The day was August fourth, 1983. Jackie Reed had gone to a huge party with her friends and walked home. Well, she started to walk home. The party was extremely fun, and she got to laugh and drink beer with her friends, Lucy Brown, and Betty Alexander, the latter was the person that really pushed for them to go to the party.

"Come on you two!" Betty urged, sitting at Jackie's vanity, running a brush through her long blonde hair. "It'll be the best night of your entire lives." 

"I don't know about that. The day I met Ben was the best night of my life." Lucy swooned from the bed. Ben Carter, was the new kid in Hawkins Indiana, where all three of the girls grew up. He immediately took interest in Jackie's curly-haired friend, and she returned the feelings whole-heartedly. Jackie picked up a pillow from her bed, where she was flipping through some magazine, and chucked it at Lucy, who caught it in her arms and threw it back. 

"We all know that you're extremely happy with your amazing boyfriend, Luce, but c'mon. You will have an amazing time at this party. I pinky promise." Betty pouted in the mirror, her brown eyes growing larger as she attempted to get Lucy to change her mind. 

"I don't know Bea... I'll only go if J.R goes too." Lucy stated and now all eyes were on the brunette who hadn't said a single word for a long time. Which was really suspicious. Jackie groaned and sat up. 

"I guess if she pinkie promised, it'll be actually fun." Betty let out a squeal and jumped up, racing to the closet. 

"Finally! We can actually get you two out this year!" And with that, the other girls were up and getting ready to show up fashionably late to a party. 

They walked through the door of some random person's house dressed casually. Jackie was in a loose white crop top with a pair of blue shorts because of the sticky heat of the summer night, while Betty wore a tighter pink skirt, and light blue top, with a white jean jacket. Lucy had gone with a longer jean skirt, and a light pink blouse. 

"Why must we go out?" Lucy asked as Betty snagged three cans of beer from the table. 

"Because it's fun! You need to live a little, Luce." Betty answered, handing the cans to her best friends. Jackie was excited to be at the party. They all looked amazing, and she got to loosen up and go out with her friends.

"It just might be... Bearable Luce." Jackie agreed with Betty.

"Well, I would much rather be over at Ben's watching E.T." Lucy turned her nose up but accepted the beer and took a sip. 

"We'll have much more fun than you and your silly boyfriend." Jackie giggled, pulling her friend over to where everyone was dancing. Music was blasting through the house, and Betty trailed behind her friends, but some guy caught her eye and she wandered away. The other two shared a laugh and began to move to the music. That was pretty much how the entire night went. The three girls laughing and drinking, even though Jackie knew that her parents wouldn't be happy if she were home too late, and just enjoying everything. They had fun. But good things all come to an end. 

It was fairly late, around midnight, when the three left. Betty and Lucy had to walk in one direction, and Jackie in the other. It was pitch black, the only light coming from streetlights that shone up above them and the moon. 

"Are you positive you don't want us to walk you home?" Lucy asked again, attempting to support a tipsy Betty, who had been chugging beers all night. 

"I'll be perfectly fine, Luce. Don't worry about me, just about getting Betty home safe." Jackie said for the fifth time in a row. "Really, I know my way home, and it's a small town. I think I'll be okay. See you in a few." The two girls embraced before Jackie turned and began walking. She could feel Lucy's eyes on her back as she turned the corner but just ignored it, knowing how protective her friend was. 

The night was extremely scary when walking it alone. It was quiet, startlingly quiet, and kind of chilly. The warm air of the summer had seemed to fade as Jackie walked, shivering a little bit. The street lamps weren't helping that much too. They were fairly spaced apart and there were small moments where she was enveloped in darkness before finding the light again. 

"Maybe I should've just let Lucy walk me home." She muttered under her breath, crossing her arms over her chest and letting out a small shiver. Suddenly, above her, the streetlamps began to flicker. "Creepy." Then the lights went completely out. That was when the fear really crept up the girl. There was something there. She could feel that there was something with her, trying to get to her. "If there's anything there, please just go away." She cried out, feeling her heart begin to beat faster and faster in her chest. Stumbling through the darkness in pitch black, hoping that whatever it was would just leave her alone. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw a figure, tall and slender, standing in the night, illuminated by the moon. 

That was when Jackie began to run. Running was probably her best bet as she raced through the streets, and right into the woods. The trees and roots surrounded her, and Jackie had no idea where she was going, but she knew that she had to get away from whatever that was. Her breaths came out in short pants, and her hair was getting matted to her head. In the darkness, she tripped over a root, and not looking back, got up and started running on her twisted and pain-filled ankle. Home. She knew that she would be safe as soon as she got into the house, but she had no clue where she was at that point. There was a big lab in front of her, and some signs that she didn't stop to read, as she kept running. But she knew that she was starting to slow down. Her ankle was throbbing, and she prayed that the thing that was following her was going to catch up. She turned and started running towards the street, where she prayed that it wasn't going to be. But, Jackie was an unlucky person. 

All that was heard that night, was a single piercing scream that echoed throughout some neighborhood, not that anyone noticed. And just like like that, Jackie was gone.

Cast

Jamie Alexander as Jackie Reed 

Seychelle Gabriel as Lucy Brown

Indiana Evans as Betty Alexander

Noah Schnapp as Will Byers

Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers

Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler 

Joe Keery as Steve Harrington

Caleb Mclaughlin as Lucas Sinclair

David Harbour as Jim Hopper 

Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson 

Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers 

Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven