Don't Stop the Devil / Steve Harrington 1

Chapter 32

I run over to Steve as the kids follow shortly behind. "Steve." I say as I lightly slap his face to try and wake him up. "Bella we need to get out if here." Max says from beside me. "Yeah, help me pick him up." I say with a nod. I open the front door and then go back to Steve. I go and hook my arms under his upper arms. "On the count of three Dustin and Lucas lift his legs, Max and Mike lift his arms." I say and they all nod. "One. Two. Three." I say and we all lift. "Wow you are heavier than expected Harrington." I say under my breath.

We slowly make our way out the front door and down the steps to Billy's Camaro. "Max get the door and let down the seat." I say and Max nods. She does as I say and then comes back to us. We gently put Steve in the back seat of Billy's Camaro and Mike, Dustin, and Lucas squeeze into the back seat with Steve. Max let's the seat back up and then goes to the drivers side.

"Hey, no way. You've only driven once." I say to her as I walk to the drivers side. "But-" She begins to protest before I hold out my hand for the keys. She groans and reluctantly hands me the keys. "Thank you." I say as I get into the drivers seat of my brother's car. I crank the car once Max gets in and back out of the Byers yard.

"Max get that map and tell me directions." I say as I point at the map on my brother's dash board. She gets it and begins to give me directions. Several minutes later I hear Steve groan. "Bella?" He asks and I look at him through the mirror. "No don't touch it." Dustin says and I look back at the road. "Hey buddy, shhhhh, shhhhhh, it's okay you put up a good fight, he kicked your ass, but you put up a good fight buddy you okay? You're okay." Dustin says trying to calm Steve down.

"Okay, you're gonna keep straight for half a mile, then make a left on Melsigna." Max says and I nod. "What's going on? Bella?" Steve asks and Max and I turn around and look at him. "Oh my god." Steve says with a disoriented laugh. "Relax she's driven before." Dustin says and I look back at the road. Steve, Dustin, Lucas, and Mike continue to argue as I tighten my grip on the steering wheel.

I speed up and try to ignore them. "Woah, stop the car. Slow down. Stop the car! STOP THE CAR!" Steve yells and I groan in annoyance. "EVERYBODY SHUT UP SHE'S TRYING TO CONCENTRATE!" Max yells and I give her a greatful smile. "Oh shit. That's Melsigna, make a left." Max says as she look back at the map. "What?" I ask. "MAKE A LEFT!" She yells and I make a sharp left turn. Everybody screams and I continue to drive.

We arrive at Merrills Farm and I see the hole Hopper dug. "Oh, hello!" Steve yells as I stop the car. "Let's go." I say as I get out of the car. I open the trunk and give the kids each a bandanna and a pair of goggles. Steve gets out of the car and falls on the ground. I go and help him up and he nods in appreciation. "Oh, guys." Steve says once he sees where we are and what we're doing.

"Hey, hey where do you think you're going?" Steve asks as Mike goes and ties the rope to the front bumper of the car. "What are you deaf? Hello!" Steve says and I go back to helping the kids get things out of the trunk. "We are not going down there right now I made myself clear!" Steve yells but we all ignore him. "Hey there is no chance we are going in that hole alright! This ends right now!" Steve says as he grabs a backpack out of Dustin's hands.

"Steve!" I yell at him and he let's go of the backpack. "I know you just want to keep the kids safe and I do to but if we don't do this Hopper and El could get hurt or worse. You need to trust the kids. You need to trust me." I say and he slowly nods. I smile and hand him a backpack with his bat in it. He takes it and I go to the kids. I climb down the rope first and look around and gasp at the sight of the upside down.

Steve comes down next and we then help the kids down. "Yeah I'm pretty sure it's this way." Mike says as he points his flashlight down one of the tunnels. "Your pretty sure or your sure?" Dustin asks from behind Steve and I. "I'm one hundred percent sure, just follow me and you'll know." Mike snaps and begins to walk down one of the tunnels. "Woah, woah, woah hey, hey, hey, I don't think so!" Steve says and we all turn to look at him. "Any of you little shits die down here Bella and I are getting the blame. Got it dipshit." Steve says as he snatches the map out of Mike's hands. "From here on out Bella and I are leading the way." Steve says as I walk up beside him. "Come on let's go." Steve says as he and I start to walk down the tunnel.

"Come on! Hey, a little hustle." Steve says and I hear the kids groan in annoyance. After several minutes of walking I look at Steve. "Hey you okay?" I ask him and he looks at me. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" He asks and I quietly laugh. "Well my brother did beat the shit out of you." I say and he sighs. "Yeah. How are you feeling?" He asks and I feel the bruise on my cheek start to hurt. "I'm fine. I'm used to it with my dad." I say quietly and Steve grabs my hand in support.

We come to an intersection and stop. Steve looks down at the map and we all look around. "God." Lucas says in shock. "What is this place?" Max asks from behind me. "Guys come on. Let's keep moving." Steve says as he drags me along beside him down one of the tunnels. We start walking but quickly turn around as we hear Dustin scream. We quickly run back to him and see him rolling around on the floor.

"What happened? What happened?" Steve frantically asks. "Dustin." I say as I put my hand on his shoulder. "It's in my mouth. Some got in my mouth. SHIT!" He screams and I hear the kids gasp as Dustin continues to cough. "Oh shit." Steve says from beside me. "I'm okay." Dustin says calmly as he looks at us.

"Are you serious?" I ask as I stand up. "You're funny man. Nice, really nice." Steve says as we all walk away from Dustin. "Such an idiot." Max says from behind me. We continue to walk down the tunnels and we come to the hub. "Alright Wheeler, I think we found your hub." Steve says as we all shine our flashlights around.