Risky Business ｡ Stranger Things

25 : The Neverending Story

December brought Christmas and even colder and drier winds, but it also brought some normalcy back into the Owens's household. Sam Owens was home at a reasonable time and spent the weekends at home, and slowly he was gaining his strength back. Though, his little joke about his football career being over was getting real old quick. Sam had informed his wife, Caroline, of the terrible events of that night at Hawkins Lab while the rest of the townsfolk were left in the dark and were fed the lie of an experimental chemical asphyxiant, which had leaked from the boundaries of Hawkins Lab. And while Prue's life resembled something mundane, the small and once quiet town of Hawkins, Indiana was shoved into the national spotlight. News networks, camera crews and journalists from all over flooded the streets and the local motels that had always been deprived of guests were fully booked out. Selena Moreno was thrilled about the media coverage and jumped at the case to be interviewed about the effects and impacts of Barbara Holland's death while Ronnie Marra was less enthusiastic, spending even more time in the library to avoid talking to nosey and usually insensitive journalists. And while most of the adults were concerned and felt unsafe in Hawkins, the small town's teenagers weren't too bothered by it. For what bothers an adult, doesn't bother a teenage to the same degree.

As Christmas spirit and joy spread through the walls of Hawkins High, Prue's days had never been more normal: her grades were steady, her film collection was flourishing and she didn't miss cheerleading in the slightest and used the extra time to spend with her friends and family. Ronnie's home life was less tense with her older brother, Declan, becoming Hideaway's newest bartender (which resulted in fewer fights about him getting kicked out of university). Ronnie was also on the road to becoming next year's valedictorian. Selena was brighter than ever because—with the influx of national publicity—she knew journalism was the career for her and even joined the high school newspaper, putting her nose for information and her love gossip to good use. Patrick Turner's contagious laugh still made regular appearances in Prue's life; they remained friendly, having too much past and history to divide them completely (just the same as Steve and Nancy), and it was a small town after all. Nancy and Jonathan were still in a blissful place but both were still very independent, despite spending most of their time with the other. Nancy's short brown hair grew curlier and Jonathan's passion for photography had bled into videography. Steve seemed more peaceful too, in a sense. He had become a substitute brother for Dustin, but the pressure from an unknown future weighed heavily on his shoulders still. Prue and Steve were good friends, their strange and hellish experiences bonding them together in the most unusual way. She hung out with him at least once a week to watch a movie from her collection or catch a new movie at the Hawk while stuffing their stomachs full of buttery popcorn and fizzy soda. And Billy... well, Billy was still Billy Hargrove. He was still brutally handsome with a violent streak and jostled against Steve whenever he got the chance, probably still trying to challenge and push Steve to new limits. However, Billy did take Prue up on her offer and every so often, typically on weekends when his father was home, he would hang out with Prue. Sometimes at Benny's Burgers or at her house, but mostly at Palace Arcade. And it was becoming more common for Billy to bring Max along, taking her away from his father too. While Prue and Billy played arcade games, Max would teach Grey to skateboard and he was slowly mastering the skill with an array of new scars and bruised knees and elbows that impressed his group of girlfriends. Yet, while Prue's days were mundane, her nights weren't. She was troubled with nightmares that caused her to wake with a scream stuck in her throat and sweat lining her skin. demodogs stalked her dreams like shadowy monsters and when she wasn't hearing distant growls or scratching and scattering below her window, the claw marks on her torso pulsed like they were alive or like she was reliving her trauma each night between the witching hour and the Devil's hour. Sam said her night terrors were stemming from her post-traumatic stress disorder and that they would pass sooner or later, but some nights they were so bad that Grey would have to shake her awake and stay with her till morning light shone behind her curtains. And the dreams were only getting worse, so much worse. And it was the same for Grey too; every night he would barricade his window with books and toys and most night he'd leave his lamp on for the comfort of light. So, the Owens siblings started to dread her nights, always being relieved when the dawn chased away the darkness.