A.M. - STRANGER THINGS

One

The Supernatural Near Death Experience

Halfway to Steve Harrington's house Heather hopped out of the car. She thanked her sister for driving, loudly yelling over the music in her headphones that were connected to a walkman. Barb tried to get her to stay, she didn't like Steve Harrington or his friends. However, Heather refused to go to a party with Nancy and Steve. She slammed the door with annoyance and didn't say goodbye to either of them. Her skateboard was in her hand, it was black and underneath the deck there were dozens of stickers referencing superheroes and bands. She put it down and, with one backpack strap on her shoulder, she disappeared into the night. Barb started the car with a sigh and left a cloud of dust behind her.

The street lamp posts were granting dim light, enough to make Heather's red hair appear like a flare. At night Hawkins was quiet. There were no people or cars on the streets, the only things moving were the lonely raccoons shifting through garbage cans in hope to find leftovers. Heather covered her hair with a hoodie she took from her ex-boyfriend. She never gave it back when they broke up. Now it saved her from getting caught spray painting on the rare occasion she could sneak out without getting caught.

"Why do we have to go?" Barbara had asked on the phone when Nancy was trying to get them to go with her to the party. Heather was pressing her ear to the phone, listening to the conversation.

"Because, I don't want to go by myself." Nancy answered on the other line, a matter-of-fact tone in her voice.

"My mom isn't going to believe us."

"Barb... Barb it's not rocket science." Nancy really wanted them to be there, and Heather felt bad. But still, she knew she couldn't show up at Steve's house. Especially not with Nancy. "You just tell your parents you're gonna stay at my place afterwards."

"And, we're doing what? Watching movies?" Barb started tapping her fingernails on the dresser next to her bed, a nervous habit.

"No, tell them we're studying."

Heather took the phone from Barb, and held it up to her face.

"Nancy-" she started.

"Look, I gotta go. I'll see you in an hour." Nancy cut her off. Heather muttered something Nancy didn't hear, so the girl hung up. The two sisters just stood there and looked at each other.

Knowingly Barb asked, "You're not going, are you?"

Heather shook her head.

"I can't."

Stealthy, like a ninja, Heather rode to the target alleyway. She jumped off the deck when she got there. It trailed behind her, until it hit a dumpster and stopped. The red backpack she had been carrying all this time was dropped on the floor, where it made a loud metallic sound. She opened it, revealing a dozen cans of spray paint, packed to the brim. Her backpack looked like a freshman's on the first day of school. That's how she felt too.

Heather felt so aware of her surroundings, nervous yet excited. She took one can out, and shook it, just to hear the noise it made. It satisfied her.

The wall in front of her was dirty, old paint chipping from when the building was first built. There was a door at the back of the alley, but she made sure to check if lighting escaped from the crevice underneath. It didn't. She was in the clear.

The can in her hand was new, plastic packaging still encasing it. She should have opened it at home, but it didn't cross her mind. With one nail, she tried to rip it open. No such luck. A pocket knife was in her backpack, just in case of an emergency. She could rip it with that.

So she did. She quickly grabbed the pocket knife from the front pouch, and ripped the plastic off, cutting herself in the process.

"Shit!" Blood quickly came to the surface, tainting her skin and tiny drops of it rolled down her arm and fell onto the concrete ground. "Are you kidding me?"

The cut wasn't big enough to cause trouble, but it definitely wasn't small enough to render itself painless. Whatever. She wasn't about to not paint this mural because of a tiny cut. What was she, a baby? Plus, she wouldn't get a chance like this again. Heather had all night to do this.

Spray paint hit the wall, forming shapes, changing colors. Heather's face subconsciously lit up. Her walkman was blasting music in her ears, 80s rock rendering her completely cut off from the outside world. While she was painting, she wasn't Heather Holland, wanna-be edgy teenager. She was Heather Holland, herself.

Heather could do this forever. She didn't think about how easily she could be caught, or how much her sister would disapprove. It was all about this mural she was creating, all about the colors blending together, telling a story that couldn't be told in words.

Until, the farthest away lamp post flickered. Then, went completely out.

The little drops of blood were still there, soaking into the ground.

Heather took off her headphones, and put the walkman down along with the can of red paint she was holding. It was probably nothing, right? Maybe the light bulb just went out. She was just paranoid.

Then, the rest of them started flickering, as on cue. One by one, starting from far, they all went out. Darkness was coming to her.

Growling. Scratching. Breathing. Her own?

No.

It was so close, the growling. She felt the sound waves bounce off her neck. Goosebumps formed on her skin.

Reluctantly, shaking, denying, she turned around. Faceless, a creature with resemblance to man, yet so much a thing, growling, snarling, roaring at her. Then, it opened it's mouth. Heather felt Hell look right at her.

Run. She ran. As fast as any human could, adrenaline numbing the pain in her knees, heart beating out of her chest. It followed her, it ran after her. The street was dark, there was nowhere to go.

She couldn't go to her house. No way in Hell would she lure that thing to her family. Steve's house was too far away, she wouldn't be able to run for that long. All the stores were closed. Everyone was asleep.

In that moment, Heather knew. She was dead.

Tears streamed down her face, she didn't say goodbye to her sister. Her family were expecting them both to come back from school tomorrow after a sleep over at Nancy's house, all in one piece, complaining about a stupid test. Annoyed, but happy. That's how they were supposed to be.

Running, she sobbed. Heather didn't want to die.

Pain, terror, remorse, her life, memories coming back. So much shit she'd do differently if she could.

Then, it all stopped.

Was she dead?

The lights were back on.

She was alive.

Heather crumbled down, her legs gave out. She kissed the dirty, filth ridden ground. Then, she cried harder than she ever had. Because, she was alive.

She would see her sister again. She would see her family, her friends.

She was alive.

Why?

✩I really hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Please, please, please like & comment what you thought. I would appreciate it so much!