─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
franchie, liam and hayden had just heard a beast's roar, and their eyes widen in shock and alarm at the sound. they glanced up to see glowing white-blue eyes in the doorway and continued to watch in horror as it crushed the chain-link fence door in its large hands, throwing the crushed metal at them. when it landed just in front of the cruiser, liam instantly grabbed the two girls' hands.
"what the hell is that?"
"run!" liam yelled.
the trio began to sprint as fast as they could from the telecom building. hayden was reluctant to leave valerie behind, but the woman had already made it out safely.
"girls! run!" her voice echoed.
they did as they were told and followed liam into the nature preserve while the beast chased after them.
"what is that thing?" hayden asked aloud.
as the sound of the monster growling and branches snapping filled her ears, she reached over to securely take franchie's hand.
liam was shocked into speechlessness, and couldn't answer. hayden was visibly frustrated by his silence.
"liam, what is it?" she repeated.
"i don't know!" liam panted frantically, "just run!"
the three continued to run until they made it to the wide and deep ravine in the middle of the preserve. they skidded to a halt before they toppled over the edge of the cliff, but when they heard the beast quickly approaching them, hayden made a decision. she backed away from the cliff before looking at franchie expectantly.
"jump."
"what?!" franchie exclaimed, her eyes darting between the girl and the large gap.
"are you kidding?" liam had the same reaction as the santiago girl.
"we can make it!" hayden reassured the two, "here." she squeezed franchie's hand before pulling her backwards.
the three ran at full speed to the ravine and just as they made it to the ledge, they used their super strength and agility to leap across with such force that hayden accidentally released franchie's hand.
hayden landed in a safe stance on the other side, a smirk on her face while franchie tumbled onto the floor, dirt in her hair. hayden quickly bent down and helped her up, brushing off her clothes.
"see? i told you!" hayden spoke.
franchie turned around, expecting to see liam right behind her but saw him hanging onto the ledge with his arms as the rest of his body dangled over the ravine.
"hayden..." franchie gestured to the helpless boy.
"shit."
the girls reached out to help him up but while they were distracted, the beast effortlessly lept over to them. franchie's head shot back to see the large creature staring right at them. it roared menacingly as liam thought of an idea.
"do you guys trust me?" liam quizzed.
"what?" hayden scoffed, "no!"
"fran?"
"i do." she nodded, "what's your idea?"
liam smiled, in satisfaction before pulling the two by their arms and into the ravine in them. as the trio vanished from sight, franchie's scream echoed through the air.
─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
liam laid, unconscious and flat on his back on a large boulder at the bottom of the ravine but all hayden could focus on was the girl beside him. franchie had slammed her head onto the floor during their fall, knocking herself out.
hayden pulled her head into her lap and began gently shaking her body awake.
"fran?" hayden whispered. she had been doing that for a few minutes and still no response.
thankfully, after a while, franchie gasped awake. her body shot up in surprise and hayden instantly pulled her into a hug.
"are you okay?" hayden asked her, taking a deep breath.
"my head hurts." she groaned, her eyes glowing yellow as she automatically healed. "are you?"
"i'm fine."
"what about liam?"
hayden's eyes widened and she quickly stood up, "oh yeah." she stood over the unconscious boy and slapped him lightly on the face to wake him up. after a moment, liam startled awake and groaned in pain.
"what are you doing?" he questioned.
"fran wanted me to make sure that you're alive." hayden shrugged.
liam attempted to sit up, but groaned again and laid back down, "ugh, i can't move my legs." he tried again. "argh, i think my back's broken."
"liam, stop moving." fran instructed with a frown in concern.
"will it heal?" hayden inquired.
"eventually... i think..." liam sounded unsure.
hayden stood up straight, "good. come on, fran."
"we're leaving?" fran gave her a look.
"whoa!" liam yelled out, "where are you going?"
"to find my sister and make sure she's okay." hayden stated.
liam was taken aback by her uncharacteristically cold behaviour, "you're just going to leave me here?"
hayden scoffed, "you pulled us off a cliff! you're lucky fran healed."
"i saved your lives." liam reminded her, clearly frustrated.
"this time." hayden rolled her eyes as she began to walk away.
"who saved it last time?" liam called out.
"theo." the girls said in unison.
"you coming, fran?" hayden asked.
"yeah, hold on." franchie nodded before turning to liam. "sorry, liam. i hope you heal and i'll see you later."
"it's cool." the dunbar boy croaked out, still dazed.
─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
corey and franchie were surprisingly quite close. they were similar personality-wise and had a few of the same interests. so, they had snuck out to participate in the beacon hills library clean-up. it was the aftermath of liam and scott's fight.
once they were in, she left him alone so he could talk to his crush, mason hewitt. as she organised some books onto a shelf, liam approached her.
"hey."
she turned to look at him and smiled. "you healed!"
"yeah." he nodded.
"sorry about leaving you, hayden was just really concerned about valarie." franchie apologised.
liam shook his head. "it's okay. i'm just glad you're okay and alive."
"thanks."
"what's going on with you guys?" liam asked.
"who?"
"you and hayden."
franchie's face burned up. "i mean, i do really like her. but things are just complicated."
"how?" liam interrogated.
"with theo and-" franchie stopped herself. "i can't talk about it."
"why not?" liam frowned.
"i-i just can't. sorry." franchie sighed.
liam was getting irritated but he could never get mad at the girl, she was just too lovely. "could you at least tell me if moonee's okay?"
franchie's face dropped. "i wish i knew."
"but theo-"
"hasn't mentioned her." franchie stated, "i miss her everyday."
"me too." liam sighed. he knew they wouldn't be on good terms when she returned due to the fact that she almost killed him. but liam didn't care about any of that, he just wanted to see her.
"i'm sure she's fine, wherever she is." franchie comforted him, "you know moon, she's a fighter."
"yeah." liam chuckled, "the best."
franchie sighed before pulling liam into a tight hug. apart from her family, the two were the people who cherished moonee the most.
as they pulled away from their embrace, corey came over to them with mason by his side.
"franchie, we've got to go." he explained.
"is everything okay?"
─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
"you don't have to hide from me, guys." theo sighed.
suddenly, the two kindest members of theo's pack emerged. corey had camouflaged himself and franchie by pressing his back against the lockers and clutching her hand. he looked sheepish, worried at theo's arrival while franchie gave the boy a timid smile.
"we were just trying to do something nice..." corey explained.
"library clean up." franchie clarified.
"no, you were trying to do something normal." theo gave them a look, "but you guys don't have to be normal anymore, and you definitely don't have to be nice."
"well, i'm not going to hurt them." corey added.
the boy reeked of nervousness and it was slightly concerning franchie. it was no doubt that these two were the most frightened of theo.
theo looked astonished, "look, i don't want you to. in fact, they don't know it yet, but we're going to protect them- just like i'm going to protect you both."
although his words seemed comforting, the tone of his voice was quite harsh and threatening, which visibly scared the two.
"so, you're both going to come with me, and you're going to do everything that i tell you, because i know you don't want to die again." theo finalised.
corey looked terrified and nodded anxiously, but franchie hadn't done the same.
"everything okay, francesca?" theo glanced over to her. "how about we make a deal? you come with me and listen to my orders, and i'll let you see moonee."
franchie's face perked up in shock, "you know where she is?"
"of course i know." theo chuckled, "i saved her life."
"you've been saving lots of lives recently." franchie gave him a look, "ever thought about being a paramedic?"
theo shook his head with a smile, "you're the funny one." he threw his arm over her shoulder and guided her to the door.
"is moonee okay?" franchie asked, desperately, as they made their way out of the high school.
"she's never been better."
"how come you're only mentioning her now?" franchie added.
"enough with the questions." theo said, "you'll see her in a second, isn't that good enough?"
⎯ ❃ neens speaks!
hi guysss i'm so happy to be writing this again :)
also if any of you guys like stranger things, i've started a steve/max book called '1980s horror film' if you wanna check that out <3