Season 1 -
DANGER BREW IN THE SMALL TOWN OF HAWKINS, INDIANA. Despite escaping from the lab that started it all, Ten is unaware of this. All she wants is to help those who have helped her. Accidentally bringing them into the danger she herself had b...
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Right Back Where We Started
THE GIRLS DIDN'T KNOW WHERE TO GO. They had been kicked out of the only place they had. It had only been by luck that they had found someone willing to take them in. More likely anyone they went to would turn them away. Or worse, they would take them in only to call the lab to come to get them. Then they would be locked up again. Papa would be even worse than before now that they ran away.
It didn't help that El was still upset. She had become attached to the boys, Mike specifically. All El had wanted to do was protect them. In return, Mike had screamed at her and accused her of being a traitor.
Well, not verbally, but they both knew he agreed with Lucas's words now.
They stalked silently through the woods. The sun glowed above, but it didn't warm anything. It just hung there.
Ten sniffled and wiped her eyes. Her feet hurt from walking all night. They had been able to sleep a little bit, but every noise could have been the bad men or a monster, and that meant they had to move again. The ground was also cold and covered in poking twigs.
As they walked, Ten carefully led El along. The girl had been zone out for a while. In one hand she clutched the wig Mike had given her. It had fallen off in her sleep and neither of the girls knew how to put it back on. Ten tried to tell her she didn't need it. She wasn't trying to blend in anymore. El refused to get rid of it anyway.
"Pretty," El had insisted, clutching the wig tightly.
They stopped at a lake. It's waters shifted calmly, barely moved by the breeze. Ten watched for a moment, before turning to leave. El stopped her and bent down by the water.
El carefully pulled the wig over her head. It was ratty and off-center. There was a line where they could see it didn't really connect to her head. The boys had covered them with something. Ten didn't know what it was. All she knew was they didn't have it. Finally, El gave up and pulled off the wig.
"Still pretty, " Ten suggested.
Ten knew how much being 'pretty' meant to El now. Almost like being pretty meant that she was good, too.
El didn't believe her. She let out a sob and collapsed into a heap. As she did the water in front of her exploded. Ten bent down next to her friend. She pulled El into a hug and the two sat there, watching the ripples move across the lake.
✧✧✧
CAMPBELL TOLD HIMSELF HE WOULD TELL THEM EVERYTHING. As much as they needed. Answer all of their questions, explain anything that needed to be explained. He would learn from his past mistakes. Knowing it all was dangerous, but not as dangerous as only knowing enough to put you in danger in the first place but not enough to protect yourself.
