melancholia. [ ALTERNATE SPIN-OFF ] [ BILLY HARGROVE ]

ii. PROLOGUE

~*~
April, 1987

     "No, not the American." 

     The thick Russian accent was enough to make the girl's eyes open for the first time in weeks. No, months. She nearly shut them again, trying to remember the last thing that happened. Her head turned to see the familiar face, eyes widening in shock. She tried reaching out to grab him, but pain shot up her side and back immediately. 

     She groaned out in pain, and the lights turned on in the room nearly immediately. She winced at the bright light, turning and shutting her eyes again. She reached up to her face as best as she could, pulling the oxygen mask off. She breathed out heavily, head turning to look at the man again. 

     "Hop," Mary said, throat hurting from talking for the first time in months. "Chief." He mumbled in his sleep, Mary letting her head fall back. She sat up slowly, grabbing her side as she did. She seethed in pain, clutching the table under her for balance. She looked to her left to see that there were several scientist looking people watching her. Her first assumption was that they were doctors, so she figured that she'd just woken up from that night. 

     She thought she was going to die, and she did. Mary did die that night. Technically, to the rest of the world, she was still dead. But, the Russians did something horrible that night. What was left of them had taken her, and nursed her back to life. They gave her plenty of blood, sealed the four gashing wounds, and gave her fluids. 

     It took months, but they had finally nursed her back to full health. Sure, they nursed her back to health, but it had been two years since everything happened at Starcourt. But she didn't know that, of course. She thought that Hopper was there for his own injuries, and she was there for hers. 

     "Hey," Mary called, beginning to walk to the window. "Hey, what's going on?" She seethed in pain, stopping as her side hurt too much. She clutched the wall, leaning against it to not fall over. "Where's my family? Where's Billy?" The scientists all looked at each other, some taking notes. "C-Can you hear me?" They didn't answer, a door opening on the other side of the room. Mary turned that way, stepping towards the alleged doctor. 

     "You should rest," he told her, voice thick with a Russian accent. Mary tilted her head at him, glancing to Hopper in hopes that she would wake up. She noticed that she was wearing grey sweatpants and a white t-shirt, contrary to a hospital gown. Hopper was wearing the same thing, and the bed she thought she woke up in was a metal table. "Please, sit."

     "What's going on?" Mary asked. "Where am I?" 

     "Sit down, girl," the man said again. Mary turned to see someone was standing guard, her gut wrenching at the large gun he had in his arms. She moved to the table, pushing herself up onto it carefully. "Good, then we can start." The man walked to Mary, pulling up a chair. "My name is Dmitri. What is your name?" 

     "Mary," she breathed out. "Henderson. Where am I?" 

     "We'll get there," Dmitri answered. "Where are you from, Miss Henderson?" 

     "Hawkins, Indiana. Where's Billy? Or Dustin? Do they know I'm awake?" Mary asked, leaning forward slightly. 

      "Can you please just answer these few questions, then I'll explain everything," Dmitri said with a small nod. His patience was clearly thinning, and Mary didn't want to face the man with the big gun. So, she had no other choice. "Now, where were we?"

-----

y'all...

WE FUCKING BACK!!
BOOK 2 BABY!!! 
LET'S GOOOOOO!!!!!!