Drowning • Billy Hargrove

Chapter 25

"Kate!" I could hear Billy scream.
I open my eyes to see Billy sticking his hand out.
I grab onto his hand as the Mindflayer lifts me into the air.
"Kate I've got you!" He yells over all the noise.
After struggling for what seemed like forever, the Mindflayer thankfully let's go and I fly into Billy's arms.
"I've got you." He says again, looking into my eyes.
"Guys run!" Nancy yells from the upper deck.
I grab onto El's hand as Billy drags us out of dangers way.
The Mindflayer and Brandon roared and screamed as they fell to the ground.
"They closed it." El says, looking back at the middle of the food court.
"I think so."

Sirens blared and lights flashed.
Currently, I was sitting with El in the back of an ambulance. We were being checked out and so far, we didn't have any major injuries.
"Hey." Billy and Max say, walking over to us.
"Hey." I say, as the paramedic applys a bandaid on the cut above my eyebrow.
"We're going to see Mike." El says, getting up and leaving with Max.
Billy takes El's spot and sits beside me. I lean my head on his shoulder and I start to cry.
"What's the matter?" He asks.
"My mother was in there. She attacked us and I pushed her and she hit her head against a garbage can. I killed my own mom!" I say, sobbing.
He hugs me and kisses the top of my head. "Listen to me." He starts. "She was already gone when the Mindflayer got to her, okay?"
I look into his blue eyes and nod.
"You've got a mild concussion." The paramedic says to me, holding a chart.
"Great." I mumble under my breath.

"Mom!" I can hear Will yell from the distance.
I look up to see Will and Jonathan hugging Joyce. I could see Murray walking behind her, but there was no sight of dad.
I stand up and start to make my way over to her, when we make eye contact.
She shakes her head as a tear streams down her face. "I'm sorry." She quietly says.
"Oh my God." I say, turning towards Billy.
He pulls me into a long hug after he realized what had happened. "I'm so sorry." He says, stroking my hair. "I'm so, so sorry, babe."
"What am I going to do?" I say, crying into his chest.
"You'll figure it out. You're strong Kate. Stronger than anyone I know." Billy says, kissing me on the top of my head.

I stand there for a while, processing the fact that my father was really gone. I couldn't believe it and I didn't know how I was going to handle it.
He was the one that raised me and loved me when nobody else did.
I think about all of the memories we created over the years and most importantly the last words he said to us: "Now you two keep safe and I'll be back."

"Hey Kate!" I can hear El say, coming up behind me. "Where is he?"
I look at her, with tears streaming down my face.
"Oh." She whispers, taking a hint. "He's gone?" She asks.
I nod my head.
"Like, forever gone?" She says with tears forming in her eyes.
I nod once again and walk over to hug her as she cries into my chest.
"It's going to be okay." I say, staying strong for the both of us, even though it was extremely painful and hard.
"We'll be okay."

Billy and Max dropped El and I off at our house for the evening.
"Will you guys be alright? Or do you need some company?" Billy asks.
I look at El. "What do you want?"
"Company."
I nod my head and look over at Billy. Max was already getting out of the car and was making her way over to El. She wrapped her arm around El's shoulders and together they walked into the house.
"Guess you're stuck with us." I say.
"That's all good with me." He responds, gently smiling.

I kept tossing and turning, trying not to wake Billy, who was sleeping beside me.
"Can't sleep?" He asks.
"I didn't mean to wake you, sorry." I say.
"Don't worry about it. Come here." He says.
I cuddle up beside Billy and he pulls me close. He drapes his arm around my body and I feel safe.
"I just miss him already." I quietly say.
"I know you do." He whispers.
"I don't know what I'm going to do for El's sake."
"It's all going to work out. You just have to push that to the side for the moment and get some rest."
I nod and close my eyes.

I woke up the next morning, forgetting all about last night. When the memories finally started coming back to me, I hoped it was all a nightmare. A really realistic nightmare.
But I knew it wasn't and I knew that I lost both of my parents in the same night.
I started to silently cry once again but I had to knock it off for El's sake.
"Good morning beautiful." Billy says, walking into my room. Over all the chaos, I didn't realize that he was no longer sleeping beside me.
"Morning." I say as he hands me a bowl of cereal.
"This is all I know how to make." He says smiling.
I smile back at him. "This is perfect. Are the girls up?"
He shakes his head. "The door is still closed, so I'm guessing no."
I nod my head and sit straight up in my bed.
Billy takes a seat at the end of my bed. "There's a bunch of reporters outside. They want to know what happened last night." He says.
I crawl over and look out my window. Sure enough, there were about twenty reporters and camera crews outside of my house.
"I told them all to go away, but they obviously didn't listen to me." He says.
"It's okay." I quietly say. "The crew will show up and shut 'em down." I say, talking about the policemen my dad works with. Worked with.
"Okay." Billy says.

The door to my bedroom swings open and Max and El enter.
"Hey." They say, walking over and sitting on my bed.
"Hey. How are you feeling?" I say, setting down my cereal bowl.
El shrugs her shoulders. "Fine"
I nod my head and look around at Billy, El and Max. Like it or not, we were becoming our own little family.