Together Again

Chapter 6 - The Letter (Part 1)

Joyce and Hopper sat in his office, sharing a cigarette. They stared at the letter envelope, both scared to open it.

Dr. Martin Brenner
75 Westland Ave
Chicago IL  53075

(BTW I just chose a Random Zip code and I don't actually think that there is a 75 Westland Ave in Chicago)

He was in Chicago? That wasn't too far from Hawkins! Hopper pinched the top right corner of the envelope and pulled. Rrrippp. It tore at the top to reveal a folded piece of paper. His hand reached in to grab it. Carefully he moved his hand into the envelope and his fingers enclosed the top of the paper. He lifted up and the paper glided out of the envelope. He looked at Joyce, she was biting her lip, and looked just as scared as he was. His heart thumped in his chest. They both took one deep breath before he unfolded the letter. A handwritten message lay on the front of the paper. The message was short.

September 3, 1985

Dear Dr. Brenner:

I am writing to you from the Hawkins National Laboratory. We have narrowed down the whereabouts on the girl. I can not say much until we meet in person. We request that you come to Hawkins immediately.

Sincerely,

Dr. Reynolds

They found El? How? Hopper thought that they had done a good job of hiding her. He looked over at Joyce.

"The son of a b**** is still alive? They are going to take El, and I can't let them do that." Joyce could hear the pain in his voice. Hopper continued. "I'm going to go get some answers." He stood up and left. There was no stopping him. Joyce leaned back on her chair and sighed.

Hopper marched into the jail room and unlocked the cell door. Grabbing the prisoner, he put his handcuffs on him and marched him out of the cell to an empty desk that was sitting there. He sat the prisoner down on one side, with one hand free, while he chained the other hand to the desk. Hopper sat down on the other side.

"Your not a soldier." Hopper growled.

"A soldier in training."

"Your not a soldier in training either. Your a scientist."

"Your right, I studied psychology for two years, then decided to become a soldier." The prisoner lied.

"No, you work for Hawkins Lab."

"That place closed down last year, I would think that you would know that considering your the sheriff and all, oh wait, I forgot. This sheriff does nothing more that sit around drinking all day. He just wears his fancy badge and spends his life wasting away because his daughter, what was her name, oh Sarah died. She's probably better off without you anyways. And now he's nothing more than a pathetic drunk." The soldier snarled.

Hopper stood up. "Don't you dare speak of my daughter like that! I'll have you know that this person your accusing of being a drunk is one of the people that fought to save the g*****n country. July 1 1970, I stood on the frontlines of the battlefield. I watched my best friend bleed to death after being shot by an airborne Vietnamese battle jet. I watched hundreds of casualties happen. I spent three years living in fear. I encountered seven near death incidents. I was shot in the leg and nearly died from blood poisoning. I have seen more blood in one day then you will ever see in your entire life. Yet you have the nerve to talk to me like that. And you say that you don't work for the Lab? Well then how do you explain this?!"

Hopper pulled the letter out of his pocket and slammed it down on the table. "What the hell is this?!" He demanded. The prisoner was silent. Hopper banged his fist against the table. He repeated the question, louder.

"It's a letter." The prisoner commented.

"No really. Right here it says and I quote, I am writing to you from Hawkins National Laboratory. So obviously the Lab still exists. That military base is just a front isn't it?" The soldier gulped as Hop continued. "And what girl are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what girl I'm talking about." The prisoner shot back. "Since you've been hiding her."

"Yeah, because that's so much worse than keeping her locked in a room and doing tests on her against her will for the first 12 years of her life."

Finally the soldier gave in. The reality of what the Lab has done hit him, and he changed is perspective. "I swear I wasn't around when she was there, I only joined recently, for the money. I needed to provide food for my daughters."

Hopper softened when he found out about his daughters. He would do anything for Sarah or El. "If you cooperate with me, I will pardon you for your crimes and involvement in the Lab and you can go back home to your kids. But if you mess up one time, I can have you locked up for the rest of your life." Hopper stared at him waiting for a response.

"Okay, what do you want to know?" The prisoner replied.

Hey everyone. Sorry for so much dialogue. It's hard to write an interrogation with no dialogue. 😂 Thank you for the reads, it truly means a lot to me. I hope your enjoying the story, I have a really fun surprise for the ending and I'm super excited to start writing chapters Seven and Eight, cause they will be the climax of the Story.