( darkest before dawn / act four )
episode five | stranger things

❛ I'M SORRY, EL ❜

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      AURORA WAS LOCKED IN A WHITE room, sterile and lifeless, with only a security camera blinking in the corner to keep her company. They had taken her shoes, her necklace, her bracelets—stripping away even the smallest comforts. She had tugged at the door handle until her arms ached, pounded her fists against the unyielding metal until her skin split and smeared red against the surface. Nothing worked.

      She pressed her palms flat against the door, reaching outward with her mind, searching for someone—anyone. But there was nothing. Just silence. A wall of static that pushed back against her, making her head throb. It was like she was screaming into the void, and the void had no interest in answering.

Panic clawed at her chest. She slammed her fists against the walls again, her breath coming fast and uneven. "Let me out!" she screamed, her voice raw with desperation.

A calm, measured voice crackled over the loudspeaker. "Aurora. Please stop injuring yourself. We only want to help you."

Help. The word sent a cold shudder down her spine.

"Help?" Her voice wavered before rising, sharp with disbelief. "Help me? This is not help! Helping me would be letting me and El go! Owen's said we had a choice in this. So, let me OUT!"

Silence.

She clenched her fists, waiting for a response, but there was nothing. Just the soft hum of fluorescent lights and the quiet whir of the security camera watching her from the corner.

Then she realized that this was how Eleven must have lived. How she would've grown up. Aurora had been born in the lab, but she had never grown up in it. She had never known what it meant to be caged, to be monitored like an experiment, to feel powerless in a place designed to control her. Her parents had made sure of that. They had died helping her escape before she could remember what this place really was.

But Eleven—Eleven had spent twelve years here. Twelve years of this emptiness. Of sterile white walls. Of being watched. Of being told it was all for her own good. Aurora had always known that about El's past, but knowing wasn't the same as feeling it. And now, standing in this cold, lifeless room, she felt it in her bones.

And she hated it.

Her gaze snapped to the security camera, its red light blinking, recording every second of her suffering. Watching. Always watching. A fresh wave of anger surged through her. They thought they could control her? That she would just accept this?

Not a chance.

Grabbing the nearest thing she could find—a metal drawer handle she had ripped off the dresser—she swung at the camera. The first hit cracked the casing. The second sent sparks flying. The third crushed it completely, the metal folding in on itself like broken ribs.

For a moment, the room was eerily silent. Then the door burst open.

Armed guards flooded inside, moving with precision, their eyes trained on her like she was a threat. Aurora's breath came fast, her pulse hammering in her ears. She knew what they wanted—what they expected. They wanted her to fight, to lash out with her power, to make herself the monster they were so sure she could be.

She could do it. She could make them all drop where they stood, let the darkness pull them under like a tide, watch their bodies slump to the ground in an unnatural sleep. It would be easy.

But the thought made her stomach turn.

Because she knew what came after. The helplessness. The regret. The echo of her aunts' voices, voices she could barely remember now, telling her it wasn't her fault, even though she knew it was.

Aurora swallowed hard and clenched her fists. She wouldn't give them what they wanted. Even if it meant standing there, defenseless, as they closed in.

      They grabbed at her arms, forcing the doorknob out of her hand. She thrashed against their grip, but there were too many hands, too much force pinning her down. A rough shove sent her stumbling forward, and before she could regain her footing, a sharp sting burst across her cheek—one of the guards had struck her. The pain flared hot, but it was nothing compared to the rage bubbling inside her.

She bit down on the inside of her cheek, refusing to make a sound. They wanted her to break. To fight back. To prove she was dangerous. She wouldn't.

But she also wouldn't make this easy for them.

"Dr. Brenner wants her intact," one of the guards snapped. "No unnecessary damage."

Intact. Like she was just another piece of lab equipment.

Aurora's stomach churned as they wrenched her arms behind her back. Cold metal clamped around her wrists—a set of reinforced restraints, too thick for her to break. She tested them anyway, twisting her wrists just enough to feel the unyielding steel bite into her skin. No give. No escape.

They started moving her forward, guiding her down the stark white hallway, fluorescent lights buzzing overhead. The air smelled like antiseptic and something else—something faintly metallic, like blood long since scrubbed away.

She kept her head up, shoulders squared. She wouldn't let them see fear. But as they approached a set of heavy steel doors, a sickening familiarity washed over her. They walked the same hallways her and Eleven had hours ago—or was it days? She had no idea how long they had been there but she knew that beyond those doors was something worse.But they didn't walk through them, instead turning right at the last moment and Aurora was led away from the Nina room.

Panic clawed at her throat, but she swallowed it down. She wouldn't let them see. Wouldn't let them know. Not until she knew exactly where she was going. And then she'd figure out how to burn it all down.

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      THEY LEFT AURORA IN ANOTHER ROOM. This one at least had a mirror, but they kept her hands chained. Her cheek throbbed from the smack she had received, and from the window she could see it was red and inflamed. Her hair was a mess, and she wished she had a brush to run through it.

She didn't know how much time had passed before the door opened again and Dr. Owen's walked in. "Wow! You didn't forget about me?"

Owen's sighed, "Aurora, this is not how it was supposed to go. I apologize for the force we had to use, but you tried to escape and we needed both of you."

"Why me?" Aurora scoffed, rattling the cuffs. "El is god knows where doing your bidding and yet I'm here. Why? What use do you have for me?"

"You are more powerful than you know, Aurora," Brenner spoke as he entered the room. He took the seat across from her and placed his hands over her own.

Aurora clenched her hands into fists, "I don't want my power."

"Oh but you do," Brenner nodded. "You do when you find out how I can help you grow up power exponentially."

"I don't want to grow my power!" Aurora spoke, "I just want to be normal."

      Brenner's cold, calculating eyes never wavered. He was trying to manipulate her, to bend her will to his desires, and she wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of seeing her struggle.

      "You want to be normal?" He asked, his voice almost too gentle, as though he was humoring her. "But what you are, Aurora, what you truly are, is not something that can be hidden. You were never meant to be 'normal'."

      Aurora pulled her hands away from the table, the chains clinking as she moved. "I don't care what you think I'm meant to be," she spat, her voice low but fierce. "I'm not your experiment. I'm not some weapon for you to control."

      Dr. Owens shifted uncomfortably, but Brenner remained unmoved. "You misunderstand," he said, his tone almost soothing. "I'm offering you something far more than normal. I can give you control, power, freedom. Everything you've ever wanted."

      Aurora let out a bitter laugh, shaking her head. "You think I want power? You think I'm going to bend to your will just because you tell me you can help me grow it?" She glared at him. "You're nothing but a monster hiding behind a mask of offers and lies."

      Brenner's expression darkened for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure. "If you continue down this path, Aurora, you'll see. Power is not something you can escape from. It's in your blood. And sooner or later, you'll come to realize that you need it."

      Aurora's chest tightened. She could feel the pull of his words, even as she hated them. She wanted to believe she could have control over her life, that she could make her own choices, free from his influence. But Brenner knew how to twist the truth, how to plant seeds of doubt.

      She took a steadying breath, forcing her voice to remain steady. "I don't need you. I don't need anything you're offering."

"I'm not here to play games with you, Aurora," Brenner continued, leaning forward slightly. "You can resist all you want. You can rage and fight, but deep down, you know I'm right. You need what I can offer. And soon, you'll see that there is no escaping your true nature."

Aurora felt a flicker of panic, but she forced it down. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her break. She had to stay strong. The chains around her wrists were a reminder of her current position, but they wouldn't define her. Not forever.

"I've already seen what you're capable of," she said, her voice steady despite the storm brewing inside her. "I know what you want to do to me. You want to twist me into something I'm not. But I won't let you."

Brenner's eyes darkened, a flicker of annoyance crossing his face. "It's not about what I want to do to you, Aurora. It's about what you're destined to become. I'm giving you the tools to be more than you've ever imagined."

Aurora shifted in her seat, testing the weight of the chains again. "Destined? You don't get to decide that for me. I'm not some experiment, some project you can mold into whatever you want. My parents made sure of that."

Dr. Brenner looked like he wanted to response but an alarm from inside the building sounded and he stood. He left with only the command for Owen's to watch her. Aurora assumed the alarm was about Eleven, and she hoped that she was alive and escaping. The metal of her bobby pin bit into her wrist as she fiddled it around, working out a plan.

Dr. Owens, who had remained silent up until now, stepped forward, his expression troubled. "Aurora, please. You need to understand that this isn't just about you. This is bigger than any of us. We're trying to save the world here."

Aurora shot him a glare, her frustration bubbling over. "Save the world? By using Eleven? You're just as bad as Brenner. You're only doing this because you're scared of her and you want her under your thumb. It just seems like I was collateral damage." Aurora the smiled, her chains falling to the table with the bobby pin she had pulled from her hair in the lock.

Then she let her power seep into the doctor, the Owen's crumbling to the ground as Aurora kept over them. Alarms flashed red but Aurora kept running, letting her power flow into each mind that she passed. Bodies dropped around her alive, but asleep.

She followed the path they had taken to get there, only running into Eleven as she shoved out of the Nina room. Dressed in a white romper, dripping wet with a shaved head. They didn't have time for greetings, only a smile as they kept running. They made it farther than their last escape, slamming on the elevator button. Aurora silently pleading for the doors to open.

The same three guards from last time rushed behind them, Eleven turned while Aurora kept pressing the button. "Giving us quite the work out. You really wanna do this again?" One commented.

They rushed up, grabbing Eleven and pulling her away from the door. One of them attempted to reach for Aurora, only to be punched by her. She turned in time to cover her eyes as Eleven screamed—her power escaping her violently, but a small bubble had surrounded Aurora. Protecting her from the blast.

It was like the first time she had witnessed Elevens powers. The lights shattered around them, electricity bubbled and people went flying before dropping to the ground with blood covering their faces. Eleven was panting when she finally let go of the tether to her power, and Aurora smiled.

"You did it!" She was beaming, holding Eleven in a tight hug. "I know it would come back to you."

"Remarkable." A voice echoed around them. Brenner had caught up to them. Aurora stood first, burrowing deep into her power as Eleven climbed to her feet.

Only Brenner had followed them and ignoring Elevens command to stay away. "I said stay away!" She attempted to reach for her power as Brenner stepped closer but nothing happened.

"You didn't believe it would be that easy, did you?" His lip was bleeding, and Aurora grinned, knowing Eleven had caused that.

"I don't understand," Eleven whimpered.

Brenner smiled, "I do. Let me help you, Eleven."

Behind them, the elevator buzzed and Aurora began to inch towards it. Eleven didn't move, watching as Brenner lifted a hand in offering. Eleven glanced back at Aurora, the blonde almost in the elevator.

Finally, Eleven spoke. "Papa?"

Auroras shoulders dropped as she realized that their escape was for nothing. She glanced at the elevator and then to Eleven and Brenner, both of them watching her curiously.

"I'm sorry, El," Aurora spoke. "But I'm not staying here with that psycho. I'll came back with an army and I'll save you."

And then the elevator doors closed, with Aurora inside.

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( LET ME SPEAK : )

okay so auroras going on her own little adventure
for a little! trust bc this is gonna be fun guys!! for
me at least. but brenner is scheming and trust when
he meant her power is much more...he really meant
MUCH MORE!!!! but all to come soon...

credit goes to fivehxrgreeves