Season 1 -
DANGER BREW IN THE SMALL TOWN OF HAWKINS, INDIANA. Despite escaping from the lab that started it all, Ten is unaware of this. All she wants is to help those who have helped her. Accidentally bringing them into the danger she herself had b...
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The Burn
FOR A SECOND, ALL THEY COULD DO WAS STARE. Anne blinked. Then she blinked again. El was still there. She wasn't some illusions, Anne hadn't just mistaken some other child for her. El was standing right in front of them. Alive.
Mike slowly approached the girl. Anne expected her to disappear, but instead, El fell into Mike's embrace. It didn't make sense. El was dead, they saw her die. And if she wasn't dead, where had she been? Why had she only come back to them now? Had she been trapped? Was she in the Upside Down? Had Papa found her? How had she survived dissolving into nothingness? Did that mean the Demogorgon was alive, too?
It didn't matter. El was safe.
"I never gave up on you," Mike said. "I called you every night. Every night for—"
"353 days. I heard," El finished.
Anne felt her stomach clench, and her eyes fell to the floor. She knew Mike wasn't trying to brag, wasn't trying to show off that he was a better friend, but it still felt like it. But that wasn't fair to Mike, or to El, who probably only watched him because he was the one reaching out. That was it. Right?
"Why didn't you tell me you were there? That you were okay?" Mike asked.
"Because I wouldn't let her."
Anne slowly turned towards the voice. Hopper. It took a second to comprehend what he really meant. Hopper had known about El this entire time. He'd known she was alive. He watched them suffer for a year. He watched them blame themselves for El's death, all the while he knew she was alive. Not only did he not tell her to tell them, but he also didn't even tell them himself, and pretended to be sorry. Pretended to care about them. But he didn't care. Anne eyed Hopper with disgust. He lied, and he let them suffer.
"You lied," Anne insisted. She shoved Hopper, but his only response was to stare at her. It only served to frustrate her more. "Friends don't—"
"Lie. Yeah, I've heard plenty of that," Hopper interrupted.
"Then why did you lie?" Anne demanded.
"Listen, kids, it's not that simple," Hopper defended. Or, tried to defend. Anne only shoved him again. "Hey!"
"I hate you!" Anne shouted. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"
Each time, Anne shoved Hopper again. Every time he continued to protest without budging. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair! Tears burnt in Anne's eyes. He didn't get to hold El hostage and then stand there like he was their friend. Like he'd done nothing wrong. But he did do something wrong, and he wasn't their friend. He tricked them! He tricked them! Why didn't they see that?
