𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐖𝐈𝐍; steve harrington

ᵗ ʰ ⁱ ʳ ᵗ ʸ ⁻ ˢ ⁱ ˣ

July 4th, 1985

AFTER JUMPING DOWN THE ELEVATOR, the five teens had slid beneath the mechanical door and started their long trek towards the end of the Russian base, pipes and other metal features running along the wide walls beside them. They had close encounters with the Russians throughout their journey, almost getting caught numerous times, before they made it to the comms room. 

As soon as Aven was pushed into the room she froze. There, standing at the counter with his hand reaching for his gun, was a Russian guard. Her and Robin shared a glance, discreetly nodding at one another before taking a step forward, each speaking in the man's first language.

"не враг [ not enemy ] ," Aven muttered to the man after Robin had recounted parts of the code, subtly eyeing the gun latched to his side. He furrowed his brows with confusion, looking between the five unfamiliar teens as he blew out a short, nervous breath.

Whilst Aven and Robin were trying to decipher the Russian dialogue, she'd taken the time to study it further in her free time. She could speak it to an extent, but couldn't translate what others were saying.

"почему ты здесь [ why are you here ] ?" The man asked, although Aven had no idea what he had said. Meanwhile, Steve was tapping Robin on the shoulder, confused about the whole situation. She could only send him a shrug, not knowing about her hidden talent either.

"Oпачки [ whoops ] ?" the girl offered with a wince, not expecting the best outcome. She, of course, was right.

It all went downhill from there, the Russian letting out a scoff before Steve let out an even more terrifying war cry. The teen ended up fighting the guy, Dustin pulling Aven back by her jacket to safety as she watched her boyfriend bash the guard with a nearby phone, her hands over her mouth in shock.

After congratulating Steve on his win, Aven planting a thankful kiss on his soft lips, the group found their way up the stairs and into the neighbouring room. Peering out the window, they all had to gulp down their fear as they witnessed a giant laser penetrate through the glowing gate some of them despised. It made Aven want to crumple down into a puddle of misery.

Once they'd rushed back down the stairs and got to the entrance of the comms room, they'd noticed something was missing. The Russian was gone. With a bunch of strangled yelling and shouting, the group managed to sprint out of the room and run around the evil base, stopping in one of the rooms as Steve and Aven struggled to hold back the door. Much to Steve's dismay, Robin, Dustin and Erica were the only people who succeeded in getting out of the room safely, him and his girlfriend being thrown into one of the opposing walls as dozens of guards stormed into the room.

They got pulled away with guns to their heads, them both screaming each other's names as they got dragged throughout the Russian base. Aven ended up in a room with a man, tied up to a chair against one side of the room as he paced in front of her.

"How do you know Russian?" The man asked as he bent down in front of her, leaning low to be level with her train of sight.

"My parents were Russian," she lied monotonously, seething through her teeth. 

"Why are you here?" He asked instantly, narrowing his eyes at the bitter girl.

"Because one of the shops was missing a package," she answered just as quickly as before, the lies coming to her just as fast as they did to Billy.

"What shop?" He fired back spitefully, his voice lowering in attempts to scare the girl.

"Scoops Ahoy," she mumbled with distaste. She jumped back as he barked out a laugh, the anxiety she was hiding behind her painted face shining through as her lips twitched with fear.

"I see, I see . . . I don't believe you, you deceiving, repulsive, smug little bitch," he harshly whispered before her face,  each of his words slowly dragging on with frightening emphasis.

"I'm not lying," she tried, but her wavering voice gave her away. She felt the sting before she could process it.

He hit her.

Her face flew to the side, her cheek blooming red as she closed her memory-filled eyes. All the moments her dad had kicked her to the floor, shoved her into a wall and slapped her across the face sprang to her mind. The moment Billy had only once laid a hand on her in his car flashed within her head. The moments when her mum would stand back from afar, praying that somebody would walk in and stop the anger-filled man from throwing their children around like rubbish replayed over and over again behind her distant pupils. The memories were worse than the pain.

"No more lies," the Russian muttered with disgust flaming against his tongue. 

For the next hour, Aven was trapped in the chair, in the room, in the base, with the old Russian man. He would slap her cheek, kick her shin, punch her stomach or even knock her skull, but she stood strong. She had the experience.

Unfortunately, Steve couldn't say the same. A few rooms over, the boy was sat in his chair with blood splattered across his face, the crimson liquid dripping from his lips as he recounted the lie-filled story of how himself and Aven had managed to find the Russian base to the two leaders in the room, none of which believing a single word he uttered. With another punch to the cheek, he was out.

Robin, Dustin and Erica were out to find help. Mike, Lucas, Will, Max and Eleven were out to help Billy. Those two assurances were all Aven needed to keep her going, the hysteric girl sucking in gasps for breath as the Russian landed yet another punch to her stomach. She could feel herself draining, but once she felt the ropes holding her hands together untying, her energy to keep going returned. She was going to get her and her boyfriend out of there.

Even if they were on the brink of death.

1058 words