If you asked Frankie Walsh what she would be doing this lovely Friday night, she'd probably say, maybe a movie or maybe hanging out with Keith or maybe just lounging around the house. What she wouldn't say, would be, holding out a flashlight for Steve Harrington as he made his way down a dark cellar, nail covered bat in hand. Yeah, that's not what Frankie had in mind when she got home from school that day.
Waiting for Dustin to come back to the house with Steve Harrington, Frankie waited patiently on the porch overviewing the cellar. Shivering as the sun began going down, Frankie couldn't help but watch the doors leading down to whatever the hell she saw earlier. Thinking that whatever was in there could make it's way out of the metal if she looked away, her eyes never wavered. The sun had been down officially for about thirty minutes and Frankie was concerned. Where were Dustin and Steve? Where the heck was Claudia?
Before she could go back to worrying, the sound of tires rolling over fallen leaves hit Frankie's ears. Looking at the bright lights coming from Steve's car, Frankie began to rise from her spot on the porch. Walking down the concrete stairs towards the dirt and leaf covered path, her heart began to beat faster as she was going to face the guy she had just talked to days before. She knew it wasn't a big deal and she was just being over dramatic, but she couldn't help the thumping of her heart and the moisture in her hands.
Lifting one brow up at the bat in Steve's hands, she quietly walked up to the two boys. Seeing Dustin stop a couple steps behind Steve, Frankie placed a hand on his shoulder and continued to stare at the nail infused bat. Letting out a small smirk as Dustin jumped at her touch, she looked carefully at Steve.
"I don't hear shit." Steve said, while shining a light at the locked cellar. Biting her lip, she noticed that he was right. She couldn't hear the monster either.
"But it's there, I saw Dustin lock it." Frankie was dumbfounded, that thing made so much noise when they locked it up, and now it's dormant? No way was that possible. It couldn't have gotten out either, the lock was still bolted shut.
Scrunching her brows at the look Steve gave her, Frankie tried to swallow down her saliva as her throat turned dry. Steve couldn't believe his eyes. The angel girl was standing right in front of him, hand on the kid who kidnapped him's shoulder. With furrowed eyebrows and pursed lips, she looked just the same as she did two nights ago.
"Angel girl?" He asked, trying to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him like yesterday at lunch. Dustin and Frankie looked at each other in confusion before looking back at Steve.
"What?" She and Dustin asked simultaneously, both rather confused at the words tumbling out of Steve Harrington's mouth. Stammering while shaking his head, Steve let out a short 'nothing'. Going back to the task at hand, Steve lightly banged the padded up door with the bat once to see if Dustin and the angel girl were playing a trick on him. Banging the doors again with his bat but harder, Steve and the two people a couple steps behind him heard nothing.
"All right, listen kid. I swear, if this is just some Halloween prank, you're dead." He shined the flashlight in Dustin's face then shined it in Frankie's, "And bringing angel girl into this," He shined it back into Dustin's, "you're deader than dead."
"Steve this isn't a joke."
"Angel girl?"
Dustin and Frankie yet again said simultaneously under Steve's flashlight interrogation. Squinting their eyes as the light invaded their pupils, Dustin looked away. "Get that out of my face." Dustin said as Frankie raised a hand to block the brightness.
"You got a key to this thing?" He asked, pursing his lips while lowering the plastic of the flash light. Looking at Frankie as she let her hand fall down to her side, Steve took in a huge gulp of breath.
"I can hold the light for you." Frankie offered taking a step towards Steve. Extending her hand, Frankie smiled as Steve passed her the black cylinder. Tossing the keys to the tall teen, he caught them easily in one hand and kneeled down to unlock the chain. Slowly lifting one of the metal doors up, Frankie could feel her palms begin to sweat and her heart beat in a way that wasn't comforting like it was minutes ago. It was the same feeling she felt when that monster looked at her and Dustin through the wood of his shed hours earlier. She was scared, and she didn't like it.
Shining the light down into the cellar, Frankie held in her breath. She could hear nothing. No gurgling, no steps, nothing. Waiting a moment in terrified silence, the only sounds emitting from the area were the scared heavy breaths from Dustin and the thunderous beats from her own heart.
"He must be further down there." Dustin whispered shakily. Glancing back at her neighbor, Frankie's shoulders dropped in concern. Dustin was obviously scared shitless just standing there. Grabbing his hand and giving a squeeze, she smiled reassuringly at the young boy trying to convince him that everything was going to be alright.
"I'll stay up here in case he tries to escape." Raising a brow at the curly haired boy, Frankie let go of his hand and began to descend the concrete stairs leading to a creature who could tear her limb from limb. Steve who finished giving Dustin a really look, turned to the brunette who was hesitantly climbing down the stairs and followed her till he was in front. Biting her lip as she noticed Steve walking in front of her, Frankie couldn't help but think he was trying to protect her. Yeah right Walsh.
Steve walked deeper into the cellar, two hands gripping the handle of the wooden bat. Frankie who stood close by Steve shakily held onto the flashlight for dear life. Glancing back at the girl, Steve made sure she was close by before looking around the room. Finding the string to pull the light, Frankie yanked the string letting a soft glow embrace the cold room. Seeing Steve reach for something on the floor, she walked closer and peeked over her shoulder.
"Yuck."
"No kidding."
Pointing the light at whatever it was that was hanging off of Steve's back, Frankie felt sick to her stomach. It looked like the dead skin that comes off snakes. Except it was covered in goo and bubbling as the air touched it. Whatever it was, it wasn't the creature that Dustin locked up in there. Studying the thing that looked like a slobbery plastic bag, Frankie didn't notice what caught Steve's attention until he dropped it to the floor. Following his line of sight, her mouth dropped open in shock and she could feel scared tears come to her eyes.
"Steve? Fran? What's going on down there?" Hearing the sound of her next door neighbor's nervous voice, Frankie couldn't move an itch. Stuck in a state of panic and shock, the young girl's eyes stared unblinkingly at the corner of the room.
"Get down here." Steve said to a scared Dustin from the bottom of the staircase. Not having any words himself, he turned back to the silent girl. Swallowing, he walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder just like she did to him, as Dustin walked down the stairs. Instantly relaxing at the warm touch of Steve Harrington, Frankie felt her insides warm up. Looking up into puppy dog brown eyes, she let out a small smile. Seeing her cheeks pull up, Steve teeth shone in a bright grin. For the first time in days he was smiling and it wasn't fake.
"Oh shit." Dustin said breaking their eye contact. Looking back at the exasperated preteen, Frankie felt her cheeks warm up. Shaking it off, she focussed on the slime hanging off Steve's bat, the feeling of dread creeping up on her once again. Turning towards the corner of the room, her body froze up again only relaxing at the feeling of Steve's arm pressed against hers.
"Oh shit." Walking towards the hole in the wall, the three couldn't believe their eyes. Crouching down in front of the ruins of brick and dirt, Frankie shined the light into the darkness. Expecting to come face to face with the creature, she felt even more scared as she was looking into the never ending expanse of a dirt tunnel.
"No way."
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an: thank you guys for helping this story reach 1k I'm so happy! Also I'm thinking of starting another Steve story but with a male oc and I can't figure out which face claim I want to use, so I'll probs post it on my profile and see if anyone has any ideas anyways thank you!!!