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THEY SAY THAT THERE IS a point in life where you go from survivor to predator, where the abused becomes the abuser. There was a time when Kali Griffin would hold her hand to her heart and swear that wasn't the truth, a time when she'd tuck her baby brother into bed and promise him that he would never become the people that raised him. Cole was always so afraid of turning out like them, Kali always knew she was one of them.
That was confirmed the day she took her brotherʼs life, the day her father died saving his children, the day she abandoned her little sister and everybody else she loved out of fear. Fear of becoming her true self. Fear of being the monster she was raised to be.
Kali Griffin turned into the predator Dr. Brenner always swore she was.
And, although she was in this world physically, there was nothing present about Kaliʼs behaviour. Spiritually, she was no longer on the Earth — she was trapped in a bubble, floating in space, surrounded by never-ending, freezing cold darkness.
"Cole!" Kali tapped the metal bowl with a spoon, her lifeless eyes boring into the plain wall of her home. "Get your food."
Hearing the heavy footsteps travelling down the stairs, she set the bowl onto the ground, where it was met with a hungry groan and a slap of saliva as the messy eater set his mouth on it. Kali sat down to pet the bulldog, rolling her eyes as the big lump acted as though he hadn't eaten in days, like he hadn't just been caught stealing Willʼs cereal.
In response to her touch, Cole turned away from his food bowl, nuzzling his head into her arm, begging for more cuddles. Kali sighed, putting her arms around the needy dogʼs stomach and lifting him onto her lap, scratching the space in between his eyes because she knew it was his favourite.
"Can you send this to the post?"
The sound of Elevenʼs sweet, chirpy voice made Kali turn around for a moment, seeing her younger sister speak to Joyce Byers, who held responsibility and care for both of Jim Hopperʼs daughters now that he was gone. Kali didn't smile at either of them, and neither of them so much as glanced at her as they conversed.
"Of course." Joyce smiled brightly. "Is it for Mike?"
El nodded. "Yeah. I can't wait to see him again."
"It's only a couple more days!"
After a moment or two, Kali turned around again, paying attention to Cole rather than anybody else. At first, when they moved away, all anybody could focus on was Kali and her mental state — Joyce would try convincing her to go and see people, to go out of the house and enroll in college; Jonathan would drag her out with his new friend, Argyle, and even got her to try weed once, promising her that it would help her relax; the kids used to make things for her in the first few months of high school, small projects they made in art class — but eventually everyone gave up, seeing that Kali obviously didn't care about any of them. Eleven hadn't spoken a word to her since late Autumn. Kali promised she'd never leave her, but Kali left everyone the day Cole died. All she had now was a dog she found on the street, on one of those walks Jonathan used to drag her out on.
