Stranger Things: Orphan of the Upside Down

In 1987, the darkness hanging over Hawkins had never lifted. Lina Petrova steps out of a safe house on the edge of the Upside Down. Raised in the shadow of a dimensional rift, the girl carries a rusted metal box left behind by her parents as she infiltrates the town as a transfer student. Her pale skin, sensitivity to light, and the faint purple markings on her arm all speak to her connection with the Upside Down. The town's calm is a fragile illusion. Teenagers are disappearing one after another, their deaths eerily similar to attacks from the Upside Down, yet no trace of a monster can be found. Taylor Carter, curious and solitary, is drawn to Lina's mystery, and the two are unexpectedly caught up in a conspiracy called the “Purification Society.” Made up of relatives of the victims of human experiments, this extremist group sees Lina as a “dimensional curse” and wants to sacrifice her in an ancient ritual, while secretly plotting to open a new rift. Research notes in the metal box, cryptic hints from a retired researcher, and the increasingly pronounced mark on Lina's body all push her toward the heart of the truth: her parents were both lab researchers and defectors from the Purification Society. The path to survival they laid down with their lives hides the key to reinforcing the dimensional barrier. As the ritual bells ring and dimensional vibrations tear through the town, Lina must choose between keeping her identity hidden and saving Hawkins. Side by side with Taylor, she fights her pursuers and unravels their lies, seeking redemption and a place to belong as an outsider amid humanity's struggles and the rifts between dimensions. The secret of Hawkins will finally be revealed by an orphan of the Upside Down.