002 - Stranger Things

Chapter Two: We're alike you and me

He led her into a large, spacious room that only really had a desk and a bed in it but that was normal as they had just moved in that day and so they hadn't had time to unpack their belongings yet, not that he seemed to have many at all. There were only a few boxes on the floor and hardly anything besides clothes.

"So where did you used to live?" Nellie asked curiously, whilst walking around the room but there was no response at all and instead he just stood there in silence.

Nellie sighed and sat down on the bed, deciding to answer her own question. "I used to live in England before I moved here. We move a lot because of..." she trailed off which caused Henry to now look at her.

"Why did you move?" he asked. So now he was asking the questions then?

"I guess no one else wanted me around. They saw me as a threat because of reasons I don't want to talk about but I do miss some people there, like Dorothy who was the owner of the local shop," she explained with a slight bit of unease.

"Do you miss anyone? Any friends?" She asked him another question, quick to change the subject so that he didn't ask her anything else about why she had moved to Hawkins.

The boy shook his head and sat beside her, "I didn't have any friends back where I used to live. Unless you count spiders..." he said, taking a small container out of one of the boxes which contained a tarantula.

"Well, neither do I. Well I did but they weren't really friends and they didn't understand me." She said but then her eyes widened. "Spiders? I mean I guess pets can be your friends... I used to have a cat but she died."

Henry smiled a genuine smile which shocked Nellie as she didn't think he was even capable of one but she mirrored it and then stood up. "So are you going to show me anything else? This house is huge after all."

"I suppose I could show you my favourite part of this house." He mumbled with a small shrug and then left the room, taking her into a room on the top floor which was full of dust and cobwebs. It definitely wasn't what Nellie had expected his favourite room to be but then again it fit his persona well.

Nellie followed him in and raised her brow. The room held a very dark atmosphere within it but yet Henry seemed to enjoy it, as if he finally felt at home. Strange I know.

Looking at the candles, she turned to him. "Why does this room happen to be your favourite then?" She asked, sitting down beside him. She asked a lot of questions but he didn't seemed to mind and she just wanted to get to know him that was all.

A wide grin appeared on his face at her question, his eyes lighting up. "I can't tell you why until I trust you but one day you'll find out." He said and then laughed. "Though I have a feeling that you're just like me. That you already know what I am."

She was just like him? She already knew what he was? How was that even possible... She didn't understand it at all but before she could answer, her name was called from downstairs. It was her mother. 

Henry looked to the door and then turned his head to her slowly. "You must leave now. Your mother is calling you." He told her; stating the obvious. He then rose from where he was sitting and walked out of the room. Not even a goodbye? How polite of him.

Nellie also rose from where she was sitting and looked back at the cobwebs around the room. This boy was so strange but yet he still held so much mystery. The words he had said about her being just like him and knowing about who he was, already were playing on Nellie's mind. Surely he wasn't like her, no one was and that's why she never fit in but he didn't necessarily fit in either. Some would say they were the black sheep of their families, others would just describe them as different and broken.

She headed down the stairs and said goodbye to their neighbours before following her mother out of the door. That's when she noticed Henry staring at her out of his bedroom window. Did he know something she didn't? Why couldn't he trust her? What couldn't he trust her with? It wasn't that bad, was it?

"So did you make friends with him?" Her mother asked her.

"I did." Nellie replied, "perhaps I can go over again sometime?"

Ida nodded and looked more than happy that her daughter had finally made a friend, "of course. I like that this new start is going well. I told you it would." She smiled and then went her own way with Felicity. She and Felicity had always been closer than she had been with Nellie. It was as if Ida feared her, knowing of what she was capable of but her father never did, though it angered her to always feel left out...

Her mother had arranged this new start in Hawkins a year ago. She'd said it would cure her for what she was, as if the world in Hawkins, Indiana would be different to what it was in England but it wasn't. Trouble followed her wherever she went and she only seemed to grow stronger as she got older. Sometimes she wished to be normal just like her sister was but other times she was glad to not fit in with her family. She often thought that she didn't need them. They didn't need her so why should she feel as though she did them?

Heading up the stairs, she put her shoes beside her bed and lay back. "Though I have a feeling you're just like me." She mumbled to herself. "What could it possibly mean?." She asked but then took out her diary and began writing.

Dear Diary,
Today was the day I met Henry Creel. He's an odd soul much like myself but he holds so much mystery. There are so many things I want to find out about him. Apparently, I'm just like him but he cannot trust me enough to tell me why exactly. Perhaps he's just joking around? But he doesn't seem like that type. He has no humour as far as I'm aware and always seems to be in his own world. I've now made it my mission to find out what his secret is, I just hope he won't find out mine because if he did he'd probably never see me for myself again. My powers define me and just as my mother said I'm not normal and I never will be. I don't have to be normal though as long as I'm true to myself, that's what matters most.

~ N.B