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TWENTY SIX!
the ives residence
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         Eleven was the definition of determination. When the young girl put her mind towards something she felt was important than it was hard for her to back down, even if there was a fight involved.

It happened with her friends, she continued to protect them even when they doubted her abilities. It happened with Will, no matter how scared she was of the Upside Down, she still searched for the lost boy.

It happened when she faced the demogorgan at the middle school, despite being completely exhausted and absolutely terrified, she still held her ground against the blood thirsty monster to protect her friends.

But this time, her determination wasn't to protect her friends or find a lost boy or fight a monster.

The young girl was determined to track down information that she had found about her life prior to living in the lab. Information on her biological mother, who she had discovered.

After the verbal altercation that had occurred between Eleven and Hopper on November first of 1984, the older male had sentenced her to clean up the mess she had caused in the cabin as punishment. Eleven begrudgingly took on the task of cleaning up the aftermath of the fight, despite wanting nothing more than to just sit in bed all day out of spite.

Wendy felt horrible and decided to lend a hand to make the chores disappear faster. The two girls removed any broken glass, swept the floor, reorganized the furniture and cleaned up anything else that was in need of attention.

While cleaning the messy cabin, the two girls accidentally stumbled upon a trap door in the wooden floor. Despite not knowing what could lie beneath the door, they still decided to venture into the dark crawl space.

To their excitement, they ended up finding boxes upon boxes of files and other important paperwork that Hopper had collected. Most of it were secretive documents from the government and the lab.

But the file that intrigued Eleven the most was the one on Terry Ives. According to the paperwork, the Ives woman was the 'supposed' biological mother of Eleven and the woman had pursued many legal battles to obtain custody.

This came as a shock to both girls but they still decided to seek out this new information, upon finding a house address at the bottom. Eleven had decided early on to make the life changing decision of actually pursuing the journey to reunite with her suppose biological mother and Wendy decided to tag along to keep the other girl safe.

That's currently where the two girls were standing, on the front porch of the Ives residence.

The place was a few miles outside of Hawkins, secluded in the forest area off the highway. But the two girls were able to catch a ride by hitchhiking off the side of the road, earning them a spot in the shotgun seat of a long haul truck.

This, of course, seems very unsafe but luckily, the male trucker only warned the girls of their actions before letting them go to try and make their amends with the estranged Ives family.

Eleven was the first one to actually move a limb out of the two. Both were completely frozen to the spot, once they had stepped onto the property as they couldn't believe they were actually standing there. Eleven sucked in a deep breath of assurance before confidently marching through the ragged stone walkway before carefully walking up the fragile wooden steps.

The place looked unkept on the outside but was still maintained enough to look like someone did indeed live inside. The white paint was definitely chipping from the wooden sidings. The front porch was covered in small piles of discarded items and the property was closed off from the main road by limping trees.

The Ives residence definitely didn't look pleasing to outsiders like themselves.

Wendy swallowed a nervous lump in her throat before following after the younger girl. The two stood together on the front porch, intently staring at the brightly painted front door. They were mentally debating with each other on which girl should knock first, just based on estranged eye contact.

Eleven decided to take the bullet, stepping closer towards the red door. She raised her hand before gently beating it against the glass window above the handler. The girl then stopped away nervously, once she felt she had knocked enough. She also swallowed a nervous lump of her own and was sweating bullets in her thick sweater as she was about to dive straight into a new chapter in her life.

"Go away! I'm not interested." An older woman's voice rang through the residence. Clearly, the woman who owned the house was not too keen with strangers being on her property.

Eleven frowned slightly at the abrasive comment but ultimately decided to begin harshly pounding on the glass window again to gain her attention.

This time, footsteps actually travelled towards the door, exciting the younger girl as she was about to meet her birth mother. Her excitement was cut short as the door was barely opened an inch.

The woman, who was most likely the one who just berated the two girls previously, barely showcased her face as she peeked out from behind the wooden frame.

"Look! I don't want your thin mints, alright, kids." The woman spoke in a condescending tone, a scowl sketched on her face. She clearly was the type to not like having guests over often.

"Thin mints?" Eleven questioned in confusion as she had no idea what those were.

"It's a cookie." Wendy simplified, earning a nod of confirmation from the other preteen.

"Or your religious mumbo jumbo. Whatever you're selling, I ain't buying, ok?" The woman exclaimed in pure annoyance, getting ready to slam the door on their faces.

"We're here to see Terry Ives." Wendy announced suddenly, causing the woman to freeze on the spot. Her facial expression of pure annoyance had morphed into one of curiosity.

But she still held hostility as her eyes burned into Wendy's small face. "Is she here?" The young girl asked curiously.

"Why? Why do you need to see here?" The woman demanded, her tone filled with hostility.

"We just need to talk to her." Wendy assured, not ready to drop the bomb on this poor woman.

"No." The door was immediately slammed in their faces. Both girls jumped back in a flinch at the sudden rush of air that hit them straight in the faces from the amount of force used.

"Already off to a good start to this adventure." Wendy grumbled in annoyance

"It's ok. I'll open the door." Eleven assured. The girl then tapped into her telekinesis abilities, focusing her energy on the metal chain that securely kept the door shut.

As if on cue, the chain slowly retracted itself off of the door, hanging absentmindedly after it had been freed. Eleven then worked on the door next, using her mind to unlock it before slowly turning the door knob to open the door.

The door pushed open on command, revealing the shocked face of the woman, who previously shut them out. Eleven stood up straight with a serious expression sketched on her face. She was determined to reunite with the woman, listed as her biological mother and she wasn't going to let a door stop her.

"I want to see mama." Eleven demanded sternly.

The shocked woman only nodded in response, stepping aside to allow the two girls to enter.

As if on instinct, Wendy immediately wiped her feet on the door as she remembered having to do that in her cousin's house as a child. Eleven watched the girl in confusion before awkwardly imitating her action.

The woman, now known as Becky Ives, offered to take their coats to hang up on the sad looking coat rack in the front hall but both decided against it as they were still shivering from the chilled autumn air.

After the awkward introduction, the two teen girls were then lead into the nearby living room as that's where Terry Ives was currently resting for the afternoon.

Upon entering the room, the two quickly noticed another middle aged woman resting in a rocking chair as a re-run episode of Family Feud played in the background. That woman was most definitely Terry Ives.

"Mama?" Eleven called out, her tone filled with uncertainty as she hesitantly stepped foot into the living room and towards the other woman. "Mama, can you hear me?"

Terry Ives had definitely aged quite a bit since the picture of found in her file was dated in the 60's. She was no longer in her twenties but definitely wasn't pushing past the age of thirty five as her hair was only just dirty brown colour. Her pale skin only sported a few wrinkles and was a bit on the translucent side but not enough to call her old.

But the biggest change to occur to Terry over time as she has aged was the lack of perception in her eyes. And Wendy quickly noticed this, once she had gotten a good look at the older woman.

In the file, Terry had vividly eyes that seemed soothing and gentle upon first glance. Her soft eyes announced to the whole world that she was a young woman filled with so much passion, so many hopes and dreams that she wished to achieve.

Now, her eyes looked lifeless and cold. She no longer looked closely at things but through them as if they didn't exist. Wendy immediately noticed her glassed over look as she wasn't actually watching the show on the television screen but was just staring off into space.

Her suspicions were confirmed when she recognized that the woman was muttering repetitive phrases to herself. This was the biggest indicator to Wendy that something was wrong with Terry Ives.

"Mama.....It's me. Jane, I'm here now." Eleven called out to the unresponsive woman as she kneeled down in front of the rocking chair.

It had not yet clicked in her own head that something was wrong with her biological mother. Terry just continued to stare forward, muttering to herself as if the world didn't exist around her.

That's when Eleven finally noticed that her mother was not present.

"What's wrong with mama?" Eleven questioned in confusion, turning her body slightly to be able to face Becky Ives.

The older Ives sister just began to sob uncontrollably at the question. The sight made both young girls frown as they had no idea what had happened occurred to Terry Ives.

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         Eleven was definitely shocked to hear that her biological mother had no recollection of the events that had occurred prior to her birth and that the older woman was now reduced to a mere vegetable.

The girl so desperately hoped that Terry Ives would provide her with the answers to fill in the missing puzzle pieces to her life but she received nothing. It was just a dead end......again.

Currently, the younger girl was exploring the nursery that was apparently set up for her birth. The baby decorations definitely brought bittersweet memories to the Ives family, especially for Becky, who stepped out to allow Eleven to continue reminiscing on her own.

And that's why Wendy Harrington was just awkwardly sitting in the kitchen Becky Ives. She had followed after the older woman to give her some much needed support as she was the only one who truly understood human emotions in the house but that proved harder than expected.

Becky didn't feel like opening up to some random preteen, which was understandable, so instead she opted to just stay silent as she made cups of tea for everyone.

This left Wendy to awkwardly sit at the table, just staring off into space, hoping for Eleven to break this tension.

"You said your last name was Harrington?" Becky Ives spoke up for the first time in what felt like hours, despite it only being a few gruelling minutes of silence.

"So, I'm guessing you're not Terry's kid?" She questioned, earning a nod.

"No, I'm just friends with Jane." Wendy confirmed, shifting awkwardly in her seat. The chair grew increasingly uncomfortable as the time went on, even with a fluffed cushion underneath her.

"I remember the Harrington family when I went to Hawkins high school. There was James, Thomas and Catherine." Becky Ives pondered as if she was speaking to herself.

"I'm guessing you're one of their kids?" She finally looked the girl in the eye.

"My father is Thomas." Wendy nodded.

"Oh, I remember Thomas." Becky exclaimed, kind of reminiscent to hear that name again after years.

"You knew my father?" Wendy questioned.

"Of course, I did." Becky nodded in confirmation.

"He was not the most popular boy but everyone knew him because he was intelligent. He was one of the only people at that time who got into one of those fancy Ivy leagues, which was unheard of in Hawkins." She explained.

"Yeah, that sounds like my dad." Wendy chuckled, despite feeling sad deep down.

The girl had been separated from her own father for so long that even the mere mention of him made her want to breakdown and cry.

"You know, I definitely see Thomas in you. You're not a douchebag like your uncle, James and you're not a push over like your aunt, Catherine. You're very soft spoken but determined like he was. I saw that quality in you right away as soon as you arrived." Becky explained.

"Yeah." Wendy nodding, trying her best to suppress the tears that were trying to break through.

"I'm sorry if your father is a touchy subject for you. I didn't mean to upset you if I did." Becky apologized, finally recognizing the look of sadness on the young girl's face.

"No, it's fine." Wendy tried her best to assure with heavy sighs. "It's just......I haven't seen him in awhile and I don't know if he's doing ok."

Luckily, the awkward moment between the two strangers was broken up when Eleven had walked down the stairs. When she had stepped into the kitchen, Wendy could clearly see the look of determination plastered on her face that the Harrington girl knew very well. She had just discovered something the rest hadn't.

Within an instant of entering the room, Eleven's eyes were drawn to a lamp that had began to flicker sporadically on the counter.

"It's just faulty wiring, honey." Becky assured, confused by her sudden fascination with the lamp.

"It's mama." Eleven spoke before wandering back into the living room. She immediately crouched next to the rocking chair, containing her mother.

"I don't understand." Becky shrugged, following after the younger girl.

"She knows I'm here." Eleven answered, wiping away the blood that dropped out of her mother's nostril. She then stood up facing the television screen that was now a static mess as the channels were scrolling by at a rapid pace.

This was the doing of Terry Ives.

"She wants to talk to me."

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         Eleven had figured out that she could use her telepathic abilities in order to tap into her mother's head.

After hearing about the woman's condition from her aunt, she wanted to see if she could try to break Terry out from her invasive dreams or at least try and talk to her.

The girl was kneeled in front of her mother's rocking chair with a blindfold wrapped around her eyes as it was the best way for her to zone in on her abilities in peace. Becky Ives and Wendy Harrington sat behind the girl, trying their best to be as quiet as possible.

It was going well so far except the splitting headache that was currently paralyzing Wendy.

The girl didn't understand why a headache had suddenly come her way. She only got headaches when it rained, didn't eat enough, it was too hot or she didn't drink enough water but none of those things had occurred.

She had gone through the entire day feeling completely normal but now she was forced to deal with a sudden pain in her head. She tried her best to sit quietly and ignore her sudden headache as she watched Eleven but the pain was becoming so increasingly unbearable that she could no longer bite her tongue to suppress the feeling.

The girl ultimately decided that she needed a high dosage of a painkiller in order to live out the rest of the day.

"Do you have any Tylenol? My head is killing me." Wendy questioned, tapping the Ives woman on the shoulder to gain her attention.

She was using a hushed tone to not disturb Eleven but not so quiet that the other woman couldn't hear her.

"In the upstairs bathroom." Becky confirmed.

The girl nodded as she carefully stood up, trying her best to not make a sound.

Luckily, the exit towards the main hallway was right behind her, so she didn't have to walk far to get to the staircase. The girl practically hopped up the stairs as fast as she could towards the bathroom, which ended up being the first door at the top. She slipped into the tiled room, quietly shutting the door behind her.

The bathroom was covered in avocado green tiles, very reminiscent of the seventies but was definitely not pleasing to the Harrington girl's eyes. The obnoxious colour made the pain in her head grow stronger. The slight tapping against her skull had turned into a full on throbbing sensation as she walked up the stairs.

The new pain was also accompanied by a dizzy effect that cause her eyes to become sore. Even just reaching for the medicine cabinet seemed like a difficult task as the simple object looked like a blurry mess of multiples to Wendy.

It felt like she was having a hallucination episode as everything blurred together, creating just a sloppy image in her head. Even the colours started to dim, creating a sense of darkness in her head.

The lack of perception had caused the teen girl to slip and fall straight to the tile floor, hitting the front of her head in the process.

The sudden dullness of colour had suddenly turned everything black in Wendy eyes, leading her to lose complete consciousness on the Ive bathroom floor.

💬 AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I struggled so freaking much with this chapter like it's been half written in my drafts for like four weeks cause I was stuck. This was the best thing I could come up with after weeks of procrastination. I thought it would be cool to write this part of the episode since no one else has ever and I can see why no one else has written this scene.

I went through the seven stages of grief with this one but don't worry the next chapter won't take as long as this one as I was procrastinating this chapter with the next one, so that should be up soon and it's more interesting in my opinion. I'm hoping to have this act officially done before I move out and start university in September.

Overall, I hope this chapter is not complete shit and you all enjoyed it.

★ 𝐎𝐃𝐃 𝐄𝐘𝐄 ! stranger things fanfic ★
(© 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝘆𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱)