Moonstruck - Stranger Things

Murderer|15

G R A C I E

I watch Max with confusion as she rummages through cabinets and pulls out random supplies. I don't know if I can trust her, but right now, she's my only hope of getting out of here. She's been doing this for about five minutes, and hasn't even told me her plan.

"May I ask what you're doing?" I ask. She looks at me, stopping her scavenge for supplies.

"Getting you out of here, silly. I'm not going to do it bare-handed. These people are my family, but they won't think twice before putting a bullet in my head,"she says, turning back to the cabinets. "Your family?" I ask.

"Yeah," she says, this time without stopping. "My dad is the new head doc, my brother, Billy, his assistant, and me, the poor helpless girl that was unwillingly dragged into this. I'm sorry he's been torturing you, and making your life living hell, but I'm going to help you. You just have to trust me."

She pulls out a pack of crackers and tosses them to me, and I've never been more thankful. I haven't had food in what feels like weeks. I quickly gobble them down, and she starts shoving differing things in two bags. I see some torture devices that make me shutter, and others that have already been used on me. I just wish I could erase the memory of this place, because when I get out of here, I know I'll be seeing it every night in my nightmares.

"Ok, so here's the plan," she finally says, sitting down in a chair. "At 4pm is when my dad and brother are both on break. It lasts for ten minutes, giving us plenty of time to get out. But this time, we'll need more than a chicken bone. I have guns, bats, razors, anything we would need. I'm sorry to tell you this, but we will have to kill some people. Right now, my dad and brother are doing actual lab stuff, like building weapons. We have an hour. And once we get out of here, I'll take you wherever you need to go, and then I'll be off on my own. There is no way I'm spending the rest of my life with these crazy people."

I nod slowly, taking everything in. I feel pity for her. Max's family is so bad that she'd rather run off and live on her own, with no one. She unfastens me from the chair, and I slowly stand up.

"You have five minutes  to stretch out and get ready," she says, "and then, we're getting our freedom."

The clock ticks on, five minutes pass, and I'm being tossed a handgun.

"Let's go, girly," she says in a slightly country accent. "Times-a wasting."
I throw on my backpack and she does the same with hers. And with that, we're walking out the door, sprinting through the hallway, and not looking back.

The door, just like last time, is so close. I see it get closer, and adrenaline fills up my entire body. It gets closer, closer, closer. My freedom is seconds away.

But as soon as I lay my hands on it, alarms echo throughout the halls.
"Run!" Max yells, and I see about 4 men running at us. She grabs my hand and we run the other direction. We come across another door, but it's locked. She pulls out a needle and begins to unlock it, and orders me to shoot. I hesitantly take my gun, raise it in front of my head, and pull the trigger. I watch as the man in front of me dies. And then another, and another, and another.

And for some reason, I find myself at a loss for breath.

The doors open, and Max pulls me through them. They only lead to an unbelievably long staircase. I fall into the stairs, staring blankly ahead as tears stream down my face.

I'm a murderer. What have I done?

"I-I killed them..." I mutter, not making eye-contact with Max who's shaking my shoulders.

"They tortured you, they forced me to torture other people, they deserved it. Now come on, we have to move," she rushes, pulling me. I don't move.

"I watched them die. I took their life," I whisper, and she gets back in front of me.
"Look at me," she says, and I do. "They are killers. They hurt innocent people. They did not have loving families to go home to. If anything, they probably wanted to die. You've saved the lives of many by doing that, and you have given us a chance of getting out of here. Now, if you want to really escape, we have to get going."

I nod, wiping the tears from my cheeks. We continue to run down the stairs, not stopping for anything.

And when I see it, the door that leads to our escape, the light comes back to our eyes. We burst through it, and I run faster than I ever have before. I can't help but smile. I'm finally free after all the time that's been spent in this place. The only thing that stands between us and the rest of the world is that cage, and Max luckily has some wire-cutters. 

She places them on the fence, pushes the handles together, and I immediately feel a huge spotlight on my bag and see a new shadow on the ground in front of me. We turn around, and security is surrounding us.

"Run!" Max yells. "I'll hold them off."
I cut a big enough hole in the fence to crawl through, and quickly throw myself through it. I turn around and grab Max's hand, pulling her through, but the bad men on the other side already have their hands on her.

"Max!" I yell, pulling with all my might. I'm not strong enough, though.

I'm pulled up against the fence, and she is separated from me, they run back into the building with her, leaving me out here. I will never be able to repay her for everything she did for me.

She got me my freedom, and I gave her hell.

. . .
1 hour later

I walk down his street, the one I faintly remember Dustin describing to me. I don't want to go home until I see him.

I look everywhere for what looks like his house, or at least a sign of him.

But then my looking stops when I see a full head of curly hair and a red, white, and blue cap.

"Dusty!" I yell, running towards him. He stands on the front porch of his house, looking at me. He doesn't look excited or anything, just confused.

"Wha-" he begins, but I wrap my arms around him before he can finish. For some reason, he isn't hugging back. I pull away.

His blue eyes don't look the same, almost like they've been manipulated. He looks at me like I'm a three-headed toad. I was expecting so much more. What is wrong with him?

"Um, who are you?" He asks, his voice with a strange tone. It sounds like a robot is trying to mimic him. This is not Dustin. This is not him.

I turn around and run. I run as fast as I can to get away from whatever that thing was.

What have they done to my Dusty? I think, as tears begin to well up in my eyes.
What have they done?

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Lauren