police lights

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Alina woke up the next morning with only three hours of sleep. She'd been tossing and turning for most of the night, the previous night's events whirling around her brain, the girl's voice ringing through her head whenever she closed her eyes. "Magnet", she'd said. She'd pointed at Alina, then at herself, suggesting that they were alike in some way, though not the way Alina had guessed. She'd been afraid that Alina would leave.

And then her father had told her that this girl was a monster, that attacked everyone she saw. A rabid animal thirsting for blood. This girl was twisted in his eyes, seen through a funhouse mirror, sweet face distorted into a sneer. And this made Alina trust Brandon Fairgrieves a little less, the peaceful, sometimes forgetful dad façade he'd been putting up before Alina had seen this girl slowly fading for her.

But Alina was still scared of what she might find when she finally managed to break it down.

As her alarm blared, Alina shut it off with a growl, swinging her legs out of bed. Anger was curling in her stomach this morning, and she found herself practically ripping off her pajamas to replace them with a baggy blue shirt and ill-fitting jeans. Alina's distaste for fashion had only grown since Linda's departure, even walking into a clothing store giving her flashbacks of the miserable hours she'd spent there with her mother. She just let her father buy all of her clothes for her, and that worked out just fine.

Her hands found the scars striping across her exposed stomach as she changed her shirt. They had faded from the pink they'd previously been into white in the recent years, although as her fingers brushed against them, they seemed to throb like they were brand new.

Alina pulled on her shirt quickly, but she could practically see the white shining through the fabric. Grumbling, she grabbed her comb and tried to run it through her dark hair, but, as usual, it was a lost cause, the comb's teeth tangling in her curls.

Alina tried to yank it out and nearly took out a chunk of her hair. It was only seven thirty in the morning and her day was already going terribly. Somehow, she knew it would only get worse.

She set the comb on her nightstand and stomped downstairs, where her father was, as usual, preparing breakfast, coffee for himself and scrambled eggs for the both of them. Alina and Brandon both liked their eggs the same way; not too hot, a little undercooked, and with pepper sprinkled on top. Still, the sight of her father doing such an average thing, a thing he'd done for Alina since she was small, caused her to stop on the stairs, staring at him.

He was humming an old lullaby he used to sing to Alina when she couldn't fall asleep at night, one Alina was quite sure he'd made up. He was wearing an old apron of Linda's that was covered with flowers and cherries. He looked, well, like a dad, and, staring at him, Alina's anger began to fade. She couldn't see how her dad, the one who read her bedtime stories and went on imaginary adventures with her, going to the moon or deep into the jungle and fighting off tigers, was lying to her.

Brandon stopped humming when he noticed Alina staring at him. Skywalker had rushed down at the sound of Alina's footsteps, and was currently winding around her ankles and meowing for food. Brandon smiled at his daughter, pouring coffee into a large mug that said Best Daddy Ever, an arts-and-crafts project Alina had made for him when she was four.

"Wake the whole neighborhood yet?" he asked, adding cream to his coffee. "There's a couple of houses a few blocks away that might've missed the deafening stomping of yours."

Alina swallowed, nervous. "Sorry," she said. "I just... I hate Mondays."

"Me too, kiddo," said Brandon. "And I only get Saturdays off. But that isn't an excuse for you to be so grumpy. Come on, lighten up. I'm sure it'll be a good week." He set down a plate of eggs for her. "Eat, Ally. You need your strength for this tough week."

Alina let out a laugh and dug her fork into her eggs, eyes darting around the room. Her dad had removed the file from last night, which meant he probably was keeping it either in his office or in his room. Both should be easy enough to get into, if he was at work, but Alina knew that he kept his office locked sometimes.

Luckily, along with tree climbing and how to fall, Alina knew another trick, and that was how to pick a lock. Getting the key, she knew, would be a whole different issue, as Brandon kept all of his keys on one ring, which he took to work. So she'd have to pick it. Easy enough, right?

Seeing her dad had made Alina feel a little conflicted. But getting her hands on that file would solve that problem. And then, she would find the girl again, and everything might just be okay.

Alina swallowed a bite of egg. "I'm going to ride to school, okay?" she asked. "I'm still a little sore, but I think I'll be okay."

Her bruises had not faded, turning her left side a mottled purple and blue. Alina ached every time she took a breath, but Alina's current situation left her not wanting to be in a car with her father, alone. Plus, the fresh air might help to alleviate her terrible mood.

"That's fine, Ally," said Brandon. "Just be careful. Remember what I told you last night, okay?"

"Got it, Dad." Alina finished her eggs and stood up. Skywalker was currently digging into his own breakfast, and she gave his head a little pet as she walked by. After clearing her plate, Alina headed back upstairs, where she brushed her teeth and grabbed her backpack. The sky was blue, and even though the weather forecasters predicted rain, it seemed like it would be a lovely day.

It was a pity it didn't match her mood.

She climbed on her bike, which her father had put in the trunk of his car after picking her up last night and began to ride. The air was pleasantly cool, and Alina had to admit it was nice to be riding here, on her own, jumping over curbs and riding on the open road.

She arrived at Hawkins Middle School around twenty minutes later, dropping her bike off and sitting cross-legged on the grass near the entrance to the school. Alina was a people-watcher, so she was the first to see when Lucas's "party" arrived. Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, and Lucas Sinclair dismounted their bikes, glancing around, already lost in conversation. For some reason, however, Will Byers was missing from the group, leaving the three looking oddly empty without him.

Whatever. She knew Will would turn up—he'd only missed a half-day of school last year after he'd thrown up in the garbage at recess—and anyway, where Will Byers went and what he did wasn't her problem, anyway, even if he had gone out of his way to talk to her on Saturday. Even if they had played with each other when they were younger.

He wasn't her problem.

Alina was picking at the grass when her eyes wandered to the party again, and then to the two boys who were heading up to them.

She groaned internally, a wave of sympathy going through her for the party. Troy Walsh and James Dante. The bullies in the playground and "perfect angels" everywhere else. The boys had nicknamed her "Midnight Girl" a year ago, a term making fun of her dark skin, and had once almost broken her arm by shoving her down the stairs. Of course, the teachers never believed her over those 'sweet angels'.

Alina knew that most bullies must have some kind of motive or trauma motivating their actions, but she still hated them both. Racists didn't get redemption arcs in Alina's eyes.

She slinked closer to the party, suddenly interested. She wouldn't do anything—she'd been bullied multiple times by Troy and James, and these boys had pretended not to notice—but she wanted to at least make sure it wasn't anything physical.

"Step right up, ladies and gentlemen!" Troy laughed as the party members turned towards the two bullies, their faces already twisted up, expecting what was to come. "Step right up and get your tickets for the freak show." He turned to James. "Who do you think would make more money in a freak show? Midnight?" he shoved Lucas, and Alina gritted her teeth at the familiar name (Troy's creativity levels in nicknames were practically non-existent) "Frogface," he shoved Mike, "or Toothless?" he pushed Dustin, the boy squeezing his eyes shut as if that would somehow par the blow.

"Hmm." James pretended to ponder who. "I'd go with Toothleth." He slurred on the final word, a sorry imitation of Dustin's lisp.

"I told you a million times," Dustin snapped, "my teeth are coming in. It's called cleidocranial dysplasia."

"I thold you a million thimeth," James sneered back, and Troy chuckled at the impersonation. Then, he turned back to Dustin.

"Do the arm thing."

Alina had had enough of this. For some reason, she was actually feeling bad for Mike, Dustin and Lucas, and, if she'd had an ounce less of sense, she knew she'd actually be going over there and defending the trio. She scoffed, sitting against the wall with a comic. That would never happen. She'd never be friends with them. That was a world she definitely didn't want to live in.

Her life was weird enough as it was.

Unfortunately for Alina, it would soon get weirder.

Alina was the last to leave her science class that afternoon, relief flooding her at the conclusion of the school day. Now she could continue on to what really mattered, which was, of course, getting the file and finding the girl. The girl was obviously her first priority. The file, though, may help with that. She'd look for it after school, but if she didn't find anything after an hour, she'd head out.

She was heading down the hall to her locker when something caught her eye through the window. A police car parked in the parking lot. The lights were off, but Alina could picture the red and blue, illuminating her face as she ran, her stashed notebook dug up from her drawer, evidence of her misdeeds, of her obsession with finding the girl.

Just as she walked away from the window and began to spin the padlock to open her locker, she was stopped by Ms. Smith, a grade eight teacher. "Alina?" the woman asked, causing Alina to spin around, instantly paranoid. "Oh, you're not in trouble dearie," she said at Alina's panicked face. "The police just want to ask you a couple of questions. Can you come with me to the office?"

All the blood drained out of Alina's face, her mouth running dry. She expected, at any moment, for Brenner to come running out from behind a locker, yelling that he knew they shouldn't trust her, making plans to lock her up and keeping her away from the girl. She looked around wildly, barely managing to draw breath to squeak out "The police? Why?"

Ms. Smith set a comforting hand on her shoulder, reminding Alina of the girl from the Lab. "It's okay, Alina," she said. "Well, not really, but I promise you're not in trouble. A boy has gone missing, and the police are gathering everyone who knows him to ask a couple of questions."

Alina blinked. Whatever she'd been expecting, it hadn't been that. "Who?" she asked. "Who's gone missing? Because I don't really know a lot of people at this school, so you may have the wrong pers—"

"Will Byers." Ms. Smith interrupted Alina's rambling. "Will Byers has gone missing. He hasn't even been gone for a day, so it's probably nothing, but the police are just being thorough. His mother is very worried."

Alina's eyes widened. Will Byers. She'd been confused when Will hadn't shown up to any of their classes today, but she didn't expect this at all, for him to have vanished. They'd just talked on Saturday! And nothing like this ever happened in Hawkins. People didn't go missing. Even thefts here were rare, the criminal caught almost immediately.

Alina took a deep breath. This is Hawkins, she reminded herself. Nothing bad happens in Hawkins. I'm sure Will's okay. They'll find him soon.

But as Alina walked into the office, soothing herself by telling herself Will would be fine, she was unaware of where Will actually was. Perhaps then, she wouldn't be walking into the office without trembling, especially since, somehow, she would grow to have a large part in finding him.

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

a/n: i decided to update today in honour of the completion of drafting this book! writing this has been a wild ride tbh and i'm so excited for you guys to get deeper into alina's story!

i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! if you did, i'd really appreciate if you voted or commented! it really makes me happy to see that you guys are enjoying reading this.

'till next time! :)