THE MAGE,

an independent writing blog for ㅤjanessa alexandra ives, taken away from the stranger things franchise, formed into an original character. ㅤcherished and adored by ㅤfrankie. ㅤ ㅤest. october 2022.

• I.
• II.
• III.

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*RULES,

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* MAINS & EXCLUSIVES,

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* ABOUT,

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* VISAGE,

* 12 - 14 : NATALIE PORTMAN.

* 14 - 17 : JENNIFER CONNELLY.

* 17 - 30: MIA SARA.

* 30+ : CHARLOTTE RITCHIE

* hair,

we love the curls. <3 when her hair first starts growing in, the sensation is so foreign to her; it resembles something akin to phantom pain. she hates it. the feeling that something is there when it shouldn’t be. her scalp is incredibly sensitive and she does not take care of her hair in the way she should. after one month, hopper is forced to cut a chunk out of the left side because she hasn’t been brushing or tending to it, and it becomes a matted mess. then it becomes uneven, which she hates even more, so she asks him to cut the rest off, and she basically starts from square one. [so early into their relationship, hopper doesn’t feel comfortable forcing her to do these things yet. cutting her hair is a bit of a turning point in their relationship regarding his authority, and making sure she properly looks after herself, even if she doesn’t want to.] overtime, she does learn care for it, but it’s only about four months after the cut from hopper, does she get used to the feeling, and come to appreciate her curls. jane always has curly hair. when it starts growing out more, it becomes wavy rather than tight ringlets. never once in her life does she pick up a hair straightener. not to even test it out. her hair becomes so vital, that the thought of something happening to it [ie a hot device burning it all off] really worries her.

* strength + muscle,

jane has poor motor function and development as a result of growing up so sheltered to physical activity. her muscle development is very minimal and she has little coordination between her mind and physical movement. ie, hand-ball requires use of both mind and action: when to bounce the ball and an intended destination. she struggles with hand - eye coordination, and it would take her much longer to succeed in any sort of activity such as this given the lack of experience. in terms of fitness, she is very behind in her age range, and cannot run very far before getting tired. she is only successful in this sort of area when she’s running on adrenaline.

* posture,

her back is always ridiculously straight, having near perfect posture, especially for a child her age. stemming from the fact that she was given no opportunity to slouch or fully relax while in the lab.

* hands,

the middle and thumb nail on her right hand became completely rotten from frostbite during her month living in the snow, and they no longer grow. her hand was immobile for a good few weeks, but it did end up healing for the most part, aside from the two nails. those fingers tend to cramp up more often than not. she likes to wear nail polish frequently to hide the black rot, but the skin and cuticle always has a blue/black tinge.

* skin,

jane is extremely pale. she has a vitamin d deficiency due to her lack of exposure to sunlight, and if she’s in the sun too long without proper protection, she burns incredibly fast. jane also hates make-up. she hates the way it makes her face feel. sometimes she will wear lip gloss; on very special occasions she may wear mascara and eye shadow, but that's the extent of it. the most make-up she ever wore in her life was when she was part of kali's gang. skincare falls under the same category of her hair and teeth: it was done for her in the lab, so she's not used to doing it herself. things like shaving, moisturising, plucking her eyebrows etc do not become of interest to her until her early twenties.

* jewellery,

jane actually wears a decent amount of jewellery! she loves wearing fancy clips and bows in her hair, alongside colourful scrunchies. she always wears a golden heart locket around her neck which belonged to terry, gifted by andrew. she never takes it off except for when she’s sleeping [one night she woke up with it all tangled tightly around her neck and it freaked her out]. she loves wearing multiple bracelets and rings at one time, and has a fancy jewellery box that she thrifted from downtown hawkins which stores her growing collection of accessories. jane does have her ears pierced! it was one of the first things she did when starcourt mall opened- nancy took her to get them done. it’s very rare you’ll find jane without at least three rings on, and a pair of fancy earrings in her ears. even if the situation doesn’t call for jewellery, you can bet she’ll show up in it.

* scarring,

closing the gate affected jane physically and mentally more than the series portrayed. those veins that appear on her face whilst closing the gate, also form patterns across her entire body; hands, feet, legs, stomach. although they all do fade overtime, the markings on her left hand, and around her neck never disappear. while she hates them, hates that the upside down has physically scarred her, she never attempts to cover them up.

* eyes,

jane experiences temporary blindness when she returns from the void. this gets better overtime as she comes into the strength of her powers and no longer needs the bath / blindfold / picture of somebody to find them, but sometimes it does still happen. when this occurs, her eyes turn a bright white, losing their pigmentation. her sight always returns within a half hour, but sometimes that sheer white lingers for days. she can see, but her actual hues can take a while to fade back in.

* teeth,

jane has very crooked teeth, and in early 1985, she gets braces. like her hair, it takes a long time for her to properly tend to her teeth, brush them regularly and understand they need constant upkeep. in the lab, these things were done for her, and she became very accustomed to it. she had people to brush her teeth, people to shower her, people to make sure she was healthy. although, by hawkins lab standards, these were the bare minimum signs of a healthy body; as long as she could do what was expected of her, that’s all that mattered. when she has her first ever dentist appointment, it’s discovered just how bad her teeth actually are [no thanks to this bare minimum upkeep of her body]; three teeth in the back have completely rotted through and she’s booked in for emergency extractions. two weeks later, she’s booked in for braces. she has to be put under anaesthetics for the procedure, as she’s unable to sit still for the few hours it takes to put them on. she has braces for fourteen months overall.

.......

* VERSES,

• lab rewrite.

• season four.

• future.

• winx club.

• scream.

• supernatural.

• apocalypse.

• fantasy.

• resident evil.

• arcane.

• yellowjackets.

• the umbrella academy.

• doctor who.

• angel the series.

.......

* fantasy,

teresa ives grew up in a poor village in the south, had barely a cent to her name, nor possessions to claim her own. alas, despite such circumstances, she had a roof over her head, a loving sister, thus sought happiness in even the smallest of moments. their village, hawks nest, was not always so run down, in fact a short few years prior, it was a thriving place to live. a fight of good vs evil in the form of a dark sorcerer and a queen who watched over their lands, set many small villages to the brink of destruction, ripping them to shreds with barely a second glance. many men were lost, choosing to go off to aid their queen, fight in her gruesome battle; the numbers of hawks nest and many villages like it suffered incomprehensible losses. eventually, the battle was won, but the little people, those who were caught up in the crossfire, were forgotten about. the rich celebrated amongst their castles and towers, while timid homes were forced to fend for themselves.teresa was always a headstrong child, brave and stubborn alike. barely two weeks after said battle was claimed to be over, she set off in the attempts to get some help. her home was dying, numbers decreased; each day was spent aiding labor work as the villages tried restoring some kind of peace. in her travels, she ventures into unknown territories; realising that if she went any further, she wouldn’t be able to find her way home. disheartened, she turns back around, deciding to aid her friends and family best she can. however, just before the return trek, the sight of something beautiful strikes, just ahead, almost like a mirage. she follows her pathway a little more, where she comes face to face with a wishing well. the grass surrounding it is lusher, flowers spring every which way, birds practically sing lullabies in the trees… she’d heard of such magical items, prepared to grant a wish to anyone with pure intentions. although not in a way that is expected. teresa tries her luck, places her hands upon the concrete brick and looks directly down into what appears to be a bottomless pit. she wishes for change. for her village to replenish after the horrible war, for her family to have an ounce of power. she is granted no reaction by the great wishing well, so turns on her heels and begins the journey back home. what the maiden was unaware of, though, was that a child blooms in her stomach. nor does she witness the gold trail of stardust escaping from the well the moment her back turned, absorbing directly into her, into her stomach.months pass, and in that time, she discovers her pregnancy. the child’s father perished in the war; only seven men returned to their families. her child would never know her father, andrew, but teresa would speak stories of him, of his bravery to her baby. she was at a great peace with herself, excited for her child, for this new chapter in her life. her parents are not supportive, as they don’t want another mouth to feed. babies are difficult, they claim, and that they don’t have the space. becky is supportive of her sister, helping her build a cot, a little wooden mobile, preparing for the birth of her niece.in this time, a man claiming to be a duke of the queen who’d won the war comes to town. martin brenner, a seemingly kind and generous man, with an array of promises to help restore the village by the word and action of his queen. he arrives with countless men, strong, and willing to begin work straight away. slowly but surely the village is restored to its former glory. it was never a rich village to begin with, but brenner and his men offer more than the people could possibly expect. it’s expanded, new houses built with stronger materials to protect against the harsh weathers, and new modes of transportation brought in. a library is built with books brought from the castle itself, and things couldn’t be better. martin integrates himself into the lives of the citizens, as he becomes much loved and a good friend to all. he listens to mothers gloat about the talent of their children, listens with an eager eye. teresa wonders if this is the result of her wish.janessa ives is eventually born, although due to the (then unknown) nature of the child, teresa dies giving birth. the baby is a particularly frail and small child. her parents and becky quickly realise this is no ordinary babe, as the moment she opens her mouth to cry, all the windows shatter. the power and magic can practically be felt radiating off her. becky leaves to get help, what to do with her sister’s body. she returns with none other than martin and two of his men, who respectfully remove the body and request becky’s aid to assist them. upon becky’s departure, martin speaks privately to their parents, eyeing the still bawling baby ever eagerly. the ives’ displeasure of the child is all obvious, now blaming her for their daughter’s death on top of it all. martin claims he can rid their woes should they allow him to care for the child instead. offering them a large sum of money to insist the baby died not long after terry, clearly unfit for the world; her size couldn’t last their harsh winters without a mothers touch. they accept his offer. martin steals the child away in the night, where becky and the rest of the village would assume her deceased.martin’s men continue in the village only for another week, to keep up appearances, before following his trail. he was in fact, not a duke of the queen, BUT a very rich man with a great plan in mind and promises to keep. for years, he had been scouring the realm in order to seek out magical children; some born with magic, some cursed, some taught. able to pay off anyone he pleases to do his dirty work, spies lurk in the trees, in the oceans, in the skies… on a very special day, a report and witness was made back to him: a young maiden by a wishing well, making a pure request. the gold dust had been seen entering the woman’s womb, unbeknownst to herself. without hesitation, believing this could be what he was waiting for, set off with an army of his men under a guise of goodwill, a false name under the queen herself. he implemented himself very carefully into hawks nest, and left with the item he specifically sought out. everything had gone according to plan.janessa was taken to an old manor protected by a magical wall. this area was located deep in the heart of an enchanted forest, though anyone who came by it, could walk straight through, an illusion to hide it away. ten other children were already there by the time janessa arrived, forced into horrible tests to determine their magic, to very well reach into their souls and seek where the core of their abilities lie. each child, although possessing some kind of power, so far had failed to martin's standards, lacking any true strength.janessa, now known as eleven, as a magical brand from hot iron was seared into her forearm: xi. she would spend the first ten years of her life in this manor where she'd be submitted to magical tests to determine the weight of her abilities. it would seem this was indeed the child martin was waiting for. at a mere two years of age, her magic stood independently, although untamed due to her youth, it had the potential to be harnessed for his own personal gain. she only knows blank walls and confined spaces. out the windows she catches glimpses of the great forest surrounding, but only when being led from one room to the next. she lives practically in isolation, not even granted contact to the other children of the manor. martin pushes and pushes; her body grows weak but her mind grows strong. there is only so much one child can take. her magic was born from purity and goodness, and she has only been subjected to malevolence. the conflict can no longer last, as opposites wear thin…

she is forced to enter the void on frequent occasions, where she only needs to close her eyes, whisper an incantation, and wake inside her very conscious. she’s able to look into the lives of anyone she wishes, walk along worlds as if they were at her very feet. martin forces her primarily to seek out locations of old buried magic in the forms of potions, vials and spells. his men then set off on a journey to locate what they can from eleven’s word, and return it to him. she listens in on kings and queens, on vital conversations of specific kingdoms. she hears battle plans, she hears strategy, she hears anything and everything martin forces her to. she is physically tortured, brutalised with these old magics to see how her own will react against it. to see if it can be combined. one night, during one of these tests, her body decides its had enough…a great burst of energy emits from her chest, unable to take any more dark properties within her skin; her own magic reacts. her heart explodes. a guttural, inhuman scream fills the entire manor as she’s lost to unconsciousness…when she wakes, she is surrounded by smoke and ash, blazing fire burning deep. it doesn’t touch her. she walks through it unscathed. over the bodies of her captors, of martin, of the countless men and women who lived their lives to make hers miserable. after an hour of searching, she manages to find the entrance inside the great manor. she sees the other children for the first time. checks to see if any survived this attack from her own magic; she leaves alone. the magical wall had been stripped of its properties too, and she’s able to depart. eventually the flames would engulf the entire premises– only eleven would know it ever existed.dressed in rags, the child wanders aimlessly into the forest before her, barely knowing what to do, wishing she’d died in the fire alongside all those other children. there rests a great beast in her chest, capable of killing hundreds without even knowing. what was she? where did she come from? after two hours wandering, she collapses from exhaustion, welcoming the peace of the dark.upon waking once more, she jolts back, terrified, as a beautiful doe peers her down, nudging her nose right against the child’s bald head. eleven climbs to her feet to run away from the creature, but the doe pursues, practically chasing her down. still so tired and no longer running on adrenaline, eleven stands face to face with the animal, expecting it to hurt her, perhaps eat her. it does nothing, merely stares a few moments longer, before nudging her head and beginning a trek back. she walks only a few steps before turning her head and nudging it once more, as if instigating eleven to follow her. cautiously, she does, and the two walk nearly three hours in an uncomfortable silence. eleven is fidgety, unsure if this is some kind of trick; perhaps martin wasn’t dead, perhaps it was all an illusion to see if eleven would leave if she had the opportunity. perhaps she would be punished very soon. alas, the further walked, the more beautiful the forest becomes. she has never seen anything like it. night soon falls, and the doe nests a small home in a large patch of butterweed flowers. making herself comfortable within the flowers, she once again nudges her head, issuing the child to sit with her. following these odd requests, she manages to gather some sleep in the lush meadows, right beside the doe. she did not see that every step she took, every footprint in the earth, left small seeds for new flowers to bloom. beauty trailed behind her._the morality of her powers, her very soul, was sensed by all creatures within this forest. attracted to it, many of the living animals sought out the child, like a moth to a flame; desired closeness to what they saw to be a deity. eleven would continue her life in this great wood, surrounded by an array of animals who cared for her, as she began to care for them. a group of pixies fashioned her new clothes, spoke to her, helped her learn how to communicate. she is entirely forest bound for two years, gaining control of her magic, using it to protect her friends and herself should she ever require it. communication is minimal, as love and conversation are expressed through actions and emotions rather than speaking; her life is silent in many ways, and it’s peaceful. she can make new flowers blossom, recover lost items, offer peace by the mere touch of her hand. soul is worn on her sleeve as her life grows calm.soon, she discovers that she can use the void not only to peer in upon other locations, but physically transport herself there. places outside her forest. it’s an odd thought: this was her home, it was safe and secure. she didn’t know what lay beyond set boundaries… but perhaps she wanted to. when discovering this power, she decides to seek something far more valuable: where she came from. who she came from. entering the void, she holds her hands over her heart, and asks for her mother. she is met with smoke and sadness, there are no answers. there is no face. only a name, teresa, and an image of a little lively village presents itself. eleven decides to follow it. she casts a spell of protection over the forest whence she came, assuring it to be untouched by new arrivals in her absence, protecting her family.she needs to know who she is.she arrives in hawks nest after physically planting herself in its location. it is a literal fall from the sky, and she lands horribly on the ground, scraped and bloodied from the merciless transport. here, she finds becky, her aunt, after asking the villagers for a woman named teresa. they direct her to the woman, where eleven’s life is turned upside down. as is her aunts. eleven begins calling herself janessa, connecting with the only family she’s aware of – grandparents both having passed away – and spends two weeks in the village. although, the premises is unwelcoming of magic due to its history; the people are immediately aware that she does not belong with them. she promises becky she will return to see her again, and thanks her immensely for the time and history she has granted. janessa has a tiny piece of herself reclaimed. seeing a whole other world, a new place, also, was indeed exciting. she was meant to see more of them…returning to the forest, to her family, she tells them she must see what else is out there. she will not be gone forever: she will return every full moon. her protection upon the forest remains, as she comes into her powers, maturing alongside them.she visits a vast array of places; kingdoms, cities all from other realms. she is constantly on the road, and anywhere she goes, many can feel her power. it’s enchanting, it’s pure. janessa vastly becomes a myth of sorts over her years, never staying in one place more than a week, though spending her life soaking up the beauty she was deprived so long of. some places she visits are war torn and suffering in poverty; she stays there the longest, using her gifts to replenish the locations and give what she can. she learns by seeing, by hearing; it takes years before communication skills are truly free flowing and comprehensible, but she matures very quickly. silence is often an attribute. she becomes known only as the mage, a ghostly figure who walks the realms and assists where she can. she doesn’t have any true companions in her travels, and always returns back home as she said she would.

• return.

.......

* LAB REWRITE,

in the additional media of stranger things, through comics and novelisations, it was revealed that brenner was hatching an idea to kill off the other test subjects because they weren't performing as well as eleven. in his point of view, it was a great solution because that way, all money, time and resources could be placed onto her. i genuinely think the alternate canon did a better job portraying brenner and the lab environment than the series ever did. to me, he's still the scariest figure/villain in the entire stranger things timeline, and was severely underused in the show itself. some of the other children, according to these medias, were either volunteers, or well into their teens when they arrived in the lab. they all had a vast range of abilities, like kali, rather than all being telekinetic/being able to use the void. they all had some kind of home life, some connection to the outside world- eleven never had any of this. she was moulded from the womb. when teresa ives fell pregnant, brenner seized the opportunity of raising a child from the ground up in this environment; he could cater this baby to his every need, and she need never know that another life existed beyond the walls of the lab. there would be no questions, no refusals, no concerns.back before season four aired, it was obvious that there was at least ten other children in the lab, given eleven's number. however, i personally always assumed she was the last. the final test subject, because after her promising abilities were proven, there was no need for any other children. which falls in well to this canon of brenner considering having the other children killed, so all focus could instead be placed solely on eleven. they weren't worth the time and energy, and i don't think you could put it past a man like martin brenner to have 'under-performing' children killed in cold blood. i just think the lab content revealed in season four was very predicable, and extremely boring. pitting all of these children against each other, forcing them into competitions and tasks which had more of a squid game-esque feel to it than what you'd expect to see in stranger things. i simply did not vibe lol. jane conveniently forgetting everything that happened to her as a young child after her battle with henry, until she needs to remember was frankly, bad, cheap writing to me. being raised in that environment, she would already have memory loss from the constant testing, exposure to so much technology and radiation, and overall trauma pushing out the bad things of her extreme youth to try and protect her. a coma was hardly necessary for memory loss to occur.jane's behaviour and reaction to the world around her, that we see in the first season stems from the complete isolation endured in the lab. there is no rainbow room shared with other children, no sense of community with kids like her. her loneliness and isolation, her inability to communicate with people when she first escapes is a permanent result of the lack of social interaction. [i know she was bullied even in the lab, isolated by the other kids but. again. i just didn't like any of that story and found it all very very predictable.] this makes her foundation and trust of the party all the more important, because she is able to communicate with them even in so few words, share fond memories and gain her first taste of life, despite the fact that she has yet to hone any of these social mechanisms and cues. this is also why kali is so important to her growth. being alone in that environment is ultimately fundamental to how she views the world, and how her relationships with those around her develop overtime.in the lab, eleven's gifts continued thriving beyond brenner's wildest dreams. he would never think that because she was raised under his tight thumb, she could ever grow a mind of her own. that one week away from him could sabotage everything built over the last twelve years. when eleven was seven years old, showing this extreme promise, while the other children were average at best, he officially signed the order to have them executed. **this became the catalyst for peter ballad to step in, to try and help the last child.peter ballad is not henry/vecna. he’s just a friendly orderly, someone on the inside, who wanted to help eleven. because i really liked the idea, even though it was a lie, that some of the workers at hawkins lab were prisoners. they didn't want to be there. so in this case, that is exactly what peter is. the idea of someone on the inside wanting what was best for her, would be such a great thing for jane to have in her future. to know she was never alone, even if she thought she was.peter approaches eleven in the same fashion that he does in the series, but she is alone in the rainbow room. the children were never in there together. [except on the rare occasion, when jane and kali shared the small playroom together. it was a one off occurrence.] peter tells her about the day terry came in and tried to bring her home, how a lot of the workers are prisoners, how she is in danger if she stays any longer. he gains her trust as begins doubting brenner, understanding that "papa doesn't always tell the truth." she follows his lead, down to the basement under the coat of darkness, where he shows her how to escape through the pipes. he doesn’t plan on going with her, far too big to fit, but he encourages her to go. he gives her a name to remember: rebecca ives. her family is out there, looking, waiting for her. before she can get out, they are caught, and peter is shot on the spot. as punishment, eleven is sent to the isolation room for three days. no food, no water, no access to a bathroom. when she is released by brenner, he takes her in her arms, apologises for her punishment, but claims it had to be done. she broke her fathers heart trying to leave their home. she is so desperate for human interaction, to be cleaned and fed, that she doesn’t think about the things peter told her, about what she tried to do.her testing becomes more rigorous; she is worn down to the point of exhaustion, body weakening with the excessive tests and experiments- just what brenner wants. to wear her out physically and mentally, to make her forget about the events that transpired. peter ballad. terry. the danger that truly lurks within hawkins lab. in addition, brenner begins gaslighting her, saying that the friendly man did not exist, it must have been a figment of her imagination.all canon regarding henry creel is kept relatively on par with the series. he is 001. he is also an orderly in the lab. brenner did not have him killed alongside the other children because his power was too great to lose. while they might be inaccessible for some time, brenner hoped to one day find a way to use them, to use him.when eleven is ten years old, henry’s concealed powers break free in a fit of violent desperation. he’s able to remove the chip himself, and unleashes hell upon hawkins lab. he kills anyone in his sight [some innocent] before making his way to his primary target: brenner. in the chaos, blaring alarms and gunshots, eleven, for the first time in her life, rebels. she breaks down the door of her room in order to follow the sounds. she seeks out her papa in the mess, and eventually finds him. bones twisted, floating in the air, eyes rolled back, unseeing and white. pure instinct gets the better of her, and with her already strengthening powers, she battles henry, and banishes him by opening the portal into the upside down- all to save brenner's life. due to the extremity of the situation, she falls into a coma for six days, but when she wakes, has not forgotten anything. memories are hazy and out of place, but not completely gone.

SOME IMPORTANT THINGS TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS REWRITE:
› jane remembers henry/001, but her memories are extremely hazy regarding their battle, the portal, and his banishment. brenner tells her that he was a very bad man, and she saved him, and many others in the lab from henry. she begins remembering everything through her counseling sessions with cathleen.
› she begins getting flashes of the other children through counseling, also. but these memories never fully return, as she never spent enough time with them to fully grasp who they were.
› jane does experience memory loss over her time in the lab, but this is not because of her six day coma. exposure to constant radiation, technology and twelve year trauma blocks out days to weeks at a time. some of these memories are never fully recovered.
› jane was never a 'slow learner' when it came to her abilities. they were always strong, growing more powerful with each year.
› although henry would not offer eleven a place at his side, [given he is not peter in this verse, thus a dynamic between them never really existed], she would still be an enemy in his eyes. she banished him. stopped his revenge.
› the whole speech between vecna and jane also never sat well with me. saying brenner made him what he was, that what happened to him was not his fault. this is so untrue! he was a sociopath. he killed his family. brenner did nothing to make him who he became, so jane always saw him for exactly who, and what he was.
› rather than regaining her abilities through reliving the battle, she regains them simply by confronting her past. finding ways to cope with her trauma. seeking help. not needing to know why this happened to her [because there will never be a good enough reason], but finding ways to accept it and move on. how to move on from eleven and become janessa ives. it's an emotional journey, rather than relying on physically being placed into old memories.
› also. just because henry doesn't massacre a bunch of innocent kids in this canon, does not mean he is any less evil. he still killed innocent people. killed his family. just because i am separating peter from henry, does not mean i am excusing anything henry has done. in this case they are two separate identities entirely.
› not all of the children even had abilities. kali [008], henry [001], jane, [011] and francine [006] were the only successful test subjects.

• return.

.......

* SEASON FOUR,

ONE SUMMER CAN CHANGE EVERYTHING! GRAPPLING WITH grave LOSSES BENEATH A SKY OF FIREWORKS, JANEssa IVES was LEFT ONCE AGAIN oN HER OWN. HER FRIENDS SURROUND her, BUT THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME. LEFT ALONE, TO FEEL NO MORE THAN A BURDEN TO WHOEVER must LOOK AFTER HER NEXT. SHE WAS THERE THE LONGEST, OUT IN THE RAIN, FIRE TRUCKS SURROUNDING, SMOKE FILLING THE LUNGS. SHE WAITed, HOPING HOPPER MIGHT SHOW HIS FACE. MAYBE HE WAS LATE, MAYBE HE FELL BEHIND. an arm wrapped itself securely around her shoulder, followed by a blanket draped around her shivering frame. STEVE HARRINGTON. WITH NO PARENTS TO PICK HIM UP, TO CARE, HE WAITed WITH HER. [mike wanted to stay. so did joyce. but jane, agitated and frustrated, asked them to leave her alone, she didn't want them there. steve silently assured them he wouldn't leave her alone.] SHE left AFTER TWO HOURS OF SQUEEZING THE BOY'S FINGERS, FINALLY ADMITTING THAT HOPPER WASN'T RETURNING. SHE GOES HOME WITH STEVE, WHERE THEY SPEND THE NIGHT TOGETHER. THEY PUT CRAPPY MOVIES ON TV; JANE HAS A SHOWER, PUTS ONE OF STEVE'S SWEATERS ON, JOINS next to him ON THE COUCH. SHE CALLS HER AUNT BECKY TO TELL HER, IN SIMPLE TERMS, WHAT's HAPPENED. HOPPER's GONE. SHE CRIES TO STEVE, HE CRIES, THEY FALL ASLEEP HAND - IN - HAND AFTER ADRENALINE WEARS OUT AND LULLS THEM AWAY.WHEN the sun rose the following morning, JANE DEPARTED, EXPLAINING simply that SHE NEEDED TO DO A FEW THINGS ON HER OWN; SHE’D BE ALRIGHT. STEVE WORRIED, AS WITHOUT HER POWERS she wouldn't be able to protect herself, and urged that SHe shouldn't go out alone. JANE TOLD HIM EXACTLY WHERE SHE WAS GOING, AND IF SHE WASN’T BACK BY 5 O’CLOCK, HE COULD COME AFTER HER. if he wanted to.JANE SET OFF, ALMOST asking for STEVE to DRIVE HER TO SPEED ALONG HER JOURNEY. she DECIDED AGAINST it, KNOWING HE HAD stuff to deal with, too. JANE’S DESTINATION WAS PERHAPS AN OBVIOUS ONE, FEET TAKING HER SLOWLY BUT SURELY TOWARDS HER FIRST REAL HOME, FIRST SENSE OF SECURITY: THE CABIN. she'd be HAPPY TO STAY THERE ON HER OWN IF NOT FOR THE GAPING HOLE IN THE ROOF RENDERING THE PLACE UNLIVABLE. JANE SPENT THE 5TH OF JULY TIDYING UP THE CABIN, FIXING THE SHELVES, PUTTING THE BOARD GAMES BACK IN ORDER, SWEEPING up all THE BROKEN PIECES OF WALL AND ROOF THAT SHE could manage. BY 3 O’CLOCK, STEVE TURNED UP, TELLING HER TO STOP. INITIALLY, SHE WAS ANNOYED BECAUSE SHE WANTED TO BE ALONE; JANE ASKED HIM TO LET HER FINISH, PROCLAIMED THAT HER ROOM WAS THANKFULLY UNTOUCHED, SHE COULD live there still. “I DON’T NEED TO MOVE. I CAN STAY HERE.” VOICE HITCHED AS SHE BEGGED TO STAY IN THE CABIN, GUARDED WALLS BREAKING DOWN ALL AT ONCE, WHERE STEVE CAUGHT THEM the BEST HE COULD BY ENVELOPING THE GIRL INTO A TIGHT EMBRACE. STEVE URGED HER TO COME HOME, THAT SHE WAS TIRED AND FILTHY; THEY’D ALL GROUP TOGETHER AND FIX the place LATER. JANE DIDN’T need to do everything alone. she RELUCTANTLY AGREEd. HE ENCOURAGED HER TO TAKE ANYTHING SHE WANTED OF HERS OR HOPPER’S: THERE's SPACE IN HIS HOUSE FOR HER, NO MATTER WHAT.on jane's fourth morning with steve, she woke up to a phone call. BECKY. AFTER GETTING IN CONTACT WITH OWENS, SHE WASTED NO TIME IN MOVING HERSELF AND HER SISTER OUT OF THEIR HOME, AND RIGHT INTO HAWKINS TO CARE FOR JANE. OWENS SUPPORTED THE MOVE, STILL A STRONG FIGURE IN JANE'S LIFE TO HELP HER LIVE NORMALLY, AWAY FROM HER PAST. HE SET THE IVES WOMEN UP IN A HOUSE IN LOCH NORA, THE RICH SIDE OF HAWKINS, KEEPING THEM AS FAR AWAY FROM THE LAB AS POSSIBLE, setting them up with everything they could possibly need. JANE SPENT six MORE NIGHTS WITH STEVE, LETTING THEM GET THE HOUSE ORGANISED AND SETTLED, BEFORE MOVING IN WITH HER AUNT AND MOTHER. JANE BEGAN TO OPEN UP TO BECKY MORE THAN SHE EVER HAD; TELLING HER ABOUT HAWKINS, THE DARK SIDE OF IT ALL, EVERYTHING SHE'D BEEN THROUGH. OWENS EMPLOYED TWO OF HIS FEMALE WORKERS TO ASSIST BECKY IN HER CARE FOR TERRY. SHE was EXTREMELY HESITANT AT FIRST GIVEN NO ONE HAd EVER CARED FOR HER SISTER BUT HER; SHE SOON GETS ONBOARD WITH THE IDEA, AS It grants MORE FREEDOM TO CARE FOR JANE.JANE MADE FREQUENT TRIPS WITH BECKY TO AND FROM THE CABIN, COLLECTING HER CLOTHES, EVERYTHING FROM HER ROOM, AND TRINKETS WHICH HELD VALUE TO HER. SHE KEPT TO HERSELF AT FIRST, TRANSFORMING HER NEW ROOM SLOWLY INTO HER OWN, ALTHOUGH HESITANT TO DO MUCH CHANGING, UNSURE HOW LONG THIS WOULD LAST- DESPITE FREQUENT REASSURANCES THAT THIS WAS HER HOME NOW. [she had been told that before. many times. by many people.] THE HOUSE WAS HUGE, FAR TOO BIG FOR THREE PEOPLE, BUT SPACE IS WHAT JANE NEEDED, AND IT SUFFICED. BY THE END OF THE MONTH, WITH COMBINED HARD WORK, THE CABIN is COMPLETELY FIXED UP, HOLE COVERED BY WOODen PLANKS UPON THE OUTSIDE OF THE ROOF: IT ALMOST APPEARED LIKE NOTHING CHANGED. while her friends committed to this tiring task so jane could visit if she wanted, SHE ONLY DID SO A FEW TIMES. THE FIRST DAY OF SEPTEMBER marks her final visit. she stood in the doorway, whispered a goodbye to hopper, promised to keep her door open three inches, and closed the door.in august, BECKY GRANTED JANE WITH AN EMPTY DIARY. SHE TOLD HER IT MIGHT HELP TO JOT WHATEVER SHE WAS FEELING DOWN, TO EXPRESS HERSELF. BECKY said SHE WAS ALWAYS HERE TO LISTEN if she wanted to talk, BUT KNEW JANE NEEDED MORE THAN JUST her. JANE TOOK THE gift GRATEFULLY, FULLY INTENDING TO TRY the NEW OUTLET. SHE STARTED SMALL, WRITING ABOUT HER FRIENDS, HER FAMILY, GOOD THINGS THAT MADE HER HAPPY. THEN SHE WROTE ABOUT HOPPER, HOW SHE MISSED HIM, HOW SAD SHE WAS- ANGRY. BEFORE NOT TOO LONG, ALL EMOTIONS WERE BEING ROARED OUT ON THESE PAGES, THE INJUSTICES OF IT ALL. SOON HER HANDS WERE WRITING FASTER THAN HER MIND COULD THINK, AND BY SEPTEMBER, THE BOOK was A QUARTER WAY FULL.WHEN SEPTEMBER ROLLED AROUND AND THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR WAS PREPARING, BECKY QUESTIONED JANE about WHETHER OR NOT SHE'd LIKE TO ATTEND. THERE WAS NO PRESSURE, AND SHE COULD BRING SOMEONE IN TO HOME - SCHOOL HER, if it's something she'd be interested in. AFTER MUCH CONSIDERATION, JANE DECIDED SHE wanted TO BE ENROLLED TO SCHOOL. IT WAS THE NORMAL THING TO DO.HER FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL WAS NOT WHAT SHE EXPECTED- then again, SHE HARDLY KNEW WHAT to expect. the scheduling confused her, THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE IN THE HALLWAYS was DAUNTING, AND THE FIRST TIME SHE HEARD THE BELL RING SHE WAS transported IMMEDIATELY BACK TO the lab, with its constant alarms and sirens. MOST OF HER CLASSES ARE SHARED WITH AT LEAST ONE OF HER FRIENDS, WHICH she's grateful for, THOUGH SHE's alone in some, which is a rather scary ordeal.AFTER the FIRST WEEK, HER MOOD dropped like a heavy weight; BECKY brings UP THE IDEA OF A TUTOR. EMBARRASSED BECAUSE HER FRIENDS DON’T NEED EXTRA HELP, SHE declined the chance of ASSISTANCE.THREE MORE WEEKS AT SCHOOL PASS; STRUGGLES INCREASE WHILE BULLYING APPEARS FROM THE SIDELINES. JANE ADMITS SHE MIGHT NEED HELP AFTER ALL. BULLYING OFTEN GETS SHUT DOWN VERY QUICKLY, FOR SHE’S MORE OFTEN THAN NOT SURROUNDED BY AT LEAST ONE OF HER FRIENDS. THEY DO NOT SHY AWAY FROM STICKING UP FOR HER- though, for the most part, she is wholly unequipped to deal with this new sense of powerlessness.ONE TEACHER IN PARTICULAR, HER ENGLISH TEACHER, MRS. ALCINA JOHNSON, GOES OUT OF HER WAY TO TAKE JANE UNDER HER WING. JANE IS ABSENT OF FRIENDS IN THIS CLASS, AND THE TEACHER IS QUICKLY moved by THE CHILD, GOING OUT OF HER WAY TO ASSURE SAFETY AND SECURITY IN HER CLASSROOM. AFTER SAID THREE WEEKS, ALCINA ASKS HER TO STAY BACK AFTER CLASS, WHERE SHE OFFERS EXTRA HELP. SHE CAN SEE HOW BRIGHT JANE IS, HER DETERMINATION TO DO WELL, BUT HER WORK IS WAY BELOW GRADE LEVEL, with NO SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT. JANE THINKS BACK TO BECKY'S OFFER OF A TUTOR, AND GIVEN SHE GENUINELY LIKES THE TEACHER, AGREES TO THE EXTRA HELP. SHE DOES NOT LET STUBBORNNESS OR PRIDE GET IN THE WAY this time. BEGINNING WITH EVERY DAY AFTER SCHOOL, JANE STAYS BACK one HOUR, OFTEN IN THE LIBRARY, SOMETIMES IN THE CLASSROOM; JOHNSON ASSISTS JANE IN MORE SUBJECTS THAN JUST HER OWN. AFTER some TIME, THE DAYS LESSEN, AND BY MID - DECEMBER, THEY’RE DOWN TO TWO DAYS A WEEK, but SPEND TWO HOURS TOGETHER RATHER THAN one. JANE’S IMPROVING ON ALL FRONTS.[THE ANGELA SITUATION, I BELIEVE, IS IMPORTANT TO DEMONSTRATE JANE’S ANGER AND TRUE STRUGGLES BEING REVEALED. SO, KEEPING ALL THE CANON EVENTS REGARDING HER DIORAMA, THE GROUP TARGETING HER, BASICALLY MAKING LIFE HELLISH IN A PLACE THAT'S SUPPOSED TO BE SAFE. SHE DOES HAVE HER FRIENDS, MEANING SHE HAS MORE SUPPORT AND OPPORTUNITIES TO SHUT DOWN THE BULLYING, IT’S STILL PROMINENT ENOUGH TO TAKE HER TO THAT DARK PLACE SHE entered AT THE ROLLER RINK.] AFTER HER OUTBURST IN THE SCHOOL GROUNDS WHEN HER DIORAMA IS CRUSHED, MISS JOHNSON Ushers ANGELA AWAY quickly from the scene, protecting jane but LEAVING THE BULLY TO CONSIDER her A ‘SNITCH’ FOR GETTING HER INTO TROUBLE.JANE, MIKE AND DUSTIN GO TO THE ROLLER RINK TOGETHER. WHEN angela and her group are noticed, THEY decide TO LEAVE; JANE forces them instead to stay, SAYING SHE’D BE OKAY; SHE WAS HAVING A GOOD TIME. ANGELA APPROACHES THE GROUP, SINCERE AND BELIEVABLE. SHE APOLOGISES TO JANE IN FRONT OF THE BOYS, AND WHILE THEY TELL HER TO GET LOST, JANE WANTS TO LISTEN- SHE SEEMed SO GENUINE AND NICE. ALL SHE WANTED WAS TO MAKE NEW FRIENDS, FIT IN WITH SOMEONE SO POPULAR. SHE TELLS HER FRIENDS NOT TO WORRY ABOUT IT. IT WAS GOOD. SHE ACCEPTS ANGELA’S APOLOGY EAGERLY, EVEN MORE SO WHEN ANGELA OFFERS HER A SMOOTHIE AS A PEACE OFFERING, AND TAKES HER HANDS TO GLIDE WITH HER OUT ON THE RINK. APOLOGY WAS AN OBVIOUS GUISE, AS SHE SETS JANE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RINK AND CHAOS ENSUES IN THE SAME PREMISE WE SEE IN THE SHOW. DUSTIN AND MIKE ATTEMPT TO GET THROUGH THE CROWDS, BUT ARE UNABLE. BY THE TIME THEY GET THERE, JANE’S ROLLED AWAY TO BE ON HER OWN. ANGER explodes AND SHE HITS ANGELA WITH THE ROLLER SKATE. SHE WAS SO GULLIBLE, SO DESPERATE FOR SOMEONE LIKE ANGELA TO LIKE HER. SHE NOW KNOWS THAT'LL NEVER BE POSSIBLE. SHE WAS A FOOL FOR THINKING SHE COULD EVER BE NORMAL. STEVE PICKS THEM UP, DROPS DUSTIN AND MIKE HOME, AND TAKES JANE HOME.THE FOLLOWING DAY WHEN SHERIFF POWELL COMES KNOCKING ON THE DOOR, JANE IS TAKEN TO THE POLICE STATION. BECKY IS WITH HER. they QUESTION JANE HARSHLY. WHEN SHE RESPONDS that SHE ‘DOESN’T KNOW IF SHE WANTED TO KILL HER’, THE FIRST MENTION OF JUVENILE DETENTION COMES OUT. BECKY IMMEDIATELY STANDS UP, enraged at THE ABSURDITY OF IT ALl; THESE PEOPLE HAD BEEN TORMENTING JANE FOR MONTHS, [STEVE HAVING TOLD BECKY THE TRUTH, DESPITE JANE BEGGING HIM NOT TO] THAT ALL JANE'S FRIENDS HAVE DEALT WITH BULLIES, YET THE BULLIES ARE NEVER HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS. WHEN THEY ATTEMPT TO LEAD JANE TO GET MUGSHOTS, BECKY PUTS A STOP TO IT, SAYING THAT IF SHE WAS BEING ARRESTED, SHE WAS ENTITLED TO ONE PHONE CALL. THE OFFICERS AGREE, AND BECKY CONTACTS OWENS TO GET THERE IMMEDIATELY AND HELP THEM OUT. BECKY CLAIMS SHE’S CALLED HER LAWYER, AND JANE WOULDN’T BE GOING ANYWHERE UNTIL HE ARRIVED.OWENS AND THREE MEN ARRIVE WITHIN two HOURS, WHERE JANE AND BECKY ARE KEPT AT THE STATION. jane remains completely silent, and does not respond to becky's attempts to comfort her. THEY SPEAK TO THE SHERIFF AND HIS DEPUTY IN PRIVATE, THREATENING THEM WITH COURT BATTLES AND LEGAL PROCEEDINGS, GOING MUCH FARTHER THAN WAS NECESSARY IN AN OTHERWISE QUIET TOWN. JANE’S NAME IS PLACED ON RECORD, BUT SHE’S LET OFF ON A FIRST AND FINAL WARNING. IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE THAN A GRADE 2 CONCUSSION.BECKY AND OWENS HAVE A LONG CONVERSATION ABOUT JANE AFTER RETURNING HOME. OWENS SPEAKS TO HER IN PRIVATE TOO, TELLING HER THIS WOULD GO AWAY. SHE DOESN'T NEED TO WORRY. but he HE TELLS HER it's about time she got some serious, proper help, and is going to set her up with a therapist. he urges her to use this new outlet the best she can, even if it's hard- she needs to begin being able to healthily process her extreme feelings and emotions. BECKY SUGGESTED THIS MULTIPLE TIMES, TO SEE MISS KELLY IN THE SCHOOL, TO WHICH JANE DECLINED OUT OF EMBARRASSMENT, BUT NOW IT WAS A NECESSITY. SHE COULDN'T KEEP THESE THINGS HIDDEN AWAY ANY LONGER. IT WOULD DESTROY HER. OWENS ALSO SPEAKS TO MISS JOHNSON, TELLING HER A BELIEVABLE AND REALISTIC TALE OF JANE’S ABUSIVE UPBRINGING AND HER ISOLATED ENVIRONMENT. JOHNSON HAD ALREADY TAKEN AN INTEREST IN JANE, AND VOWED TO CONTINUE AIDING HER AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.BECKY SUPPORTS JANE EVERY WAY SHE CAN. JANE BEGINS TO CLOSE OFF FROM HER FOR THE FIRST TIME, BUT BECKY CONTINUES PUSHING TO KEEP HER NIECE CLOSE, TELLing HER WHAT HAPPENED WAS NOT HER FAULT. SEEING SOMEONE PROFESSIONAL MIGHT BE A GOOD IDEA. THERE WAS ONLY SO MUCH HER AUNT COULD DO TO HELP HER HEAl. TO BECKY, JANE ISN’T A GIRL WHO’S SAVED THE WORLD A FEW TIMES. SHE’S THE NIECE SHE DIDN’T BELIEVE IN, AND WOULD SPEND THE REST OF HER LIFE MAKING IT UP TO HER AND TERRY.

jane’s life at school for the first few weeks after the incident is met with a vast array of reactions. whispers behind her back, snide comments in her face, called a freak in the hallways. others applaud her for taking a stand against angela, for not being afraid to fight back against bullies. these aren’t healthy reactions, of course, and jane doesn’t feel any glee whatsoever in a sudden rise of praise from some. she sticks to her friends closer than ever and doesn’t try and make new ones as she’d been so desperately seeking. school is just another thing she falls behind in, is different in.she doesn’t like the idea of seeing cathleen [owens' provided therapist] at first, and spends almost all her first session curled up on her chair, silent. cathleen doesn’t expect much more; she easily sits in the silence. fifteen minutes before leaving, she looks around jane’s room, and asks about the line of photographs on her dresser drawers. pictures with her friends, terry's senior yearbook photograph. terry and andrew making silly faces in a Photo Booth. andrew in his uniform, the day he was shipped out. becky and terry with their mother, janessa. mike in his ghostbusters costume. jane and max dressed up as han solo and leia organa for halloween last year jane perks up, softly telling her about them, the days they were taken. they don’t speak long, but it’s comfortable and somewhat easy. cathleen leaves, and a routine officially begins: each thursday afternoon at 4pm she arrives at the ives’ house for one hour to talk to jane. jane is nervous, but begins to open up. initially she talks about her day - to - day life, her schoolwork, friends, the way she sometimes sits in on the hellfire club campaigns. before long, deeper emotions are built and she delves into the trauma which has cascaded her entire existence. her time in the lab quickly becomes a major topic of conversation; papa, kali, the upside down. all of it flows out more and more each week, as jane begins to process what happened to her, what she has done, in a manner she’d never been allowed before. she grows angry, no longer tries to fight back tears, allows complete freedom on an extremely cathartic level.over the following weeks she gains a sort of routine. monday’s and wednesday’s she stays back at school for two hours with mrs. johnson, where steve usually picks her up. on occasion she stays back the few extra hours to watch the hellfire club’s recent campaign. she's not interested in learning the rules, just enjoys being in her friends company. on thursday, cathleen visits at four o’clock sharp. it’s a sense of security. she and dustin go to the arcade together every few weeks on a saturday, sometimes with the party, sometimes on their own. she and lucas grow closer over these months, and she never misses a basketball game, or practise. however as her sessions continue and because jane does not stop expressing herself through writing in her journal, she begins to experience flashbacks which at first, she isn’t sure if they are even hers. quick blinks of hawkins lab, a friendly man she doesn’t know, a bad man she threw into glass… she does not know where it's coming from, and it worries her.she brings this up with cathleen, where she in response mentions that anytime jane speaks of the lab, it’s only from a certain age onward. she questions what life was like as a little girl, and jane realises she can’t remember all that much. only fragments here and there. she is encouraged to remember.in the following months, she begins to have recurring dreams, they’re always the same, just with different outcomes. she’s in the void, watching lost memories unfold like a projection before her. she’s small in these memories, completing tasks she can't remember ever doing, memories of papa she cannot recall despite how hard she tries, conversations with a worker who is kind to her. soon, these are the only dreams she has. one night, flashes of horrible sights flood her subconscious, doctors, nurses, and security guards alike: disfigured, bloody, eyes popped out from their skulls. it wakes her to a start, and the window in her room cracks. she thinks nothing of it, until these dreams continue full-force, and multiple strange occurrences begin happening around her. small things continue to trigger her in her everyday life, moments which evoke even a second of memory she had buried deep away. objects begin moving in the corner of her eye but by the time she turns to look, everything appears normal. electricity is felt in the air, in her fingers. it’s familiar. jane associates these feelings to her lost abilities.she begins to stay up late in the night, pulling a single coke can from the trash and storing it under her bed. initial attempts prove fruitless. two weeks after, these feelings become more intense, dreams more real, and as a result, she finally succeeds in crushing object with her mind. jane keeps this to herself, doesn’t even tell cathleen, and continues attempting to re-train herself. over christmas she takes a break. though the dreams don’t cease, she does her best to enjoy herself over the holidays and the lead into 1986. she’s determined to rekindle her connection to her powers in the new year.by february, she’s gathered some sense of control. her abilities are sporadic and don’t always work when she tries, but she has been successful many times when practicing. she has yet to get a nosebleed, as her abilities are still reasonably weak in energy. life continues as usual, school and counselling sessions in and out, grades and skills improving. she decides to tell the party about what’s been happening to her, only regarding her powers, not the dreams. she tells her friends she doesn’t know why they're returning, only that she can feel them, has been able to use them. she remembers the day her mother tried to take her home, after a friendly orderly gave her this shocking information. terry, even in her state, senses her daughter's gifts returning.jane receives her first c- in class for a creative short story she wrote. grades are still below average, but she’s getting through. she attends lucas’s basketball game.jane quickly follows her friends in the attempt to find eddie munson, assumed murderer of chrissy cunningham. talking to eddie, overhearing what he saw, triggers a wave of shock deep inside her: something she can’t explain she’s asked whether she can feel anything, whether any of this is familiar to her, and she denies her friends questions. but there is an inkling. she sticks with steve, max and dustin as nancy and robin head to the library. becky asks if jane is safe; whether this is the upside down or a real killer on the streets. jane claims she doesn't know, because she doesn't have her powers, she can't sense anything. she feels awful for lying.jane is there when max is cursed in the graveyard, and attempts to pull her down with her powers. she tries to connect to max through the void, though fails. thankfully, max saves herself. the whole ordeal makes jane’s stomach churn, and she’s sure it’s not just because of max – it’s something her body seemingly knows that her mind cannot place. that night when they all sleep in the wheeler’s basement, jane endures another dream, the most full on, the clearest one yet. she remembers everything now up to peter ballad's death. she can also see the adults in crystal clear vision: bloodied and twisted, with her standing there in the middle of it all, eyes weeping red. she wakes to a start, quickly departing to the upstairs bathroom. she cries, strangled and hoarse; these adults knew the torment she suffered in the lab, that she was stolen from her mother, forced to be less than human. she believes she used that knowledge as an excuse to kill them, after peter told her about teresa ives. she was a monster.the mirror cracks suddenly, and that familiar taste of blood curls upon her upper lip.__ the first time she’s received a nosebleed since her powers were stolen. she returns to her friends after an hour, laying back down as if she’d never moved, though fails to fall asleep again. she dares not to speak any of this aloud.when crossing the lake, jane suggests following them on the boat, because she knows the most about the upside down; she can help. nancy encourages her to stay with the others: her powers are still unpredictable, she needs to stay safe. jane disappointingly listens, and stays with max, dustin and lucas.jane admits that something is familiar about all of this to her group when they are taken back to the wheeler’s house. “i feel like i have been here before.” she tells them she can feel herself getting stronger- she took the nosebleed as a sign, she's becoming more connected to her abilities. tells them simply she has been remembering things from her childhood, and she feels like it is a sort of progress to her getting full control. after escaping the police and heading back to eddie’s trailer, jane assists in pulling out the teens from the upside down-until, as nancy is possessed by vecna, jane too, falls back, eyes rolling into her head, tremors coursing her body. she experiences something akin to a stroke, locked inside her own mind. instead of viewing her lost memories, she is back in that lab, a little girl, eyes on 001. it wasn’t her who committed such atrocities, who killed all those workers, she knows this now. she remembers everything: saving brenner, defeating 001 and banishing him to the upside down. everything comes full circle. she is broken out of this only a few moments after nancy is released. a blood curdling scream escapes her, shattering all windows in the trailer.max was the fuse, but seeing nancy in such a state was the straw that broke the camel's back. her powers and memories are restored.nancy and jane combine their experiences to put all their pieces together, to understand what they’re up against. jane practices her abilities on a much higher scale, succeeds, and that familiar sensation returns completely.jane writes a letter to her aunt, leaving it on her bed just in case things don't go the way they hope. she thanks her for coming to hawkins, for looking after her when she thought she was alone. she writes a detailed summary of the dreams she had, how her powers returned. she apologises for lying to her, says she loves her and her mother very much.jane goes to the creel house with max. there was conflict at first, where she would be better suited given the return of her abilities, but decides to go with max in case things went awry. if she gets trapped in her own mind, jane's the only one who would be able to follow, whereas if she’d gone to the upside down, her skills might not be as useful. jane breaks free from vecna’s clasps without affirmations and love declarations. she believes in herself, in max, mike, and her friends and family; it’s their memory and bright futures which give her the strength to overpower vecna and free herself.after hawkins is split in four, jane goes to the hospital with max and lucas. while max is in surgery, she calls becky, who is frantic on the other line after coming home to see jane's letter, and the complete destruction of hawkins. jane, voice choked with tears, asks her to come to the hospital. becky arrives quickly. jane takes her outside, where they sit in becky's car and jane unloads everything that has been going on.soon enough, max begins recovery, the byers return to hawkins, and it becomes a question of what happens next. with her restored powers, jane takes the time to look for hopper in the void, but he is gone, and it gives her some closure to begin moving on. owens helps joyce and her boys get back on their feet in hawkins. when max is fit enough to leave the hospital, with her father unwilling to care for her, and susan dying in the 'earthquake'... max takes up residence with the ives family. the house is easily big enough for another member.

• return.

.......

* future,

in the winter of 1987, seventeen year old janessa ives finally finished what she unintentionally started, and sealed off the upside down forever. the extreme power it took to succeed in such a thing, however, destroyed all known traces of her abilities, leaving her in the same state of july 1985. after a week in the hospital under sam owens’ care, she returned home to becky, spending another two weeks regaining her strength completely, whilst coming to understand a new way of life was required: one where she was normal. although normal for her was a vastly different thing compared to everybody else. for starters, she did not return to school, having struggled the previous year and never really fitting into the regime. she gave it her best shot, but it was not to be.with excessive tutoring and assistance from nancy wheeler, community classes, mrs johnson’s continued aid, and owens bringing in some specialists to help further her education, jane finally began to understand and adapt to open learning. there was far less pressure as it was one-on-one, without all the social nightmares school provided. she spent the next three years catching up on the life she’d missed, working hard to further her education. while her speech impediment never fully improved, her writing and literacy skills showed extreme refinement.two weeks after her twenty-first birthday, with the help of her friend (more akin to a sister / @omenrisen) sabrina spellman, jane opened a small shop in downtown hawkins, simply named ‘jane’s’ to continue her passion in sewing and designing. after mastering the skill for about seven years, she decided to expand her horizons. her friends previously expressed that her talents could really benefit other people, and at long last, she agreed. she began small, mainly with girls requesting help with alterations for prom dresses. with funds (and no need to pay them back) from sam, sabrina and becky, jane designed her own line of clothes just for fun.she never expected anyone to be interested in buying anything, merely put them in the shop window to bring some life to the place, to express herself. and then more money started coming in from customers.within a handful of months, she was a respectable business owner, with max’s mathematical skills helping her deal with the books and records, and her friends helping out as much as they could. soon, jane started understanding how things worked to some degree, and could manage on her own, no longer needing so much help. she was content. clothes were always a great expression of hers, and genuinely doing something she loved was most rewarding.an invite was sent out to her from a small fashion convention in chicago, and if accepted, it would be the first time she left hawkins since closing the gate and losing her powers. part of her wanted to leave, to venture beyond the small town, but part of her also felt like she needed to defend it, to be there in case anything ever stirred up again from below. even if she didn’t have her powers, she felt the responsibility laid solely on her. after some convincing from becky, jane accepted. the invite allowed one guest to accompany, but she decided to go alone, believing it was the best thing to do for herself. it was a three day convention, and she had the time of her life.until, on the final day, all packed up and ready to catch the bus back to hawkins, the public transport failed her. she intended to catch the 7:26pm bus to get back into town a little after 10- but it never showed. she called becky from a payphone, stranded and alone, asking if she could pick her up, but by the time she arrived, jane had been left out there for a little under three hours. (becky may have broken some speed limits to reach her niece quickly.) jane developed a slight fever from the incident, and was laid up in bed with a nasty cough. after three days, she took a turn for the worse. when jane suddenly fell unconscious, becky was forced to take her to the hospital where they waited for sam’s arrival. sam and his team were the only ones equipped to handle jane’s needs, knowing her body network was different to others, and the risk posed if any staff at hawkins memorial were to uncover anything about her. her infection turned into pneumonia, and she was laid up in the hospital for six weeks under his care. she spent the first thirteen days comatose. after much research and study, with body scans and blood tests, sam believed he worked out the reason for her drastic change in health.when terry was subjected to the “hippie crap” back in the day, and a multitude of unknown substances were put into her system, it affected jane more than originally thought. they discovered jane had abnormal body genetics and an incredibly weak immune system due to what she endured in the womb, alongside what she went through closing the gate. the way the upside down embedded itself inside her, fragments of the malevolent place eating away at her blood: an infestation. the only thing that kept her alive from these combining factors had been the strength of her abilities. now they were gone. they acted like a barrier in her body, protection against those abnormal genetics and supernatural effects breaking down her immune system from the inside out. without her abilities, those once strong walls crumbled down. the bad seeped in, as it always did. sam suggested the nina project, an idea constructed long ago, but was never put into action, in an attempt to restore her powers. when she heard the conditions of said project, she refused, wanting to have nothing to do with a lab-like environment even if it saved her.becky argued the point, as did her friends, but it was no use. jane had the final word and she prepared for the upcoming years.at first she was distraught. the idea of death angered her. hadn’t she already given enough? she grew angry, withdrawn, and for months did not leave her house, not even for work. but her attitude soon began to change. she loved life, even if it had done her so wrong. she loved being alive, she loved the most mundane and most extraordinary aspects; she was not going to spend her final years alone and miserable.she wrote a bucket list. she did not want to travel anywhere by plane, but she did want to do some venturing, even if it was just road trips. she and her friends went camping. they went to the theatre to see live shows. they went to amusement parks. she continued designing. even while her body grew weaker every single day, she still loved life and accepted her fate. she accepted who, and what she was, and saw there was beauty in herself where she’d never seen it. where she was told it didn’t exist. she accepted that her powers were part of her, and that people loved her with or without them.jane had been forced her whole life to use them for bad, or to defeat the bad. they were never allowed to be hers. she was more machine than girl, with expectations coming from people in her life about how and when she should use them. she associated them to science, to evil doctors and demons- so that's what they became. jane was born with a gift, something beautiful, but it became exploited and used for all the wrong reasons, so in her point of view, it became a curse. during her last year, she realised the truth, and like everything else, saw the beauty she once had.evidently, this cathartic epiphany was what saved her life.like when regaining her powers when she was sixteen, strange things began happening around her. but this time, it wasn’t windows cracking or lights going out– it was dead flowers growing back, it was rainy days turned sunny. jane, mere months away from her deathbed, began giving off a brand new aura, something not so dark and hidden, but bright, entrancing. she didn’t recognise it at first, but felt the change happening in her body, the strength returning.after two weeks, she set up a meeting with sam owens by herself, and asked him to run the same tests he did when she was in the hospital last; she wanted to see if there was any improvement. he was only too happy to abide, working tirelessly himself ever since her diagnosis to find some miracle cure. but no such cure could come from science, the thing that had plagued his patient all her life: it had to come from her. and it did. the results showed minor, yet evident changes, the disease-like infestation somewhat smaller: like chemotherapy fighting back against cancer. that thing fighting was her powers: a slow restoration.jane asked sam to keep the news between themselves, and weekly check-ups were made. one month passed, and jane began training to use her powers again, asking him to stay with her in case anything went awry. this went on for three months. jane’s friends and family openly commented on how good she looked, and began questioning her if something was going on, something they didn’t know about. she refused to tell anyone about her meetings with him, just in case, not wanting to give false hope. but at the end of that third month, although jane would still suffer from fatigue and pain at the most random moments, they both agreed that her powers were practically restored, the scans evidence of the progress made. she thanked him for her help, kissed his cheek, and hugged him tight. he did not let go until she did– he’d begun looking at her as his own child. and he, the closest thing to a father she’d ever have.

sam went back to the ives home with jane that night, where he explained to becky what had been going on, the work they’d done, that he believed jane would survive this. although initially hurt that she wasn’t told, becky was overjoyed with the news, as was everyone when it was made known. the next few months were taken at a slow pace, with check ups continuing but now with becky there for support, and friends constantly asking how things were going.by 1995, 25 year old janessa ives reclaimed her powers fully and took back her life. she continued working until she was 30, living a relatively simple routine in hawkins. she worked hard at her job, and found a kind of pattern to help her integrate fully, properly, into her modern world. she tried, she tried so hard, but soon came to realise that it was not meant to be. even in a small town like hawkins, almost separated from the rest of the world, she realised that the mundane, the normal, was not what she required to continue. after ten years of trying to heal from her past, to move on, she had come to a sort of standstill. she had a family now, she had friends, she had security- she had everything she thought she ever wanted, but it wasn’t right. jane understood that despite the good things that happened to her, her now “normal” life, what she’d always wanted, actually did not suit her in the way she’d have once thought.in 1998, the film practical magic was released in theatres, and after she and mike saw it together, jane finally understood what she was. a witch, just like the girls from the film. that’s what she wanted to be, to identify as. she wanted to use her gifts in a freeing sense, to finally make them part of her. seeing a house like that, seeing two grown women in their element made jane realise that’s what she was missing. she needed the space to discover who she was, and would never find that cooped up in a normal town, surrounded by normal people. she began doing research on witches, and wondered if there were more people out there like her, if she could ever have a “coven”. she thought that might be a bit of a stretch, but she wanted to start associating herself to that kind of magic, to develop her organic abilities and connect more to the world around her. there was still so much she didn't know about herself. about what she could accomplish.one cold winter’s night, without a second thought, jane found a stray ginger cat on the way home from work, and took him back with her. her seeded fear of the animals no longer ran through her mind. she named the cat sally, after sandra bullock’s character in the film. also, after sandra's character, jane copied the letter written by her, in the fanciest writing she could muster, and kept it close, always."sometimes i feel like there's a hole inside of me, an emptiness that at times seems to burn. i think if you lifted my heart to your ear, you could probably hear the ocean. the moon tonight, there's a circle around it. sign of trouble not far behind. i have this dream of being whole. of not going to sleep each night, wanting. but still sometimes, when the wind is warm or the crickets sing... i dream of a love that even time will lie down and be still for. i just want someone to love me. i want to be seen. i don't know. maybe iI had my happiness. i don't want to believe it but, there is no man, gilly. only that moon."her access to the void was completely shut off, not able to visit even under her most desperate attempts. no longer did she get any nose bleeds when her powers were used. or headaches. or sleepless nights. there was no strain with her gifts, just peace. soon, after much research, she found an online forum relating to “green witches”, and decided that is what she has become. who she wanted to be."she embraces the power of nature; she draws energy from the earth and the universe; she relies on natural objects like stones and gems to commune with the land she lives off of; she uses plants, flowers, oils, and herbs for healing; she calls on nature for guidance; and she respects every living being no matter how small."“the green witch understands that the earth incorporates the planet and all living things upon it, including animals, plants, and people. she understands that humanity impacts the natural world, not only by how we treat it but also by the feelings and energies of individuals.it’s likely the spiritual ancestresses of modern green witches who chose to live apart from the centre of community life. though they may have made their homes on the edge of town, they much would’ve preferred to make their homes in nature.”she needed to be on her own, for the first time by choice, in her whole life. she wanted it. she asked one last favour of sam owens, perhaps an unusual one. she requested help for a new home, somewhere closer to the woods, where she could be surrounded by nature, somewhere she could make her own. build from the ground up. a fresh start. a few weeks later, he came to her with an offer: an old, small cottage on the outskirts of noblesville, indiana, not too deep in the woodlands there. a half hour drive from hawkins. she battled with conflict at first, not sure how she felt about being so far- she could not drive, so if something bad happened, she might not be able to help. owens implored the fact that she'd done enough, if, god forbid, something did rise from below, it would not be her responsibility.it was a rundown piece of property, completely abandoned, but if she wanted it, sam could pull the strings to legally put it in her name. after he took her out to see it, despite countless flaws and extreme renovations that would need to be done, she fell in love. after discovering its history, grew incredibly attached.the house and its garden once belonged to a family of three, passed down for generations. although tragedy struck in the late sixties, when the three week year old daughter died due to neonatal infections, and the parents committed suicide after their loss. jane decided this needed to be her home, to bring some life back into it, to honour another family who never got a chance to be happy. she began the renovation work over the next week, with the help of her friends and family, and some of owens’ own team who took a special liking to jane.when she turned thirty, jane closed her shop permanently and began the move. it took six weeks to decorate, to get everything to her liking. everyone offered to stay the first night with her, but she politely refused, wanting to spend it alone with sally and salem, her two cats. the following week, she did not leave her house, feeling a sense of peace she’d never experienced in her whole life. she worked on the gardens immediately, but found there was little she needed to do– connected so deeply to the earth now, it was like the flora knew she was there, and her presence alone sprung them back to life.jane visits hawkins at least once a week, but instead of catching public transport, rides her bike. a lovely old fashioned contraption, with a basket of fresh daisies attached to the front. it was a three hour ride, but she enjoyed it nevertheless, (unless the weather was bad, and she’d catch the bus or becky picks her up). she usually stays in hawkins that night of the week, at becky’s house, but is never left conflicted whether she made the right choice leaving. she’s where she’s meant to be. her friends and family are always welcome to visit her, and stay as long as they like. initially she liked the tranquillity of it all, especially in the first few months when she was adjusting to the new lifestyle, but as time goes on she does invite her people over more often, welcoming them into her new way of living, if they want to be a part of it.modern therapies never worked for her, not in the way they should have. it kept her going for a while, but none of it was freeing. with this new lifestyle, she began defining herself by her relationship to the world around her (once feeling so out of place, now knowing exactly who she was), by her ethics, and her affinity to the natural world. this was not the path that was meant to be laid out for her, she knew that much- but it’s the only one that made sense now, after everything she’d been through. she still enjoyed modern aspects of the world; going to the cinemas, eating at fancy restaurants, watching soap operas (she had a small television in her cottage, after all), and never planned to cut that out completely. she always wanted to be a modern girl, and believed some part of her was still made for that. but none of it can free her, can keep her in touch with her fragile soul, or help heal wounds of the past.jane’s newfound aura is obvious; her friends became accustomed to it relatively soon, but when she returns to town, or is out in public wherever it may be, society is either drawn to or away from her. to some degree, people understand her unique presence, almost knowing she’s not of this world, and are thus drawn to her. where others can sense that she’s strange, unusual, and directly avoid her.jane learns to grow on her own, to thrive and accomplish with and without loved ones at her side. sometimes she can be isolated, preferring days where she doesn't speak a word to anyone. she may be alone, but not once does she feel lonely. she is finally at peace.

• return.

.......

* WINX CLUB,

janessa ives’ gifts were prominent by the time she was two years old, making her an extraordinary fairy, but a great target for those of dark desires. teresa ives, a fairy of portals, gave birth to her child on the planet fallet. andrew rich, jane’s father, was tragically killed before the child turned two. a great warrior for the royal family of fallat, and the kings personal body guard; a short- lived attack on the planet killed six residents, andrew was the seventh. terry returned to her home planet, rot after his death, to be with her sister becky, where the girls would raise the child together.martin brenner, a mediocre wizard obsessed with the prophecy of serius facetus, lived his whole life trying to connect the three sacred planets in order to release the creature of destruction. purely power hungry with a desire to control, he gained a small but significant following of witches, wizards and warriors alike, all who followed his lead with the great desire to ignite serius facetus, and cleanse the magic dimension of goodness and light. although, as many know, such a prophecy has never been proven true nor false, meaning there was no solid evidence or confirmation that such a creature existed. brenner was determined, knew that this beast must exist somewhere– he simply needed to harness the right power to reach it. he sent out his most powerful followers to each of the three planets: fallat, orez and rot, in order to better understand the planets and the power source occupied within each realm. a powerful witch only known as astrid, ventured out to fallat, where she discovered terry’s unique power to open portals into any realm, at any time or place. believing this power could be beneficial to brenner’s cause, perhaps another way of reaching the creature of destruction, she continued spying on the woman to understand the extremities of her gifts. here, she discovered the woman had a two year old daughter, who showed signs of very early, powerful magic. alas, a random attack upon the planet (which had nothing to do with brenner’s people) had terry’s life upturned in tragedy. astrid lost their trace after terry left fallat, and deemed the opportunity missed.however, upon rediscovering terry’s location two years later, astrid immediately realised the child inherited the same abilities as her mother, unknowingly opening portals from six months of age, to which terry would have to quickly close off. informing brenner of the child, he instructed astrid to kidnap jane and bring her to the under realm where he could study her powers. astrid was successful in her mission, killing becky and severely wounding terry in the process. brenner believed if he could properly mould the girl, that one day she would be able to align the three planets, or at least assist in the cause.by the time jane was six, brenner and his people began to understand the true power of the girl. they discovered her ability to enter the void, a place existing inside the cracks of the magic dimension: very few magical beings have been known to make contact with it. in entering the void, jane was able to look into the lives of any planet or person, and spy on them. brenner quickly deemed his initial goals worthless in comparison to what he could now gain from the child. able to listen in on every royal family of the dimension, every person of power; understand their capabilities, their plans of state. with such information, he could bring down entire worlds without even needing magic.this was jane’s life from the age of seven to thirteen. she had scattered memories of an old life, a loving home and family, although assumed it to be a sign of wishful thinking. upon entering the void, her body goes into a state of paralysis, unable to break free unless someone physically touches her. the void is all she truly knows, stuck inside the darkness, forced to spy on strangers, harbor their most secret conversations so they can be reported back to brenner. sometimes she spends days there, stuck inside her own head, unable to retreat until deemed appropriate. until someone wakes her from the dark. her body is incredibly weak and frail by the time she turns thirteen; malnourished and unused, her mind is ever strong but her physical body is slowly dying. physical tests are run on her to understand other magic she possesses. due to it being untrained and unable to shine, it’s considered unimportant. at this point, gaining any true winx seemed near impossible.one day, she’s instructed to peer in upon miss faragonda, headmistress of alfea and former company of light member. alfea holds a great array of magic and secrets, and jane spends close to three days watching the woman, and discovering the insides of the school. however, it’s the first time jane’s presence doesn’t go unnoticed, as faragonda looks straight into her eyes, asking who she is. faragonda senses the child hidden in the shadows, tells her not to be frightened- she just wants to know who she’s speaking to. before jane can answer, she’s pulled out from the void, back into her looming reality. brenner assumes there must be some protection over alfea which restricts jane being able to see into the school. the child does not contradict him, and keeps the strange interaction to herself.

without permission, jane visits the strange woman again, to which faragonda immediately returns her presence, reaching out to nothing more than her shadowy figure. jane never says a word, but allows herself to peer in upon the livelihood of the school. the colours, the joy, the spectacle of it- she didn’t believe such a thing could exist. over the course of two weeks, these silent interactions propel jane with a kind of power never felt before; it tingles her heart and ignites her feeble body to a sense of life. there’s another woman by faragonda’s side on the fourth visit, a woman who repeats the name ‘jane’ over and over like her life depended on it. she’s blessed with a strange sort of hope. a hope, which one fateful night, with faragonda’s direction and assistance, allows her to open a portal leading straight to the gates of alfea. she walks through it successfully, before collapsing outside the schooljane wakes eight days later in the infirmary, with that woman from the void at her side, and another woman she believed to be fictitious. the attack on terry left her in a magical coma for nearly three years. when she woke, and after nine months of intense therapy to regain her powers and physical stability, she began the near impossible search for her missing child. every so often she would feel jane, sense a shadowy presence, but nothing tangible enough to follow. after years of searching as many realms as possible, she eventually turned to her old headmistress for help. if she ever had a sign, felt something not quite right in the atmosphere, no matter how tiny it may seem, she wanted to be alerted. terry explained jane’s powers, the intensity of them from birth; merely asked faragonda not to dismiss anything. she agreed, even though there was no certainty the girl was even alive. it proved successful, as faragonda’s first whiff of a lost child in the dimension immediately had her calling terry, truly believing it could be the missing ives.jane spends twenty three days in the alfea infirmary, poked and prodded at by the most knowledgeable witch doctors in all magix. terry slowly explains who she is. explains the day jane was lost, how sorry she is it took so long to find her. jane believes her, but hardly says two words in that first initial month. mother and daughter are set up in private chambers inside the school for protection. jane is able to describe the place she was in, which leads faragonda to assume it was somewhere in the under realm. when some strength can be mustered, terry and jane join hands, opening a portal directly where jane came from, as powerful allies of faragonda storm the premises, arresting brenner and his people, sending them straight to the omega dimension without a trial. brenner had, after all, succeeded in taking down three planets from the inside, knowing their weaknesses, where to strike first. all of the magic stolen from these planets is returned rightfully, as rebuilding and restoration can finally take place.jane spends the following months healing and trying to understand this new way of life. she trusts terry, but is unsure what to make of it all. there are some who are untrustworthy of her, disbelieving of her victim status, given the range of information and secret meetings she’s overheard over the years; some believe she’s still a spy. faragonda shuts these accusations down as quickly as possible, assuring jane her safety and security within the school. that harm wasn’t ever to come to her again. she slowly begins opening up to faragonda and terry, telling them what she endured, about the void, how she was stuck inside there for days on end. she begins leaving their chambers, too, walking throughout the hallways of alfea, finding a specific admiration for the library. although initially unable to read, barbatea soon comes to her aid, helping her begin slowly, providing her with necessary reading materials which can improve her education. she likes the quiet and comfort of the library, happy to flick through books, even if she has little understanding of them. terry begins reading to her every night, as jane’s skills slowly begin to improve. many of the students are aware of her upbringing, who she is, and although there are some sneered comments in the hallway, or uncertain looks thrown her way, jane does find a few friends in some of the older students of the school. she befriends a senior girl, maxine mayfield and sometimes eats lunch with her and the group in the cafeteria, enhancing her social skills. all of the teachers are very friendly towards her, as jane’s place becomes integrated and promised.by the time she’s fifteen, she has gained some control over her magic. it can still be sporadic and cause great stress, but she practices opening and closing portals from one side of the school to the other. although unwilling to enter the void again, she discovers she is able to disintegrate inanimate objects, as well as move things with her mind. for the first time in her life she feels a tiny connection to her ‘winx’. given she is due to begin at alfea the following year, she is allowed to sit in on classes and listen, to understand what will happen when she turns sixteen, and the way the classroom works. although no work is required of her, she studies the subjects best she can in preparation for the following year. with special consideration, she doesn’t begin her first tested year until she turns seventeen, not feeling ready to begin.at seventeen, she joins a dorm room with other girls, as terry moves out of the school to grant jane some kind of independence in her properly beginning school life. jane finds an extreme passion in magic invocation and history of magic, as they both make her feel connected to herself and the world she's still vastly unfamiliar with. there’s a sense of security and normality as she comes into herself. although knowledge of her ability to enter the void does leave her vulnerable to malevolence, and those who might want to use her for this rare ability, jane soon learns not to dwell on this possibility. she tries to surround herself with the goodness that life can truly offer, all while taking things just one day at a time. at her own pace and comfort.

.......

* SCREAM,

* 1996

› she doesn't work too much on sewing nor promoting herself through flyers or word of mouth; instead putting full attention and focus into her job at the library. she loves the job: the atmosphere was always peaceful enough, allowing her to concentrate on each individual task. she learns a lot as her reading skills continue improving.› she’s eventually asked to fill in for one month at woodsboro high school, as the current library assistant was leaving town. she welcomes the slight shift in pace, and is trained to fulfill new duties in the change of environment.› during her month there, jane befriends christina carpenter, a studious student who spends some afternoons studying while jane works. they often chat, and sometimes christina drives jane home, as she tends to walk everywhere.› she has to kick out stu macher and tatum riley in her second week as they were kissing in an established ‘make out’ spot. tatum told her she should really have some fun and stop being a fuddy duddy. frankly, jane doesn’t know what that even means.› with only a week to go at the school, the news of two students murdered quickly gets around, and the town shifts from its seemingly carefree tone. after the news, jane considers going back to hawkins, but decides against it, figuring it doesn't have anything to do with her; surely the killer will be caught soon.› tatum invites her to the party on friday night, saying she would look hot in a miniskirt, and a couple of college guys would be going: she might get lucky. jane's extremely uncertain, especially given a party seemed like the last thing that should’ve been going on. after much contemplation, she figures it was time she started living like a normal person. she missed out on the normality of high school; it could be fun, right?› when arriving, [not in a mini-skirt] she hangs out with randy meeks, finding his narrations and knowledge of all things film rather intriguing. they chat briefly about the timeline of cinema, as jane is a huge fan of old hollywood, and nothing new ever interested her as much. compared to films with the likes of lauren bacall or joan crawford, that is.› she remains with him after majority of the students rush out to see principal himbry, utterly disgusted that it’s apparently a funny event to see the body.› when randy is attacked, she’s drifting off to sleep a little on the armchair beside him. she woke up to him suddenly jumping off the couch [even now, not a light sleeper] startled to see ghost face with a raised knife. she runs with randy too, but is stabbed in the shoulder and the pure shock of it all makes her fall to the ground.› the masked man continues his route outside, clearly not too invested in her.› jane scrambles up the stairs, trying to find somewhere to hide and regain herself. she manages to hide in the bathroom, locks the door, and attempts move things in front of it, but the blood loss causes her legs to give away. working on controlling her breathing best she can while trying to stop the bleeding, voices from below eventually get her attention.› she sneaks out slowly, just in time to see randy shot by billy. he takes notice of her, too, and she takes a bullet to the leg. the force of impact makes her hit her head on the ground, knocking her unconscious.› she's startled awake by the gunshots announcing billy's demise, and carefully makes her way down to randy, sidney and gale. she's taken to the hospital, light headed and on the verge of collapsing again. she manages to stay awake the entire trip, as becky and owens (her emergency contacts) are called and arrive just in time to see her leg wound being stitched up.

• return.

* 2022

› working in the library, she quickly catches up on the history of woodsboro, the insanity and horror of it all.› she promotes her seamstress abilities on social media alongside flyers; nancy helps her with the social media aspects, as jane never had a specific talent for it. she does love face time though, and being able to contact her friends so quickly and easily.› jane meets mindy meeks-martin through a text on instagram about fixing up a denim jacket that’d been torn right down the sleeve. jane finds mindy very interesting. they exchange numbers, and while they’re hardly the best of friends, there’s a nice connection brewing.› she's in woodsboro for three months before tara is attacked. knowing she is a good friend of mindy’s, she texts whether it would be appropriate for her to visit the hospital merely to offer support. she tags along with mindy and brings a bouquet of flowers and a homemade batch of chocolate chip cookies [her personal best]. she meets the entire friend group, alongside sam.› she goes with mindy to the club [because jane being taught how to shoot pool?? mhmm good image]. as a whole though, she stays out of things, believing it wasn't her place. she visits tara once more, with a new knitted woolly scarf, because the hospital was cold when she visited. she also knit one for sam, because she has sisters, (sabrina, nancy, temperance), and can’t imagine being in sam’s position. she remembers all too well watching over max in that hospital bed, and again offers her support and if they need anything, to not hesitate to reach out.› when wes and judy are killed, jane seriously considers leaving and returning to hawkins. this isn’t her fight– she wants to live as peacefully as she can, and not put herself at risk ever again. but she genuinely liked judy; the woman was always kind to her, and wes seemed like a lovely boy despite how little she spoke to him.› mindy invites jane to the party in memorial for wes, and she goes to pay her respects. mindy invites her to watch stab, but when it begins getting too gruesome, she leaves and looks for amber to ask if there's anything she could do for her before going home. because like crazy horror movies, over packed parties are even more so not her thing.› she returns only a moment after samantha hits ghostface with a lamp, and gets caught up in the heat of blaming and pointing fingers. being more or less an outsider to this tight-knit group, she’s immediately assumed the killer, before liv returns, coated in blood. when amber reveals herself, jane runs off with the others, but is shot in the leg. despite the training, growth, and the way she’s moved on from hawkins, being injured in such close quarters to that monstrous bite scar, it completely freaks her out, making her feel like that kid again. she freezes up, as amber steps over her and goes after her main targets. the panic attack makes her immobile.› she collects herself through techniques and the help she’d been provided over the years; she finds her mind once more, but is bleeding out and realises she can’t do all that much. the bullet is lodged just beneath her knee, not a clean through shot. by the time she’s on her wobbly feet, the voices in the kitchen draw her out.› gathering herself, she remembers what it feels like to run on nothing but adrenaline, the flight or fight responses; she wants to help.› armed with a fire poker, she unsteadily creeps towards the kitchen; efforts and attempts in vein, as amber sees her immediately and shoots her in the shoulder. falling to the ground, she hits her head hard enough to knock her unconscious.› the next time she wakes, she’s in the hospital, becky and mike beside her, holding both her hands.

.......

* apocalypse,

eleven never realised the world changed so drastically; for all she knew, the dead always roamed. she never saw the world outside hospital walls, knowing only repetition and tests. the child never heard the desperation over the radios, on the television screens, marking a worldwide catastrophe. she does, however, sense the shift in priority, the quiet escalation of those around her. she stops going into the bath, and is granted a new set of tests that shake her to her very core.one day, her papa and three other doctors sit her down in a room she's been in many times, and showcase a rotting man upon the opposite side. his face is feral, there are holes in his flesh; his teeth snap so loudly that eleven can hear it when she backs out of her chair, and corners herself into the far wall. brenner coaxes her out of the corner, softly explaining what the creature was, how evil it is, how only she can kill it and help everyone. falsities to garner guilt: to not disappoint her papa and be sent to the cupboard. to begin with, eleven is told purely to kill it, just as she was trained with the cat a few months ago; squeeze it from the inside out. eleven succeeds, leaving her weak and frail, with a mess of brains and gore splattered around the room.weeks pass, and while eleven is called upon less and less for tests, those that she does comply with are horrifying. the lab itself becomes a market for trying to discover the reason for the outbreak, how the dead rose, how to stop it. as more and more dead are brought inside the walls, [some still walking, others shot beforehand]- tests are run on the creatures to find answers. brenner searches desperately for a cure, for if he were to find one and offer it to the world, there'd be nothing he wouldn't be able to get. he would be in control. In power.eventually, eleven is taken outside the lab for the first time, in order to see the world around her. the dead snarl and roam outside sturdy gates, soldiers line the walls, as papa holds her hand and shows her the light. the dead inch closer and closer, some attempting to chew on the fencing, others scraping rotting nails along it, as if trying to get inside. brenner releases eleven's hand, ordering her to kill as many of them as she can. initially fearful, she knows deep down she cannot disobey. she raises both hands as the soldiers part for her, focuses on all the dead she can see, and does her best. her blood pumped, she could taste the nosebleed in her mouth, her flesh seethed and burned. she remembers seeing at least ten infected drop, before she too, fell to the ground.after eleven is forced to kill the infected, the sheer brutality of her powers being released not only kill the intended, but also shut off some of the power supplies, weakening the fence just enough for it to be trampled down, setting the dead free inside. brenner picks eleven up as quickly as possible, as gunfire filled the atmosphere, and soldiers were lost to gnashing teeth. several hours pass as brenner secures eleven in the closest room he can find, drapes her in his coat, before departing to gather the information he'd secured so far on the infected, with a plan to return right away. he never does.when eleven wakes, there's an eerie silence present. the emergency generator rotate to life. eleven discovers that time has passed since being outside, how much time she's unsure. she calls out to papa, but her voice is still small, and her body still aches from the last thing she remembers. she's unsure of the room she wakes in; her only comfort is papas coat keeping her warm. when she regains balance, and gathers herself on shaky limbs, eleven opens the door to snarls echoing off the walls, crimson pools decorating the floor.she retreats back into that room when she hears noises coming closer, wraps herself up in the too-large coat, and waits, gathering her strength. she spends close to a day inside, before mustering as much confidence as possible to seek out papa. she comes by roaming dead, kills them as she was taught, leaving their bodies crumpled on the ground. there are many doctors on the ground too, throats ripped out, insides on the out; eleven runs past these sights in the attempt to find her salvation. each kill leaves her more fragile than the last, dirty and weak, running on sheer adrenaline. eleven spends close to a month inside the walls, as the noises begin to quieten and slow; many of the infected are destroyed, and if anyone is alive, she has yet to come by them.on the fifth month of the outbreak, eleven decides she will leave the lab. new dead are coming through the crashed gates, and eleven does not think she can stop all of them. it smells constantly, the groans are getting inside her head- she needs to be out and away. she gathers as many supplies as she can. she'd long since found a small cafeteria where cans of food remained in high cupboards. she stays in that cafeteria on most days, uses it as a base. she does wander the halls quietly every so often, and retrieves items off both the infected and members of the lab. a backpack is taken off a little girl, and eleven apologises for taking her property. she also takes two small handguns from soldiers, collecting the spare bullets from inside their pockets and protective vests. eleven stores these items, as well as a first aid box found in the cafeteria, into the backpack and makes her way out. knives and forks from the kitchen are also stashed into the bag. still wrapped in papa's coat and her old, now filthy hospital gown, she attempts to leave.eleven eventually makes it outside, suns rays touching her matted, but slowly curling hair, as the world opens up to her. she crunches her way through the forest, each sound beneath her bare feet setting a jolt of worry into her system. she manages to make it to an isolated house before coming by any dead. it's a little house on a large patch of land, with a shed down the back. eleven runs into the home, everything still perfectly in place, like it was left without warning. eleven rummages about the house, looks inside the rooms; it's like nothing she's ever seen. dirty and messy, but clearly a home. one room she stays in the longest, as the desk and walls are filled to the brim with wonderful, colourful drawings. she especially likes the one with a boy in a purple hat, looking over a big ball. there's a note on it, but she's unable to read what is says. [will the wise.] there's a pair of jeans on the bed, and without thinking, she slips into them. the pants are loose, but they keep her legs warm. she also slips on a pair of sneakers, tying the laces so tight in a knotted ball so they don't come off. before she can get too comfortable, or even get a warmer jacket, she hears those awful groans coming from outside, and she departs.eight days pass, and eleven finds small places to hide before arriving into the heart of the town. she's killed countless infected at this point, face ravaged in crimson from the nosebleeds. her powers are becoming more attuned now, and it does not take her so long to regain her strength. the town is a wasteland by the time she gets there, large buildings and homes and shopping centres utterly deserted. glass coats the floor and bodies pile up on the sidewalks and roads; it is a strange world she stepped into. before not too long, she hears a great yell of terror, a shrill shriek from a near distance. eleven follows the sounds, feet racing, heart hammering, before she sees it. two boys, a taller and short, caught in the middle of a hoard of infected. the taller carries a strange weapon, protecting the younger fiercely. by now, eleven associates the infected to being killed. if she sees one, she must stop it, just as she was trained to do. as the taller manages to take down a few, eleven steps in, raises both hands, and places enormous amounts of pressure into her one taught goal. to kill. she focuses on the dead, on their insides, and squeezes as hard as she possibly can- they all go down, heads exploding. eleven nearly goes down too, but manages to keep herself upright.

the taller one approaches her, soft and slow, he introduces himself as jonathan. his companion is his brother, will. eleven begins to back away, nimble steps as she pulls her backpack off her shoulders, and offers it out to him. he mirrors her actions; places his weapon on the ground at his feet, holds out his hands to show he means no threat. eleven watches the weapon, before putting her backpack on the ground beside it. she retrieves all the items inside (apart from the one can of carrots she has left), and lays them on the floor. she says he can have the guns, the cutlery, the first aid box, if she can have some food. jonathan says he has food back at their car, that she could join them. she agrees, packs away her items, and returns the bat to jonathan. they walk in silence, with hard, intense glares from eleven shot between both boys, studying them. when they make it to the car, jonathan offers to clean her bloody nose, thanks her for saving them, and offers her to stay. she decides to stay after he grants her a fresh t-shirt, and says she can protect them.jonathan gives her the nickname 'elle', and she only goes by that name from then on.elle remains with them for over a year. she opens up, she allows them to help her, and she in turn aids them the best she can. hawkins becomes a relatively protected area, as elle is able to wipe out many dead at a time. they all have strategies in place, and do their best to make it a place to properly live. it works for a while. hawkins being somewhat rid of the dead begins to attract outsiders. although the trio continue on in their section of town without much interference from strangers, there still comes a risk. one night, jonathan is woken up by the sound of gunfire and he immediately follows it. elle and will quickly join him. outside, a brand new hoard attacks, and two strangers are caught in the middle. without hesitation, elle runs out to their aid (despite jonathan's protests about other's seeing her abilities), and kills them all in one swoop. at this point she has gained great control over her abilities, that even her nosebleeds aren't too heavy. the men are grateful, offering their supplies in exchange for their lives. elle declines. she's happy they're alright.six nights later, elle startles awake when a hand clasps over her mouth. she wakes with a shock to see the same men from that herd, with one additional man at their side. one points a gun to jonathan's sleeping form, the other to will's, telling her not to make a noise or they'd shoot both boys on the spot. elle raises an arm quickly to fight them off, but it's caught in a vice like grip, and she realises then that if she wants her brothers to live, she can’t save herself. jonathan does stir awake, and when he quickly realises what's going on, reaches for his gun. elle is knocked unconscious to the sound of gunfire.when she wakes, she's disorientated and fuzzy, only hearing small snippets of the conversation between the three men. she's in the backseat of a car, and manages to catch words about power and control. there's a few names thrown around in the conversation, but her head aches so horribly, she can't catch onto anything real. she drifts off to sleep again. the third time she wakes, the car still rumbles beneath her, but her energy is resorting. a man sits beside her, to her right, keeping her close. eleven peers at him through a barely open slit of her eyes, and waits until she can feel her strength properly returning. when it does, she soundlessly, but quickly tilts her head, the force of her powers resulting in the necks of all three men being cracked, and the car hurls to an uncoordinated stop. eleven regains herself, and works quickly to get out of the car. she takes all the weapons the men had on them, and stuffs them into a duffel bag she found in the boot of the car.for the first time since escaping the lab, eleven attempts to contact the void. she returns to the car, sits on the floor of the back, for entering the void leaves her completely vulnerable on the outside. her attempts fail, however, and she finds that walking into that place is no longer an easy feat. she now has no way to find their location. she can't even see if they are alive. but she had to believe they were. before she allows her emotions to get the better of her, she quickly departs the car, and begins a walk backwards on the open road. perhaps if she just followed it, she could find hawkins again.jonathan taught her how to survive in case of situations like this. he knew she had her powers, but she would need to rely on herself, too. from him, she learnt how to create a fire, how to skin and cook animals, how to handle herself with a gun and knife. eleven never stopped walking until pure exhaustion wreaked her bones. she walked in the dead of night, not wanting to waste a second to return to her family.one day, her guard is lowered because of this exhaustion. she never hears the single dead coming from behind nor the snapping teeth following her. when she finally does whirl around to face it, it’s too late. It pushes her to the ground and tears a chunk out of her left leg. she screams into oblivion, before hurling it towards a tree to hear its neck split. she lay on the road, writhing, pain festering her entire body. she knew that where the bite was positioned, if she could cut off her leg then she might be saved. but she doesn’t have a weapon strong enough to do it, nor could she do it on her own. she certainly would never find jonathan and will again on one leg. elle gives into the inevitable. she’s going to die, all alone and scared- just how she was brought into the world.seven hours pass, and she feels the infection setting in. when she can no longer walk on her now tightly wrapped up leg, [jonathan again, showed her how to apply first aid for specific wounds], she collapses beneath a tree and waits for the end. she drifts into nothingness, picturing the boys in her minds eye as she goes.only- she doesn't. sooner than later, she wakes up, no longer in pain, but with a great sense of loss tugging at her insides. she risks a glance to her leg, tearing the blood coated cloth away- the wound is beginning to heal. the pus is gone, and it’S a little less red than it had been. there's still a tingling in her leg, but not enough to pain her. she stands to her feet, shocked that she can walk on a leg which hours ago she was sure would mean her death. she continues on, left in a state of shock about what happened to her, wishing she had jonathan and will to speak to, to confide in. however, she quickly discovers, as a lone infected approaches her, that her powers are no longer part of her. in extreme haste, she's forced to pull out a gun from the duffel bag, and after three missed shots, manages to shoot it in the head. the infection that set into her body killed any trace of her powers; although ultimately saving her life, left her more vulnerable than ever. elle begins to rely on close combat; sneaking up on the dead from behind and stabbing them in the neck. she can use a gun if necessary, but finds it can take a long time to get the balance right.elle continues walking, trying to find hawkins once more, desperate to find her family. she has no map nor guide, merely a small bout of faith that she will see them again.

• RETURN.

.......

* supernatural,

in 1969, teresa and rebecca ives are in a catastrophic car accident. terry survives without life-threatening injuries: a broken arm and a few bruises here and there. becky, however, with a nasty bump to the head and a spinal fracture, falls into a coma, with the doctor's claiming it’s only a matter of time until she passes. eighteen year old terry spends weeks in the hospital, taking care of her sister. she refuses to let anyone turn off the life support machines, all the while she knows, deep down, that her sister is not going to wake up. becky is all she has, she can't let her go. their father ran out when becky was a newborn; their mother died when terry was only one, and becky was four. they were raised by their maternal grandmother, janessa ives, until her death just a few short years prior. besides her new boyfriend, andrew rich, terry has no one else in her life. with plans for university the following year, [her friends from school are scattered amongst the country to pursue their own university plans] and with virtually no family left, the idea of facing the big, scary world alone is too much to deal with.after two months, terry decides it's time to let her sister go, it's not fair to keep her here. the night before she requests that all life support be turned off, she visits the small chapel in the hospital. even though she'd never considered herself a religious girl, she prays for some higher power to help becky. it's in this moment that she's visited by one of the male nurses who has been caring for her sister: he makes her an offer, one she couldn't possibly refuse. he says he can save her sister, make all of this go away, in exchange for an invite into her home in ten years time. she is to let him do as he pleases, not put up a fight, and he'll leave when the time is right. simple as that. desperate, and not thinking straight, she agrees- anything to save her family. she seals the strange deal with a kiss; he leaves, and she never sees him again. like a miracle, becky's health immediately improves, and she wakes from her coma within an hour.[ this is when we get into the canon side of things!!! terry goes to uni, becomes a volunteer for mk-ultra, falls pregnant, and brenner becomes obsessed with the unborn child. however!!! when terry goes into labour, brenner’s plans backfire, and jane is born without any complications. terry sees brenner in the hospital, though, so she and becky flee hawkins and move elsewhere. ]time soon catches up to terry ives in a way she had almost forgotten. on the six month birthday of her beloved child, she's woken up in the middle of the night to the sound of her soft cries throughout the house. she goes to her nursery to comfort her, horrified instead to find a strange man standing over her crib. it's only now, much too late, that she remembers the deal from a decade ago. the drugs in her system as part of mk-ulta, combined with the "hippie crap" of her day, made her forget entirely about the strange nurse in that small chapel. she interferes in an attempt to save her child, but is killed, with the house being set on fire as an aftermath. becky wakes up from the sound of her nieces cries, the smell of the smoke; she saves the baby but is too late to do anything for her sister. a sister which hauntingly hangs from the ceiling above.the firefighters called to the scene check the girls over; they are escorted to the nearest hospital due to the smoke inhalation little janessa suffered. what becky couldn't have possibly known, though, is that brenner continued to keep very close eyes on the ives women, still intending to take jane for his own purposes. that time came when the baby was passed off to some nurses, and becky was asked by police to recount the events of the night. becky is soon confronted by two doctors, sorrowful and heartbroken: little jane did not make it, they lie. becky is led to a room where another small baby, said to be jane, lies still. she refuses to believe it; this is not her niece. the child is lost, and it would be becky that spends the next decade of her life trying to find her, to sue hawkins lab, to find every piece of information on any other special child that she could.janessa alexandra ives is stripped from her name and raised in hawkins national laboratory, forced to endure unspeakable experiments and horrifying tasks. brenner always had the working theory that jane would be special due to what her mother went through while she was unknowingly pregnant-- and he proved himself correct. what he didn't know, and would never know is that her powers were actually a direct result of drinking demon blood on her six month birthday. he believes her abilities are solely science based, where they are actually born from another world. what she is submitted to in the lab helps sustain them, push them until they become something remarkable. azazel continues to watch jane, the first test subject of his batch of special children, his future army and allows her to stay in the lab as he believes it will increase her powers- he wants to see what science will do. whether it will weaken or strengthen her abilities. she's only a test, after all. he can have her removed any time he deems necessary, should he want her path diverting elsewhere.[ jane's canon begins here! in 1991, she accidentally opens the gateway between the upside down and hawkins, and ends up escaping the lab. here we do a lil skip across s1-3 + my canon rewrite for 4-5! remember, if ur not familiar with stranger things, please feel free to ask me about her story and i can fill you in. when she begins connecting to sam, it's been about ten years since she closed the gate + my events of season five have concluded. this can all be found on the future verse tab in my verses section, but it's not specifically important to know. it just provides more context about what jane has been doing for those ten years. things have basically just been pretty chill, with jane furthering her education and living relatively normally!! like she deserves!! <33 ]life begins to grow stable, normal. even if she was never built for the modern world, she does her very best to integrate herself into it. that is, until the void starts becoming a prominent feature in her dreams again- something that hasn't happened since closing the gate. she begins to see flashes of people she has never seen before, all around the same age. these dreams continue until she zones in on one boy in particular, the one who stands out from all the rest. he appears to be looking for something, or someone- but she doesn't know what. it's not until she gets a good look at his face, that she decides to look for this boy on her own. for the first time in years, she contacts the void. she looks for this stranger amongst the darkness, and to her utmost surprise, he can see her, too. he says he gets visions of people in danger, that he has been seeing her, sensing her wherever he goes; though she doesn't fall under the usual category of his visions. in the void, she briefly explains her situation, where she lives, who she is- but she can't understand why they are connected, when they come from two entirely different worlds. to try and make sense of it all, they decide to meet.

the twenty-seven year old janessa and twenty-three year old sam winchester meet as arranged; it's comfortable, like returning to an old friend. sam fills jane in on his life, his past, his brother dean [with whom he is currently separated after an argument regarding what was said on their father's deathbed], and jane does the same. she tells him of her past, the haunted town of hawkins, how she was raised. a sense of kinship forms, but they also find themselves at a standstill. unsure of how their lives connect- until sam mentions the very specific way his mother was killed. the very same way in which terry ives met her demise. jane doesn't think she could be one of the "special children" with whom sam and dean have met thus far, given she's older and was raised in science experiments; she also can't deny the similarities. jane's life is littered with pieces missing, and while she has put many of them together, there was always something she could never find. her mother's death, for example. she is no stranger to the supernatural, but her mother burning up on the ceiling of jane's very nursery just... never fit with anything else. the men from hawkins lab surely couldn't have crafted such a thing.jane sticks around with sam for a few weeks, where she eventually meets dean, and joins both boys on a few hunts. their way of living is quite intriguing to her. she catches on fast, is quick in a stressful situation, and finds that for the first time in nearly ten years, her powers, what she can do, is being used to help people. eventually she returns home, having spent too long on the road, but she and sam keep in touch. he promises to keep her updated on their findings, and she does the same. upon her return, she asks sam owens to accompany her to search through the abandoned hawkins lab, to see if she can find anything that could fill in her ever growing blanks. she finds nothing.unbeknownst to her, like all the other special children, azazel has been keeping tabs on jane her entire life, impressed with her abilities, with what she dealt with in hawkins. she's proving to be a useful asset. said blanks start coming together when one morning, instead of waking up in her bed, she wakes in an awful, old town by the name of cold oak. she arrives only a few hours after sam; the reunion isn't as nice as she would have hoped upon seeing the boy again, but at least she's not alone. that night, she dreams of azazel, the yellow eyed demon as sam and dean referred to him, and she receives somewhat of a history lesson. he tells her about her mother, her deal- congratulates her for being his "first" test, she's passed all expectations. that it was a shame terry had to die- he did try and warn her not to interfere! that the lab made her stronger, but he's the one who made her. he offers her a place at his side, offers her the chance for true vengeance against the people who hurt her, those at the lab who used and abused her. she understands now, understands the true evil that exists beyond just the upside down, and she wakes with a start.jane separates herself from the group after waking, determined that with her use of the void, she's capable of finding a straight and direct path out of the town and back to civilisation. she leaves the ramshackle house, holding up instead in a small shed only a few buildings down. there, she contacts the void. after an hour or two, she believes she's found a path. but after what happened to lily, she goes on her own, not wanting to put anyone else at risk in case she was wrong. turns out, she was right. once out of the woods, she returns to the void in attempt to contact sam, so she can lead him and the others to her location, to safety. but there is no answer. she can't find sam anywhere. now with service on her phone, she calls both brothers and gets no answer. she instead calls bobby singer, a hunter she met frequently during her brief period with the boys; it's through bobby that jane finds out sam has died. she can only nod silently, and tells bobby she’s on her way to his house. she wasn't sure how to process the news, but by the time she arrives, both brothers are alive and well.jane, now fully aware of her entire past, what azazel did to mould her life, wants in on the final battle to end him. she sticks with ellen throughout most of the night. when the hellgate is opened, it cements the final confirmation in jane's mind that she wants to do more with her abilities, rather than sit around in hawkins and protect it should gates there open again. she was wasting her life waiting for something that might never happen. try as she might, she was never built for the newfound normality hawkins provided. she wanted it more than anything, but it wasn't to be. and now, with hundreds of new demons on the loose, she officially decides to follow in the footsteps of the winchesters. she wants to be a hunter.after finding out about dean's deal, jane offers to stick around, to try and help. but she knows it's a family matter- this is something they needed to get through themselves. she returns home, fills in her aunt about what has been going on, how and why she disappeared; it allows becky some closure, too, even though she's wrecked with guilt knowing what terry gave up for her. after a month of being at home, she contacts ellen harvelle, telling her very plainly: i want to be a hunter. i want to do what you do. help people. ellen invites her over, and after a heavy discussion with becky, who gives jane her blessing to live her life how she wants, she takes up the invite. she knows this is something she can be really good at. rather than having horrors and monsters forced upon her, she will be going out to find them. maybe one day she'll even help someone like her mother, keep a family together where it might have otherwise been torn apart. maybe she'll find a lost little girl in the woods and protect her, before she has the chance to witness anything bad.ellen trains her with weapons; firearms, knives, holy water... everything a hunter needs. she claims janessa shouldn't always be reliant on her abilities. they have been unpredictable before, so she should know how to handle herself in case they fail her. better to be safe than sorry. unfortunately, choosing this way of life means that jane is finally forced to learn how to drive. she'd tried many times in her late teens, but got far too confused and frustrated over all the different things one had to do at once, so she gave up. ellen is patient, though, as is her daughter; they spend nearly three weeks teaching her how to drive on her own. she sticks around with the harvelle's for a good few months, accompanying jo on her solo travels, learning by seeing and doing, before she's finally ready, at the age of twenty nine, to go solo herself. she keeps in touch with both the harvelle's and the winchester's frequently, while forming her own bonds in the life. it's hardly where she saw herself only a few years back, but she's relatively happy. a notion once vastly unfamiliar to her. and she's damn good at the job.

• return.