the little spy

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

Once her bike hit the rocky ground of the woods, Alina hopped off of it. Light streamed through the trees, illuminating the leaves scattered on the ground and lighting up her dark curls. Alina began to walk through the woods, her bike jumping over roots and stones, thinking about Lucas Sinclair. It was so strange for him to come to say hello, when the day before he hadn't, choosing to send Will instead.

Actually, it was strange for anyone to come to say hello at all, and two people in two days? That must've been some world record for her.

Alina finally arrived at the fence circling Hawkins Lab. The treehouse was a little way away, but this section had a better vantage point, for seeing what was happening inside the Lab, and that was the trees. There was one with a branch that extended nearly to the fence, and Alina knew she'd be able to get a crystal-clear view of anything happening inside the Lab. If nothing happened from this angle, though, she did resolve to go to the treehouse, where she would be staying tonight, anyway.

Paranoid about getting caught, Alina stowed her bike in a bush, making sure it was hidden at all angles, then scaled the tree next to the one she was aiming for, which didn't have any low branches. If there was anything Alina was good at, it was climbing trees. She'd taught herself at the age of eight, bored stupid, and had, since then, been able to climb even the most perilous of barks.

Alina made it to the closest point where the two trees nearly connected, then inched along the branch on her bottom. It shook under her weight, but Alina wasn't afraid. When you've fallen out of trees before, and come out unscathed (she'd also taught herself to fall), you begin to take more risks. Plus, Alina was small, and skinny, and knew she wasn't heavy enough to break this branch.

There still was a little gap that Alina would have to make it across to reach the other tree. Alina steeled herself, before lying on her back, stretching out her legs as far as she could. She wrapped them around the branch and pulled herself onto the other one. It must've looked absolutely ridiculous, and Alina figured she could've jumped the gap, but she didn't really want to risk making noise and alerting anyone to her presence here. And besides. Better be safe than sorry.

Satisfied, Alina climbed a couple more branches until she reached the one she was looking for, the one that hung right over the fence. She sat down, letting her legs dangle into the open air, and realized just how high she was. Even with her tricks for falling, if she did happen to fall, she would not come out unscathed.

But Alina's curiosity outweighed her caution. She took out her binoculars, training them on the Lab, but there was no one outside. Alina sighed. She'd figured she wouldn't be so lucky.

She would have to wait.

Luckily for her, Alina had brought entertainment. She pulled out a comic, opened her bag of pretzels, and let the sun warm her face as she waited. She got lost in the world of her comic and the salty taste of her snacks, trying not to think of the girl.

Who are you? Why was I grounded for seeing you?

She was up there for around an hour when the rumble of engines startled her out of picking up her third comic. Alina shoved it back into her bag instead and looked through her binoculars, noticing cars beginning to drive into the Lab's parking lot. Men in white coats began to exit, shaking hands with other men in white coats. All of them looked ecstatic, bright smiles gracing their faces.

Dr. Brenner exited one of the cars as well, wearing his customary suit. For once, he wasn't looking cold and shrewd, rather, he was looking as excited as the others, shaking hands and pulling men into one-armed hugs.

Making history, Alina thought. What her dad had told her last night, something from work that would make him late coming home. Now she wondered if whatever they were doing had something to do with the girl.

With the hospital gown and the shaved head and her mouth opening to call for help.

As if she'd conjured him with her thoughts, Brandon Fairgrieves exited the last car, beginning to speak to Brenner, who was smirking slightly now. The two of them shook hands, and Brenner began to usher the scientists into the Lab.

Alina inched as close as she could to the end of the branch, her binoculars nearly cutting into the skin around her eyes. She knew that when she set them down, there would be a ring of red around both of them, but that didn't really matter right now. Nothing did except finding out what, exactly, was going on.

Until the branch began to crack.

Alina looked down, her eyes widening, but it was too late. The section of the branch Alina was sitting on snapped off, sending her shrieking to the ground, her bag strap cutting into her shoulders. Alina, remembering her falling techniques, shielded her head and turned as she fell, but she still knew it would be a brutal landing.

She landed on her side hard, rolling a couple of meters until she smacked into the tree. Her bag had shielded her from being too hurt, but, as Alina lay there, assessing her wounds, she figured she'd most likely bruised her ribs, which hurt every time she moved. Twigs were caught in her hair, leaves stuck to her clothes, and she was incredibly disoriented.

"Shit!" she swore. She grabbed the tree she'd ended up knocking into and used it to haul herself up, her side screaming with each breath. Pulling twigs out of her hair, Alina was about to concede defeat and go home to tend her wounds when she heard footsteps from the other side of the fence. Coming right toward her.

Alina panicked, diving into the bush beside where her bike was. The twigs scratched her face, but Alina stayed quiet, holding a hand over her mouth as to not breathe so loudly. The footsteps finally came to a stop, and Alina saw a man peering through the fence, muttering to himself.

"Swear I heard something," he said, before turning around and heading back to the Lab. Alina waited until she was sure he was gone before crawling out of the bush, feeling her face. She was bleeding a little, but other than that the twigs hadn't harmed her that much. But all in all, this trip had been a bust. She hadn't found out anything useful about the girl from the Lab or even what they were doing to "make history."

She sighed, deciding to head to the treehouse that night, as promised, and try to see if she could find out anything then. But tonight, she would bring a first aid kit.

Alina headed home and officially examined her wounds. There were a few scratches on her face, but they weren't too deep, and there was a little bruising on her side, though she figured it would be healed in a couple of days. She dabbed disinfectant on her scratches before bandaging them up and icing her side. Skywalker sat on her lap as she pulled leftover twigs and leaves off her hair and clothes, the pain from her fall dimming a little from her care.

Her dad came home for a little break that evening, crossing his arms as Alina told her story to him. "So, you fell out of a tree?" he asked as Alina lifted her shirt to show him her bruises. "Where did that happen?"

"In the woods near the Lab," said Alina. She knew that sometimes, when telling a lie, it was better to mix the truth into it, as that made it more believable. "I was hanging out there for a couple of hours when the branch broke. I landed in a bush, which is how I got the scratches."

"Did you put some ointment on that?" Brandon asked, setting down a plate for her. He'd heated up a frozen dinner, promising to actually cook a real meal the next night. "And it'll be a celebratory dinner, too," he'd said, "for we are making history."

"Yes, Dad," said Alina. Luckily, she knew the scratches would fade in a couple of days. She dug into her dinner, which was a little cool, just the way she liked it. "Good luck tonight, Dad. I'll be waiting at the treehouse for when you're done."

Brandon smiled, reaching over to ruffle Alina's hair. "Thanks, Ally. You know, if everything goes well tonight, I promise to tell you a little bit more about the Lab, and the special things we're doing. After all, if it's a potential career path for you when you grow up, you need to know a little more than what I've told you."

Alina took another bite of her dinner, straightening up. She chewed, swallowed, and smiled. So even if she didn't learn anything tonight, like she hadn't this morning, everything would be okay anyway. She'd learn a little more about the Lab, which might help her investigate more about the girl.

Little did Alina know, tonight would be the night that changed everything.

Brandon left soon after, and Alina gulped down her dinner quickly. Skywalker leaped on Alina's lap, meowing for food, and, rolling her eyes at her needy cat, Alina fed him. She kissed his fur as Skywalker finished eating, winding around her ankles and begging for treats.

Alina laughed softly. "You've already had enough, Sky. Besides," she said, kneeling down, "I'm going to the treehouse. Remember what I told you? How Dad's going to be 'making history'? Well, I'm going to try and find out what that is, and hopefully about the girl, too."

Skywalker almost seemed to understand, and stopped begging, instead heading into the living room. Alina smiled at her cat and then gazed around the dark kitchen, taking a deep breath. Then she headed upstairs, where her bag was already packed.

First-aid kit. Flashlight. Binoculars. Comics. Chips. Water. And, procured from her underwear drawer, her notebook, with a pen in case she needed to add anything else to the list of clues, or in case she found anything out tonight.

Alina laced up her sneakers, put on her jacket and pulled up the hood. She wanted to be hidden tonight, so that, even if she was seen, she wouldn't be identified. Then she headed out, locking the door and leaving Skywalker alone.

Before getting on her bike and switching on her light, Alina made sure there were no strange figures outside. The sun hadn't quite set yet, illuminating everything in gold, and Alina could clearly see through all of the trees, including the blackened burnt spots etched into them, the red marks mysteriously gone.

There was no one. The coast was clear, although Alina was mildly disappointed, as that would've made for an interesting change of plans.

She began to ride, her bruised side aching as she did so, but Alina wouldn't quit. She just rode, the wind in her hair, feeling free as a bird. She rode into the woods, where she walked her bike the rest of the way, until she reached the treehouse.

It was there, as usual, in all of its wooden glory. Alina smiled fondly at its crooked windows and lopsided roof before climbing up the ladder and setting up camp. She opened a bag of chips and ate as she peered through the windows at the Lab, but it was a bad angle. Alina bit her lip and looked to the tree nervously. She didn't want to fall again, but she knew that the trees were the best view.

Only a couple of minutes, she told herself. Then right back down.

She left everything except her flashlight and binoculars in the treehouse, and climbed down, before scaling the very same tree that she had fallen out of. Her side ached as she climbed, but she gritted her teeth, making her way to the top. Glancing through her binoculars, Alina found that there was nothing out of the ordinary, except the fact that there were a couple more cars parked in the parking lot than usual. But that was because of whatever was happening, wasn't it?

Alina sighed, heading back up to her treehouse. Cramming a couple of chips in her mouth, Alina sat on the outside of her treehouse, where they'd added a platform, and, instead of reading, studied the sky. Right now it was all orange and red, but as she watched, it began to deepen into indigo. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, Alina watched contently, leaning back and imagining being among the stars.

Alina was in the treehouse for an hour and a half before the alarms sounded. She'd been in a doze, and jolted awake, wiping saliva off her chin, before racing down the ladder and up the tree, smacking her head on several branches on her haste to climb it. Something was happening. Something terrible.

She didn't see the black shadow escaping from the Lab, but it saw her. And it fixed its eyes on her. Hungry.

Alina swung onto the right branch, pressing her binoculars in her eyes. A red light flickered from the inside of Hawkins Lab, and the alarms sounding were accompanied by shouting from the scientist. As Alina watched, she saw a couple of scientists begin to flood out of the Lab, sprinting into their cars and driving away without looking back. When Alina squinted, she could see blood coloring their lab coats, streaking their pale faces.

It seemed that whatever her dad and his coworkers had been doing to "make history" had gone, very, very wrong.

Dad. Alina scrambled down the tree, ignoring the pain from her side, and shined her flashlight around. Her father didn't come.

Remember Alina, always wait in the treehouse. If something goes wrong in the Lab, stay there. I or one of my coworkers will come to find you, okay?

That was what her father had told her the day after they'd built the treehouse. They were sitting up there, drinking lemonade and catching fireflies, when he'd turned to her, suddenly serious. Alina had nodded obediently, not really expecting that to actually happen. It was just a worst-case scenario, right?

Well, apparently not. But Alina followed her father's advice anyway, climbing back into the treehouse. Her heart was thumping so loudly in her chest she could barely hear her own ragged breaths, and she buried herself under a blanket, clutching herself tightly as the alarms sounded from the lab, the red light shining through the window of the treehouse.

She was so distraught she almost missed the footsteps, but at the last second, she heard them. Someone was running through the woods, right toward the treehouse.

Alina, immediately thinking it was her father, jumped up. "Dad!" she shouted, beginning to climb down the ladder yet again. "Dad, oh my God, what happened in..." her words died on her lips as she shone the beam of her flashlight right at the figure who'd come up to the treehouse. She'd thought for sure it would be her Dad, but...

It wasn't Brandon Fairgrieves. It wasn't even one of the other scientists, or Dr. Brenner. As Alina shined her flashlight on this figure, she felt the same old tug pull her towards them.

The girl from the Lab looked right back at her, her head shaved, her feet bare, her brown eyes wide. Her hospital gown hanging at her ankles.

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

a/n: and things are getting a little more interesting! alina's beginning to get a little suspicious of what's going on! and her and eleven have finally met face-to-face! i honestly love their relationship and i hope you guys will as well!

if you're enjoying it so far, don't hesitate to leave a comment or vote! it really means so much to me, guys. like, literally, you can say anything and i'll be happy. 

'till next time! :)