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━━━━  " 📂  "

𝙄 𝘾 𝙀  𝘾 𝙍 𝙀 𝘼 𝙈  𝙎 𝙐 𝙉 𝘿 𝘼 𝙀

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LAURIE WAS QUITE SURE NOW; she was going crazy.

There was no other explanation for it, the only justification for the now daily glimpses into this alternate world which seemed to truly exist only in her mind was that she was going insane. That was it. There was nothing else she could say. Nobody else was seeing a raging storm in which debris flew and the silhouette of a monster appeared, nobody else was turning down an aisle in the gas station to suddenly find the food rotted and shelves covered in vines, nobody else was seeing a strange, inhumane shadow at the edge of the woods just a hundred feet from her trailer

Nobody else was seeing that but her. Which meant that Laura Munson, as predicted by many of the more supposedly sane people in the town - the people who had labelled her as a 'freak', deemed her future to only be that of her mother; unmarried, bastard children with different fathers and an addict to the point of early death - were absolutely correct.

She didn't sleep much that night, despite it being the eve of Halloween making it perhaps the worst thing to come out of her once-every-month-or-fortnight visions becoming daily and somewhat extended. It made her a little more paranoid too, secretly concerned it would become more of an issue that she couldn't hide as easily as before - seeing merely a corridor covered in vines and any other evidence of humanity disappearing were two opposite ends of the weird spectrum.

Laurie could only suppose that this had been coming for a while. She was never a people person; Robin remained her very closest friend for many years, her brother is the next and the people he chose to associate deeming her his pretty cool younger sister and always ready for a conversation should an encounter request one. Other people had drifted away the year before when Will went missing and Laura fell quiet, shocked to silence by the visions she would eventually become accustomed to.

Other people like Chance, the one guy on the basketball team who managed to see past his prejudices and expectations and befriended her, eventually dating her right up until the beginning of November 1983. They had been close, he had liked that she was different to the girls on the cheerleading team he was supposed to date, but still hated the idea that his teammates could find out he was spending his weekends with one of the Munsons and used her sudden upset not to comfort her, but to break up with her.

And now he was watching from where he leant on the trunk of his car with Jason and Andy waiting for Billy's car to pull into the lot and bother him, but instead turning his attention to the dark-haired girl as she slowed her bicycle as she approached the school, legs swinging over the side and hopping off before it stopped. She nodded, only briefly before averting her gaze and dragging the wheels over to the metal rack and leaving it leaning against it - she would never have to worry about someone stealing the pile of shit; it was several models too old and getting rusty, paint chipped and headlights too dim.

Laurie could only hope he didn't recognise the dark circles below her eyes and approach her asking if she was okay. He had done that a couple of times before, but she never had much patience with him and he had stopped for a while. That didn't limit him this time; she was taking the door from someone polite enough to hold it open for her when she glanced back, seeing him excuse himself from his friends on the basketball team and a shot of panic ran through her sleep-deprived body.

She was supposed to meet Robin near the music room where she had been practising with the band - and she knew for certain she was there given another bike on the stands she had recognised to belong to the Buckley - and as Chance crossed the road she began to make her beeline there.

For once, she was glad that Hawkins High was an all-around busy place whenever she deemed it an appropriate time to show up - which was always threateningly close to the bell, but instead early that day especially for her best friend who was reeling from the consequences of Halloween being on a Tuesday (that seemed to be the day on which Robin's practise often fell) and had arrived there earlier.

And with this busyness that came from her actually getting there before the bell rang and classes started, it provided enough people for her to weave around and try and lose him. Her efforts would prove fruitless though, as she came to the relatively empty corridor in which her locker was sat - and despite all efforts to get away from Chance she really did need to get a couple books out seeing as she was there on time and everything - and Laurie's footsteps slowed.

She twisted the numbers in, hearing the clink of metal and pulling the door open, sifting through the contents and ignoring the photos stuck to the metal that was about to fall off and preparing herself for the pattering of footsteps that had constantly followed behind her to slow and mercilessly confront her.

And so he did, hand appearing almost right beside her's and announcing his presence. "Laurie." Chance spoke before she could tell him to get off and with a sigh, the girl stepped back and clutched her books to her chest.

"Hi, Chance." She swallowed, meeting his eyes with the same smile he always used to see. Except now it was an exceptionally-constructed lie on her behalf, displayed right across. "Can I help you? I know you tend not to like talking to me when we're in school seeing as you're still confined to this perspective of social hierarchy and whatnot." She waved her hand.

"Laur - I'm not here to argue." All the same, Chance glanced around before turning back to her, aware that there were only a few uninterested stragglers. "I'm not... I don't... " He let out a sigh and leaned against the lockers to the other side of Laurie watching as she turned to face him, fingers clutching at one of the keychains that hung from the rungs of one of her notebooks. "I just wanted to check up on you."

"And what in the hells possessed you to do that?" Laura scoffed, defences instantly up. It was hard to think that - no matter whether it was a secret or not - they had been in a relationship at one point. The year before she had been naive and yes, she had liked him a lot and he had liked her too, but status came before all else and as stupid as it was, Laurie knew that people like her, people like Eddie, who lived on the edges of town in an old trailer and was mixed up in the wrong crowd weren't exactly the most popular. Chance had had college to think about, never mind anyone else's feelings.

"Well... it's just, you look tired." Chance stood straight, pulling a hand through his stupidly floppy hair. "Really tired. And it's been a year since everything happened and you... you went-"

"Crazy?" Laura blinked, the word slipping from her lips before she could stop it, far more crass than she would have usually been. It might be in her nature to be instinctively indifferent to most she met, but there was a line between her being indifferent and straight-up time rude, and she was close to passing it. "You don't really get the option of calling me that anymore, do you?"

"I just - I'm worried, Laur, can't you understand that. I don't want you to be hurt or anything-"

"This time last year we were in the last week of our relationship. I don't know if this is you feeling guilty or anything, but it's just not really any of your business."

"Laur." His hand wrapped around her wrist and she faltered. Chance glanced around again and she didn't know what he was going to say before he stopped; eyes set on someone past her shoulder. "Steve, hey man." Laura stood up herself at that, peering around to find that it was in fact Harrington stood just a foot or so away."

"Chance." His eyes flickered over to Laurie, down to where the hand around her wrist sat. "Is he bothering you, Munson?"

"We're just talking," Laura confirmed although she was snatching her hand away and pulling away from him altogether. "Not that we have much to talk about anymore." There had been a real reason she didn't want to speak to him. It wasn't because she was still hurt from their breakup or whatever - no, she had gotten over that months ago. But just because she really could do without another reminder that it had been a year since her instability had turned into insanity, when she first began to have moments of her day interrupted with cuts into her world to reveal a dark tissue underneath.

And now it was happening more often, and she couldn't quite deal with it. "Now, if you boys excuse me, I have to use the bathroom." It was the perfect escape, and her eyes had landed on the push door at the other end of the corridor when she had taken a step away from the situation and she made a beeline towards it, shoving the door open with her shoulder and finding bliss in the blue light of the room.

She discarded her half-empty bag into the sink and pushed the books in her arms into it too, hands clutching at the edge of the basin to the left of it, feeling an eerie prickling at the back of her neck, a hand raising to rub at the spot. It was just wholly unnecessary and absolutely should have just been avoided.

Laurie shook her head, twisting the metal tap in hopes to wash her hands - she couldn't wash her face, that just wasted her hardly carefully applied makeup, but the felt the urge to freshen up, well, something.

And then nothing came out.

It made sense at first; it was a bathroom in a quieter part of the school that most likely wouldn't be used as much as any other. Maybe the school had just forgotten about maintenance in there - the floor certainly looked like it anyway. But Laura just... she knew. 

The feeling at the back of her neck, the familiarity with the sting of sudden cold on her skin that She knew that when she rose her head to look in the mirror what she found wouldn't be the dingy school bathroom she had entered. Instead, and it was confirmed as the blood in her veins froze and in stilted movements her head lifted and wide, pale eyes met her own.

Behind her, the stalls were crawling with vines and spores, providing the location of her latest vision into the world. It had come quicker this time, not even twenty-four hours between that and the previous, and although there were no shadow figures in the distance, this time there was the odd noise of something wet slapping across the floor.

It was odd, Laura had never really considered if noise could carry through the dimension, and despite there being a thunderstorm right in front of her something had convinced her that it had been the vibrations she felt. Everything else had seemed so silent and now... well now, Laurie wasn't alone in the world.

And like every character in the horror movies she and Robin sat in front of and made fun of, Laurie absolutely had to find out what it was. Some kind of overly-wide snail trial was dragging from each closed door, having come in through the door. But she was in no hurry to find out where it had come from or where it ended up - just... what it was. There was no crime in knowing, however, there was a particular danger to it.

And sometimes Laurie liked a little danger, she didn't mind any of the risks. It was why Eddie trusted her to do some of his deals for him, why she had convinced Robin to steal the cheer uniforms, why she had dated a member of the basketball team - the same team who hated her and her brother's guts - why she was stupid enough to approach the bathroom stall where the noise was coming from.

Oh my God, Michael Myers would've loved her.

She was approaching the stall now, her heart thudding in her ears like the tick of a clock, the bell tolling as she reached for the latch. It felt almost relaxing as her hand landed on the cool metal, her fingers curling around the edges and she pushed forward.

Only for it to not move and the sound of a very human voice shouting back at her. Laure blinked, hand recoiling and stepping back. Her eyes flitted around the room, realising that she was back in the bathroom and the stall door in front of her was locked.

The soles of white tennis shoes could be seen in front of her, peeking out under the gap; someone was throwing up. "Sorry... sorry," Laura called. "I thought I heard... noises."

"I'll just be a minute." A sugary sweet voice could be heard from within and Laurie frowned, unsure of who exactly she was listening to before making her way back to the sink she had been leant over just moments before. Her dark circles were all the more prominent now and she sighed, fingertips wiping over them and cleaning up her eyeliner, nails stained with cheap black powder. She was midway through her left eye when the stall door opened and across the room, she watched as Chrissy Cunningham stepped out from the stall, pulling down her skirt. "Oh. Hi, Laura."

"Chrissy." The dark-haired girl nodded just slightly. "I - er... are you okay?"

"Yeah." She nodded, ponytail bobbing up and down behind her. "I don't think my Eggos were toasted enough this morning or I ate something funny last night."

Laurie almost knew that she was lying, but there was no way that she was friendly enough with the cheerleader - despite the fact that it was clear that Chrissy was the nicest one on Hawkin High's squad and had never been horrible to Laura or turned down a group study with her and once sat with her on the bleachers whilst she skipped out on PE - to point that out.

"Here - have some water." Instead, she reached into her bag and pulled out a water bottle, offering it to Chrissy who all-too-hesitantly took it, screwing off the top and taking a sip. "Oh, and gum if you want."

Chrissy stared at the packet in her hand for a moment, conflicted, before she accepted a strip and took off the foil, stuffing it in her pocket. "Thanks, Laura." She smiled.

"Oh, it's just Laurie." She waved her hand, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. "And it's no problem, really. I hope you feel better later."

"Yeah, you too." Chrissy paused, turning back to face her and winced. "I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It just looks like you've seen a ghost."

"It's fine." Laurie didn't mind too much, and she knew Chrissy was too sweet to actually mean it maliciously. "We all have our demons. Pretty ironic, right? Nightmares every night in the lead-up to Halloween."

"Hopefully they're going after this evening, then." Chrissy wrapped her arms around her stomach, slowly making her way to the door. "But if not... Ms Kelley actually has good advice. The counsellor? I've been to see her a couple of times."

"Oh, yeah?" There was no way in hell that Laurie would ever go and tell anyone else what she was seeing - and even if she was just having random nightmares she didn't think that speaking to Ms Kelley, as nice as she was sure she was, would help her. "I'll wait for a little and see how it goes."

"Good." Chrissy nodded. "I think it would be a good idea. Thanks for the gum and the water, but I should go to practise." She began to make her way to the door, another smile shot back to Laura before leaving, the door swinging closed behind her.

Laurie slumped back against the basin, fingers gripping at the cold edges. That could have gone way worse, considering she had just tried to break into a stall with Chrissy Cunningham - of all people - in, whilst simultaneously having yet another vision of this strange world. There was no way she was telling Ms Kelley about this. She didn't need anyone else thinking she was insane.

And besides, Eddie would never let her live it down.

✧

Her bike hadn't been stolen, and she couldn't even thank God for that fact; it was a pile of rusting crap that just about got her from A to B. However as she pulled it from the rack of others, a note appeared to have been tied around the handle, addressed to her in a far too familiar pen.

It seemed that if Chance couldn't corner her in the hallway, he would be using means she couldn't avoid him trying to talk to her. She didn't even glance at it before she shoved it into the pocket of her jacket, ready to make her way home and get her stuff. She was going to meet Robin at her house before making their way to the party and then things would go from there. Because it really was a question of how fucked up she was planning on getting because she and Robin had bikes instead of a car and it would be a sight to see if they were cycling back anywhere.

But, as she wheeled her bike towards the edge of the paving, it became evident that getting to the trailer wouldn't be the quick and easy journey she had planned. Because seemingly, men who play the saviour happen to want conversations after the fact, and when Laurie looked up, Steve had stopped in front of her.

She stared at him for a moment, adjusting the sweater around her shoulders. "Yes?" She asked, watching expectantly as he cleared his throat. "Come on - just spit it out."

"Wow, is that what gratitude sounds like these days?" His nose wrinkled just slightly. "I'm joking - I don't care about that... much anyway."

"Right." Laurie looked more confused than before, fingers tightening around the handlebars. "Sorry. Is it... is it something I can help with?"

"I just wanted to check up on you," Steve replied before realising the utter lack of context. "After that thing with Chance earlier. I didn't... I didn't realise that you two had, y'know..."

"Dated?" Laura blinked. "Yeah, well, I think you can guess one of the reasons why we aren't anymore."

"Guy's a dick, if that helps." He offered as the sunglasses perched over his nose slipping before he pulled them off. "Sorry, part of my costume for tonight."

"Risky Business, right?"

"Yeah," Steve confirmed. "And I'm guessing the uniforms you stole are part of yours."

"Possibly. You'll see." She replied, shifting her position. "Did you manage to find your ID, by the way?"

"Considering I didn't lose it in the first place..." Steve pulled a hand through his hair, careful placement over the years ensuring it fell right back into place. "That's a lie. I have no idea where it is."

"Perfect. So I can count on you coming by trailer with a twenty to buy a new one?" Laura raised her eyebrows as he nodded. "Good. Maybe I'll see you tonight and confirm the plans. Speaking of, I have to get ready so-" She swung a leg over the seat and was ready to set off before he set a hand out and stopped her, hand right in the middle of the bars. "Dude-"

"Laurie - Laura - whatever the hell you want to be called." The sudden rigour in her voice had her eyes wide and she nodded. "Are you sure that you're alright?" He asked. "If Chance happens to bother you again-"

"Then I'll stop him from buying from my brother and punch him in the face." She wrinkled her nose, pushing the bike pedals down and pushing past him. "I can hold my own, Harrington," Laurie called over her shoulder, voice carrying out as she cycled past the crowds of students making their way home from school.

It was a quiet journey home, the growl of any car engine far off in the middle of town as she made her way further away, praying that Eddie would be able to drive her to Robin's instead of her having to make the journey to and from every time. Knowing him, he would just bitch about her expecting him to chauffeur her around the town for his entire life when he could be rehearsing with his band or preparing the next campaign for the Hellfires.

He wasn't home when Laurie arrived, her bike leant against the side of the trailer and discarded there, the girl not caring too much as she heard it fall down with a clatter. She pushed the door open, finding it unlocked with her uncle sitting on the sofa, cigarette in hand and reading the newspaper from the day before.

"Good day at school, Laur?" He asked in a mumble, watching as she dug out her own pack of cigarettes and threw his lighter at her.

She caught it easily and lit her own, smoke escaping her lips and spreading through the inside of the trailer, only adding to the clutter that was already in there. "Eh." She shrugged. "It was alright. That dick I was seeing last year wanted to try and speak to me."

"The basketball player?" Wayne asked.

"Yeah, him."

"He isn't bothering you, is he?" Her Uncle sat up in his chair, reaching to adjust the curtains behind him. "Has he done it before?"

"No -  no, it's fine. He just thought I looked upset or tired or something." Laurie waved her hand, tapping the cigarette balanced between her fingers on one of the various ashtrays dotted around the living area. "We really need to clean up in here." She remarked, eyeing the pile of dishes growing.

"I'll try and get some done tomorrow." Wayne was already adjusting the pillows on the couch. "I'll clean the bathroom too - don't you worry about it Laur, just you keep your room clean and make sure Eddie does the same. You kids have enough going on in your life."

"We'll try our best," Laura confirmed. "And if Eddie doesn't listen I can easily beat him up."

"Of course, you can." Wayne stood up properly now, making his way over to the kitchen where his small backpack was waiting. "I'm taking a couple hours extra so one of the guys can take his kids trick or treating so I have to leave now, be careful at that party, and don't do anything I would disapprove of."

"Who do you think I am?" Laura smiled. "But I promise I won't. I'm a do-gooder, remember?"

"That you are, m'girl." Wayne patted her shoulder as he passed, making his way towards the door and stubbing out his cigarette and taking his keys from the bowl. "Don't get too drunk."

"I won't." She repeated, waving him off in an almost salute-like fashion, pulling the door closed behind her and beginning her little assortment of tasks she needed to do before she left for Robin's, namely touching up her makeup so that she didn't have to do it with her best friend, who would talk her ear off and stop her concentration even though she was supposed to be doing her own.

Her outfit was hanging from her closest, the fake blood mixture having worked perfectly at staining the fabric without becoming too much and making it uncomfortable. It looked more like a stain than actual congealed blood that a lot of others would have used. And so she set about it, dumping her bag in her room, bringing the ashtray from her bedside table down to sit next to her as she positioned herself in front of her mirror, makeup products in hand and cigarette hanging from her lips.

It didn't quite matter if she smoked a couple in quick succession, she was lucky in that sense, and she could get them cheap now, as well as the black eyeliner she used just as much, listening to music playing from the shared radio between the two.

"How would you feel about turning your party into a little bit of a transactional deal." Eddie swung into her room, the small door between her own and his remaining open as he hung on the doorframe. "What the hell are you doing to your face?"

"I'm re-doing my eyeliner, jackass." Laurie sat amongst the mess of piled books and boxes on the floor in front of her mirror, turning back to look up at him. "What do you mean 'transactional'? Where did you learn that word."

"Fuck off." Eddie sent her the best glare possible, rolling his eyes. "And what do you think I meant? There's a couple guys at your little high school party who buy from Rick and he wants me to push some stuff tonight. What-her-name's party is supposed to be the biggest of the year."

"Her name is Tina, and you can push your own shit. I'm not going up there to be your little drug mule." She turned around properly now to face him. "Are you expecting me to tape baggies of coke to myself? Stuff my bra with pre-rolls?"

"I mean, if you're offering-" Eddie's eyebrows rose, ducking as she threw a shoe at him. "Hey! I'm just saying, you could charge extra if you pulled them out of your top."

"You're disgusting." Laurie shook her head. "Genuinely disgusting. You know, if you asked nicely then maybe I would've said yes. But seeing as you had to be all crude about it, I won't."

"Fuck sake," Eddie swore, kicking the door frame as he moved back into his own room. "I can't believe you're forcing me to go to this high school-"

"You're in high school, Ed. You seem to be forgetting that."

"Please, I've been far above them peasants for years." He scoffed. "But don't worry about me, I'll just see you at the party because now I have to go pick up from Rick."

"You were going to make me pick it up, too?" Laurie couldn't believe the audacity of her brother, who, of course, she loved dearly, but also very much despised in that moment as the reality of his ask came to life. "Dude, I own a bicycle, you're always using the van, so you bet you're ass you're the one going to pick it up. Fuck that."

"Fuck you too." Eddie hummed, turning his back. "I'll see you at the party then, Laur. You can catch your own ride to Robin's."

"How did you know?" Laurie scrambled to her feet, hurrying to collect her stuff up and turn off the music, lifting her bag to her shoulder and stuffing her outfit in, picking out a pair of shoes similar to those she had seen Chrissy Cunningham wearing that morning - shoes that didn't necessarily get worn - as well as everything else she might ever need at Robin's. "And can you get my bike into the back? I don't know where I'm sleeping tonight and I'll need to get places in the morning."

"God, you're so demanding." He muttered, but listened to her requests and chucked the shitty bike into the back of his van, the two of them leaving the trailer behind for the night.