SIXTY-TWO: IT DOESN'T LAST FOREVER
("The Massacre Lab" III)
PENNY AND FRANK HELD ON TIGHTLY TO EACH OTHER, AS THEY TRUDGED THROUGH THE DARK FOREST. They found themselves trailing behind Nancy and Robin. The two best friends, though sacred, still talked as it seemed to be a sense of comfort for them.
"What if we don't get out of here?" questioned Frank, nervously.
Penny shook her head. "We will. We've been through tough times before and got out of it. We can do it again... together."
"We got this," the blond murmured, squeezing Penny's hand. Penny squeezed it back, giving Frank some assurance.
"Yeah," she spoke softly. "Promise you'll stay by my side?"
"I promise," Frank assured and he meant it.
"I'm glad you're here," Penny admitted, tucking some hair behind her ear.
Frank wrapped his arm around her shoulder, a small smile forming on his lips. "I am too. Hey, have you, uh, asked Steve about New York yet?"
Penny glanced behind her at the boy who was talking to Eddie and she frowned. "No. I haven't."
"Penny! You can't avoid it forever."
"I know. But... it's just hard." Penny rubbed the back of her neck and looked back at Steve again. Looking at him made her realize that she just couldn't do it.
"Well you can do anything, okay? It's just a simple question. Go up to him all nonchalant and say, 'Hey, I was wondering if you would go to New York with me?' That's it. I mean what are you so afraid of?"
"That he'll say no," Penny said softly.
"And why would he?"
"Well, he's been in Hawkins his whole life, and he has a job here and friends and the kids, and... I don't even think he's over Nancy," Penny revealed looking over at the Wheeler girl.
Frank frowned at her words and shook his head. "Please, don't say that. Steve's been in love with you since forever. And I'm pretty sure the only reason he dated Nancy was because she was the complete opposite of you and he wouldn't be reminded of you. You know, because you hated him."
"What makes you say that?" Penny inquired, adjusting her shirt.
"He told me," Frank mentioned casually. Penny looked at him curiously. "A few days ago Steve and I talked and in that talk he said that. Well not word for word, but you get what I'm saying."
Penny nodded, trying to stop herself from blushing.
"So, if he really loves you, which he does, then he'll go with you," Frank said, putting his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
"And if I really love him, then I can't ask," Penny frowned. "I can't be the person who holds him back."
"It's up to you what you want to do. But just know, I'll support whatever decision you make. I'm always on your side."
Penny smiled at the blond and put her head on his shoulder. "Thanks, Frankie."
"You're welcome." Frank let out a deep sigh.
"Are you okay?" Penny questioned, noticing his uneased state.
"I guess. I'm just worried about the kids. I mean, they're all alone in those woods. Who knows what'll happen to them."
Penny nodded at his words, but before she could say anything, the ground began to shake again. Frank quickly pulled Penny to his side, but the both of them were swept off their feet from the movement.
"Fuck!" Frank shouted loudly, landing hard on a stick. Penny looked over and noticed her friend's wide eyes. Then, she looked down and saw his arm which happened to be as red as Max's hair.
"Frank, please tell me you didn't fracture your arm again," Penny spoke calmly, remembering what happened in their junior year.
"Sorry," he said groaning, trying not to cry from the pain.
Penny rolled her eyes, holding on to him so he wouldn't hurt himself even more. "Now we really have to get out of here. Are you alright?"
Frank just shook his head. His brows furrowed as he watched Nancy run. The group decided to follow her. They stopped behind the girl as she looked toward her house, which was illuminated by the red and blue sky of the Upside Down.
"Nancy!" called Robin, clearly out of breath.
Penny looked at her confused, holding Frank up—the blond was busy biting his tongue to suppress his pain. "What's going on? You good?"
Nancy ignored those talking to her and went straight toward her house. "Come on."
The six trudged through the dark forest. Steve came to Penny's side and looked over at Frank.
"What's wrong with him?" questioned Steve, wrapping an arm around Penny's waist.
"Sprained his arm... again," Penny said, annoyance clear in her tone.
Frank rolled his eyes, as Nancy opened the door (which was covered in vines) to her "house."
"Listen, it was a mistake. And I sprained it trying to protect you, so a thank you would be much nicer than your judgment," defended Frank
Eddie laughed from behind the three. Penny narrowed her eyes at him and Eddie knew to stop.
"Frank, we really need to get you to a doctor," Robin observed, carefully examining his arm. The group began to make their way into the house, shining flashlights throughout.
"Rob's right. We do," Penny agreed, as Steve removed his hand from her waist. The Hopper girl decided to walk around and to say she was disgusted was an understatement. The bright home of the Wheeler family, which she became very familiar with for the past few years looked completely unrecognizable. It was and dark and it smelled like mothballs, which reminded Penny of Flo from the police station.
"Might be time to get a maid, Wheeler," Robin joked.
"She's gonna need more than that," added Penny guiding Frank along. Frank winced slightly and rubbed his good arm. "You're gonna be okay. Just hold on."
Nancy looked around the house for a second before heading towards the stairs, "come on. I don't want to stay here longer than we have to."
The teens went to follow after her, but before Penny and Frank could get to Nancy's room, Steve stopped right in front of them mid-step and turned around, wide-eyed.
"You okay, Steve-O?" Asked Penny, noticing his frantic state. He ignored her, stuck in a trance and for a second Penny thought he was posed by Vecna, until she heard it—Dustin's voice was coming from somewhere. He sounded echoey.
"Dusty?" Frank spoke, surprised. "Is he here? What's he saying?"
"I-I don't know," said the Harrington boy slowly. Penny dragged Frank down the steps and Steve was on their tails. They moved to the middle of the home entrance and looked around curiously.
Pretty soon they begin shouting the name of the boy.
"Dustin! Where are you?! Hello!" Shouted Penny.
"If you can hear us, don't be a dick! Please!" Frank screamed.
"Dustin! Dustin!" Steve yelled. "Dustin! Can you hear me? Dustin! Hello—hello!"
"What are you three doing?" asked Nancy. They all jumped at the sound of her voice, turning around and shining their flashlights on her face. The other half of the group shielded their eyes as Steve came forward.
"He's here. Henderson. That little shit, he's here. He's like... he's in the walls or something. Just listen." Steve waited for a second, while Eddie, Nancy, and Robin looked at him like he was insane. Meanwhile, Penny was inspecting Frank's arm with her flashlight. Steve waited her the curly-haired boy to say something but when nothing was said he shouted his name again. "Dustin! Can you hear me?"
And that's when the freshman's voice was heard once again in the same echo. And soon all six of them could hear him. So, they searched through the dark house, calling him and trying to see if he was there.
"All right, either this kid can't hear us or he's being a total douchebag," Steve sighed defeated. He looked over at Frank who didn't bother to look for his brother. He just used his good arm to play with his flashlight.
"Will found a way," Nancy piped up, remembering what happened a few years ago.
"What?" inquired Steve and Penny at the same time.
"Will," Frank said, realization hitting him. "He found a way to talk to Joyce through the lights, remember?"
Nancy walked over to a lamp, desperately trying to turn on the light, and when it didn't work she received help from Steve and Penny. But it seemed as if nothing was working.
That's when Frank moved his flashlight to the chandelier and through that, he was able to see bright specs.
"Hey, you guys." They all turned their attention to the blond. "Are seeing this shit?"
"Whoa," said Penny. The bright specs of light reminded her of pixie dust. "It's beautiful."
"Yeah, it is," Steve nodded.
They all slowly made their way toward the chandelier and Nancy was the first to stick out her hand, playing with the specs, which illuminated her fingers in a red glow.
"Whoa," Eddie breathed out.
The group of teens all reached their hands up and moved their hands around in amazement.
"It tickles," said Steve.
"It kinda feels good" Robin revealed.
"It does, doesn't it?" Penny smiled.
"Am I the only one that's getting a throbbing feeling?" Frank inquired.
The blond went ignored as Nancy asked, "Does anyone know Morse Code?"
"No," Robin and Steve said together.
Penny raised her hand. "Yeah."
"Wait, Does SOS count? Is that... is that good?" Eddie questioned the Hopper girl. Penny nodded, giving him a smirk.
"You wanna do the honors, Munson?" Penny inquired.
The long-haired boy nodded, smiling back. "Yeah, I'll do it." He moved his hand according to the proper code, repeating it as much as he could. Sooner than later they received a message back and Penny was able to translate: "GO TO NANCY'S ROOM."
"This may take a while," Penny breathed out.
And it did. After some time, the six moved into "Nancy's room" and sat themselves in front of the bed.
"Are you guys seeing this?" Dustin's voice echoed.
Nancy moved her hand through the light of Steve's flashlight. And through it, more light came through.
"We're not moving it, but we're gonna unplug it. Stand by," said Dustin again. Through that, the light went away. "Okay try it now."
"Um... um," Nancy said hesitantly. Slowly she moved her fingers making an "H" and then an "I".
"That worked!" Shouted Dustin.
They all cheered happily, smiles adorning their faces.
"Yes! Yes!" Cheered Eddie. "Hi!"
Frank laughed at the boy.
"Okay... um..." Nancy uttered, thinking of what else to say. Then she spelled out S-T-U-C-K
"Stuck!" Said Dustin.
"Yes," Steve nodded.
"We are," agreed Robin.
"Uh, you can't get back to Watergate?" Dustin's uttered.
"What the hell's Watergate?" Steve wondered looking at Penny confused.
"The Nixon scandal," the Hopper girl said like it was obvious. Frank nodded in agreement.
"I don't think he's talking about that," muttered Robin. "It's the gate we went through. 'Cause it's in water and it's a gate."
"Oh," Steve and Penny realized.
"That's cute," Eddie commented.
"And misleading," added Frank. Nancy nodded her head at that.
"Um, no. It's..." Nancy thought before writing out G-U-A-R-D-E-D.
"Oh, okay watergate's guarded," Dustin piped up.
Eddie clapped as Steve said, "Perfect. Yes. Yes. Yes."
"Okay, we think we have a theory that can help with that."
"You're the best brother in the world man!" Shouted Frank. "I love you."
"Genius child," commented Robin
"We think Watergate isn't the only gate. That there's a gate at every murdered site," revealed the curly-haired boy, his voice muffled.
"Does anybody understand what he's talking about?" Nancy queried.
They all just shook their heads muttering in disagreement. So, Nancy wrote a question mark.
"How many times do I have to be right in the money before you trust me?"
"This kid's gotta get his ego in check," Steve sighed, obviously annoyed by his younger friend.
"It's his tone. Right?" Said Eddie leaning over to Steve.
"I've been saying that since the day he could talk," Frank sighed, trying not to cry at the pain in his arm.
"Okay. So... So how far is your trailer?" Nancy questioned looking over at Eddie.
"Seven miles," the long-haired boy replied quickly.
"More walking," Penny said dramatically, dropping her head. Steve patted her shoulder.
"Nancy. Uh, I know your house here is, like, weirdly, creepily frozen in time and shit, but haven't you always had bikes?"
Nancy looked over at Robin, realization hitting her and she nodded. Once they had revealed their plan to the group on the other side, they ran downstairs to the garage and hopped on the bikes. Penny had Frank hop on the back of his old bike which he had left at the Wheeler's the day before Will disappeared. Together they set off through the dark and empty streets.
(A/N: I am SO sorry for the late update. I have all but one chapter finished for season four. I'll try to edit and publish them within the next few weeks. But, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!)
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄