WILDFIRE ↝ E. MUNSON

[10]

"Hey," Eddie spoke up, causing Lily to turn away from the supply closet in the corner of the boathouse to look at where he stood staring out the window, the sun slipping behind the trees in the distance.

In the time since their friends had left to investigate the onslaught of emergency vehicles, and Eddie had learned the truth about what really happened to Billy in the Starcourt Mall fire, Lily had set to exploring each crevice of the boathouse, in search of supplies they could use if ever deemed necessary. However, the redhead had come up short, the most useful thing inside the dusty cabinets being a book of matches, which she had already placed on top of the desk for safekeeping after clearing away the food wrappers Eddie had left behind on its surface.

"Mind if I ask you a few other questions?" he asked sheepishly. "Y'know, about everything at Starcourt. I'm sorry, I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but if there's anything to catch me up on that might be helpful with this whole Vecna thing, I'd really like to know."

Lily paused for a moment before stepping back from the supply closet and brushing the dust onto the side of her jeans. "Y-yeah," she said, a tad uneasy as she nodded.

Eddie was right in knowing that Starcourt was the last thing she wanted to talk about, but Lily knew he was also right that any sort of information could be helpful in whatever they were facing.

"What would you like to know?" she asked, stepping closer and taking a seat on the stool.

"What can you tell me?" he asked.

She shrugged. "If I'm being honest, I really don't know much." she admitted. "Steve, Dustin, Nick, and some of the others have been fighting these monsters since before I moved to Hawkins, back when Will Byers first disappeared."

"It's been that long?" he asked, eyebrows raising. "You're telling me my sister's been fighting these things for three years and didn't tell me?"

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, she just wanted to keep you safe." Lily explained. "She said that to me that night at the mall, that she never wanted you involved. Max did the same thing to me when we moved to Hawkins and she met the other kids."

"What changed?" he asked.

"Last summer, Billy started acting really weird." she recounted. "I figured he was just partying more, he'd just graduated and he started his lifeguarding job, so he probably wasn't sleeping very well. One night he needed a ride home from work after the pool closed, his car was getting some work done, so I took my mom's car after my shift at the arcade and went to pick him up. He was taking forever to come out to the car, so I assumed he was just held up for a bit and I went in to see what was taking so long. Nothing I hadn't done before. He, uh-" her voice faltered for a moment with a whimper as the images began to flash through her mind, a bit hazy after that evening but still there, even if it was just in bits and pieces.

Billy cornering her in the back room. His hands slamming her head against the metal shelves once they both realized she had nowhere to run. The salty, metallic taste of blood in her mouth as he leaned over where she lay on the concrete floor, blood dripping from the wound on her head.

"Don't be afraid," his voice echoed in her mind from where it had whispered in her ear, "It'll all be over soon. This, all of this, is for something bigger than just us, Lily."

Billy being lifted into the air by seemingly nothing before he was slammed against the wall, and Max's blurry face suddenly hovering over Lily, asking over and over if she was alright while her friends took care of him, just long enough for Max to get her sister out.

"I became the next Mind Flayer sacrifice," she admitted, the color draining from Eddie's face as she spoke, and he quickly walked over, taking a seat on the stool opposite hers, his eyes studying her intently as he hung onto each word. "He tried, anyway. My name would be on the list of those who died in the fire if Max and her friends hadn't been trying to track down Billy that night to get it out of him, but they saved me. Even have the scar to prove it."

Eddie watched as Lily slowly reached up, moving aside her hair to show the white scar beneath. It had faded considerably over the past several months, but she could still hear Eddie's sharp intake of breath as his eyes found the raised white line hidden under her red tresses.

"Once I knew what my sister and her friends were really up to, I couldn't just stand by and watch." she continued, moving her hair back into place to hide the scar once more. "I knew I needed to help them."

"And then Starcourt happened," he concluded, his eyes moving away from where they lingered at the top of her head back to her eyes.

Lily nodded. "A group of Russian scientists figured out how to open a gate to the alternate dimension, under the mall, which allowed the monster back into our dimension. Chief Hopper died trying to close the gate, and that's what finally killed the Mind Flayer, right after it killed Billy. I knew the gate was closed, I knew we were safe, but for how long? Our friends have been fighting these things for years and we're still doing the same damn thing, except this time, my step-brother was dead. Sure, Billy wasn't a great guy, he made my life a living hell sometimes, but he was still family. We grew up together. So I knew that my only shot at making it out of Hawkins and actually being safe was to get a good scholarship to a far away school. But, in order to make my college applications look the best they could, there were some things I needed to cut out of my life, even if they were the things that made me happiest."

"Like Hellfire," he spoke softly.

Lily nodded. "Eddie, I could never apologize enough for leaving you, Nick, and the boys the way I did. I threw you away like you meant nothing to me, and for that I am so, so sorry. You never deserved that, you guys meant the absolute world to me. But I knew if I didn't, then I'd never leave. So I gave up the one thing that made me happy because I thought I needed to change who I was to earn my one way ticket out of here." Eddie was silent as she spoke, the two still staring at one another. "Please say something." she pleaded after a moment.

"Jesus, Mayfield," Eddie sighed, running a hand over his face. "I just wish you would've talked to me about all of this, let me know what was going on instead of just leaving. I would've understood."

"Would you have believed me?" Lily chuckled humorlessly. "It sounds totally insane."

"Well, look who you're talking to." Eddie gestured back at himself. "Ask anybody in Hawkins and they'll tell you I'm totally insane." She smirked softly, causing him to smile. "You know how badly I've always wanted to get the hell out of this place." he finally continued. "We could've gotten each other out, left Hawkins together if we'd had the chance."

Lily was about to respond when a sharp knock sounded at the door of the boathouse, forcing them both up onto their feet in alarm before it swung open, revealing Nick with her flashlight beam aimed at the two of them.

"There you two are," she mused. "Mayfield, I've come to relieve you of your duty."

"What?" Eddie asked. "Nick, you know you're not supposed to stay here, it's not safe for you to be the one to stay with me."

"I know that." she stated, an unknown edge lacing her voice as she spoke slowly. "But for one night, we're making an exception. Lily has somewhere else she really needs to be right now."

"I do?" Lily asked, her eyebrows furrowing together in confusion. "What do you mean, what's going on?"

Nick stepped further into the boathouse to reveal Max standing behind her, the younger of the two redheads looking visibly shaken as her eyes met her sister's.

"Lily," Max started, "We really need to talk."