Chapter Eighty-Two: The Test

(pre-Suzie, Do You Copy?)

***

"Rowan, wake up! Rowan! ROWAN!"

Rowan groaned as her shoulder was roughly shaken and her name was screamed into her ear. Rolling over, she cracked her eyes open to see her cousin shaking her awake. Past him, she could see that the sun hadn't pierced through the thick curtains of the bedroom she shared with two of her other cousins, and that her roommates were conveniently gone, despite the obviously—and illegally—early hour of the morning.

Eyes narrowed into a glare, Rowan looked at her cousin, who was still shaking her like she was an angry-looking doll, and hissed, "Kieran, if you don't stop shaking me right now, I'm gonna fry you."

Kieran obeyed, taking several steps back like Rowan was going to fry him right then and there, hands raised to placate his still-glowering cousin, not meeting her eyes as if her gaze would be enough to electrocute him to dust.

"Sorry," he mumbled sheepishly. "I wasn't sure if you were awake! Ash and Sage say you're a deep sleeper."

"Well, I'm awake and my brain's thoroughly shaken like it's just gone through an earthquake," Rowan grumbled. "And why the hell are you waking me up so fucking early? It's not even fucking dawn yet."

"Gran wants you and Alistair," Kieran answered, like it explained everything. It did.

Rowan straightened, glare erased as she gave her cousin a now curious look. "She does? Why?"

Kieran shrugged. "Dunno. She didn't say anything except she wants you and Alistair downstairs and for me to wake you both up."

"Of course she didn't," Rowan muttered. Sighing, she pushed the sheets back and sat up, sleep-tangled hair falling around her face.

"Tell Vervain I'll be down there in a minute," Rowan told her cousin.

Kieran nodded, placing his fingers against his forehead and giving her a salute as he backpedaled to the doorway.

"Will do! See ya in a minute, cuz!" he farewelled before his body blurred and he was racing down the stairs. A crash came two seconds later.

"I'm okay!" her cousin shouted.

Rowan rolled her eyes, a fond smile on her face as she rolled out of bed and headed out of the room she shared with Sage and Ash and walked at a leisurely place to the stairs. Dawn light whispered in through the arched, leaded windows, the wood-panelled walls and carpeted foyer sucking it in. Rowan trailed her fingers across the walls, still unused to being in such a rich house. The doors of her family's bedrooms were cracked open and empty, except for two—two that would never be open and never be offered up to visiting guests. Downstairs, she could hear muffled voices, the noise of appliances. All her family was awake.

Waiting for her and her brother.

Rowan's feet left plush carpet for cool stairs as she stepped down, creaking slightly underneath her—the consequence of an old house, groaning and creaking like the bones of an old woman. The groans and creaks were different to the groans of the trailer—the irritable pipes and shaking walls so different to creaking stairs and moaning halls when the wind whistled through and the rumble of an old house settling down into the earth, but Rowan found a comfort in it, that the place she'd stay in would always shake and moan.

A zip blurred in Rowan's vision as Hazel shouted, "Kieran! No running about in the kitchen!", and the blur solidified into her cousin, smiling sheepishly as he rubbed his neck.

"Sorry, Mom!" he yelled as Rowan stepped down from the stairs and gave her a wave. She returned it and walked across from the entrance way and into the kitchen—a blend of modern and ancient, with a large, arched window that poured in golden light when the sun rose, an iron rod where dried herbs and plants hung over the sink and a pantry and giant clay oven that had been there for nearly three hundred years clashing with the modern stove and fridge and the appliances strewn over a wooden countertop and the small island in the middle. On the stools next to the kitchen island sat her cousins Javier and Ash, arguing about something while Sage and Amarantha rolled their eyes in unison and sipped hot cocoa and flipped magazines at the table in the dining room right across from the kitchen. In the kitchen, Hazel was cooking, the smell of waffles making Rowan's stomach grumble as beside Hazel her husband, Tristan, pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek and Hazel gave him an adoring smile. Across from them, Rowan's uncle, Percy, made a gagging motion before he reached for the bowl of waffle batter.

Hazel smacked his hand. "Hey! No dipping your fingers into the batter! You can wait for the waffles to be done like the actual children are."

Percy raised his hands, a grin on his face. "I'm just sampling, Hazel!"

"Well, you can sample someone else's waffle batter. Do that again and I'll make you dance to country music."

Percy gasped, horror bleeding onto his face at the torture. 

Hazel smirked. 

"That's what I thought," Rowan's aunt said as Tristan chuckled, hugging Hazel from behind and murmuring, "You're devious, my love."

"I know," Hazel whispered, a loving smile on her face. A part of Rowan twisted at the domesticity, how Ash and Sage rolled their eyes and hissed, "Gross," at something she and Alistair never had, not since Brenner and a car crash and their parents' final act of love for their children.

"Hazel, are you threatening our little brother again?" a voice called and Rowan turned to see her second uncle enter, a grin on his face. Behind him was his wife, Imelda, who gave Rowan a soft smile and a, "Hey, cariña. How'd you sleep?"

"Fine," Rowan returned, a knowing grin on her face as she looked at her aunt's and uncle's rumpled clothes, messy hair and hazy, lovesick eyes, at Imelda wearing her husband's shirt. "Did you and Uncle Quinn sleep well, Aunt Imelda?"

Her aunt's tanned cheeks flushed and she gave Rowan a reprimanding look as Percy yelled, "Yes! Quinn, please come to my defence! It's your duty as big brother!"

Quinn rolled his eyes and looked at Hazel. "What did he do?"

"Tried to steal batter instead of waiting," Hazel exposed, daggering her brother with a look.

"I wasn't stealing! I was sampling! Quinn, tell our insane sister that!"

"Well... I would be lying, wouldn't I?" Quinn said, grinning as Percy gave a dramatic gasp, hand clutched to his chest.

"Betrayed by my own brother. The pain. I will never recover!"

Hazel and Quinn rolled their eyes at Percy's antics before Hazel noticed Rowan.

"Hey, sweetie!" she called, smiling. "Did you sleep okay?"

"I slept fine," Rowan answered as she leaned against the counter. She gave Kieran, who stood on the other side, a glare as she added, "Would prefer not waking up at the crack of goddamned dawn, though."

Kieran wore a sheepish look from where he now stood beside his mother and father.

"Sorry about that, kiddo," Tristan said, voice rumbling and deep, like it should belong to a man who fired angry words like bullets from a gun and with bloody knuckles, but Tristan was kind and gentle, whose hands held his children in tight hugs and caressed his wife with tenderness and love. Again, that ugly, bitter, grieving feeling twisted inside Rowan, of something she and Alistair never had, of something they lost when their parents had died. "We would have let you and Al sleep longer, but your grandmother wanted you both up."

"Why?" Rowan grilled. "And where's Vervain? Wait, where's Alistair?"

As if her words had summoned him, a creak came and Rowan turned to see Alistair there, curls wild from sleep, dark circles bruised underneath his eyes. He yawned as Hugin flapped onto his shoulder, before he took a sip from a cup of coffee.

"Hey, Rowan," he greeted, voice tired and a smile on his face.

"Hey, squirt," Rowan replied, smiling too. She wrapped an arm around him and asked, "You got any sleep last night?"

"A bit," her brother mumbled as he took another, long sip from his cup. 

Rowan's nose wrinkled, the bitter smell of black coffee wafting into her nose.

"Al, please tell me that is your first cup of coffee," Rowan said, worry lacing her voice.

"No. This is my fifteenth," Alistair deadpanned as he moved out of her hold and stalked to the island, hopping onto it, one leg swinging down, draining the rest of his coffee. Rowan frowned, but didn't press, only giving her brother a cursory look and a hair ruffle as she sidled into a chair at the table, where her cousins whirled to her.

"So. Rowan," Sage began, brown eyes intent. "Who is hotter—Ralph Macchio, or Rob Lowe? Ame thinks Rob Lowe is, but Ralph is so much hotter."

"No he isn't!" Amarantha snapped, eyes blazing. "Rob is infinitely hotter than Ralph Macchio!"

Sage gave Rowan a She's crazy look, before they both stared at her, beseeching an answer. Rowan stared back, lost. It wasn't the first time she received a question like this, heard arguments about this—Kieran, Sage and Amarantha always argued which male celebrity was hotter, while Javier and Ash, and Amarantha as well, would debate which female celebrity was hotter. And, like always, she faltered, because she couldn't really say, Neither because I don't feel an ounce of hormonal attraction to a human being, much less a celebrity.

So instead, she just shrugged and answered, "I don't know. Both are... kinda hot?"

Her cousins gaped at her, before Alistair came to her rescue.

"Neither. Patrick Swayze is my answer. Did you see him in The Outsiders?" Alistair answered as Sage and Amarantha looked at him. "He was really hot in that movie."

Sage and Amarantha blinked, processing Alistair's answer, before they said, "Oh," and Amarantha murmured, "He does have a point—Patrick Swayze is pretty hot."

"He is," Sage muttered in agreement.

The argument of which male celebrity was apparently hotter over, Rowan leaned back and mouthed, 'Thanks.'

Alistair smiled and gave a thumbs up while Ash rolled her eyes and muttered, "Girls are hotter," Javier nodding in agreement, and Hazel noticed Alistair on the island.

"Hey, hey!" Hazel snapped, glaring at Alistair. "Get off!"

"All the other stools are occupied," Alistair reasoned.

"There are some perfectly good chairs over there by the table," Hazel countered, spoon dripping batter pointed at said table. "Now get off."

Alistair did, hopping off with a shrug and raised hands, but he didn't head to the table. Instead, he headed straight for the coffee machine and poured himself another cup.

"Sixteenth," he called to Rowan, who looked heavenward and sighed at her brother's newfound caffeine addiction.

The floorboards creaked as Alistair walked over to the table and sat down, sipping from his new coffee cup. Hugin hopped onto the table, strutting over to Sage and Amaranth who stroked his feathers, the bird preening under the attention. As if he didn't receive enough of it from Alistair and Rowan and Cami and Max and Will, Lucas, Mike and Dustin. The bird was a hog for attention and pets.

The smell of waffles grew stronger before Rowan saw a plate stacked high with them sat before her, maple syrup drizzled over them and blueberries sat on top. Rowan's mouth watered as she grabbed up a fork and knife, smiling at Hazel who set more plates of waffles in front of her daughter, niece and nephew.

"Thanks, Aunt Hazel," Rowan said.

The corners of Hazel's eyes crinkled, like they always did when she smiled.

"It's okay, sweetheart," Hazel said. "Enjoy kids."

Rowan didn't need to be told twice, hungrily digging in. The sound of forks and knives scraping against plates filled the air, the kitchen and dining room silent except for that.

"This is really good, Aunt Hazel," Alistair said through a mouthful of waffle, swallowing. Rowan nodded, but as she looked at Alistair, she knew what he was really thinking: That as good as Hazel's cooking was, it wasn't Aunt Aco's. It wasn't Aunt Aco's slightly overcooked toast and charred bacon and overly scrambled eggs and her choc-chip pancakes. It wasn't the cooking of the aunt who raised them, who loved them and cared for them and comforted them and protected them. It wasn't Aunt Aco's.

That was the difference. A difference that mattered.

Still, Hazel smiled. "Thank you, Al."

She returned to eating her own food at the kitchen island, Tristan next to her, feeding her pieces of waffle as she smiled and accepted, Kieran and Ash and Sage's faces wrinkled in disgust while Imelda and Quinn rolled their eyes, but still sat close as they ate, leaning against the counter while Rowan watched her uncle shovel his food down like he was starving and her cousins ate at a more sedate pace, as low chatter and smiles and laughter filled the air.

Until a door creaked and a voice rumbled, "Mmm, something smells good in here!"

Amarantha was the first to notice, beaming. "Abuelo!"

"Hey, kiddo," their grandfather greeted warmly. Behind him, the matriarch of the Graveswood family entered, a warm smile on her face at seeing all of her grandchildren. Sage, Ash, Kieran and Javier returned the smiles. Rowan and Alistair tried to, but it felt more of a grimace on Rowan's face. She wondered if it was the same for Alistair.

Their grandfather pressed a kiss on Amarantha's head, then headed into the kitchen and smiled. "I hope you have some waffles left for your old man, sweetheart?"

"Of course, Dad," Hazel said in a tone both matter-of-fact and fond as she made two more plates of waffles, handing them to Vervain and Robert Graveswood, who accepted with smiles and sitting down at the table—Vervain at the end, Robert at his wife's right, giving each other loving eyes and loving smiles as a vine crawled onto the table and curled around their grandfather's hand with love and tenderness.

Rowan focused on her food, telling herself, like she had been all month since she first saw her grandmother make vines grow and she'd almost electrocuted it as she pulled her brother behind her that these vines were green and leafy and lush and living, not fleshy and rotting and bloodthirsty and deadly. 

Her grandmother's vines were just normal plants, not the monstrous vines of the Upside Down.

Her grandfather, as if he noticed Rowan's quiet and trauma, looked over to her, a frown making the lines on his face deeper. "You okay, kiddo?"

"Fine," she mumbled, stabbing the waffle viciously and eating it.

Her grandfather didn't look convinced, but he didn't press, turning to speak to one of his sons as their grandmother smiled at a story Javier was recounting from the kitchen counter while Ash and his sister argued and put in their version of events, Percy dipping a finger in the batter while Hazel wasn't looking, the smiles and laughter and talking filling up the kitchen and dining room, making it feel like a family.

A family that Rowan still felt like an outsider too. That no matter that it'd been a month, she and Alistair still felt like outsiders sitting on a family they hadn't known for years, that were more strangers than family. No late-night chats, home-cooked meals, or practicing their powers together could change that.

"So," their grandfather said, making Rowan look up at him. "You kids ready?"

"Ready for what?" Alistair asked, confusion contorting his face, a matching look on Rowan's face.

Now their grandfather was frowning. "You don't know?"

"No. We were told our grandmother wanted us, and were woken up at the asscrack of dawn," Rowan said, voice sharp and pointed, still bitter about that.

"Language," her aunts, her uncles and grandfather chided while Percy rolled his eyes.

However, Vervain didn't look ruffled as she clasped her hands together and said, "You will be leaving tomorrow."

Rowan and Alistair looked at each other. They knew. Rowan couldn't deny that as much as she liked getting to know her family despite the initial awkwardness and the endless questions—especially when her cousins interrogated her and Alistair with questions about Hawkins Lab and Brenner and the Upside Down and the monsters—she was excited to be coming back home, to coming back to that creaky trailer with irritable pipes and her aunt and her terrible cooking and schemes and comfort pancakes and to Eddie and listening to Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin and Metallica and AC/DC and Ozzy Osbourne and Dio and Judas Priest and Black Sabbath and go on drives together and see his gigs and campaigns and study together or smoke weed together, to Chrissy and Robin and sleepovers and shopping trips and study groups, to Nancy and Jonathan. To Steve. And she knew Alistair couldn't wait to get back to his Party, to Mike and Lucas and Dustin. To Cami and to Max. To Will.

To the girl they were both so glad was alive, that they both saw as a sister—to El. To visiting her at Hopper's cabin while she remained in hiding, Rowan having El finally watch Carrie and Alistair finally giving those X-Men comics with Jean Grey to her like they'd promised before they left, to Rowan teaching El about normal girl stuff—especially when, a couple days before Christmas, El had panicked-called Rowan when that awful time of the month finally came for her and Rowan had come over and had to tell El it was normal and happened to every girl and El wasn't dying while Aunt Aco brought an army's worth of girl hygienic supplies and Ibuprofen and a hot water bottle and several bars of chocolate and Eggo waffles and Hopper both panicked and looked immensely relieved that he had actual women talk to his adopted daughter about this type of stuff because he definitely didn't. Of having movie nights and Rowan trying to musically educate El on good music and knowing Alistair's determination to spend a couple sleepovers with El, of them both doing everything in their power to give El a normal childhood while she remained in that cabin, when they got back to Hawkins.

For as much as she was going to miss her cousins, her grandfather, her aunts and uncles, at feeling normal around others with powers—and determined that next time she and Alistair came back, they were bringing El so that she felt normal as well—she was excited to go back home, to the people waiting for her and Alistair, to her friends and his friends and their aunt.

But, the way Vervain had said that...

Looking back to her grandmother, brows creased in suspicion, Rowan said, "Yeah. We know. Why, Vervain?"

Vervain's mouth twisted, pain flashing in her eyes—even after a month, Rowan wasn't comfortable calling Vervain "Grandmother" yet, not like Alistair was, a bit of Aunt Aco's resentment rubbing off on Rowan—before she composed herself and explained, "I want you and Alistair to have one final test. To demonstrate that you have control over your powers, and that training and practice had paid off. That is why I wanted you both to wake up so early."

Again, Rowan and Alistair shared another look even as the table around them and the kitchen behind them erupted into excited chatter and smiles. Rowan knew that was the major reason why she and Alistair were here—hell, it felt like the only reason why Vervain had come to their trailer for a family reunion two months ago right after the shit with the Upside Down was finished again and hopefully for good now—and she knew that their grandmother probably wanted them to prove they had control over their powers after a month of training. Which, Rowan still felt they had under good control before, but the training hadn't hurt—especially when the ones presiding over training were those with powers, who had a book with accounts of Graveswoods with powers like hers, like her brother's, in the past—and Rowan didn't really feel like a test was needed, especially at so goddamned early in the morning.

But, if this was what was the final thing she and Alistair needed to do before they went back home... then Rowan would do it.

Alistair must be thinking the same, because he looked at their grandmother and said, "Sure, Grandma. When does it start?"

"Right after you finish breakfast and get dressed. I expect you both to join me in the Arena after," Vervain answered, her serious expression dropping into a smile. "I am looking quite forward to seeing how you both have progressed, especially with your new developments."

Rowan couldn't keep a smile from tugging at her mouth, watching as her grandmother stood up and left the dining room, her and her husband sharing a kiss before she left.

The minute she was gone, Rowan leaned over to Alistair and whispered, "Okay, squirt, tell me where you got that coffee. Because I think I'll need it or I'm gonna fall asleep in the middle of the test."

"Uh, sure," her brother said, before his mouth curved into a wicked grin. "Can you handle how I take it, though?"

Rowan glared at Alistair even as she ruffled his hair. "Course I can, you menace."

"Okay," Alistair said with a shrug, before he squirmed away from Rowan's hand. "Also, stop ruffling my hair!"

"Never," Rowan replied with a grin, Alistair matching it despite the glare he was trying to give her as he turned back to his waffles. Rowan turned back to hers, letting the talk and chatter drown out everything else.

And not focus on the test.

***

Rowan sipped on her coffee, trying to ignore the bitter, strong taste. She refused to sweeten it—she had a point to prove to her brother, that she could drink coffee straight like he did. And it was honestly impressive, how her brother drained this bitter sludge like it was water and kept having ten or so cups of it in a single day.

Still, it gave her something to do as she and Alistair headed to the Arena after breakfast and they'd gotten dressed, the place where countless generations of Graveswoods would test and train their powers without the fear of prying eyes looking in and discovering the family secrets, deep within the Graveswood manor.

Rowan thought back to her first thought on seeing the Graveswood family manor—that it was like the Addams Family manor, but in colour. The manor was large and sprawling, with three storeys, three chimneys, an arch, a room with its own balcony, a glorified turret tower, a greenhouse in the back, and woods bordering it along with a wrought iron fence. Its roofs were tile and the walls were old brick, the windows were arched with iron cross bars, and according to her grandmother, it had been there since the 1600s, and it showed its age with the weathered bricks, a chimney that was crumbling, and the faded tiles. But on the outside, there were hints of her family's power—plants green and lush even in winter, the absence of smoke coming from the chimneys, the overwhelming aura of power hanging over the house. And inside, Rowan learned what each of those levels were—third level was the attic, second level was the bedrooms, the family library, her grandparents' studies and rooms that were never given a purpose, while the first level was the foyer, the kitchen, the living room with an old TV and a cabinet overflowing with VHS tapes and a gramophone with old records next to it, the parlour room—Rowan had to take a moment to process that and remember her family was rich—the games room and the Arena—a room that you got to via what appeared to be a broom closet, but if you pressed on a panel just right, the floor would drop out from under you and you would land in a spacious cavern underneath the Graveswood manor, with a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, small windows carved into walls plastered over with cement, and rows of seats along the walls to watch the Graveswood in the main space use their powers. And thanks to her family's abilities, the place was never overwhelmingly hot or chillingly cold, even in the heights of summer and winter, or damp.

Her family's secret training room, used for generations and never discovered. When they first dropped in there, after the siblings screamed because they had not been expecting that, Alistair had stared wide-eyed and whispered, "It's like a hobbit hole." 

Rowan thought it was more Scooby Doo, with the secret rooms and drop-out floors if you pressed on something, but she could see where it looked like a hobbit hole—having nerds for a best friend and little brother paid off, sometimes.

Now, it was almost normal now for Rowan to press on the secret panel, the floor to drop out and land on the cushioned pad, to head out onto the training room floor where their grandmother already waited. 

"Hello, kids," she greeted, a smile on her face. Rowan responded with a grunt and downing back the last of her coffee while Alistair returned the smile and gave a wave, Hugin croaking on his shoulder. Behind them, Rowan heard a creak and saw Percy, Hazel, Sage, Kieran, Amarantha and Ash enter. Neither her aunt, uncle or cousins gave anything away—not even Kieran, Ash or Percy, who Rowan had learned were agents of chaos and that Aunt Aco would love Kieran and Ash—as they sat on the seats. Once they did, Vervain cleared her throat, making Rowan look back to her grandmother.

"Rowan, Alistair," she began, "today is the day of your final test, to prove the results of training your gifts. To help, our family will also use their gifts with yours, to test, as will I. Do you understand?"

Rowan nodded; beside her, Alistair nodded.

"Good. Then the tests shall begin," Vervain declared. Looking at Alistair, she said, "Alistair, wait upstairs."

Rowan blinked rapidly, mouth hanging open. "I'm sorry, what? I thought we would be taking our tests together."

"I'm sorry, but your tests will be taken separately. Rowan, as the eldest, you will begin first while Alistair will start his last," Vervain explained calmly.

"But—" Rowan protested, only for Alistair to hold her arm and say, "It's okay, Rowan. I'll wait."

Rowan's mouth twisted—she didn't like this. Aside from personal sessions, she and Alistair always trained together—trained the powers they had and the powers they didn't know they had until this month. It seemed... odd they would be tested separately.

But a look at her family told Rowan it was apparently normal, so Rowan huffed out a sigh and said, "Fine."

Vervain arched a brow, but Rowan didn't stop Alistair as he headed back upstairs using the stairs, opening up the secret trapdoor and closing it behind him, making it as if it had never been there.

Rowan turned back to her grandmother, who was giving her one of her schooled, neutral looks.

"Rowan Leonora Graveswood," Vervain spoke and Rowan felt everything in her stiffen to attention at the formality even as the non-conformist part of rankled at it, "daughter of Belladonna Wilhelmina Graveswood and Benjamin Curtis-Graveswood. Today is the day of your final test, where you shall prove your control and aptitude over your gifts of electrokinesis, teleportation and telekinesis. Are you ready, granddaughter."

"I'm ready," Rowan answered, clenching and unclenching her fists as sparks stirred to life in her blood.

Vervain nodded. "Then let's begin."

That was all the warning Rowan had. Because a vine covered in thorns was arched for her head.

Rowan's eyes widened and she jumped, teleporting to the other end of the Arena. But she didn't have time to catch her breath before she felt heat coming toward her face, saw the fireball aimed at her. Raising up her hands, a burst of lightning shot out at the fireball, the two elements cancelling each other out. Panting, Rowan felt a whoosh of air and turned to see a blur racing toward her, one that she stopped in his tracks with her telekinesis. But as Kieran stumbled to a halt, caught in her telekinetic hold, puffs of dust scuffing out from his feet, Rowan felt an invisible force gripping her bones and she raised her hand, telekinetically grabbing her aunt as Hazel tried to control Rowan's bones.

Locked in a stalemate with her aunt and feeling her body turn against her, Rowan jumped, landing behind Hazel and giving her a shock. Hazel yelped, but let go, right as the earth rumbled under Rowan, cracking under her as roots crawled out, wrapping around her ankles. Rowan didn't waste time to fry the roots and instead jumped back into the centre of the Arena floor, where Ash and Sage, holding her sister's arm, increased the temperature of the room. Rowan smirked, countering the heat as she concentrated on all the electricity inside her, all the volatility and ferocity.

Above her, the air crackled and rumbled as a storm formed above her, lightning lashing and the wind it brought cooling the room instantly. 

The temperature dropped, and then dropped further as Percy tapped his foot against the floor and shards of ice raced toward her. Rowan thrust out her hand, lightning shattering the ice as she teleported out of the way of more shards, teleporting and firing lightning at the ice shards erupting across the Arena room floor as her uncle had a wild grin on his face. As Rowan made to teleport, she saw her uncle share a look with his sister's kids and they all raised their hands, Percy, Ash and Kieran summoning their respective elements as their eyes and veins flashed blue, orange and yellow while Sage made contact with her brother and uncle, eyes and veins glacial blue and sun-yellow.

Rowan's smirk widened as she teleported across the floor and spread out her arms as a surge of electricity exploded out of her, eliminating the ice, fire and light and knocking back her uncle and cousins with the force. They groaned, stunned but unharmed—Rowan had made certain she got that under control, that it was the first thing she did.

A rush of energy came at her and Rowan whipped around, stopping the energy in its tracks with her telekinesis. Amarantha grinned as she increased the energy, eyes the same bluish purple as her energy. Rowan returned the grin and, with one grip on her telekinesis, Rowan returned the stream of energy her cousin was blasting at her with her lightning. Electricity and energy met in a cataclysmic clash, shorting out the lightbulbs in the swaying chandelier above. When they died down, Rowan decided to return the favour by going on the offence, firing a blast of lightning at her cousin, who retaliated by raising a forcefield, the lightning bouncing off it. Rowan arched a brow and let the electricity die as she teleported behind her cousin, hand raised to give a sting, but Amarantha had already opened a portal, waggling her fingers as she stepped through and portalled to the other end of the Arena, where Sage gripped Amarantha's hand and let go to fire a bolt of energy. Rowan teleported out of the way, and jumped right beside her cousin to give her a zap and teleporting away before Sage could grab her and mimic her powers. 

Teleporting to the centre of the room, Rowan heaved out a breath before she felt vines grab her, pulling her to the ground with iron grips. Rowan's heart seized and for a moment she was in those tunnels, in the Upside Down, screeching vines constricting her instead of Mike as the Demogorgon and the Demodogs advanced, her powers spent, too weak, suffocating as the Upside Down's poisonous air serrated her lungs, Alistair, Dustin, Mike, Lucas, Max and Cami screaming, Will screaming, Nancy screaming, Barb screaming, Steve screaming, they were all screaming and she couldn't breathe she had to get free—

Rowan's body lit up with crackling electricity and the vines lit up on fire, dropping away as Rowan's live-wire body barbecued them, slithering away from her wrists and ankles. Scrambling to her feet, Rowan sucked in lungfuls of air singed by ozone and ash and the sharp, staticky taste of Amarantha's energy, saw her cousins and uncle look at her wide-eyed and Hazel looking at her in concern and her grandmother frowning as those fried vines retreated back into the earth, the toxic green in her grandmother's eyes and veins fading away.

The vines had just been plants, the vines had just been her grandmother's vines, Rowan wasn't captured by the vines of the Upside Down, she wasn't in the Upside Down, she wasn't in the Upside Down. And, given the look from her grandmother, she was supposed to teleport, not fry the vines to a crisp.

Well, sorry Grandma, for being traumatised by monster vines from another dimension.

Rowan grimaced as she felt her heartbeat steady as she wiped away the trickle of blood oozing from her nostril. Only Amarantha, Kieran and Sage copied the motion; it would take more than this to have her grandmother's, aunt's, uncle's and Ash's noses to bleed. Still, even as her nose bled, Rowan didn't feel any lightheadedness, nor did her powers sputter and tremble, like they had two months ago when she almost spent it all up, like they had on the night she fought the Demogorgon alongside Nancy, Jonathan and Steve. Her endurance had grown.

"Stop," Vervain ordered.

Rowan looked back at her grandmother as her cousins' hands dropped and the ice her uncle had been forming evaporated. Hazel's brows were still pinched in concern, but Vervain was as unruffled as ever as she looked at Percy and Hazel and said, "Percival, Hazel, come forward and help Rowan with this last part. Kids, sit down."

Kieran, Ash, Sage and Amarantha nodded, heading to the seats and giving Rowan thumbs up and smiles that Rowan tried to return as her aunt and uncle walked up to her. She had a feeling what this next part was.

It was confirmed when Percy summoned a shard of ice and ripped the sharp edge across his forearm and Hazel kept the wound from closing up.

"Now, Rowan, sweetie, do you remember what we did?" Hazel asked softly. Rowan nodded, looking at the blood as her uncle gave her an assuring smile, as she felt a feeling of comfort and assurance that wasn't hers brush against her bones, trying to keep herself from screaming at her aunt to let her uncle's healing factor close up the wound as the scar on her palm itched because blood drew in the Demogorgon but that wouldn't happen because the gate was closed, the Upside Down was finished, and Lynn was far, far away from Hawkins.

Instead, she kept her eyes trained on the bleeding gash as her aunt's other hand squeezed her shoulder softly and she murmured, "Yeah, I do."

Rowan stepped closer, hand hovering over the wound. Sparks fizzing over her fingers.

"Just concentrate, sweetheart," her aunt instructed. "You won't hurt him."

"And even if you burn me horrendously, I'll just heal up," Percy chuckled. Hazel shot her brother a glare.

"What? Trying to lighten up the kid's mood."

Hazel kept glaring at Percy as Rowan's forehead scrunched up, fingers spitting sparks, before she slammed it against Percy's wound.

Blood oozed between her fingers and her uncle hissed in pain as the electricity leapt at the open wound. Blood and flesh sizzled and the acrid stench of flesh burned Rowan's nose as she kept her hand over the wound, pushing back the memory of the Demogorgon being set on fire, the smell of the charred Demodogs and tunnels she'd barbecued with her lightning. She needed to concentrate, to keep her lightning like this, to not lose control and stop her uncle's heart—or cook him from the inside out.

When she didn't feel blood under her hand, Rowan lifted it, electricity skittering back inside her cells, and saw the wound, now closed up. Cauterised by her lightning, a burn that her uncle's healing factor was already taking care of, that would disappear in an hour.

Hazel smiled. "Well done, Rowan."

Rowan let out a shaky laugh, a relieved smile on her face. 

"Now," her aunt said, "can you feel it?"

Rowan looked at her aunt, at her family, and breathed in a breath as she closed her eyes, focusing better as she stretched her electric sense out.

Immediately, she felt it—the stinging, zapping feeling of electrical impulses throughout the seven bodies around her, different from each person, and not as grating against her natural electricity as the electric impulses of the Upside Down's monsters. And Rowan knew if she concentrated, if what her aunt and grandmother and accounts from Graveswoods who had her abilities in the past said, she could even take control of those impulses herself.

But that felt a bit too much like what the Mind Flayer had done to Will, so Rowan refused to go further. Instead, she just checked, making sure the electric impulses ran as they should, before she opened her eyes and let go of the connection.

Blood dripped again from her nose, and Rowan wiped it away as her family stood up and erupted into applause, as Hazel and Percy squeezed her into a hug before her cousins did the same, as her grandmother smiled and said, "Well done, Rowan."

Rowan looked at Vervain, and asked, "Did I pass?"

"Aside from that... hiccup," her grandmother began, and Rowan resisted the urge to glower, to shrink away remembering why she cowered, "you passed with flying colours. Your control and skill over the gifts you knew you had, of the gifts you discovered while training with us, is fantastic."

Vervain's smile turned softer, sadder. "Your parents would be proud of you."

Rowan smiled, just as sad and soft. "Thanks."

Vervain smiled, before she said, "Now, go upstairs and tell Alistair that his test is starting."

Rowan frowned. Why? If her test was over, shouldn't she be here to support her little brother? A look at her cousins' frowns told her this wasn't normal. 

Was it because of her brother's powers? If it was, then Rowan would teleport back in here because she wasn't scared that Alistair could raise dead animals—hell, she wasn't even scared of the other power he had that had given Rowan a heart attack, of how he could now somehow seperate his soul from his body or something . Alistair was her brother, and she was going to stay here and support him.

"Look, if this is about Al's powers, then forget it. I'm staying here and supporting my little brother," Rowan argued, arms crossed and a frown on her face.

"Rowan, this isn't negotiable. Leave, and call down your brother," Vervain ordered, her gaze flinty.

Rowan gaped, and she looked to her aunt and uncle, but even Percy wasn't arguing against Vervain. And at finding no allies, Rowan scoffed and muttered, "Fine."

She gave a stormy glare to her aunt as she stomped up the stairs, wrenching the trapdoor open and saying in a tight voice, "Vervain wants you for your test, Al."

Alistair, who'd been leaning against the wall, jumped.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, before he looked at her and asked, "How did you go?"

"Fine. Passed with flying colours," Rowan answered. Looking at her brother, how nervous he seemed, she said, "Hey, I can stay down there with you, if you like. Fuck what Vervain says, I'll go down and support you if you say the word."

"Thanks, Rowan, but I... I asked Grandma if you could stay up here," Alistair revealed.

Rowan's eyes widened, worry squirming inside her. "Why? Al, talk to me."

"It's, uh... it's nothing," Alistair said, looking away. "I'll tell you if I pass when I come back up."

And then he went down into the secret trapdoor, falling in just as Kieran, Ash, Sage and Amarantha appeared—apparently, they'd been banished too.

"That's weird," Ash remarked as Sage closed the trapdoor. "Grandma's never had us leave the room before."

Amarantha nodded. "Javier was there for my test. Even though he didn't get powers, he was still there."

"Yeah. We were all there for each other's tests," Sage concurred. Her cousin looked at her and asked, "Why did Gran not want you down there?"

"Talk to Alistair—he's the one who told Vervain he didn't want me there," Rowan muttered, worry and a sliver of hurt colouring her words as she ignored her cousins' looks of surprise.

"Oh," Kieran whispered, before he asked, "Rowan, do you wanna come with us?"

"We're gonna prank Javier," Amarantha said, Sage adding on, "Then me, Ash and Ame are heading out to town to hang out."

Rowan shook her head. "No, thanks. I'll stay here. If I can't be down there, I'm gonna be up here."

Her cousins gave a look, but didn't press as they walked out of the broom closet—to where Rowan supposed they were going to prank Amarantha's brother.

Sighing, Rowan leaned her head back against the wall that didn't have the trick panel, one leg stretched out as she looked up at the ceiling. Raising her hand, she let some sparks form, watching as tendrils of lightning danced and coiled around her fingers.

Waiting for her brother's test to end.

***

When the trapdoor creaked open, Rowan was on her feet and asking, "How'd you go, squirt?"

Alistair looked at her.

Pinpricks of white were dying in his eyes, his curls were messy, and there was an unreadable look on his face clashing with the tiredness. A trickle of blood leaked from his nose, which Alistair wiped away.

"Fine," he mumbled. "I passed."

Rowan beamed and crushed her brother into a hug as he gave out a surprised squawk.

"That's awesome, Al!" Rowan exclaimed, resting her chin on the top of Alistair's head—which was getting harder to do, since he was now nearly the same height as her. God, when did her little brother get so tall?

"Thanks," he mumbled, hugging her back. "Congrats, too."

Rowan smiled and just hugged her brother, before they pulled apart. As they did, Rowan noticed Hazel, Percy and Vervain there, all wearing smiles.

"Well done, kids," Vervain said, pride in her eyes. "You both passed. Now, relax and enjoy the rest of the day with family."

"And tonight, we'll all celebrate with a big dinner," Hazel said, giving a wink to them. Rowan and Alistair grinned.

"I'll help!" Percy offered, to which Hazel threw a murderous look at him.

"No! Last time you helped, you almost burned down the kitchen!"

"That was one time!"

"One time too many!" Hazel countered, stalking away as she muttered, "I swear, for someone who has ice powers, you start a lot of fires, Perce..."

"Hey, Hazel, wait up!" Percy shouted as he ran after his sister, maybe to plead his case he could be trusted in the kitchen. 

Rowan watched her aunt and uncle go before she walked out of the broom closet, intending to find Sage, Ash and Amarantha and see if she could still join them in hanging out, before she noticed her brother stay with their grandmother and talking lowly. Rowan frowned, but she couldn't hear them, and as quickly as the conversation started and her brother walked up to her.

"Hey, squirt, you okay?" she asked.

"Fine," Alistair said, not meeting her eyes. Hugin gave him a look, but Alistair didn't look up at her as he said, "I'm going to the library."

He was walking away, heading to the stairs.

Rowan frowned. After what happened with the Upside Down the first time, they promised never to keep secrets from each other—especially when Alistair admitted to her he liked boys as much as girls and as Rowan hugged him and gave him her support, she'd found the courage to admit to her brother her lack of attraction to the human body. He'd been confused, but he still whispered, "I support you Rowan. I mean, you're supporting me, it's not cool if I don't, right?", and she'd almost broken down crying as she whispered, "I love you so fucking much, squirt," and "I love you too," from Alistair—and that felt like the last of the secrets between them, that they could be honest to each other.

So what was Alistair keeping a secret from her?

***

AHHHH WE'RE ON ACT 3!!!!

I literally cannot hide how excited I am to write this act!!! Season 3 is actually the season that got me hooked on Stranger Things (due to a combination of my mum watching it first and my curious ass wanting to know what she was watching) so I am ECSTATIC to finally write s3 and everything it entails!! (especially in writing Stowan's pining era... 👀)

However, before we get into s3 proper, there are some pre-s3 chapters... including a bit of the Graveswood family!!! I literally love the Graveswood family so much, they're all very close and all very, very powerful. We love a powerful family, both literally and figuratively 😌

Also, if you couldn't tell, because Percy is queer, and Hazel and Quinn (and Aco and Bella) supported their brother, they're supportive of their kids! Robert is too, while Vervain struggles a bit, but she loves her kids and grandkids, no matter what. I wanted to show a little bit of the Addams Family inspo here where the Addams Family were always very accepting, unless you intended to hurt the family (but there are family members who do have problems, and Graveswoods in the past who also did. We don't claim those Graveswoods)

But yeah, I loved the kitchen scene (also showing the married domestic cuteness that is Tristan and Hazel, Imelda and Quinn, and Robert and Vervain—these men really said "I LOVE MY WIFE SHE'S MY GODDESS AND I AM HER HUMBLE WORSHIPPER!!!") and the training scene!! They were an absolute blast to write—I loved showing how much more of a badass Rowan has gotten since Act One. My girl has grown so much 🥰—but I also loved showing off the different powers of the Graveswood clan! All the Graveswoods are very powerful and shocked be feared >:)

And yeah, the vines Vervain can wield do give Rowan flashbacks of the Upside Down's vines 😢

But also, I loved showing new powers of Rowan's—she can create storms and use her electricity to heal/cauterise open wounds and use her electric sense to "sense" the electricity in human bodies!! Like I said, I love showing the growth of Rowan's powers and her new ones (and how they'll help in the Upside Down...)

And Alistair and Rowan! I missed writing my fave pair of siblings, and was so glad to be writing them again! They've grown a bit and grown a bit apart, but they're still really close. And yeah, Alistair and Rowan had a mutual coming out, which I loved writing so much! (Alistair doesn't really "get" why his sister doesn't feel sexual attraction because, 80s and how hyper-sexualised it was and still is today, but he'd feel like a shitty brother and a hypocrite if he didn't support his big sister when she's supporting him so he'll support her even if he doesn't get it) Also, what secret is Alistair hiding? 👀

But yeah, chapter after next, where we'll be having a fun hang out with Rowan and the girls, we'll be back in Hawkins! And back to Steve! (Again, literally so excited to write Stowan's pining era) But I also can't wait to write Rowan's sisterly friendship with El (and yeah, if it isn't clear, she did explain to El what Satan's curse is, because I don't think El would have been explained what it was in the lab and Hopper would be too panicked and flustered to tell El) and all the friendships and summer vibes in Act 3!!! (especially after all the autumn vibes from the past two seasons...) Along with showing Rowan's sarcastically comedic side, since this is the "lighter" season after all

See you all next chapter! Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!