Billy Hargrove stands there smirking, blood red shirt unbuttoned to show off his toned chest and scars, a fang earring hanging from his right ear, and a leather jacket hanging from his shoulders. And then before you can rationalize your next move, your feet are carrying you towards the boy who you once had a love/hate friendship with, and you wrap your arms around him in a surprising hug.
Billy tenses before he hesitantly returns the hug. "So, I leave Hawkins and we're suddenly at the hugging stage, huh?"
"Shut up," you mumble, "and let me have this. You don't know what I've been through this past week."
"Yeah?" Billy pulls back, hands holding onto your biceps as he looks you up and down. "What the hell is going on in Hawkins now? And who came with you?" He glances up and over your head, looking around for more familiar faces.
"No one. I'm, uh, I'm alone. No one knows I'm here."
He glances back down at you, sees you chewing on your bottom lip, and swears. "Shit. That bad?"
"Worse, I think." Billy sharply inhales and you wince. "We need to talk."
Before Billy can retort, the revving of motorcycle engines part the crowd on the boardwalk. Many shout expletives at the four bikers pulling up close to you and Billy, and you frown when all their gazes land on you. One in particular makes your hackles rise, the platinum blonde leading the other three, but you swallow down the urge to pull a face or make a sound.
You take notice of the mullets, the earrings and matching styles. Then you glance back at Billy, arching an eyebrow at him. "Friends of yours?"
"Yeah. I think you'd like them."
"Really? Did I like you when I first met you?"
Billy huffs a laugh. "No, but look at us now!"
"Whatever." Your eyes roll as you address the platinum blonde now smirking at you. In fact, they're all smirking at you with the exception of the only brunette of the group who looks like he's trying to figure you out. "Sorry, boys, but I need to borrow Hargrove for an hour or so. We have a lot to catch up on."
"Only an hour? Pft!" The second blondie giggles, practically bouncing in his seat as the third curly-haired blonde hides his amusement behind his fist.
Your eyes narrow on the blonde, but Billy slides his arm around your shoulders. "YN, meet the boys. That's David, Paul, Marko and Dwayne," he says while pointing out each individual.
You nod at them and then look back up at Billy. "Seriously, can we go? It's important we talk about Hawkins."
"Hawkins, huh?" David drawls, garnering your attention. "That's the place with monsters and children with superpowers running around, right?"
You freeze as you stare at the blonde before whipping your attention back at Billy. You swat at his stomach. "Do secrets mean nothing to you?!"
"What?" He feigns innocence, laughing with his friends. "They're good with weird. Trust me. Whatever you have to say to me you can say in front of them."
"Fine." You sigh. "But we still need somewhere private."
Billy smirks and then looks towards his friends, each of them slowly smiling. Billy and David stare at one another, having a silent conversation with each other, and then, "Cave it is."
As Paul and Marko get excited for this turn of events, Billy leads you to his own motorcycle. He tells you to climb on behind him, and after much grumbling you reluctantly do as you're told, seeing as riding with any of the others is totally out of the question.
It's no surprise that the five men drive like lunatics, the motorcycles bouncing down the boardwalk stairs before hitting the beach. They gun their engines after, spraying beach sand as they go. You pass up multiple bonfires, grunting as Billy joins the others in jumping sand dunes, and then drive towards a pathway in a deserted part of the beach.
Everyone's face is alive with excitement and the thrill of the ride, and you can't help the laughter that escapes you as they race through the woods towards this cave you heard David mention earlier.
Soon enough the uneven path that the boys had been driving turns into a flat surface and through the low lying clouds you can see a lighthouse. The boys pick up speed, you grasp tighter around Billy's abdomen, and then all too soon he's screeching to halt at the edge of a cliff.
Glancing over the side and peering down into the crashing waves, you roll your eyes before glancing back at everyone. "Consider me terrified," you deadpan. "Now can we get on with it?"
Billy chuckles. "You're a lot bitchier than I remember."
"And you're a lot more mellow than I remember."
"California, sweetheart. It calms me."
"Mhm. I'm sure that's it."
"Enough chit chattin', you two, and let's go," David says.
You and Billy share a look, both grinning at David's impatience, before you follow his lead.
You're led down a rickety wooden staircase on the side of the cliff which Paul delightfully informs you is called Hudsons Bluff. Down by the crashing waves you can see the mouth of a cave- a chain link fence having been placed around the entrance with signs reading Condemned, Unsafe and Unlawful to Go Past This Point.
You snort at their lack of caution and enter the cave, surprising the others when you don't trip down the tunnel leading to their hangout. Eventually there's a steep drop the others hop down from, but you slide down it to the best of your ability.
Dwayne and Paul light up some torches and go around lighting up barrels of trash to give the room some light. You look around in surprise to be inside a room- a room that looks suspiciously like an old hotel lobby. You can see a front desk, a mural, a wrought-iron elevator, a fountain, and numerous pieces of furniture. Nearly everything in the room is broken with vines and roots hanging from the ceiling, and shafts of moonlight shooting down from cracks in the ceiling.
"This was the hottest resort in Santa Carla back about eighty years ago," David says while taking a seat in a dusty wheelchair. "Too bad they built it right on top of the San Andreas fault." He pauses and you take another moment to look around, huffing a laugh at Marko sitting on the fountain and cooing at a pigeon in his hands. "In 1906, when the big one hit San Francisco, the ground opened up and this place took a header into the crack."
"Bummer," you utter.
Paul chuckles. "Man, you wouldn't believe the cool stuff we've found in here."
"Beats my place," you say, grinning at Paul.
"And where exactly is this place you're staying if our hotel is the better option?" Billy asks.
You shrug. "Some abandoned warehouse on the other side of town. It has four walls and a roof, so I'm good."
A beat of silence passes and then, "What the hell happened, YLN?" Billy then asks. "You're not.. you."
You turn towards him, grinning. "Finally picked up on that, did you?"
"Spill. Now."
Sighing, you walk over to an overturned milk crate and take a seat. Then glancing around at the other men, you ask, "What did Billy tell of Hawkins? Of the Upside Down?"
"Everything he knew," David says.
"Well okay then. I'll just jump straight to what happened after that then."
"You do that," Billy deadpans.
Sighing once more, you say, "So the being who possessed you all those months ago finally made himself known."
Billy straightens a little. "What do you mean?"
"I mean exactly what I said. The one who possessed you? His name is Henry Creel. Or as we later came to learn, subject One."
"Fuck. Is he like that Eleven girl?"
You nod. "He was born with these powers. He was a sadistic little shit and killed his mother and little sister. He was well on his way to killing his dad too, but something happened and his dad survived. Unfortunately for the dad, the murders were pinned on him and little Henry Creel caught the attention of Doctor Brenner.
"Doctor Brenner took samples of Henry's blood to make serums for other children. Then Henry was later chipped so he couldn't use his powers, he took an interest in Eleven when she was really young and tried to help her escape, but it was all just a ruse."
"A ruse for what?" Dwayne asks. Those are the first words he's spoken and his voice startles you.
"He, uh, he told her that the Doctors abused him which was true, but he really laid it on thick. He earned Eleven's trust, she took the chip out of his neck, and then he slaughtered everyone he came across. Children included."
"But not Eleven," Billy surmises.
"Not Eleven," you agree. "He wanted her by his side, but she couldn't get past what he did. They went head to head, she thought she killed him but really she just banished him to the Upside Down where he eventually became ruler of."
"But they closed the gate," he then remembers. "How did this guy manage to come through?"
You sadly smile at him. "He didn't. He's so powerful that he was basically mind melding with vulnerable teenagers in Hawkins. He'd play on their trauma or guilt and then when he had them right where he wanted them, he'd break nearly every bone in their body before sucking their eyes into their heads."
Paul laughs. "Sounds awesome."
His humor sets you off, anger immediately igniting. Snarling, you chatter angrily at him and Billy's blood runs cold. "YN?" With darkened eyes, you glance towards him. "What the hell happened to you? That sound, it's just like-"
"He needed to open four gates," you say, cutting him off, "so he targeted four individuals. With each death, one gate opens."
"What would happen if these four gates opened?" Billy wonders.
"If?" You scoff. "Billy, the gates are open. We tried to stop it after one of his targets was one of ours, but-"
"Who?"
"What?" You blink at him, frowning.
"Who was the target?"
You stare at him and mentally wince. You didn't want to tell him like this. "Chrissy Cunningham was the first to go, then Fred Benson. Patrick McKinney was third and then.. then he took Max."
Billy goes eerily still and his new friends tense, paying more attention now. "What did you just say?"
"Max died, but Eleven brought her back. Just not fully."
"What the fuck does that even mean?" He seethes.
"It means she's brain dead," you tell him. "Susan refuses to pull the plug on her so she's in the hospital for now while the government tries to evacuate the town. Hawkins is falling and soon enough One will make his appearance."
"Why the hell are you here then, YN? From what I remember, you and your friends liked to run head first into the monster drama."
"And look where that got me." You scoff. "We walked into the Upside Down with a plan to distract these demonic bats while Steve, Nancy and Robin went after One, and it didn't end well. One of those bats wrapped its tail around my neck, others wrapped their tails around each of my limbs while even more took chunk after chunk out of me." You pause, hesitating on your next words while you glance at the other men who are hanging onto your every word. "I died.. and then I woke up as something else."
It's so quiet that you can hear the waves crashing outside.
"What- what did you wake up as?" Paul asks, glancing between his friends.
"You tell me." You roll your shoulders and let your leathery wings unfurl.
Paul's eyes widen. "Goddamn that's so hot."
You can feel your teeth sharpen in your mouth and your fingertips tingle as your nails turn into claws. As you stand, you let your wings stretch out. "While I was in Hawkins, I could hear One in my head. He wanted me to kill my friends and lead his army, but I'm not his fuckin' puppet. So, I left."
As you pass by Marko, a soft touch brushes against your wings and you pause, shivering. Then glancing at him, you arch an eyebrow at him. He smirks. "Sorry. I was curious."
"You don't seem shocked. Or scared."
"Because if you are what we think you are, then we're like you," Billy says. As you glance at him, he shrugs. "Just a different breed."
"Yeah? And what exactly do you think I am?"
"Vampire." The word comes from David and you watch as he leans forward in his seat, features sharpening and eyes turning yellow and red. You slowly grin before huffing a laugh. "We don't take too kindly to others hunting on our turf, but since you know Billy we might make an exception."
"I don't feed in Santa Carla," you tell him. "I have a rule about not feeding where I live. That's one sure way to draw unwanted attention."
"Well if you start hanging with us, you're going to draw attention."
"From?"
"Amateur hunters," David says, though he's smiling about it. "We struck a deal with them. We took out our Sire who kept trying to turn more individuals and now they leave us alone as long as we don't attack the innocent."
"So, they're going to side-eye me because I'll be seen with you?" You roll your eyes, hissing when Paul pokes your wings and then shiver again when Dwayne runs his fingers over them. "Stop that."
Marko chuckles as Dwayne grins, holding his hands up in mock surrender as you pull your wings back into your body. "They're going to think we have you under our thrall and use you for our deviant behavior or that you're one of us when they don't see you out and about during the day."
"They might even throw holy water on you," Paul muses.
"M'not sure about holy water, but I can be out and about during the day," you tell them.
"The sun doesn't hurt you or make you sleep?" Billy frowns.
You shake your head. "Not really. I can only be in it for so long before it starts to agitate me. Why? Does it bother you?"
"Yeah. It fuckin' burns and sets us on fire if we stay more than five seconds in it."
"Ouch."
The conversation tapers off then and you're left glancing around the lobby in silence.
You don't know how, but you just know the others are having an actual silent conversation with one another.
Eventually, David speaks up. "What are your plans now?"
You shrug. "Stay as far away from Hawkins as I can. I'm not interested in being mind controlled into killing my friends," you tell him. "And if my presence causes any issues, I'll move on. Just say the word."
"I think I speak for everyone when I say you're more than welcome to stay here. There are plenty of rooms to choose from."
"Yeah?" Your gaze darts from David to all the others, landing on Billy who's smirking while giving you a brief nod. "Well then I guess I should go collect my clothes. This place seems to warn off intruders more than the warehouse I'm sleeping in does."
"Atta girl. Woo!" Paul cheers.
You last a week with the boys in the cave, fending off Paul's advances and wrangling Marko into helping you cut up some shirts so your wings didn't ruin any of them.
You get to watch them feed, even luring away a few unsuspecting individuals when they manage to piss you or the boys off, and in return they watch you hunt. Your feeding habits are different, however, as they choose to rip apart their victims when they're done with them whereas you only feed long enough until your victim falls unconscious. When asked why you don't outright kill them, you explain that killing them would result in another being like you. It had happened once and you were forced to kill the man when he sought you out and was greatly angered by being something he didn't understand.
Eventually the lack of a shower and a toilet gets to you, and amidst all your complaining David offers up a solution. After their Sire met his untimely demise, the boys realized they were left his business, house, and money. So long as you could pay the bills, the beach house was yours.
It took you another week to land a job at the boardwalk's only music store, but you managed to get the power and water turned back on at the house using the money from your victims so you could move in right away.
Billy helps you get the house situated so it was to your liking since he too missed the comfort of a house, and then the boys have a new hangout when perusing the boardwalk gets boring.
A couple months in and you've grown accustomed to a routine- work from twelve noon to seven o'clock at night, hang out at the boardwalk or your house, find an unsuspecting meal, hang out with the boys and then sleep before repeating the day all over again.
The boys took you in as one of their own and you were grateful, but most days found you longing for Hawkins and the people you left behind.
This night in particular has you sitting on the boardwalk railing, watching the locals and tourists go about their business as you sip on a Coke. Paul and Marko had tried their best to get you to join their shenanigans, but you weren't interested in teasing the boardwalk security until he eventually kicked you out for the night. Billy had left to do his own thing which left you situated between Dwayne and David who took the safety of the only female of their pack very seriously.
You sigh, unknowingly, for the umpteenth time and Dwayne slides closer to you. "Alright. Spill."
"Excuse me?"
"You keep sighing," Dwayne says. "So, who is he? Or she?" You frown at him, sipping your drink as you stare at him. "Come on, YN. It's obvious your mind isn't here. Hasn't been for a while."
The denial is on the tip of your tongue, but at his imploring look you cave. "It's stupid. We weren't even a thing. We were gonna see where things went, but I died. So yeah. Stupid."
"Name?" David drawls from your other side.
"Eddie Munson. He's a sweetheart and a total metalhead," you say, slowly smiling. "He'd definitely like you guys, but he'd probably get along best with Marko."
The other three of your group are making their way towards your spot when David asks, "Hargrove, what do you know about Eddie Munson?"
"Munson?" He scoffs. "The drug dealer who had to repeat his senior year? He wasn't going anywhere in life."
"Hey!"
"Just calling it like I saw it, sweetheart." He then glances back at David. "Why?"
"Because our girl here is pining."
Billy glances at you again and when he sees your pout, he starts to laugh. "Eddie Munson? Seriously?! That's who-"
"Shut up, Billy."
"I at least thought you'd go for Harrington, but Munson?"
"You have no right to judge, Mr. I Stick My Dick In Anything With a Pulse."
The others laugh as it's Billy's turn to pout. "I was not that bad."
"Yes, you were and it's even worse now with that vampire allure you got going on."
"My allure, huh?" The pout is immediately replaced by a smirk as Billy leans into you, eyes sparkling. "Does that allure pull you in too, YN?"
"Ugh. Gross." You shove him away and hop off the railing. "I'm gonna go grab a bite to eat and then head home. I'll see you boys tomorrow."
As you try to walk off, you roll your eyes as an arm slides around your shoulders. Glancing up, you find Billy keeping in step with you.
"So, you're really pining hard, huh?"
You sigh. "It's not just Eddie. I miss everyone," you tell him. "Hawkins included."
"You seriously miss that shitty little hick town?"
"Hey." You elbow him. "It might be shitty, but that's my little hick town."
Billy chuckles. "If you can't visit, why don't you call them up and tell them where you're at? Maybe they could use a little vacation from the monsters."
"Billy, we're monsters too," you deadpan. "Santa Carla would not be a vacation for them."
"Of course it would be. At least we're not actively trying to kill them."
You chuckle at his words, but your amusement is quick to taper off. "As much as I want to see them, it just isn't safe. We aren't safe."
Having left the boardwalk, you walk towards a darkened alley so you could fly off and search for a meal. Billy watches you shed your jacket, leaving you in one of your many backless shirts, and catches the jacket when you toss it at him. Your wings unfurl and then with a mighty flap, you're off.
Billy sighs as he watches you fly off, draping your jacket over his shoulder. Then plucking a cigarette he had behind his ear and setting it between his lips, he pulls a lighter from his jeans pocket and lights up.
As he makes his way to his pack brothers, they all stare at him to see what's going to be done about their newest addition. "Looks like I'm gonna have to make a couple of calls to Hawkins."
Another week passes and your longing for a place you can't set foot in anymore hasn't dissipated.
In fact, you're pretty sure it's gotten worse since the self-proclaimed Surf-Nazis of Santa Carla find themselves on the wrong end of your temper daily now when they single out Marko thinking he's the weak link of your group. You had never been a fighter, but with your new urges it's easy to give in to the violence and put a man or seven on their asses.
You're at work at the moment, taking inventory of the vinyls out on the floor so you know which ones need to be restocked later that night.
Flipping through one crate of the records, you hear the bell above the door chime and decide to let your coworker deal with them if they need any guidance. Then just as you're tallying what you've counted, you hear..
"Excuse me, but you wouldn't happen to have any Metallica, would you?" You freeze at the voice and straighten up, heart pounding. No, it can't be. "You see, this girl I really like likes Master of Puppets, but my copy got damaged when my trailer was swallowed whole by this hellish portal." It is! Whipping around, your jaw parts in surprise at the sight of Eddie Munson standing there in all his unruly hair glory. He smiles and oh how your heart aches at the sight. "Hiya, sweetheart."
To be continued..