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...
• Chapter Three: The Case of the Missing Lifeguard •
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"Forgive and forget, all the while..."
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July 1st, 1985 Hawkins, Indiana
Holding Nic's hand, Chris begins walking through the Void with him. Water laps at their feet as they walk, the sound of their footsteps trailing behind them. Nic's trying his best to keep his power at bay, but every once in a while, Chris has to pull her hand away from him so he doesn't burn her.
"Don't be afraid."
The two of them glance at each other, confirming that they both heard the voice before they follow the sound of a radio playing static. It crackles and fizzles in and out. A car engine idles, and finally Chris spots the blue Camaro ahead of them, its headlights shining toward the darkness. Eleven stands next to it, peering down a set of stairs that lead to darkness.
"El!" shouts Chris.
With a gasp, El spins around, her worried expression shifting to guilt as she locks eyes with Chris and Nic. As the two of them approach, El walks down the stairs, and the stairs vanish from view. Nic and Chris call out for El again, but she is nowhere to be seen. Slowly, the Void falls away from them, and Chris is pulled into another place, not the Void, not the Upside Down, and not with Nic.
In the corner of a dining room, beside a large potted house plant, Chris stands. To her right, instead of Nic, there's a large bay window overlooking a neighborhood street with a backdrop of rolling hills and palm trees. The sun is setting. The dining table is set for three people, and it's big enough to fit five. At first, Chris doesn't recognize the people surrounding the table. The man is sitting at the head of the table, with a woman to the left of him. A young boy, no older than ten, is sitting across from the woman. They must be a family.
The atmosphere is tense. No one is speaking; the only sound is the occasional scrape of a fork against porcelain and chewing. The darkness is thick, crowding around her on all sides. The sky outside is a deep red, cracking open with lightning sporadically. Thunder rolls despite the lack of rain and wind. A storm threatens to get closer with each passing second, bringing more terror and pain with it.
Finally, the woman speaks, and it's then that Chris places why the little boy looks so familiar to her.
"Billy, you've hardly touched your food," she says.
To some, her voice may sound gentle, but to Chris, she can feel the underlying tone, crawling up from the carpet and skittering across her legs uneasily. She shifts on her feet. This is Billy's life when he was younger, before his father met Max Mayfield's mother.
