Unhinged | S. Harrington| B. Hargrove | Stranger Things

Haunted

A/N : yeah this is a repost. Sorry.

"Be my messenger, Charlie." an omnious voice spoke.

Charlie was standing in the school ground, only that it wasn't his school ground. It looked the same but it was darker, colder and it reeked. Despite the cold, he was sweating. He legs were glued to the ground and he stared at the giant shadow that loomed over him.

He didn't understand what was happening. He couldn't bring himself to turn around and run. He couldn't speak.

"Be my messenger, Charlie. Let them know the end is near." the voice repeated and his lips quivered.

He was filled with terror and the air got colder around him. Vines of smoke emerged from the monster. They wrapped around Charlie's neck and tightened. He couldn't breathe.

Charlie shot up with a gasp. He breathed heavily, his eyes failed to adjust to anything. He was sweating profusely, cold sweat. He placed a hand on his naked chest, trying to calm himself.

He was still in his room and it was a quarter past six. He sighed. It was just a dream. He wiped his face and looked down at his hand. There was blood smeared all over it. He got up and went to the bathroom. His nose bleeding again.

Charlie washed his face thoroughly for a couple of times. He took a long bath, trying to wash away the cold and stink of the rotten place from his dream. By the time he came out, El was up and his dad was in the kitchen making breakfast. Without a word he went and sat at the table.

The silence lingered and Charlie didn't dare to break it. He was consumed with the thoughts of the shadow monster and its smoke vines that tried to choke the life out of him. It felt way too real.

He looked at El who was munching at her breakfast. Somehow everything led back to her, will and the upside-down. But the upside down was destroyed and will was suffering from ptsd. Nothing else. El was safe and Charlie's dream were just dreams.

"Alright, what's wrong?"

Charlie's eyes shot up to meet Jim Hopper's steady ones.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"You haven't touched your food. And you have that I'm a million miles away look on your face."

"I'm fine." Charlie responded with a shrug. He immediately started to eat and didn't look at his dad.

The food didn't feel like food at all to him. It was bland. But Charlie still ate as much as he could, fighting the urge to throw up. He didn't want his dad to suspect anything and worry about him.

As usual, Charlie parked his jeep in its usual spot. He got out and looked around for Jonathan or Nancy. He really needed to know how Will was doing. If the boy was seeing anything vaguely similar to his dreams, they were screwed.

He was extremely jumpy that day. He couldn't find Jonathan or Nancy. Or Steve. The one person he did see was Billy, which only made things worse. The blonde didn't look at Charlie even by accident. He purposely avoided every class they had together.

Another lengthy class of history was going on. Charlie glanced at the empty seat beside him that Billy used to occupy. He knee was bouncing up and down. And he couldn't stop fidgeting.

Horrifying images of the shadow monster, demogorgon and the upside down crowded his mind. He rubbed his tired eyes and tried to squeeze out the horror from his head.
It was no use.

"Mr. Hopper, are you paying attention?"
The teacher's sharp question startled him.

"Sir...?"

"I see you're not. If you're not interested in my class then please, feel free to leave."
He pointed to the door.