STATUS: UNKNOWN [stranger things] [2/2]

IV - All These Things That I've Done

•

"I want to stand up, I want to let go

You know, you know, no you don't, you don't

I want to shine on in the hearts of men

I want a meaning from the back of my broken hand"

•

There are gentle fingers running through her hair, and Rosemary is emotionless as she stares at the wall, locks of hair falling to the ground. It feels somehow good to let go, good to feel the weight off of her shoulders and feel like she may be able to breathe again,

(soon, sage and her son will gather the hair and they will burn it, wipe every evidence of the girl having been there)

but it hurts. She can see Nancy looking at her like a stranger would. She can still hear Susanita screaming outside of her hospital room, begging to see her daughter. She can see Karen holding Mike through cracks in her bloody eyes. She can feel the demogorgans teeth sinking into her hand, smell the blood -

(oh, the blood, the blood, the blood-)

she blinks. Sage does not ask about her hands, now hidden in the sleeves of the denim jacket her son had lent her. She does not ask why she is running. She simply cuts her hair to her shoulders, shares a look with her son n the doorway, and puts a gentle hand on Rosemarys shoulder

(she's been wanting to let go for so long - to let go and run, to be free, to never have to lay eyes and fear the lab again. she tries to ignore the part of her that wants to run home and let her mother take care of her. let nancy lean her head on her shoulder. let eleven know that it will be okay)

when she begins to cry.

She cries until she can't anymore, and when she crosses the state line with legs aching and heart on fire she cries some more. She cries until she falls asleep in an abandoned warehouse in Chicago. She doesn't cry for another two months after that.

***

Carina didn't know what drew her to Chicago a year ago. She didn't know how she knew where to find Kali, but the moment she saw that number on her arm she felt... well, she felt safe. Safer than she had done that past week, at the very least.

The warehouse had never felt like a home, per se, but the people inside it did. They cared for her like she was one of their own, because to them she was, and when they looted enough places they gave her a small chunk of it so that she could leave. Funshine said that she had seen enough violence lately, she deserved something normal, she wasn't like Kali. And the others agreed.

Even with visiting every month, it looked odd. As time passed she stuck out more and more among the people. Now, with blonde hair and a style that was more preppy than she'd ever imagined herself having, she was certain she stuck out like a sore thumb. Even if she was in one of her darker sets of clothes. It paid to have a tough demeanour and a killer glare, sometimes. When she walked around in Washington, people didn't give a second glance. When she walked through Chicago, it was almost like they knew the things she had done.

Some people saw what they wanted to see, other people saw what they needed to. Survival instincts, perhaps, or perhaps it's just her reading too much into things.

Her mind wandered as she walked down the alleyway, dodging the people living there as she did so. If it truly was Eleven as she suspected, as she even hoped, she didn't even know what to expect. She'd resigned herself to the thought that she might be dead long ago, but if she were alive, watching her all this time - then how? Who was she living with, if anyone, if she was living anywhere at all. What has she seen of Carinas life? She couldn't even fathom how she found Kali. She'd been so young when she was isolated, and when Kali left. 

She refused to let the dreadful thought that it really was the lab creep in. And then the even more dreadful thought that it was Eleven and the lab.

"Well oh well, haven't we got the cast tonight?" Axel smirked as she walked in. "Pep rallys at the next homeless shelter, sweetheart."

Carina stopped in her tracks, looking around in mock amazement, before continuing forward. "Oh, I'm sorry, which level of hell have I stumbled into now?" She asked, ever so slightly delighted when Axel laughed, bumping his hip against hers slightly. "What do you mean, 'cast' - who else has been here?" She asked hesitantly.

Mick scoffed, shrugging. "Sister, oh, sister." She said in a joyful voice, dropping it immediately afterwards. "Another one of you guys."

"Shirley temple looking kid." Axel added.

"Kid? How old? What number?" Carina couldn't help but shoot the questions out.

"Can't be more than thirteen." Funshine shook his head. "I didn't see the number, but she sure as hell had one. Kalis tucking her into bed as we speak. She's been waiting on you for a few hours, you know. Said you knew it wasn't your people out to find her."

Carina frowned. "I didn't know for sure. Kind of felt... I don't know. Dumb instinct that ended up being right." She shrugged, knowing if she went into it much then Axel would just make fun of her. It was kind of nice being around people that weren't all that fazed by it anymore. "Did she look, like. You know, healthy? She wasn't hurt?"

"Was wearing some dungarees like a farmer." Mick snorted. "Other than that, not much wrong about her." She shrugged. "Arrived with a newspaper clipping of Kali as a kid, said she found her from that, that her mom gave it to her or something?" She shared a look with Dotty. "I don't know, weird shit man. That's your area of expertise, not ours."

"Dungarees?" Carina grimaced. "I know I've gone preppy, but not even I have ventured into dungarees."

Axel shivered. "Thank fucken' god."