THE TOWER ━ stranger things

12.

chapter twelve — confessions and confusion

The elevator erupted with frantic screams from everyone...well everyone but Irene. The girls' body remained on the floor as they made their steep and fast descent downward. Steve felt like he was going to vomit, Robin was clutching onto the shelves behind her with all her might as Erica held tightly onto the teen, and Dustin was in the corner trying not to have a panic attack.

None of them knew what to do about the girl that was unconscious with blood pooling from her nose as they were all falling to their deaths; they were lucky the elevator's rapid movement had caused her to shift onto her side or else she'd be choking right about now (hold onto that thought though). Her nose didn't bleed that bad before so something had to be wrong.

This was the second time Irene went down in front of them and not only were they terrified that they were falling to their doom, but also because she looked like she was dead. Her tan face grew a sickly pale color and the blood rushing from her nostrils wasn't doing her any favors.

With a loud BOOM the elevator came to a halt, hitting the floor below it. Gravity weighed down on all of them as they fell – Irene remained lifeless, however the commotion had caused her to move onto her back.

"My groin – it fell on my groin," Steve groaned underneath the mass of one of the boxes. "Dustin! Get this off of me." He called to the younger boy and as the latter went to go aid his friend he heard a low gurgling noise coming from behind him. He dropped the box back on Steve, earning an earful of his loud cry out in pain, and quickly shuffled his feet toward the sound.

Irene was on her back and coughing – choking – on the blood varnishing the inside of her throat. There was something sinister about the way her eyes were still screwed shut and it made the hair on Dustin's neck stand.

Shouldn't it have woken her up? He thought to himself as he quickly crouched next to her, pushing her onto her side, watching as blood spilled from the corner of her mouth. It wasn't a lot which he was thankful for, but the image was still haunting. He reached for her bag and grabbed some wipes to clean her face the best he could.

He had drowned out Steve and Robin's bickering over the keycard that was needed to open the door, understanding the both of them were too enthralled in the load of shit they had found themselves in to pay attention. His hands latched onto Irene's shoulder while he silently prayed for her to wake up soon.

"Just so you nerds are aware, I'm supposed to be spending the night at Tina's and Tina always covers for me. But if I'm not home for Uncle Jack's party tomorrow and my mom finds out you four are responsible she's gonna hunt you down, one by one, and slit your throats." Erica went on behind him and he closed his eyes as a soft sigh came out from his nose.

A low mumble sounded from beneath him and his eyes shot open, looking at Irene who was still down for the count, however, words were leaving her lips with subtle determination. He leaned forward, catching tiny fragments of what she was saying.

"Cut off one head...two more grow back...Heather...He's here...Run...Protect the kids...You have to be strong...Run!" Her body jolted forward with a shrill scream that echoed against the four walls. Dustin fell back in shock and the three having a debate in the corner snapped their heads in her direction.

Irene woke with terror still flowing from the tips of her fingers to the ends of her toes. The first thing she noticed when she came to was the pungent taste of metal that coated her mouth and throat. She couldn't catch her breath as Steve grabbed onto her shoulders and asked her a slew of questions that the loud thumps of her heart drowned out. Her body ached and there was a terrible throb that sprouted from the back of her head down to the base of her neck.