The Upside Down~Stranger Things

Three

November 6th, 1983, Hawkins, Indiana

"IS  there a number we can call for your parents?" The dark haired boy asked, staring down at us in concern. I grabbed Eleven's hand, pulling it to my lap as I exchanged glances between each of the boys. 

"Does she have cancer, where's her hair?" The dark skinned boy questioned, pointing at Eleven, but focusing the question on me. I swallowed, narrowing my eyebrows at him. "Did you run away?" Too many questions were being asked, making it impossible to answer any if I were going to.

"Are you in trouble?"

"Is that blood?" The dark skinned boy reached his arm out towards Eleven, who jolted backwards after the dark haired boy pulled his arm back. My eyes were wide, overwhelmed with the situation we had been in right now.

"Stop it, your scaring them!"

"They're scaring me!"

"Bet they're deaf," The curly haied boy spoke out, before clapping his hands together loudly towards us. We jolted back once again, causing him to tighten his lips, "nope, not deaf."

"Deaf?" I inquired quietly, making the boys jolt with a sudden fright. Had I said something terrible? Or was it because they thought we didn't speak?

"She speaks," The dark skinned boy said in amazement, staring at me with wide eyes. I exchanged glances with the other boys, before turning back to the curly haired boy, waiting for him to answer my question.

"Oh you're serious," He mumbled in shock, before clearing his throat,"it's when a person can't hear anything. I thought you were deaf, but I was wrong.."

I nodded, showing I understood as I turned back to the first boy who spoke next.

"Thats enough you guys," The first boy groaned, turning back to us with a look of sincere sympathy on his pale face, "they're just scared, and cold." I slowly pulled the coat he handed me earlier over my thin shoulders, watching him as he ran over to his white hamper. He then came back, holding two sweaters and sweatpants in his arms. "these are clean."

I gently took the red sweater and grey sweatpants from his left arm, while Eleven took the dark sweater and dark sweatpants from the other. I stood, along with Eleven, who quickly attempted to pull her gown over her body. I flinched as the boys turned around, blocking their eyes as they shook their heads.

"No, no, no," The dark haired boy stated, pushing Elevens arms down, forcing her gown back down to her legs. The curly haired boy walked away from us, his hands tangled in his brown hair, repeating "oh my god," over and over again.

"Y-you see over there," The boy stammered, pointing to one of the small rooms in the corner, "thats the bathroom. Privacy, get it?"

I exchanged a glance with Eleven, before nodding slowly. I grabbed Eleven's hand, my clothes in the other as I sauntered towards it. Inside was a small white toilet, a white sink, and a few cabinets which held medicine bottles and band aids. I turned as the boy went to close the door, making my heart start to pound in my chest. I quickly stuck my arm out, placing it between the door and the frame of the wall. He stared at me in shock, before slowly pulling it open.

"You don't want it shut?" He questioned, a few pieces of his dark hair falling onto his forehead. I simply shook my head no, my fingers still wrapped around the wooden door. He nodded slowly, before pulling it closed slightly. "how about leaving it like this?" The door was almost all the way closed, besides the 2 foot gap, his face still visable as he stared at me. I nodded steadily, making him sigh out quietly. He finally left the doorway after I turned around towards Eleven, who stared at me in worry.

"Privacy," I told her quietly, staring into her dark eyes, my arms still wrapped around the clothes the boy had given me. Eleven nodded in awareness, before turning around to change. I did the same, hiding behind the door with Eleven. I slowly peeled the wet gown from my body, groaning in disgust, listening to the thud it made when it hit the ground. I then hauled the sweatpants up my feeble legs, tightening the string around my waist since they had been a bit big. After I put the sweater over my head, I tugged it down, pulling my hair out from under it afterwards. After placing on the grey socks, I slowly made my way back into the room we were in before, Eleven's hand in mine.

The boys turned to us, immediatly going quiet. I stared at them, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What had they been talking about? Were they talking about us? The first boy exchanged glances with the others, before heading over towards us. The other two quickly packed up their things, before heading up the basement stairs.

"This is the only sleeping bag I have.." The boy mumbled, showing us its yellow color. I sighed out, glancing at Eleven, before turning my gaze back to the pillow-blanket-set. I pointed to Eleven. "you want her to have it?" I nodded, making Eleven shake her head. I simply smiled in her direction, making her sigh in defeat. Eleven then slowly took the large sleeping bag into her arms, before turning to set it up. I could see the other two boys staring at us from the stairs, before clearing their throat.

"Bye," I called out quietly, but loud enough for them to hear. They exchanged glances, before waving, taking off up the stairs quickly. The boy then turned his head back to me, his hand holding up the sheet he placed above the table, to conceal us from the room around us.

"Hey, um, I never asked your names," He stated, staring at us with a tight smile as the door to the upstairs closed. I peered down at my lap, before realising Eleven had pulled up her sleeve without hesitation. I stared over at her in confusion, making her smile in my direction. I breathed out, before copying her actions. "are those real?" He questioned in disbeleif, leaning forward towards us, his hand out reached towards our wrists. We both pulled back in fright, making him lean back to his spot. "sorry, I've just never seen kids with tattoos before.."

I swallowed, avoiding his gaze as I pulled my sleeve back down. He cleared his throat, before sitting back on his heels. "what do they mean? The numbers?"

I watched Eleven point to her self, then to me. I moved my eyes to his dark ones, awaiting his responce. "thats your names?" I nodded for Eleven, watching his face turn from confusion to interest. "well, Eleven, Twelve, I'm Mike. Short for Micheal."

I nodded at him, a small smile forming upon my lips as he exchanged glances between Eleven and I. "Maybe we can call you 'El' short for Eleven, and you 'Levy' short for Twelve." I nodded quickly, admiring the names he had given us. El and Levy. Why couldn't that be our actual names? They were almost like normal names..

"Um, okay, well," Mike stammered, slowly standing to his feet, turning to the top of the table. I turned to Eleven, who had already been staring at me.

"Night Mike," We both replied quietly, making him smile slightly. He then slowly pulled the sheet down, making the area beneath the table dark. I didn't mind, I had been used to the dark for a while. Ever since I had been born, I was always thrown into dark rooms. 

I slowly laid beside Eleven, who started to cry quietly. I stared at her in concern, before wrapping my arms around her fragile body. The day papa tried to make me kill that puppy, he tried to make Eleven kill a cat. She said she couldn't do it, like me, and was thrown into the room I found her in. I'm glad she didn't. That's what she had been thinking about, most likely.

I closed my eyes after a while, letting sleep take over me as I stayed close to Eleven, listening to her uneven breathing, making it obvious she had fallen asleep. Hopefully tommorow would be better than today..