Illusion ~Stranger Things~ [COMPLETED & UNDER EDITING]

Prolouge

||The Beginning||

[NYC 1979]

•*O*•

Sirens. That was the first sound to enter the ears of Pine Knight. Shortly after the shrill shriek of sirens, piercing the calm summer air like knives, Pine opened her glassy blue eyes. The first thing she saw was a cream colored popcorn ceiling. It wasn't just any old ceiling, Pine knew this straight away, and this was her ceiling. The very same ceiling she'd painted with her parents only a few years back. Wondering why there were sirens, the young girl sat up, and suddenly the once warm summer air turned deadly cold as all previous events of the night flooded back into her mind. The scene before her held flashing lights, distant shouts, bloody floors, and none other than Lilac and Jerry Knight lying motionless on the Once cream, now red with blood, carpet. Pine looked around panicked. She wished she'd remained ignorant. In her panic, she happened to look down. Her pale hands were covered in blood, as well as her shirt, still fresh, but not hers.

Quickly she stood. She stood, expecting to run but, where? This was her home. Was, supposedly not anymore. So, without any plan, she bolted. She ran to her room, grabbed what she deemed most important, threw it in a beige backpack, and went out the back door. Her heart was beating so fast she almost couldn't breathe, her feet pounded on the grass, still damp from a recent rain. Then, she saw it. She heard a noise. Fearful, she ran back into the living room and picked up a gun the murderer had, for some reason, abandoned. A rustle in the woods. A sound followed, words.
"Pine," called the unmistakable voice of the man who'd murdered her parents. "Come here. I won't hurt you."

Now, Pine knew better than to give in. Who would? Her parents had just been murdered by this man. Then, suddenly, another noise.
"Papa?" A small voice called.
Inside the forest a girl, no older than Pine, tugged on the man's sleeve.
"Not now sweetheart." The man replied

Pine stood, terrified, frozen in fear, the bloody handled gun cold in her grip. The night's events, the man in the woods, the fact she now had no place to go, it was too much. So, she stood, frozen in the middle of her backyard, not running because there was nowhere to go and no one to run to. That's when she was dragged away.

•*O*•

Pine's thin wrists ached in the handcuffs chained and cold. She sat in the back of a New York City police car, watched so closely she couldn't sneeze without all eyes landing on her, ready for her next move, maybe even escape. All eyes were on the kid. Kid, that's what Pine was. A kid. Eight years old to be exact. Eight years old and already the prime suspect for murder. Murdering her own parents as well. She hadn't done it, of course she hadn't but, she was the only one there when the cops arrived.

She had been in her room reading a book when she heard a gunshot followed by a bloodcurdling scream from the living room. She jumped up and ran to the door, opening it slowly, only wide enough to peer through. Then, she saw him. A man with white hair, though not appearing as very old, with cold blue eyes that strongly resembled ice, he wore a black suit, and a cruel look on his face. In his hand was a gun.
"I'm going to ask you one more time," he started "where is she?"
"She- she's not here!" Lilac Knight replied, her Israeli accent strong, struggling to get out of the grasp of two men, clearly in pain from a bullet graze on her left shoulder.

Pine chose to stay where she was. A decision she never once regretted.

"You really don't want to do this." The man said

Jerry Knight's gaze never once faltered from a cold hard stare. He too was being held back by two men.

"You will never find her. I'll protect her even if it's last thing I do." Jerry spat, and sure enough, it was.

BANG!

A gunshot rang out, loud and clear, followed by another scream. Only, this time it seemed to not only rattle Pine's house but, her heart as well. It all seemed to go in slow motion for Pine as she watched her father fall to the ground. She swore she saw him look over to her, at her, and look straight into her eyes before...

Dead.

It took all she had not to scream out alongside her mother. Instead she let tears stream down her cheeks and into her already damp hair, wet from a previous shower. Millions of questions flooded into her mind. What's so important about me? Who is this man? What does he have to do with my parents? Why did he come kill my parents?

"WHERE IS SHE?!" His patience ran out.

"She's not-" Lilac didn't get to finish her sentence.

BANG!

A third gunshot rang out. Her mother fell to the floor. Pine didn't have time to watch anymore because, the man started walking towards her room. She threw herself under the bed and covered herself best she could with miscellaneous objects that had somehow wound up there, one way or another. Holding her breath she watched as the man walked in. Big black shoes. That's all she saw. He didn't stay for long. Soon, the man left, and once Pine was sure, completely sure, he was gone, she got up. She ran to the living room. Slowly, she walked up to her parents, lying on the ground, dead.

"Pine." A faint voice called.

She knelt down to her mother.

"Yes." She replied teary.

"Don't ever let that man find you. Ever." Then, she died.

Pine was too shocked to cry. Feeling weak in the knees, she fell, her hands landed in a pool of blood. Then, she felt sick, like she might vomit. So, she did. She ran to her bathroom and threw up until nothing but bitter emotions were left.  How she wished she could have thrown those up too. So, next she went back to the living room. How ironic, death, murder, her parents were murdered in the living room. She could hear sirens from far off. A neighbor must have heard the gunshots and called the police she thought. That was the last thing she thought until...

Blackness.