𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞~𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬

ACT TWO-SCENE THREE

𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐲'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯
"are you sure this is...right?" El asked Ashley as they rifled through the few boxes they had hidden under their bed, searching for any clues as to who they were
"we deserve to know, El. when we cleaned, i found a box with something about my brother" she explained slowly, and El stopped completely
"you have a brother? and you lie to me? you said it was nothing important" her voice grew higher and louder as she spoke, but Ashley was unfazed
"wasn't important at the time, but Hopper won't let us out, so we will just have to do something else" she reasoned, and El seemed to agree, because she pulled another box from under the bed, gasping a little
"Harley...Colt? that is your name" El handed the box to Ashley, and she opened the flaps gently. at the top of the box, that piece of paper with the words 'Sycamore Springs' still lied, untouched for months, completely forgotten.
"what is Sycamore Springs?" El asked, but Ashley simply shook her head
"don't know, but i think it's where brother is" was the truth, but her eyes widened as she scrambled to her feet, lifting the mattress and pulling a crumpled piece of paper from underneath it. she smoothed it out on the floor with great care, being careful not to rip it. El tilted her head to get a better look at it, her mouth parting a little
"pretty. like Ashley" she whispered, resting a hand on her sister's shoulder
"yes. brother, Harley" Ashley breathed, running a finger across the page
"see him?" El guessed, and Ashley nodded her head, grabbing the piece of paper and sitting on the bed, patting the space in front of her, where her sister came and sat opposite her, crossing her legs. El wrapped a cloth around her head, taking one last glance at the picture before pulling the cloth over her eyes, taking her sister's hands in hers. almost immediately, they were whisked into darkness, gripping each other's hands more tightly. their eyes shot open, and El pointed at Ashley's eyes
"glow" was all she could manage before the scene changed again, and the glow in Ashley's eyes dulled until they looked almost normal. they were stood before a short, brown building with a tattered sign that read "Sycamore Springs". it was nothing special, but Ashley knew that this was the place she needed to be. the girls snuck inside, trying to stay hidden, but it was only when a young woman walked straight through them that they realised they couldn't be seen

"stupid" El giggled as Ashley dragged her down a corridor, laughing quietly to herself.  at the end of the corridor, it split into two, a sign on the wall where they split. to the left, the sign read "Maple ward" and to the right it read "Golden Elm ward". Ashley assumed they meant red and yellow, because maple leaves were red and golden elm leaves were yellow. on the same side as Golden Elm ward, a separate hallway broke off to what Ashley assumed to be the the cafeteria. as they stepped in, a heavy, uneasy feeling settled itself upon Ashley's shoulders, making her feel cold despite the sickening warmth of the room. a few people turned to look at them, and both girls froze in their places.
"can't see us, remember?" El assured Ashley, but it seemed as though she were trying to convince herself that too
"i-i think some of them can. they look right at us" she swept the room with her eyes, it was large, and relatively empty. there were about thirty people in total, ages ranging from a little younger than the girls to about seventeen, most looking very sullen and downcast, whilst others looked as though they had been injected with pure caffeine. the girls decided to sit at a table in the corner, with two boys and a girl who seemed to be able to see them. as soon as they had sat down, the taller boy started to speak
"newbies! what are you guys in for?" he had caramel skin and sea green eyes, with hair a little shorter and less curly than El's
"murder" Ashley blurted, a dangerous glint in her eyes, daring him to laugh, which he proceeded to do
"you two? you're just a pair of pretty little things, there's no way in hell you guys could get away with murder" he spoke airily, but the shorter boy with shaggy black hair next to him began to shake his head
"see? he knows" Ashley jutted her chin towards him as he shook his head more violently, then stopped suddenly. Ashley and El glanced at each other, rolling their eyes dramatically. they didn't usually enjoy revealing their abilities to just anyone, but they figured it was the only way for the others to give them any credit. El stared intently at the cup in front of the skinny girl with straggly blond hair, whilst Ashley tried to pick something out of the dark skinned boy's mind. she settled for his biggest fear, which made her giggle
"you're scared of teddy bears, because one fell onto your head when you were little" she smirked, but he had little time to retaliate because the blond girl's cup shattered a few seconds after, causing the entire group to flinch. for a few moments, everyone was silent, until the blond girl spoke in a soft, raspy voice, somewhat like the sound of fallen leaves in autumn
"i-i'm Ella, this is Carlos" she pointed to the dark skinned boy "and this is Castor. he doesn't talk much, he's worried that we're constantly being watched" she pointed to the boy with the shaggy black hair who raised his head for the first time, the look in his obsidian eyes like jagged glass
"i'm Ashley, this is my sister El, we can do cool mind stuff" Ashley explained briefly, pushing Carlos' mouth shut
"you don't tell anyone about the teddy bear stuff, or i'll rip your face off, you understand?" he pointed a finger at her, but she simply laughed
"understand. i didn't come here to talk. where is Harley?" her expression suddenly became serious, and Castor's head shot up
"Colt?" his voice was flooded with alarm, and Ashley tilted her head to the side in confusion
"Harley Colt, yes. my brother. where is he?" she pressured, but he simply shook his head, rushing off. Ashley, being as curious as she was, took off after him, grabbing his wrist before he got outside. he whipped around quickly, keeping his head down in a fruitless attempt to wrench her hand from his wrist, but she was stronger than she looked
"i-i won't hurt you. promise" she relaxed her grip on his wrist, lowering her hand to his. he slowly looked up at her, despite being marginally taller than her, brushing the hair out of his face, revealing his dark eyes once more
"that's-that's what he said! now look at me... he hurt me. he lied" the more Castor spoke, the louder his voice grew, until he was nearly shouting
"i-i am not like him. i do not lie" she reassured him, before taking a heavy breath and continuing "what did he do? what did he say?"
"we-we have both been here since we were very young, and he was the only one i thought i could trust. he was nice to me. he didn't think i was weird, like everyone else. and then, about nineteen months ago, he grew unstable, started asking for his sister, and that's when he turned on me. he would ask me where his sister was, and then scream at me, calling me a liar when i told him i didn't know. he said i could see, but i denied it all. then one night, about a year ago, i woke up to see him sobbing on his bed, we shared a dorm in Golden Elm. despite everything inside me telling me no, i went over to him, to comfort him. all i did was hug him, and he slashed me across the face with a shard of glass, yelling at me to go away, saying he couldn't be friends with a liar. not only that, but he couldn't be friends with a homo" as he spoke, Ashley began to notice the long, white scar that had been drawn across Castor's face no more than a year ago. Ashley had been to the Upside down no more than a year ago, and she had known too well to assume it was all a coincidence
"what's a homo?" her mouth did the talking for her, and Castor gave her an incredulous look, before realising she was being serious
"uh...it's short for homosexual, a boy who likes boys, or a girl who likes girls. how do you not know? have you been living under a rock your whole life?" with each question he seemed to push Ashley away, jabbing at her with a blunt blade. Ashley didn't want to be pushed away, she didn't care if Castor liked boys, no matter what her brother thought. she squeezed his hand gently, and the ghost of a smile danced upon his lips, before it vanished like the light when the sun ducks behind a cloud. sensing his change of mood, Ashley pulled up her sleeve a little, revealing the number 010 that was permanently etched upon her wrist. his eyes widened a little, but he composed himself quickly
"you're from that lab place in Hawkins, aren't you? i bet you're not really here, this is all some experiment to test your and Eleven's powers, isn't it? that means they know-" he began to panic, backing away a little
"no, we are hiding" was all Ashley could manage as she felt herself slipping away
"you're hiding? well then, why don't i turn you in?" he laughed hysterically, but Ashley wore an expression so smug that the entire species of cats would sue her for plagiarism
"but i know your dirty little secret" she sang,  and Castor's eyes flashed with fear
"you are like him! you should be in continuous too!" he screeched, leaving Ashley confused, but she had no time to wonder. she allowed her feet to lead the way down the winding corridoors until she reached a door that read "Continuous observation- highly volatile", and she pushed the door open without even turning a handle. inside was a boy in a white straightjacket, his eyes boring into hers with the same azure stare
"you are late" he announced, and her vision tunneled.

word count: 1786
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