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PARANORMAL
stranger things.
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❝Nothing is stranger than believing...❞

— The 'Hawkins Rejects' Series,
Book One

     CATH knows a thing or two about Will Byers.

     She knows he's one of the kindest and most polite boys in her year. She knows that their connection goes way beyond their annual "rivalry" — sparked by her competitive friends with a determination to beat the reigning champions — in the Regional Science Fair hosted at Hawkins Middle. From the things her father and occasionally Mrs. Byers, when bumping into her out and about, have told her she knows they were each other's first friend. She also knows that they've barely hung out since Kindergarten, and that neither of them seem to have the confidence and perhaps not even the desire to re-kindle anything. She wishes she did.

    In fact, Cath wishes a lot of things. She wishes her sister would hang out with her like she used to. She wishes her family would talk about her mother more often. She wishes she could figure out a way to come out of her shell. She wishes she didn't feel so invisible all the time.

And now she wishes something else: that she was never roped into this mess. Because according to the Police Chief Hopper, she was possibly the last person to see Will before he vanished into thin air one November night. It was only a brief glimpse, a timid 'Hello', but now their last meeting weighs heavy on Cath's shoulders. What's more, his plucky best friends — Mike, Lucas and Dustin — are determined to find him themselves, and recruit her on their rescue mission before she can say no. However, what begins as kids just wanting to find their friend soon morphs into something greater, especially when an odd little girl with a shaven head walks into the mix...

     DAPHNE knows virtually nothing about Tonya McCarthy.

     What she does know, however, is that she should hate her... right? After all, she is the girl that her year-long (ex) boyfriend, Felix — the ambitious, Montreal-native ballet dancer, also one of her closest confidantes since Sixth Grade — seemingly left her for. She's pretty sure the girl's in her History class, but she might not have taken the time to notice until now. The reminder that Daphne's romantic ideals didn't live up to her expectations are now embodied in a prettier, soft-spoken brunette who makes her wonder why she ever thought her own fantasy with Felix would last. Note to self: Never fall in love with your best friend.

     Another thing she doesn't know is Tonya's whereabouts. Apparently no one else does, either. The bright-eyed teen goes missing one evening, along with the Byers boy a day prior and another High Schooler, sparking unprecedented causes for concern in the sleepy town. Whether it's out of guilt for her unfairness towards Tonya or genuine curiosity, Daphne doesn't know, but she feels compelled to investigate.

It turns out Daphne isn't the only one embarking on a solo mission. The solitary photographer Jonathan Byers is trying to keep his mother — convinced that she's hearing her boy — at bay whilst he battles with the torture of his lost brother. And good two-shoes Nancy Wheeler, too, is searching for answers as to why her best friend — who she maybe didn't do the best job of looking after — is nowhere to be seen. The unlikely trio find a common ground in the missing people they're hoping to find: Will, Tonya, Barb. But what they assumed was perhaps a simpler cause for the disappearances will reveal itself to be more out-of-this-world than they could ever have anticipated...

HAWKINS will never be the same, that's for sure... but was it ever that simple?

Was it ever as comfortably predictable as Cath preferred it, or as painfully mundane as Daphne made it out to be? Piece by piece, the sisters may be proven wrong as the missing persons lead the trail to a case much larger — a head-splitting world of secret government experiments, inter-dimensional monsters and telekinetic powers.

All of the above might sound impossible — but Cath, Daphne and the rest of Hawkins will have to believe if they are ever to face these dormant threats hiding under their humble little town...

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THE MAIN CAST
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Kyla Matthews as
Catherine ❛Cath❜ Delaney

— ❝But we're just kids! How are we supposed to find Will ourselves?❞

Britt Robertson as
Daphne Delaney

— ❝Well, I guess I did want something exciting to finally happen in this town...❞

[ + additional cast... ]
vanessa marano as tonya mccarthy
dalila bela as andrea sandoval
théodore pellerin as felix rancourt
nichole sakura as amy nakamura &
bill hader as thomas delaney

—— DISCLAIMER.

     I do not own the original characters of Stranger Things, nor do I own their related plots, dialogue, etcetera. I only own Cath, Daphne and every other character you don't see on the actual show.

     Paranormal will contain violence, supernatural elements, character deaths, coarse language, religious references, sexual references and themes surrounding mental health. If these are potential triggers to you, please proceed carefully — in general I'll try to put a warning at the beginning of a chapter if it contains explicit scenes of any sort.

—— FOREWORD.

    I can't tell you how much of a relief it is to finally reveal this story to you... I've had a whole series sitting in my drafts for almost a year, just waiting to be published. Stranger Things was a show I'd been wanting to watch for a long time, but I didn't have Netflix. But on the Halloween of 2019, we took the chance and started watching the show — and to my utmost pleasure, my parents really enjoy it too! So, in other words, it's about damn time I began writing this story.

     Right off the bat, I'm telling you this book is definitely part of a series, and will be one season per book I expect. As you go along, more supporting characters will join the main cast along with Cath and Daphne, which expands the horizons a bit! So if you don't hear much from one character in a book, they may well have their time to shine later on.

     Apart from that, I'm not sure what to say, except that Cath and Daphne own my heart and soul.

     Anyway... hope you enjoy this Stranger Tingz story. Peace out, my dudes.

— Imogen

—— DEDICATIONS.

To whittemxres eufourias starkIings Iydiamartin -tozier BundlesOfHope GallifreyGod romanceinparis capvlet stilestastic scottmccalling febrvary and any other Stranger Things fans out there! I hope this can keep you occupied whilst we wait for Season Four...

—— DATES.

[ Started: October 31st, 2019 ]
[ Published: July 13th, 2020 ]
[ Completed: November 19th, 2021 ]

© starryeyedturtle 2020-21