Chapter Text
“But they move in numbers and the've got me in a corner
I feel like a group of one, no no they can't do this to me
I'm not some piece of teenage wildlife”
Robin Buckley had to have died within the past 24 hours and was now living in a sick personal hell. Following the run-in with Nancy Wheeler, Robin spilled water on her math homework, tripped in front of Tammy, and split a note during practice. On top of that, Dash now needed her to get some stupid pictures for his stupid girlfriend from the school’s dark room.
Guess it’s for standing her up last week.
Robin took a deep breath before twisting the knob hesitantly. She made sure to only push the door far enough to poke her head in, scanning the room for any signs of life. The dark room had a similar reputation to the janitor’s closet or band practice rooms, and Robin really didn’t know if she could handle walking in on Tommy H. frenching Carol C. today.
Once verifying there weren’t any other hormonal teens, she put her full weight into the door, opening it all the way. The room was lit by its signature red hue, and stunk of vinegar, which made Robin wrinkle her nose. She skimmed over the photos on the dry line, slowly walking parallel to them. Most of the pictures were from the yearbook club, which was to be expected. Images of Hawkins’ High last football game and of the newly elected student council hung on the lines, their proud faces making Robin roll her eyes.
How the hell am I supposed to find one picture in all this?
She was almost near the end of the dry line now, the pictures progressively appearing less dry. Robin wanted to just leave and tell Dash that she couldn’t find it. Robin wanted to finish walking the length of the dry line and then just bike home to focus on what really matters. She didn’t end up doing any of those things once she saw the last picture on the dry line.
The last picture on the dry line wasn’t anything really special; it was just an image of the woods that surrounded Hawkins. The evergreen trees, the leaf litter, all of it Robin knew. See, it’s not the picture of the woods that stopped Robin, but a picture showing what was in the woods.
The thing, Robin recognized in an instant, which was surprising since usually she could never remember its face in the mornings. Only that something stalked her through her dreams, and hardly ever allowed for a good night’s sleep. Robin now knew why she couldn’t remember its face, because in the picture, the creature didn’t have one.
Is this real?
Maybe it was a prank, maybe it was some cruel joke, maybe God just really hated Robin today. Whatever it was, Robin now had to consider the possibility that the no-faced creature from her nightmare was real. She carefully reached her hand out to pick up the photo, as if she was trying to check if the image was actually in reality. She didn’t even realize her hands were shaking until she picked it off the dry line, the image vibrating as Robin tried to examine it closer.
She studied it the best she could with her wobbly hands. Her eyes scanned every inch of the photo. The no-faced creature was blurry, but Robin could tell by its posture it was standing on two legs. Even more alarming was the fact it seemed to have frog-like skin.
“What are you doing?”
Robin jumped, almost dropping the photo from the scare. She used her off hand to clutch her chest before turning around, sighing once she registered it was a human voice.
“Crap- you scared the shit out of me-“
Oh no.
Yeah, one run-in with Nancy Wheeler was already a disaster. So, two run-ins with Nancy Wheeler, now with Jonathan Byers in tow, seemed catastrophic. Robin’s heart dropped into her stomach, and she fought the urge to just push through the two and run home before any other social disasters could happen. Human monsters were one thing, but now she had to consider real ones as well.
Jonathan and Nancy strode into the dimly lit room, the boy following after the girl. Nancy looked even angrier than during lunch, probably since Robin was now a repeat offender in pissing her off. Her arms were crossed, and her perfect nose was wrinkled in annoyance.
While Nancy was obvious with her disdain, Jonathan was a lot harder to tell. His expression was the same as it always had been, making it unreadable to Robin. Even though he was taller than Nancy, he didn’t have the same presence she did. Instead, his posture was slightly slouched in a way that mirrored Robin’s when she walked in the halls. His mousy brown hair, which often covered his eyes, were now moved enough for her to see the sunken eye bags and heavy eyelids, as if he could barely stay awake. Robin felt a wave of sympathy for the guy. First his brother, and now being forced to hang out with his tormentor’s girlfriend? It seemed Jonathan Byers was having worse luck than she was.
“What are you doing?” Nancy repeated, stressing the word “you” for Robin.
Robin’s eyes darted from them to the photo. The image of the creature was still there. It hadn’t just walked off the page and back into her dreams. Robin briefly thought of seeing a psychiatrist but quickly remembered how she didn’t have anyone to take her or pay for it.
“Nothing. Just trying to get something for a friend.”
Technically, not a lie.
Nancy raised a brow and puffed a cheek, not taking her eyes off Robin. Not that Robin could care how Nancy Wheeler looked at her right now. Instead, she fixed her eyes one last time at the photo, as if trying to memorize it, before walking over and carefully handing the image back to Jonathan. She made sure to pinch the corners, and tried her best to still her hands for him to take it back.
“Just got them mixed up.”
The boy looked taken aback by Robin’s actions before taking the photo into his hands carefully. His gaze traced the image before looking back up at Robin.
“Have you-“ he swallowed.
“Have you seen this thing before?”
Robin flinched at his question.
If I say “yes” and the thing is just some artistic project, I look crazy. If I say “no” they might know I’m lying and then I look weird.
“What thing?”
Robin mentally face-palmed herself. The creature was front and center on the photo. Anyone could see it.
Nancy rolled her eyes and sighed.
“We should go.”
Jonathan’s eye flickered to Nancy but didn't move in her direction. Instead, he took a step toward Robin.
“Have you seen this?”
Robin looked between the two, her face growing hot with frustration. (Thank God the room was red to begin with.) Why did it matter if she had seen it? It wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real. She glared at Jonathan.
“What if I have?”
Nancy and Jonathan went very still and exchanged a look. The room suddenly felt colder than it did before.
“Then we need to talk.”