After walking for what felt like hours in the quiet wood, the scene before her seemed surreal. Kali finally emerged onto a road. The tracks she had been following intersected here with an active rail line at a railroad crossing.
On one side of the road stood the Fair Mart, a convenience store that looked warm and inviting in the cold light of day, with a neon "OPEN" sign flickering in the window. While on the other side of the road loomed a small railway station, its platform shadowed by a long, stationary freight train.
Kali eyed the convenience store first, thinking it might offer a chance to find someone who could help her, and her stomach growled faintly at the thought of food. But as she rounded the building's corner, the sight of a white van parked just outside froze her in her tracks.
It was just like the van she'd seen in the lab's parking lot with the logo HAWKINS POWER & LIGHT. Her pulse quickened as she crouched behind a stack of pallets near the back of the store.
She peeked cautiously around the corner, catching sight of the van's driver, but she didn't need to get closer to confirm her suspicion. Backing away, she turned her attention to the railway station on the opposite side of the road and the long freight train.
If she could sneak aboard, it might carry her far enough away to finally escape Brenner's reach. But crossing the road was too risky with the van in sight, so she skirted the edge of the woods opposite the platform, staying hidden in the trees.
As she crept closer, she noticed movement near the train. Men in dark suits were checking each carriage. She edged closer, staying low, until she was near the front of the train.
The driver, a stout man in a blue uniform, stood outside the engine car, smoking a cigarette and talking to another man in a brown coat who seemed to be the station manager.
This wasn't normal. The men in suits had to be from the lab. They weren't inspecting the train—they were searching it.
Looking for her.
She glanced back at the woods, considering retreating, but the thought of going back into the cold aimless wilderness made her stomach churn. This train was her best chance to get far away from Hawkins, from the lab, from Brenner.
She stayed frozen, every muscle tense, and watched as the men in suits stopped at the next carriage, pulled open the door and disappeared inside. This was her chance.
She rose, moving tentatively towards the back of the train, her footsteps muffled by the snow, as her eyes flicked back and forth, scanning for anyone who might turn and catch her.
The back carriages, having already been searched, stood in eerie silence. She reached one and pressed herself flat against the cold metal. Breathing deeply, she tried to calm the storm of nerves.
She tugged at the heavy door and it groaned as it slid open, the sound louder than she'd hoped, but fortunately the men were still occupied at the front.
She climbed inside, pulling the door shut behind her. The interior was pitch black, the only sound the faint hum of wind seeping through the gaps in the metal walls. Kali crouched low, her breathing unsteady as the silence wrapped around her.
The dark space reminded her too much of the isolation room at the lab, its small walls closing in around her. She could almost hear the rhythmic drip of water from the pipes and the hum of fluorescent lights.
Then like a distant echo came Brenner's voice, soft and insidious. "You're sick, Kali. Your mind is broken. No one out here can help you. Only I can."
Kali clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms. "It's not real," she whispered, her voice trembling. "It's not real." But the illusion wouldn't stop.
Brenner's voice grew louder, echoing in the void, taunting her. "They'll find you. You can't run forever. You're coming back to the lab where you belong."
Her breathing quickened. She felt trapped, as if the walls were closing in and… Suddenly, she heard the faint crunch of footsteps outside the carriage. Panic flooded her chest. Were the men from the lab coming for her?
Brenner's voice answered her fears. "You see? They're here. You'll never escape."
The footsteps grew louder, and Kali pressed herself into a corner, her mind screaming for the illusion—the nightmare to stop. But she couldn't tell what was real anymore.
Her thoughts were spiraling, but then like a bolt of lightning something cut through the haze. It was the voice of the station manager outside the train. "Are we good to go?"
Another voice responded. "Yeah, we're done here."
Kali exhaled shakily, the tension in her body easing slightly.
The footsteps faded, replaced by the mechanical groan of the train lurching forward. The train was moving.
As the carriage rocked gently with the rhythm of the tracks, the darkness no longer seemed so suffocating. Brenner's voice was gone, and the weight lifted from her chest.
Exhaustion washed over her, and she felt her body relax for the first time since escaping the lab. She leaned her head against the cold metal wall, and her eyes fell shut. For now, she was safe.
***
Kali's sleep was unrelenting, pulling her into dreams she couldn't control. Memories and fragments of her past mingled with her fears, creating a vivid, surreal landscape.
She was seven years old again, sitting cross-legged on the rug in her bedroom. A dollhouse stood before her, its miniature rooms meticulously arranged. Her mother's voice drifted from downstairs, warm and familiar. "Kali, we're home!"
Excitement bubbled in her chest, and she abandoned the dollhouse to race down the hallway. But when she reached the bottom of the stairs, the warmth drained from her body. Doctor Brenner stood in the doorway, his sharp gaze fixed on her.
"No!" Kali tried to step back, but her parents appeared behind her. She spun around, pleading with them. "You can't trust him! He's a bad man!"
Her father's face was heavy with regret as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're seeing things that aren't there. I'm sorry, but you need help."
"Please!" she screamed, her voice trembling with desperation. "Don't let them take me!"
Men in suits materialized from the shadows, their hands reaching for her. She turned to run, but the world shifted.
She was no longer in her home. The soft rug beneath her feet became cold tiles. She stumbled forward into a stark white room, the walls closing in around her.
She tried to scream again, her voice failed. Brenner's figure loomed over her, calm and unyielding.
"This is your home, Kali," he said, his voice echoing unnaturally in her mind.
"No!" she shouted, suddenly waking from the nightmare.
Her breath came in sharp gasps as she reeled against the cold metal floor of the carriage, but the steady rumble of the train soothed her nerves slightly. She pulled herself upright and moved to the carriage door, sliding it open just enough to peer outside.
Darkness greeted her. The train sliced through a sea of open grassland, the faint silhouettes of trees in the distance. A scatter of warm lights from distant houses dotted the horizon.
But it was the night sky that stole her attention.
For the first time in years, she saw the stars. Thousands of them, glittering like shards of ice against a sea of black. They seemed impossibly vast, endless, and beautiful.
She had forgotten how magnificent the world could be beyond the confines of the lab. The stars felt like a promise—of freedom, of possibilities, of hope.
***
Kali had no idea how much time had passed, but she stayed by the crack in the door, watching the world rush by rather than sitting in the darkness of the carriage.
Her stomach growled faintly, a dull ache she tried to ignore by naming the things she saw as they sped past: trees, fences, roads, and once, a group of grazing horses. When the scenery became more dense and dark, Kali noticed the train was slowing down.
She pulled the carriage door nearly shut, leaving only a narrow gap to peer through. The train came to a stop with a metallic groan, and Kali held her breath, listening.
There came the muffled sound of footsteps, followed by the hollow clatter of a door sliding shut farther down the line. She waited, until the sounds faded.
Summoning her courage, she slipped through the carriage door and dropped onto the gravel below. The station yard was eerily quiet, the faint buzz of a nearby lamp the only sound.
She moved swiftly, and when she finally emerged from the station yard, she couldn't believe it. There was no town, no street lamps or storefronts. Just a desolate stretch of road. She was in the middle of nowhere.
But there had to be something that was better than a freezing carriage to hold up until morning. She turned toward the road, sticking close to the treeline as she began to walk, keeping vigilant for the occasional passing car.
Each step felt heavier, but just as her legs threatened to give out, she spotted a faint, flickering light in the distance. She quickened her pace, the glow growing brighter until the shape of a gas station emerged from the dark.
She hesitated and glanced back at the woods behind her. Her body ached from the freezing air, her legs sluggish with exhaustion. The cold wasn't an option, even if the alternative meant risking being seen, and so she crept forward.
The main shop was brightly lit inside, its shelves sparsely stocked with snacks and auto supplies. Through the window, Kali saw the back of a lone attendant sitting at the counter, flipping through a magazine.
Across from it was the garage, its front door shut, but a small side door was ajar. Kali moved toward it, her boots crunching softly in the snow. She paused, listening for any signs of movement, but the only sounds were the faint clatter of a radio playing somewhere inside the gas station.
She slipped through the side door and into the garage. The air inside was stuffy and smelled of oil and rubber. Tools and parts were scattered across a workbench, and a single bare bulb cast flickering light across the room.
Suddenly her throat tickled, dry and scratchy from the night's chill. She pressed a hand to her mouth, trying to stifle the cough, but it burst out despite her effort. Almost immediately, the radio from the shop next door cut off.
Kali eased back into a corner, trying to steady her frantic thoughts, as footsteps approached She focused, and squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to disappear.
But when she opened them, there was an old man standing in the doorway, staring right at her. His face was a mixture of surprise and unease. For a moment, neither of them moved.
Kali was still confused how her gift had failed her and her eyes darted to the front door, considering an escape.
"Are you... in some kind of trouble?" the man asked.
Kali didn't answer. Her instincts told her to stay quiet.
The man rubbed the back of his neck, "I, uh, have a granddaughter about your age. Finding you here, well... it gave me a bit of a start." He tried a smile, though it was nervous.
His voice sounded genuine, but Kali still wasn't sure.
When he asked, "Where are you from?" her thoughts flickered to the lab, but then she remembered her old home.
Without thinking, she blurted out, "London."
The man blinked, startled. "London? That's... a mighty long way from here."
Kali nodded but said nothing more. She couldn't shake the thought of Brenner, the way he would feign kindness to manipulate her. Could this man be doing the same?
"I'm Harold," the man finally said, keeping his tone light. "If you need to call someone back home, I've got a phone."
He seemed trustworthy, but she had been fooled before. Still, the possibility of hearing her parents' voices.
It had been so long—years—since she had even imagined that. Were they still in London? Did they ever think of her?
Hesitantly, she stepped forward and Harold paused, looking up at her with a faint smile. He stepped back into the shop and came back with a sandwich.
"First things first. Banana and peanut butter. My granddaughter made it, but you look like you need it more."
Kali's stomach growled in answer and she took the sandwich, mumbling a quiet, "Thank you."
Between bites, Harold asked gently, "Do you know the number you want to call in London?"
Kali shook her head. "I only know their name. Prasad."
Harold nodded thoughtfully, pulling a notepad and pen from his coat pocket. "Well, that's a start. Spell it out for me."
"P-R-A-S-A-D," she said, watching as he wrote it down.
He then walked over to a rotary phone on the wall and cradled the receiver as he dialed.
"Good morning, I need help finding an international number," he said. "London, surname Prasad."
Kali's heart thudded in her chest as she sat up straighter. Harold repeated the name, spelling it out clearly, and then began jotting down notes on his pad.
"They've got something," he murmured, smiling faintly at her as she leaned forward with anticipation.
Harold waited as the operator patched the connection. The line hummed with static, the sound stretching unbearably long.
Kali thought about what she would say, how her parents might sound, how they'd feel when they heard her voice.
Harold handed her the receiver. The phone rang once. Twice. She gripped it tighter, her heart thudding painfully in her chest. What if no one answered? What if the number was wrong?
And then, a click.
"Hello?" The voice on the other end was soft and uncertain, with a faint British accent.
It had been so long—so many years—but Kali knew that voice. Her lips parted, but no words came out.
"Hello?" the voice repeated, a little louder this time.
"Mum?" Kali croaked, her voice barely above a whisper.
There was a pause, and then a sharp intake of breath. "Who is this? How did you—?"
"It's me," Kali said quickly. "It's Kali."
Another pause, longer this time. Kali's stomach twisted as she thought maybe they didn't recognize her voice.
Maybe they didn't believe her.
"Kali?" her mother finally said in shock. "Is it really you?"
Tears welled in Kali's eyes as she nodded, even though her mother couldn't see her. "Yes, it's me," she whispered.
"Kali, where are you?" another voice came through the receiver now, deeper, steadier. Her father. " Are you safe?"
"I… I don't know where I am exactly," she admitted.
Harold spoke up. "Earlie's Gas. Kingswood, Ohio."
Kali repeated it and listened as her father's voice softened, though it was still laced with concern. "We'll come to you, Kali. Stay there and call the police."
Kali's grip on the receiver tightened as her tears spilled over. "I can't. They'll take me back." she whispered.
"What? Take you where?" her mother stammered in desperation. Kali wanted to tell them everything, but then suddenly the line cut off.
Quickly, she tried the number again, but it just kept ringing until it eventually died out.