Drowning • Billy Hargrove

Chapter 17

"You're saying it's back open?" El asks.
"Yes. It definitely is." Nancy replies.
"Maybe El can use her powers to find the Mindflayer and we can take it down." Max says.
"No!" Mike and I say in sync.
"Why not?" Lucas says. "It's a pretty good idea."
"We don't know what it could do to her. It may be able to get her and hurt her." Mike says, saying what I was thinking.
"I'll be fine." El says. "Someone get me a blindfold."
I roll my eyes and watch as Max grabs a piece of fabric.
"So what the hell is happening?" Billy says, pulling me over to the side.
"She can see where it is, in her, like, head." I say, struggling to find the right words to use.
"Actually?" He asks.
I nod. "Sorry you had to find out like this."
He runs his hands through his hair.
"We're ready, lovebirds." Max calls out to us.
Billy and I sit on the couch, beside Lucas and Will.
"I'm in." El says.
"What do you see?" Jonathan asks.
"Trees. A lot of trees."
"Anything else?" Max asks.
"A building. An old, abandoned building." She says as a stream of blood flows out of her nose.
"Is that suppose to happen?" Billy whispers in my ear.
"Yeah." I say in response.
"El? El are you okay?" Mike asks, sounding extremely worried.
"Yeah, I think so." She says.
Nobody speaks for a few moments. We all just stare at El, concerned.
El starts to breath quickly and she starts shaking. She rips off her blindfold, her eyes full of tears. She looks at me and falls into my arms.
I hug her back, a little shocked, as she cries into my chest.
"What happened?" Will asks.
"It's here. The Mindflayer came after me." She says, finally calming down.
"I told you guys! It was a bad idea!" Mike yells.
"But we got some information on where it's hiding out." Nancy says.
"Mike, Nancy! Dinners ready!" Mrs.Wheeler yells from upstairs.
"Not now mom!" He screams back.
"Yes now! Your food is going to get cold!"
"Oh my God!" He screams back. "We can pick up where we left off tomorrow night."
"Okay." We all say, leaving.
"Wait how are we suppose to get home?" Billy asks.
"Um, walk?" Nancy says. "I'll get the car back later tonight."
Billy rolls his eyes. "Alright."

Max, El, Billy and I all arrive at my house. Billy and Max couldn't walk home, because he needed to pick up his car, which was still in my driveway.
I notice that our dad still wasn't home.
"Can Max sleep over?" El asks.
"Yeah, I guess, if it's okay with her mom." I say.
"The parents are away for the week, so it's up to me." Billy says, cutting in.
All three of us girls turn and look at him with puppy dog eyes.
"Okay fine. She can stay over." He finally says.
The two girls start to laugh as they walk through the front door.
"Are you going to stay? My dad isn't home!" I turn and ask Billy.
"I think I'm going to hit the road. I'm pretty tired."
I was a little shocked and hurt, but whatever. "Okay." I say. "Well, goodnight."
"Wait, Kate." He says, grabbing on to my arm.
"Yeah?"
"I've never ever said this or felt this way but, I think I love you."
I start to smile and blush. "I love you too, Hargrove." I say, throwing my arms around his neck and kissing him.
I pull away and smile at him. He smiles back and walks to his car.
"I'll pick you up tomorrow!" He says.
"Alright! Drive safe!" I say as he starts his car.
I walk back into my house and smile to myself. I can hear El and Max giggling from her bedroom. My smile slowly fades away as I think of what we saw today. The happiness I felt could go away in an instant if the Mindflayer takes over.
I change into my pajamas and do my nightly routine. Before I slip into bed, I head over to El's room.
"Hey guys." I say
"Hey." They respond.
"I won't be here in the morning so don't expect me to make breakfast."
"Yeah that's fine." El says.
"Most importantly, if you do leave the house-"
"Leave a note and lock the door." El says smiling.
"Exactly. Good night girls." I say, closing the door.
I crawl into bed and drift off to sleep.

I wake up to my alarm blaring. I quickly shut it off, remembering that the girls are still sleeping.
I quickly get ready and grab a bite to eat before waiting for Billy out on the front steps.  
Normally Billy comes five minutes early but today he was obviously taking his sweet time.
Five minutes go by, then ten, then fifteen. If he didn't come in the next five minutes, we'd be late.
Thankfully, he speeds into my driveway just in time.
"Hey." I say, sitting in the passengers seat.
"Hey." He quietly says, not making eye contact. I could tell something was off.
"Are you okay?" I ask.
"I'm fine."
"Okay." I say as he pulls out of the driveway, recklessly.

We arrive just in time.
I exited the changing room to see Billy sitting in his chair with a sweater and a hat on. Something was definitely wrong.

At the end of the day, Billy refused to help me clean up which was pretty strange, but I ignored it.
After I finished, I entered the changing rooms and immediately heard Billy yelling and moaning in pain.
"What's going on?" I say as I rip the shower curtain open.
He sits in the corner of the shower, with the water streaming on him. "What?" He asks, confused.
"Are you okay? What's going on." I say.
"Kate get out." He says sternly.
"What are you talking about?" I say as he starts to stand up.
"Get out."
I start to back up, but I back into a wall.
"Billy what's wrong?" I say, panicking.
He doesn't say anything he just wraps his hands around my neck and lifts me off of my feet.
He chokes me as I struggle to break free from his grip. "Billy, please!" I cry.
Tears start to form in his eyes. "I'm sorry Kate. I can't help it."
That was the last thing I heard before I passed out.