Every Breath You Take Stranger Things Novels & Stories

They all stood there frozen. “Breath,” he repeated, ignoring my rant. Sasha's tense shoulders gradually eased as she looked up into the stranger's eyes. With a hesitant nod, she took a deep breath. My watchful gaze softened just a fraction. “That's it,” the stranger encouraged. “Now let's close our eyes and imagine a peaceful place.” As Sasha obediently followed his instructions, my skepticism began to wane. I watched as my daughter's features slowly softened, the tension in her expression giving way to a sense of calm. The stranger's presence, once a threat in my eyes, now seemed oddly comforting.

Cheryl stared. “Eat?” The man gestured loosely with his half-empty flute. “Of course,” he said as if it had been the most logical thing in the world to say to her. The most obvious. An edge of caution cut into her mind. Cheryl looked at him, really looked at him. He met her eyes. “But… I don’t know who you are,” she said, in a low, strained voice. “You could be anyone… To me you’re just a stranger, someone I met just now, on the streets…”

The stranger's embrace offers a sense of security and warmth that penetrates through the cold despair that had gripped her. “Breathe -” In the midst of her dizziness, a faint image flickers before her eyes, accompanied by a gentle voice that resonates in her ear, urging her to breathe. Despite the struggle, she tries to follow the stranger's guidance, her breaths slow and deliberate, gradually steadying her racing heart.

I claw at my throat when the whip snaps again. Strong arms wrap around me and pull me flush against a large, strong chest. “Hey. It's okay. It's not happening. We're home. We're safe. Breathe, love. Breathe. That's it. Good boy. Take another breath. That's it. Breathe, baby boy.” Walker says softly, coaxing me to breathe, slowly pulling me back to reality. I squeeze my eyes closed, gripping his sides with shaking fingers. My chest slowly rises as I take in one lungful of air after another.

she teases. It happens in the blink of an eye. Whitney drops the bottle and we hear Stella coughing violently, gasping and wheezing, trying to take in a breath. "Oh my God, Stella," the fear in her voice is nothing like I've ever heard before. The rest of us look to be on the edge of a freak out, when calm as she ever is, Blaze gets up from her position on the couch, walks over, picks Stella up and walks back over to the couch we were sitting on. Stella is trying to breathe, we can all hear it, the gasp for breath is the scariest sound I've ever heard in my life. Her little throat muscles are working hard as her chest pumps up and down in small little pants, trying desperately to take in air

Aiden couldn’t nod, but he could feel his skin begin to settle, fire slowly extinguishing, body cooling down. He was still out of breath, trying desperately to find it, but he was listening. The stranger seemed to know this. His hands interlocked with his limp fingers and held them tightly. “Good. I know it might be hard right now, and I know you’re really scared, but I need you to take a deep breath with me, okay?” Aiden found that he could now shake his head. The stranger squeezed his hands tighter. “Come on, just one breath. I’ll even do it with you.”

Loretta looped her arm through his, giving me a smug, mocking look. Her lips curled into a small smile as she mouthed, "You lost." I just glanced at the watch. She could go ahead and smile. In a minute, she would be the one crying. Suddenly, Garrett's expression twisted, and his entire body started shaking violently. He collapsed hard onto the floor, curling up in agony. The next sight made everyone's blood run cold. Yellowish pus oozed from his sleeve, spreading fast. And then, small white maggots began writhing their way out.

Not fear. Just a strange, fleeting sense that the world is holding its breath.

I feel the tears running down my face as I flail my arms, trying to hit him to make him let me go so I can breathe. I hear and feel this weird sensation. A strange vibration. It's so loud, somehow it's making it so I'm able to breathe. What is that? I thought as I took a giant breath in. Feeling my lungs, finally filling with air. "That's it baby... Breathe!... Breathe my love!" I hear someone say. I take another deep breath in. My lungs burning as they finally get air. I push away, my eyes feel like they're so large as I frantically look around. Trying to figure out where I am and what's going .

I handed it back to him without looking at him. “There,” I said, trying to sound indifferent, as if this was just another regular moment in my day. “I’ll call you,” he promised, his smile almost mischievous as I turned to leave. “And I’m Evan by the way” he called out,But I didn’t feel like I was walking away from a stranger anymore.