white rose & apple blossom - A Mileven Story

twenty

El's POV ~ September '85

I couldn't sleep that night. It was the last day of summer vacation. The thought of going to school the next day scared me. Meeting new people and school in general wasn't really my thing. Besides, I was feeling the best with Mike and our friends during the summer. Everything was perfect but it would eventually end. I knew that.

Also, something felt weird. I knew I couldn't sleep because I was too nervous to go to school but that wasn't all. There was this weird feeling in the air, making my stomach turn whenever I though about it.

I got up my bed and walked towards the window. Mike was sleeping with his face buried in his pillow, his arms crossed under his head and he looked like a complete baby. His blankets were in the floor, because he was a pain in the ass when it came to sleep - he didn't stop moving his legs which made his blankets and sheets get off his body and into the floor.
I saw him shiver a bit in his sleep and realized he must've been cold without his blanket, since the summer heat was going away quicker day after day. I focused on the blanket's matter and pulled it with my powers in order to cover him and keep him warm. He smiled when he felt the warmth of the blanket now on top of him and rolled a bit, falling back asleep.

- Goodnight, Mike. - I whispered, smiling while taking one last look at his baby face buried into the pillow.

I went downstairs and grabbed a glass of water to calm my nerves down. It was just school, how childish I was.
I drank the glass in one sitting and in the moment I was about to put it down on the kitchen sink, about 10 people kicked my door down and walked into my house and straight into the kitchen. I was shocked, thinking maybe that this was just a stupid dream. And then, he walked in.

Martin Brenner. The monster who created all of this. The man who called himself our "Papa" after kidnapping and torturing us. The antichrist. The force of evil. The devil himself.

- Eleven. - Brenner came close to me.
- Go away! - I screamed, throwing the glass that once held water at him. The cup stopped midway in the air, dropping like a fruit off a tree, covering the floor with cracked bits of glass.
- Don't you remember, honey? The creations can't hurt their master. It's humanly impossible. Now, now. Come give a hug to your Papa. - he opened his arms and waited for me to come close to him.
- You are not my "Papa". You are not my dad. I'm happy now and you are not going to take that away from me!
- Who's your dad then, child?
- Hopper. And you better go away immediately, he will be here any minute. - I said, knowing that was a lie, since it was midnight and Hopper would only end his shift at 2AM.
- We need all of you, creations, together. You are a team, you need to return to the lab, sweetie.
- Stop calling me "honey" and "sweetie". And I'm not going anywhere with you.
- Maybe you won't. That's why these guys are here. - he pointed to the 10 people behind him that kicked my door. - Grab her.

The lab people started to aproach me and I tried using my powers but I wasn't strong enough, eventhough I made one of them faint.
Brenner was right, all of the numbers were a team, our powers worked better as a whole.

The lab people grabbed me and dragged me into a van parked outside of my house. No one was on the street and no one saw me or heard anything.

Oh, no. Mike.

Mike was still in his bedroom. I thought of screaming his name but if he did hear me, the lab people would kill him if he knew anything about this and if he didn't hear me, they would know he was there and they could hurt him.
Mike could lose me but at least I knew he was safe.

They blindfolded me and tied my hands and feet with ropes and tight nooses. I couldn't go anywhere. I was in the back of a van, next to people who could kill me in the blink of an eye, going ahead to re-face my worst nightmare.

After half an hour of speeding up, the van stopped. I knew I could be killed so I just surrendered and let myself be taken by the lab people.

The installments were the same - the same gray building, the same hospital-like environment, the same feeling of deep sadness in the air.
There were two people grabbing me by my armpits and guiding me through the lab, into the room where all of the other numbers were. Brenner was in front of us, leading the way. He opened the door of the "Rainbow Room".

- Creations, say "Welcome back" to your sister, Eleven! - Brenner said, proudly to the room.