brontide ; stranger things

TWENTY-THREE

Alpas (v.)

to become free, to break loose

-Collie's Word of the Day #106

•••

COLLIE and Jane sat together on the bed in the warehouse, silence enveloping them. Jane clutched her old clothes to her chest as Collie stared at herself in a mirror hanging on the wall.

  Was this what she had become? A punk who went around and killed people for revenge? Her anger had blinded her from seeing the awful person she was turning into, the person who enjoyed the pain of others.

  But she had pulled back, broken free. Realized the weight of the guilt on her shoulders.

  "Alpas," Collie breathed, leaning back so she lay on the bed. Jane sighed heavily and closed her eyes, gripping her old shirt so tight her knuckles paled.

  Collie remembered when they were back in Hawkins, and they dressed in oversized plaid shirts and hoodies and sneakers. They let their hair do whatever it wanted and they would play games and watch television together.

  Too bad that was only a few days ago.

  There was a knock and the girls glanced over to see Kali standing expectantly in the doorway. "May I sit?"

  Jane shrugged her shoulders as Collie sat up, pulling her knees to her chest. Kali walked into the room and took a seat on the bed, crossing her legs as she thought deeply.

  After a moment, she said, "I was once just like you two, you know that?" Collie looked away, having heard this before. "But that's why I'm hard on you, because I see in you my past mistakes."

  "They were kids," said Jane, unsure.

  "Does that excuse that man's sins?" Kali tilted her head. "Were we not also children?" She looked to Collie fondly. "I remember the day I came to the rainbow room and a woman took you away. You never came back, and then Jane disappeared as well."

  "Eleanor," Collie mumbled. "She raised me." Kali nodded, continuing,

"When my gifts became strong enough, I used them to escape. And I ran." Collie looked back to her, resting her head on her knees. "I ran away as far as I could. And it was there, far away, that I found a place to hide."

Tears clouded Kali's eyes. "A family. A home. Just like you two and your policeman. But they couldn't help me. Eventually, I lost them, too. So, I decided to play the part. To stop hiding. To use my gifts against those who hurt us."

  Kali looked between her sisters, watching their reactions. "You are now faced with the same choice. Go back into hiding and hope they don't find you. Or fight and face them again."

  "Face who?" asked Collie hesitantly. Kali met her gaze and replied,

"The people who claim to be our family."

"I must say, Collie," said a new voice. It sent a chill down Collie's spine and her heart raced as the hair on the back of her neck stood. Slowly, she turned to see Eleanor Raynes standing in the doorway, gazing at her. "I'm very disappointed in you."