Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
LUKA HOPPER WAS A STRANGE KID. But Hawkins was a strange town. Luka would stare off into space, interacting with things that weren't there, his father, Jim Hopper, never found it too strange. He had read somewhere that kids who experienced loss at a young age acted differently, so he just figured this was Luka's way of coping with losing her sister and her mom leaving. As Luka got older, that strange behavior started to fade, but the nightmares came soon after.
Jim did the best he could to care for his son, to comfort him, but sometimes everything was just too much for the both of them. He wished there was more he could do, and when he looked back he wished he had been there more for Luka instead of drowning his own sorrows.
But Luka grew up, he stopped coming to his dad when something was wrong. They really just stopped talking in general.
Things started to get weird again, the start of Luka's freshman year, 1983. He started to hear things, see things, that weren't really there. He was convinced he had gone crazy. He did his best to ignore the visions and the sounds as best he could, and they quickly became something that were just normal, it didn't make him flinch anymore.
"Something us coming. Something hungry for blood." Mike said, leaning down low, eyes scanning over the four other boys sitting around the table, "A shadow grows on the wall behind you, swallowing you in darkness! It is almost here."
Luka leans forward, eyes drifting across his character sheet and spells, trying to see if he can prepare anything before what ever it is arrives.
"What is it?!" Will asked from next to Luka, rocking back and forth.
"What if it's the Demogorgon?" Dustin asks.
"It couldn't be." Luka denies, shaking his head, but he starts reading through his spells a little bit faster.
"Oh, Jesus, we're so screwed if it's the Demogorgon!" Dustin cries out. Will groans, falling back into his seat.
"It's not the Demogorgon!" Lucas says.
"Thank you!" Luka gestures dramatically to Lucas.
"An army of trogolytes charge into the chamber!" Mike says, slamming down a small figure of the creature.
"Trogolytes?" Dustin asked.
"Told ya!" Lucas says, laughing, Luka wraps his arm around Will's shoulder and smiles.
"We got this, Will the Wise." Luka whispered to him, holding up a hand for a high-five, which Will happily returns.
Mike's face falls, "Wait a minute..." He looks around, "Do you hear that? That... that sound? That boom... boom... boom!" Mike hits the table, "That didn't come from the trogolytes. No... that... that came from something else." Everyone was silent for a moment, looking around at each other, "The Demogorgon!" Mike yelled, slamming the figure onto the table.
"No!" They all groaned.
"We're in deep shit!" Dustin cries out.
"Will, your action!" Mike turns to look at his friend.
"I don't know!" Will said.
"Fireball him!"
"I'd have to roll a 13 or higher!"
"Too risky. Cast a protection spell!"
"Don't be a pussy. Fireball him!"
"Cast protection!"
"The Demogorgon is tired of your silly human bickering! It stomps towards you. Boom!-"
"-Fireball him!"
"-Another stomp! Boom!-"
"-Cast protection!"
"-He roars in anger!"
Will takes his D20 into his hands and closes his eyes, "Fireball!" He screams and throws the dice onto the table, everyone leans over to watch they land. It bounces off the table falling onto the ground. Everyone scatters to look for it.
They all clamor to find the dice as Mrs. Wheeler opens the door and calls for Mike, "Mike!"
"Mom, we're in the middle of a campaign!" Mike says.
"You mean the end? Fifteen after." She taps her wrist. Mike runs upstairs after his mom while everyone else looks for the dice.
"Anything yet, Luck?" Will calls.
"Nothing over here! Where did the damn thing go?"
"Oh, I found it! Does a seven count?"
"You rolled a seven?" Will nods, "Did Mike see?" Will shakes his head, "Then it doesn't count. Come on, let's go, I'll go with you guys to the woods." Luka says, grabbing his skateboard where its resting against the stairs.
They all pull on their jackets, bidding goodnight to Mrs. Wheeler on their way out. Luka holds onto the back of Will's bike and stands on his skateboard, rolling easily behind the younger boy as they chatter. When they get to the edge of the woods, they all break off, saying their goodbyes.
Luka turns back around, going back the way they came from to go back home, he looks back for a moment when he hears a low growl. He finds himself pushing his skateboard faster when he sees something ruffle in the trees.
It was nothing. He tells himself. You're just seeing things.
