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Thirty Four

The next morning, Allison awoke puffy eyed and tired from crying herself to sleep the night before. She had enjoyed spending quality time with Eleven and helping her practice her powers, but as soon as she had been left alone, it had all become too much to bear. Being stood up by Billy had left her hurt, confused, and in need of answers and she knew that there was only one way to get them.

After Hopper had left for work and Allison had listened to Eleven have a very uncomfortable conversation on the phone with Mike, she climbed out her window and ran towards town as fast as she could, wanting to get to the public pool before Billy's shift could begin. When she arrived, she stood out of sight and waited.

Allison watched as Billy's car sped into the parking lot and screeched to a halt, parking diagonally across two separate parking spots. He climbed out, slammed the door, and stormed towards the pool area, unaware of the pair of eyes that were watching his every move. Keeping her distance, Allison followed behind him, weaving through the crowd and straight into the building.

Having lost sight of him for a moment, she listened closely, following the sound of his staggered footsteps to the small storage room, with a sign that read; Employees Only on the door. As she stepped inside, she found Billy standing directly in front of the shelves that held the cleaning supplies for the pool, with his back turned to her.

"Where were you last night?", Allison asked firmly, causing Billy to tense up,  both of his hands gripping the shelf in front of him. "I waited and waited. And I don't understand what I did wrong! Were you trying to get back at me for disapearing for a month? Because I told you that I did that to keep you safe. So just tell me why!", she cried, stepping closer.

"You should go.", Billy's voice was void of all emotion as he spoke, refusing to move from his position in front of the bottles of chemicals.

"Not until you give me an answer!", she demanded, lunging forward to grab his arm, forcing him to turn around. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked into Billy's bloodshot eyes, seeing something dark and sinister that hadn't been there before. "Billy?", she whispered, watching the vein in his forehead start to bulge.

Allison's hand was shaking violently as she reached up and caressed the side of Billy's face, causing a flood of images to force their way into her mind. Memories. Billy's memories. Her eyes rolled back as she lost control, unable to shut them out.

Billy's car skidding off the road. Being dragged somewhere dark, kicking and screaming. Standing in the Upside Down, face to face with another version of himself.

"What do you want?"

"I want you to build."

"I don't understand! What do you mean? I don't understand!"

Confusion. Danger. The Mind Flayer. Fear. Billy being attacked. Taken over. Freed, but controlled.

Allison finally managed to pull herself out of the trance, gasping for air. Her eyes snapped open and locked on Billy, who had tears streaming down his face. She recoiled away from him and slapped her hand over her mouth, muffling the sounds of distress that tried to escape.

"This is my fault. It wouldn't have happened if I had just stayed away. But I'm gonna fix this, okay? I promise.", she vowed, her voice quivering as she spoke.

"How-"

Take her to me.

Allison's blood ran cold as Billy was silenced by the empty, inhuman voice that she had come to know over the past month. Having also heard the creatures words, Billy reached up to cover his ears, trying to drown out the demands that the Mind Flayer was making.

"Billy, stay with me.", Allison pleaded fearfully, fighting back her own tears.

"Run!", he demanded, wrestling against the parasite that had taken up residency in his body and was quickly gaining control. Suddenly, his pupils dilated and he lunged forward, missing Allison by inches as she threw herself just out of reach. He tried to go after her again and she ran for the door, refusing to stop until she was back outside in the sunlight.

She pushed her way through the crowd of people all standing in their swimsuits, holding it together until she was out of view. As she reached the parking lot she fell to her knees, overcome with fear and rage. The doors of the vehicles around her began to open and shut violently, while a chorus of horns invaded the air. Realizing that her outburst was catching the attention of several onlookers she steady her breathing, climbed to her feet and ran to look for help.

Afraid that Hopper wouldn't believe her, or get angry that she had been seeing Billy behind his back, she knew that she had to tell someone else. She couldn't involve Eleven, as she wanted to keep her as far from the threat as possible, therefore she decided on the next best person for the job, Nancy Wheeler.

Allison marched down the sidewalk towards The Hawkin's Post, knowing that she could depend on Nancy to listen and help her by any means necessary. Without any hesitation, she stormed through the doors and into the small building where the town's only newspaper was written and printed. Her eyes scanned frantically over the sea of middle aged men, looking for any sign of her bestfriend.

"Are you lost?", a tall blond man asked, staring down at Allison with a condescending smirk on his face.

"No. I'm looking for Nancy Wheeler.",she whispered, shifting uncomfortably under his gaze.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but your friend Nancy Drew isn't here, she's off trying to solve another mystery."

"Oh. I guess I'll go check somewhere else.", she stammered, backing away slowly.

"Hold on! Is there a message you'd like us to give her? Or maybe a clue?", he snorted, glancing back at the other men who all broke out into hysterics, laughing Allison right out the door. She ran until she could no longer hear their misogynistic thoughts and then stopped to brainstorm what to do next.

If Nancy and Jonathan had picked up the scent of something strange going on, it would be next to impossible to keep up with them. They had access to Jonathan's car while she had to travel everywhere on foot. Instead, of wasting time trying to track them down, she decided to find Steve, who was equally as dependable as Nancy, his dislike for Billy being the only reason that she hadn't gone to him first.

Allison took a moment to catch her breath before starting her journey to the other side of Hawkins, where the new mall had opened months earlier, and where Steve had gotten a job serving ice cream. As she walked, she decided that as soon as everything had been resolved she would be convincing Hopper to let her get a car of her own.