24.

"ᶠᵉᵃʳ ᵐⁱᵍʰᵗ ᵇᵉ ᵗʰᵉ ᵈᵉᵃᵗʰ ᵒᶠ ᵐᵉ
ᵈᵒⁿ'ᵗ ᵏⁿᵒʷ ʷʰᵃᵗ'ˢ ⁱⁿˢⁱᵈᵉ ᵒᶠ ᵐᵉ ."
—ᵈᵒᵘᵇᵗ ᵇʸ ᵗʷᵉⁿᵗʸ ᵒⁿᵉ ᵖⁱˡᵒᵗˢ

"The Gate." Steve and Dustin said in unison as they stared at the Russian's trying to use high tech power tools to open one of the gates that leads into the upside down. Both of them knew it only meant trouble. But the three girls watching in confusion beside them were oblivious to how much bigger the situation was. How much worse it was going to get the longer they stayed down there.

Guiding the three girls back down the stairs quickly. Only wanting to get out of the place. They had gotten the keycard off the guard, that was all they needed to get back up to the mall. Back up to the rest of their friends. Steve and Dustin would much rather walk that long ass hallway again then be anywhere near the gate if the Russian soldiers and scientists were able to get through it.

"I don't understand. You've seen this before?" Robin asked, still confused. After the boys went on rambling as to why they needed to leave.

"Not exactly." Steve replied.

"Then what, exactly?" Halle snapped. She was irritated and honestly, done being in the dark. If this had anything to do with what Steve and Dustin were whispering about back in the hallway, she just wanted to know.

"All you need to know is it's bad." Dustin informed them.

"It's really bad." Steve added.

"Like, end-of-the-human-race-as-we-know-it kind of bad." Dustin said.

"Is he serious?" Halle asked.

"So serious." Steve nodded his head.

"And you know about this, how?" Robin questioned.

"Um, Steve? Where's your Russian friend?" Erica chimed in, taking notice of the missing guard that Steve had knocked out. The older teens looked down at the ground to see that he was in fact missing. All the while the alarms began to sound, red and blue lights flashing.

"Shit." Steve let out. He ran towards the door to see through the window. Seeing the Russian guard being assisted by a few other people outside the room. More guards appeared before their eyes fell onto Steve.

"Go! Go!" Steve yelled, herding them all back towards the stairs. Dustin began leading them through the upstairs, opening random doors to try to escape when they came to a halt. A few scientists turned to look at them before the kids ran the other direction, shouting at each other in the process.

Dustin screeched while he charged into a person in a hazmat suit, clearing the way for the others behind him all the while the guards were chasing after them. The boy began to curse when they all ended up right next to the big laser beam trying to cut through into the gate of the upside down.

"Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit!"

"Dustin, shut the hell up!" Halle yelled at him.

"This way!" Steve called to them, dodging the guards again. They made it to another room where Steve began to hold the door to block the guards from coming in.

"Robin!" Steve called out for help. The girl instantly ran over to go help him.

"Here, come on! Lets go!" Erica yelled, ushering towards the vent, beginning to climb into it.

"Come on!" Dustin told Steve and Robin who were by the door.

"Go! Just get out of here!" Steve said to Dustin.

"No! Come on, now." Dustin went towards the vent as Halle ushered him in.

"No! Just go get some help, okay? Halle, go with them!" Steve yelled. The girl looked between Steve and Robin and Dustin and Erica. Robin nodded at her to go while Halle let out a sigh.

"I won't forget you!" Dustin told Steve.

"Go!" Robin and Steve screamed. Halle pushed Dustin to go before getting in the floor vent behind him.

The three hidden in the floor heard the commotion above. Halle tried her best to restrain Dustin from going back for Steve and Robin. Right now the best thing to do was get help. In Dustin's mind he thought the help they needed the most was Amber's. But Erica and Halle soon were going to grab hold of the reins. They had to come up with a plan. All they knew though was that they weren't going to leave Steve and Robin behind.

+

The lights continued to flicker in the hospital which eventually caught the younger kids attention when they realized Amber had disappeared. Their last adult figure was missing which only meant that the lights flickering was a bad sign. And looking to El for more clarity, they were proven that something was wrong however when Will reached up to grab the back of his neck. Suddenly feeling that cold and darkness creep over him.

"He's here." Will announced. El breathed deeply, as a hint of anger surfaced inside of her.

Amber had no patience to wait for the elevator, so she opted for the stairs. The adrenal running through her was enough to get her to where she needed to be without being exhausted. She was on a mission to find Nancy and Jonathan now that she knew there was something happening.

"Nancy run!" She heard the echo of Jonathan's voice call out to his girlfriend. That made Amber run faster, going up each level until she busted through a door that led to a deserted floor that was going through renovations. Amber heard the squeaking of shoes and panting coming towards her, which caused her to run in the direction. A loud roar echoed in the distance.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me. I know for a fact that it isn't a ghost." Amber let out.

Coming around the corner, her eyes landed on a pile of mush that began to slide under the door to one of the rooms. She saw a figure move on the other side of the hallway, realizing it was Jonathan holding his own makeshift weapon. Amber was quick on her feet to head towards the room. Jonathan runs to reach the same destination.

Kicking in through the already bent door. Amber saw Nancy cowering in the corner as the spider-like creature got closer to her. A fire blazed in her eyes seeing Nancy in danger. Without thinking, Amber raised her hand in the air. A spark of a flame seemed to flicker at the end of her fingers tips before her hand started to form into a fist. The creature screeched in pain, almost as if it was feeling the fire from within the girl. It was like it was burning alive just by her imaginary hold on it.

Jonathan called for Nancy to come towards them while Amber had the monster distracted from the pain it was in. Amber held onto the creature with almost an iron-grip. Blocking everything else out around her. Her eyes focused on the small flame that soon ignited one of the monster's legs. The fire she had caused without being aware of it. She hadn't even realized the rest of the kids had come until she heard Eleven let out a scream in anger. Taking hold of the monster, flinging it around the room before throwing it out the window.

Amber blinked a few times, before falling back to reality. A streak of blood running down her nose. She turned to look at the rest of the group. Eleven looked at her out of breath and a little concerned before the younger kids were quick to run outside to where the El discarded the mind flayer. Jonathan went to wipe the blood from Amber's face but quickly recoiled once he touched her. The heat that radiated from her body felt like an open flame.

"Amber, you're burning up." He said.

"I'm fine." She brushed it off, wiping her own nose. Amber took in Jonathan's appearance who had blood on him. Before looking to see Nancy sweating with her mascara running.

"Are you two alright?" Amber asked them. Jonathan nodded his head in response while Nancy was quick to rush over to Amber. She let out a small cry, before wrapping her arms around the girl. Nancy took note that Jonathan was right that Amber was burning up. But she had cooled down a bit from when Jonathan had first touched her skin.

"Thank you." Nancy whispered out.

"Come on." Jonathan pulled on the two girls as they headed outside. Seeing the goo of the monster seep into the sewer drain in front of the hospital. Going god knows where. Which only meant that it was bound to be back again. And that was going to be proven true in under the next 24 hours.