Haunt

HAWKINS INDIANA— May /16/1971

  Martin Brenner opened the door from the inside of his home, the teal door creaking from its hinges as the man wearing blue pajamas and brown slippers bent down to pick up the daily paper that was thrown on his porch.

The clear morning air followed him inside before he closed his door and placed the newspaper on the kitchen counter.

"Ah! Ah! Not on my counter please." Linda Brenner said her hair tied back into a low bun with a slight streaking of grey at her widow's peak.

Martin picked up the paper faster than he put it down "Sorry, forgot." He smiled as he moved it over to the coffee table near the orange couch.

The sizzling of crispy bacon danced around the kitchen, as Linda cracked eggs into a bowl and mixed them with sprinkles of salt and pepper.

"You look beautiful this morning." Martin complimented making his way back to the kitchen as he kissed her cheek.

"Wrong....." She sighed "I look beautiful, every, Morning." She giggled

"Right as always." Martin smiled walking over to the coffee pot and heating it.

She put another pan on the stove pouring the eggs into it. Speaking to her husband "Honey, Can you grab Dylan? I'm sure he's awake now."

Martin's eyes lit up "Of course." He began down the hallway humming a tune as he walked into his 15-month-olds son's room. 

The place had a bright sky blue background as there were toys neatly placed into baskets and shelf's. A white crib was next to the wall, a boy stood inside his small hands resting on the bars.

The young boy excitedly smiled hearing his dad's voice and seeing him at the door. As his legs bounced on his soft mattress.

Martin gasped happily with a smile as he walked towards Dylan. "Good morning, you're up early." He picked up the boy, holding him tightly in his arms.

"Papa." Dylan muttered as he wrapped his arms around the man's neck. The two exiting out of his room into the kitchen.

Upon seeing his mother cooking Dylan tried to get out of Martin's arms. "Mama!"

"Whoa! Slow down, buddy. Mama's making you breakfast." Martin smiled holding on to the boy tighter.

"I'll be done in a minute, baby." Linda said her back turned from the two as she finished breakfast. Hearing her son's babbling.

Dylan was placed at the dining room table, in his designated high chair. Martin sitting in front of him, leaving a space for Linda to his right at the front of the table.

Martin observed his son and wife. He couldn't have wanted more in life. After years of trying to have a baby with Linda, they finally succeeded at the ages of 46 and 47. They were older than most parents but... they were happy.

Martin was lucky to find a beautiful, kind-hearted wife like Linda and have his son, who his wife liked to call "An angel from heaven" Of course Martin couldn't agree more. Dylan rarely fussed and cried, and he was never picky with his food. He was a good kid, and healthy as a horse.

As the clock on the wall ticked every minute, Martin could feel his heart beating, tapping the table in a rhythm that matched it. Today was the day Martin was finally going to bring his family to the lab.....So they can finally see what he's accomplished. The children, all with numbers on their wrists. Capable of such extraordinary things.

He knew Linda would understand once she saw.

She had to.

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HARRINGTON RESIDENCE— present time.

Steve knocked on Dylan's door, scratching the required itchy vest that crept up to his neck, his hair presentable as always."Hey, Dylan! We need to go soon so we're able to pick up Robin. So.........get up.......please"

Dylan looked at the ceiling of his room, having been awake for three hours. Once he heard his brother walk away, he tiredly sat up from his bed. Rubbing his face with his hands and running it through his messy curls, that hung just above his shoulders.

He tiredly stood up, the bones that rubbed against his muscles aching— his weight loss apparent. Every step he took felt loose, and his head started to pound again.

Ever since summer ended, and the Byers moved Dylan's mental state grew worse, his appetite was gone and filled with smoke from the cigarettes he would steal from stores, as his sleep schedule was broken, being woken up from nightmares that only gave him two-five hours of sleep at most.

Looking into his bathroom mirror, it was nothing new to him, his face grew slimmer as his cheekbones were more visible, his eye bags were a burgundy shade darker than before, and he now had a scar that cut through his left eyebrow.

He put on a long-sleeved white shirt, baggy denim jeans, and a brown coat on top. Packing his bag with schoolwork and his pack of Camels. Then putting on his new yet dirty black Converse, that fit the growth in his feet.

While tying his shoelaces he felt a cold wind fly to his neck, goosebumps trickling down his arms.

"Did you get enough sleep last night? Poor baby never gets enough." A sly country accent filled Dylan's ears, as he felt her presence lean against his room wall.

Dylan ignored her, keeping his eyes on the task of tying his shoelaces together. When he first heard Cindy talking to him it scared him, it still does but he wouldn't admit it. Not to her at least. He doesn't believe the person talking to him is Cindy, he knows it's all in his head. It ties in with the headaches and the nightmares of that night in the mall.

He stood up grabbing a cigarette in his drawer next to his bed, placing it on his palm again in that same familiar spot that now had a burn scar embedded into it. He walked over to his window opening it once again, taking a deep breath of the burning stick and blowing it out into the wind. The cold presence of the girl leaving and the calming effect of his mind taking place.

It was like a never-ending cycle. Dylan's days passed by quickly but slowly, confusing him, viewing his world through the third person his actions not making him feel any type of way. Dylan sometimes pondered if the main reason was because of his separation from his friends.

But he knew the separation was forced by him for a good reason, it was the right thing to do for them. Dylan knew that. ______________________________

Sitting in the back of Steve's burgundy sedan every day was unusual for Dylan since he used to ride his bike with his friends to middle school. But now that Dylan was a freshman and Steve also had Robin to give rides to, he was in the backseat on the right side, Robin seated in front of him in the passenger seat, as Steve drove.

Complaining about his situation-ships again. Dylan found himself more focused on the tan leather seat that had a headrest too short for him, and his legs cramped up behind Robin's chair, Robin's band hat and uniform seated next to him that took up two whole seats.

"Then there's Heidi tomorrow night, but the problem with Heidi is that she's going out of state for college." Steve sighed, his left hand on the wheel and his right swinging around to express himself.

Dylan could see Robin pulling back her bottom eyelashes as she put on her familiar messy black mascara, pieces of her bangs getting swiped with the wand with every bump on the road.

"Do I wanna start another relationship that has no point other than sex? I mean, I don't know. Does that make sense to you?" Steve asked Robin, forgetting about his younger brother that had the inconvenience of listening to his own brother's sex life. "Robin, are you listening?"

"Uh, yes-" Robin stuttered

"What did I just say?" Steve asked

"Something? Something about...sex with..with Sandra!" Robin guessed

"No! I'm talking about Heidi!" Steve yelled in frustration

"Cut me some slack, please!" Robin frustratedly yelled back "Your love life is one of labyrinthine complexity. And it is 7:00 in the morning, we have the stupid pep rally, and I woke up looking like a corpse!" Robin rambled as she pulled back her face skin looking into the car mirror.

The pep rally, Dylan hated the pep rallies, they were always the same. Everyone in the school is smushed on the wooden bleachers, their shoulders barely touching as their voices are heard clearly enough. The yelling and the music. It was like a party you couldn't wait to leave.

"You're worried about a basketball pep rally? You expect me to believe that?" Steve said

"Yeah? So?" Robin mumbled

Dylan knew Robin had a crush, as he was again, always subjected to the talking of it. Sometimes he wondered if he could just ride his bike, but he knew it was a long distance and he didn't feel like having physical inconvenience every morning, plus he never liked doing it alone.

"Sooo.......we both know what this is about. Even Dylan knows what this is about!" Steve announced looking back at Dylan who gave him a little nod."We're not buying this bullshit. This is about Vickie." Steve said

"Absolutely not." Denied Robin, as she started to fix her lipstick.

"And you know what I think-" Steve started Ignoring the attempts that Robin made to cut him off "I think you should stop pretending to be someone else when you're around her. Okay? You just gotta...be yourself."

"Your literally quoting me to me. You do realize that." Robin stated

"Maybe you need to listen to yourself. Ever think about that? Hmm? Smarty pants?" Steve replied

Robin closed her makeup in annoyance as she rolled her eyes.

"I listened. Look at me. Boom. Back in business." Steve mentioned shrugging his shoulders.

Dylan knew it wasn't as easy as Steve said it was, coming from the perspective of someone who liked the same gender as himself he understood Robin and her fear of talking to Vickie.

"It's not the same, Steve." Dylan muttered that didn't go announced by the two.

Steve looked at Dylan through the car's front mirror "Well.......?"

"Dylan's right! It's not the same thing. Okay? You ask out a girl and she says no.. big deal. Nothing happens. Maybe your ego's a little bruised." Robin rambled, to which Steve's slight disagreement was shown on his face but not spoken. "But I ask out the wrong girl, or Dylan to the wrong boy! And Bam! We're the town pariah!"

Dylan could see the pity in Steve's eyes, burning at the side of his face. He ignored it to the best of his ability looking out the window, counting the amount of trees they passed by. He never liked how people looked at him in this town, it was never a normal look. He just never thought he would dislike the look his friends had been giving him the most. It was pure pity.

"Okay...I understand that, except Vickie is definitely not the wrong girl." Steve chuckled

"We just don't know that, do we?" Robin said turning to Dylan "Do we?"

Dylan signed "No, I don't think Vickie likes girls."

Robin turned back to Steve gesturing towards Dylan pursing her lips and raising her eyebrows. As Steve slowly shook his head in response

"But......." Dylan said

Robin's expression turned sour and surprised looking back at the younger boy. "If there was one girl other than you who was gay......it would probably be Vickie." Dylan said his face still monotone.

"See! Thank you, Dylan!" Steve cheered "She returned Fast Times paused at 53 minutes, 5 seconds........Do you know who pauses Fast Times at 53 minutes, 5 seconds?" Steve waited "Not Dylan." He gave her a hint, to which she only glared at him.

"People who like boobies, Robin!" Steve affirmed to which he was met with faces of disagreement from the front and back of the car.

"Ew! Gross. Don't say Boobies!" Robin yelled

"It's not a big deal!" Steve argued "I like boobies! You like boobies. Vickie likes boobies! Definitely."

Dylan huffed under his breath, tuning them out with the music that played on the radio. He still had not fixed his guitar from when he accidentally broke it, and wasn't really planning on it anytime soon, but he still liked music of course. Listening to it on the radio, at stores, silently tapping a tune on his desk. It was comforting a nice distraction away from one of the worst places in the world. High school.

__________________________________

HAWKINS—HIGH SCHOOL As Steve pulled into the parking lot of Hawkins High School, Dylan dreaded the moment he had to get out. The familiar faces he saw walk by were no different than what he saw every day.

Robin quickly opened the car door, Dylan handing her uniform to her. "Thanks, Dylan." She said quickly before closing the door "Hey! Wait up!" She yelled towards some of her band friends.

Dylan swung his black backpack over his shoulders, running his fingers through his hair to get the shorter ends out of his face. "Bye, Steve." Before Dylan could close the door Steve called out to him.

"Have a good day! I love you." Steve said as he smiled sweetly, that look of sympathy in his eyes again.

Dylan looked at Steve, his face cold with a little forced smile "Love you too." Before he closed his door.

Steve watched his brother walk away into the crowd of kids walking towards the gym. His smile faltered, Steve had felt like his brother was gone. Not dead, but ever since Cindy died the boy grew distant. Steve knew Dylan would lie about being good with his friends, he knew he would lie about eating lunch or breakfast. Steve wanted to see and hear his brother laugh again. But all his attempts were useless and he didn't know what to do.

_________________________________

Dylan stood by the edge of the bleachers, on the lowest level. Eyeing the door every minute. He wanted nothing more than to get out of here. It was loud, like the one before, and the one before that. The marching band playing with a slight mistake going unnoticed by Dylan, and the cheering of school pride that deafened his ears.

Mike Wheeler stood in the middle of Dustin and Max. His gaze set on the tall boy at the edge of the crowd. His dirty-blond hair shone brighter than any other student. This Pep rally was the closest time he had gotten near Dylan in weeks. Dylan had made no attempts to talk to Mike, or even look at him. He made the boy feel frustrated.

"Suzie is just basically extraordinary!" Dustin raised his voice above the crowd. "Mike?"

Dustin clapped his hands near the boy's face that was turned away from him. Mike quickly looked back at Dustin his eyebrows furrowed. "What are you looking at?"

"Oh...nothing....what were you saying?" Mike asked leaning towards the shorter boy.

"As I was trying to say...or not say—is my girlfriend is better than yours." Dustin went back to their disagreement. "It's just that Suzie's like, a certified genius."

"You do realize El saved the world twice, right?" Mike stated his arms crossed.

"And yet...you still have a C in Spanish." Dustin remarked, to which Mike gave him a glare of defeat.

The only entertaining thing to Dylan was the cheerleaders, he enjoyed watching them not because of their looks like most of the guys, but because he found their flips impressive. The cheerleader he looked at the most was Chrissy Cunningham. She was the cheer captain, talented, and beautiful.

Dylan had respect for Chrissy, he knew she was a kind girl, as one day he saw her helping a student pick up their books, a student that most of the other popular kids would laugh at. He just didn't know why a person as sweet as Chrissy would date someone like Jason Carver.

The captain of the basketball team. Came running out, his teammates behind him, all wearing their jerseys and green pants. The crowd cheered upon seeing the boys. Dylan raised his hands and clapped a little, only because of a face he didn't hate on the team. Lucas Sinclair.

Lucas had joined the basketball team, despite Mike's and Dustin's disagreements with his absence from Hellfire Club. He had the chance to be on it and he took it. Of course, he hasn't made it off the bench yet but for once Lucas felt happy with the presence of a large crowd at school. He was cheered by his classmates, it gave him a little hope of popularity, something he's always wanted.

"Good morning, Hawkins High!" Jason yelled at the mic that he took off of its stand.

The voice of Jason Carver, was enthusiastic and pumped, way too much for Dylan in the morning. Everyone shared that excitement as they cheered waving around the signs they had made for the team that was filled with school spirit.

"First off...Hey?..Hey!" Jason butted into the cheers."First off, I'd like to thank each and every one of you. Without your support, we wouldn't be here. Give yourselves a big hand." He announced Gently clapping himself with the mic in between his hands that sent an echo of force with every clap.

Lucas clapped louder and had a bigger smile than all of his teammates, looking around for his friends on the bleacher. He caught the eye of Max, or as he hated to say ex-girlfriend. The girl had a face of pure boredom, her body slightly moving side to side in anticipation of leaving. Her headphones around her neck, and her vibrant hair tied back in a low ponytail. Lucas gave her a small wave with a hint of hesitation, hoping for a positive reaction.

Max just looked at Lucas who was attempting to give her a small wave, her hands that were slightly up while she clapped unenthusiastically were put down slowly by her legs, her blue eyes trailing down the steps of the bleacher, looking away from her ex-boyfriend.

"And of course, of course, I have to give a special shout-out to the best and the prettiest fans of all time, the tiger cheer squad!" Jason gestured towards the girls and guys, specifically only looking at the girls, their knees on the floor as they waved around their Pom-Poms.

"Chrissy." Jason called looking at the kind- hearted girl, as she batted her eyelashes. He placed a hand on his heart "Chrissy, I love you, babe."

The girl blew him an air kiss as the crowd awed the Cutest Couple In Hawkins High.Dylan rolled his eyes at the interaction, not understanding them. They were similar to Nancy and Steve in a way. When Steve was more of a rude jock. At the end of the day even when they were perceived as cute, it didn't seem like it would work.

Dylan saw Jason back away towards his teammates looking at the crowd once again, before he solemnly looked towards the floor, he could sense Jason was going to come up with another sob story about how he felt like he could make it, so Dylan sighed and crossed his arms.

"I think I can speak for all of us when I say, it's been a tough year for Hawkins. So much loss." Jason spoke slowly.

Dylan felt his stomach drop, as his gaze grew harsher looking at the man.

"And sometimes I wonder, how much loss can one community take?" Jason pursed his lips "In dark days like this, we need something to believe in. So, last night. When we were down by ten points at half to Christian Academy, I looked at my team! And I said, "think of Jack."

Dylan couldn't believe what he was hearing, Jason was using the death of Hawkins to promote his team, that's how they won? No one wins when death happens. Dylan's blood boiled as his eyebrows furrowed.

"Think of Melissa. Think of Heather. Think of Billy." Jason started to list off high school students who tragically died in the Hawkins "mall fire." But Dylan knew what really happened, so did Lucas, and Dustin, Mike, Max, Robin. They all knew but not Jason and he never would.

"Think about our heroic police chief, Jim Hopper! Or my freshman! You, think about the friends that could have been standing with you today. "John Davis." "Cindy Harris." Jason stated pointing towards Lucas behind him and some freshmen on the bleachers.

As soon as her name left Jason's mouth, Dylan felt his heart stop, his hands started shaking and his mouth watered as his throat burned. He grew paler than ever and he saw her. In the same dress, the same shoes. Her hair, barely even blond anymore from all the dirt and grime in it. Her makeup was smudged and her throat was red, with a bone poking out from under her skin. She was behind Jason staring straight at Dylan, her eyes white.

The sound of the gym doors opening and closing alerted most people, including Jason who looked over to see the door swinging as someone had just left. Mike looked over at Dylan hearing the name of the boy's dead girlfriend, to not see the boy anymore. He looked around the bleachers not seeing him anywhere.

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Dylan was hunched over the toilet in the men's bathroom. Holding his hair back as he puked up the small dinner Steve made for him, the night before. He flushed the toilet, his eyes heavy as his breathing started to become more controlled.

He walked out of the stall, gripping his still shaking hands on the white sink, his veins protruding. A couple pieces of his hair fell to his forehead and the side of his face as he tied his hair back into a low bun.

He looked at his reflection in the slightly cracked glass. Turning on the faucet he dipped his head down to the splashes of cold water, hoping to calm his racing heart.

He wiped the cold water from his face looking back up at himself, to see Cindy behind him in that same form. He closed his eyes as he flinched hard.

"Dylan......" The voice said softly placing a hand on his shoulder. As Dylan flinched away, his eyes still shut. "Look at me....please....just once."

"go away....just..." Dylan took a sharp breath, slightly scrunching his face, his body trembling at the physical feeling of Cindy's cold hand.

He knew she wasn't real, so why did he keep seeing her? He felt her presence, and heard her voice. It was like she was haunting him.

"Just look at me." Her voice raised and seemingly scared "Why are you scared?"

Dylan felt a liquid drip down his nose to his chin, as he caught it in his hands, it was slightly warm and it felt like blood. But he was too afraid to open his eyes to confirm it.

"Leave me alone......" Dylan huffed, his face slightly contorting, as his breath trembled.

He could hear the girl's footsteps get closer to him, as every time her boots clanked against the bathroom tiles his body would shiver. She smelled like metal and dirt.

He felt more blood trickle down his nose as he caught every drop. He felt a cold wind engulf him, as it hurt the tip of his ears. The cold hands of Cindy tightly grasped against his wrist.

"Stop!" Dylan yelled pushing her away feeling the fabric of her dress for only a second, as he opened his eyes. To see no one there. But the high school bathroom.

The blood that he could now see was a dark red, as blood slightly trailed down his arm and into his sleeve with the quick action he had made to his hands a moment ago. Dylan cursed at himself moving to the running sink, as he pulled back his jacket sleeve seeing the blood that stained his white shirt.

He watered it as much as he could, but when he got home he knew he would have to throw it away, hoping Steve wouldn't see it and get worried. He wiped off the blood that fell from his nose washing it away with the cold water, before turning the sink off and drying his face and sleeves.

Dylan felt his face heat up as his lips slightly trembled. As hot tears threatened to fall. Dylan looked to the ceiling rubbing the tears away with harsh blinking as he took a deep breath. There was no need to cry, it was only pathetic.

Dylan walked out of the bathroom, seeing the hallways flooded once again with students, second period starting in three minutes, according to the clock on the wall.

He took his hair down putting the hair tie back on his wrist seeing the burn scar on his palm that reminded him of fresh white smoke.

He needed a cigarette........