I felt like I was falling, but then I landed somewhere familiar. I didn't have a body in this place. But I saw everything like I was floating.

There was a storm going on and we watched Henry Creel running through the woods, Hawkins Lab in the background. He seemed like he was in his mid twenties.

He finally found a road with street lights but kept on running towards the town.

It was different back then. The buildings were smaller as he got closer and closer to the center of the town.

A car was driving down the street and Henry frantically waved it down.

The car stopped and rolled down the window to reveal a woman also in her mid twenties.

"Are you okay?" She asked him.

"I'm sorry, But would you mind giving me a ride to the police station," Henry replied breathlessly. "I just escaped a kidnapping."

"Oh, my. Sure, hop in," She replied sweetly.

The car made a U turn and went back into the town.

"What's your name?" She asked him.

"Henry, what's yours?"

"My name is Karen."

"Thank you for helping me Karen."

"No problem," She only smiled. "I do have a question for you, though. Where did you come from?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Henry replied grimly.

The car pulled into the police station, but Henry didn't leave.

"Are you okay? I think it's best if you go inside and get some help," Karen asked.

"I don't know if I'll be safe. Bad people want to hurt me. They might already be waiting for me."

The police station had one officer on duty inside.

"Where do you suppose you'll go?" Karen questioned.

"I don't know. I need to leave Hawkins, that's for sure."

"Do you want me to drop you off somewhere? I don't have to be home until 9."

Karen started driving again, this time, towards the road leading away from Hawkins, near Lovers Lake.

"How old are you Karen? I'm twenty five."

Karen shuffled uncomfortably. "I'm twenty four. I just got married last June."

"And what month is it?"

"It's January, January 27th 1967."

"I've been gone for more than ten years." Henry looks baffled.

"Who kidnapped you?" Karen asked. "I don't mean to intrude."

"A doctor," Henry whispered. "He does bad experiments, human experiments."

The questions went back and forth until Karen pulled by the side of the road on the other side of Hawkins.

"Well, this is it. I hope you can escape." Karen said. "Are you sure you don't need the police?"

"I'm sure. I don't want anyone else to get hurt."

"Stay safe." Karen said as Henry opened the car door.

"I will. I won't forget you or your kindness Karen."

"Good luck," She replied. "And if you ever need anything, Hawkins is a great place for finding community."

Henry smiled at her and took off running down the dark street, following the faint lights of the next town over.

The memory flashed and it was replaced by another one. I was sucked through Vecna's head and back out into a memory.

It was dark out and Ted Wheeler had just left their house for the early morning shift. 5 am.

Henry never left Hawkins. He was living in the woods for the past three weeks. It was cold but he managed.

He didn't think he could fall in love. But he did. With Karen, the young woman who'd saved him.

He was wandering the town in some clothes he'd stolen from the local laundromat when he saw her with some young guy with glasses.

Oh, was she a sight for his sore eyes. She was even more radiant in the sunlight.

He followed them to their house and would watch her decorate their newly purchased house.

It wasn't an obsession, he told himself.

But after two weeks, he finally got the courage to ring the doorbell once her husband left.

And they started a friendship. They would talk about everything and anything. He never told her about his past and she never asked, only asked if he was safe. He never told her he wasn't

A week after that, it turned physical. She confessed she was longing for something, anything to keep her mind off of the loveless marriage she got herself into.

Karen Wheeler was just a lonely housewife. And Henry had just happened to want some company as well. It was only a matter of time before something, some spark appeared.

A month and a half after his escape from the lab, he was back in Brenners clutches.

Brenner began to talk about Esoteria, something that could diminish his powers, something that would prevent him from breaking out again.

He said it would be ready for implantation in a month or so.

Henry was lonely again. His only company was a sketch book that the doctors closely monitored.

And he still had his mind. He could watch over Karen in his mind even when they were so far apart.

But just a day or two before Esoteria was implanted in his neck, he was watching Karen in his mind.

"I'm pregnant," She whispered to herself, on the floor of the bathroom of her home. "Henry's gone and I'm pregnant."

The memory flashed again and it was 1979.

Henry had just instructed young Eleven to rip Esoteria out of his neck. The first thing he did after putting her in that janitor closet was search for Karen in the minds of everyone in Hawkins.

She was alive and well, and with three children. Two of them were older and nearly identical.

His two children. Daughters.

They had his eyes, blue and wide with wonder.

And then he saw Ted Wheeler walk into the kitchen where Karen and the kids were and tenderly kiss his wife, leaving a smile on her face.

And then Henry lost it. His Karen was happy, happy without him. So no one in the lab deserved to be happy either. They would suffer with him.

I obviously knew what happened next, I saw it in the vision he previously showed Nancy and I.

But I couldn't believe it. Maybe Billy didn't know about Henry or maybe he just didn't want to scare me.

Nevertheless, I was still the apparent child of a murderer. One who hurt my friends, family and community.

And that made me even more willing to end the battle.

----

(A/n: over 1000 words. oml. I came up with this on a whim because i had absolutely no plan for this story at all. so i hope you like the twist.

And also i hope it makes sense. because it feels confusing but i can answer questions. I tried to get the dates as accurate as possible. because google says nancy was born in late november and i was tracking back 9 months from november. idk i hope you guys liked this chapter. 

also .... should there be a Cheddie wedding or should I leave it up to interpretation?