EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE | Stranger Things.

XXXII. Record Broken: Fastest Screw Up

WHAT ONCE WAS A SMALL WALK IN THE WOODS TURNED INTO THEM ENDING UP NEAR A ROAD.

"And then, that thing almost ate us—"

"How are you saying this so calmly?" Frances gasped, interrupting Daisy accidentally.

"It just feels like Daisy Hugo story time hour," Daisy said with a small shrug of her shoulders. "Anyways, Steve saved us, and then you came over and... I think that's it. No, no. We got the thing... Demogorgon! In the trap, but when we tried to find it again it was gone."

"Just like that?" Frances asked, receiving a nod from Daisy in response. Learning this information made Frances confused but also sad in a way, she thought about Daisy having to deal with this all by herself without anyone else to confide in. Not her family and not any of her other friends. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? I — I could've helped."

Daisy walked quietly after that. Her hands were held together behind her back and she stared down at the leaves before turning to face her sister. "I didn't want you to be in danger and I still don't."

"Fuck that." Frances scoffed.

The youngest Hugo raised an eyebrow at her sister's statement. There was some anger present in Frances's voice and most of it stemmed from the fact that her sister had to deal with this all on her own. She didn't understand any of it — especially not how the few people Daisy said were involved managed to go on with their lives as if nothing happened. As if everything would go back to normal after a while.

"You're my sister — we share the same blood, so I'm not going to let you deal with this all on your own," Frances spoke carefully. She grabbed Daisy's shoulders and held them the same way she had as a kid when Daisy was afraid of staying in her own room at night. "No arguing, okay?"

"What if you get hurt? I don't think I can deal with that." Daisy whispered.

"I'm supposed to be the one worrying about you getting hurt." Frances laughed lightly to ease the tension that loomed over them. Daisy nodded and in the moonlight that shone down on them, Frances could see the smallest hint of a smile. "There you go!"

Daisy nodded and laughed, looking around the deep forest and gulping down her laugh. "Let's get out of here before some shit pops out at us."

"Don't say that," Frances frowned, obviously freaked out by her words.

The two girls held onto each other as they walked quickly through the woods but the deeper they walked the more it became clear that they were clueless as to where to exit. It felt like a never-ending maze.

Loud breathing was the only thing they could hear between them, their eyes searching around themselves wildly with every move they made.

Frances's hand gripped Daisy's shirt and accidentally startled the girl, gasping loudly and nearly jumping away from her sister. "Don't do that, Frances. I'm more prone to heart attacks."

"I'm sorry!" Frances apologized quietly. She continued to hold onto Daisy with trembling hands and a rapid heartbeat. She pulled Daisy back upon hearing a noise that sounded far too near the pair. "What was that?"

"What?" Daisy answered back, equally terrified. They were pushing back, trying to make the other be the one to walk first. "I'm scared." Her words came out shakily.

A twig snapping nearby them erupted a scream out of both of the girls, Daisy yanking Frances along with her to get far from where the noise was. They were running frantically through the woods aimlessly, not a single clue as to where they were going but all they knew is that they wanted to get out of there right this instant.