Me, Myself, and Her

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight: I Think He Knows

"Max! Let me out of here!" Billy slammed up against the door, his face in the middle of the little window. Annie's grip continued to stay tight on Max's hand.

"You kids... you think this is... funny? You kids think this is some kind of sick prank, huh?" Billy asked. His eyes fell onto Annie, who stepped back slightly. "I thought I knew you better, Annie. I thought you were a better person than this."

Annie swallowed hard but didn't waver in the slightest. When he didn't get any movement, Billy spat on the window. "You little shits think this is funny?" His voice was getting louder and echoed more. "What is this? Open the door," he said, his voice too calm.

A beat. "Open the door!" He emphasized his words with a slam on the door that made everyone jump. "Open the door! Open the goddamn door!"

Everyone was breathing hard, Annie's hand shaking- the one that wasn't squeezing the life out of Max's.

Suddenly, Billy fell to the ground and let out a yell. Will rushed forward to the thermometer. "We're at 220." The highest it would go. Will stepped back with the group.

And then Billy was sobbing. Annie felt her own jaw shake- she was scared of what was happening and what was going to happen.

Max let go of Annie's hand and carefully walked up to the door as Billy started speaking.

"It's not my fault. It's not my fault. It's not my fault, Max. I promise you it's not my fault." As Max walked forward, Annie followed a few steps behind. If anything happened, she would grab Max and yank her back.

Max got up at the door and looked at the sight of her brother literally begging. "What's not your fault, Billy?" Max asked quietly. Annie was right behind her, barely able to see into the sauna.

"I've done things, Max. Really... bad things. I didn't mean to," Billy said through his crying. Behind her, Annie could feel the others getting just a bit closer. "He made me do it."

That caused every hair to go up on Annie's arms. "Who made you do it?" Max asked. But they all knew the answer. This was just the way to finally confirm it.

"I don't know, it's like a shadow. Like a giant shadow," he whispered. Annie looked back at Will whose eyes were wide. "Please, Max."

"What did he make you do?" Max asked and Annie could hear the pain in her voice.

"It's not my fault, okay? Max, please," Billy yelled. "Please believe me, Max, it's not my fault. I tried to stop him, okay? I did!"

Annie reached forward and grabbed Max's hand again when she heard her cry. In her own eyes there were tears- this was a hard scene. Annie never expected to see the 'great Billy' fall, yet here he was. Because of the Mind Flayer.

Her open hand went up to the glass. "Billy it's gonna be okay," she said. "It's gonna be okay, we want to help you. You just have to talk to us, okay? You have to talk to us." Max kept trying to talk to him, show him she really cared.

Annie saw something moving inside, something just barely out of her view. She couldn't adjust to see better without getting in Max's way. Will said something behind her, but it was too quiet for her to hear it.

"Max get away from the door," came Mike's slightly louder voice.

"What?"

"Get away from the door!" he screamed. Annie saw Billy charging at the door and pulled hard on Max's arm to drag them to the side.

The girls let out screams as Billy's hand came through the glass, shards spraying everywhere. His head and arm were through the window, and he was armed with a broken piece of tile. "Let me out, you bitch! Let me out! I'll fucking gut you!"