September 8th, 1979

2 Hours Remain

Ever since Emily had volunteered that one time, she was Brenner's go-to security camera operator replacement. Once every few weeks or so, she'd check her schedule and find she was stationed in the CCTV room. It was the only times she had a shift different to Henry's. So, from sun up to sun down, she sat in the dark room with just the monitors and her own thoughts. Luckily just two months before, a piece of technology called a Walkman was invented. During her August visit into town, Emily had picked one up.

At first Brenner had been apprehensive at the idea of her wearing headphones to work. They were a distraction. But after Emily had pointed out that it was rare for anything to happen and she would be stuck in mind numbing boredom for hours, he finally gave in.

And so there Emily sat, flitting through hundreds of cameras and bopping her head to the music while mouthing lyrics.

"When you're gone, though I try, how can I carry on?" She mumbled. She began observing the Rainbow Room, checking different angles and looking at what the kids were doing. Three and Four were focused on the maze, Nine had the Rubix cube in her hand, Thirteen was stacking blocks... And Eleven was playing chess with Henry. Emily could see he was speaking to her, barely moving his lips so they couldn't easily be read.

She switched to another camera.

It was almost a relief when Emily had been assigned to the CCTV station that day. Anyone else would have thought Henry's actions a little suspicious and probably done something about it. Though, Emily being behind the cameras meant she could turn a blind eye.

Today depended upon everything going exactly right. Eleven had to get to the basement while Emily and Henry had to make their disappearances seem normal. At exactly 3 PM, Eleven would make her way downstairs. What happened after that depended upon her and any guards who would come searching for them.

It was risky as all hell, but it was a risk they had to take.

Emily took the cassette out of the Walkman to flip it around when the tape was finished. It slipped out of her fingers, landing on the floor with a plastic clatter. She sighed, picking it back up and shoving it back into the Walkman.

"It should not be this hard to listen to ABBA." she muttered, closing the flap. And for a little while, she kept bopping along, taking notes and switching cameras as though it were a normal day. Of course, it was anything but.

***

30 Minutes Remain

At 2:57, Emily abandoned her desk and went down the emergency door to the basement. The heels of her shoes sent small metal clangs against the stairs each step she took. The door hissed when she opened it, now met with low pipes and tanks regulating water and gasses to different parts of the building. It took a second, but she found the specific pipe she was looking for, testing the grate in front of it to make sure it would open.

The main door opened from a distance away, indicating Eleven had made it. Emily let out a sigh of relief as the little girl approached with Henry. He bent down next to her and yanked the grate off the pipe.

"Now, it's going to be a bit scary in here, but this... this will lead you out beyond the lab fence into the woods." Henry told her. Eleven looked down the pipe, then back at him.

"But... you are too big." She said. Henry pursed his lips before taking the girl's hands in his.

"We're not going with you, Eleven. I meant what I said when I called this place a prison and everyone here is a prisoner. Not just you, not just your brothers and sisters, but the guards, too, the nurses... Us." He gestured to Emily, now knelt down next to him in front of Eleven. He then craned his neck and brushed his hair aside so Eleven could see a small bump on the side. "Can you feel that? Your Papa calls it Soteria. It weakens us, tracks us, even if there were a way out, he will find us, and if he finds us he will find you."

Eleven contemplated this, her small face scrunching in thought before turning back to her two companions.

"What if I make it go away?" She asked. "You help me, I help you."

Emily and Henry both smiled at the girl. She returned it, unaware of the fact that this had been exactly the response they were looking for.

They shuffled away from the pipe to a small wall in the middle of the room. Henry sat down and undid his belt to have something to bite down on. Removing Soteria was gonna hurt like a bitch, but there was no getting around it.

"Remember. You can't hurt us more than they already have." Henry reminded the girl, hoping to quell any doubts she had about causing either of them pain. Eleven nodded before Henry pulled his hair back from his neck, allowing her a clear sight of the chip. She started pulling it out, causing the skin of Henry's neck to stretch. Emily twisted her lips, refusing to look away even at Henry's discomfort. With a gasp, the chip flew out and landed on the ground with a metalic plink sound. Eleven took a few deep breaths as Henry stood up. Blood seeped from the wound, staining the collar of his shirt.

In turn, he passed Emily the belt so she could bite down on it. She sat down and gave Eleven a reassuring nod before pulling her hair aside. Immediately she felt a sharp pain in her neck, a distinct pulling that made her grimmace. She suppressed a scream as she felt her skin rip. The chip flew out, also landing a distance away. Warm blood oozed from the wound. Emily pressed a hand against it to slow the bleeding. It wasn't a very deep wound; Soteria was just underneath the skin.

She stood up and walked over to where Henry was crouched down, holding his chip between his fingers.

"Who knew something so small could cause so much trouble?" He mused, rolling Soteria between his fingers, blood staining the tips. Emily looked down at her chip, almost taunting her on the floor. She wordlessly stepped on it, crushing it under her shoe so small metal and plastic pieces covered the area. She twisted her foot as if she werw squishing a bug, wanting to make sure the chip was well and thoroughly broken, never to bind her ever again. Emily turned to look at Eleven with a wry smile.

"Thank you, Eleven." She said. Eleven nodded, wiping the blood from her nose.

The door burst open, guard suddenly flooding in carrying very bright flashlights.

"There they are!" One of them yelled.

"Run!" Henry said, grabbing Eleven's hand as they weaved through the maze of pipes and water tanks. Emily ran ahead, opening another door so they could escape into the halls of the lab. They didn't get very far before they were surrounded. Three guards blocked off the mouth of the hall and two others flanked them from behind using the door they had just come through.

"Where do you think you're going?" One guard asked snidely. They all pulled out handheld tazers exactly like the ones used to torment Emily and Henry. "Against the wall, now!"

The three of them paused, contemplating their next move. Eleven went to comply, starting for the wall. Henry stopped her, grabbing her arm.

"No. You don't have to be afraid of them, Eleven. Not anymore." Henry said. A guard scoffed before turning to the others.

"Take 'em." He said. Emily and Henry exchanged a look, both coming to a consensus. Before the guards even had a chance to move, Henry flung his arm out, sending the two guards behind them crashing into a wall. Emily launched one of the ones in front of her into the ceiling and back down again, roof tiles landing on the ground. Henry threw another one into the opposite wall with a loud crash.

The last guard re-emerged from around the corner, his hands shaking with fear. Emily reached her hand out, making a constricting gesture with her hands. The guard screamed, grasping at his chest.

Three...

Emily felt blood drip from her nose, squeezing her hand tighter. The guard's eyes bulged.

Two...

He screamed, blood pouring from his nose and out of his ears. His neck bulged, veins popping out while his face turned blue. His screams were drowned out by a peverse gurgling in his throat.

...One

Emily clamped her hand shut, the guard falling over in a heap. Blood continued to come out of every orfice on his face, pouring out of his mouth like a stream. Emily wiped her nose with the back of her hand and turned back to Henry and Eleven. The latter looked utterly confused as Henry grabbed the closet door nearby.

"Come." He instructed. He threw the door open, leading Eleven inside while Emily brought up the rear, slamming the door shut. They looked at the girl, confused and maybe a little frightened. "Wait here. Don't move. We're going to find us a way out."

"Wait." Eleven said, grabbing Henry by the arm as he tried to leave. "H...how did you...?"

"Like I said... we're alike." Henry said with a smile. He gently rolled back his sleeve to show Eleven the 001 on his wrist. She looked at it curiously, putting her 011 next to it. Emily rolled back her sleeve, showing Eleven the 004 she bore.

"There were others that came before you." Emily clarified. Eleven pulled away, a bundle of emotions on her face. Henry smiled and pulled the door back open. Emily got down on one knee and held Eleven by the shoulders gently. "Stay here. We'll come find you after, okay?"

Eleven nodded, indicating she understood. Emily let go of her and followed Henry out of the room into the halls. She spotted the guard she had murdered on the ground, his head surrounded by a halo of blood. Feeling her powers buzzing at her fingertips for the first time in twelve years and seeing the carnage...

In that moment, something snapped.

The past twenty years of pain and torment came flooding back into Emily's memories. Countless punishments, years of gaslighting and manipulation, and unwarranted restraint bubbled to the surface in waves of pure rage. The lights began to flicker and Emily saw red.

No one was going to be left alive. Every single person in that lab deserved to suffer.

Guards ran in from both ends of the hall, forcing Emily and Henry back to back. He reached for her hand, squeezing it once before they threw their arms out in front of them. Guards flew, crashing into walls and ceilings. Emily could almost sense their bones breaking, feel their lives slipping away. She remembered something Henry had once told her about that night with his mother and sister. The lives he took gave him strength.

Emily looked over her shoulder to see Henry with one guard hoisted above the floor. The guard screamed as his arms twisted and broke in unnatural positions. His eyes began to bleed before they disappeared all together, getting sucked back into his skull with a squelch. A disturbing sight to most people, Emily relished it. No more suffering would that guard cause. None of them would ever cause such pain again.

The halls were clear again, tiles broken and smeared with blood. It was a scene right out of the pits of hell. Henry turned Emily around so his hands were on her shoulders.

"Emily, could you get that half of the lab?" He asked, echoing the frequent request he gave her when they had to clean up the Rainbow Room. She suppressed a laugh before replying.

"Of course, Henry. Let me know if you need any help." Emily said. Henry smiled wickedly before pressing a kiss to Emily's lips. She returned it before pulling away. With nods, they ran in opposite directions. This no longer was about mere escape in their minds. No, it was vengeance. Revenge was the word prickling in Emily's mind as she ripped doors off their hinges, breaking whoever poor soul happened to be on the other side.

The white walls Emily had come to despise were covered in blood, be it splatters or the remnants of people clawing at nothing, desperately trying to hold onto their miserable lives as they sank to the ground in fleshy heaps. No stone was left unturned, no one was safe. Orderlies, nurses... children. The more lives she took, the less sympathy Emily had until the only emotion she felt was pure and unfiltered fury. Bloodlust tickled her fingers.

"There she is!" One guard screamed, running at her with five others flanking him. She grinned as she smashed a window that looked into a testing room with her mind. The glass shards littered the floor in a heap, the sharp edges reflecting her face a hundred times. "Stand down, this is your one warning."

Emily looked at the guards with a cruel smile, an expression that would rival a true spawn of Satan. Maybe that's what she truly was, a demoness sent from Hell itself to bring suffering on those who had wronged her. Her and Henry both. Once Hawkins Laboratory was finished, then they would set about doing the same to the rest of the world, creating something perfect from the ashes.

Emily raised both of her hands, the glass shards coming with them. The guards skidded to a halt seeing her wall of glass.

"No. This is your last and only warning." She said before throwing her arms out and sending the shard directly at the six guards. They screamed as the shards embedded themselves into their flesh, blood spurting out of the wounds to stain the halls and Emily's clothing. One shard sliced along one of the guards' neck, another few landed in some eyes. They all fell at her feet, the amount of blood running out of their bodies creating a river from one side of the hall to the other.

Emily paid it no mind, merely stepping on the bodies to get across. She truly looked like a mad woman, covered in blood and her hair a wild mess. Her eyes twitched and her pupils were dialated, her sanity hanging on by a thread. Carrie White may have murdered hundreds on her prom night in much the same fashion, but at least she looked calm and collected emerging from the inferno.

More guards, more nurses, more children, more orderlies, none of it mattered. Every life she took made Emily feel lighter. Never had she felt such power and control, both of her abilities and in her own life. No longer would she be regulated to a nameless lab rat or a robotic, braindead babysitter.

It surprised her how long it took for the alarms to start blaring. It was only maybe thirty minutes, but it felt like hours. Time seemed to slow down, Emily in her own bubble with each encounter.

The double doors of the Rainbow Room came into view, most of the screams she had heard started to fade away both to her ears and in her memory. She pushed the doors open and saw the Rainbow Room littered with the corpses of the children... no, not children. Animals. Experiments. They didn't matter, they never had. They were just lab rats. All that mattered was her and Henry, standing in the middle of the room with blood on his clothes and a look of rage on his face. His eyes were bloodshot, making the cerulean shade of his irises stand out more.

Another one of them slumped to the floor in a broken heap. Henry turned to the last experiment, pinning him against the wall with crooked fingers. The boy couldn't even scream, his eyes bulging and throat constricting. Seeing his wrist, Emily realized it was Two, fresh out of the infirmary after his electric shocks. If she felt any remorse for the experiments, it died in that moment, watching Two finally, truly suffer.

Two fell to the ground with a thump after Henry dropped his hand. He turned to Emily, finally noticing her presence in the room. She just smiled, cupping his face in her hands and wiping away the blood trickling from his nose with her thumb. Henry returned the smile, leaning in so their foreheads touched.

A small whimper came from the entrance to the room. They both turned to look for the source only to find Eleven standing in the middle of the room. She looked like she was crying, grasping at her hospital gown.

"We asked you to wait." Henry said. Eleven bolted, running for the door. She barely pulled it open before Henry jerked his head, closing the doors and holding them shut. Eleven cried out, desperately trying to tug the doors open again. When she realized the effort was pointless, she let go, turning to face Henry, now approaching her with a dark expression. Emily hung back, returning to her natural orderly stance, almost mockingly. "Why do you cry for them, Eleven? After everything they've done to you? Hmm? Oh, but I know you're just scared. I was scared once, too. I know what it's like to be different. To be alone."

The adrenaline was wearing off at this point, but the feelings remained. If Emily was supposed to have a sudden, remorseful moment of clarity, it didn't come. Her psyche had shattered and broken beyond recognition like the corpses she and Henry had left behind. Before when she would have conversations about their plans for the world once they escaped, she often thought about it in an almost peaceful lense. A quiet and easy earthly reset.

Now when she imagined it, she only saw destruction. The fires of hell and mountains of ashes, herself and Henry in the middle of it all watching it happen with pure delight. Reshaping the world into their image, something perfect.

It was debatable whether they could be considered fully human anymore.

"Like you, I didn't fit in with the other children. Something was wrong with me. All the teachers and doctors said I was... broken. They said..." Henry began telling his tale to the frightened child. One Emily had heard a hundred times by now. "My parents thought a change of scenery, a fresh start in Hawkins might just cure me... it was absurd. As if the world would be any different here. But then, to my surprise, our new home provided a discovery. A new sense of purpose.

"I found a nest of black widows living inside a vent. Most people fear spiders, they detest them. And yet... I found them endlessly fascinating. More than that, I found a great comfort in them. A kinship. Like me, they are solitary creatures... and deeply misunderstood. They are gods of our world, the most important of all predators. They imobilize and feed on the weak, bringing balance and order to an unstable ecosystem. But the human world was disrupting this harmony. You see... humans are a unique type of pest. Multiplying and poisoning our world all while enforcing a structure of their own. A deeply unnatural structure.

"Where other saw order, I saw a straitjacket. A cruel, oppressive world dictated by made up rules. Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, each life a faded, lesser copy of the one before. Wake up, eat, work, sleep, reproduce, and die. Everyone is just waiting. Waiting for it all to be over, all while performing in a silly, terrible play day after day after day. I could not do that. I could not close off my mind and join in the madness. I could not pretend. And I realized... I didn't have to. I could make my own rules. I could restore balance to a broken world. A predator, but for good.

"As I practiced, I realized I could do more than I possibly imagined. I could reach into others, into their minds, their memories. I became an explorer. I saw my parents as they truly were. To the world, they presented themselves as good, normal people, but like everything else in this world it was all a lie. A terrible lie. They had done things, Eleven, such awful things. I showed them who they really were. I held up a mirror. My naive father believed it was a demon cursing them for their sins. But my mother somehow knew, knew it was I who was holding up that mirror. And she despised me for it. She called a doctor, an expert. She wanted him to lock me away to fix me even though it wasn't I who was broken. It was them. And so she left me no with choice, no choice but to act. To break free.

"With each life I took, I grew stronger, more powerful. They were becoming a part of me. But I was still a child and I did not yet know my limits. And it nearly killed me. My father was arrested. Blamed for the death of my mother and sister just as I had planned. But I was far from free. I woke up from my coma only to be placed in the care of a doctor. The very doctor I had hoped to escape. Doctor Martin Brenner... Papa. But the truth... the truth is he did not just want to study me. He wanted more. He wanted to control. When Papa finally realized he could not control me, he tried to recreate me. He began a program, and soon, others came along."

Henry paused, gesturing at Emily, still watching serenely. Eleven looked at her, the horror filled expression not wavering from the girl's face.

"Then others were born... you were born. And I am so glad you were, Eleven. So very glad."

Eleven averted her gaze, staring at the corpses of the other experiments on the ground. Henry followed her gaze, his eyes fixated on one little girl. Sixteen, Emily recognized.

"They're not gone, Eleven. They're still with me. In here." Henry gestured to his own head.

"You... tricked me." Eleven whispered, her gaze flitting between Henry and Emily. Henry recoiled, an expression on his face that was a mix of shock and anger.

"Tricked you? No, no, we saved you. You are a prisoner here just like us. To your Papa, you are nothing more than an animal, a monster, a lab rat to be tamed. But the truth, Eleven, the truth is just the opposite. You are better than they are. Superior." Eleven started crying, not meeting anyone's gaze. Henry still continued. "That is why you frighten him. If you come with us, for the first time in your life, you will be free. Imagine what we could do together. We could reshape the world, remake it however we see fit... Join us... Join me..."

Eleven finally looked back up. Henry smiled gently at her, contrasting his cold eyes. Emily mirrored the expression, still not moving from her stance. The girl looked at Henry and stood firm.

"No."

Eleven threw her arm out, sending Henry flying back towards the mirror on the other side of the room. He struggled to get up, looking at Eleven with pure murder in his eyes. She just raised her chin confidently, wiping the blood from her nose. Emily moved to help, but Henry waved her away.

"Stay there, okay? This isn't your fight." He told her. She nodded, returning to her formal stance. She merely observed, looking at Eleven aggressively. What a shame. They had liked the girl. If only she had more vision.

Eleven and Henry approached each other in a face off, the eight year old holding her ground more than expected. At the same time, they threw their arms out, attempting to push each other back. To Emily's surprise, Eleven held up. Ability-wise and physically, Henry was by far Eleven's superior. She slid back, but planted herself down. Emily was reminded of the circle game from the other day.

It didn't ultimately matter. Henry threw Eleven back. She crashed into the door with a cry of pain, struggling to move. Henry's head moved, dragging Eleven across the floor as she screamed. Blood soaked her hospital gown as Henry raised her into the air. The girl couldn't move beyond what Henry did, spinning her around to face him. She struggled but couldn't break free.

"It wasn't supposed to end like this." Henry said lowly. His fingers began to tense, Eleven's arms and legs beginning to move, about to break. She screamed in pain, blood leaking from her eyes and ears. For a moment, it was almost silent. Strangely, Eleven's bones didn't shatter. Try as he may, Henry couldn't break them.

Eleven's head turned down, facing Henry with a determined look. She screamed, throwing her arms out and pushing him back. Henry crashed right through the mirror, the glass falling to the ground. Henry was pinned against the wall behind it, struggling to move as Eleven landed gracefully on the ground. She looked back up, holding Henry in a death glare.

Emily broke, charging for the girl. Eleven jerked her head to look at her, sending Emily flying back to be pinned against the wall as well. She struggled, attempting to fight the hold Eleven had on her and Henry. Eleven approached them until she was right in front of where the mirror had been. She extended both of her arms with a scream.

A white hot pain exploded in Emily's chest. She cried out, suddenly aware of the light emitting from it and her body disintegrating around it. The more she struggled and screamed, the worse it got. The wall behind her started to change, too. It felt warm and wet, tentacles or vines wrapping around her body as it came apart.

She didn't dare look at Henry, unable to bear the sight of him suffering the same fate. Emily cried out for him before the world went dark.

***

Maybe they were in hell, falling into an abyss that looked an awful like it. Emily spun as she fell through the cloudy red sky. Maybe she was dead and she was being sent to damnation.

A bolt of lightning hit her right arm. It stung and burned as it dragged along her skin. The shock punishments seemed tame in comparisson to this. Another bolt hit her face, the vision in her right eye giving out.

This is it. I'm dead and this is my punishmemt. She thought.

She felt something warm wrap around her body. With her good eye, she could make out Henry holding her close. He already looked worse for wear, half of his face and clothes burned off. He wordlessly pulled Emily closer, holding her in a protective stance the longer they fell. She came to realize he was taking the hits for her. Protecting her from the hazardous sky. She curled in closer, silently begging for it to stop.

They landed hard on the ground. The wind was knocked out of both of them, crawling off of each other and gasping for breath. Henry got up first, shaky at first, but he regained his footing and helped Emily to her feet. She let out a few gasping breaths before going back into Henry's embrace.

"Henry... Henry, where are we?" She asked frantically.

"I don't know. Hell, maybe." Henry said bitterly.

"If this is hell, then where are the demons?" Emily asked, looking around. The landscape was barren save for the rocky cliffs, rivers of lava, and... "What is that?"

She pointed to some strange creature crawling around on all fours. It turned to face them, it's entire face opening up to snarl at them before skittering away. Emily spotted more of them, even a few taller creatures walking on two legs with claws for hands. She noted the similar faces.

They began to walk, observing the new terrain curiously. They realized very quickly that they were the only real humans around. Other than the strange creatures they had seen, nothing else seemed alive.

"If this is supposed to be hell... why is it so beautiful?" Emily asked quietly. "Normally I wouldn't think a place so desolate and destructive would be, but..."

"A world untouched by mankind." Henry said, somewhat answering her question. "A land with no structure, nothing chaining anything down. It's beautiful because it's free."

Emily thought about it, realizing Henry was right. It was an unspoiled world. Perfect. As unforgiving as the terrain looked, what it represented outweighed what it looked like.

Cresting atop a cliff, they could see for miles around them. Small creatures, rivers, mountains, a dark sky... and something else. In front of them, what looked like a swirling storm of chaos dominated the sky.

"What is it?" Emily asked. Henry didn't answer her. She didn't expect him to, how was he supposed to know? Instead, Henry reached out for it. The cloud seemed to reach back, suddenly spinning into a strange, new shape. Emily extended a hand as well, the storm changing into something that looked like an eldrich creature. Spider-like with an elongated head, it stood imposing in the sky.

In that moment, both Emily and Henry realized that this new world could offer them so much more than they had imagined. A chance to create. Maybe someday they could return to their old world and finish their plan. However, for the time being, they would start here. Whatever this world was, it was theirs now. Theirs to create and morph into whatever they pleased.

Whatever beautiful thing they pleased.