Highway To Hell •Steve•Billy•

VOL. 1 Chapter Three: The Monster and the Superhero

"Do you blame yourself?"

"What?" I question

"Well, it's quite common for a person in this situation to feel a kind of, guilt"

I sit at the edge of my perfectly made bed in my perfectly clean room. With my hands on my knees, back up straight in freshly ironed, simple clothes. The loud, deep voice echoes through my head.
I can't move.

"What are you talking about?" I begin to panic

"You watched them all die. You did nothing" The voice begins to get louder
I stand up as my room fades away into darkness and I'm transported to a dark and empty room with a thin layer of water covering the floor.

I look up and lock eyes with Billy. Tears reach the brim of my eyes. Behind him begins walking out, one by one; Barb, Hopper, Bob, Heather, Chrissy, Fred, then 7 small children walk out all wearing hospital gowns and a shaved head, looking a lot like El when we first saw her.
Everyone stares at me as of they are waiting for my next move.

"Continue to do nothing, more people will die at your expense" This time everyone said it to me but it still sounded like the loud voice I heard at the beginning.

Out walks Mike, Nancy, Holly, Mom, Dad, Jonathan and Steve.
They all form a circle around me as I'm still crying and sobbing.

"What's going on? Someone help me" I call out for anyone, something.
I look back to Billy before my breathing stops, my body locks up and my feet leave the ground. I feel like I'm getting the life sucked out of me through my face as I get higher and higher. Pressure building around my body.

"You're more powerful than you think. Join me"

I'm jolted away by being able to breath again, sitting up in my bed, screaming, panicking, hyperventilating and crying. I grip onto the side of my bed as Steve jumps to turn on the bedside lamp and is instantly in front of me and has my face in his hands.

"Hey Sam. Sam, stay with me. You're okay" It takes me a moment before I can look up to him and my breathing slows down "That's it, just keep breathing. I'm here"
Steve tries to mimic deep breaths so I can match him. Mom and Dad come in bursting through my bedroom door.

"What's going on?" Mom sounded worried

"I think she just had a bad dream" Steve's voice is shaky as he looks over to Mom and Dad. They wait a moment, my parents watching as Steve breaths with me and calms me down, they leave quietly.

We sit there for a while as I lean against my headboard, weak, his hands never leaving me, weather it be my shoulders, side of the neck, my waist or my hands, he always had some point of contact and patience. He doesn't ask me what happened, he just sits with me.
I look up at the ceiling not knowing how to process what that was - it just felt so real.

"Do you need anything?" I'm pulled out of my thoughts by Steve's soft voice. I look at him with puffy eyes and shake my head "I'm going to get you some water" Steve only moves about a centimetre before I grip onto his arm

"No. No, please don't leave"

It catches Steve off guard. I've never done this before, had vivid dreams where they shake me to the point I can't be left alone - Steve notices this and keeps his questions for a later time. He simply agrees and gets back under the covers, this time it's me who's not removing the physical contact between us. He lays down and I instantly attach myself to his chest.

"Can I turn the light off?" He questions me

I think about it for a second, I shuffle even closer to Steve, take a deep breath and silently nod my head. He reaches out, flicks the light off, leaving only light from and outside street lamp lighting up my room. Steve wraps both arms around my and pulls the covers up high.
As safe as I feel in Steve's arms I don't want to run the risk of closing my eyes and going through that again.