𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝙶𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝙷𝚞𝚛𝚝

𝟶𝟸𝟸

After Eleven had discovered Billy and Stephanie the night prior, she knew something was wrong. She usually wouldn't care so much about something like this, but she needed to know something wasn't wrong with Stephanie. El decided that she and Max needed to look through the teen's things to see if they could find anything out of the ordinary.

"It's gonna start pouring soon. We should be at the mall or watching a movie or something." Max complained as the two walked down the street. The sky was overcast and the heat made it clear that it was going to begin to rain.

"You don't believe me?" El questioned. Max had shown her skepticism but if Eleven was so sure, she would follow her.

"I believe you saw some super weird stuff, totally, but you've said Mike has sensed you before, right?" Max asked and Eleven nodded in response. "So maybe it was just like that. Maybe Steph just sensed you somehow." El and Stephanie had a very close bond so Max didn't put it past her.

"But the screams." Eleven had heard Heather's screams from the night before but couldn't see who they belonged to.

"Yeah, I know, but here's the thing. When Billy is alone with a girl, in this case, two girls, they make like really crazy noises. The only weird thing is that I thought Stephanie and Steve were together." Max explained, trying to avoid the awkward topic that is Billy's love life.

"They scream?" El asked curiously.

"Yeah, but, like happy screams." Max did not want to continue the conversation.

"Happy screams? What are happy screams?" Eleven was getting annoyed but Max didn't want or have the time to explain the birds and the bees.

"It's like..." The redhead paused for a moment. "I'm just gonna lend you my mom's Cosmo." The two walked up to Max's house to find it empty. "His car's not here." She then turned to the brunette. "You really wanna do this?" El nodded.

Entering Billy's room was like walking into a bear's cave. It reeked of cigarettes, alcohol, body odor, and a shit ton of cologne. The two girls entered the room carefully as if they were trying to prevent setting off traps.

"Why do I get the feeling we're gonna find all kinds of wrong in here?" Max walked into Billy's room, looking around for anything that didn't belong, which was a lot. Unfortunately, she decided to open the teen's bedside table, where she found multiple magazines that a girl her age didn't need to see.

"Ugh! Gag me with a spoon." The redhead closed the drawer and continued looking around the room. When both girls found nothing out of place, El thought it would be a wise idea to check the bathroom. She looked inside to see the bathtub full of water, and empty ice bags floating over the top.

"Max?" El looked concerningly at the tub, thinking that something was truly wrong with Billy, which meant that something was wrong with Stephanie.

"Ice. It's just ice." Max picked up an empty bag. "Probably for his muscles or something. He works out like a maniac." Eleven wasn't buying it as she continued to survey the room. That was when she noticed blood on one of the cabinets below the sink. The brunette crouched down and opened the cabinet, pulling out the trash can inside. the girl's eyes went wide and she paused.

"El, what is it?" Max's look changed from worried to freaked as El pulled out a lifeguard's fanny pack and a bloody yellow whistle.

"Is it Steph's?" Max asked, her mind spinning.

"No, she was the one who saw me. She wasn't the one screaming." Eleven responded, calming Max down slightly.

"So if it isn't her's, who's is it?" Max asked.