can steal from me, boy?!" He yelled out of anger which was quickly turned into confusion as he took in her appearance. "What in the hell?"

At Hawkins Middle School, the bell had just rang after class. Mr. Clarke, the boys' science teacher, started talking about homework loudly but he slowly quieted down as more and more students filed out of the classroom, leaving Dustin, Lucas and Mike in front of his desk. They looked eager, eager for something they were waiting for.

"So did it come?" Mike asks.

"Sorry boys, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but... it came!" Mr. Clarke teased.

Once their expressions lit up, Clarke quickly took them to a room, with them following close behind.

"The Heathkit Ham Shack." Mr. Clarke said.

They all gathered around the radio and took turns playing around with it. They all took turns trying on the headphones, changing the frequency and talking into the microphone. As soon as Lucas was about to try it, the principal walked in with police officers by his side. He knocked on the door to get their attention and they all looked up at him with curiosity.

"Sorry to interrupt but may I borrow Michael, Lucas and Dustin?" The principal asked. The walk to his office was pretty quick and quiet as they were confused and concerned but they didn't dare say a word, not until they got in the office.

As soon as they sat, they all started mentioning different things but it didn't do any good as they were all overlapping each other's words.

Hopper was clearly tired of it by the tone of his voice and the way he leaned back in his chair. "Okay, okay, okay. One at a time, alright? You." He pointed at Mike as he heard what he had said, "You said he takes what?"

"Mirkwood."

"Mirkwood?" Hopper asked, confused, sharing the same expression with Officer Callahan.

"Yeah." Mike nodded confidently. Mirkwood wasn't a real street, he just thought that Hopper would know about it. Hopper shared a question with Callahan, causing another argument between Lucas and Dustin.

Dustin was antagonizing while Mike tried to stop the two boys from fighting but slowly gave up and had to sit straight in the middle of their argument.

"Hey, hey, hey! What'd I say? One at a damn time. You." He let Mike continue after being interrupted by his friends.

"Mirkwood, it's a real road, it's just the name that's made up. It's where Cornwallis and Kerley meet." Mike explained.

"Yeah, alright, I think I know that-" Hopper tried to say before getting interrupted, just not in the same way Mike did.

"We can show you if you want!" Mike eagerly said. Mike was worried about his friend, so much that he didn't really care about his safety, he just wasn't really showing it.

"I said that I know it!" It was clear that Hopper didn't like or just didn't work well with children, it was shown plainly during this conversation.

"We can help look." Mike said.

"Yeah." Dustin agreed. For some reason, they all began to talk over each other for a third time.

"No. After school, you are all to go home, immediately. That means no biking around looking for your friend, no investigating, no nonsense. This isn't some Lord of the Rings book." Hopper stated sternly, he was being serious.

"The Hobbit." Dustin said, causing another outburst from Lucas which led to another argument.

"Do I make myself clear?" Hopper asked once they stopped. They didn't really answer though, they just sat on the couch. Hopper, in response to their 'answer,' stood up from his chair and looked down on them. "Do I make myself clear?" He said once more. Out of fear of Hopper, the three boys nodded and then looked down.

The girl and Benny sat in silence at one of the tables in his shop. Benny watched her devour the burger he had made. She ate like she hadn't eaten in weeks. He asked many questions but got no response, all she did was stop eating, look up at him and then go back to looking at the burger as she ate. After waiting patiently, he took the burger from her, along with the fries she had.

"I'll give this back, alright? And you can have as much as you want. Alright, maybe even some ice cream, but you got to answer a few of my questions first, alright? We got a deal?" Despite him taking the burger, she just sat there, silent. He introduced himself. Benny Hammond. He reached his hand out for her to shake it but with no luck with that either, he gently took her hand and placed it on his own, forcing her to. He reassured her but then tried asking for her name as well. After no success, again, he placed down her hand, revealing a tattoo on her wrist. It was the number eleven. Once she noticed that he saw the tattoo, she whipped her hand back and tried to hide it from him.

"Eleven. What's that mean? What's it mean?" He persisted but almost got no answer, only one word.

"No."

"Well, I'll be damned, she speaks. No, no what?" He asked. He waited a couple seconds, like he did before, but she still didn't answer. He needed answers, so he threatened taking the food away, for real this time.

"Eleven." She spoke as she saw him get up.

"Yeah, what's it mean?"
"Eleven." She said. Her name was Eleven.

He accepted the response and slid her back the burger and fries. She acted like the whole thing hadn't happened and went back to eating as normal.