TEENAGE NIGHTMARE
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE — PART ONE.
THE INCINERATION.

( gif by SPDERVERSE )

          Franny's converse were most definitely covered in the wet, squishy soil as soon as she landed down in the tunnels. After all the pain and suffering they'd been through, she'd probably have to dump them and buy a new pair once this was over. The kids all stood a little in front of her, JP standing idly, head fallen back as he stared at the tunnels of the Upside Down. The goggles made everything a bit hazy, but he could still make out the pieces of ash and thick dust floating in the air around them. It reminded him of one of those 'this is what smoking does to your lungs' commercials. He used to scoff at those commercials, but seeing this thing in real life was no joke.

           It smelled musty, making Franny thankful for the factory like scent of the bandana that they'd bought from a nearby dollar store. Steve lowered himself down the rope, his feet touching the ground with a squish and he stepped forward, blinking behind his goggles and looking at the interior.

           " Holy shit. " He muttered, and Franny nodded her head in solemn agreement as she lifted her foot, seeing all the damp dirt still caked onto the sole of her shoe. " How do we even navigate down here? "

           Mike stood at the front of the group, turning on his heel to face them all with a large piece of paper in his hands. He'd quickly scribbled down a copy of Will's map with a red crayon before they left and was holding it up like it was a compass. He glanced down at it briefly, the only reason Franny could tell being the fact that his eyes seemed to grow three sizes from underneath the goggles.

           " Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's this way! " He told them, and JP quirked an eyebrow at how confidently unsure his words were.

            Dustin seemed to agree as he said, " You're 'pretty sure' or are you sure? "

            " I'm one hundred percent sure! " Mike insisted, glancing over his shoulder to Dustin with a pointed look that was useless, considering none of them could even see his face; plus, it was dark enough down there that they probably wouldn't be able to register the annoyance on his face anyways. " Just follow me and you'll know! "

             " Woah, woah, woah, " Steve interrupted, holding a hand out to stop the kids from moving any further; he walked to the front of the group, looking down at Mike, pointing his flashlight at the map briefly before snatching it from his hands, " I don't think so. Any of you little shits die down here, I'm getting the blame, got it, dipshit? "

    
             Franny imagined Mike's signature scowl and eye roll, knowing that was probably his reaction. The girl forcefully pulled her feet up from the soil, her shoes starting to sink into the ground from standing in one place for so long, and she carefully walked in between the kids to get to Steve, holding her hand out towards the map with a raised brow. He let her take it from him as he turned and looked to the rest of the party, declaring, " From here on out, Franny and I are leading the way! "

           JP opted to take the rear of the group, readjusting the goggles on his face as the edges began to dig in to his cheekbones. He couldn't wait to have indentions on his face that would no doubt remind him of Chemistry class. He huffed quietly under his breath at the thought as they began walking further into the tunnels. Up at the front, Franny kept the map clutched in one hand, narrowing her eyes at it to see the thick, red line that they were supposed to be following, and she quietly remarked, " I really hope we don't get lost down here. "

            " With Wheeler's Picasso-level map? " He replied sarcastically, " Nah, we're fine. "

            Franny let out a small chuckle, afraid to laugh too hard and end up sucking in a hefty amount of ash. Steve glanced down at her when she did, seeming a bit surprised. She looked back up at him, shrugging light as she admitted, " I didn't know you knew who Picasso was. "

            " I'm insulted that you think so lowly of my art education. " He stated, and Franny lifted an eyebrow skeptically.

            " Really? Who's Michaelango, then, Mr. Perfect? " She questioned, " Donatello? "

            " Uh, ninja turtles? " Steve answered uncertainly, and Franny rolled her eyes, a humored smile on her face underneath the bandana; the calmness was cut short as they heard an eery howling sound echoing against the walls of the tunnels. It sounded far away, but it still made Franny's blood run cold.

              She suddenly became very aware of the fact that they could possibly die down here. Their sorry excuse for a weapon was Steve's bat, and that was all they had, except for a few cans of gasoline. If a pack of Demodogs came barreling through the tunnels, they'd have nothing to stop them. They were very much screwed if they didn't do this quick enough, and that made Franny's head hurt. She felt Steve's rubber-clad hand against hers and she instinctively lowered her hand into his, squeezing it tightly.

             He looked down at her at the sudden contact, but she didn't meet his eyes, which were comically large due to the goggles. She looked ahead at the tunnels, but she spoke in a hushed voice, " I really don't want to die down here. "

            He seemed a bit taken back by her words, but he quickly recovered, shaking his head lightly as he assured her, " We're not gonna die, Fran, you're not gonna die. I already said I wasn't going to let that happen. "

When she didn't say anything, her eyes still stuck to the dark, dirt ground, Steve squeezed her hand, making her look up at him. Under any other circumstances, he would've genuinely laughed at the way her blue green eyes appeared huge and bug-like, but instead he looked at her with a sense of determination, " I'm serious, Franny. I'm not gonna let that happen to you. Not to any of you. "

He saw her mouth curl up underneath the bandana, and he lingered his gaze on her for a moment more before turning back straight. They continued into the tunnels for a while after that, Franny lifting the map every now and then to tell them where to turn. JP stood near the back, walking in step with Max as the boys filled the middle. He could feel the pain in his nose finally subsiding, but the dried blood on his face itched terribly. He let out an inward groan before saying, " I am going to get so wasted after this. "

" Me too. " Max piped in, and he instantly shot her a look of disbelief, shaking his head slightly.

" Uh, no. " He shot her down, and she grinned, showing him that she was just joking; he let out a quiet scoff, shoving lightly at her shoulder as they continued following Steve and Franny into the tunnels. The place was disgusting, to be quite honest, and JP wasn't one to be picky about cleanliness, hell, he'd even slept in Nancy's bathtub before— after Mr. Wheeler had soaked in it for three hours —but there was something about this place that was off on so many levels. The atmosphere itself felt thick, and it wasn't just because of the ash and clouds of dirt and dust kicked up into the toxic air. Slime stuck to his shoes and he felt like the nasty air was stuck to his lungs, even though they'd barely been there for fifteen minutes. It almost made him rethink his decision of choosing to smoke everyday. Almost.

" I'm sorry my brother broke your nose. " Max suddenly said, and JP shot her a questionable look before turning his head to face forward again.

" Uh, thanks? " He replied unsurely, " It wasn't your fault, though, kid. No offense, but, uh, he's a bit of an asshole. "

" No, he's a huge asshole. " The redhead corrected, and JP breathed heavily out his nose at that, a half grin on his face.

" Yeah, I was just trying to sugar coat it. " He insisted, and, just as Max was about to respond, they walked into a small square, four tunnels leading in opposite directions around them. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but Franny was more focused on the ceiling of the tunnel. Her head was tilted back as she stared up at the bright red glow, covered in slime and pulsing. She felt phantom pain in her hand and flexed it in Steve's reactively.

" What is this place? " Max questioned, and, seeing as none of the others were going to answer her, Franny swallowed down her anxiety and glanced back at the red head.

" Bad place. " She repeated El's description of the Upside Down, then moved to look to the map for direction as they continued walking straight, but she paused suddenly as she heard what sounded like a burst of water. Steve looked over at her with his eyebrows lowered, but he didn't have a chance to ask her what was wrong because he got his answer in the form of a high pitched shriek.

" Dustin. " Franny said aloud, then she released Steve's hand, turning on her heel and pushing Mike out of the way as she ran back to the square, the others right on her heel. They could hear him screaming, and just as they came back into the area, Franny saw the curly haired boy running towards them frantically.

" Help, help! HELP! " He shrieked, tripling and falling face first into the ground near Franny's feet as she quickly crouched down to help him sit up. Lucas called his name as Dustin ripped the bandana from his mouth, coughing and spitting up onto the ground. Franny flinched back but kept her hand on his shoulder as Steve and the others stood behind her.

" What happened?! " Steve questioned, and Dustin shook his head rapidly, continuing to retch onto the dirt.

" It's in my mouth! Some got in my mouth! " He yelled, then, in a very loud, high pitched tone that nearly busted their ear drums, he screamed, " SHIIIIIIIIIT! "

Franny rubbed his back soothingly as the boy heaved and heaved, coughing endlessly as the others just stood around. The girl glanced back and looked to Steve pointedly, but he just dramatically moved his hands as if saying that he didn't know what to do. Dustin finally finished screaming and spitting up, Franny retracting her hand as he moved to sit on his knees, looking up at them when Steve flashed his light in his face. Dustin gave them a dopey grin, as he exhaled calmly.

" I'm okay. "

" Are you serious? " Max muttered.

" Very funny, man. " Steve deadpanned, giving Dustin a look of disbelief as he straightened back up, outstretching his hand to Franny and helping her stand. He purposefully ignored Dustin's hand as Franny wiped the dirt from her knees. " Nice, really nice. "

JP thought it was funny, but he'd never admit that out loud, especially not after seeing how unamused everyone else was. He waited for Dustin to scramble to his feet before he turned and followed the others, placing a hand to the boy's back to keep him ahead on him. The group arrived at another square intersection of connecting tunnels after a few minutes, and Steve told Franny she could put the map away. This one had, not four, but almost a dozen interconnecting tunnels branching off from it, a giant rock sitting in the center, covered in black slime.

" Alright, Wheeler, " Steve announced, placing a hand on his hip as he gripped Franny's with the other, " I think we found your hub. "

Mike seemed to agree, his eyes narrowing behind the goggles, " Let's drench it. "

The group of seven got to work, pulling the gas cans off their backs and taking a portion of the hub for each of them. Lucas had a hose attached to his can, spraying the roof and the higher parts of the walls that the others couldn't reach. The hissing sound made JP think of a faucet running, and he was suddenly aware that he really needed to pee, but he tried not to think about it as he poured the gasoline from his tank over the vines in the far corner. His nose scrunched and he tried to use his other hand to suffocate his nostrils with the bandana to keep the pungent smell of gasoline from engulfing him, but it was no use. He didn't know how he and Franny were related considering she actually liked the smell of gasoline. He could already feel the chemicals burning his nose.

On the other side of the hub, Franny shook her can, making sure every drop of gasoline was soaking into the dirt ground before she tossed it carelessly to the corner. She was definitely against littering, but she could make an exception this one time as she also dumped the gloves. When they all emptied their cans, they followed her action and left them on the ground before they all headed to the tunnel that they had come from. The party of kids all crouched behind Steve, Franny, and JP, huddling back as Steve glanced over his shoulder at them all.

" Alright, " He called, inhaling deeply as he asked, " you guys ready? "

" Ready. " The four kids replied, and Steve shifted his eyes to Franny and JP, raising an eyebrow at the two of them. Franny found his hand again and squeezed it in response, giving him a slow nod as JP held up a hand.

" Hold on, " He paused, pulling out his pack of cigarettes and taking one from the box, placing it in between his teeth; Franny rolled her eyes at him, but he hesitated to put the rest pack in his jacket pocket. He gripped the box tightly and let out a small sigh before he tossed the box into the tunnel. Franny flashed him a look of surprise, him meeting her eyes with an eye roll as he said, " yeah, whatever, Harrington, lighter! "

Franny used her free hand to grab JP's wrist, squeezing it tightly as she smiled at him. Steve handed him the red lighter, and JP lit his cigarette before dropping it back in Steve's hand. The blond nodded to him, remembering what Nancy had said about the lab, stating, " Let's burn this place to the fucking ground. "

Steve nodded back, then turned towards the hub, flicking the lighter and igniting the small flame. He sighed quietly as he muttered, " I'm in such deep shit. "

Then, he threw the lighter into the hub, and they watched as it lit up in flames on contact. The ash flew into the air as an orange glow burned brightly, making Franny squint her eyes as she shifted on her feet. The vines shrieked in pain as they flew up wildly, the thick flames engulfing them and making the tunnels stuffy with heat. She could feel sweat collecting on her forehead above the goggles and her hand in Steve's suddenly became extra sweaty. If anything, it was an extraordinary sight to see, and she knew that it was something only they would get to experience, but she wasn't entirely sure whether that was a good or a bad thing.

              " Okay, " JP broke the hissing silence, " let's motor, kids. "

               They were sprinting back the way they came after that, Franny having pulled out Mike's map again as they relied on it to lead them back to safety. Dustin was directly behind Franny and Steve, screaming bloody murder as he shrieked, " OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! "

               She wanted to yell at him to shut up, but it was pointless, he either would've ignored her or just wouldn't have been able to hear her over his own screaming anyways. Their feet were heavy against the slimy mud, and black tendrils would snap out at their ankles every now and then as they sprinted past them. Dirt and ash kicked up as they ran, pelting their goggles and bandanas as Steve suddenly stopped, nearly falling over as he shined his flashlight at the tunnel, then looked down at the map.

             " This way! " Steve shouted, but Franny found herself staring back at the group of kids behind them, noticing that they were one short and missing a taller body.

             " Shit. " She muttered under her breath, letting go of Steve's hand and pushing past a screaming Dustin, Max and Lucas, instantly hearing the cries as an answer to her suspicion.

             " Franny! " Steve called after her, but she was already sprinting to the sound of shouting, her feet skidding to an abrupt stop as she found Mike fallen to his knees in the dirt, JP's hands latched onto his wrists with a death grip. Her eyes quickly trailed his body to see a thick vine wrapped tightly around his ankle, yanking him back.

              " Help! " Mike yelled as Franny's eyes widened, she moved to join her brother, each of them holding onto the boy's forearms as they tried to pull him forward. The others found them quickly, and Mike's screams didn't stop, " HELP! HELP ME! "

               Lucas and Dustin ran to help Franny and JP grab Mike, while Max stepped forward to yank the vine back, but she was promptly stopped by Steve, who smacked her hand back. He yelled at them to get back, making the three kids reluctantly step away as JP and Franny kept their grip on Mike, and Steve held his bat over his head. He slammed it down on the vines, once, twice, three times before it wailed and loosened its hold on Mike.

              " NOW! " Steve yelled, and the two siblings yanked on Mike's arms, pulling him forward and hearing a nasty sloshing noise as the vine let go of his leg. The boy fell on top of Franny and JP, but Steve reacted quickly, picking him up by his shirt and shoving him forward as the kids began running back the way they'd came.

              " You okay? " Franny could head Lucas ask, and she assumed Mike replied, but she didn't hear it as JP was on his feet, hauling her up and telling both her and Steve to go, insisting he was take the rear.

                The trio of teens sprinted to catch back up with the kids, but they came to another sudden stop as they crashed into their backs, Steve's hand shooting out to grab Franny's arm before she could tackle Lucas to the ground. They all stood in confusion, and JP opened his mouth to question why they were stopped, but he saw his answer soon enough, lurking towards them. Franny's feet were frozen, but she reached forward and wrapped her arms around Lucas and Mike's fronts, pushing them to stand behind her as JP stepped slightly in front of Max. The Demodog in front of them growled lowly as he stared up at them.

            The only thing Franny could hear was her own heavy breathing, her heart beating in her ears as Dustin took a step forward, much to Steve's distaste, and held his arms out in front of his friends. Dustin looked at the Demodog with an odd glint of realization in his eyes, and he didn't budge as it crawled closer to him. For once, Franny didn't see the curly haired boy's body trembling. He wasn't scared.

            " Dart, " Dustin whispered, and a noise vibrated in the Demodog's throat as the boy took a small step closer, even with the many hands attempting to pull him back. Franny found herself dropping her hand from Dustin's shoulder to find Steve's, her nerves growing as she waited tensely for the Demodog to just leap on the boy.

             " Trust me. " Dustin mumbled to his friends, then he leaned down towards the Demodog, speaking in a soothing voice, one you'd use to speak to a puppy or a baby, " Hey, it's me, Dart. It's me. "

              Dart seemed a bit confused, slowing his crawl as Dustin lifted the goggles from his face and pulled the bandana down to his neck, smiling softly, " It's your friend, it's Dustin. You remember me? "

              Please remember him, Franny thought to herself, tightening her grip on Steve's hand as the Demodog— Dart —stooped growling, instead quietly cooing as Dustin's smile grew.

              " Then, will you let us pass? " He asked, but Dart suddenly opened the flaps of its mouth, revealing several rows of jagged, sharp teeth that made Franny inhale sharply as she tried to keep her cool. JP's hand had started shaking and he tried to steady himself as he gripped the material of Max's shirt tightly.

              Dustin frowned, sighing, completely unfazed, " Okay, sorry. I'm sorry about the storm cellar, that was a pretty douchey thing to do. " He raised an eyebrow as the frown turned into a small smile again, " You hungry? I've got our favorite— "

              The curly haired boy shoved his hand into the pocket of his book bag before pulling out a Three Musketeers candy bar. He began unwrapping it and held it up to show Dart, " Nougat! "

               " He's insane. " Max whispered in disbelief, but she was quickly hushed by Mike and Lucas.

              Dart inched forward as Dustin held the candy out to him before completely laying it on the ground. The Demodog seemed hesitant, leaning forward to sniff the chocolate before taking it into its mouth and chewing it up. Dustin reached behind himself cautiously and grabbed Franny's shirt, pulling her to the right as he kept his eyes glued to Dart. She got the hint and pushed Steve gently, the two of them carefully sneaking around Dart, Max, Lucas, and Mike following shortly behind as JP was the last to cross to the other side. They all stood at the other side of the tunnel, waiting patiently for Dustin as he straightened back up, sadly smiling down at his friend.

            " Goodbye, buddy. " He said quietly, then made his way over to the rest of the party. He quickly pulled his bandana back over his mouth, but he hesitated putting his goggles on long enough for Franny to see tears shining in his eyes. She placed her arm around his shoulder and gave him a small side hug as they followed the others down the tunnels.

              They were running again after that, not stopping as the map told them to just keep straight to get to the entrance of the hole, but the ground began to shake and tremble, aggressively rumbling underneath their feet, causing them to all pause shakily. A series of animalistic howls came from somewhere deep within the tunnels, causing rocks and dirt from the top to fall.

              " What was that?! " Max questioned, eyes wide as they suddenly heard screeches coming from behind them. Mike glanced back and then turned to look at the others with a weary expression.

             " They're coming. "

              Then, more sprinting. Franny was sure that she had had more exercise in the past three days than she ever had in gym class at school. It was faster going out than coming in, and, before they knew it, they'd arrived back at the hole, the rope swinging from the vibrations inside. Franny has never been more relieved to see a rope.

             Steve ushered the kids ahead of him, shouting at JP to go up first so that he could quickly haul them up. JP's lanky arms got him to the top in a snap, and he didn't even have a chance to relish in the clean air and the cool breeze of the night before Steve was holding up Max by her underarms. JP dug his knees into the dirt and leaned down, replacing Steve's hands and heaving the redhead up. Franny held tightly onto Steve's bat as she kept her back to the hole, her hands shaking as the shrieks got louder, meaning they were getting closer.

              Steve lifted Lucas up to JP, then Mike, and then Dustin, the other kids helping keep him grounded as he pulled the curly haired boy up, letting him crash into the dirt. The blond peered down, stretching his hand out to the two teenagers expectantly.

              " Franny, " Steve called, but she didn't hear him, it was like everything was muffled except for the growing wails. He grabbed her arm, making her jump and turn to him with wide eyes. She quickly glanced up at the hole, seeing all of the kids and JP looking down at her impatiently. She met Steve's eyes again and pulled her bandana away from her mouth.

               " You go. " She told him, but he gave her a pointed look, shaking his head lightly as he easily pulled the bat from her hands, letting it hang loosely at his side.

              " Fran, " He insisted, both of them hearing the screeching bouncing off the walls of the tunnel, and he pulled on her arm, his eyes locking on to hers, " I meant what I said. Come on, "

              Knowing that if she continued to argue with him it would just lead to the Demodogs finding them and most likely killing both of them, Franny shot him a look, grabbing the rope and tugging herself up an inch before she declared, " If you die down here, your ass is grass, Steve Harrington. "

              " Duly noted. " He replied, pointing the bat at her as JP reached down to grab her wrists, " Now her your ass up there, Franny Walker. "

               JP and Lucas leaned forward, each holding one of her hands as they began pulling her up, Mike, Max, and Dustin holding them steady as they hauled her up. Franny sucked in a deep breath of air as soon as she hit the grass, enjoying the smell of real dirt for the first time in her life. The headlights of the Camaro briefly blinded her as she pushed herself up, turning to sit on the ground. She ripped the bandana from her neck, throwing it to the ground and pulling the goggles from her head, red marks on her face as hair a disheveled mess as she leaned down over the hole.

               " Steve, get up here, now! " She ordered, and he looked up at her with a breathless look as he held his bag in front of him defensively; she could hear it, too, the roaring now closer than ever, and she felt her heart pounding against her chest as panic flashed in her eyes, " Steve, now, Steve— "

               Then, the sound of a stampede filled the tunnels, and a swarm of Demodogs came barreling through. Steve's hands tightened around the bat, ready to attack, but his hardened expression fell to one of confusion as the creatures simply sprinted past him, like he was invisible. Steve's eyebrows lowered, but they didn't have time to question where the Demodogs were going. Both Walker siblings leaned down and held their hands down to Steve, both shouting in unison—

            " STEVE! " His head shot up, eyes wide underneath the goggles, and he held his hands up to him. Both Franny and JP lifted him up, the former quickly shifting her arms around his torso as soon as he was far enough up, falling backwards and pulling him into the grass with her. She ignored the small pain in her head as it thudded against the ground, breathing heavily as she locked eyes with an equally as breathless Steve Harrington.

             She frowned, but couldn't find it in herself to keep it, so it quickly turned to a relieved smile as she stated, " You are— "

             " Unbelievable. " Steve finished for her, laying on his back and turning his head to look at her as he exhaled deeply, a faint smile on his face, " I know. "

             Beside them, JP yanked the bandana and goggles off of his face, throwing them to the ground and rising to his feet, feeling his heartbeat starting to regulate. The kids were sitting in a circle around the hole as they recuperated, but they all looked over to the car as the headlights suddenly got brighter. Even Franny and Steve scrambled to sit up as they all watched, shielding their eyes as it grew brighter and brighter until it was almost purely white.

            They all looked confused, but Mike wore a knowing expression on his face as he smiled. JP glanced back at him, waiting for him to explain, and the dark boy simply whispered, " Eleven. "

            The Gate was closed.

X X X

note.

it's been a long time coming

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