Her Perfect Mistake // Max Mayfield

24. Kept Promises

Once Bella regained consciousness, she felt like a car ran over her. Her head was pounding, her heart was racing and blood was dripping from her forehead and nose. The blonde girl looked around to see Mike and Max laying on the floor next to her, both with bloody faces. She got up and fell down between them.

The first thing she did was check Max's pulse. After she was sure that Max was alive, the girl did the same with Mike.

Someone, however, was not there. Billy had taken Eleven with him, and Bella wasn't sure how long ago that happened. She had no time to lose.

Annabelle got up and ran to the exit. She could hear fireworks, that only made her headache worse. Every step she took echoed in her head as her vision slowly began blurring. She could feel her heart beat get faster and faster as she neared the exit. If this feeling could be defined by a single word - it would be fear. Terror.

She was scared for her friends. For Eleven. For herself. But she knew that El had no powers. Which automatically meant that she had to fight the Mind Flayer.

Doing her best not to fall after opening the door, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Emma, Steve, Nancy, Robbin, Lucas and Will were all throwing fireworks at the creature. Upon seeing her, they all cheered, but they didn't know how insanely tired the girl was.

Her gaze trailed to the screeching monster in front of her. It was struggling, but it was not dying. Something that should have happened already, considering the fact that Hopper is supposed to close the gate.

Below the creature were Eleven and Billy. He was standing on top of her as he was yelling in pain. El looked towards Bella and tried dragging herself to the girl, but Billy caught her leg and put her in the previous position.

Seeing all of this, Bella was frozen in place. She tried moving, but her legs wouldn't listen. She tried screaming, but her lungs were out of breath. She tried crying, but her eyes were dry.

Over the fireworks, she managed to hear Will scream.

"We are running out of time!" the boy yelled at the top of his lungs. Something that seemed to get Bella out of her trance.

Screaming, she made Billy fly to the other side of the mall. After all this, she was going to keep her promise. No matter what.

Annabelle ran to Eleven and did her best to help her get up. The brunette wailed in pain as she made small steps towards the exit. Once the two girls were close, Max and Mike opened the door, both panting.

"Take her." Bella whispered and the two of them mindlessly complied.

Suddenly, it got extremely quiet. No fireworks, no screaming, not even a screech. Bella turned around to see Billy standing behind her. His eyes were blank and his veins were darker than before. He caught her hand and put her on his shoulder. The girl was too tired to fight back. All that mattered to her was that Eleven was safe. And so was Max.

Her vision blurred as her body hit the floor. The same position that El was in, not too long ago. She looked to her right as she saw the Mind Flayer reposition himself in front of her and Billy. Her eyes widened as it opened its mouth and a tentacle slowly made its way to the girl.

In that moment, memories flooded her mind. Not her own memories. Billy's. She could see the little boy on the beach, surfing in the water. His mother, wearing yellow sandals and a long white dress. Her beautiful earrings. Then she closed her eyes, reminding herself of what her life was like. The first friend she made, the first time she played with Emma. Going on walks with her father and mother. The first time she met Max and their first kiss.