(Ep. 5: The Flayed)

Everything that could go wrong has officially happened.

The room has been dropping for what feels like an eternity. Gwen is holding on for dear life onto the metal table with her eyes squeezed shut as she worries that opening them would be one trip to barf town.

She can feel the metal digging into her hands from how tight her grip is. It starts hurting to the point she releases it and finds herself stumbling against the wall. Her eyes are still shut, but probably from the intense speed they're falling in, she can see stars through her eyelids.

"We're going down! We're going down!" Steve yells in utter panic as he tries to maintain a steady balance.

"Yeah, no shit, Harrington!" Robin snaps, bringing Gwen to open her eyes and see all of them in separate areas of the room.

Okay, it's not so bad. You didn't throw up at least, she thinks to herself.

"Why won't these buttons work?!" Dustin's loud shrieks echo throughout the room, making her ears pound against her skull as she tries to say anything, but for once, she's at a loss of words.

Shoving past everyone, Erica reaches the control box and tries pushing the curly haired boy away, "Press the button!"

"What do you think I'm doing?!" Dustin argues back as he starts frantically fighting with the girl over the control box.

"Just press something!" Gwen finally yells, not in the mood to listen to their arguing when they're in a deep crisis. She closes her eyes again, feeling the blinding lights start to hurt her sight.

"Push it!" Erica yells, now pressing a random button when seeing Dustin's panic has gained control over him. Maybe it was her luck or maybe she pressed the right thing, but the room comes to an abrupt halt, sending all of them across the room.

Steve trips over one of the boxes and starts falling backwards. He braces himself for the harsh impact, only he's surprised when he lands on something soft. He sighs in relief and leans back, "I'm okay! I'm all good!"

"Yeah, but I'm not!" Gwen tries shoving him off, but all his weight has fallen over her, which makes it incredibly hard to move. "Get your ass off me!"

Immediately, he stands up and tries helping her up, but she's too prideful to accept anyone's aid. She leans back against the wall and groans as she rubs her hand and brushed knee.

"Come on. Let me help you up," he ignores her trying to shove his hands off and just simply smiles to himself as he watches her try to shake the pain away like it's nothing. "Are you okay?"

"Definitely!" she seethes and shuts her eyes painfully. Steve reaches over and holds her tightly. Ignoring her complaints as he's just glad nothing worse happened.

"I'm sorry," he tells her, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He repeats knowing it annoys her when he continuously says the same thing within the same minute.

Her head is buried deep into his chest. Making it incredibly hard to say anything, but she's able to choke out a few words, "If I say you're forgiven, will you release me now?"

"We'll see," he teases.

Robin cradles the back of her head after hitting it against the shelves. Quickly, her eyes darted to Daphne, who somehow ended up on the opposite side with her legs raised against the wall and her head pressed against one of the boxes.

"Shit," she rushes over to help her up and tries offering a comforting smile, "Are you okay?"

"No," Daphne mutters through a laugh, "Most definitely not."

"Yeah, me neither," once Daphne stood up, Robin scans the room to make sure no one else is harmed, "Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah, we're great!" Steve snaps, sarcasm dripping from his tongue as he dashes to the control box and shoves Dustin off, "Now that we know that Russians can't design elevators!"

Fully convinced those buttons would do something, he tries to press anything just in case the others missed it.

"We've already tried. They clearly don't work!" Gwen tries to explain as she shakes her head disapprovingly. Already resigning to the fact that they're stuck here.

"They're buttons!" Steve snaps at her, raising his hands hysterically, "They have to do something!"

"Yeah, if we had a keycard!" Robin points out, rolling her eyes in frustration. Everyone looks at her confused. Not understanding anything when elevators need to work regardless if there's a keycard or not.

"A what?" Steve asks.

Daphne walks forward, crossing her arms and sending a large frown, "Dude, haven't you noticed it's an electronic lock? We snuck here without a keycard, which means we can't get out without it."

"So we're stuck here," Gwen sighs defeatedly and slides down against the wall as she buries her face into her hands. Like always, trouble always seems to be lurking around Hawkins, and because of their damned curiosity, they're now dead meat.

Robin runs a hand through her hair and nods, "Precisely."

Erica leans forward, "Just so you nerds are aware, I'm supposed to be spending the night at Tina's, and Tina always covers for me." All of them stare at her blankly, starting to grow annoyed at how her problem is any greater than this. "But if I'm not home for Uncle Jack's party tomorrow and my mom finds out you five are responsible, she's gonna hunt you down, one by one, and slit your throat!"

Something snaps within Steve. Maybe it's the fact that they're trapped or that those Russians might appear at any time to kill them. But having to hear about some lame party that is definitely not as important as getting out of here, makes him incredibly furious.

"I don't care about Tina! Or Uncle Jack's party!" he slams his hands against the boxes for emphasis, "Your mom's not gonna be able to find us if we're dead in a Russian elevator!"

Gwen stares back, shocked as she exchanges a dismayed look with the rest. She's never seen him this way in all the months of dating. Stressed, incredibly angry, and panicked. She observes him as he runs a hand through his now messy hair, leaving her in complete awe on how attractive he looks. Knowing it's wrong to be drawn to him when he's in this state, she turns away and takes a deep breath to compose herself.

"You guys?" Dustin grabs his sister by the arm and waits for the others' attention. He points his finger up at the roof and says, "What if we climbed out?"

As much as she wants to agree to his idea, there's no way in the world climbing up would be of any help. Surely they must have dropped who knows how many feet so it can't be possible to get out this way. Instead of saying anything, she stays back and watches as Steve helps Dustin climb up.

Steve starts getting ready to help her up, but is surprised she doesn't seem the slightest bit interested, "Aren't you coming?"

Gwen shakes her head, waving her hand dismissively and leans against the wall, "I'm staying here."

He knows there's something wrong. She's never the type to stay back and do nothing, so the fact she's choosing this means she's starting to lose hope of ever getting out of here.

"Steve!" Dustin calls him over, breaking his trance that makes him reluctant in leaving her side. But he starts climbing up and hopes there's some way out. Only to be disappointed when witnessing the sight of there being no exit from how much the elevator has dropped them.

"What were you saying about climbing?" he exhales sharply, disappointed and even more worried.

__________________

Hours have gone by and they're still trapped.

When Dustin's plan didn't work, the group settled on waiting in hopes the elevator would miraculously start functioning. Daphne suggested for the kids to get some sleep while the rest try to come up with some plan that'd get them out of there. Only Robin and Daphne started dozing off a few minutes into the conversation, leaving only Steve and Gwen with the task.

Gwen wasn't claustrophobic, but just staring at the thick walls and feeling the air getting hotter made it hard to stay put. She climbed up through the table, trying to make as less noise as possible to not awaken anyone. Once she made it out of the room, she felt slightly better at getting some fresh air, well, it's not like it can be considered fresh since they're underground.

She laid down against the roof and just stared up at the elevator shaft. Only making her miss stargazing with Steve anytime he stays over at her place or when she sleeps at his. But surprisingly, staying up here in the pure quietness feels oddly comforting - if you ignore the situation they're in. She can hear her thoughts pounding against her head after trying to bury them deeply. Majority of them are her worries of what can happen in the next few months once she leaves.

Would her and Steve be able to make long distance work? Will things worsen over time? Is she making the right choice in moving away?

If only she could talk to him about this, but he seems just as scared to have this conversation. Every time she brings it up, he manages to change the topic which forces her to just move on and hope the right time would come, but it never does. Now it's July, meaning there's less than a month until she has to leave.

It took her a long time to admit her feelings for him. And it's not because of all the years she spent hating him, but it was the fear of getting hurt. Is moving to New York the first step in ruining everything? Is this a mistake?

Just the thought of losing him because of something ridiculous like long distance brings tears to her eyes. She can't imagine not being with him. Not being able to have their nightly phone calls, not hearing his beautiful laugh, not getting to hold him, or not telling him how much she loves him.

She's terrified, worried as to what the next few months have entailed for them. And now that they're stuck underground, it just makes everything a million times worse.

Her thoughts are suddenly interrupted when a loud thud is heard. She looks over to where the sound came from to be met by Steve's concerned eyes, who woke up when not feeling her by his side. He walks over and lays beside her, holding her hand as he sighs deeply.

"You okay?" he asks in a low voice to not awaken anyone.

Not saying anything, she uses her free hand to wipe the tears that managed to come out. She can't bear having anyone see her cry, let alone her boyfriend who views her as someone tough and fearless. It's not that she doesn't trust him, it's just of being afraid of being too vulnerable when always putting on a brave front.

"Yeah," she finally answers, "Just couldn't sleep."

Only Steve knows her well enough to know when she's lying. Quickly, he turns over to her side and feels like blazing knives are cutting through him when seeing her teary eyes. "You're not fine. Tell me what's wrong."

Hesitantly, she leans forward and hopes he doesn't continue questioning her as she knows she won't be able to lie to him any longer. Gwen quickly shrugs it off and forces a smile, "We're trapped in a freaking elevator with no way out. That's what's wrong."

Steve nods, knowing deep down she's lying when seeing she had lost the sparkle in her eyes and she appears lost in thought. "I know that's not it so tell me, what is it really?"

Without meaning to, Gwen finds her hidden courage to actually be honest, "I'm leaving in less than a month and I don't know how you feel about it. Whenever I mention it, you find any distractions to avoid talking about it."

Steve stares at her, his mouth is slightly agape as he tries searching for the right words. Silence fills the empty shaft, only being interrupted by the snoring of their fellow friends. He feels the void in him start to grow the more he thinks of losing her to the grand city of dreams.

He glances in the opposite direction, holding his knees against him, "Can we not talk about this when we're stuck on an elevator?"

Shaking her head, she lets out a dry chuckle, "Seriously? Now you're using this as an excuse. That's just... great."

Steve immediately stands up, feeling a sudden anger forming at the pit of his stomach. "It's not an excuse. It's a valid reason to not discuss this stupid topic so let's just not do it."

Eyes widening in disbelief, she stays silent for a minute at the fact he called this 'stupid.' She runs her tongue against her teeth, rolling her jaw as she stands up and turns him over, "So me moving away is stupid now?!"

Steve's jaw drops as his arms start flailing around all frustrated, "That's not even what I said!"

"Yes you did!" she seethes and begins putting on her most Steve-like impression, "It's a valid reason to not discuss this stupid topic!"

"Okay, first of all, that's not even how I sound-"

She scoffs, "It's what you sound like to me."

He shakes his head, offended at the terrible impression and begins mocking her now, "It's what you sound like to me."

Gwen scowls at him, running her hands through her hair as she whirls around, "I'm dating a complete idiot."

"Thank you, love," he smirks bitterly, "Your words have managed to pierce my dead heart."

"We need to talk about it!" she snaps, "I don't care if you think it's stupid, but for me it isn't, so we're definitely having this conversation now!"

"You always do this," he argues and steps back from her, "You decide everything without even asking me what I want! Just like when you chose to include Robin in this mission when Dustin and I didn't want to!"

"Oh come on! That's something entirely different."

"It's the same thing! Look, if I don't want to talk about it then I'm not going to," he starts getting ready to climb down, when he hears her laugh in such a condescending way. His brows cinch together in shock that she's laughing at a time like this. "Why the hell are you laughing?"

"You used to give me shit for always running away when things get too complicated, and now look at you!" she shakes her head frantically, folding her arms across her chest as she paces back and forth. "You're being a coward!"

"I'm not a coward!" he pouts, "You're the coward."

She lets out a genuine laugh, "How mature."

He shrugs, now hanging halfway down as he sends a dismissive wave, "Have fun talking about it by yourself."

And just like that, Gwen is left alone on the roof, sulking at her failed attempt to have a long overdue conversation. Why is it so hard for him to open up?

She took a deep breath, refusing to let this go as she placed her knees down against the cold surface and popped her head inside, "I just wanted to have a mature conversation! To talk about our feelings since I have no idea how you feel!"

Steve groans, "I'm not talking about my feelings unless it's with my therapist! Which I don't even have!"

"Well you should because you desperately need one!" she yells back.

"Just like you!"

The others had woken up from the very moment they started yelling up at the roof. The right thing would've been to let them know everyone could hear them, but since when have they done the right thing?

"Thank you so much for involving me in this," Daphne whispers to Robin as she tries to refrain from laughing at the couple.

"Believe me, I'm glad they involved me," she admits.

Erica has grown incredibly irritated from being woken up from her needed nap. She doesn't see the fun in this considering the situation they're in, but she's still oddly interested in the couple's bickering.

"Do they always argue like this?" she questions.

"Sometimes, but not like this. I think the confinement is getting to them," Robin answers, wishing she had her whiteboard to place another tally on the 'You Suck' column.

Dustin rolls his eyes, pressing his head against his hands as just listening to them is giving him a massive headache. Not understanding why Steve is so adamant on not being honest when he has all the time in the world seeing as they're not going anywhere for a while.

"Can you children stop?!" he explodes, glaring at them as they've managed to stand face to face to yell more at each other. "Your problems are the least important thing right now, so just shut up and try coming up with a plan!"

Gwen rolls her eyes at him, letting out an aggravated sigh as she walks to the opposite side of the room. Leaning against the wall, she piercingly gawks at her boyfriend who proceeds to do the same.

He shakes his head and looks to the others as he remembers it's not just them in the elevator, but they're accompanied by an entertained audience. He waves his hands dramatically at them, who are watching them with wide eyes and grimaces.

"Show's over. You can look the other way now," he grumbles and slides down against the wall as his hands run through his hair angrily.

"Idiot," Gwen mutters under her breath, not low enough since Steve was able to hear her.

His head snaps back up as his brows furrow and eyes squint in disbelief, "Something you want to say? But louder this time?"

Gwen rolls her eyes and simply dismisses him with a shrug, "Just shut up, Harrington. It's what you do best, anyway."

"You know what, Henderson?" he begins, only he's interrupted when Dustin kicks his foot while making his way up the roof. "Dude, are you blind? Watch where you're going!"

The younger boy flips him off and grabs his walkie before climbing out. Clearly having lost all of his patience, he can't stand the tension in the room that he figures trying to contact someone now that the mall has opened is a better plan than just staying put.

"Code red, I repeat, code red!" he exclaims, pacing all around the roof frantically, "Does anyone copy? This is a code red, I repeat, a code red!"

"Does he seriously think anyone is going to listen?" Daphne mutters, already having lost hope of getting out of here.

"We are innocent children and we are trapped under Starcourt Mall. The Red Army has infiltrated Hawkins, and if we are found, they will torture and kill us!"

Refusing to stay put any longer, Steve stands up to join his friend as it seems like a better option than having his girlfriend's piercing eyes on him. He rests his arms against the top of the roof, annoyed that the kid isn't thinking rationally that his radio could lose battery if he continues.

"Hey," Dustin hesitantly lowers his walkie to glare at his annoying friend, "Gotta take it easy on that thing. Gonna drain the battery."

"The mall just opened," he points out.

"So?"

Dustin narrows his eyes, growing more frustrated, "So someone could be in range."

"What do you think, Petey the Mall Cop is gonna rappel down here and save the day?" Steve snaps, bitterness seeping through as he starts climbing out.

"Oh stop being such a cranky pants. Just cause you're angry at my sister doesn't mean you can take it out on me."

"Really? I'm taking it out on you? Says the one who was being a complete ass earlier."

"You deserved it!" the curly haired boy snaps.

Steve walks in the opposite direction, trying to regain composure of himself. He tries to focus on finding a way out of here, but all he can think of is Gwen and how once again he failed in being honest with her.

Arguing with her was just a distraction. It was just another excuse to escape the unavoidable. Maybe if they got angry enough to hate each other again, it would make her move less harder. Perhaps it'd be easier.

From hearing her talk about her plans to explore all the touristy places, on finally studying in the college of her dreams, and meeting new people, he can't bear to ruin it for her. Especially since she's excited about meeting new people. Only worsening his fears that she'd forget about her friends from home and eventually forget him.

"And also, I'm not being cranky because I'm angry at her," he bitterly points down, frowning as he walks closer to the edge. "I'm feeling just a tad cranky since after eight hours, we're still exactly nowhere."

"Uh huh," Dustin frowns at him.

Back in the elevator, Erica was starting to slam the container with the green substance against the shelves. Annoyed, Gwen pushes herself off the wall and rushes to the young girl. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! What do you think you're doing?"

Erica rolls her eyes, "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm trying to get it open."

Daphne groans and is quick to snatch the vial from her hands. "Are you crazy?! We don't know what this shit is so we have to be careful!"

"Exactly!" the young girl says, "We don't know what it is so what if it's helpful?"

Robin's brows cinch together in confusion as she snatches the container from Daphne, "Useful how?"

Erica rolls her eyes and stands on her tiptoes to try and regain control of it, "Just give me that!" Starting to find entertainment in this, Robin raises the cylinder into the air and watches as the young girl attempts jumping as high as possible. "Look, we can survive down here without food, but if the human body doesn't get water, it will die."

Gwen lets out a laugh, "And you think drinking some unknown substance will keep you alive? If anything, it'll kill you faster because it's probably something poisonous." Erica did have a point though. Surviving without the needed resources would become a million times harder and it's not like they can ask the Russians to hand them supplies.

Robin nods, shaking the vial lightly as she says, "She's right. Hate to break it to you, but this is not water."

"No, but it's a liquid," Erica states the obvious, once again attempting to steal the container back. "If it comes down to me drinking that shit or dying of thirst, I drink."

"You won't be dying of thirst then, that's for sure," Gwen points out as she leans back against the shelves and glances up at the roof. She decides to close her eyes for a split second as her head is pounding intensely. And without even realizing it, she's left in disbelief on wishing she was at Scoops right now.

About to add more to this, Gwen is interrupted when seeing Robin press her ear against the door. Her eyes widen as her face turns as white as a ghost.

"We got company," she tells the group and starts climbing up to inform the others.

Gwen rolls her eyes, shaking her head as she's not surprised at their terrible luck anymore. "That's just fucking great."

Quickly, Steve's head pops up from the roof. His eyes are filled with panic and terror as he looks to the door and extends his hands out to them. "What are you guys still doing there? Come on!"

Erica doesn't have to think twice as she dashes to the table and begins climbing up. Of course, that green cylinder is still in hand as she refuses to lose her only source of fuel. Daphne was quick to follow, her black boots pressed against the cardboard boxes, leaving behind a detailed print that would raise suspicion.

Gwen hurries in placing the box somewhere behind some boxes just to keep their cover. It's no use hiding if they're going to leave evidence behind. She hears voices getting closer along with footsteps, making her take a giant leap upwards that manage to get her up quicker. Steve pulls her up like a bolt of lightning, embracing her once she's finally safe and sound.

They turn silent when hearing the door open. All of them are pressed together as they try holding their breaths worrying anything would set them off. Gwen could feel her heart pounding against her chest from feeling the panic return that this could be the end for them.

This is definitely not the way she envisioned dying. With everything that's happened in dealing with alternate dimensions and monsters, she figured dying in the Upside Down seemed more likely to happen. Not here. In a Russian elevator.

She hears them say something in another language, Russian probably, and catches a whiff of their disgusting cigarettes as they share a few laughs and carry a few boxes out.

Steve takes a discreet peek through the grate, looking up at them as he gestures to them to be very quiet until his eyes fall upon the vial in Erica's hand. Indicating he's come up with a plan on how to get out of here.

The Russians turn silent and walk out. The group remains quiet as they hear the door start to close. Right away, Steve grabs the container and jumps down, "Come on!"

Everyone follows as they make their way back inside. Even more distressed, Gwen helps her brother and Erica down, receiving a harsh stomp from the youngest Sinclair when she jumps off the table.

Gwen lets out a frustrated sigh and rolls her eyes. She's extremely tired, hungry, and annoyed to argue with a ten year old that she simply ignores it and looks down to the door that's started to lower.

Her heart thumped against her chest much rapidly. It feels like it's about to jump out from her chest as the time appears to be going in slow motion, only making the anticipation much deadlier. The door inches closer, nearly closing until Steve slides against the floor and places the cylinder under it, stopping it from trapping them once more.

"Let's go!" he waves at the group to hurry and tosses Erica's backpack underneath.

"I'm going!" she slides down against the small gap, skidding as quickly as possible until it's Dustin's turn. Steve pushes him as he frantically waves at the others to rush. Robin and Daphne jump down at the same time, bumping into each other when the vial starts to crack.

Horror overwhelms Steve as he reaches out and drags Gwen. Never once letting go of their hand, they feel the time start going faster. The cracking sounds fill their ears as the fear of getting crushed by this door runs through their minds. It sure doesn't help that the viscous substance started leaking out and all the glass was getting everywhere.

Barely making it out, both are spread out across the floor watching the substance sizzle louder. The material burns the floor, emitting smoke that makes them hold their breaths from the burning smell. Their chest heaved in complete shock and utter fright they were nearly about to lose their lives at the hand of this metal trapment and sizzling chemical.

Gwen nervously chuckles as she grabs his sleeves and helps him up, "You okay?"

Steve nods, blinking profusely in sheer disbelief and confusion as he wonders why in the world Russians would've needed that chemical for.

The rest of the group come closer and hover over the sizzling puddle. Inspecting in close detail, Robin snickers as she turns to Erica, "You still wanna drink that?"

"Holy mother of God."

Erica can't even provide one of her snarky remarks as Dustin's interruption made everyone turn around. Gwen gasps, stunned at the sight standing right in front of them.

There's a long corridor that appears to be endless. Metal bars line the walls and the ceiling lights are a bright shade of blue that give out an ominous and cold feeling.

"Well... hope you guys are in good shape," Steve mumbles as he starts leading the way. He pats Dustin's shoulder while shoving past him and says, "I'm looking at you, roast beef."

Author's Note

5k reads?! Never thought this many people would be reading my story! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you guys continue to enjoy the story!