lost love

chapter 51

-july 1st 1985-

-reader's pov-

the cold rain hammered down so hard that it felt as if piercing nails were being thrashed into me. el was almost like a shield over me as I gave her a backy on my bike. max was riding along beside us on her yellow BMX. lightning strikes lightened up the dark, cloudy skies but only for short moments at at time and they were followed by loud rumbles of thunder.

we eventually skidded to a stop outside heather's house, where we stared at the red front door.

"is this it?" max called out, el nodded in response before I clambered off my bike.

"it's absolutely pissing it down," I groaned before giving el a hand, "let's get inside, hopefully it'll be warmer."

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el unlocked the door with her mind and it slowly swung open. (my name is ketchup, and my name is mustard) we then walked inside, rainwater dripping all over the floor with each step we took. we pulled our hoods down at the sound of some music lightly playing.

"this is her house." max announced as we looked at a framed photograph of the holloway's.

"what?" el breathed.

"heather's house." I replied, until the sound of a woman laughing stole our attention.

my blood ran cold as us girls came into janet and tom holloway's view. confused looks painted themselves across their faces as they stared at us with curiosity, but I wasn't bothered about them. the thing ticking me off the most was billy hargrove staring right into my soul, with those same lifeless and almost beady eyes.

"max." billy said through clenched teeth.

"we didn't mean to.." max began awkwardly, "barge in. we tried to knock, but.. maybe you didn't hear us over the storm."

"I'm sorry, who is this dripping all over my living room right now?" tom inquired as he looked us girls up and down.

a fake chuckle escaped billy's lips, his eyes still remained fixated on me before he spoke, "I'm sorry, janet, tom." he gestured to the two of them, "this.." he pointed to max, finally managing to pull his stark eyes off me, "is my sister, maxine."

"oh!" janet exclaimed as billy stood up and made his way over to us.

"what on earth are you doing here?" he grinned, but it was so fake that it made my stomach churn, "is something wrong?"

"we just wanted to make sure everything was okay." max replied, despite it being a blatant lie.

"okay?" billy repeated, "why wouldn't it be okay?"

"-where is she." el spat, her voice laced with venom, billy turned his gaze to her. a sense of familiarity suddenly raced through the back of his mind, but he didn't understand why. he'd never seen this girl ever before, but billy knew that he obviously had.

"I'm sorry, where is who?" billy replied.

"-well, they're a little burnt, I'm sorry-" an unfamiliar voice suddenly called out, I looked over to find heather holloway in the doorway, holding a tray of freshly-baked cookies.

"heather!" billy cried out, "this is my sister, maxine." he then focused his gaze on eleven again, "and I'm sorry, I did not quite catch your name."

"el." eleven answered sternly before billy faced me again.

he stood straight with his hands connected before himself and it was as if his eyes were burning holes into my own. something about how he looked at me made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. "and how could I forget." he began, a tinge of familiarity somehow detectable in his voice, "you."

I felt a lump form in my throat at this, I knew that the shadow-monster was currently stood right before me. just in another one of his forms, he stared at me like how a lion would stare at a helpless gazelle. he wanted to kill me and if it wasn't for the people around, I'm sure he would've.

"and now, what was it you were saying, el?" his piercing stare finally broke from me, "you were looking for somebody?"

el murmured something in response as she shot heather an unsure look, "I- I saw.. I saw you-"

"-your manager. at the pool." max interrupted, "he said you guys didn't come to work today, so we got worried."

"heather wasn't feeling so hot today." billy explained.

"oh why? was she feeling cold, by any chance? because I thought that he liked it cold?" I pressed, knowing this would provoke the mind-flayer.

billy fixed his gaze back to me, and emotion was finally detectable in his eyes. anger was visible in his eyes.

"well, y/n." billy spat soullessly, "I think heather did have a bit of a cold this morning and it'd be a real shame if you caught it too." it seemed he was trying to threaten me, "so maybe you girls best be off."

"yes, maybe we should." I sourly replied before max, el and I made our way back to the front door.

el climbed onto the back of my bike as I started to kick at the pedals. and now, billy had closed the door but I could still feel his angered eyes as they bore into me whilst I rode away.

"y/n," el tapped at my shoulder, breaking me from my reverie, "are you okay?"

"u-um, yeah." I stammered, "I'm.. okay."

max nodded in acknowledgement before speaking up, "y/n, I saw the way he looked at you. it's okay to be, y'know, not okay.."

I sighed deeply before responding, "I know.." el rubbed my shoulder reassuringly as we continued to ride into the dark, damp night.

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we were now safely cooped inside max's house, all nice and warm but today's recent events still lingered over me like a lingering perfume.

"you." billy's menacing way of naming me repeated itself in my head over and over again until max and el snapped me out of my moment.

"y/n, your eyes." max warned.

"huh?" I said in a daze before turning to face the mirror. my eyes were bloodshot and a stream of blood trickled from my nose, "oh shit." I quickly wiped the blood from my nose and rubbed my eyes. surprisingly, when I removed my hands from my eyes, they were no longer bloodshot and I strangely felt a lot lighter. it was as if a heavy weight had been lifted from my tired shoulders. I felt a considerable amount brighter than I recently had.

"you alright?" el asked, sounding concerned.

"yeah," I confidently replied, "and I mean it this time too." I shot her an assuring smile, which was one she happily returned.