afterlife ➳ stranger things [2]

Chapter 003: Files

Cassidy opened her eyes, taking a deep breath. She sat up, looking around the hotel room. Across the room was Kali, who was flipping through medical records. Hungry Like The Wolf played on the radio.

"Morning?" Cassidy questioned what time of the day it was, looking at Kali.

"Afternoon, actually." Kali corrected her.

"How long have I been asleep?" Cassidy asked, rubbing her eyes.

"A couple of hours." Kali flipped a page in the medical file, Cassidy realizing it was Erin's medical file.

"Why are you looking at Erin's?" I walked over to the table.

"I'm trying to see if I can find your birth parents." Kali answered.

"So?" Cassidy sat down across from her.

"All it says is Dr. Martin Brenner and a Hawkins laboratory secretary." Kali sighed, putting down the medical file.

"Wait Brenner is my father?" Cassidy asked.

"I'm saying that's what he put down. Or Owens, because they both signed off on your birth certificate." Kali explained.

"What if he is?" Cassidy asked.

"I never said he was-"

"No I'm saying what if he was. What if he- he- tested on his secretary and then impregnated her, and forced her to keep the baby. In this case, babies." Cassidy explained.

"That's messed up and we both know that." Kali looked surprised.

"Kali, our lives are messed up." Cassidy stated.

"Cassidy! Kali! I brought food!" Dr. McFee called, entering the hotel room. She noticed the faces on Kali and Cassidy, leading her to question them. "What's wrong?" She placed the food on the dresser, realizing Kali and Cassidy were panicking.

"Is Brenner my father?" Cassidy turned towards her, and McFee took a deep sigh.

"Look, I was going to tell you." Dr. McFee sighed.

"You knew?" Cassidy asked, obviously confused.

"Because your mother is my sister, Cassidy," Dr. McFee paused. "I had to know."

"You're my aunt?" Cassidy paused. "Oh my god I'm so confused."

"Brenner and my sister had a relationship before it all got bad. Brenner was actually a good person, we started MK Ultra together. It was all about respecting patients. I left when he started testing on my sister, and my sister also left," Dr. McFee paused. "She delivered you both and gave you up so Brenner wouldn't find you."

"Like that worked." Cassidy sighed.

"Whatever happened to her?" Kali asked.

"She's currently in Ireland, helping other test subjects from around the world," Dr. McFee paused. "Maybe you will find her with Erin."

"Why didn't you tell me this?" Cassidy asked.

"Seemingly I didn't meet you until a few months ago, and I was worried that it would stop your motives." Dr. McFee explained.

"Well now I just want to kill him even more." Cassidy shrugged.

"Alright well," Kali changed the subject. "Why was Erin taken out a month before Cassidy?"

"There were complications. Brenner helped her, giving her telepathic powers." Dr. McFee explained.

"So my sister has powers because she almost died?" Cassidy asked.

"Yes, actually." Dr. McFee nodded.

--

Erin, Dustin, Lucas, Max, Will, Eleven, and Mike all sat down on the grass under the tree, laying their backpacks next to themselves.

"Do you think Hopper will ever find his daughter?" Max asked, biting into her sandwich.

"Probably." Dustin nodded.

"Yeah," Erin agreed. "How old would she be?"

"Probably our age. Maybe older." Mike shrugged.

"Imagine having two sisters." Max chuckled, looking over at Eleven and Erin.

"Imagine having three, if only." Erin raised her eyebrows, smiling. Everyone exchanged looks. "Guys I'm joking."

"We're invited to a party." Eleven changed the subject.

"What?" Dustin turned to Erin.

"Yesterday Stacey came up to us and invited us to her older sisters party. She's Nancy's age, so probably alcohol." Erin explained.

"I wanna go." Max smiled.

"You do realize your brother would probably be there." Lucas nodded.

"Oh, right." Max sighed.

"I don't want to go. I'd rather go to the arcade or something." Erin shrugged.

"Agreed." Dustin nodded.

"You only want to go to the arcade to check if you're still winning." Lucas rolled his eyes.

"That might be true," Erin paused. "Maybe you're just pissy that I can beat your girlfriend."

"Ooh," Max paused. "Oh wait, I don't know why I did that."

"How do you do it?" Will asked.

"Do what?" Erin asked.

"Beat all of us. Including Max." Will shrugged.

"It's easy when you know the sequence of events." Erin shrugged.

"Easy. The ghost chase you, you eat as much as you can." Dustin answered, his mouth full of food.

"Not really. The ghosts usually move in sequences. They always move in a certain direction, almost every time. It depends on what round you're on." Erin explained.

"How do you know all of this?" Will asked.

"When my sister went missing, the only thing that helped me cope was video games. After all, I didn't have much friends." Erin explained, shrugging.

Everyone nodded, biting into their food.