Freak Show // Billy Hargrove

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Mind Flayer's Puppet

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Mind Flayer's Puppet

"Okay, so we wait until the pool closes..." Mike begins to explain, leading Lucas and Will into the Men's locker room. "And we somehow get him to come from here and," He motions around him at the lockers where there are a few men getting changed. He pulls open a blue door that leads to some kind of rec room where guys could lift some weights if they wanted to. Mike marches around the corner with his two friends trailing behind him. "Get him into here." Mike points at a large metal door with a window on it that leads into the sauna. Mike pulls it open to reveal five older men in towels. "Hey, shut the door!" One yells, a hand rubbing his stomach. Mike, Lucas and Will all look on in disgust at the sweating grown-ups. "Hey, come on kid! Shut it!" Mike gladly shuts the door, trying to forget what he just saw. "I think I just threw up in my mouth," Lucas mumbles, a disturbed look on his face. Mike looks around then spots what he's looking for right by the door.

"Hey, look. The controls are right here. It's perfect." He smiles, looking at the tempter gage on the wall. "Will it get hot enough?" Will asked, looking to his friend. "220 degrees." Mike reads, looking over his shoulder to the two boys that were with him then looks back at the door. "We just have to figure out how to get him in here." Mike rests his hands on the door before putting his back against it. "Then we lock him in," Will says, trying to understand the plan. "Heat him up," Lucas adds. "No matter what happens, we'll know." Mike nods. It was a solid proof plain and he knew it would work. "We'll know for sure." All the boys nod in unison, happy they have a good plan set in place. "Okay, now lets head back to the girls and fill them in." The three boys head out of the building and walk across the parking lot towards where they last left the girls.

Kaity had her back towards them, leaning against the random car. Eleven stood in front of her and Max stood next to Kaity. "We have a plan." Mike annoyances, catching the girl's attention. They all turn towards them and Mike notices Kaity rub her hand on the side of her pants, leaving a red smear. "Are you okay?" He asked in a worried tone and the older teen nods. "I'm fine kid." She says reassuringly. "El was just showing me something." Her eyes moved to Eleven and the girl looked back at her. Mike wanted to question them further but decided that maybe it wasn't the best time. "We are going to leade Billy into the locker room if he isn't in there already, then somehow lead him into the sauna."

"Then we can lock him in there and turn the heat up," Will adds on. "We'll be able to tell for sure he's the host." Kaity nods in approval as she looks at the three boys in front of her. "That's a pretty solid plan. Good one." Mike smiles triumphantly. "So how do we get him into the sauna," Max asks and the smile falls from Mike's face. He hasn't gotten that far. They all stand around, racking their brains for an idea. They definitely didn't want live bait in case he really was the host. Kaity's eyes widened, an idea popping into her head. "A CPR dummy." Mike's eyes widen as well and he points at her. "That's perfect!"

"Okay, so we have that down. Now we just need to know how to leade him there." Will says, looking at the group of his friends around him. "Leave that up to me and El." The mention of her name brought her attention to the girl that she looked up to the most. "We can use our powers to open doors, turn things on or off. It should be enough to get his attention."

"-and we can tape a walkie onto the dummy we can talk into it from wherever we'll be hiding. That would definitely be enough to get him to charge into that sauna." Max says and everyone nods in agreement, the plan falling together perfectly. "Okay, we're gonna split into pairs." Mike takes charge since it is his plan. "Me and El will goes to find a dummy," Max rolls her eyes at this but Mike ignores her. "Will and Lucas," He turns towards the two boys that are waiting to be assigned their task. "You guys are in charge of finding the different supplies we need to reinforce the door the make sure he can't get out." Last but not least, Mike turns towards the two girls that have a personal connection to Billy. "You two are going to keep watch on Billy while we gather supplies. Make sure he doesn't go anywhere." Kaity nods, her eyes trailing to Billy who still sat in his stand. "Got it." Max nods, determination on her face.