CARLA HELD ON FOR DEAR LIFE AS MAX SPED THROUGH THE STREETS.

With Steve's head in her lap, Carla tried her best to stay still as the preteen in the drivers seat made sharp turns and sped over the limit.  Lucas was right beside her, giving out directions, and Mike and Dustin sat in the back next to Carla, holding supplies to help them complete the plan.

Steve was still out, and Carla held him close, trying to keep him as still as possible.  The last thing he needed was more movement, his brain had already been sloshed around enough—he probably had a concussion. 

Carla still wasn't quite sure why she allowed Maxine to drive, but it was too late.  They'd already wasted enough time.  She just hoped that they wouldn't end up in a ditch or twisted around a tree. 

As Carla looked down at her bloodied and bruised boyfriend, she noticed as he began to slightly stir.  The boy's fluttered open and closed, and his head lulled towards the side, his dazed eyes scanning over Mike. "Carla?"

Mike gave a dirty glance back, but didn't bother telling him the girl he was currently looking for was the person he was lying on.  Still in a dazed state, Steve's hands trail up to his face, but are quickly shooed away by Carla.

"I know it hurts like hell, but don't touch it." Carla lightly placed Steve's hand back on his stomach, placing hers right on top of his to show that she was there.  With that sudden touch, Steve glanced up to see his girlfriend looking right back at him with a frown. 

"Carla?"

"I'm right here." Carla softly said, trying her best to give a weak smile. 

"Hey, buddy." Dustin spoke up in a soothing tone, holding an ice pack against the boy's head.  Steve looked from Dustin, head limply turning, eyes fluttering as the boy spoke. "It's okay. You put up a good fight.  He kicked your ass, but you put up a good fight. You're okay."

Steve let out a small groan, hand reaching up to his head to pull the ice pack off.  As she did, Lucas' voice rang through the car, "Okay, you're gonna keep straight for a half a mile, then make a left on Mount Sinai."

With those words, Steve turned to look at the Sinclair boy, noticing his spot in the passenger seat.  His brows furrowed as he remembered the fact that Carla was behind him, keeping him still.   If she was right there.......who was driving the car?

"What's going on?" Steve's raspy voice came through, his eyes catching a glimpse of the red headed girl, hands on the wheel.  He let out an exclaim as he realized a thirteen year old was driving them God knows where. "Oh, my god!"

"Steve, relax, she's driven before." Dustin tries to reassure the older boy.

Mike let out a sneer towards Dustin,  "Yeah, in a parking lot."

"That counts!" Lucas defends the girl.

Steve eyes's widened, "Oh my god!"

Carla tried to reassure her boyfriend too, even though she knew that no matter what she said, he'd still freak at the fact that someone underage—very, underage—was driving a vehicle.  "Steve, shh. Everything's okay, I promise, Max knows what she's doing.  We won't crash, she knows how to work a car."

"They were gonna leave you behind, Carla promised you'd be cool, okay?" Dustin's attempt's were useless as Steve continued to screech for Max to stop driving and to slow the car down.  His words were met with the opposite as the Mayfield stepped on the gas, the car speeding down the street.

"Oh, my god! No! Woah! Stop the car, slow down!" Steve yelled over the roaring engine of Billy's Camaro.  Mike and Dustin then began to argue over the Harrington and how he was going to lose it over the preteen driving. "Stop the car!"

"I told you he'd freak out!"

Eventually, everything became too much for Max, as she yelled over all the commotion, trying to keep her mind set on driving. "Everybody, shut up! I'm trying to focus!"

Lucas cried out, jabbing a finger in the direction of Mount Sinai, "Oh, wait, that's Mount Sinai! Make a left! Turn left!" At his words, Max took a sharp left, hitting a mailbox as the car twisted in the direction of Mount Sinai.  Steve started screaming, as well as every other boy in the car—Lucas' being a few octaves higher than everyone else's—and even Carla heard herself cry out at some point, holding on to Steve as they swerved.

She wasn't sure how long they were driving for—with everyone screaming, it was hard to concentrate—but eventually, Max slammed the breaks in front of then hole that Hopper had dug, the car turning at a slight angle.

Everyone sat in silence for a moment, panting taking a moment to lower the adrenaline that had just been pumping through their bodies.  Carla wasn't sure what she'd just experienced, but it was over and done with now. She could check it off her bucket list.

"Incredible." Mike exclaimed.

"I told you," Max replied, unfazed by what had just happened, "Zoomer."

The five of them exited the car, taking all of the supplies they'd brought out with them. Steve hesitated a moment before falling out, leaning against the door for support.  He was an absolute mess at the moment—his face was all jumbled up, and so was his mind.

Dustin handed Carla two bandannas and two pairs of goggles, and she joined her boyfriend by the door, setting the other materials on top of the car.  The Wheeler tied the bandanna around her neck, leaving it loose enough to slip over her mouth, and placed the goggles on top of her hair—which was rather frizzy and messed up from the night's events.

"What are you deaf? Hello?" Steve watched as Mike headed towards the front of the car, trying to get the plan to come to an end.  He'd  stated his thoughts on the matter; they were not going into that hole. It was too dangerous. Trudging over to Dustin he yelled, "We are not going down there right now. I made myself clear.  There's no chance we're going in that hole, alright? This ends right now—"

"Steve!" Dustin cuts off the ranting boy, "You're upset, I get it. 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 and Carla that you'd keep us safe —"Dustin handed a backpack over to Steve, his nail bat inside. "—so keep us safe."

Steve let out a sigh before snatching the bag and making his way back over to where Carla.  Grabbing his supplies from the car roof, he put them on, grumbling under his breath.  The Wheeler came up beside him, gesturing towards his face, "I'm sorry this happened. I tried to help, but—"

"Don't blame this on you." Steve lightly touched her hand, examining the bruises that were littered along her wrist from Billy's harsh grasp. "It's just a few bruises and marks, I can handle it. Besides, it's better that I was the one who got hurt; not you."

"Don't say that." Carla rolled her eyes, cupping the side of his face like she had been when he was unconscious.  "I thought he was going to kill you, Steve.  I was scared."

"Well, it will take a lot more than a few punches to really take me out." Steve spoke, causing Carla to slightly laugh at his words.  Lightly, as to not cause him any pain, Carla pulled his face down to hers, lightly kissing his lips.

Steve smiled into the kiss, deepening it as he pulled the girl closer.  Carla would have loved for the moment to have lasted longer, but it was abruptly stopped by Mike's obnoxious voice. "Stop kissing my sister!"

"Grow up, Mike." Carla sighed in response, rolling her eyes as the boy sent a disgusted look in their direction.  Mike sent another annoyed glance her way, before turning back towards his friends who were right next to the hole, waiting for Steve and Carla to finish up.

"I love you, Carla Wheeler." Steve looked at her with a soft gaze, as if the very sight of her was mesmerizing to him.  Loving her came so easy to him.

Carla let a smile appear on her face, "I love you, Steve Harrington."

Once they had stopped being affectionate and managed to get to the task at hand, the kids had already made their way down into the hole.  Mike was looking over the map, Dustin, Lucas and Max exploring the dirt with flashlights.

Steve jumped down first, his feet landing with a soft thump.  He then opened his arms, and Carla took in a final breath of fresh air before pulling up her bandanna and jumping down into them.  Steve caught her with ease, hands lingering on her waist for a moment before he finally let her go.

"Holy shit." Steve exclaimed, goggle covered eyes examining the interior of the hole.  It was odd that the demogorgans had been surviving so close and no one had known until it got out of hand.

"Holy shit indeed." Carla nodded, taking in the new surroundings as well.  The same particles that floated around in her nightmares were currently floating around them all—as to why they had brought bandannas—showing how close they really were to the Upside Down.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's this way." Mike called out, looking from the drawn out map in his hand to a certain tunnel, pointing his light in said direction.

Dustin narrowed his eyes, "You're pretty sure or you're certain?"

 "I'm 100% sure. Just follow me and you'll know." Mike looked at his friend before beginning in the direction he'd spoken on, but he didn't get too far before Steve stopped his actions.

"Woah, woah, woah. Hey, hey, hey, I don't think so." Steve stepped towards the Wheeler boy.

"What?"

"Any of you little shits die down here, I'm getting the blame. Got it, dipshit?" Steve took the flashlight from the younger boy, taking charge of the operation. Whether or not he was onboard with this idea, he still had to make sure they stayed safe. He'd promised Nancy, and he'd promised Carla back at the junkyard that no one would die or get hurt; he wasn't about to break it now. "From here on out, I'm leading the way.  Come on, let's go."

Carla gave a small smile at his protectiveness, and began following from behind the kids to make sure everyone stayed in line and didn't stray off.  The last thing she needed was to lose a kid down here.

After a bit of walking, Steve leading the way based on what the map read, they came across a part of the tunnels where a slimy substance covered the wall.  It was rather gross, and Carla urged the kids to move faster.

But, Dustin seemed to have different plans as he stopped walking entirely, staring up at something. "What the hell?"

Carla gave a confused look towards the boy before meeting his gaze.  Right above them was a large, vessel-like hole, throbbing like it had a heart beat.  The throbbing thing then grew larger, and the Wheeler barely had time to exclaim before it sprayed the two with the white particles that matched the air, "Oh my god—"

The brunette girl's head flew sideways as she attempted at keeping the particles away from her mouth, and the curly haired boy began screaming, having fallen to the ground. Carla coughed as the white substance crowded her, Dustin began to scream for help in a high pitched voice, scrambling around like a maniac.

The others come rushing back, yelling concerned words towards the boy. Dustin was on hands and knees at this point, coughing up whatever had entered his mouth. "It's in my mouth! Some got in my mouth! Shit!"  Dustin began coughing for a moment before stopping, noticing that he was perfectly fine. "I'm okay."

"You serious?" Max rolled her eyes, "Jesus, what an idiot."

"Very funny, man. Nice. Very nice." Steve shined his light down on Dustin before shining it into the distance, noticing Carla's figure. "You alright, Carla!"

Carla walked up to them, lightly coughing. "Yeah, I'm okay. That stupid thing just sprayed us with this white shit." She then helped the Henderson up before following after the rest of the group, trailing behind to watch the kids as she had been.

They spend another few minutes trailing through tunnel after tunnel before Steve comes to a halt, shining his light ahead. "Alright, Wheeler.  I think we found your hub."  His flashlight reveals the multiple tunnels the room held, all leading in a different direction.  

"Let's drench it." Mike states.

With that, the group began dumping gallons of gasoline upon as much surface area as they could, insuring that when they lit it up, the place wouldn't hesitate on burning.  They were going to end this once and for all tonight.

Once they'd emptied all the cans and were huddled together within the tunnel they came from, Steve pulled out a lighter from his bag, glancing over at Carla.  The Wheeler gave a curt nod, "Let's burn this place to the ground."

Steve made sure everyone was behind him before tossing the lighter into the pit of gasoline, causing it to light up at once.  The once calm tendrils began squirming around, aggravated by the unusual amount of heat, and the two eldest teens urge everyone to start running back towards the entrance. "Go, go, go, go!"

Running as fast as possible towards the entrance, they're almost there when there's a small grunt from behind.  Carla immediately stops, having recognized the sound and her eyes catch her brother on the ground, calling for help as a vine tangles around his leg. "Help! Help! Help!"

"Mike!" Carla cries out towards him, running back the other way. Steve follows, along with the others, all arranging themselves to help get him out.  Carla is quick to grab under his arms, pulling him as far from it as she could, and Steve slams his bat against the vine, freeing his girlfriends brother.

Dustin and Lucas are quick to ask if he's alright, and Carla pulls her brother in for a brief hug, glad that he was alright.  Pulling away, the six of them are about to start running again when a shriek stops them in their tracks.

Carla's eyes slightly widen as a demo-dog appears in front of them, growing and snarling to show dominance.  He was in a pouncing position, and Carla knew that pose all to well to know what was about to happen.  The Wheeler puts a hand in front of Dustin, who was standing in front of them all. "Dustin, step back."

"Dart?" Dustin ignores the girl, looking towards the creature.  He then continues to walk forward towards it, his friends calling for him to come right back to where they were, but he steps forward more, recognizing the demo-dog. "Trust me, please."

As the demo-dog approaches him, Dustin speaks up to it, "Hey. It's me, it's me." he removes his goggles and bandanna to reveal his facial features so the creature knows who he was, "It's just your friend, it's Dustin.  It's Dustin, alright? You remember me?" when the creature continues to come closer, he asks, "Will you let us pass?"

Carla almost lunged for will as the creature opened its mouth and snarled at him.  Memories of her previous attacks set in, and she cringed back at its rows of teeth.  Steve seemed to realize and held his free hand out for Carla to take, which she did, trying to keep herself from grabbing Dustin.

As much as she wanted to ensure his safety, she knew he'd be able to work this out. He always did.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry about the storm cellar. That was a pretty douchey thing to do." Pulling off his bag, Dustin pulled out a Three Muskateers bar, holding it up for the creature to see. "You hungry? I've got our favorite, see? Nougat." He places part of the candy bar down for the monster, who begins to eat the thing.  Dustin gestures for the group to move, and they listen, crossing around the now distracted Dart. "Goodbye, buddy."

The group races to find the entrance as shrieks and screams coming from the demo-dogs echo throughout the tunnels.  Carla's hand was still in Steve's as the blindly followed after everyone, her free hands connected with who she assumed to be Lucas—she truly wasn't sure. 

Eventually, they found the rope that Max had tied to Billy's car, signaling that they'd found the exit.  Steve and Carla were quick to start lifting the children out, starting with Max.  They'd ended up getting everyone but Dustin up before the sound of the demo-dogs got nearer, and nearer.

Carla watched in fear as their shadows began to form on the walls, shrieking growing louder as their hive mind got burned alive. This was it, this is how she was going to die; getting trampled by demo-dogs.

Out of every near death experience she'd encountered, this was the one she had least expected to happen.  

"Fuck! We don't have time to get up!" Carla exclaimed, panic and adrenaline coursing through her veins.  She was going to die right here right now, with Steve and Dustin at her sides.  At least she wasn't going to be alone.

"I'm gonna get you out of here, Carla." Steve pulls her close, lips against her temple in a final show of affection.  Stepping away from her, he holds his bat at the ready, prepared to strike anything that dares to come at them.  Carla wraps her arms around Dustin, hiding his face away from the demo-dogs.  She didn't want that to be his last sight.

Carla closes her eyes as she watches the demo-dogs run right towards them, expecting the impact of multiple jumping right on her, but instead, she felt the brush of demo-dogs running right past her.

The Wheeler isn't sure what's happening when she opens her eyes to see the demo-dogs running right past the three as if they weren't even there.  Steve suddenly snags Carla's waist, pulling her—Dustin getting yanked as well—as close as possible to avoid the demo-dogs.

Within seconds, they were gone and any sort of fear in Carla was gone.  Had they done it? Had they really finished this thing off?

"Eleven." Mike states, realizing why they'd passed right by.  It was working.

"Holy shit."  Carla let out a breath, loosening her hold on the Henderson boy.  She looked at Steve, who had the same glimmer of slight happiness in his eyes. "Did we just do that? Did we just finish that thing off?"

"I think we did." Steve mutters, almost shocked that they'd been able to do it.  And to think he almost didn't let the kids follow through with this plan. Thank God for Dustin and his pep talks.

"Come on, guys!" Mike and Lucas both have their hands outstretched, and are urging for someone to climb through.  Dustin soon climbs out, to which Carla follows, Steve trailing slightly behind her.

When they all exited, Billy's headlights had brightened significantly, causing all six to squint in confusion, but just as soon, they flickered back to their normal level and everyone returns to their small moment of relief.

Carla was quick to press a swift kiss to Steve's lips, his arms falling around his waist with ease. "It's over.  We did it."  Carla had waited so long to say those words that she couldn't help the smile that appeared.

"We did it." Steve breathed, connecting his lips to hers again before pulling away, pressing his forehead against hers.  The two stood like that for a few moments, taking in the thought that they wouldn't have to worry about monsters or anything of that sort anymore.  Now, they had the freedom to become a normal couple; nothing was stopping them anymore.

mara's misc!

i'm on the verge of tears rn.

ONE MORE CHAPTER AND I'M FINISHED WITH THIS BOOK 😭

i actually can't believe this, and i'm so happy and sad at the same time to be finishing this fic.  i will always have a place in my heart for s2 starla.  

anyway.....yeah! i think this chapter was pretty good, it was full of a lot of scenes.  i feel bad tho.....carla is really set on the idea of being free from monsters and the upside down.  let the girl dream a little bit....

hope you enjoyed <3 see you back for the final chapter!!