TEENAGE NIGHTMARE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN — PART ONE.
THE TUNNELS.

( gif by SPDERVERSE )

Charlie had never been one to get carsick, but with the reckless way Joyce was driving, he was beginning to think that would change. He was wedged in between Mike and Will, while Bob sat in the front holding the map in front of him, trying to direct Joyce to the mark on the paper. Joseph had opted to driving his own car behind them, headlights gleaming in the darkness as he followed their trail. Mike had left his walkie with Joseph, the trio of boys having Will's to alert him of any changes.

" There's nothing, there's nothing here! " Mike insisted, and Charlie looked out the window to see that he was right, as usual. It was pitch black out, making it hard to see anything if it even was there, but Charlie realized that they were just driving down an empty backroad through nothing but trees and open fields.

" Are-are we close? " Joyce asked, briefly glancing over at Bob, who attempted to straighten the map further.

" We're in the vicinity. "

" What does that mean— the vicinity? "

" It-it means we're close, I don't know, it's not precise— " While the couple bantered back and forth, Charlie and Mike both glanced over to see Will's eyes closed, a look of concentration on his face.

" We did all that work— "

" TURN RIGHT! " Will suddenly ordered, making everyone's heads snap to look at him as his eyes flew open, hands reaching out to grip the back of Bob's seat.

" What? " Joyce asked, and Will tapped his hand impatiently against the seat.

" I saw him. "

" Where? "

" Not here, in my Now memories! " Will insisted, and Bob instantly looked confused, looking at Will through the rear view mirror as he questioned what he said; Will didn't bother trying to explain, instead repeating, " Turn right! "

Joyce didn't need to be told a third time, and she abruptly swerved off the road, driving into an open field that broke within the line of trees. Charlie turned around to see his father quickly follow their move, albeit a bit reluctantly. Everyone in the car started screaming as the lights shone on Hopper's truck ahead of them, the brakes squealing as Joyce slammed her foot on it. The came to a screeching stop just a foot short from crashing into Hopper's vehicle. They quickly recovered, heavy pants filling the car as Joyce turned around to look at the trio of boys.

" Are you okay? " She asked, concern written on her face as they all nodded; the walkie in Will's lap crackled with static, then they heard Joseph's voice break through.

" Are you on drugs, Joyce?! What the hell was that? "

" Minor detour, Dad. " Charlie commented lamely, taking the walkie from Will to answer his father as Joyce took the keys out of the car; Mike looked over at Will with a proud smile and nodded.

" Super spy. "

Bob looked even more confused when he recognized Hopper's truck, " What's Jim doing here? Joyce? "

Joyce didn't answer, she just stared at the empty truck and let out a shaky breath before she got out of the car. Bob followed her move, folding the map up and placing it on the dashboard before shutting the passenger's door. Joyce pointed a finger at the boys in the backseat.

" Boys, I need you to stay here. " She insisted, and Will shook his head immediately.

" No, Mom, it's not safe— "

" Which is why I need you to stay here. Stay here. " She repeated, giving them all a stern look before shutting the door and walking towards the pumpkin patch, past Hopper's truck; Joseph also got out of his car, holding the walkie to his mouth as he jogged to catch up with Joyce and Bob.

" Boys, if anything happens down here, I'll let you know and you go get help. And vice versa. " He stated, and all of the boys just looked to each other with uneasy expressions; the only help they'd be getting would come in the form of Lucas and Max, or Dustin and Franny, which probably wouldn't do much good if something seriously bad happened in the tunnels.

Still, Mike replied flatly, " Got it, Mr. Walker. "

Then, the boys were no longer able to see the figures of the three adults, the darkness absorbing them. They sat quietly for a moment, but then Mike looked over at Charlie with an expectant look.

" We're not staying in the car, are we? "

" Hell no, we're not staying in the car. "

X X X

On the short ride to Dustin's house, Franny was starting to remember why she didn't have her own bike and instead relied on JP for transportation. The awful feeling of her legs rubbing raw against the seat was reminiscent to her childhood days, and she would rather not think of those. She'd gotten to Dustin's house quickly, but there was no sign of Dustin. It was dark outside, and there were no lights on inside the house, so she assumed that his mother had gone to sleep.

She waited for a few minutes, then moved to grab Charlie's walkie from the waistband of her shorts, stopping only when the sound of tires against gravel came, a blinding light flashing in her eyes. Franny raised a hand to shield her eyes, and the car came to a stop just a few feet from her, the lights shutting off with the engine. She blinked a few times before she was able to see the familiar car while two figures got out, one significantly taller than the other.

" Franny, thank god, " Dustin said in relief, approaching the brunette, who noticed the headset he wore in place of his walkie, a microphone near his mouth as he grinned at her. " I thought I was going to be stuck with Mr. Perfect here alone. "

The girl's eyebrow quirked as she heard a shout of protest, and the other person walked up from the shadows. Franny stepped beside Dustin, eyes narrowed as she tried to make out his outline through the darkness. A baseball bat hung loosely from one of his hands, embedded with nails shooting out at every angle, and he wore a somewhat sheepish look as her eyes found his.

" Steve? " She said, glancing down at Dustin with a confused expression before looking back at the lanky teen. " Steve, what are you doing here? "

" Uh, here to kill this. . Demogorgon-thing, " Steve explained uncertainly, shrugging lightly, " I'm still not entirely sure. "

Franny shot Dustin a disapproving look, and the curly haired boy lifted his hands in exasperation, " What?! No one else was answering, and, no offense, Fran, but I need more backup than just you, "

" How did you even find him? "

" I went to your house to look for reinforcements, he was just standing outside with some thing— " Dustin was cut off as Steve elbowed him sharply, giving him a look that told him to shut up, " Ow! What the hell? "

Franny tilted her head at Steve questionably, " You were at my house? "

If there was some sort of light in the midst of the darkness around them, then the creeping blush on Steve's face would've been easily seen as he stuttered out a response, " Uh, y-yeah, I mean, I was just coming to check up on you, but, seems like you're fine, good, great. . yeah. "

Franny shortly laughed, a hesitant smile on her face as she agreed, " Yeah, I'm good. "

" Alright, cut that shit out and let's get to business. " Dustin declared, making both of the teenagers turn to him with a glare as he pushed past them both, turning on the flashlight in his hand and walking over to the cellar doors.

Even though she was aware that they were in the middle of something that seemed really important and probably super dangerous, Franny's mind couldn't help but drift at the thought of Steve waiting outside her house. She could imagine him rehearsing even just the greeting, because, as much as he liked to pretend he wasn't, Steve Harrington was very much so a ball of nerves when it came to unfamiliar territory. He did a good job of hiding it, but Franny had come to see through the facade over the past days.

Steve and Franny followed Dustin, standing in front of the cellar on either side of the boy. He was staring at the doors, holding the flashlight out for Steve to take as he walked closer to the cellar. Steve was quiet for a moment, the sound of crickets chirping and a distant owl hooting the only noise any of them heard.

" I don't hear shit. " Steve voiced, looking down at the cellar, the end of his bat nearly scraping the metal doors. Franny got an eery feeling from just standing outside in the middle of the night, the cool fall air making goosebumps appear on her arms.

" He's down there. " Dustin insisted, and Franny looked over at him with a lowered brow.

" He? "

" Dart. "

" Dart? "

" Yes, woman, have you not been following any of this? " Dustin questioned, and Franny gave him a dry look.

" Not really, you kind of just said you needed help and showed up. Steve said we're supposed to be killing a Demogorgon? " She asked, and Dustin tilted his head from side to side thoughtfully.

" Kind of, but not really. Right now, he's more of a Demodog. " He answered, and Franny exhaled through a shaky laugh.

" Oh, okay, a Demodog, that's much better. " She sarcastically replied, nervously grabbing her injured hand and squeezing her own wrist. Steve glanced back at them both before jabbing the bat at the door, rattling the chain locked around the handles. Nothing responded.

Steve bit his lip and moved forward to hit the bat more forcefully against the door, quickly stepping back just in case something did burst out. Again, nothing happened, and Steve paused for a moment before turning and shining the light in Dustin's, and, in turn, Franny's eyes.

" Alright, listen, kid, I swear, if this is some sort of Halloween prank, you're dead. " Steve warned him flatly, and Franny wanted to point out that it was November now, but refrained. " Alright? "

" It's not, it's not a prank! " Dustin insisted, and Franny drowned as she felt her hand pulsing again, shoving both her hands into the pockets of her denim shorts.

She looked to Steve, and, with a deadly serious expression, she promised, " It's not a prank, Steve. "

Whether that reassured him or only scared him, Franny couldn't tell. Steve's eyes lingered on her for a moment before he nodded in acceptance, directing the flashlight back in Dustin's face.

" Get that thing out of my face. " Dustin remarked, but Steve ignored him.

" You got a key for this thing? " Dustin dug into his pants' pocket for a moment before pulling out a keychain with a single key on it, tossing it to Steve. He crouched down by the cellar and shoved the key into the lock, twisting it and pulling it off of the chain. He unraveled the chain and threw it off to the side, standing and leaning forward to tug the doors open, the rusting metal squealing loudly.

Dustin went closer, having taken the flashlight back when Steve unlocked the doors. Franny also moved, shifting to stand directly behind Steve, looking over his crouched position to stare into the pitch black cellar. Dustin pointed the flashlight down, but it didn't provide much help other than clearly defining the descending concrete stairs and the floor. The trio all paused for a moment, but then Steve picked up his bat and took the flashlight from Dustin again, as if moving the light an inch would show him anything else.

" He must be further down there. " Dustin commented, and Franny pressed her lips together, not liking the idea he was subtly suggesting. The curly haired boy continued, sounding much more distracted by fear now, " I'll stay up here in case he tries to. . escape. "

Steve turned his head to look at Dustin with an expression of disbelief in his eyes, and he slowly shook his head as his role had apparently been silently decided. He looked back down into the cellar and sighed. Franny felt a knot in her stomach, the suspense finally getting to her as Steve stood up, readjusting his grip on the bat, stepping down onto the first of a dozen stairs.

" Wait, " Franny called, reaching forward and grabbing the sleeve of Steve's jean jacket, pulling him back an inch and making him glance back at her with raised eyebrows; per usual, she could feel her sudden bravery dwindling quickly, filling her head of everything that could go wrong if she went down there. The Demodog, Dart, what if it somehow triggered the thing in her hand? What if it lunged from the shadows and took a huge chunk of flesh right out of her? What if. . . Steve went alone and didn't come back up because there was no one to help him?

Franny's sense of self preservation was strong, but not nearly enough to outweigh the immense guilt and regret she would experience for years to come if she let something happen to Steve because she was too scared to face whatever was in the depths of the cellar.

" I'm coming with you. " She decided, locking eyes with Steve purposefully to tell him not to try and talk her out of it; and, he wouldn't, because he could tell from just that determined look in those blue green eyes that all protesting would do was stall the inevitable.

So, he just stared back at her and said, " Okay. "

With those four words, Franny Walker sealed her fate, and she released Steve's jacket, following him down the stairs slowly until they descended down to the flat floor. The flashlight provided almost nothing in terms of sight, and all Franny could really see was Steve standing slightly in front of her as he swiveled the flashlight back and forth. She could make out the outlines of boxes stacked on top of each other, but not what was written on them, and she was then painfully aware that the farther they got from the doors, there was even less light than they had to begin with.

Then, something hit Franny's foot with a clink, making her instantly jump backwards, covering her mouth in surprise and clutching onto Steve's forearm with her wounded hand. Steve stopped and pointed the light near her foot, where an old bolt rolling along the floor. Franny felt brief relief hit her, and Steve glanced over at her, his eyes darting down to her hand on his arm quickly before he asked her a silent question: Are you okay?

Franny nodded, and, to reassure herself more than him, she lowered her hand to interlock their fingers, squeezing his hand in response. Steve's eyes flitted down again, but he nodded to her after that, continuing to walk further into the cellar with her right beside him. At the most inappropriate time possible, Charlie's earlier words were echoing in her head as she felt some sort of spark of electricity shoot through her fingers, the knot in her stomach multiplying for two scarily opposite reason.

Something made another clinking noise, and she felt Steve jerk backwards as he waved his hand in front of him before he pulled on something and dim light suddenly burst into the room. The lightbulb hanging from the ceiling was barely an inch away from his head, and Steve shifted the bag from underneath his arm to his hand again as he looked around with the newfound light. Franny's ehes also went to search, but hers hit the ground first, and she saw something that made her squeeze Steve's hand to get his attention.

His head turned towards her, as hers did to meet his eyes, and they were both suddenly aware of their close proximity, their faces inches away from each other. The light behind Steve cascaded a shadow over his face, making it hard for Franny to see if he was looking her in the eyes or not, but she lowered hers, darting from his eyes to his face as a whole before she looked down at the floor. Steve's lingered on her face for a moment, trying his best to read her, but she felt him follow her gaze at the ground after a second.

A disgustedly confused look appeared on his face, and he leaned the bat down, a film of milky white, slimy substance collecting on it as he raised it up towards the light. Franny nearly gagged, the sudden sour smell filling the air and the sight of it not at all appealing either as it made wet noises, some of it slipping off of the bat and falling to the floor with a squish.

" Shit. " Steve muttered, and Franny almost opened her mouth to agree, but she stopped when she saw his eyes catch on to something else; with furrowed eyebrows, she glanced over in the direction and saw what was probably more disturbing than the skin they just found.

" Steve? F-Fran? " Dustin's voice echoed from the entrance, and neither of them moved; Steve barely turned his head over his shoulder to call for Dustin.

" Get down here. " He ordered in the most serious tone Franny had ever heard Steve Harrington use; she didn't hear Dustin complain or protest, and, after hearing his quick footsteps down the stairs, the curly haired boy joined them with eyebrows raised questionably before Steve raised his bat, and Dustin's face fell.

" Ah, shit. " He muttered, then, Steve pointed the bag near the wall; Dustin's eyes followed it, and his frown deepened as he stared at the hole in the wall, bricks cracked and crushed to dust on the floor. In a slightly more alarmed voice, he said, " Oh, shit! "

The trio got closer to the hole, crouching beside it as Franny shined the flashlight inside, showing that it was a tunnel, leading into darkness and who knows where, that Dart had to have dug. Dart had escaped.

X X X

Back at the pumpkin patch, Charlie, Will, and Mike stood near the entrance to the tunnels, where a discarded shovel laid. They stared down at the hole in disgust, as slimy, purple tendrils hung across the open entrance as a sort of barrier.

" You see anything? " Mike asked, even though it was hard as hell to see much of anything; Joseph had left his car running for the sake of not leaving them in complete darkness, but it was a good enough distance for it to not really matter.

As Will began to shake his head, Mike clarified, " I mean, in your Now memories? "

Then, just as Charlie was going to try and contact his father with the walkie, a loud engine revving from behind them made the trio of boys turn around quickly. Bright headlights glowered over them as five white vans with words that Charlie couldn't make out printed across the sides entered the pumpkin patch, surrounding the cars already there. Charlie felt alarm run through him, and he looked between Will and Mike to see if they had any bright ideas, only to find they both wore similar looks of worry.

No sooner than they had arrived, people in what looked like silver hazmat suits climbed out of the vans, running out to them with flashlights and blowtorches in hand. They said nothing to the three boys except for telling them to stay back, and then one of the men disappeared within the tunnel. The others scattered around the field, and Charlie lifted the walkie to his mouth, hand shaking as a newfound panic spread over him.

" D-Dad? Are you guys okay? There-there are people out here. . Dad? " He whispered, but there was no response other than pure static. Then, the crackling ceased slightly enough for him to her a relieving voice.

" Charlie, we're okay, we— " His reassurance was short lived as Will suddenly collapsed to the ground out of nowhere, making incoherent noises as his body shook, eyes rolled into the back of his head.

" Will?! " Charlie exclaimed, dropping to his knees with Mike as they sat on either side of the seizing boy; he grabbed his shoulder, although he was afraid that touching him would somehow make it worse, " Will! "

" Will, are you okay?! " Mike asked, and Charlie subconsciously yelled at him for asking such a dumb, unnecessary question, but he kept his mouth shut as Will suddenly fell back flat against the ground, mouth open and a loud, bone rattling screech erupted from him.

Charlie and Mike both scrambled backwards, grabbing each other's arms in surprise as they stared with wide eyed horror as Will's entire body trembled and convulsed with the high pitched scream. The lab workers ran over to them, surrounding the boy as they spoke to each other, not loud enough to fight the blood rushing in Charlie's ears as the image of Will seemingly dying was burned into his brain.

X X X

Franny, Dustin, and Steve had decided on spending the night at the Walker's house to sleep on whatever they had just discovered, hoping that they'd be a bit more clearheaded in the morning. Dustin has already climbed into the backseat of Steve's car, and Steve stood near the driver's side with the door open, hesitating when he noticed that Franny was standing idly by her own door, hand on the handle but unmoving as she held her injured palm up, eyes glued to it with a pained expression.

" Hey, " Steve called, making her eyes snap up to his as he gestured to her hand, " you, uh, you okay? "

" Y– " Franny began to reply with her immediate answer, whether it was true or not, but she cut herself off as her hand suddenly burned, feeling as though it'd been engulfed in flames as it trembled violently, making her step back from the car as she glanced down at it with panic-ridden eyes. The burning rose up her arm, spreading throughout her body, and the pulsing was beating heavily within her blood; she heard the sound of a familiar scream, and she suddenly fell, knees colliding harshly against Dustin's driveway as she clutched her wrist, trying to stop the shaking as Steve ran over to her, shouting her name. She couldn't hear him, even as he kneeled in front of he, attempting to grab her hand. The screeching wail in her ears was deafening, and her eyes were getting bleary as she tried to look at Steve's face, seeing his mouth hazily moving.

She hadn't even noticed how hard she was breathing, her lungs feeling as though all the oxygen had been ripped from them as she recoiled from Steve's hands as the white hot pain spread throughout her entire body within a snap. She felt herself losing consciousness, somehow able to recognize the feeling as she finally figured out the screaming that echoed in her head.

" Will. " She whispered, then she heard a thud and the edges around her vision had gone black; Dustin was shouting from the car, and Steve was still calling her name in a panicked voice. She didn't even realize she had fallen, nor did she feel her entire body shaking, the burning sensation riddling her entire being too extreme to notice anything else. The last thing she could see was the blurry face of Steve Harrington as he lifted her head with a hand, keeping it from slamming into the concrete, his words barely whispers ringing in her ears.

X X X

note.
so, totally unrelated to the event I just ended on, but I'm curious as to who your favorite Walker is! While I could never really pick a favorite since I hold them all near and dead to my heart, I want to know who you guys like the best and why!

we're also finally getting to the real action of season two

as always, all comments, questions, predictions, and feedback are greatly appreciated!