𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐃 ━ max mayfield

9│BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE

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❛ sᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴄᴋᴇᴅ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ʙᴜʀɴɪɴɢ ᴅᴏᴡɴ ᴛʜᴇ
ʜᴏᴜsᴇ ꒱


❝ HOLD ON TIGHT, WE'RE IN
FOR NASTY WEATHER ❞

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The party had been officially put on the sidelines and Jessie was frustrated. Sure, she didn't have super powers or a connection to a sentient monster but that didn't mean she was useless. It sucked to sit around for at least the third time that day and do nothing.

"Ri— so, my point is. . . yeah, we're on the bench," Steve finished his speech and he flipped his towel over his shoulder. "So, uh. . . there's nothing we can do."

"That's not entirely true," Dustin disagreed. "I mean, these Demo-dogs, they have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus they were called away."

"If we get their attention. . ."

"Maybe we can draw them away from the lab—"

"And help El!"

"Clearing a path to the gate!"

"Yeah, and then we all die!" Steve interrupted them.

"That's one point of view."

"No, that's a fact."

Mike suddenly seemed to remember something. "I got it!" They followed him to another room in the house and he crouched by one of Will's drawings that lined the walls. "This is where the chief dug his hole. This is our way into the tunnel. So. . ." He stood and walked over to another paper. "Here, right here. This is like a hub. So you got all the tunnels feeding in here. Maybe if we set this on fire—"

Despite her general dislike of the dark-haired boy, Jessie's eyes lit up. "Fire?"

"Oh, yeah?" Steve cut her off. "No. That's a no."

His disagreement went ignored as they continued to plan. "The mind flayer would call away his army!"

"They'd come to stop us."

"Then we circle back to the exit."

"And we're fine!"

"By the time they realize we're gone—"

"El would be at the gate."

"Do you think you could find the place on a map?" the brunette asked, directing the question to Mike.

Before he could reply, Steve spoke loudly over them: "hey! Hey, this is not happening."

"But—"

"No, no, no, no. No buts. I promised I'd keep you shitheads safe and that's exactly what I plan on. We're staying here. On the bench and we're waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everybody understand?" the older boy told them sternly.

The sound of a revving engine kept them from giving him a response. Lucas, Max and Jessie ran over to the window and leaned against the couch to peer out of it. The redhead let out a nervous breath. "It's my brother. He can't know I'm here. He'll kill me." She looked between the two people Billy had specifically warned her to stay away from. "He'll kill us."

The tires screeched against the pavement of the driveway and the loud music stopped as the older boy turned off his car. As he stood from the driver's seat, he took the cigarette out of his mouth to study the figure that stood in front of the Byers' door. "Is that you, Harrington?"