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

Chapter 10

I opened my eyes to see Eleven sitting in front of me, holding her head. Her nose started to bleed so I give her some tissue from the box on my desk.

"What happens now?", I ask, not sure what else to say.

"My mother is healed," she mumbled to herself.

"What?", I asked, though I clearly heard her.

"YOU HEALED MY MOTHER!", she suddenly shouted.

She jumped on me and engulfed me in a hug. She hugged so tightly I could hardly breathe. I tried to encourage her excitement and happiness by pretending to be happy for her. Not that I was not happy, but I could not express it. I tried to smile and laugh, but it felt fake to me. I am not sure if Eleven sensed my bad acting, but she pulled away from me after I started laughed.

She still looked as ecstatic as before but this time she was jumping around.

"Wait, can she communicate with us?", I just ask.

She stopped jumping around, but still had a smile on her face.

"I honestly don't know, but I can try," she replied.

"No, don't over do on the powers! Remember?", I said.

"Oh, sorry. I am just used to it," she said.

Honestly, I hated using my powers, especially after learning the truth. It hurt to use them and I only used them when it was necessary. That's why I preferred training my physical strength over my mental strength. But sometimes, I can't help it. Like during classes or tests, it just happens.

My powers also reminded me of my past, and that I was treated like a guinea pig. When I was controlled on what to think, eat or dress. I liked having my freedom of choice and hated to have to stick to rules.

I remembered being the most rebellious among the children. I would run around after bed time and sneak out of my room everyday. When they first caught me, which I still don't exactly know how, I was made to forget my past. They put a helmet over my head and that was supposed to erase any memories of the past and made me listen to whatever they said. I think my powers reversed that first initial move.

Whenever I would see any guards or scientists, I would look into their mind and see their memories. When it came to the higher level scientists, I could see where they found me and how they would kidnap kids. They were mostly tranquilised and carried away, or got lost in places. I never got to mine, because I was too scared to know. But I saw how they were able to brainwash me and the kids. And then, I learnt how to reverse it.

One day, I accidentally spilled some water from a canteen and I saw my reflection for the first time. There were no mirrors anywhere and the only time there would be reflective surfaces were during experiments, when we weren't allowed to be distracted. Without thinking, I looked into my mind. And I found my past memories. They were not erased, but just stuck. I managed to undo it and I became my normal self again. Yet, I still pretended to be like the other kids. After a few days, 008 noticed that I was different. I told her what I did. She wanted her memories back and I helped her unlock it. Ever since then, we became best friends.

I smiled at the thought that I could help people with this power. But I made me feel so alienated. I didn't feel like a normal human being. I hated it. Before I went home, I did everything I could to hide what happened. I hid my tattoo with plasters and didn't use my powers so I didn't get excessive nosebleeds. Unfortunately, my lack of emotions give it away. My parents thought it was a symptom of PTSD from Hawkins Lab.

Unfortunately, I couldn't heal every kid that was kidnapped because, I didn't want the scientists to shock us all over again. I only did it the other kids who escaped with me. And that made me feel guilty after I left for New York. And once I reached New York, I tried to repress the memories of the horrors of Hawkins.