A NEW AND IMPROVED VERSION
Ryan Fordman has lived next door to Steve Harrington her entire life. Her entire life, he'd always been a window away, occasionally shouting across the space between their houses. They were inseparable... at least, they we...
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Ryan walked through the tunnels next to Steve, looking around at the walls around them. The cold, dark, dampness of the place reminded her being stuck in the Upside Down with just Nancy by her side. In a way, she was back in the Upside Down, only this time she had four kids to watch out for and a boyfriend with a very spiky bat. She didn't have time to worry about herself.
She stopped walking, looking up at ceiling of the tunnels. All the vines connected to what looked like a breathing flower, a rose almost. She was actually really beginning to hate flowers. It wasn't doing anything, just breathing, yet she felt like it would try to kill them if they stood underneath it for too long.
Max followed her gaze to the ceiling, "What is this place?"
"Honestly?" Ryan sighed, shaking her head. "This is what hell looks like Max."
Steve turned around, seeing Ryan staring up at the ceiling. For a split second, he thought back to a year ago, Ryan coming home scared out of her mind, coming from a place just like this. He reached over, taking her hand in his and squeezed lightly, reminding her that he was there this time, "Come on guys, let's keep moving!"
The group started to walk ahead, no one noticing that Dustin had fallen behind. That is, no one noticed until Ryan heard his screams from behind them, "Dustin!"
Everyone ran back the the tunnel, Steve and Ryan pushing through the kids to see Dustin screaming and coughing on the ground, "WHAT HAPPENED?"
Dustin screamed a response, something Ryan can't understand at all due to the high pitch. "DUSTIN," She exclaimed, trying to calm him down. "DUSTIN I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING YOU'RE SAYING!"
The boy took a few deep breaths, spitting onto the ground before sitting up and facing them, moving the bandanna away from his face, "I'm okay."
Ryan breathed a huge sigh of relief as the group groaned around her. Steve kicked at a vine on the ground, "Really funny man, really."
"Jesus Dustin," Ryan exclaimed once she was sure he was truly okay. "You really had me scared here, what the fuck?"
She turned around, walking back through the tunnels, bumping into Max who was also shaking her head in frustration, "What an idiot."
The group continued to walk through the tunnels, Mike sticking next to Ryan and Steve, looking over their shoulders at the map in Steve's hands. Behind them, Dustin ran to catch up, pushing Lucas to the side to see over Mike's shoulder.
They came to a stop at the entrance of what looked like the hub on the map Mike had made, after all, when they looked across, three new tunnels were across the way.
"Okay, Wheeler." Steve announced, shining the flashlight around the different tunnels. "I think we found your hub."
