𝐟𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 ➵ stranger things

xlii. cute tricksters

His back dug into the white walls the more that the possessed older teenager stomped his boots, it was loud, far too loud. Louder and louder they got until Billy's position was towering Mike's small figure. All the younger boy could do was press his knees up against his chest harder and hope for that he wouldn't get knocked out too. He didn't hope for anyone but more in the fact for anything, that's just how life came to be nowadays for a pure soul. What was more than shocking enough was the sight that there were no signs of tears to brim his chocolate brown orbs, nor were there any drops on his cheeks, but the young teenager would be lying if he said he wasn't scared.

And Billy- Oh god, he looked even more frightening than the last time he saw him, which had been seconds ago. But the veins were so darkened and deathly that it dehumanized what once used to be a living beauty yet asshole and completely twisted and turned the boy into a monster. Nothing but hatred, nothing but murder; Mike was fucked.

He won't beg, Mike won't beg, would never give the Mind Flayer that power of submission.

Innocence and hope completely drained itself out of the young boy's eyes when he watched the movement of a hand, the veined and monstrous hand rose. The crack of knuckles like thunder when the possessed teenager's fist was clench hard enough yet Mike couldn't see it go white.

Mike was fucked, this was it. He was going to be completely knocked out cold and probably never wake up again.

He cut out his vision as he waited, just waited. Waited and Waited.

"Don't."

The boom of a different voice shook the brunette boy enough to sharply snap his eyes open, almost regretfully though. Maybe life would've been better if he had just closed his eyes and went to sleep.

But there she stood, so brokenly beautiful when evil squeezed past through her once stable kindness, "Take the girl, I'll deal with him." And quite, in fact, Mike had nearly forgotten that possessed Billy and Claudia were controlled by the same monster. So when noticing upon the idea that the taller and scruffier obliged - even nodded his head - and stomped his way to where a knocked-out bleeding Eleven laid, her light brown locks scattered and covered up her soft and exhausted features, Michael could only shudder more than usual and allow that shudder to crawl up his spine and into his brain.

His heart cried louder when his eyes widened and shivered.

So while the flayed blonde boy whose curls weren't pretty and his irises weren't ocean blue picked scooped the young girl up and left, leaving Mike completely vulnerable with the sight a few metres ahead of him where Max still laid completely unconsciousness and the presence of yet another figure. Though this time it was different compared to being close with possessed Billy, this time Michael wasn't just scared.

He felt intimidated.

"Michael Wheeler, I've been waiting to meet you for such a long time!" Immediately, a bellow of laughter and soft giggles intoxicated what was around him, immediately the boy knew he was more fucked than what he was with the other host. 

It wasn't Claudia, wasn't Claudia. This wasn't her and yet his brain still screamed that it was the same messy bundle of long midnight brown curls, it was the same dimple underneath her left eye each time that the Mind Flayer forced the used body to squint.

But the mocking was what put him off, and Mike just had to rely on that to trick his brain into knowing that it was not her. Because Claudia never mocked him, she never did, "Bullshit," He sneered quite harshly, the tone in Mike's voice was rough like metal against metal and he made sure it sounded as stern as possible.

Flayed Claudia continued her nice stroll of two metres. And so the monster tilted it's head and hummed, "Oh no, don't say that. I really have been; she's been telling me so much about you..." Yet another smug smirk grew on what once was her face, "I mean, where do I start? You two have so many stories to tell but it's like you keep them all stored in your brains, like diaries, right?"