021 (A Stranger Things Fanfic)

021

"Come, 021." He extended his hand to the little girl. She looked up, blue eyes bloodshot. Her lips trembled.
"Come on, 021." He snarled. She slowly placed her hand in his, revealing the ink on her arm.
Slowly, ever so slowly, he led her down the hall, and into the room.
There, in a cage, was a fake man stuffed with cotton.
"You know what to do?" He whispered. She nodded her head.
"Good. Maybe, you'll get to play with the others if you do it right." He smiled. He stood and walked out of the room, leaving her.
A woman placed a cap of wires on her shaved head, before patting her hand reassuringly and leaving.
021 could feel their eyes on her. They where watching. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the cameras. They would show this to the others. To Eleven. To Seventeen.
Her eyes blinked rapidly, and her fingers twitched. The woman chewed her lip nervously. Last time 021 had done this, it had resulted in several trips to the doctors.
The lights began to flicker in time with her eyelids. Her head twitched, her leg bounced, her fingers drummed a rhythm into the table.
The head of the fake began to vibrate. Then, it slowly rose.
Smiles slowly stretched out across many faces, and they watched as 021 lifted the man into the air without moving from her seat.
And then, it exploded. Into feathers.
They frowned. She'd never done that before. The body was filled with cotton.
As the feathers drifted to the ground, 021's entire body began to shake. Her head snapped back, and the feathers rose up in a flurry. They solidified, into the form of a man. The feathers glowed red, and then they melted together. The feathers hands gripped the bars of the cage, and pulled it apart. It approached the glass wall.
They all gaped. Never had this happened. Never.
And the feathers pounded on the glass.
It shook them all out of their daze. A man slammed down the alarm button just as the first crack appeared. Alarms rang, soldiers ran down the halls. In a room, nurses tried to calm the small children.
"Stop her!" He shouted as everyone rushed. "Stop her!"
Everyone was moving, and then a woman knocked the door down, entering the room as the glass shattered. The feathers climbed through.
"021!" The woman screamed.
The girls eyes flew open. Without warning, the woman leaped over and yanked the cap off her head.
021 collapsed.
The feathers drifted to the ground, but the damage was done.
Everyone stared at the girl, and the girl stared at him.
She was in trouble.
And they all knew it.

She sat straight up, panting. Squeezing her eyes shut to blink the tears away, she rubbed her head. Her hair had grown out a bit; they'd let her after she'd done their last request.
The door swung open. She looked up, blinking away her tears.
021 did not cry.
"Ready?" The man asked. She took a deep breath, placed her bare feet on the cold tile, and stood. She brushed strands of blonde hair out of her eyes, straightened her gown, and nodded.
They walked out together, 021's eyes dead.
They had long since drained any light from them.

Word Count: 557