brynn stone ⚜️ [eleven] (leggomyeggo) wrote in dunhavenic, @ 2018-05-30 14:06:00 |
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Entry tags: | !narrative, r * laura, r: brynn stone |
WHO: Brynn Stone
WHEN: 5/30, evening
WHERE: the Stone house!
SUMMARY: Brynn takes a bath, and Eleven remembers trying to help find Will via sensory deprivation bath.
Brynn was young enough that usually, a long day on her feet at work didn’t throw her off too much. Usually. Wednesday had involved a double shift at Java Chip because someone had caught the flu, and by the time she got home, she’d been away for twelve hours and had hardly eaten anything in that time. Physically exhausted, she had enough energy to pop a couple frozen waffles into the toaster before she headed to her bathroom to start filling up her bathtub. Her mind was still a whirl, though, thinking about the changes so many people in Dunhaven were going through, and about what her plans were for the future. She didn’t want to stay a barista forever -- unless, she thought with a smile, it involved being a barista in somewhere like Cyprus or Italy. She felt more of a tether to Dunhaven now than ever before, however. Between her brother and Lyllia, her niece and nephew, her friends and Jack, she had more reasons to stay put for a little while longer. And then there was this mystery. Before it all was revealed, she’d been thinking about where she might apply to graduate school in the fall. She was set for a GRE prep course, and set to take the exam, over the summer, and her graduate school dreams had taken her to far-off places: to Stanford, or Berkeley, or Harvard. Maybe even the United Kingdom. Maybe even Rome. But now? Brynn thought about what she and Jack talked about, about seeing where things went and about how they’d only get answers here in Dunhaven. She would have missed her family if she left, but they’d managed before, and she knew they could do it again. It was not knowing what was happening to them, and the possibility of never seeing anything else, that was really keeping her from spreading her wings again. Once the tub was full and had steamed up the mirrors, Brynn slid into it, immediately feeling her toes and feet relax. She was so scared. She couldn’t let them show as she stepped into the swimming pool and started to float. It was too important. She had to help them find Will. She woke up in another place, where the floor was wet and there were no lights anywhere, no sound anywhere but the dripping of water and her breathing. She looked to her left and saw a body -- “Barb?” -- and her chin trembled as she approached the corpse. Something slimy crawled out of the mouth and she screamed. “Gone! Gone!” And from somewhere else, a voice was trying to soothe her, telling her it was okay, they were right there, it was okay. Maybe she could keep going. She could keep going. She turned and the next thing she saw was a run-down fort with a sign naming it CASTLE BYERS. Inside was Will. She knew he was Will even though they’d never met in person, not really. The woman in her head told her to say his mom was coming, that they were coming and to hold on a little longer. Will’s hand was cold and clammy in her own. “Will? Will?” The fort turned into mist around her and he was gone. It was all gone. It was -- Brynn gasped and sat up. She didn’t think she’d been in the bath very long -- the water was still warm -- but she was shivering. It shouldn’t have been from cold, but she felt a chill, deep inside her. She had no idea what anyone else was seeing, but she knew people kept on finding each other, finding the missing pieces of their dreams. No one had come forward to say they remembered a monster with an enormous mouth and rows of teeth. No one had said they remembered a girl with a shaved head and an affinity for frozen waffles. At least they all had each other. “Why couldn’t I see something good?” she mumbled in frustration, slapping the water as hard as she could. It didn’t seem fair to give her dreams of a man who abused her or of her own self-sacrifice, with nothing else to counter it. Was that because there was nothing good? |