teenage nightmare [ stranger things ] discontinued.

chapter twenty two.

TEENAGE NIGHTMARE
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO — PART ONE.
THE EXORCISM OF FRANNY WALKER.

          " This is where the Chief dug his hole. This is our way into the tunnel. " Mike informed them, pointing to a spot on the wall correlating to Will's map of Hawkins. As the others watch him intently, he moves to another part of the room to point at an eerily similar drawing, " Here, right here, this is like a hub. So, you got all the tunnels feeding in here, maybe if we set this on fire. . "

           " Oh, yeah? " Steve asked rhetorically, placing his hands on his hips, " That's a no! "

            " The Mind Flayer will call his army away. " Dustin responded, promptly ignoring Steve, as did the others.

            " They'd all come to stop us, " Lucas chimed in as Steve grew annoyed, eyes darting between the group of boys incredulously.

            " Then, we circle back to the exit! By the time they realize we're gone, El would be at the Gate! " Mike finished, a wide grin on his face as he nodded.

              Steve suddenly clapped his hands together, making them all jump, including Franny, who sat on the edge of the couch with her hands clasped between her knees, a weak look on her face as she looked over at the lanky boy.

              " Hey, this is not happening. " He declared, pointing towards the party with furrowed eyebrows as he shook his head.

               " But— "

               Dustin is cut off before he even has a chance to rebuttal, Steve frantically shaking his head more as he insisted, " No, no, no, no, no buts! I promised I'd keep you shitheads safe, and that's exactly what I plan on doing. We're staying here, on the bench, and we're waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everyone understand? "

                " This isn't a stupid sports game! " Mike snapped back, but Steve glared down at him with utmost seriousness.

                 " I said, does everybody understand that? " He repeated, yanking the dish towel from his shoulder and waving it around dramatically; JP hadn't been paying all that much attention to the argument as he was preoccupied with observing how sick Franny had suddenly gotten. His brows creased and he glanced over at Steve and the huddle of kids as he pulled the cigarette from between his teeth.

             " What about Fran? " He asked, and the brunette lifted her head in his direction, opening her mouth to protest, to say that she was fine, but her brother shot her a look. " You are not okay, Franny, you look like shit, and I'd prefer if you didn't die. "