· 。ﾟ☆: *.☽
˚ ₊ ♡ ❰  𝚃𝙷𝚁𝙸𝙻𝙻𝙴𝚁  ❱ ˖⋆࿐໋ ⋆ ✰
CHAPTER THREE ━━
the stranger at samwell avenue

═════ ∘◦ 👻🔦🧸.༄ ◦∘ ═════

ZERO WASN'T SURE WHERE TO TURN TO NOW THAT HE WAS finally free from the clutches of the scientists of Hawkins Lab, but the blonde teenager was left with gnawing feeling of uncertainty. He didn't know if Will had made it back home or not or if he perished like most people did in the Upside Down.

So even if Zero focused most of his energy in getting into the Upside Down to check every inch of the omnious other dimension to make sure Will Byers wasn't left for dead by the people he feverishly believed would save him he never found out anything for sure. But so much time had passed and the blonde just had to hope Will made it.

The blonde had hoped that it was true, that someone out there was doing everything in their power to find the lost little boy, but he didn't have high expectations as he never experienced anything similair to the terrified boy to give him something to actually believe in.

That was also something in the back of his mind. Was there anyone out there who was looking for him, thinking of him?

Dr. Brenner never revealed anything from those few years he had apperantly spend outside Hawkins Lab. The only thing they had told him was that they had saved him from a family that didn't love him, didn't want him.

Now he was starting to question everything the doctors and scientist had told him. Every whisper in his ear feeding him lies. They seemed to be easier to swallow than the bitter truth. So when his heart was hungry when he was just a little naive boy he simply believed whatever they told him.

Those truths only didn't seem so likely anymore, why would they keep such information from him if his family didn't care about him in the first place.

Zero sighed as he shook those thoughts away before pushed himself into a sitting position, the worn out blanket sprawled over his lanky figure.

The blonde rubbed his arms to gain some warmth before he reached for the only other clothing article he had. The large and faded sweater laid beside his make shift cot and the teen grabbed it before pulling it over his head.

Zero had getting pretty accustomed to the abandoned cabin he lived in and for the most part no one knew he existed at all. He was a complete stranger to Grimsby.

And that was just how he liked it, he always had been a shadow at Hawkin's lab. No one knew he was there. Dr. Brenner made sure of that. Zero was accustomed to isolation and it was hard to break free from the habit he had formed since he was four years old.

He wondered if he used to be talkative and social, he couldn't imagine it now. That part of his life, the part he didn't know. In a way it was non-exsisted.

And now as he stomache rumbled in displeasure, the boy carefully pulled his hoodie on top of his head and made his way outside the cabin.

The crips Autumn air send a shiver down his spine as he trudged through the woods. The leaves had fallen from the trees already, painting the ground in hues of orange, red, yellow and brown.

It reminded Zero of the first night he was outside the facility, the way the sun disappeared behind the horizon. He couldn't remember ever seeing the sun in real life.

There had never been a sun in the Upside Down, it had always been an midnight blue. A shadow of darkness that covered the dimension like a thick blanket.

Zero would say he liked the sun very much, it gave him a warm feeling and made his dark hair return to a honey blonde again. His face had gotten back some color instead of his normaly sickly pale appearance.

The leaves crunched underneath his feet, as he started to approach the trail that would lead to the small town. Some birds chirped in the October morning, singing a lovely tune.

Within five minutes, Zero had reached Samwell Avenue. The place seemed almost like a ghost town as the wind carried some old papers over the street, while no one seemed to be awake yet.

Zero crouched down to look at the paper as it stopped before his feet. Turning it around he came face to face with a drawing of a girl with a buzzcut. He tilted his head as familiarity struck him. He furrowed his eyebrows together as he tried to reclaim some sort of memory of the girl.

"Papa!"

Zero jumped up in surprise as the ear piercing scream came echoing through the hallway. He could hear struggling and crying mixed with desperate screams for help.

Unsure, Zero approached his door and reached for the knob, a soft click followed before he peeked through the small gab.

His brown eyes darted towards two doctors quite roughly dragging a girl about ten years old with them. He could see the tears streaming down her face as two men pushed the girl inside a small room he knew all to well.

He waited for a couple minutes as he listened closely to the retreating footsteps of the doctors and when he was sure there was no one around anymore, Zero opened his door fully. Carefully he approached the closed up door, trying not to make any noise as his heart hammered in his chest.

Reaching for the lock on the door, the blonde could hear soft whipering from the little girl behind the door. He quickly turned the lock and he slowly opened the door, peeking inside to see the little girl staring at him with teary eyes.

"It's okay." He whispered softly, opening the door more as he stepped closer in the room. "Nothing can hurt you in here. Just inagine it as your own little castle. The bad guys can't get through your strong walls." He gave her a small smile as he tried to cheer the girl up. "I can be your knight protecting you from outside if you'd like." He bowed for the girl, a small smile creeping up on his face when he heard her laugh softly.

But before he could say anything else, a hand gripped his shoulder roughly, pulling him back harshly. The blonde's eyes widened as he was turned around and came face to face with Dr. Brenner himself.

The man slammed the door of the girl's room shut again with a loud bang as a scream erupted from the girl's throat while Zero's face was full of terror as he stared at Brenner.

Zero gasped as the awful memory played out in his mind. He had surpressed that memory for a long time. It was the angriest he had ever seen Brenner.

He wondered if the girl was okay, if she got out just like he did.

And he maybe he didn't realise it, but it seemed they never really gotten Milo out of Zero when they witnessed him talk to Eleven just like he used to talk to his little sister Sara when she was sad and he wanted to cheer her up.

Maybe what was lost could be found again.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬