( darkest before dawn / act two )
episode eight | stranger things

❛ YOU CANT DIE ON ME ❜

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THE FEELING OF POWER rising through her body had Auroras hands shaking, the power needing an outlet as Mike and Aurora rushed back into Wills room.

"We need to make Will sleep," Aurora stepped closer to the boy as Mike spoke. "He's the spy. If he knows where we are, so does the shadow monster."

"He's lying," Will shouted, and twisted as Aurora tried to grab his arm, "Don't touch me!"

"He killed those soldiers!" Mike shouted over the blaring alarm, "he'll kill us too."

As Will yelled about Mike lying, Aurora reached for his face. Will screamed and Aurora felt tears well in her eyes, her hands grabbed his cheeks as she watched his eyes.

"I'm sorry," her soft whisper wasn't heard over the boys yells and the alarm, but soon Will went quiet and Aurora power calmed under her skin.

The power flew open and Aurora jumped back, finding Hopper and Doctor Owen's standing at the door. "We gotta go. We gotta go!" Growling - much similar to Dart - was heard at the end of the hall as Hopper picked up Will. Not wasting any time to think, Mike grasped Auroras' hand and yanked her into a full sprint out the room. As they turned left, Aurora glanced at the door being attacked by monsters.

Screams echoed throughout the halls as rapid gunshots pounded in their ears. Stopping in place, they watched a monster topple over a woman, blood splattering everywhere.

Aurora screamed as Mike pushed her into the room next to them, trying to get away from the death.

As the group filed into the room, Doctor Owen's quickly shut the door and locked them in. Panting, Aurora placed her hands on her head as she repeated, "oh my gosh, she's dead. She's dead, she's dead, she's dead."

Mike pulled her up, forcing the girl to look him in his eyes, "Aurora, you are alive. That is all that matters right now, and I want to keep it that way." He pressed a soft kiss to her lips, causing the girl to freeze up for a moment, before Mike pulled away with cherry cheeks.

Aurora pressed a finger to her lips as she glanced around, realizing that this was the room she had passed earlier - the one with the guards and the screen monitors. Now, the guards were gone, only to leaving empty chairs and a dozen security monitors.

The lights above flickered as the group stared at the monitors, which showed every hallway in the building, now scattered with dead bloody bodies and dog-like-demogorgans.

Then, as if things couldn't get any worse, the lights went dark - Hawkins Lab's power completely shutting off.

Auroras hand twitched, and she felt a sense of power rush through her body before she suppressed it. She reached for Mikes hand as a growl from outside sounded a little too close for her liking.

"I dont like this," Aurora mumbled as Mike squeezed her hand.

"Trust me," Hopper spoke up, "I don't think anyone does."

"Can we get some light please?" Mrs. Byers spoke up, her voice shaking slightly.

"There's gotta be some flashlights in the desk," Doctor Owens spoke, as everyone rushed to search the drawers.

"Here!" Aurora grinned triumphantly when she opened one of the bottom drawers to find a pack of flashlights. She tossed one to everyone around her, before keeping the pink one for herself.

Hopper slammed a map on the table as Doctor Owen's circled something, "look, this is us" - he circled another thing on the map - "and this is the nearest exit."

Doctor Owen's inhaled sharply, "but even if we somehow make it there, there's no way out."

"What do you mean?" Hoppers voice was sharp.

"The locks are fail safe," Doctor Owen's clarified.

"Great we're all gonna die here," Aurora threw her hand - one of them was currently locked in Mikes - and groaned.

"Thanks Ms. Optimistic." Hopper scoffed at the blonde.

Aurora rolled her eyes at the man, before smiling sarcastically, "here all night, apparently."

"Fail secure?" Mrs. Byers questioned.

"If there's a power outage," Doctor Owen's gestured around them to the dark room, "the building goes on full lockdown."

"Can it be unlocked remotely?" Bob questioned, grabbing Mrs. Byers' hand.

"With a computer, sure," Doctor Owen's responded with a nod, "but somebody's gotta reset the breakers."

"Where are the breakers?" Hopper questioned.

"Breakers are in the basement." Doctor Owen's tapped on a location on the map, "three floors down." Hopper snatched the map from the desk, marching over to the door as Aurora reached for his arm.

"As much as you're an ass," Aurora spoke, "you can't do this."

"Someone has to," Hopper shrugged her hand off.

"Woah! Where are you going?" Bob questioned.

"To go reset the breakers," Hopper stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Okay," Bob shrugged, "then what? Then the power comes back on, if you wanna unlock the doors, you have to reboot the entire computer system and then override the security codes with a manual input."

"Um," Hopper hummed, "fine, how do I do that?"

"You can't!" Bob scoffed and Aurora almost laughed, "not unless you know BASIC."

"I don't know what that means," Aurora couldn't see Hopper from where he was standing, but she was almost sure that he was rolling his eyes.

"It's a computer programming language." Mike stated.

"Teach it to me." Hopper scoffed.

"Um, yeah." Aurora remarked, "Laissez-moi vous apprendre le français pendant que j'y suis. Peut-être un peu d'allemand?" Aurora switched to French for a moment, hoping her lessons with Mary did her well. "You can't learn BASIC in five minutes." The four adults in the room watched Aurora with wide eyes for a moment, no of them even knew she could speak French, never minding the fact that she was fluent.

"I didn't know you spoke French?" Mike bent down towards the girl, dropping his voice lower.

Aurora grinned, "Ou, my parents were French." Mike didn't respond, he just laughed softly before he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"What about you, Doc? You speak BASIC?" Bob questioned, and nodded when the doctor shook his head. "Okay, I've got this."

"No," Mrs. Byers protested, her voice breaking softly. "Bob..."

"It's okay," Bob spoke as he scooped Mrs. Byers into his arms, kissing the crown of her head softly. "It's gonna be okay. Remember, Bob Newby, superhero."

Mrs. Byers chuckled softly as the two detached from each other. As Aurora watched Bob nearly leave the room, she whispered, "Wait, Bob!"

Turning, Bob watched as Aurora grabbed a walkie-talkie out of a drawer and tossed it to him. Nodding in thanks, Bob quietly left the room.

Doctor Owens shifted on his feet, turning to the programming table and taking a seat next to an intercom. They all sat in anticipation as they waited, cheering softly as the lights and computers flickered on. After a small beep, the doctor spoke, "Okay, Bob, can you hear us?"

After a moment, Bob responded, "Loud and clear, Doc. Can you hear me back?"

"Yeah, we hear you alright."

"Okay, gimme a minute," Bob spoke, the frantic type of the keyboard sounding through the intercom. Auroras hands spoke with anticipation, Mike brought their connected hands to his lips, kissing it quickly. Aurora couldn't help the blush from spreading across her face as she glanced down at their hands.

"We need to talk about," Aurora whispered to the boy, "this."

"Once we're not almost dying," Mike grinned, "We can have all the time in the world to talk about everything you want."

Shortly after, Bob called, "Open sesame."

The loud sound of the doors unlocking filled everyone's ears as Aurora grinned, "It's open!"

"That son of a bitch did it." Hopper spoke with a grin.

"Right, I'll meet you outside," Bob spoke, the group watching as he left the room on the security cameras. Doctor Owens congratulated the man before a growl drew his attention.

"Hold on a second, Chief." Doctor Owen's words had everyone stopping in their tracks. All of them turning to the monitors.

Hopper broke the silence, "Whats wrong?"

"West stairwell's not clear anymore." The group watched as a demo-dog growled softly as it climbed down the stairs, towards the room Bob was in.

"What's going on?" Bobs worried voice broke through the intercom.

Pressing the button on the intercom, the doctor informed Bob, "We got some company on the west stairwell."

After a moment, Bob spoke, "I've got an idea."

"What the hell is he doing?"

The group watched as he jogged back over to the computer, typing in a few extra things. Auroras eyes flipped back and forth from the monitor on Bob and the one on the demo-dog, which seemed to be getting too close for comfort. Then, after a final push, the sprinklers turned on, just on the level of the creature.

Switching its gaze, the monster ran to the opposite direction. Letting out a breath, Doctor Owens spoke, "Okay, okay that worked! Now get outta there!"

Bob nodded and hurriedly rushed out of the control room, none of them noticing the fact that he had left the gun Hopper had giving him on the table.

Hoisting Will Byers on his shoulder, Hopper sped towards the door, only to be stopped again by the doctor. "Wait a second, Chief," Doctor Owens muttered, handing the man a walkie-talkie. "Take this."

"What," Hopper furrowed his eyebrows, "what are you doing?"

"Any more surprises, I'll let you know,"

Hopped continued to stare at the doctor in confusion, causing him to plead, "Go! Go!"

"I'm coming back for you," Hopper whispered, before grabbing the walkie-talkie and pinning it to his pocket. Then, he threw the door open softly, his gun breaking the threshold first as Will hung from his shoulders. Hopper scanned the hall first, before nodding to the group to follow him.

Mike gripped Auroras hand tightly as the hurried through the darkened hallways. Bodies lined the walls, cause Aurora to glance at her feet and try to ignore them. Mike dropped Auroras hand to help Mrs. Byers over a body as Aurora paused, her shoe catching on a piece of tile.

In the few seconds Aurora had paused, she had fallen behind the rest of them. And now she had been plunged in darkness - the small yellow beam that flashed every few seconds did nothing to help.

A clicking sound had her heart jumping into her throat as she glanced around to try and find to source of the noise, but only darkness.

Another click came from her right, louder this time, but she couldn't tell where exactly.

"Hello?" Aurora whisper shouted, "guys, where did you go?"

As panic started to rise, she raced forward, only to find three different hallways leading in different directions. Aurora had no idea where she was, and that frightened her most of all. Her heart pounded in her chest as she turned to face behind her again, this time hearing a low growl from down that hall.

Eyes widening, Aurora sucked in a breath as she surged forward, throwing her body into the room on her right. The door had been broken in, and when she had drove forward, her left leg had been stabbed with a piece of wood from the door.

Aurora hurriedly crawled forward, shoving her body behind the desk in the room. She clamped a hand across her mouth, trying to stop the sobs that desperately wanted to escape her lips. Her hand fell to her leg as she tensed up, hearing the clicking almost right next to her ear and she cried out when her hand pressed on something warm and wet.

Her hand gripped her mouth tighter as the demo-dog growled behind the desk, she could hear its feet hitting the floor with its body weight. She let herself suck in a breath when the creatures sounds faded away.

Trying to push herself up, Aurora stumbled into the body next to her. Letting out a soft scream as the piece of wood pressed deeper into her leg. Aurora turned, "I'm so sorry." After muttering the words, Aurora pressed her hand across the dead body, trying to feel for the walkie-talkie she knew the guard had.

Once she hand it in her hand, Aurora pressed the call button, "Guys?" She whimpered as her voice echoed through the room, hoping that the creature was long gone.

"Aurora?" Hoppers scratchy voice filled the room as Aurora rushed to turn the volume down. "Where are you?"

"I-I don't know," she mumbled, "I'm in a room, there's a medical cart by the door. I got a piece of wood from the door lodged in my leg, I don't think I can walk."

"Fuck," Hopper mumbled on the other side, before Aurora heard a lot of shouting on his end, and then the walkie went quiet.

"No, no, no," Aurora whispered as she tried to turn the thing back on, but the batteries had died on her. She let a tear fall, and cursed herself for being stupid enough to get left behind - let alone lost.

She started breathing heavy, feeling too many emotions rising up in her mind. Aurora tried tapping a pattern on her leg, a breathing pattern, nothing worked. She came to conclusion she was going to die there. No one was going to save her.

Her ears sounded like someone was ringing a bell in her ear canal. She vaguely heard a voice shouting her name. Aurora couldn't focus on and hands grabbing her as they tried to lift her.

All Aurora wanted to do was sleep. Her eyes began to flutter closed, and as she approached sleeping territory, someone grabbed her.

And then she felt the unmistakable warmth she always felt when kissing Michael Wheeler. The kiss was soft and slow as Aurora blinked, feeling her raging storm of emotions calm.

"Darling." Mike sighed in relief. His hands stayed on her cheeks, but the boy pulled away softly to scan over her body to make sure she wasn't injured further. "Aurora, you're okay. I'm so sorry."

"Hi Mike," Aurora grinned softly.

"You're covered in blood." Mike stated, his voice shaky.

"Most-most of it's not mine." Aurora shook her head, "just my leg. I tripped. And-and you guys were gone and-"

"I know. I'm sorry," Mike nodded, and helped Aurora find her footing, allowing the girl to lean against him as they hopped to the door. "I should've paid more attention to you, but all that matters right now, is you getting out of here. You can't die on me Rory. Okay?"

"You kissed me again." Aurora stated as Mike blushed softly.

"Well, it was necessary. Anyways...it should be a straight shot to the exit," Mike whispered as he peered out the door, finding no demo-dogs in his line of vision. "But, we have to hurry, Rory. Do you think you can do that?"

Aurora nodded and Mike pushed out of the room. The two of them speed-walking down the hall. Aurora didn't pay much attention to the turns as the howls and growls were edging closer to the pair.

Finally, the two burst out the main doors, meeting two of the three adults who stood in the foyer pacing back and forth.

Hopper noticed them first, surging forward to grab Aurora from Mikes arms, "Goddamn it kid, I shouldn't have let you go alone!"

"Well, I found her," Mike answered, reaching for Auroras hand as Hopper led the girl outside.

"Yeah," Hopper rolled his eyes, "well you almost didn't make it."

"Did you see Bob?" Mrs. Byers asked the girl frantically. "Did you see him?" Before Aurora could reply, a figure burst through the doors just moments after the two kids.

Panting, Bob put his hands on his knees and caught his breath. Breathing heavily, Bob Newby gazed at the group with relief in his eyes.

Sighing in relief, Mrs. Byers called his name, "Bob!"

The man turned to her, a smile forming on his innocent face. Mrs. Byers returned the smile and began to walk up to him. Glancing up at the man over Hopper's shoulder, Aurora noticed pounding coming from the other side of the main doors.

Aurora smacked at Hoppers arm, pointing to the approaching sound, "Bob! Come on! You've got to-"

But, before the girl could finish, a monster jumped out through the doors - tackling Bob to the ground. The scene itself seemed to go in slow motion. Aurora watched as the man fell to the ground, his head bouncing as the animal sunk its claws into Bobs stomach. Mrs. Byers let out a piercing cry and tried to rush forward, trying to do anything to have her boyfriend.

"Mike!" Hopper shouted, grabbing the boys attention, before handing Aurora off to her, "get out!" Hopper began firing his gun at the creatures, but the damage had already been done.

"Now!" Mike nodded and helped a limping Aurora out the door, but they had already seen way too much. Aurora watched as the life faded away from Bob Newby's - a real superhero - eyes.

Even from the outside, Aurora and Mike could hear Mrs. Byers heart wrenching screams as her boyfriend died. Aurora shut her eyes tightly, trying to ignore the sound.

"He's gone!" Hopper shouted over her cries, as the demo-dogs jumped at the doors to the lab. "Joyce, he's gone!"

The sound of rapid honking filled their ears, causing the group to turn and face Jonathan Byers, who shouted at the top of his lungs, "Come on! Get in!"

Falling into a sprint, the group raced towards his police car while Mrs. Byers raced towards Jonathan. Falling into the backseat, Mike pulled Aurora to his chest as her hands shook and tears fell softly from her eyes.

Shifting their position as the horn sounded again, the two teens watched as, Steve, Max, Lucas, and Dustin, filed into the car. The same terrified and confused looks covered each of their faces.

The entire ride home was silent - rapid breathing and silent swears being the only sound that appeared. Intertwining their fingers, Mike kissed Auroras forehead, reminding her one more time, "Everything will be alright."

But it didn't seem like that.

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( LET ME SPEAK : )

we are so close to the love confession
and i LIVE FOR IT! and then only
4 or 5 more chapters in this season!

credit goes to fivehxrgreeves