(      darkest before dawn      /      act two      )
episode two  |   stranger things

❛  NIGHTMARES AND INVITATIONS   ❜

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      AURORA NEVER HAD NIGHTMARES until that night in the school. The night when it seemed that her whole world was going to fall apart. The night where she lost Eleven.

      For what seemed like every night, as soon as her soft blue eyes kissed good night to the air and her eyelids fell to their halves, she was plagued with nightmares from the night she had lost the closest thing she had to a sister.The sound of gunshots and the deep growl the shook her bones. The bad men lying dead around herself as blood seeped into her shoes. Eleven sacrificing herself for the rest of the party.

      Aurora could only wish that they were just nightmares each morning she woke, eyes blurry from the frenzy that forced her from her sleep. Her hands gripped the beige sheets, that seemed to lay strewn across her bed, as an effort to remind herself where she was.

      Although the slowly rising sun was just peaking through her half-open curtains, Aurora knew her alarm still had almost forty minutes.

      So she began her rotutine.

      Aurora grabbed her pink notebook from her nightstand and her pen which had lingered near her reach. The pages had been stained with lines of black glitter ink that traveled for pages. Words had covered most of the books pages, and inside the first drawer on her bedside table had two other filled journals. Aurora liked to romanticize her journals, that they were just a way to remember her dreams in case she ever needed a good conversation starter.

      Yet, her wish would never be fulfilled. Instead she was left with journals filled with the exact same moment. Exact same nightmare that no matter how hard she tried, it would always be at the forefront of her mind.

      The blondes eyebrows furrowed over the slope of her nose, as she began writing out the dream. Her lips pursed as she recounted the details of the night, like she had done every morning. She couldn't be careless about anything, this could be their ticket to finding where Eleven went.

      When Aurora had recounted everything she could about her newest dream, she let out a huff of air before closing the journal and climbing from her bed, shivering as her bare feet met with the icy floor of her bedroom as she slipped from the warmth. Throwing a glance at her clock, she decided on turning off the alarm — which was set to go off in eight minutes.

      Deciding what to wear was her hardest decision of the morning, as Aurora stared decidedly at her clothes covered floor. She tried to envision outfits in her mind, before she began grabbing clothes, pairing pant and tops together in a rush of pinks, whites and beiges.

      Glancing down at her final outfit, Aurora grinned before slipping off Mikes sweatshirt ( the same one she had received last year when the party had found El ) which was unsurprisingly large on her frame. She tossed it to the ground, before slipping on a large pair of blue jeans, and a pink and white stripped sweater. She tucked the sweater into her pants before tightening a black belt through the loops.  As Aurora slipped into a pair of plain white shoes, her door opened.

      "Aurora—" Fauna began loudly, before glancing down at the blonde who was sitting on the floor, "oh. I thought you weren't awake yet. Well, breakfast is almost ready, so come down once you're done Rory."

      Aurora just nodded, a grin creeping on to her lips as she finished tying her shoes. She stood up and grabbed her school bag, before walking a few paces to the bathroom. There she brushed her teeth and decided to pull half of her blonde hair up with a bow the same color pink as her sweater. Making sure to grab her bag, Aurora scurried down the hallway, following the sent of freshly made waffles and coffee.

      The sight of her three aunts all cooking breakfast, while Flora stacked an ungodly amount of waffles on a plate, before placing it on the kitchen table had Aurora releasing a content sigh.

      "Morning, Aurora," Flora greeted as Mary and Fauna took their places at the table. "How did you sleep?"

      Aurora was silent for a second. Her aunts knew of her nightmares, but they didn't know they happened every night, and it was better that way.

      "It was fine," was her chosen answer. "I'm excited for Halloween, me and Aunt Mary spent almost all night sewing the last part of my costume!" Aurora decided not to mention the part where she accidentally broke her old walkie-talkie, and her aunts didn't either.

      Mary grinned, "well, I was there to stitch up Rory's fingers when she pricks them." The girl glanced down at her fingers, three of which were covered in bandages.

      "I'm getting the hang of it!" Mary laughed as a few pieces of waffle fell from Auroras lips as she ate.

      Fauna glanced at the clock, "Oh, Rory, do you want to ride with me to school? I've got to turn in a portfolio with the high school."

      Aurora glanced at the clock, before rushing to finish the rest of her breakfast, only sending her aunt an abrupt nod. The woman stood up grabbing her car keys from the hook before sending Flora and Mary well wishes. Aurora tossed her plate in the sink before rushing to follow her aunt as well.

      The drive to her school was quick and silent. Aurora had to finish up a project on the car ride, which Fauna grumbled about, though nothing more had been shared between the two. When the school building appeared on the horizon, Aurora pushed her papers into her bag with a grin.

      "I'll drop your costume off at Mikes house," Fauna spoke as she pulled into the car line, "and then I expect you to be home—"

      "By ten o'clock," Aurora grinned, reciting what her aunts had told her many, many times. "Thank you Aunt Fauna, love you!"

      Jumping from the car, Aurora ran inside the school with the hope to catch Max and invite the girl trick-or-treating with her and the rest of the party ( she hadn't cleared it with them yet, but Aurora assumed they would be fine with it ). Entering the school, she watched as Troy and James both scurried far out of the girl's path. She still sent them a soft smile, just like she did to all of the kids — even Jennifer Hayes, who the girl had become someone friends with after she approached her, apologizing for the rumors she had started. Aurora couldn't control her excitement at that, apparently Jennifer Hayes younger brother had been diagnosed with narcolepsy, just like Aurora and the brunette thought she deserved an apology.

      She hadn't gotten to the friend, friend stage yet, but they were cool with each other ( Aurora was most definitely not cool, she couldn't believe Jennifer Hayes of all people was friends with her ).

      She saw Mike first, and couldn't stop the grin from blooming on her lips. He — just like the rest of the party — had dressed in their Ghostbusters costumes. Blaster guns and everything, clearly they were the only ones that didn't get the memo on no costumes.

      Will had a blush creeping up his neck, as Mike scratched the back of his neck — a nervous tick Aurora noted — while Dustin and Lucas were busy arguing, again. She couldn't stop the grin from forming on her lips as she walked to her friends.

      "You guys look cute," Aurora let out a laugh as she spoke. Mikes cheeks turning a harsh pink color as Lucas glared.

      "Yeah, yeah," Lucas scoffed, "laugh it up, Rory."

      She tried to stiffle a giggle as Dustin did a slight twirl for her, "I'm not laughing! You guys do look good, if you were going to comic-con."

      Lucas scoffed again, and tugged the girl into a headlock as he messed with her hair. Aurora groaned and tried to struggle as she complained about her now messed up hair. When he finally let her go, it was only because Max was skating by them, and Lucas had stars in his eyes as he watched the girl. Aurora elbowed him softly with a grin before patting her hair down.

      "I'm gonna go say hi to Max," Aurora grinned to the party, her eyes barely glancing over Mike, "be right back!" She hurried over to the redhead as she opened her locker to shove her skateboard in. "I always wanted to learn!"

      Max jumped slightly, before lending a soft glared towards the blonde. "And I never wanted a heart attack, yet here we are Rory."

      "Oh come on," Aurora grinned, "will you teach me?"

      Max sighed, "maybe. I'll see you later," the girl didn't give Aurora a chance to respond as she slammed her locker shut and walked away. Aurora nodded — even though Max couldn't see her — and hurried to grab her things from her locker, before heading to class.

      Her classes dragged on, blurring together. Aurora couldn't remember anything that she learned — if she had learned anything, anyways. When the final bell rang, Aurora rushed out of her class, she was ready to leave.

      Max was surrounded by Dustin and Lucas, when Aurora got to her locker. She grinned as she shoved her stuff away before approaching the three.

      "So um, we - we were talking last night," Dustin placed his hand on Lucas's shoulder as he stuttered, "and you're new here. So you probably don't have any friends to take you trick-or-treating and you're scared of bullies so, so uh. We — we were thinking that it would be okay if you come with us!"

      "It would be okay?" Max remarked as Aurora approached, "And Rory was going to take me, right?" The blonde sent Max a questioning glance.

      "Oh, oh! Well that's good because — because Rory is trick-or-treating with us! And our party's like a democracy, we already voted for a majority, so you can come!" Dustin grinned.

      "I didn't realize it was such an honor to go trick-or-treating with you guys?"

      "Yeah," Dustin grinned as Aurora and Lucas almost laughed, "I mean we know where to get the full-size candy bars."

      "I know." Aurora rolled her eyes and Max giggled.

      "Rory knows where to get the full-sized candy bars and we assumed you wanted in." Lucas corrected with a soft punch to Auroras arm.

      "That's presumptuous of you." Max scoffed.

      "Will you come?" Aurora turned to the girl, batting her eyelids, "I mean, we were going to go together, right?"

      Max groaned, slamming her locker shut and walked away from the pair. Dustin shouted where they were meeting before turning to the blonde, annoyance written across his face.

      "You're welcome." Aurora grinned brightly at the pair.

      "For what?" Dustin said, "you just ruined my chances with her!"

      "Your chances?" Aurora asked skeptically, "she would've left so much faster if I hadn't come in. She actually likes me."

      Dustin scoffed, and dragged himself away. Lucas thanked the girl once before leaving her in the hallway alone. She watched the two leave before dropping her head back and groaning loudly, ignoring the eyes in her as she walked the other way.

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( LET ME SPEAK : )

YOU ARE NOT READY FOR THE
NEXT CHAPTER LIKE AT ALL GUYS!
it's so frickin frackin cute and i love
it, so look forward to that...
but anyways, this chapter is kinda
good?? idk but i like it, so you have to

credit goes to fivehxrgreeves