A New Girl // Stranger Things (after season 2)

Chapter 7

We left our vehicles on Mike's backyard and we entered by the back of their house. We quickly ran down the stairs to the basement and we sat on the couch.

"So what's going on?", El asked.

"You can't use your powers for too long," I said.

"In the Lab, there gave us a biological mechanism that in located in the brain, which allow us to use our powers. When you use it, it damages the brain,  which is why we get nosebleeds. However, the scientists managed to find a solution to prevent our brains from being "fried" after a few months of using the power. They managed to inject fast growing and repairing cells in the brain so that the brain recovers quickly. But it cannot repair while you use the power."

The four boys look fascinated by the science behind the powers.

"Nerds", I mumbled to myself.

"El, you have been in the Lab longer than I have, meaning you have more enhancements than me. Your brain seems to recover faster than mine and your powers are definitely stronger. However, you can't use your powers for too long at such a high amount all the time," I told her, touching her head to scan it.

"Oh," she said.

Then a thought snapped into my head. The version of Hawkins Will saw, the tunnels that Max was in, the Vans and the scientists.

"Okay, I have something to admit," I sighed and looked down.

"I have read your minds before," I said.

They all gasped.

"And I have seen strange things, and I need answers," I said, looking down.

Mike looked at me angrily, "Why would you look into our minds without permission?"

"Look, it was all involuntary, I just got sucked into it," I told him.

"Anyway, she's was a kid who was kidnapped by the Lab, she deserves to know what happened," Dustin said.

"How do we know that she is not a spy, and just got a number tattooed on her?", Lucas argued.

"I just told you I can read your minds," I argued back.

"Then tell us what you saw," Lucas half shouted.

"When I read Max's mind, I saw you guys in a black tunnel with gasoline tanks and bandanas and lizard things without a face. And Dustin fed one of them nougat.", I said first.

Then I continued with Dustin's, then Lucas's, then Mike's and ending with Will's.

"Is that enough evidence?" I asked the stubborn boy.

"Wait, you saw the mind flayer again?", Mike asked Will.

Will nodded.

"But this time, he wasn't bothered with me. It was looking down at the arcade, then it looked at Denise and was attacking her."

"The mind flayer?", I asked.

"It's what we call that shadow monster thing," Dustin explained.

"Wait, how is Will able to see this stuff?"

They all looked at each other and Dustin said, "It's a very long story. Two years ago, Will got lost."

I leaned back into the chair as I hear them tell the story about how they met El and how they found Will and him being possessed a year later.

"And now the Lab has shut down but the real story is covered up," Dustin explains.

"But I thought you closed the gate, how is Will still able to connect with the alternate dimension?", I asked.

"That's something we still have not been able to understand," Dustin said.

"Anyways, why did you return to Hawkins? You are surely traumatised by what happened here so why come back?", Max asked.

"I wanted to know more about my past. After I escaped, I had repressed my memories of what happened here, until recently," I said.

"Anyways back to the real topic," I said, getting out of the chair.

I placed my hand on El's forehead and began to scan her brain.

"The biological mechanism seems to damage the small part of the frontal lobe. Her intelligence and thinking is slightly affected. This is why she was the last to escape Hawkins Lab. Other than the fact that scientist kept her on high security, she could not understand that the scientists were using her for selfish causes. However, this is strange as her survival instincts are very high. She is very quick when it comes to a life or death situation," I say.

I take my hand off her head and turn to the rest.

"If she uses this power to often, the brain can be permanently damaged, especially the frontal lobe," I continue.

"Did you just imply that I am dumb?", El asked.

"Unintentionally," I admitted.

"Do all the children have mental deficiencies?", Dustin asked.

"I theorise so, I don't know about every single one. But I do have a deficiency."

They all looked at me.

"What is it?", El asked.

"It's emotions. I can't really feel sympathy for anyone. When I talk, you can hear that it is a bit monotonous. I find it difficult to empathise with others," I explain.

They all looked at me and nodded in understanding.

"I think Hawkins Lab contributed to the emotional scar I have and I have been numb ever since."

"But you don't seem very robotic?", Dustin commented.

"That was because I had to hide it from my parents and I couldn't use my powers. My brain could develop properly and some of the emotional part of it was able to become repaired."

"Oh," Dustin said.

"But if you didn't train your powers after your escape, what did you do?", Lucas asked.

"I trained to fight," I said.

I took out the knife that was hidden in my shoe.

"I learnt to skateboard and rollerblade. I also did archery, knife throwing, shooting and a little bit of parkour."

"You can throw knives?", Mike repeated.

I nodded, then he pointed at a box sitting in a corner and asked me to hit it. I flicked my wrist and the knife hit the center of the box.

"Wow," Will whispered.

"It gets pretty easy once you practise, I can let you try at my house some time," I shrugged. I walked over to get my knife out of the box.

"You throw knives in your house?", Dustin asked.

"In my backyard, because apparently going to a knife throwing range at my age is illegal," I said.

"If you guys want to try you can come tomorrow morning, 9 am, 41 Maple Street," I said, while keeping the knife.

"Okay let's go," Eleven said.

Max and Dustin nodded, Lucas and Mike looked at them and shrugged, Will just smiled. I looked at my watch 6.30 pm.

"Got to go, my mother's gonna be home any minute," I say walking over to the stairs.

"Okay see you tomorrow," Dustin said.

They all waved at me as I walked up the stairs and sneaked past Mike's mother in the kitchen.

I creep out the backdoor and grab my skateboard. I jumped on it when I hit the road and skated back home. Just in time, before my mother drove in.

After dinner, I went up and started writing down whatever the boys, Eleven and Max told me. It was overall an insane day.