PSYCHO 《 stranger things 》

-2.2 billy.

chapter twenty-two!

IT WAS THE SOUND OF A BALLOON POPPING that probably saved Cassie, Mike, El, and Max's lives. She wasn't sure what caused the sound, but she was eternally grateful the second that the Mind Flayer turned around quickly and ran towards the noise. Cassie quickly wiped the tear from her face, almost ashamed that she had cried. The four ran as quickly as they could toward the exit through the store, Cassie knowing she could have easily ran to the front (being the most athletic person in their whole group), but she purposefully slowed herself to stay in the back in the case that the monster caught up with them. She had the most weapons, and she wasn't afraid to get hurt to give her friends time to escape.

Once they were far enough down the hallway that Cassie knew it was safe, she urged Max forward to help Mike with El. Cassie reached into her bag, pulling out the gun and holding her switchblade between her teeth in case she needed to use it. After what felt like years (despite it actually only being minutes) of running, they finally made it outside and towards the back of the mall. They ran out of the side gate, ready to sprint for Nancy's car, which unfortunately was not there when they looked out into the parking lot.

Instead, they saw Billy standing next to his car that was up in flames. He looked directly over at them and Cassie quickly stepped forward, shoving her friends back.

"Shit!"

"Go, go, go, go, go," ushered Mike as he and Max pulled El back towards the mall. Cassie followed behind, repeatedly looking behind her to see how far Billy was. Max was smart enough to stop and run back to press the close-gate button, hoping it would be enough to prevent, or at least delay, Billy from following.

The four made their way back down the hall of which they came from. Cassie held up the rear as before, a drop of sweat dripping down her forehead and down the side of her face.

Mike led them into what looked like a storage room, and Cassie held back a groan considering what happened the last time she was dragged into a storage room. Max turned back as Cassie stood guard near the door to watch for Billy. Max walked past her and back into the hallway, Billy approaching quickly.

"Billy," muttered the redhead. "Billy, you don't have to do this. Billy. Your name is Billy Hargrove. You live on 4819 Cherry Lane. Billy please, I'm Max, I'm your-."

Cassie blinked the unfortunate tears from her eyes at the sound of Max's pleads. The ginger was cut off by Billy slamming his hand into the side of her face, sending her flying immediately to the ground. Cassie is quick to raise the gun in her hand at her brother, somehow keeping her hands steady as she aimed the deadly weapon at someone she used to consider her best friend, "Billy, back the fuck off. You're a psychotic asshole, but not this b-."

Cassie was unable to finish her sentence as Billy continued at her, unwavering at the gun pointed at his face. It was as if somehow he knew that she still hadn't taken the safety off of it. He grabbed the gun roughly from her hand, slamming it into the side of her head. She stumbled, black dots swimming her vision as she slowly fell to the ground, "You... dick."

It seemed as if the moment Cassie's eyes fell shut and her body hit the cold floor below her, she was already back in that strange place in her dreams. She had now realized it was the upside down, but did that mean the person she was talking to had been the Mind Flayer? Or was there an actual person in the upside down controlling things?

It seemed as though none of her questions were to be answered. She looked around, finding herself in what seemed like an old abandoned house. There was a grandfather clock near the entrance, and a stained glass piece in the door. The clock bell rang as she walked passed it, four times to be exact. She looked through the house, watching as it slowly began to flicker between the abandoned house and a cleaner version of it. Between the flickers she could see flashes of two kids running around, a boy holding a spider, and two parents looking deeply concerned. She made her way up the stairs, something pulling her towards the attic.