Arion

1.27

Kenny and I ran to the control room and cut the electricity. The fence around the hospital would get turned off but the back up generators would kick in in the hospital.

We waited a few seconds for the back up generators, which did kick in and the lights turned on. "Okay, baby, we have to find the girls. They are the only ones who can protect us," I told him.

We walked out and Kenny grabbed my mouth and my waist and pulled me into him. "Do not speak," he whispered lowly in my ear. He took his hand from my waist and pointed to one of the beasts trailing the hallways.

I internally screamed as Kenny slowly pulled me back into the control room. He let me go and slowly closed the door making sure to handle the door knob easily. After he slid down the wall and began to hyperventilate. "Oh my god. We s–" he paused.

"What's wrong, baby?" I asked. He put his finger up to his mouth and held it there. I covered my own mouth and kneeled beside him.

After a minute, he exhaled the air he was holding in. "It was on the other side of the door, I felt it breathing under the crack," he said while trying to stay calm at the same time.

We both stood up and he told me to stay behind him. He opened the door and looked down the hallway. "You are going to stay extremely close, yeah?" I nodded and followed him out.

All you could hear was the roaring of those beast things and people screaming. It was nerve wrecking. "The girls are down that hall, third door on the left," I said directing him to Poet's room, which I hoped they were in.

Kenny and I slowly made our way. We didn't run into those animals, which was a blessing. He opened the door and let me in first before closing the door behind himself.

"Are you okay?" he asked pulling me into a hug. I nodded and started to cry a little. The situation was the definition of overwhelming and fearful. I looked up and kissed him, "Thank you for saving my ass out there. I'd literally be dead without you." We laughed a little before I looked over at our audience.

Ari, Octavia, and Poet were standing there with 3 other girls. "Thanks for joining us," Octavia said.

I laughed and gave her and Arion a hug. "Glad you two are okay," I said kissing both of their heads.

"Momma, this is Clarke, my friend. That's Blue and Posie," Arion said introducing the girls I was unfamiliar with. I waved and they waved back.

"We got our plan to stop the bestia spaventosa, but there's only one person who can close the gate," Octavia said hinting towards Arion.

"What gate? The outdoor one? We c–"

"No, the gate that caused all of this mayhem. It's underground and the only person who can close it is Arion. The rest of us have to fight the bestia spaventosa and Papa," she said. She stepped up to me and signaled me to get closer to her, so I kneeled.

"If we close the gate, it kills the beasts and unfortunately, we're gonna have to kill Papa before that happens." She looked down at a walkie-talkie and handed it to me.

I stopped her and made her look at me, "Sweetheart, I don't want you to have to kill anybody," I said caressing her cheek softly.

I don't know why, but I was fond of Octavia. She was a sweet soul and absolutely gorgeous. I wouldn't mind bringing her home and raising her awhile after all this mess.

"It's fine, Toni. It's gotta happen." She shrugged and stepped back. "Plus, as long as you get Arion underground and we all do our part, everything'll work."

I smiled blankly and finally gave in. "Fine, but in case you don't know, we only got one shot. We can't blow it," I warned them all. "Kenny is going to stay with you guys, I can't leave you girls without an adult." It pained me to leave him, but I had to.

They nodded. "Let's get this done." I picked up Arion and looked back at the girls. I turned to Kenny with tears brimming my eyes. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"What if this is all for nothing? What if it does more harm than good? What if I never see you aga–" He ended my sentence by bringing our lips together. When we pulled apart, I stared into his eyes.

"No matter what happens today, I love you. We will meet again. I promise." He caressed my check before kissing my forehead.

"I love you, too," I said. Arion started wiping my tears with her precious little hands.

"I love you, too, Momma." I laughed a little and kissed her. "Mommy loves you, more, baby."

I waved bye to the girls and wished them luck. We all needed it. We were about to either pull off the greatest thing since Houdini or risk everything and everyone.

I snuck down the hall to elevator and tried to close it as quickly as possible. Just as the crack started to close, a hand stopped it. My heart dropped as I put Arion on my back.

The elevator reopened and a doctor, who was barely hanging onto life, was there. "Take this," he said sliding a gun across the floor. "Aim, and shoot those fuckers." With that, the elevator closed.

I pressed the basement button and we started to descend. I could tell my nerves where showing because Ari started to caress my cheek. "It'll be okay, Momma. I got it, I promise."

I put her on her feet before kneeling in front of her. She stuck out her pinky and smiled. I quickly wiped the tear that slipped my eye. I locked pinkies with her and kissed the back of her hand. "I know you do, and I'll be with you. No matter what, you're never alone. You understand me?"

She nodded and wrapped her arms around my neck. "Thank you," she whispered.

Before I got the chance to ask what for, the elevator rang, and we both knew it was time for business. We stepped off and she led me to a secluded room with a carriage that window washers would use to get up and down buildings.

"We go on and down," Arion said and I nodded. We got on and I pressed the down button. As we started to descend, the sight was scary. It was dark yet bright. It was like entering hell, one dark red spot that had the allusion of flames, but it wasn't hot. The opposite actually. It felt like holding ice in your palm.

I looked down at Arion who was shivering cold. "You can do this, Arion," I said over the loud roaring of beasts around us. I started to shoot at them and watched as they fell into a bottomless pit below us. I saw the signal on the walkie talkie Octavia gave me to signal their Papa was dead. "Arion, now!" I yelled.

After that, she changed. She became unrecognizable as she levitated. Her hands stretched before her and she began to scream. The red hole was closing, but it seemed like a hard job. I noticed her nose started to leak blood as the hole in the nothingness began to come to a close.

Before I could blink twice, it was gone. There were no holes and all to be heard were screeching sounds of the beasts falling and dying.

I looked at Arion, who had collapsed to the ground. I sat next to her and pulled her into me. "Good job, baby. Good job," I said as I ran my fingers through her wild hair.

"It's all over, honey."

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i think the next chapter may be the last... i dont know yet, what do yall think?
homage to stranger things ofc.
thanks for reading lovelies 🧡