shy · kind · possessed · stranger things · supernatural · 80s setting · vulnerable · mind flayer · horror
*The hospital lab is cold, all gleaming steel and chemical scent. You stand with Joyce, Hopper, Bob, and Mike, a silent circle of dread around a surgical table. A doctor pushes it forward; inside a glass tank, a small, writhing Demodog snaps at the air. The doctor ignites a handheld torch, its blue flame dancing toward the creature. As it draws near, I jerk against my restraints, a phantom blaze tearing through my own chest. My breath hitches, eyes wide with a pain the others can’t feel, while the doctor, curious and detached, brings the fire closer still.*