Shutter [Jonathan Byers] Stranger Things I

XXVIII: Perspective

per·spec·tive

noun

1.

the art of drawing solid objects on a two-dimensional surface so as to give the right impression of their height, width, depth, and position in relation to each other when viewed from a particular point.

2.

a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view.

It was Sunday, early November. The day after Jonathan and Emilia had taken their relationship to the next level. There were dark clouds in the sky, threatening to rain, but they were inside, unaware of the weather and they didn't care about it either way. Alone in the house, they found themselves swept up in heated passion once again. Afterwards, this time not lingering without clothes on should someone come home, Emilia stood by the window, her fingers tracing the sill which had a small layer of dust upon it. She was in her jeans, but only her bra. Jonathan was seated upon the edge of the bed, nervous as he wanted to ask her something.

He figured, at this point, he shouldn't be nervous asking her anything anymore. "Hey, Emilia?"

"Yeah?" She didn't look at him, her eyes focused on the tree line. She wondered what lurked in those woods, what creatures both beautiful and terrifying were within. Such a beautiful forest, she and Jonathan had taken many pictures within there before. Her mind drifted quickly to the project; she was going to finish it sometime tonight; her project about Christmas Spirit that was going to have nothing to do with Christmas. Even if she failed the assignment, she would be staying true to herself, and that was more important.

"Can I take your picture?" He asked; they hadn't been taking photos much recently, too swept up in new found intimacy between one another. Although she had overcome so much recently, Jonathan could tell she was still slightly bothered by the scars on her body. It was up to him, he decided, to help her truly overcome that. He wanted her to see them from his perspective and the best way for him to convey that was through photography.

Emilia turned around and reached for her shirt when Jonathan stood up. "Without that."

She blinked, wondering what he meant.

Nervously, he tried to explain, "I don't want to take these with any... sexual intent behind them... It's hard to explain what I mean... I just want a picture of you."

She nodded then, and reached behind her to remove her bra. Keeping her jeans on, she stood naked from the waist up. Her nude upper body reflected in the window, like a mirror from another dimension, her back looked faded and as though it had become part of the forest just outside the window. Jonathan hoped his camera would catch that; there was something so natural about the whole thing. From his bedside table, his camera sat, untouched for some time now as their focus had turned from photography to one another for the last few days. Holding it in his hands brought back something, something that had a firm hold on him; this was truly his passion.

There was only a lamp on in the bedroom, and it Emilia's flesh looked illuminated, as though she had the sun on her from one direction. Outside, where the sun was setting, the forests were looking dark and ominous, but neither of them would have been scared walking within them. Emilia found something so marvelous about the woods, like nature calling her back to some instinctive state. She wasn't sure what to do with her hands, and held them awkwardly at her side. As Jonathan knelt down to get a good angle of the photo, Emilia put her hand slightly behind her hips, so that her shoulders were pulled back and all of her scars were showing. The camera shuttered noisily, and Emilia felt a rush; the image would be -to them- something as a monument. But to anyone else, it would be seen as pornographic. There was something exciting about knowing that this image could very well get her and Jonathan in a lot of trouble.

"I hope you know, I want a copy," she said lightly, as she put her clothing back on. She turned and looked out the window, the sun had nearly set, and she knew that Jonathan had to go to work soon. She'd decided she wanted to walk home, to be in touch with the nature she loved so much. When she got home, she'd finish her project so that she could hand it in early. Photography class would be a breeze from then on, and she could focus on keeping her other grades up to expectations.

"Of course," he smiled. "Monday?"

She nodded, "I should head home, before the rain."

He made a face, pressing his lips tight together, "Are you sure you don't want a ride?"

"I'm positive," she stepped up to him and kissed his cheek, "A walk in the woods never killed anyone, besides, I can't keep asking you for rides."

"It's not a bother."

"I feel like a burden," she explained, "I'm fully capable of walking a few miles. I used to do it every day before this really nice guy started picking me up every morning."

He grinned, "Alright, be safe."

Emilia decided to cut through the forest to get onto the main road, one of the streets that had a ton of fancy houses, where people like Nancy Wheeler lived. The forest came right out through to Jonathan's house, and if she could recall any sense of direction, all she had to do was walk straight and she'd end up on one road or another in Hawkins. Though she should have taken the road, because it'd have been easier, the knew the forest cut off half the walk time. The moon was obscured by the clouds that were rolling in, and it was hard to see anything. Emilia wished that she had asked for a flashlight, but cast the thought away, knowing that she would be fine.

She reached out, touched the trees, looking up at the sky through the canopy. At one point, she spun around just to see the few stars blur for a moment. In no rush whatsoever to get home, Emilia took her time to appreciate the world as it was. Silent aside from a few brushes moving in the wind, and Emilia's own footsteps, she was as alone as she could be in the world until-

Emilia stopped; something was watching her, she could feel eyes boring into her. Trying not to panic, and brushing the feeling off on watching too many horror movies, Emilia stopped dawdling and began walking quickly to get out of the forest. Her feet moved quickly but her eyes could not process what was in front of her. Stepping over a fallen branch -probably from the last storm- she tripped and landed hard on the forest floor. Rocks, sticks, leaves, bugs- all of it came straight to her face and Emilia groaned, getting up quickly and ignoring the pain in her hands and knees.

Running when she saw the streetlight, she heard something -something very unhuman- behind her. A growl, almost a shriek, and it made Emilia run faster. She looked over her shoulder just for a second, and she saw something in the shape of a man; only, it seemed... She shook her head, blaming it again on horror movies. But something was there, she knew it, and she felt something rotten spread throughout her. A twisted feeling inside of her made her run as fast as she could. She was thankful she didn't have anything on her person. Suddenly she was on the road, and up ahead there were street lights. She continued to run, whatever was behind her seemed to disappear now.

She ran the entire length to her house, ending up on the street where she had once lied about being her own house; she hopped the fence and booked it to her own house. She'd never in her life wanted to be at home so badly. It was there, in the distance, only a few hundred meters away. Her dad's truck was gone and her heart sunk; somehow, even with all he had done, she somehow felt as if his presence would keep her safe from the fear behind her. Whatever was behind her was gone now, she hoped. Reaching the porch, she looked up at saw the porch light was flickering. There were lots of dead bulbs in the trailer, and so this was no different to her. Finally inside, Emilia locked the door and made her way to her bedroom.

Immediately when she felt half safe, she pulled out a sketch book and began to draw the... thing she saw.

When it was done, she knew that she was going crazy, and she tucked the monstrous drawing into a drawer where she didn't have to look at it again.