Drowning • Billy Hargrove

Chapter 39

"Hello, this is Kate Hopper. I know you have recently received a call from Joyce Byers about my father, the late Jim Hopper. You told her she needed to provide you with more proof and thankfully, I have that proof. I am willing to share it with you but it requires you coming down to my apartment. And soon. This is a very urgent and serious situation and it can't be set aside. Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you soon." I hang the phone up, once I'm finished leaving Doctor Owens a message.

I turn my lamp off and lay down in bed. I wasn't sure how I was going to fall asleep, knowing for sure that my father was out there, running away from Demogorgens and Demodogs. Luckily, I slowly but surely drifted off to sleep.

When I awoke, I made the decision to stay home from school, just because I didn't want to miss Doctor Owens phone call. Once I told Tyler, he chose to stay home from school as well to keep an eye on me.
As we were eating breakfast, the phone started to ring, causing Tyler and I to both jump up and spill our cereal everywhere.

"Hello?"
"Hello, this is Doctor Owens assistant. I told him about your request and he took up the offer. When are you available for the meeting?"
My jaw dropped to the floor and I was ecstatic that he listened to me. "I'm free whenever!" I look over at Tyler and he seems happy also.
"Okay, how is this evening around 7:00?" She asks.
"That's perfect!" I respond, a little shocked at how quick they wanted this meeting to happen.
"Okay good. Doctor Owens expressed serious interest in this situation, so we'll see you soon!"
"For sure!" I reply and hang up the phone.

I let out a scream and jump into Tyler's arms, overwhelmed by joy.
"Woah there!" Tyler chuckles out as I almost knock him off of the bed.
"I'm sorry! I'm just really happy!" I say, getting off of him.
"It's all good!"
"Oh my gosh I have to call Joyce!" I completely forgot that she wanted to come down for the meeting.
"I'll let you get to it. Anyways, I've got to clean up the mess we made in the kitchen."
"Oh yeah." I start. "Thank you!"
He turns back and smiles at me. "Anytime."

I had just got off the phone with Joyce when I heard Tyler speaking to someone. "She's in her room." I heard him say.
I hear heavy footsteps walk towards my bedroom, as I sit there on my bed. I could smell the familiar cologne and right away I could tell who it was.
"Billy!" I yelled, jumping into his arms.
"Kate! I missed you so much!" He says into my shoulder.
I pull away from him and smile. "Me too! I'm just so glad you came!"
He smiles. "Have you heard anything from that Doctor guy?"
"Doctor Owens is swinging by tonight." I say, smiling from ear to ear. I suddenly had the urge to reach up and kiss Billy, so I did.
"What was that for?" He smirks at me as I pull away.
"I'm just in a really good mood!"
"Does that mean we are back?" I was waiting for him to ask me that since he walked through my bedroom door.
I smile at him. "Yeah, I guess."
He grins at me and twirls me around. "Finally."

Around nine hours later at 6:00, Joyce arrives.
"Hey!" I say, pulling her into a hug.
"Hey sweetheart! We've missed you at home!"
I smile, thinking of El. "I miss them all too."
I look around the room and introduce Tyler to Joyce.
"This is my roommate, Tyler."
Tyler sets his plate of food down on the counter and shakes Joyce's hand.
"Nice to meet you." He says.
"Yeah you too! She responds.
Suddenly the lights flicker and Tyler's plate of food falls onto the floor.
"Are you kidding me." He mumbled under his breath, obviously pissed that his food, once again fell on the floor.
"Hey, Jim." Joyce says calmly.
I look over to Billy and he seems confused. He hasn't yet seen my dad in action so this would obviously be extremely strange.
The lights flicker again and Joyce lets out a little smile. "Don't leave, okay? We're going to get you out."
A couple of books fall onto the ground behind me, causing Billy and I to jump.

At quarter to 7:00, the doorbell rang.
I, followed by everybody else, hopped up to answer the front door.
I opened it to reveal Doctor Owens, his assistant and two men who worked in the Military.
"Hello, come in." I say, welcomingly.

We all sit down in the living room and stare at each other.
"So, where's the proof." Doctor Owens asks.
I look at Joyce, then back to him and smile.
"Hop, you there?" Joyce calls out.
Sure enough, the lights began to flicker. Doctor Owens assistant was obviously a little frightened because she let out a scream. The Military men were also confused because they drew out their guns.
"Where are you going to shoot?" I asked looking at the two men and their guns.
They stared back at me in response, slowly putting their guns away. "You can't shoot somebody when they're in a whole different dimension!" I say, raising my voice a little as the flickering stops.
Doctor Owens nodded his head. "Fascinating."
"You can ask him anything you like." Joyce calmly says.
"Jim is that you?" He asks.
A candle from the table falls off right in front of his eyes.
"Wow." Doctor Owens started. "I'm going to have to think about it, though."
"No! No, please!" I say on the verge of tears. "How much more proof do you need! He's in there and we all know it. There's nothing you need to think about because it should be confirmed already!" I say standing up.
Doctor Owens looks at the ground and I could tell he was thinking. "We'd be endangering the whole word for one man!"
"Joyce already told you our plan! El would close it once we're in."
He rubs his chin. "This is a lot of trouble just for one man. Maybe we should just forget about."
My eyes go wide and I feel like I could attack him. "Are you kidding me! You know my father and we both know he doesn't deserve this!" I say with tears streaming down my face.
Doctor Owens looked me in the eyes for a few moments before he sighed.