CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
FIREWORKS
They're armed with fireworks, buckets of multi-colored arsenals that paint pictures in the skies and leave lasting imprints whenever you close your eyes. Thanks to Lucas, they aren't going into the mall empty-handed. Thanks to Lucas, they may stand a chance against the Mind Flayer.
Abby, Robin, Steve, and Isla gather in a cluster on the Starcourt balcony with a pile of fireworks at their feet. They stare down at the scene that plays out before them. There's El on the ground, a tiny dot of yellow amidst the shadows, all alone in the sea of flickering neon lights. Billy stands beside her, tall and strong, almost inhumane. Even from here, Abby can see the black veins that bulge out of his skin and the layer of sweat that has built up, illuminated by the blinking neon lights that surround him. But there's no sign of Alex, Mike, or Max, and there isn't time to search for them either. Whether or not Steve has noticed the absence of his sister, Abby doesn't know.
The Mind Flayer looms above them, screeching as the yellow figure that is El tries to scramble away. Its mouth opens up, salivating as it stares down at its prey. Its mouth opens up, revealing teeth of rot as a tongue snakes out of its great big mouth. But before it can latch onto El, before it can suck the life out of her, a great big explosion rocks the mall. Fireworks explode in a burst of gold and collide with the Mind Flayer, raining down over the mall. The Mind Flayer lets out a loud, pained screech as it rocks backward away from El.
"Flay this, you ugly piece of shit!" Lucas shouts. The monster turns to face him, but he only stares down the puppet of rotting flesh, no fear, no trembling, only anger, and courage as he hurls another firework directly into the mouth of the Mind Flayer.
The monster lets out a feral scream as it stumbles backward, rocking the foundations of the mall. But there's no escape from the projectiles that they launch at it. It's glorious sight below them, the Mind Flayer is blinded by the light show that they have put on. After all, the way Abby sees it, light cancels out dark. What better way to cut through the darkness that continues to grow and fester while it remains here with a display of light.
"Hey, asshole! Over here!" Steve taunts.
"Yippie ki-yay, motherfucker!" Isla shouts as she launches her own firework at the monster.
It's almost impossible to make out the stumbling, rotting form of the Mind Flayer through the spray of colors, but they persist, fueled by the weakening integrity of the monster. It's cathartic hurling the fireworks at the monster. Abby's able to channel all the anger, all the fear, and all the hope into one throw, one throw that causes the monster to buckle and thrash wildly. Hopper, Joyce, and Murray are going to be closing the gate anytime soon now. All they have to do is hope that they don't run out of their weapons.
Her eyes land on a stumbling figure just outside of the chaos of light. It's then that she remembers that the brain controls everything connected. If one entity is hurt, then they're all hurt. Billy is no exception. Abby doesn't feel anything. She doesn't think that she should. He wasn't human anymore, the Billy who was human had died a long time ago. And even if he still was human, Abby knows that she wouldn't go racing into the crossfire to help him. Any reason to do that had disappeared a long time ago. Instead, she continues to hurl projectiles at the monster before them.
"Shit," Abby mutters as Robin lights the last firework in the blue shopping basket. Her heart doubles in its pace as she turns to look back at the Mind Flayer. It's still standing, still stumbling, but it's angry and they're running out of time. If they don't sever the connection between the brain and the body, then they'll only add to the bodies that have already been scattered across the food court.
Steve scrambles for the radio and shouts, "Dustin! We're out of time!"
Abby watches with a sinking heart as the bright lights fade away. The wonderland of color that had once filled the food court has started to fade away as the last of the fireworks are thrown. The Mind Flayer is still alive. She finds her hand once again in Steve's as the Mind Flayer stands taller than ever before and roars. This is it. The Mind Flayer still stands, the brain is still operating, the connection between the puppet and master is still as strong as ever.
Billy is on his feet again, he stands rigid before the monster. El continues to scramble backward, but any attempts are fickle. Her arms are too weak to support her, her legs are just as wobbly and weakened. Abby watches with wide-eyed horror as the gaping, rotting mouth of the Mind Flayer opens up once more and the tongue emerges, snarling and snapping toward El, helpless and still on the ground. There isn't anything that they can do, they're out of weapons, out of defense, out of hope. This is it. El is going to die. And they're too late.
The tongue shoots out at the girl on the ground. She closes her eyes and throws up her hands. Abby expects something to happen then; for the tongue to stop, for the same vibrating pulse of her powers to fill the air, but nothing happens. The tongue continues to shoot toward her until Billy stops it.
With a loud roar, Billy intercepts the tongue with his own hands. The claws on the end writhe in Billy's grasp as he yells out, pushing the tongue away from El who continues to scramble backward. Something in that instant has changed in him, he's slipped from the Mind Flayer's grasp. At least just for a moment, there's something more human than a monster inside of him. More clawed tongues emerge from the body of the Mind Flayer, claws writhing, ready to latch onto Billy. One shoots straight for Billy's abdomen, clutching on with a sickening sort of squelch as claws pierce through soft flesh with a spray of deep, crimson blood that seeps into the white fabric of his tank top.
He's screaming in pain now, his arms are trembling, the black veins are still bulging, but he persists. Even when another appendage grabs onto his side, and another, and then another. He's suspended in midair now, limp. His arms hang uselessly at his sides as his head lolls back. Abby isn't even sure that he's still breathing. She doesn't know if they should do anything, they're all frozen where they are, just watching the death scene that plays before them. Except, this isn't a movie, they can't pause and rewind. But strangely, Abby doesn't feel much remorse as the blood continues to soak and stain his tank top. The monster roars at him with all its might, but Billy only roars back until the last tongue sinks straight through his chest and Billy falls limp.
Abby can only stare as the appendages release him and Billy drops to the ground lifelessly. She stares down at the body with dry eyes as she hears an anguished cry of his name. She can't forgive him for the horrible things that he's done, for what he had done to Lucas that night, what he had done to Steve and Alex, what he had done to Max, what he had done to her. All out of hate. Abby doesn't think she'll ever be able to hear his name without trembling in fear, she doesn't think she'll ever be able to forget the fear in Max's eyes whenever his name is spoken. She doesn't think she'll ever be able to hear his name without remembering the night back in October. One good deed does not cancel out a lifetime of bad deeds. One good deed does not cancel out the choice of maliciousness.
And then the Mind Flayer begins to stumble, flailing about and shrieking in pain. Limbs of rot fly in all different directions as it attempts to regain its footing. Abby, Robin, Isla, and Steve barely manage to dive out of the way as the body of the Mind Flayer collides with the railing before them. Abby pushes herself up to watch with a growing sense of curiosity and hope as the Mind Flayer finally crashes to the ground with a final thud. And with that final thud comes a final breath as the body of rot falls limp. They scramble up and lean against the railing to stare down at the body of the monstrosity. Abby waits for it to make a sound, for it to pop the bubble of hope that grows in her chest with every passing moment, but it doesn't. The Mind Flayer is dead.
Abby lets out a laugh. It's over. They've won.
She finds herself in Steve's arms and melts into the embrace. She feels Isla join the embrace, followed by Robin. The four just stand there for a few moments, rocking back and forth, sobbing in relief. For the first time in a while, they're surrounded by complete serendipity as the rest of the world melts away. They're okay. They're safe.
Slowly, Abby and Steve make their way down to the ground level where the rest of their friends have gathered. Steve's arm is around Abby as they search the carnage for Alex. For a few heartstopping moments, Abby fears the worst, but then she sees her on her knees beside Max who hovers over Billy's body. She doesn't reach out a hand to console Max, not when she's shaking Billy desperately. She only watches Max with sorrow gleaming in her eyes, but Abby doesn't think it's for Billy. It's for Max.
Through his spluttering and heaving breaths, Abby hears Billy choke out in a final breath, "I'm sorry."
Abby doesn't think that there are any other phrases that have such a hollow meaning as "I'm sorry". There's a lot that Billy should be sorry for, there's a lot that Billy should answer for. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But it isn't enough. Sorry doesn't cut it, especially when you have a scapegoat, sorry doesn't make up for everything that he's done to them. Billy faces death and he apologizes, but Abby doesn't know if there's any meaning to it. She doesn't know if he's truly sorry, or if he's just trying to repent his sins one last time so that the weight on his chest is lighter when he dies.
"Billy ..." Max pleads, voice shaking. Abby's heart breaks for the girl; she doesn't deserve this and he doesn't deserve her. He doesn't deserve the girl's tears. Not when she had been so utterly afraid of him not so long ago. But in a way, Abby doesn't think that she's mourning for Billy on the ground before her. There must have been a time before all the hate and rage had blinded Billy. She thinks that Max is mourning the boy that he was, not the man that he had grown to be. Not only that, but death is scary, it's shrouded by so much mystery, and on a fundamental Abby knows that no human deserved to die, and she knows that Max knows this too. "Billy. Billy. Billy, wake up, Billy get up. Please, Billy . . . Billy!"
Abby doesn't need to look over to know that Billy is dead. She only hugs Steve closer to her as Max collapses limply into Alex's arms. She's a shaking mass of tears and heart-wrenching sobs, and hands stained black with Billy's blood. Alex wraps her arms around her and consoles her, whispering soft reassurances to her as she strokes Max's hair, rocking the sobbing girl back and forth.
All Abby can think about as she joins the mass on the ground is that Billy does not deserve Max. Alex lets Abby pull Max into a hug. She doesn't say anything for a long while, but she knows that they have to get out of the mall. Small fires are burning around them, the dust is still settling, particles are drifting through the air. It isn't safe for them in there.
"We have to go, Max," she whispers.
"No," Max manages to choke out, shaking her head vehemently. "No. What about Billy? We can't just leave him, we—"
"Shh," Abby whispers, stroking Max's hair. "It's okay. We'll figure something out. Come on."
Shakily, Abby and Alex help Max to her feet. She's unstable, her legs almost give out from underneath her, but Abby and Alex work together to support her as they leave the death and carnage behind them. Abby looks back over her shoulder at the two bodies on the ground. The monsters are gone. They've won.
But could they call it a victory when so many innocent lives were lost? It didn't feel like one.
author's note: aah! okay, last chapter and i just want to say that just because they say sorry, you are under no obligation to forgive your abuser or anybody who has hurt you. abby doesn't forgive billy, and that is perfectly valid. he hurt a lot of people, he was a bad person, and one good deed isn't going to change that.
i'm actually really excited for the epilogue which will be coming out tomorrow!! and also, happy thanksgiving to those of you who celebrate!!