Risky Business ｡ Stranger Things

49 : Day of the Dead

Wheels screeched on the asphalt as the Camaro zoomed towards Nancy and bullets continued to tear through the smashed glass of the windshield. Prue hurried towards the carpark with her heart in her throat. Max and Mike were behind her, still carrying Eleven, bracing her weight on their shoulders. Through the gap in the security fence, she could see Nancy standing strong in front of the station wagon as headlights burned closer, and the force from the gun vibrated through her slim frame, rattling her bones. And Prue could see Billy's shining monster-of-a-car rocketing towards her, foot heavy on the gas. It was clear to everyone bearing witness—Jonathan trying to start the car and Lucas and Will shouting from the back—that Billy wasn't going to stop. Couldn't stop because something else was driving the car even though his hands gripped the steering wheel tight, white-knuckled and clenching jaw, eyes thick with tears that belonged to Billy and not the Mind Flayer.

She wanted to call out, to scream out something—anything—but her tongue was silent, her throat tight like a trap. Billy raced towards Nancy like an unstoppable force of nature, stronger than a blizzard, and Prue wanted to close her eyes against the horror that was coming for Nancy and the party but she couldn't. She couldn't speak, couldn't move from her spot by the fence and couldn't even close her damn eyes. Yet another engine roared into the night, speeding into the carpark, and like a bolt of lightning, a convertible smashed into the Camaro. It was all a blur, colour and sound rushing together, tangling together, and Prue's mouth dropped open, her heart dropping low, falling from her throat into her stomach, like an anchor falling to the ocean floor. Metal crumpled and wrinkled like paper and glass exploded into shards with the impact that was surely damning. Steve Harrington had crushed into Billy Hargrove, two kings colliding one last time in a blazing whirlwind that once again, left a bloody wreckage. Prue's legs faltered, wanting to give out altogether as she watched the Camaro skid and swerve across the carpark, one whole side of the vehicle was crushed and dented.

A shudder and a growl echoed out and Prue watched the station wagon's headlights flick on, the engine finally waking up. Steve, Robin and Jesse Fontana were stuck staring at the giant, alien monster crawling on the mall's roof. Prue looked back at Mike and Max struggling with Eleven, and she knew they weren't going to make it to Nancy and the others. Jonathan was already twisting hard on the station wagon's steering wheel, yanking around to the side of the convertible, the hood creased and ruined. Prue couldn't hear as Nancy beckoned the other teenagers in, and they were already speeding off into the night, leading the monster away. A fire sparked over the wrecked Camaro, licking towards the dark sky, melting the metal into molten.

"Holy shit!" Mike expressed, finally reaching Prue's shoulder.

"Is Billy—?" Max chocked out, looking away from the burning car to Prue's ashen face, blinking with tears. She couldn't answer the girl, could tell her that her brother was in the ruin of his beloved car that was being devoured by fire, his hurt body lumped against the doorframe. Eleven wobbled on her wounded leg and smoke made Prue's tears sting as they dotted her cheeks, and she stepped forward, finally being able to move. The fire called to her, bright and flickering with a sickening hope, one that had hold of her throat and her heart.

"What are you doing?" Eleven questioned fearfully. Prue was the closest thing they had to an adult right now and she couldn't leave them.

"He might still be..." she whispered, as fire coiled high in columns, stark and bloody against the darkness of the night, blinding the stars. Her heart wanted Billy to be alive but her mind wanted him to be dead because she didn't know how she was going to protect Max, Mike and El against Billy Hargrove lost in a shadow, being moved by a monster.

"Forget about Billy!" Mike howled harshly, ignoring the sour look he got from both Prue and Max. "We need to get out of here!" And the Wheeler boy was right. Prue knew he was right deep down but her heart and mind were at war with each other. She gulped down a painful inhale and nodded, ripping her eyes away from the burning corpse of the polished blue Camaro. She needed to be like Nancy and Steve right now. She needed to protect the party first and then Billy.