ACT TWO, SCENE THREE: The Cool Aunt "No, I really should go, Billy."
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THE DINNER CONTINUED, GETTING MORE and more awkward by the second. Of course, Mallory was the only one who felt the awkwardness. She guessed she was the only sane one in the room.
"So, Mallory, Heather tells me you're not going off to college in the fall?" Mister Holloway said, knocking Mallory out of her fog.
"Oh, yes," Mallory nodded, "I just don't think it's really for me, you know?"
She left out that part that she still held onto Billy and her's California dream. Although she knew it would never happen, Mallory still planned to move to the little bungalow in California in hopes that Billy might've popped aup at some point.
"Well, you know you can always come work for the paper," Mister Holloway said. Mallory knew his question was some ploy so then he could make sexual advances on her. Billy's hand stopped on her thigh. He hadn't taken it off her thigh all dinner.
"We're always hiring people of your..." Mister Holloway's eyes trailed up and down Mallory, "...calibur."
Billy's hand tightened around her leg. Everyone looked to Mister Holloway. Heather looked at him with disgust, Missus Holloway in disappointment, and Billy was just plain angry.
"You know, she would if she could but we've actually made plans to go to California," Billy said. Mallory looked at him, shocked.
"Aren't you two a little young to be running away together?" Missus Holloway wondered. Billy shrugged.
"I mean, if we don't do it now, who knows? I might get stuck in Hawkins running the newspaper!" Billy was always charismatic. The table erupted into laughter and Mallory actually smiled.
She bit her lip and leaned her head on Billy's shoulder. The record still played in the background. Mallory closed her eyes a whispered towards her lap, "I missed you, Billy."
"Mallory?" It was Debbie. Debbie? What was Debbie doing there?
"Debbie? What're you doing here?" Mallory's head went back into fear mode. She had forgotten who she was there with. Billy Hargrove, the man who kidnapped Heather Holloway, and Heather Holloway, the girl who Mallory watched die... she thought Heather died, at least.
"Heather's coworkers were worried about her," Max spoke up, "We offered to check up on her."
"We knocked," Debbie clarified, "You probably didn't hear us over the storm."
"Mister and Missus Holloway, I'm so sorry about this. This is my little sister Maxine," Billy stood up and walked over to the girls. Mallory followed, walking a bit faster so then she could stand in between him and the three.
Billy looked at her strangely but continued, "This is Mallory's sister, Debbie. And I'm sorry, I didn't quite get your name."
It was directed to El. Billy's eyes were different then. Mallory knew that Billy wasn't in control anymore.
"El. Where is she?" El was intimidating, as usual. Mallory looked around, surprised to see that Heather was gone. As if on cue, Heather walked out of the kitchen, a pan of cookies in her covered hand.
"Heather, meet my sister and her friends," Billy said, his strange smile coming back. Heather appeared nervous, much like she did when she saw Mallory at the door.
"Well, the girls should go back home," Mallory said, seeing this as her chance to escape, "And someone should really go with them, so I'll walk them back."
"Mal, you don't have to do that. They got here on their own just fine. Besides, it's storming. I drove you here," Billy's eyes pleaded for her to stay but Mallory just couldn't stay there any longer.
She looked up at him with a soft, wanting look, "Then come with me."
His voice dropped down to a whisper as he sighed, "You know I can't do that."
Mallory swiftly turned her attention to the floor, biting her lip. Billy grabbed her hand and rubbed the back of it with her thumb. Mallory knew that he was in there. The more he was around her the more like Billy he became.
"The girls really shouldn't be walking back alone at this time of night," Heather spoke up, "Its really sweet of you to offer to walk back with them, Mallory."
Heather was firm with her statement. Mallory should leave. Mallory accepted this cue gracefully, kissing Billy on the cheek and politely saying goodbye to the Holloway's.
The four girls left the house, rain still pouring and immediately soaking Mallory. She was starting to feel like the "cool aunt" of those three. Even though they had bikes, Max, Debbie, and El opted to keep pace with Mallory.
"See, El, Heather is fine," Mallory heard Max day to El.
"But... I heard her screaming," El was confused.
Mallory voiced her opinion, "Whatever that thing is, it isn't Heather. I saw her. I saw this huge, disgusting monster latch onto her face and pump her full of... something. Heather would never be nice to me, anyways."
"Well, what're we suppose to do now?" Debbie asked.
Mallory shook her head, "I don't know."
There wasn't much talker after that. Max and Debbie took the lead as they changed the topic to comic books. Mallory glanced at El.
"Hey," She said, "How do you know about the Black Room?"
"The black room?" El asked for clarification.
"Yeah, the room where it's nothing but water. Where I saw the monster the first time."
"Oh—," El wasn't exactly sure how to explain it.
"El has superpowers," Debbie interrupted, "She basically created the black room. That's where she goes when she's trying to find somebody."
"So you can go there on command?" Mallory inquired. El nodded.
"Huh. Weird. Do you go there often?"
"Mal, what's with the interrogation back there? Are you going to ask for her zodiac sign, too?" Debbie laughed.
Mallory rolled her eyes, "I'm just trying to get to know her!"
She did stop questioning El, though, opting to think about how she hadn't been transported to the Black Room since she had talked to El. Was it a coincidence? No, Mallory suspected something much more sinister was happening.
words: 1020 date published: friday, september 6th, 2019, 10:08 pm a/n: let me know how u feel abt this one
