Chapter Text
Steve Harrington discovers he is special at six years old, while playing alone in the middle of the day. He falls down a tree, hits the ground hard, and breaks his arm. The pain is so new and intense that he stumbles inside and drops on his knees at the side of their pool. When he looks down at his reflection, he sees his whole face change.
His eyes glow gold. His hair grows longer. His face contorts in a way that feels unnatural, and his teeth elongate into fangs.
He thinks that the shock has dulled the pain, but that’s not what happens. Instead, he looks at his arm to see it has healed. The blood is still there as proof of what happened, but his skin is knit together without a sign of tear. His bones feel fine. He feels no pain.
He sits there for the whole afternoon, thinking about the fact that he is stronger and faster than anyone in his class.
His teacher calls him special.
He thinks they may be right.
That evening, he finds out what being special truly means.
His mother brings up a story about Elizabeth, their neighbor’s daughter who is two grades above Steve, and how she is the reason an important business party is cancelled.
“They say she’s… special, if you know what I mean,” Mother says.
Steve knows what she means. Elizabeth is quiet and the smartest person he knows. She can read a book in one sitting and she is good at math. Sometimes, when Steve sneaks out to play at their yard, she comes out and repeats everything he says and it makes him laugh. Sometimes, she sits and stares at the sky and doesn’t speak at all. Steve likes her a lot. She’s different, but she’s nice.
She’s special. Like him!
“Well, they should lock her up and discipline her if she can’t control herself,” Father replies disdainfully. “Special,” he scoffs. “She’s a freak of nature.”
“Richard!” Mother exclaims. “Not in front of Steven!”
“He should know the truth,” he says. He turns to Steve and, with grave seriousness, explains, “People say special to be polite. You can be rich or smart or powerful, but special? That’s what people say for freaks they coddle.”
“Richard!” Mother stands up in anger. “That is enough.”
Father rolls his eyes and laughs at her, waving his hand dismissively. He finishes his whiskey and stands up as well.
“He’ll understand when they send that girl away to Pennhurst,” he says before walking away.
That night, he lies awake in bed and stares at his ceiling.
Special means different, and different means you’re a freak. And being a freak means Father hates you.
He is only six years old but he knows that being hated is the worst thing that can happen to him.
Elizabeth disappears one day.
Steve is too afraid to ask where they took her.
He never tells anyone about his eyes, or his fangs, or his claws.
He learns to adapt to people’s speeds and strengths, only being faster by a few seconds and never using more strength than necessary.
He learns to hide every single part of himself he deems special.
He may not be smart, but he is rich and popular.
When he starts high school, Tommy and Carol teaches him that there is power in being desired by half the school population.
He is not special.
He is the King of Hawkins High, and it’s all he has to focus on to keep everything else hidden.
Nancy is the closest he feels to being free, but even as they grow closer, even as she says yes to being his girlfriend, he still has a good hold on his control. She is prim and proper, and she pulls him back when he feels his eyes itching to glow. They agree to keep things slow. Steve pretends to be disappointed.
He is in control.
He keeps his instincts buried under years of lies.
It is easy now after years of hiding.
Until.
Until Will Byers goes missing and he feels a pull in his chest.
Until he unconsciously walks away from the path to Nancy’s house and instead walks towards the forest.
Until one day, he meets a young girl that changes his life.