Royal Pain || Stranger Things

ten || not a lizard

Despite having promised to go easy on missing school, the day had slipped away from Tatum much quicker than she had expected.

After nearly a half hour of holding a distraught El, the two of them resumed their plan of cleaning up the cabin, hiding away the contents of the 'Hawkins Lab' box back in its hole and covering the hatch with the sofa. By the time the last school bell would have rang, the cabin looked relatively spotless, minus the missing windows.

"So, I just plug it into the wall?"

Tatum, sliding her denim jacket back on as she stood just shy of the closed front door, gave an assuring nod. "Just plug it in and the pictures will show up. Leave it unplugged and he'll never know you figured it out." She checked her watch, inwardly swearing to herself before looking back to El. "Do you need anything else before I go?"

El softly shook her head, still meek from their interaction earlier. "No."

"Are you going to be okay?" Tatum asked, squeezing El's shoulder lightly.

"I will be okay," she replied, words choppy as she spoke. "Can I call you if I need to? Like I did yesterday?"

"Of course, you can." Tatum opened the front door, glancing back to El before she stepped out onto the porch. "Anytime."

Eleven waved goodbye from the doorway as Tatum made her way back through the woods, soon unearthing her motorcycle from behind the cover of trees and heading back for home.

Tatum was curious how many times she would have to get in trouble for missing school before Jordan stopped caring completely. She imagined she was getting close.

To counter what had happened the day before, her father wasn't waiting outside for her.

In fact, his car wasn't even in the driveway.

Tatum sprang off of her bike, the helmet barely making it onto the handle as she threw it behind her. She was met with a locked front door, giving her a better sign than she had imagined.

If there was a time to break into the library, it was then.

Tatum locked the front door behind her, making a clear shot up the stairs to her bedroom to grab an upscale nail file kit from her bathroom cupboard. She unzipped the small box with haste, rifling through the various sized metals before retrieving two. She shed her jacket on the descent down the stairs, leaving it askew on the banister as she made a sharp turn of the long hall that lead down to the library.

She should have taken her time and thought it through, but the rush of her father's absence sent her into a frenzy.

Tatum dropped to her knees outside the hefty library door, angling the two nail files in the way she'd seen described in so many novels and films.

Over five of her father's books included scenes on lockpicking, so if she managed to do it right, it was really his fault.

Tatum closed one eye, listening close as she wiggled the nail files inside the lock, waiting for a pop that sent the door squeaking open. "Yes," she exclaimed quietly, pocketing the files as she stood up. She hesitantly took a step over the threshold, eyes scouring the seemingly bland library.

The books were all there, but the personality was not.

It was a completely opposite room from what his library in England looked like. There were poor character drawings, awards and reviews littered about his old office, but this one held nothing more than books and a typewriter on his desk.