𝐂𝐈𝐑𝐂𝐔𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊 •☼• 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒐𝒏 .1

𝟑𝟓. ❙𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞

❛ 𝑪𝑰𝑹𝑪𝑼𝑺 𝑭𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑲 ❜
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•☼.⭒✻❙ 𝐅𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐄 𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐄 ❙✻⭒.☼•

❝ 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐩 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫. ❞

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𝑾𝑶𝑵𝑫𝑬𝑹𝑾𝑨𝑳𝑳
𝒐𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒔

❛ i don't believe that anybody feels the way i do about you now ❜

        𝑆𝑇𝐸𝑉𝐸 𝐷𝐸𝑆𝑃𝐼𝑆𝐸𝐷 𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝐹𝐴𝐶𝑇 that Jacqueline was saying behind to set the hub on fire, to engulf herself in flames just for the slight chance it would help El. His sole job now was to guide the kids and Wesley through the tunnels and back out again, then awaiting Jacqueline to emerge from the flames. He hated having to wait.

Steve had no way of knowing what Jacqueline was going through, what she was experiencing. He wanted to stay back to make sure she was alright, but if he did that, he would burn to death. Steve wanted to pull her out of that fire, but she was the only one that could withstand it.

Jacqueline was the only person that could help El in this situation. Nancy, Jonathan, and Joyce were all helping Will be rid of the shadow monster inside him, but that had almost nothing to do with El. She was trying to contain it, put the mind flayer back in the upside down, but it was difficult to even get the gate closed, containing it was a whole other story.

Jacqueline was really her only hope. She was the only person that could help El in any way. It wasn't much, but it was enough to give El a small break. If she could get rid of the lingering parts of the upside down in their world, it was less for El to take care of, and that's exactly what she planned to do.

It wasn't difficult for Jacqueline to set that room on fire. Getting it started was a little difficult, but once the room began to set ablaze, there was no turning back. Jacqueline could barely control the fire when it got to a certain point, but all she could see was orange, yellow, and red.

Jacqueline figured that this was enough to take down the tunnels, so, assuming the rest had enough time, Jacqueline began to make her way through the tunnels. Her nose was bleeding, the flames were shining in her eyes and following her every step. They never went in front of her, never took over her, they just followed behind the girl, who walked through the tunnels, seemingly unbothered.

As Jacqueline continued to walk, she came across Steve and Wesley, who was still helping the kids up out of the tunnel and back onto normal land. Jacqueline stopped walking where she was, standing back a little so that they had room to actually escape before she did, but she found it difficult to keep it contained without moving.

"Jacqueline, are you okay?" Wesley called out to his sister after he and Steve had just gotten Dustin out of the tunnels. Jacqueline waved for them to keep going, not even having the strength to speak. All of her power was going towards keeping these flames behind her and nowhere near her brother and Steve.

Seeing as how they could clearly see that she was struggling and she wanted them to go, Steve crouched down and put his hands out, allowing for Wesley to step on them and give him a boost. Steve wanted to run to her, make sure she was alright, especially since Jacqueline was now facing the fire with her hands out, using every last ounce of strength she had to keep the fire from overtaking everyone.

Wesley was able to help pull Steve up onto the land, getting him out of the tunnels, which was when Jacqueline let the fire go. Seeing as how there was so much pressure built up, the fire was quick to fill the hall. Jacqueline did rush past it, running as fast as she possibly could. Jacqueline had more tolerance than all to fire, but still, she didn't want to take the chance of being completely engulfed in flames.

Jacqueline did use some of the power she had left to throw fire at the ground, lifting herself up and out of the hold in the ground--or ceiling of the tunnels--and landing on the ground. She rolled a bit, the momentum being too much for her to land on her feet, before she stopped on her back.

Upon seeing her shoot out of the ground, the group rushed over to her, wanting to make sure that she was alright. Even when they got there, Jacqueline just laid on her back, staring up at the sky.

"Hey! Jackie, are you okay?" Steve hurried to her side, pushing some of her hair out of her face, but all Jacqueline did was push away his hand. Wesley too, tried to help her up, but Jacqueline shoved him away.

"Jackie, what's wrong?" Lucas worried, unsure of why she was quite literally pushing everyone to the side and not saying a word. Jacqueline was in a bit of pain since she hit the ground pretty hard and containing that fire took a lot out of her. She just lifted her hand and two fingers, asking, "Does anyone have a cigarette?"

For some reason, it was Max that took a cigarette out of her back pocket and put it between Jacqueline's fingers. Jacqueline used her other hand to light it, heating up one end. She did point a stern finger at Max. "You shouldn't have these."

"I got them from Billy."

"Then remind me to slap him later." Jacqueline just as she slowly sat up and crossed her legs, then bringing her cigarette to her lips. She let out a puff of smoke and everyone watched her, awaiting to see if she would collapse or potentially explain what happened. Steve, still concerned, put a hand on her back. "Jackie? Are you okay?"

Jacqueline, with the cigarette between her teeth, lifted her hand with a thumbs up, perfectly fine. It was tiring, took a lot of work, but Jacqueline wasn't burned, scratched, scraped. Nothing. Jacqueline could barely hold a flame in her hand without getting burned, but now, she set an entire channel of tunnels on fire and was completely fine. The only evidence was her bleeding nose.

Jacqueline was still worried her skin was hot, so she might accidentally burn someone around her, which was why she didn't want them trying to help. Jacqueline was conflicted herself. She didn't know where this burst of strength came from, how she was able to so easily use her abilities. The only time Jacqueline found that kind of power was when she escaped the lab, when she felt the most intense rage she had ever felt.

❝ 𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦. ❞

- 𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑖𝑠𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑜𝑡𝑡; 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏

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