☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

°•. ┊ Daylight┊.•°
✧ ˚ ━ we're the new romantics, act one

CHAPTER EIGHT — the gate

✧

Mike engulfs the mysterious girl in a hug, the rest of us watching the heartfelt interaction. "I never gave up on you." He informs her. "I called you every night. Every night for-"

"353 days...I heard." She interjects.

"Why didn't you ever tell me you were there? That you were okay?" He questions.

"Because I wouldn't let her." Hopper answers. He steps forward. "What the hell is this? Where you been?"

"Where have you been?" The girl fires back.

"You've been hiding her." Mike realizes. "You've been hiding her this whole time!" He shoves Hopper angrily.

"Hey!" Hopper grabs the kid. "Let's talk. Alone." The pair disappear in a separate room. I move over to Steve.

"Is that her? The famous Eleven?" I ask, receiving a nod from the boy. The room is quiet, I don't think anyone knows what to say.

"Sam can create fire with her hands." Dustin admits randomly.

"Henderson!" Steve snaps. Delilah smacks her younger brother upside the head, while Max and Lucas shake their heads.

"What?" The remaining people question.

"I'm sorry. It got really quiet. And it just felt awkward, so I wanted to break the ice."

"And that was the best you could come up with?" Steve asks.

"Wait, can you actually do that?" Nancy inquires. I shrug feeling uncomfortable.

"Yes and no...I did it, once. It was the first time I've ever done it and I don't even know if I could do it again." I reply. "I mean it was nuts."

"No. It was so cool." Lucas says.

"Yeah, we were at the old junkyard waiting for Dart to show up and when he did, he wasn't taking our bait, right? So, Steve went out to get his attention and add human to the menu." Dustin explains.

"The only problem is that Dart brought some friends and Steve was outnumbered and dead meat. But Sammy here, ran out before a Demo-Dog pounced on him and used herself as a human shield." Max adds.

"Only, when the thing went to attack her, she had her arm protecting her face, and her body ignited fire from her hand, which scared the things off. And then when she couldn't figure out how to stop it she was flailing around like a crazy person." Delilah finishes with a laugh. Eleven approaches me and pulls up her sleeve, revealing a number tattooed onto her skin, almost like a brand. She reaches for mine and lifts up my sleeve, only there was no number, she then takes my other arm and does the same, no number again.

"Wait, that's an interesting thought." Nancy states. "What if you were an experiment from the lab?"

"We lived in California our whole lives, it's not possible, Nance." I explain.

"Maybe it is. Maybe the men weren't always working out of Hawkins...Eleven is about the age of Max, meaning there's three possible years where they were elsewhere." She theorizes.

"I guess. But I think if I was kidnapped by evil scientists, someone would have noticed, like my parents." I argue.

"What if they did and just never told you?" Jonathan offers. "You would have only been a baby when it happened. So, if you showed back up one day, you weren't likely to remember anything."

"Okay, say that did happen. Why was I let go?" I question. "A baby can't escape. El was nearly what? Twelve? When she finally got away from them. It doesn't make any sense."

"What if something happened?" Steve inquires. "Something that caused them to clear out and move elsewhere."

"They would've killed me, Harrington." I start. "If you have to jump ship, you're gonna get rid of any incriminating evidence."

"She's got a point." Lila says. "Unless, they didn't think it worked. Maybe they thought that their experiment failed. So, killing you would be cruel and unnecessary because you wouldn't remember anything and you wouldn't be a liability."

"And if she was just born with the power?" Lucas questions. All of these theories floating around are giving me a headache. Everyone continues to talk around me and it feels like the walls are closing in. Hopper and Mike have returned, I know this because I hear their voices chime in. There's a crushing weight on my chest and it's hard to breathe. I bolt outside and squat down, trying to inhale enough oxygen. I'm just starting to breathe again, when someone touches my shoulder, startling me.

"Sorry." El speaks softly. I shake my head. "Are you- okay?"

"Yeah. I'm alright. It's just- there's a lot of people in there. It was getting hard to breathe, but I'm good now." I explain. "Thank you." I smile up at the girl. She squats down to my level and holds out her hand.

"I'm El." She introduces. I take her hand, shaking it.

"I'm Samira. You can call me Sam or Sammy. Whatever you prefer." I say.

"Sammy." The young girl decides, giving me a smile which I return. The moment was ruined by Mike running to the doorway in a panic. He calms down when he sees El and I a few paces away from the open door. He ushers us both inside.

"We missed you." Lucas confesses to El, while he and Dustin hug her.

"I missed you too." She says.

"We talked about you pretty much everyday." Dustin states.

"Teeth."

"What?"

"You have teeth." She points out.

"Oh. You like these pearls?" He makes a weird purring sound. Max takes a step forward.

"Eleven? Hey, um, I'm Max. I've heard a lot about you." El snubs my sister and heads for Joyce.

"Hey. Hey, sweetheart. Hey." Joyce greets as they hug.

"Can I see him?" El asks. The two go to see Will, leaving us in the living room. Quickly, the pair returns, walking into the kitchen.

"You opened this gate before, right?" We hear Joyce ask, as we all approach them.

"Yes."

"Do you think if we got you back there, that you could close it?" Hopper jumps in the conversation.

"It's not like it was before. It's grown. A lot. And, I mean, that's considering we can get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs."

"Demo-Dogs." Dustin's gonna get himself bitchslapped and at this point he deserves it.

"I'm sorry, what?" Hopper questions.

"I said, uh, Demo-Dogs. Like Demogorgon and dogs. You put them together, it sounds pretty badass..." He explains.

"How is this important right now?"

"It's not. I'm sorry."

"I can do it." El states.

"You're not hearing me."

"I'm hearing you. I can do it."

"Even if El can, there's still another problem. If the brain dies, the body dies." Mike reminds.

"I thought that was the whole point." Max offers.

"It is, but if we're really right about this...I mean, if El closes the gate and kills the mind flayer's army..." Mike starts.

"Will's a part of that army." Lucas realizes.

"Closing the gate will kill him." Joyce lifts her head and stands without saying a word. We follow her into Will's room, it's freezing.

"He likes it cold." Joyce breathes.

"What?" Hop questions.

"It's what Will kept saying to me. He likes it cold." She walks over to the window and slams it shut. "We keep giving it what it wants."

"If this is a virus, and Will's the host, then..." Nancy starts.

Then we need to make the host uninhabitable." Jonathan states.

"So if he likes it cold..." I speak.

"We need to burn it out of him." Joyce finishes.

"Well, you know how to do that, right, Firefists?" Dustin remarks, earning a glare from everyone and a swift smack to his arm from me.

"We have to do it somewhere he doesn't know this time." Mike says.

"Yeah, somewhere far away." Dustin continues.

Joyce asked me to go help Nancy and Steve find any old heaters from the shed stuff. I see Steve and Nancy going through the pile of junk, talking, and halt my movements. I know what he said after Halloween, but I'm not sure if he believed it, let alone if I can. She's his first love. Those feelings never truly go away. And their lives are so intertwined, I don't know if they'll fade at all. It's not really important though. Steve and I are friends and that's all we'll ever be. I shake myself from my thoughts and approach the pair. "I may be a shitty boyfriend, but it turns out, I'm a pretty damn good babysitter." The boy laughs. I smile to myself and clear my throat, making my presence known.

    "Can I help? " I place my hands in my pockets, awkwardly.

    "Yeah, I'll take this inside." Steve says, gesturing to the small heater in his hands, meaning that he's gonna leave the two of us alone. I like Nancy, she was nice to me on my first day and has never given me a reason to dislike her. I just don't want things to be weird between us because of mine and Steve's friendship. Harrington gives Nancy and I each one last look, before walking towards the back door. He places his hand on my waist, moving me over slightly, so he can pass. The warmth of his touch lingers on my body and as my mind focuses on the gesture, a shiver moves down my spine. I roll my shoulders back and shake my head, ridding myself of the thought. I breathe and move towards the pile, sifting through it with the Wheeler girl.

    "I don't want to make an assumption, but there's something there, right?" Nancy questions, causing me to set my gaze upon her instead of the miscellaneous junk. My brows furrow and I turn my head slightly, riddled with confusion. "You and Steve."

    "Oh. We're friends. That's all." I brush off with a chuckle.

    "If you say so. I just, the way he looks at you. He never looked at me or anyone like that. And despite not knowing you all that well, I think that you feel something more for him than you're letting on."

    "Nancy, I know that you guys just broke up. I wouldn't go there."

    "Samira. Steve and I were over long before the relationship officially ended." She states. "You should go for him. You guys are good together." I nod my head with a smile and the two of us resume our hunt, sharing laughs and stories of our week. We don't find anything else that's useful, so we return to the house as everyone starts to break off. Jonathan, Joyce, and Nancy in the car with Will and Hopper and El in the police truck both heading towards different destinations. The rest of us stand on the front steps, watching them go.

    I've been trying to clean things up a bit, starting in the kitchen, when Dustin rushes in and immediately starts removing everything from the fridge, chaotically. "Henderson! What the hell!" I yell at the younger boy, who ignores me and continues his mission. Seconds later, Steve walks in carrying the dead Demo-Dog, wrapped in a blanket. Idiots. The two of us stand parallel to the kid, as he continues to wreak havoc on the Byers' kitchen. "I would not want to be holding that thing." I cringe at Steve's current situation.

    "With the blanket, it's not too bad." He laughs, then quickly whips around, so the creature's head is near my face. "Come on, pet him."

    "No. Get it away from me." I scoff, moving backwards, my legs hitting the counter. The older boy continues his actions. "Seriously, Steve, cut it out."

    "Just give him a kiss." He commands, jokingly. "If you give him a kiss, I'll stop."

    "Not a chance in hell." I reply.

    "Alright. It should fit now." Dustin speaks, causing Steve to turn his attention to him, thankfully. I move away from the pair, standing near the table, where Delilah is currently residing, half asleep.

    "Is this really necessary?" He asks.

"Yes, it is, okay? This is a ground-breaking scientific discovery. We can't just bury it like some common mammal, okay? It's not a dog." Dustin defends, clearly frustrated by Steve's question.

"Alright, alright, alright." The teen begrudgingly moves to shove the creature into the refrigerator. "But you're explaining this to Mrs. Byers, alright?" He slams into the appliance, clearly struggling. I shake Lila's shoulder and she barely lifts her head, as I motion to the Harrington boy. "Help me out." He orders the younger boy. Dustin questions how to help. "Get the door man. The door."  Lila and I watch the pair laughing to ourselves. They finally get the thing in there, closing the door aggressively. "And you two, no help." Steve breathes heavily.

"You didn't ask." I shrug, earning glares from both boys. Steve goes to wash his hands and a conversation strikes in the living room about the lab. Dustin of course jumps in, loudly correcting Mike on the term 'Demo-Dog.' Lila and I follow the boy out of the kitchen.

"Listen, dude, when a coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it. Alright?" Steve says entering the room, while drying his hands with a dish towel.

"Okay, first of all, this isn't some stupid sports game. And second, we're not even in the game. We're on the bench." Mike argues, making a fair point.

"So my point is..." He pauses. "Right. Yeah, we're on the bench ,so, uh there's nothing we can do." He finishes, flicking the towel onto his shoulder.

"That's not entirely true." Dustin states. "I mean, these Demo-dogs, they have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away."

"If we get their attention..." Lucas starts.

"Maybe we can draw them from the lab." Max continues.

"Clear a path to the gate." Mike finishes.

"Yeah, and then we all die." Steve offers loudly.

"That's one point of view." Dustin argues..

"No, that's not a point of view, man. That's a fact." Delilah and I just stand there feeling the exhaustion slowly take over, barely registering this debate. Mike gets some idea and directs us to a part of Will's map in the hallway, then to one where the tunnels connect.

"This is where the chief dug his hole. This is our way into the tunnel. So... Here, right here. This is like a hub. So you got all the tunnels feeding in here. Maybe if we set this on fire..." Mike explains.

"Oh, yeah? That's a no." Steve says.

"Not happening." I snap.

    "No." Delilah speaks. We're all ignored by our younger counterparts.

"The mind flayer would call away his army." Dustin adds.

"They'd all come to stop us." Lucas is too excited about the thought.

"Guys." The three of us fail at getting their attention.

"We circle back to the exit. By the time they realize we're gone..."

"El would be at the gate." Max realizes.

"Hey. Hey! Hey! This is not happening." Steve shouts.

"But..."

"No, no, no, no, no. No buts. We promised we'd keep you shitheads safe," Steve starts, I cut him off.

"And that's exactly what we plan on doing." I add.

"We're staying here. On the bench. And we're waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everybody understand?" Steve questions

"This isn't a stupid sports game." Mike argues

"I said, does everybody understand that?" Harrington repeats his question, dramatically removing the towel from his shoulder. "I need a yes." Before the kids could respond, an all too familiar engine sounds from the driveway catching all of our attention. Max and Lucas are in the window, the rest of us standing behind them.

"It's my brother. He can't know I'm here. He'll kill me." Max rambles. "He'll kill us." She looks at Lucas, the pair move away from the window and my sister turns to me. "Sammy, do something."

"Let me think." I state, my mind going through a million explanations for the situation or just a way to get rid of him. "Okay, you guys, stay out of sight and keep quiet. I can get rid of him."

"How?" Delilah asks.

"Easy. He's expecting to find Max. He was supposed to be watching her and I haven't been home in nearly two days. Billy has no intention of finding me, so he won't question much. All I have to say is that I'm hanging out with Jonathan and Delilah and that I haven't seen or heard from Max all day."

"And if that doesn't work?" Steve questions.

"I'll figure it out." I snap. "I think I know how to get Billy to back off. You've known him less than a week, Harrington. I have to live with the guy." I make my way outside, leaving the door open slightly. Billy kills his engine and gets out of the car.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Smoke enters the atmosphere as he speaks.

"I can ask you the same thing."

"I'm looking for Max. She here?" He asks, taking another drag and stepping forward.

"No. I haven't seen her since yesterday. Why?"

"Well, last I checked, she was in her room. But apparently she snuck out through her window. And now your mom is concerned and my dad is...well you know." He explains. "It's funny how you disappear for multiple days, no one notices, and yet, Max is gone for a few hours and I'm being forced to cancel my date to find her."

"Hilarious." My tone laced with sarcasm. "She isn't here, Billy. Try anywhere else."

"I have. Actually, I have tried everywhere else, so she's gotta be here." The sound of his voice is already giving me a headache. I'm stuck. I won't deny that, but he's being extra dick-ish right now. I hear shuffling behind me and I just know that Steve is coming out to 'save the day.' When really, it's just going to make things worse. "Am I dreaming or is that you, Harrington?"

"Yeah, it's me. Don't cream your pants." He responds dryly, I smile to myself. It was funny. Plus, Billy might as well have a crush on Steve. I mean, why choose Steve to constantly bug, when Tommy is a much easier and more annoying target. And with his whole, 'the high school girls are cows' comment, it just adds to the theory.

"What are you doing here amigo?" Billy asks, inhaling his cancer stick once more.

"I could ask you the same thing. Amigo." Steve responds.

"Looking for my stepsister. A little birdie told me that she was here." He explains. Steve is next to me now, making a slight gesture in my direction. "No, not that one."

"Huh, that's weird. I don't know her."

"Small? Redhead? Bit of a bitch." He says. "Again, not Sam. They're a lot alike, but this one's a major bitch." He smirks, talking about me like I'm not standing right in front of him. And like my knee isn't a few movements away from colliding with his nuts.

"Doesn't ring a bell. Sorry, buddy."

"You know, I don't know, this..." Billy clicks his tongue, stepping close to Steve, as an intimidation tactic. "This whole situation, Harrington, I don't know. It's giving me the heebie-jeebies."

"Oh, yeah? Why's that?"

"My thirteen year old sister goes missing all day. On top of this one being gone for two days." He glances toward me. "And then I find them with you in a stranger's house. And you lie to me about it."

"Man, were you dropped too much as a child or what?" Steve laughs. "I don't know what you don't understand about what I just said. She's not here." His voice dropped a few octaves. And damn.

"Then who is that?" He asks, his hand in the space between Steve and I, pointing to the window. We turn and see the kids and Delilah crowded around it, dropping down very delayed. Son of a bitch. Out of sight. I gave one command. Stay out of sight. But could they follow it? No, of course not.

"Oh, shit. Listen-" Steve gets shoved to the ground.

"I told you to plant your feet." Billy states and before I can register what's happening, my feet are moving to reach the house before he does, and thankfully I'm faster than him. I shoulder him back and place myself in front of the kids, using my body to shield Lucas. "Well, well, well. Lucas Sinclair. What a surprise. I thought I told you to stay away from him, Max."

"Don't be stupid, Hargrove." I speak.

"Billy, go away." Max breathes, fear in her voice.

"You disobeyed me." He seethes, still looking at Max. "Move. Or I'll move you." He commands me

"Billy..." I warn, knowing it won't do any good.

"And you know what happens when you disobey me. I break things." His fist collides with my stomach and he shoves me to the ground. He proceeds to grab Lucas by his collar and slams him against a shelf in the kitchen. Delilah helps me to my feet. I dart over to the pair, doing my best to loosen Billy's grip on the young boy. While everyone else yells, pleading him to stop. "Since Maxine won't listen to me, maybe you will. You stay away from her. Stay away from her! You hear me?" Billy grabs me by the throat and slams me into the wall adjacent to Lucas, only it wasn't too wide and my head hit a door jam, hard. While my ears were ringing and the room was spinning, Lucas knees Billy in the nuts, causing him to release us both. My vision's blurry, but I see Steve marching his way to my stepbrother.

"So dead, Sinclair. You're dead." Billy threatens.

"No. You are." Steve punches him in the face, Lucas rushes to Lila and the rest of the kids; them engulfing their friend in a hug. I use the door jam to pull my body up, leaning against the wall. Billy starts to laugh, manically. Steve plants himself in front of me.

"Looks like you got some fire in you after all, huh? I've been waiting to meet this King Steve everybody's been telling me so much about."

"Get out." Steve demands. The room falls silent for a moment, until Billy tries to throw a punch, which Steve dodges. Steve hits Billy in the face again.

"Yes! Kick his ass, Steve!" Dustin cheers, everyone else joining. Steve continues to hit him, stopping when he has him against the sink. Billy takes a plate, breaking on Steve's head. Ouch. I can finally stand up straight, so I approach the pair, moving around the Harrington boy, who is currently hunched over in pain. I get in Billy's face and the kids go quiet. No one moves. It's like a standoff between us. Each waiting to see who'll make the first move.

"You look a little pale there, Sam." He mocks, moving his face to level with mine. "See what happens when you get in my way" His voice is low and a smirk sets itself on his face. "Now, I'm gonna nicely tell you to get the hell out of my way, so I can kick your boyfriend's ass. I suggest you do so."

"Screw you." I breathe with a slight laugh at how absolutely ridiculous he is. "You lay a hand on him or any of those kids again and I will not hesitate to end you. You got that?"

"Sure. Yeah, sure, Sammy." He runs a hand over his face. "I'm still allowed to do this though." I don't process what he said fast enough and his fist now collides with my face, sending me backwards. Asshole. He goes for Steve again, the fight resuming in the living room. Delilah is next to me, while the kids go watch Billy attempt to kill Steve.

"How bad?"

"Really bad." Her gaze finds the wall behind me and quickly her hand is on the back of my head. When she brings it back in our line of sight, there's blood on her fingertips. A decent amount of it too. "Crap. Sam." We hear loud yells from the kids and I squeeze my eyes tightly, trying to clear my vision.

"It's fine." I shove her off me. "I gotta stop him." I stumble toward the group and see Billy on top of Steve, wailing on him. "Billy! Billy, stop! You won, just cut it out!" I move to grab one of Billy's shoulders, trying to get him away from Steve, but he just shoves me off. I wrap my arm around his neck in a headlock, which doesn't immobilize him, it only returns his focus to me.

"Haven't you learned?" He questions, rhetorically. He stands and I release him from my grasp. He turns to me, taking a step forward, as Max moves behind him. Billy's arm raises to land another hit on me, but this time I take the base of my palm and connect it with his nose, breaking it. The boy stumbles back, due to the actions of both Max and I. He falls to the ground, the sedative taking over. Max went to grab something and I leaned over him, grabbing his shirt to lift him up a bit.

"When provoked...I break things too." I sneer. I drop him back to the ground and move to Steve, who is currently unconscious. Max uses the bat to threaten Billy, while the kids laugh. "Steve? Come on, Harrington. You gotta wake up."

"Let's get out of here." Max states, holding up Billy's keys.

"Absolutely not. Sam, back me up here." Delilah says.

"Please, wake up."  I plead, terrified of the damage Billy may have caused. If we didn't stop him, he would've killed Steve. Jesus. I feel a hand on my shoulder and multiple eyes on me. "What?" I ask, glancing up at the group that has formed around me.

"We're lighting the tunnels on fire." Mike tells me.

"No they're not." Delilah retorts.

"She's right. You're not."

"Come on, Sam. We can do this." Lucas argues.

"No." I snap. "I am."

"Wait, what?" Lila questions.

"I need to watch something burn. We're going." I reply. "Help me get him to the car."

"We are not taking him." Mike speaks.

"Well, we're not leaving him here either. So, either no one goes or you assholes help me get him to the car. Take your pick." I huff. Dustin and I take his upper body, while Delilah and Lucas carry his feet. We load up Billy's muscle car and I've got Steve's head in my lap. Max and Lila are now arguing over who gets to drive. Eventually, Delilah caves and joins Lucas in the passenger seat. Our drive to the tunnel system hasn't been too long, granted my attention is focused on the boy in my arms. Dustin has grabbed an ice pack from the Byers' freezer and is holding it against his head. Steve starts to stir and is mumbling a few things, he goes to touch his face.

"No, don't touch it." Dustin removes his hand. "Hey, buddy. Shh. Shh. It's okay. You put up a good fight. He kicked your ass, but you put up a good fight. You're okay." Steve looks at him and winces, then lets his head fall back into my torso.

"Sammy?" He questions.

"Hey, you're fine. You're okay." I soothe, running my fingers through his hair. His usually soft locks, now knotted. His hand moves to my left eye, assessing the injury. "I'm alright." I take his hand in mine, giving it a gentle squeeze. My attention is grabbed when Lucas gives Max another direction. Now, I've let Max drive multiple times, so I wasn't too worried, but the way Delilah is clutching the dashboard suggests that she feels otherwise.

"What's going on?" I hear Steve ask. "Oh my god!" Dustin attempts to get him to relax, which fails miserably. While Lucas and Mike argue over what counts as driving experience. "Oh my god. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What's going on? Oh, my God. No! Whoa! Stop the car. Slow down. Stop the car!"

"Max, slow down!" I yell over the boys, which gets ignored when Lucas orders her to make an extremely sharp left. And at the speed we were going, I'm surprised we didn't spin out or flip. Everyone begins to scream, including my sister. The remainder of the car ride is just Delilah looking nauseous, Steve gripping my hand and leg like his life depended on it, and Max driving way too fast. We pull into the farm and Max comes to a quick stop. Steve continues to yell.

"Hello!" He shouts, before releasing a breath of relief. Delilah nearly falls out of the car and to the ground, while my sister makes some comment about a zoomer. The rest of us follow in Lila's footsteps, exiting the vehicle and preparing for whatever the hell those tunnels are going to throw at us. With bandanas and goggles on our faces, we grab the rope, gasoline, and start to armor up. We also continue to ignore Steve and his dismay of our actions. "This ends right now!"

"Steve, you're upset, I get it." Dustin starts, sounding like a parent about to lecture his child. "But the bottom line is, a party member requires assistance, and it is our duty to provide that assistance. Now, I know you promised Nance that you would keep us safe. So, keep us safe." He hands the older boy his backpack and before taking it, Steve looks to Delilah and I.

"You're okay with this? You two agreed? I get knocked unconscious for a few minutes and you guys just give in?"

    "Don't look at me. This was all her." Lila throws me under the bus. Steve looks at me like I'm insane.

    "Listen, they were gonna do it anyway. The least we could do is go with them and make sure that when push comes to shove, we're the ones taking major hits, not them." I defend my actions. And Steve sighs, removing his bag from Dustin's hands.

"Now, my sister's gonna stay up here and hold down the fort. So, it's up to you and Sam to protect us. Although by the looks of your guys' faces right now, I'm not sure we made the best choice in protectors." Dustin explains.

"Very funny, dickhead. Let's go." I order. Dustin propels down first, then me, and Steve is the last one to join the rest of the party. Mike claims that he's pretty sure of which direction we need to go and Dustin asks whether or not he's actually sure.

"I'm 100% sure. Just follow me and you'll know." Mike states, trying to take the lead. I pick up my pace and join the Wheeler boy at the front.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, hey, hey, hey. I don't think so." Steve stops us. "Any of you little shits die down here, I'm getting the blame. Got it, dipshit?" He removes the map from Mike's hands. "From here on out, I'm leading the way." He announces. "Come on, let's go. Come on. Hey, a little hustle."

"Shut up." I remark from beside him. We're making good time, until we hear Dustin yelling from behind us. When we get back to him, he's freaking out. "What? What the hell happened?"

"What happened? What happened?" Steve questions.

"It's in my mouth! Some got on my mouth! Shit!" Dustin coughs frantically. He takes a second and then looks up at us. "I'm okay."

"For god's sake, Henderson." I breathe. Everyone else mutters about the idiocy we just witnessed, before we all turn around and keep walking.

"Alright, Wheeler. I think we found your hub." Steve informs.

"Let's drench it." Mike offers. We all spread out and begin to cover the area in gasoline.

"Alright, you guys ready?" Steve asks. Earning 'yeah's' from everyone. "Go for it, Firefly."

"Light her up." Dustin speaks. I focus, trying to recreate what occurred at the junkyard. When it doesn't work, I huff in frustration. "You got this." I look at the young boy and he gives me a thumbs up. When I think back to the events of earlier, the fire came when I was in danger, but if that's not the key...maybe it's emotion. I was protecting Steve when it happened and I was terrified of the possibility of losing him, so maybe that's it. Maybe I can focus on a strong emotion and use it to my advantage. I close my eyes and remember what happened with Billy earlier. From there my mind takes me to when my mom told me we were moving and then to the Halloween party. Anger. As my mind fills with different memories, my body temperature rises and soon enough, fire is exerting from my hands. I launch it towards the hub and watch it catch fire. I start to panic as I realize I don't know how to stop it. My thoughts halt when someone speaks.

"I am in such deep shit." Steve expresses to himself. I turn to look at him and my heart rate slows, my body temp falls, and the flames go out. Bingo. I don't have time to sit with my discovery because Steve is grabbing my forearm and shoving me forward, back through the tunnels. "Go, go, go! Let's go! Let's go!" We all continue to run as fast as we can towards the exit. "This way! This way!" We turn, but are stopped when Mike calls out for help. We find the vines in the tunnels wrapped around his legs and Steve uses the bat to get rid of them.

"We gotta go!" I inform the boys. Our attention shifts toward the creature we were trying to trap earlier.

"Dart." Dustin says, then starts to approach it. We try to stop him, but he ignores us. "Trust me, please. Hey. It's me, it's me. It's just your friend, it's Dustin. It's Dustin, all right? You remember me? Will you let us pass?" The Demo-Dog's face opens up and he snarls at the boy, causing the rest of us to prepare for a fight. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry about the storm cellar. That was a pretty douchey thing to do. You hungry? Yeah?" Dustin pulls out a candy bar and offers it to the creature, allowing us to pass by. "Goodbye, buddy."

We continue our trek out of the tunnel system, until the entire place shifts like an earthquake. We hear growls from behind us and run like hell to the rope. Delilah helps from the otherside as we get Max up first, then Lucas, and then Mike and Dustin. Steve and I realize there's no way that we're both getting out of here before they reach us. "Son of a bitch." I breathe and Steve holds the bat in a swinging position, ready for a fight. I step forward, holding my hands out, getting prepared to use my powers again. "Go!" I yell, turning to look at him. He looks taken aback.

"No! Not without you."

"Don't be an idiot, Harrington. Get the hell out of here." I step towards him.

"No, Sam. It's both of us or neither of us." He states. I shake my head.

"Steve." I start, taking his hand in mine. "Please go. I am begging you to go."

"I'm not gonna leave you behind." He breathes, pressing his forehead against mine. "I'm not walking away, ever. So, either we both get out of here alive or we're together until the world ends. I'm good with either, as long as I have you."

"Fine." I speak hesitantly. We stand beside one another, listening to the rest of the group call out to us. The shadows of the Demo-Dogs catch my eye first, then I see them round the corner. They make a beeline for us, but before I could react, they're running past us. Steve wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me close to him, as we wait for them to pass. We climb out of the tunnels and I'm instantly tackled in a hug by my sister. Delilah and the boys are quick to join. "Alright, get off. We're okay." We gain our footing and the headlights on the car grow in brightness, nearly blinding us. They eventually die down. She did it. She closed the gate.

I'm in Steve's bathroom going through the first aid kit, while he sits on the toilet. I pick up the hydrogen peroxide and some cotton balls, moving to stand before the boy, gently cleaning his wounds. "Geez, Harrington. You're lucky we stopped him otherwise you'd be in a hospital right now with severe head trauma. Probably in a coma." I huff.

    "Maybe I deserve this. I've done some shitty things. This is my karma."

    "For fucks sake, Steve. Nothing you've done in your life, would ever earn you this much karma. And your karma would certainly not involve Billy at all. He's got the worst karma headed his way." I laugh.

    "That's the thing, Sam. You didn't know the person I was a year ago. I was such an asshole."

    "Key word, 'was,' past tense. Now stop self deprecating and let me clean you up." I go to place another cotton ball to his face, but he grabs my wrist gently. I sigh, locking my eyes with his. He goes to speak again, but I cut him off. "I wish that you could see yourself the way I do. You're a good guy, Steve. And nothing you say will change my mind. So, shut the hell up." I finish cleaning up his wounds and then send him downstairs to get a bag of frozen vegetables, while I put away the kit and throw out the used medical products. I join Steve in the kitchen. I lift myself onto his kitchen island, while he moves from the sliding glass door, to stand before me.

    "Thank you." He says, taking the cold bag of peas off his face to look at me. I move a piece of hair back and smile softly. "Samira, I'm gonna tell you something, and I want you to stop me if what I'm saying will ruin our friendship." He starts, causing me to pull my hand back slowly and look at him, puzzled. "Doll Face, we just met, and it's been one hell of a week, but I like you."

    "You mean as a friend?" I ask, hesitantly.

    "No, no. I, uh, I mean as so much more. You're the most amazing person I've ever met. And if you're up for it, I'd like to take you on a date."

    "I'd be okay with that." I smile, blood rushing to my cheeks, revealing my emotions. "I like you too, Harrington. I like you a lot."

[word count: 6500]

lexi's letters; the confession <3