#hnl

[a #LabNumbersGate theory]

And the interactions between these children probably represent psychic tethers between those ages of their lives. For example, how one trauma at a certain age (an older number) ends up influencing them at a later age (a younger number).

The famous numbers are:

001 -> Henry Creel / Vecna -> 1 year old Will/Mike -> maybe Will went through something as a baby; maybe this is the year when he was handed to Dr Brenner (or some other exploitative entity) by a certain family member to be experimented on and taken advantage of, just like Henry Creel.

008 -> Kali Prasad -> 8 year old Will/Mike -> 1979, the year of the Massacre at Hawkins Lab; also, Brenner’s (or Henry’s, can’t remember) 8th birthday party references in The First Shadow play. #Birthdaygate. This year of Will/Mike’s life is probably the most traumatic of them all. This is why its manifestation is Kali, a reference to Kali the Hindu goddess of chaos, fierce protection, raw emotion, rebellion, vengeance, violence, time, complete liberation of both good and bad, etc. (probably a chaotic neutral force, bordering on chaotic evil.)

011 -> Eleven / Jane -> 11 year old Will/Mike -> i am almost sure Eleven represents the age at which “the first i love you” happened between Byler. It’s innocent first love. Eleven is the physical manifestation of Byler and their budding romance. However, she was taken from her mother / became an orphan shortly after birth, in the sense that Byler was “shut down”, “stolen” or forcibly hidden by *someone* even before it had the chance to be developed.

The famous relationships are:

001 mentors 011 -> Henry mentors Eleven -> Will/Mike’s 1 year old life events & psychology influence their 11 year old life events & psychology.

001 kills all the other numbers except 008 and 011 in 1979 -> some part of Will/Mike’s mind that was derived from their 1 year old stage causes drastic ripples in their 8 year old life stage and makes them forget their traumatic events from the other years (the killed numbers). However they aren’t gone “for good”, because they were psychically “absorbed” by 001/Henry’s mind. Meaning that 001/Henry/Vecna is currently encapsulating and harboring those memories and traumas, stopping them from “getting out” and being properly processed.

011 sends 001 to Dimension X -> also during the 1979 traumatic event, Eleven (Byler’s love) rejects the chaotic and destructive influence of something that went terribly wrong in their 1 year old life stage, burying that memory/force and making it dormant, however inadvertently causing its further corruption and development of Vecna.

008 mentoring 011 -> Kali mentors Eleven -> Will/Mike’s 8 year old life events & psychology influence their 11 year old life events & psychology.

12 kids in Season 5, Will & Billy as hosts which is 2 which makes 14 and 4 people to open gates in Season 4 which makes 18 people. Will & Max have survived and the 12 other kids are yet to be killed but Holly is the significant victim out of that whole group in terms of story.

Doctor Sam Owens shined a light directly into Will's eyes. He just stared into it, unbothered by the brightness.

"Do you know your name?" The doctor asked.

"Will."

"Your full name?"

"William Byers."

"Do you know… Do you know who I am?"

Will thought for a second. "A doctor."

There were four new people in the room, all surrounding Will's bed as they watched him answer questions. Two more doctors stood to Mike's right, kicking his anxiety up a few notches.

Dr. Owens kept asking questions. "Have we met before?"

"I don't remember."

"You don't remember me? Okay."

Mike's breath caught in his throat at the next question. "How about uh… How about this guy here?"

The doctor pointed toward him. What if…

Unblinking, Will moved his gaze straight forward.

Mike took his hand out of his pocket to give a small wave. A tight half-smile stretched across his face. Please.

"Know who that is?" Dr. Owens asked again.

Mike felt like he might scream as he waited for Will to answer.

Will stared at him without recognition, and as Will stared, Mike stared back, silently pleading for an answer. A 'yes,' a nod, anything.

In doing so he noticed something else. Will's eyes had… changed color. Instead of the normal hazel Mike knew by heart, a warm brown, almost red, pervaded his vision. A spark of fear shot through Mike.

"It's alright," the doctor assured. "Take your time."

With a each silent second that passed, he felt agonizing dread creeping down his back.

Will finally spoke, "That's my friend. Mike."

He said it in a flat, matter-of-fact way, without emotion. His voice didn't contain an ounce of care, hollow and unfeeling. And those eyes… they looked empty. It didn't seem like Will truly saw him.

A/N: this is literally the first time EVER that i've written something that had made its way out of my drafts hahaha pls pls be nice if I have made any grammatical or any other errors in this. I hope you guys like this little one shot! and let me know if you guys would want to see this story continue! <333

warnings: angsty, reiji is toxic, reiji is also violent, mention of weapons.

The hallway echoed with heavy footsteps and the clatter of metal. Reiji and his crew had just returned from their clash with Oya High. His knuckles were raw, bloodied, the skin torn beneath bruises and the knuckle dusters still clung to his fingers, a brutal reminder of their victory against Oya High. Behind him, Gandhi and the other Kama High delinquents walked through the corridor with smug grins, pride practically dripping from their battered silhouettes. They hadn’t beaten Oya High clean, Reiji himself had lost against Fuijo, but the plan had worked. The ambush had left Oya High weakened and shaken. And for the three-school alliance, that was enough. For now.

His footsteps came to a halt when he noticed a figure standing at the end of the hallway, which was no other than his girlfriend. Her arms were crossed, her eyes betraying a hint of disappointment she tried to hide behind a fierce mask. Despite Reiji being her boyfriend for quite a while now, she couldn’t help but be terrified of him — especially when he was involved in a fight. It was as if he was a completely different person when it came to them. 

Usually, she’d try her best to ignore the Kama high boys’ methods of fighting, despite them being renowned to be fighting ‘dirty’. However, this time was different. Not only had Reiji and his gang fought with weapons against unarmed Oya High boys, they had ambushed them. Word spread around quickly, and she found herself stuck in a moral dilemma. Once again ignore her boyfriend’s obviously dirty methods, or stand up for what was fair?

Reiji on the other hand, did not expect to see her standing there in front of him. As he got closer to her, he noticed the look of disappointment in her eyes. Had she been crying?

“I know what you did.” She said, 

He didn’t answer right away. Just cracked his neck and leaned against the lockers, like he hadn’t heard her. But the silence dragged. Long enough that she stepped closer.

“I heard about what happened at Oya High,” she said. “About the ambush. About the weapons.”

He scoffed. “You sound like a damn teacher.”

“No,” she snapped. “I sound like someone who’s tired of watching you throw yourself off a cliff.”

He looked back at her with fierce eyes, and for a second, something flickered in his eyes. Regret, maybe. Then it was gone, swallowed by the heat rising in his chest.

“You don’t get it,” he said, voice sharp. “This isn’t your world. You don’t know what it’s like out there.” Reiji wanted to tell her it wasn’t about pride. It was survival. He believed that you didn’t win by fighting fair — you won by making sure they didn’t get back up. 

“I know you didn’t used to carry weapons,” she said. “I know you didn’t used to beat people so bad they couldn’t stand, and I know for a fact that you didn’t used to ambush unarmed people who did nothing wrong to you!” her voice grew louder.

“Stop acting like you know me!” he growled. “You don’t.”

She flinched, barely, but he saw it. It made something twist in his gut.

Then she said it. Quiet, like it hurt her just to say it.

“I used to.”

He moved without thinking and slammed his fist into the locker beside her head. The metal screamed under the force. Tears threatened to roll down her face, but she contained herself. She didn’t scream. Didn’t cry. Just stood there, staring at him with those same eyes. 

Eyes that weren’t afraid. Just disappointed. And somehow, that was worse.

He looked at his hand, then at her, the way she wouldn’t even move. The silence pressed in, loud and confronting.

“I didn’t mean—” he started.

But she was already walking away.

Reiji slumped against the locker, knuckle dusters digging into his palm like they were mocking him. He didn’t chase her. He didn’t dare to. He feared it was too late, and that the damage was irreversible. 

...

She didn’t let herself cry in front of him.

Not when he slammed his fist into the locker. Not when his eyes turned cold like they didn’t remember who she was. Not even when he said she didn’t know him, as if the last year had meant nothing.

But the second she turned the corner and the hallway vanished behind her, it hit. Reiji hadn’t always been like this. She remembered his laugh and how real it used to sound. Now, it felt like the boy she loved had been swallowed whole by someone else. 

Her steps faltered, and she ducked into the nearest stairwell, gripping the rail like it was the only thing holding her together. Her throat burned. Her chest ached like something inside had cracked open.

She’d seen him fight before. Bruised, bloodied, grinning like he couldn’t feel pain. But now, he was different. The way he moved, the way he didn’t even hesitate once to land hit after hit to someone who was obviously incapable of fighting any more. The way his fist landed so hard she could still hear the echo hours later. He wasn’t just trying to win.

He was trying to destroy.

Her fingers trembled as she sank to the steps. She didn’t want to be the kind of girl who cried over boys who broke things — and people. But Reiji wasn’t just some boy. He was the boy who used to walk her home after cram school. The one who used to hold her hand like it was the only thing grounding him. The one who only ever fought when it was absolutely necessary.

And yet, here they were. There he was. Swallowed by his greed to win.

She pulled out her phone, stared at the blank screen. No messages. Not even a “sorry.” 

Part of her wanted to text him and demand an explanation, a reason, anything.

4x01: