Below and Beneath -Jim Hopper-

002

I sat in the back of the ambulance as the man wrapped my arm. I had calmed down at this point, and wasn't crying anymore. I flinched in pain every so often as he cleaned it and finished wrapping it up. I continued to feel the burning sensation throughout my body every so often, causing me to flinch in pain. He walked away for a moment, leaving me staring as my blood covered clothes and wounded arm, trying to processes my thoughts.

In the meantime, the other two police officers came over to speak with me. They stood in front of me where I sat in the ambulance. "I'm officer Powell and this is officer Callahan. Can you describe what the man who attacked you looked like?"

I froze, looking at the officer. "It wasn't a man." I said quickly.

He looked at me in confusion. "Okay...well, what attacked you then, miss?"

"I- I don't know..." I said, starting to feel dumb. I know I sounded dumb.

"You don't know?" Officer Powell looked at officer Callahan, looking back at me. "Like, you couldn't tell what kind of animal it was? Maybe just ballpark it?"

"No... it wasn't an animal either." I said, saying nothing else knowing they weren't believing a word I was saying.

Callahan sighed, rolling his eyes in the direction of the chief. Powell smiled at me. "Just one second, ma'am." He turned around. "Hey, chief... can you come help us out."

The two officers walked away. I glanced up to see them talking to chief Hopper and pointing to me. I was now going to be known as the town psycho after this. Maybe I was just confused? Maybe it was some kind of animal?

I heard footsteps approaching me, looking up to see Chief Hopper standing in front of me. He had a blank expression, staring at me as if he was waiting for me to say something. I didn't.

"Well?" He said, raising his eyebrows at me.

I looked at him in confusion. "Well, what?" I said.

"I need your name." He said as if I was stupid.

"Victoria Landon." I said, shifting where I sat.

He nodded, writing something down on a small notepad that was in his hand. "Oh, that's right. You're Peter's kid." He said, putting the notepad away. "I need you to come with me."

I scoffed. "I need to go to the hospital-" I was cut off.

He offered me a hand to help me out of the ambulance. "I think that can wait, kiddo, I need your statement." He said, grabbing my other arm to help me down, rushing me out of the ambulance.

"Trust me, you won't believe what I have to say." I mumbled as I followed him, not trying to argue with him considering how much he intimidated me.

He laughed, making our way over to his truck, opening the passenger side door for me. "Think so? Try me." He said

___

The car ride was silent and painful. My arm was throbbing, my whole body would feel this burning sensation all at once, but then it would quickly leave. I didn't say a word the whole way and neither did Hopper. I would feel his eyes on me, glancing over at me every once in a wile. I just kept my eyes down.

Once we pulled up to the police station I could tell right away they were busy. People were walking in and out like crazy, there were a bunch of cars parked out front. 

"You're not the only one having a crazy day." Hopper grumbled as he got out of the truck.

I quickly got out, following close behind. As soon as we got inside he was greeted by a bunch of people asking questions, and yelling. He tugged on my good arm, pushing through the crowd of people while dragging me behind him. Eventually he stopped, opening a door and motioning me to go in. 

"Sit." He said, pointing to a chair. 

I did as I was told, looking around the small room. It had a desk which sat in front of where I was, with two seats in front of it. Hopper sat at the desk in front of me, lighting a cigarette, sitting back in his seat, looking at me.

"So...spill." He said. "What happened. I need every single detail you can think of."

I thought for a moment, trying to figure out how I could explain it without sounding insane. Believe it or not, there was no way possible.

I looked up at him, struggling to say anything. "Chief Hopper... I can't-"

"Yes you can." He said, leaning it, resting his elbows on the desk, looking me in the eye. "Trust me."

I thought again for a moment, looking down at my hands as I collected my thoughts. "I got there and a greenhouse was a mess, I thought it was someone who had broken in. I went inside the shop to call it in, and as I was on the phone I... saw it." I said nervously.

The smell of his cigarette filled the room as we sat in silence for a moment as he took a few more drags. "Saw what, Victoria. I don't have the time in the world here." He sighed.

"Um. Well, at first I thought it was a person. But then I knew there was no way it could be so I assumed an animal. And then it came out of the greenhouse fully and- honestly I have no clue. It wasn't human or animal it was... like a..." I stopped trying to think of how to describe it.

"A monster?" He finished.

I looked at him, hesitating before nodding. "I guess so."

He rubbed his face with both hands as if he was annoyed, getting out a piece of paper and a pen. "Can you tell me where it went?" He said, talking with the cigarette between his lips.

"I have no clue, I was-"

"Victoria, I need you to try. Just give me something." He barked in frustration.

"I don't know, it ran out the front door right before you guys showed up." I snapped back. "What the hell is this thing anyway? What's going on?" He ignored me as he wrote something down. I leaned in a little bit. "Hey! I want answers too!" I said a little louder.

"Well, so do I, so it doesn't look like we can help each other out." He said as he stood up.

As soon as he did someone swung open the door to the small office. It was another officer. 

"Chief, come look at this." He said before leaving

Hopper walked around the desk, getting close to my face, looking me sternly in the eye. "Don't move. I'll be right back."

With that being said he left the room, swinging the door shut with a slam, leaving me in the small quiet room.

____

Sorry, things will be slow the first few chapters before I cam get things going. I'll try my best without rushing anything. I'll be updating multiple times a day until this story gets going so you don't get too bored of it.