CHAPTER 34
CHILD ENDANGERMENT

WITH a flashlight in hand, Erica Sinclair climbed up the ladder and poked her head inside the dusty vent. She peered around the cramped space, noticing a few bugs in the far right corner. Her lip curled back in disgust as she hopped down and faced the four teenagers, who were currently leaning against the table with hopeful expressions. "Yeah, I don't know about that," she hummed, slapping the flashlight down onto the table.

"You don't know if you can fit?" Dustin asked with a raised brow.

"Oh, I can fit." She crossed her arms over her chest. "I just don't know if I want to."

Robin tilted her head. "Are you claustrophobic?"

"I don't have phobias," Erica snickered.

Steve sighed, "Okay, then, what's the problem?"

"The problem is," she smirked wide, "I still haven't heard what's in this for Erica."

Veronica rounded the table and grabbed their blueprints. "Erica, we really don't have time to discuss logistics." She flattened the map onto the plastic table, causing the rest of the teenagers to huddle around her. "The plan is easy and you'll be fine. We just need someone as small as you to fit in that vent."

Erica slowly approached the table. "What even is this plan anyways?"

"This is the route you take," Veronica explained, finger sliding down the red line that Robin made. She noticed the close proximity of Steve on her right side, and upon looking over at him, he quickly moved an inch away. Veronica cleared her throat as Dustin and Robin shared a glance. "We'll just wait till the last delivery goes out tonight. Then, you knock out the grate, jump down, and open the door for us."

"And then, we'll find out what's in those boxes." Dustin grinned with excitement, but it soon faded once he realized the direness of the situation. "If the armed guard doesn't get us."

Erica's mouth fell open. "Armed guard? Are you crazy?"

"He won't be there," Robin added.

"You know what this half-baked plan of yours sounds like to me?" Erica narrowed her eyes. "Child endangerment."

Dustin promised, "We'll be in radio contact with you the whole time."

"Child! Endangerment!"

"Erica? Hi," Dustin waved his hand in the younger girl's direction. "We think these Russians want to do harm to our country. Great harm. Don't you love your country?"

She chuckled. "You can't spell, America, without Erica."

Steve furrowed his brow. "Guys, she's actually onto something here. That is so true."

"Know what I love most about this country? Capitalism," Erica said, lips lifting into a smile. "Do you know what capitalism is?"

Veronica crossed her arms. "How do you know about capitalism?"

"Just answer the question, Smurfette."

She whipped her head over to Robin. "Did this little girl just call me –"

"It means this country runs on a free market system," Erica continued. "People get paid for their services, depending on how valuable their contributions are. And it seems to me, my ability to fit into that little vent is very, very valuable to you all."

"So what do you want?" Veronica lifted a brow. "Free ice cream for life?"

Erica's eyes lit up. Her grin was a cat-like, wider than ever before, as she lifted her hand out to shake. Veronica could practically see a butterscotch sundae reflecting in her stare. "You got yourself a deal, sailors."

•••

Darkness had enveloped the sky, but Hawkins was still lit to the nines due to the consistent, bright lights of Starcourt Mall. Veronica called her dad's phone at the station to remind him that she was working late that night, but no one answered. Despite leaving a voicemail, Veronica found it odd that her dad wasn't there. He always answered his phone. Perhaps, she caught him at a bad time.

The air reeked of fresh rain and gasoline as the crew of Scoops Ahoy waited outside the mall that night, hidden by a root top cover. Robin held a radio firmly in her right hand, but Veronica could still see from her place beside her that Robin's fingers were practically sweating. Bringing the radio to her lips, she asked, "Erica, do you copy?"

"Mm-hmm, I copy," the younger girl replied, static ripping through the air. "You nerds in position or what?"

Robin rolled her eyes, peering down at the loading dock below them. There wasn't a truck in sight. "Yeah, we're in position. It's all quiet here, so you've got the green light."

"Green light, roger that. Commence Operation: Child Endangerment."

Veronica reached out and pressed her finger on the talk button. "Hey, can we not say that? Even though my dad's a cop, the last thing we need is to get into any legal trouble."

"Whatever, Smurfette," Erica laughed, causing Veronica's eye to twitch. "See you on the other side."

The line cut then. Veronica smacked her hands on the guard rail that was shielding them. "I swear to God, I am never working with kids again. If I'm called, Smurfette, one more goddamn time –"

"Oh, stop it," Steve scoffed. "You love kids. Secretly."

Veronica slowly turned to him with narrowed eyes. "I do not –"

"Can you both please be quiet for one second!" Dustin huffed, waving a hand in front of the ex-couple. Veronica shot Steve another glare before looking back to the radio in Robin's hand, which she now noticed was emitting sounds of heavy breathing.

"Alright, nerds," Erica announced, "I'm there."

Robin blinked, caught by surprise. "Do you see anything?"

"Yeah, I see those boring boxes you're all so excited about."

Veronica chewed on her bottom lip, turning her head the slightest bit to realize that Steve was looking at her, eyes growing soft. He hesitated before laying a hand on her shoulder, and Veronica didn't have the strength to move away.

"Any guards?" Robin continued.

"Negative."

"Booby traps?"

"If I could see them, they'd be pretty shit traps, wouldn't they?"

Robin couldn't help but release a giggle. "Thank you for that."

The speaker went berserk, releasing a low grunt, following by the sound of metal hitting the concrete. Static sprinkled out and filled the air, which only heightened Veronica's anxiety. The four teenagers were practically waiting on the edge of their seat, until Erica finally confirmed, "I'm in."

None of them even had a moment to celebrate, because before they knew it, an alarm blared from inside the building. The doors to the loading dock flew open, revealing a tiny person amongst the shadows, now only highlighted by the small amount of light on the outside of Starcourt. Erica moved her headset out of the way and pointed a stern finger in their direction, "Free ice cream for life."

Veronica glanced at Robin. "I can't wait until summer's over."

The group swiftly made their way down to the loading dock, crossing over to the west parking lot so they wouldn't be in view of the security cameras located in the other direction. Erica was wiping dust off her pale blue overalls as they approached stealthily. The younger girl practically jumped out of her skin when Dustin slapped her shoulder, arms rising in a move that Veronica was sure she'd seen in the Karate Kid. "Just wanted to say, 'Good job,'" Dustin replied, arms raised in surrender. "No need to go all Mr. Miyagi on me."

Robin patted down her Scoops Ahoy uniform before digging her hands into the deep pockets. She pulled out a few spare pennies, but besides that, her pockets were empty. "Shit," she muttered. "I forgot the blueprints back at Scoops. Steve, give me your keys. I'm gonna run back and get them, then I'll keep watch outside for you guys."

"Uh – yeah, sure. Okay." Steve unhooked his key ring from his sailor shorts and threw them over to her. She caught them swiftly.

Dustin pointed a finger in the blonde's direction. "Just make sure you get back here pronto. We'll need that map for something else, I'm guessing."

"Got it," Robin nodded, wiggling the keys in the air, before dashing off in the opposite direction. Veronica's stomach turned as Robin disappeared into the night, and she was suddenly worried if she would see her coworker again tonight.

With a wave of his hand, Dustin beckoned the rest of the group to follow him into the cellar-like room housing the Imperial Panda boxes. Veronica was almost scared to approach them as she wondered what kind of weapons were rolling around within the cardboard. Dustin stared down at the stacks of boxes with a twinkle in his eye, desperate to uncover more of the mystery. He dug a pocketknife out of his backpack and handed it to Steve. The four of them surrounded a random box, and with one last anxious look, Steve sliced through the tape.

Veronica expected an immediate explosion, but – weirdly enough – nothing happened. Steve licked his lips and ripped off the top of the cardboard box, holding his breath before peering what was inside. The two kids followed his actions, but it took Veronica a moment to finally look down at the contents.

It was another box. Except this time, it was made out of metal. It looked like a tiny fridge of some sort, incasing a precious material that Veronica had probably only heard about in junior year Chemistry class. She narrowed her eyes at the object, watching Steve curl his hand onto the top latch top, twisting it to the right until they all heard a clicking sound.

Veronica's hair fell into her face as the group examined the box even further. Steve pulled the cover off, revealing a set of four more latches. Cold air wafted into the room and grazed their cheeks. Veronica rubbed at her nose from the burst of icy air while Steve muttered, "That's definitely not Chinese food."

"Or cat meat," she added.

He surveyed the room, gripping one of the four latches laid before him. "Maybe you guys should, you know, stand back."

Erica wasn't taking any chances. She stepped away willingly, while Dustin and Veronica were still planted in their spot. "We'll be fine, Harrington –" Veronica replied, only to be cut off by her ex-boyfriend.

"Ronnie, can you please just do this for me?" Steve asked, a pleading tone in his voice. The hair on the back of her neck stood up, and for once, Veronica ignored her own stubbornness. She finally took a step back.

Steve looked at Dustin, who was still standing close to his older friend. "No," he said with a shake of his head. "If you die, I die."

There really wasn't much Steve could say to convince him otherwise. He shrugged his shoulders and exhaled, "Okay," before undoing the next latch. He turned this one to the left, and another clicking sound emerged. The air hissed around them as Steve pulled the latch up, revealing a metal cylinder filled with a neon-green liquid.

"What the hell?" Steve mumbled under his breath.

"Um," Veronica wagged a finger in the direction of the foreign object, "this looks like some shit from the Deadly Spawn."

As soon as the words left her lips, a rumble began to form below her feet. Veronica's head did almost a three-sixty degree turn, and she gripped the tower of boxes on her right for balance. She swallowed hard, sending Steve an anxious look.

"Was that just me or did the room move?" Dustin asked.

"Of course, it moved, dumbass," Erica scoffed. "Is it ... booby traps?"

Steve's hand was shaking. The cylinder was slowly slipping from his grasp. "Uh – okay, we all just have to stay calm." He instructed, switching the cylinder to his left hand. "How about we just grab this and leave?"

"No problem," Veronica muttered, securing the cover back onto the metal box before whipping the cardboard walls closed.

Dustin sprinted over to what looked like a control box in the corner of the room. Six buttons flashed before his eyes, threatening him to press each one. Dustin's breathing became heavy as he shoved his fingers down on the button that said, DOOR OPEN. The rest of the group waited with nerves running through their veins, but nothing happened. The door wasn't opening. Dustin hit the button a few more times and asked, "Which one do I press, Erica?"

"Just press the damn button, nerd!" She replied in an irritated tone.

"Which one?" Dustin hollered back. "I'm pressing the button, okay? Can you see me pressing it?"

"Press, OPEN DOOR!"

"I'm pressing, OPEN DOOR!"

Veronica pushed herself against a wall, feeling the whole world crash down on her. Everything was so loud – not just the voices around her, but the memories too. She shut her eyes tight, and all she could see were the demodogs, the vines, the other world, Louie. Oh, fuck, she thought to herself. Not him. Don't remind me of him. It was all my fault. Veronica shook her head, picturing Louie's corpse all over again, and tears pricked at her clumped lashes. I did that to him. If I had just taken him trick-or-treating, I wouldn't be –

"Press the other button!"

Steve's howl ricocheted through her. Veronica's eyes flew open, blinking away the tears as she focused in on her ex-boyfriend pushing through the children to get to the control box. Veronica swallowed hard and wondered where the fuck Robin was right now. They needed her. They needed those blueprints.

"Out of the way, so I can press the button," Erica screamed, shoving Dustin to the side. He fell into a pile of boxes for Kaufman Shoes. Erica laid out both of her tiny hands and began pounding them onto all the buttons at once.

Veronica stepped forward with a raised brow. "I really don't think that's a good idea."

"It's the only idea we got right now," Steve replied, setting the cylinder down on the ground. "Erica, stop. Stop. Hey, don't press all the buttons!"

"Steve –"

"Ronnie, this is really not the time for you to lecture me –"

Her mouth opened in shock. "I wasn't going to do that, idiot!"

He sent her a look that said, I told you so, and Veronica willfully crossed her arms over her chest. Steve turned back to the control box, where Erica was now beating her two fists into every button, completely ignoring the big, green one in the middle. His eyes twinkled with curiosity. "Why don't you just press –" He pushed his hand onto the middle button. "– This one."

"Wait!" Dustin screamed.

But it was already too late.

The door suddenly came down, locking itself in place. All the buttons turned red, and an alarm started to blare in their ears. Veronica held her breath, keeping one hand on the wall to her right, but it was only second later that she was falling.

The ground lurched downward, spiraling into a void of nothingness. Lights passed on the sides of the room like lightning, and they all finally understood that this wasn't just some place for storage. It was an elevator.

"Oh, shit," Steve whispered.

Veronica tried getting to her feet, but it was useless as the elevator went down into what seemed like hell. She pushed herself up against the wall before pouncing forward, gripping Steve's bicep with a force unlike any other. He held her close, huddling them both into a corner, as their hair moved up and down with an alleviating speed. Veronica inhaled his familiar Sean Connery cologne and wondered then how she was always brought into situations she distinctly tried to force herself out of. It was like there was some curse on her.

How very.

•••

A/N: OKAY, SO, this chapter was supposed to be out a day later but I got my shit together 💅🏼 If you didn't catch the post I made on my message board – the update schedule might become a little whack for the next couple of weeks, because my weekends are gonna be hectic. I have comic con coming up, a bridal shower, and then (jesus) my birthday

That being said, if anyone here is from the Boston area, I'll be at Fan Expo Boston on August 17-18. I'll probably have my tote bag that says, Hungry Heart, on it. (Kween of self-promo 🥴) Hope to maybe see some of you there! I know last year I was able to meet some of y'all and that was CRAZZZZZZYYYY

( made by JustSav )