Play// Stranger Things

003

Much like Will Byers, Valerie Archer had always been good at hiding. It was one of the few things that Rachel had instilled in her every day since birth. She hid. She hid from her past, from her present, from her fears, her dreams, from the truth.

When she couldn't possibly run for any longer she hid. Truthfully that's what Manhattan was. It wasn't her home, but the place she simply hid the longest.

Hawkins didn't have many places to hide.

She didn't have anywhere to hide from the monsters that felt like they were lingering around every corner, slowly stalking her like a predator their prey.  And she certainly couldn't hide from the haunting missing-kid posters plastered all over town.

So, she was running, because her whole body felt static to the touch and her mind was running in overdrive at the thought of all the possibilities of what had happened to Will Byers.

The girl wore a pair of grey gym shorts and a grey and green windbreaker she had gotten from cheer practice and the way its plastic-like fabric stuck to her sweat laced skin made her feel suffocated.

Valerie came to a stop at the end of her street, her whole body shaking, something deep inside of her boiling over. Her skin felt like sand paper against her  organs and her whole body was itchy. Finally the girl couldn't take it anymore.

As Valerie began to let out every bit of friction that she had balled up inside of her a scream began to leave her lips. It was as if she was glitching, her body shaking so fast she began morphing from solid to a mere speed mirage.

As Valerie collapsed onto her bare knees her scream came to a stop, it wasn't until then that she had noticed how the streetlights around her had shattered and it was now beginning to rain. The brunette let out a forced laugh as she held her hands up.

She loved the rain. The way it danced down her skin cooling it off before the droplets settled calmly in one spot, a bubble of moisture. The rain was fascinating, not one droplet falling exactly the same.

Valerie finally stood, slowly walking back home as she basked in the rain. Everything was better in the rain, peaceful even, maybe that's why she liked Seattle so much when they had lived there.

By the time she stumbled all the way back to her driveway the rain had came to a stop. Valerie brushed a strand of her long wet hair away from where it clung to the side of her neck uncomfortably before twisting open her front door. 

"Val?" Rachel called out from her seat in the living room as she heard the girl enter the foyer. "Yeah, it's just me." Valerie called out as she made her way to her mom while she peeled off her wet jacket.

"Oh, my, god. What the hell happened to you?" Rachel stood as she spotted the soaked girl, blood trailing from her knees. "It's just a bit of rain." Valerie shrugged. "Was it raining rocks? Damn it, Val. You're dripping on the rug."

Valerie looked down, only now noticing the burning feeling coming from her busted and scraped knees. "Oh, that." Valerie let out a laugh as her mother pushed her off the rug, quickly running to get baking soda to pour on the red droplets.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Valerie let her eyes roll as she gave her mom a look as the young woman applied a paste to the stain. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did you want me to kiss your boo boo?" Rachel mocked. "Well, yeah. kinda." The brunette pouted as she sat down on a wooden chair that was over in the corner of the room.