Julie hadn't been home since yesterday morning, before her and the girls went to the Wheelers, and she hadn't seen her father in over three days. Julie knew she had to go home. She needed to shower, she needed clean clothes for her and Max, and she needed to gather some of her stashed monster fighting equipment.
Max was firmly against the idea of Julie going home alone, but Julie shrugged off the concerns. She would be fine, and she was just going to be in and out quickly.
In hindsight, she probably shouldn't have gone home that night.
Julie arrived at her house when Jonathan dropped her off. Everyone else was going to the Wheeler's basement. Jonathan would be picking her up 45 minutes later. She walked up the steps with uneven breaths. The girl was exhausted, dirty, and not in the mood to deal with the storm incoming that was Neil Hargrove.
She walked in the unlocked front door quietly, and quickly slipped her shoes off. The house was dark, and Julie hoped that meant her dad and Susan were sleeping. She walked towards her bedroom with soft steps, and made it there without getting caught.
Julie grabbed some clothes to sleep in, and emptied her backpack of its contents. She stuffed clothes for Max and El to sleep in inside, as well as clothes for Max to wear tomorrow. She shoved in a hairbrush and her stuffed seagull, as well as her walkman, headphones, and mix tapes. Julie tossed the filled backpack onto her bed, and trudged to the bathroom to shower.
She didn't want to waste time, so the Hargrove girl immediately stripped of her clothes and turned the water on, stepping under the cold stream of water. Julie washed her thick, disgusting hair, and then moved on to scrubbing the rest of her body clean of any guts. By the time she finished, Julie looked like a whole new person, save for the bags under her eyes and the added marks to her neck.
Julie dried her body off when she stepped out of the shower, and tugged her clothes on. She left her hair down, and quietly left the bathroom in the hopes of making it to her own room before anyone woke up.
As she walked past the living room, the kitchen light turned on, and Neil was standing there. He was staring at his eldest child intently, as if she had just told him she killed someone. Julie froze in her place, as her mind swarmed with dark 'what if's'. She turned around, and met her father's dark eyes.
"Where have you been, Juliana. It's been days since I've seen you. Susan said you left yesterday and didn't come home." Neil said. On the surface, the man seemed to be calm, and collected. One might even think he would be civil about the whole thing, but Julie knew better.
She took a breath in, and blinked for a second to buy herself some time. "I'm sorry I didn't call. It was an emergency with my friends. As for the other days, I've been working a lot." Julie said. She knew this would end badly. Her gut was screaming at her to run, to go to the Wheeler's, to try to contact Hopper or any police officer. She stayed put. There was no escaping the inevitable.
Neil scoffed loudly. "You weren't working. You're a good for nothing slut, who was probably whoring around, while her brother and sister are missing. Where are Billy and Maxine?" He demanded, raising his voice. Julie winced at his volume.
Julie gulped. "Max is with her friends, and I don't know where Billy is. He's not my reponsibility." She said. Despite the battles going on in her mind, she was calm. She had to be calm.
Neil stalked towards his daughter, like a lion seeking out it's prey. "You're the oldest. Your siblings are your responsibility. Just because your whore mother--"
"Don't finish that sentence. Don't talk about my mother." Julie warned, stepping closer to her father. She didn't care about the repricussions of her actions at that moment. Julie had to protect her mother, even if her mother failed to protect her.
"I'll talk about whomever I choose. Your mother was a slut and a whore, and clearly you've taken after her!" Neil yelled, his booming voice echoing in Julie's ears due to their close proximity.
Julie took a shakey breath in. "No, she wasn't. She was wonderful, and she cared about Billy and I more than you ever did. More than you ever have, or will." She spat. She should've expected Neil's hand to go flying across her face, but she didn't. When it did, her head was whipped to the side, a strong stinging sensation left behind.
Neil pointed in Julie's face. "You think she cared about the two of you? She was a bitch, and she left this family because you weren't enough for her!" The man was practically screaming in Julie's face, while tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Stop! Stop manipulating me into thinking I was the reason mom left! It was all you! What is wrong with you?" Julie sobbed.
Neil's hands were gripped on Julie's neck, and she was shoving her against the nearest wall. A picture frame went crashing to the floor, as Julie cried harder as Neil started choking her. "You... you are what is wrong with me. You are ungrateful, worthless piece of shit, who isn't deserving of anything! You can't even keep a goddman boyfriend!" He spoke, while Julie's face turned red from the lack of oxygen.
Julie didn't see the man before her as her father anymore. She saw a monster, and Julie destroyed monsters. "You can't even keep me." Julie choked out, sending a sharp kick inbetween Neil's legs. Neil let her go to clutch himself while he groaned, giving Julie a chance to make a break for it.
She rounded the corner towards her room and grabbed her backpack, shrugging it on and heading towards the window by Max's bed. She tossed her backpack out first, and just as she was about to climb fully out and be free, a grip on her ankle sent her flying back into the room. On the way in, her head slammed against the top of the window, only agitating her head wound more.
Julie ended up on the ground, and when she tried to crawl away, Neil lifted her up by her hair, ignoring her shouts of pain. He gripped her harshly by the neck, pure rage written across the facial features that Julie thankfully didn't get from him.
"Is that any way to treat your father, Juliana?" He spoke, tightening his grip on her.
Julie spit in his face. She had nothing else to lose, for surely she was going to be kicked out after all this. Neil wiped his face off slowly, before he raised it fist and sent it flying at Julie's face. She heard a loud crack, and Neil and Julie were both silent.
Julie kicked her foot in between Neil's legs and pushed him off of her. Julie took a deep breath and screamed at Neil, attempting to push him away, or maybe explode him. Tried as she did, her scream did nothing except agitate Neil when further.
All Neil did was laugh at Julie, and begin to walk over to the girl. Julie quickly crawled out of the open window and into the night air before Neil could catch her again.
She grabbed her backpack for the ground, and began to run. Her face was surely all screwed up, and her neck hurt horribly, but she had to run. She had to make it to the Wheelers. Julie ignored everything else and just ran. She didn't think of what would happen to her and Max, or about The Flayed. She just ran.
Down the street, Jonathan was driving Nancy's car to come get Julie. The kids were situated and calmed down, so he just needed to get Julie. Max had warned him that Julie's dad can sometimes be aggressive, but he thought nothing of it, until he saw a teenage girl sprinting down the sidewalk. It was Julie.
Jonathan immediately pulled the car over and got out of it, leaving the door open and the engine running. He rushed over to the girl as she came up to him. She looked shocked to see him, but the shock was gone soon enough.
"Julie? What happened?" Jonathan walked closer to her. Julie's body was wracking with sobs, and she was breathing heavily. She didn't answer the boy, and instead practially jumped onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Jonathan caught her safely, and held her against him while she sobbed, mumbling things that Jonathan couldn't hear.
"I'm so scared, Jonathan." She cried into Jonathan's shoulder, and Jonathan hugged her tighter, placing his hand on the back of her head to pull her closer into the safety of his arms.
"I've got you. I've got you."
•••
The next morning came along soon enough. Too soon. Julie was forced to give a brief explanation to the group when her and Jonathan got back last night. Safe to say, Mike, Nancy and Lucas wouldn't be complaining about their dads much anymore.
Julie slept on the ground in a sleeping bag next to Max and Will. Before that, Nancy helped her duct tape an ice pack to her likely broken nose and put a new bandage on her head wound. While they did that, the two girls talked over everything, and agreed to not let boys or life come between them.
With her and Nancy's friendship rekindled, Julie tried calling Robin again, but ended up having a shocking conversation with her mother. Robin was missing. Steve hadn't been seen in a while either. Immediately fearing the worst, Julie wanted to go out and find her best friend and her former lover, but she had duties where she was.
After everyone had eaten and gotten ready, the group of eight began their drive to Hop and El's cabin in the woods, where El and Julie would search for Billy. On the way, they stopped at Lucas', Jonathan and Will's houses for them to change their clothes.
The group dispersed once they walked in the door of the cabin, and Julie and El went to El's room to have peace and quiet while they searched. The girls were seated next to each other with their hands interlocked and with blindfolds covering their eyes. The tv was on and producing static. In front of the girls on the floor were pictures containing the four known Flayed; the Holloway family, Mrs. Driscoll, the guy who Julie fought, named Bruce and a picture of Billy Julie had found.
El was walking about in her dream world, and Julie was listening to her footsteps echo with a splash. "See anything?" Julie asked after El had some time to search.
"No. Do you hear anything?" El said.
Julie shook her head, forgetting for a second that both girls were blindfolded. "Just you walking."
The girls went on like this for a long time, occasionally reaching for the box of tissues between them to wipe their nose and ears. Julie rapidly wiped her ears, not eager to get blood on her white and green polka dot shirt.
"I hear him, El." Julie spoke after minutes of silence. "Go ahead, to the northeast." She instructed.
After a minute of El searching, she spoke up. "I see him."
The girls took their blindfolds off and cleaned the blood off of their respective body parts, turned the tv off and stood up. They walked to the door and opened it, making all heads turn to them.
"What's going on?" El asked curiously. Julie leant on the wall by the phone with her legs crossed.
"Nothing. Nothing." Mike answered quickly.
"Just a family discussion." Lucas covered.
Julie narrowed her eyes at Nancy, who indicated that she would tell her later, before turning to Lucas. "Okay, extended family member." She teased, remembering what the boy had said to the receptionist at the hospital the night before. Lucas mocked her mocking him.
"Oh." El said. It was painfully silent for another few seconds, until Julie nudged her small friend. "We found him." El said.
"Found who?" Nancy questioned.
"My biggest headache. One guess who." Julie said, every young boy who wanted to say Steve backing down under her stern glare.
In a smooth transition, everyone gathered in the living room. Lucas, Max and Will sat on Hop's couch, with Mike in an adjacent armchair. Nancy and Jonathan were together in another armchair, watching intently as Julie and El worked their magic.
The girls were seated how they usually were, with blindfolds covering their eyes and the static of the tv filling their ears. El's breaths were rapid as Julie guided her through her dream world. As Julie's body twitched, and she heard enough for the moment, she decided they needed a break.
"Pull out, El." She said quietly, beginning to take herself back to her physical body.
With quick breaths, El pulled her blindfold off, while Julie slowly did the same. "What's he doing now?" Max asked immediately after. El turned around to face the group while Julie stayed facing forward. Billy was in rough shape, and she wasn't dealing with it well. The only good thing was that his arm grew back, after Julie had exploded a different flayed's arm.
El briefly explained what they saw and heard, before going to get a drink of water. Julie spread out on the floor and laid on her back, her eyes going to the ceiling.
"And that's not normal, right?" Nancy questioned Max and Julie, now standing with Jonathan near the couch. Jonathan glanced a harmless glance at Julie every few seconds, to make sure she was okay.
"Billy staying in his room on the Fourth of July?" Max said. Julie hadn't even realized it was the Fourth already.
"What she means to say is that he is most definitely not acting normal." Julie added from the floor, her words slowing down, ending her sentence with a yawn.
"He wants us to find him." Will said.
"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. If we go to Billy, then the rest of the flayed know where we are." Nancy explained, even though it was common knowledge.
"It's a trap, I agree. We'll be ambushed." Mike said.
"We won't be surprised." Lucas piped in. "We'll know that they're coming, and we will kick their flayed butts."
"You mean El and my sister will kick their butts." Max said.
"Speaking of your sister, is she alive?" Nancy said. All eyes moved to Julie who was laying motionless with her eyes closed. She was asleep, and no one had the heart to wake her up based on how peaceful she looked. The group continued conversing ideas quietly, until El walked in.
"Billy knows it. Wake her up." She pointed to Julie, and everybody turned to Jonathan, based on his close proximity to the girl. Jonathan sighed, but quietly knelt beside the girl he considered a sister, and gently shook her shoulders.
He shook her a few more times, until she eventually stirred, opening her eyes and beginning to sit up. "Hey. We gotta talk ideas." Jonathan said, smoothing out her hair for her.
Julie groggily nodded, sitting up fully and turning so her body was facing the couch. El started right up again.
"Billy's been there. To the source." She said, and Julie caught on to what she missed while she slept.
"Yeah, but--" Mike began.
"It's a trap. I know. We can't go to Billy, but I think there's another way. A way for JJ and I to find out where he's been." El explained. Julie didn't really know what was going on, but if it had to do with Billy, she was down for anything.
Julie sighed loudly, throwing her hands up in the air and somehow accidentally hitting her broken nose. "Well, I don't have a boyfriend anymore, and my best friend is missing, so there were no plans for me tonight anyway. Let's do it."
Little did Julie know, all Steve was thinking at that moment was how much he wanted Julie in his arms, especially after hearing Robin downright sob about not getting to say goodbye to her.
Steve knew he screwed up big time. He had a lot of time to think while being imprisoned by evil Russians. He made a deal with himself, that if him and Robin made it out of the mess they were in, he would get his girl back. Not Nancy Wheeler. No. Juliana freaking Hargrove.