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𝗕𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗬
chapter six:
don't fuck with the babysitter:
mind flayer edition
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SO, SERENITY HAD completely ignored the boys only thing and had rallied the troops — aka Max and Eleven — to come with her to help with their plan.
The plan was simple. They would wait until the pool closed, and when Billy would come back into the locker room to take a shower, that's when they would strike. A CPR dummy with a Walkie would be placed in the sauna, and when Billy got in, they would shut the door and lock him inside. The Mind Flayer liked it cold, so they took inspiration of how it was gotten out of Will — heat. If Billy was truly a host, this would help them find out.
(They were using a dummy, mostly because Serenity outright refused Mike's suggestion of her luring Billy in. He would also be pretty confused as to why there was a girl in the boys' locker room so late.)
As they set up everything, Serenity could tell something was going on with the boys, but she didn't know exactly what. Things seemed tense between them, but Serenity didn't push, even though she wanted to find out what was wrong.
They all waited until nightfall to begin, which they had to, because that's when the pool closed. So when the sky turned black and stars started to dot across it, they moved in.
The shower turned on, and the sound of water hitting the floor was the loudest thing in the entire locker room. Serenity let out a deep breath and left the sauna room, ducking into the dark shadows. She walked as quickly and quietly as possible to the front door of the locker room, careful not to be seen. Serenity glanced behind her back for a moment before completely opening the door, it squeaking and creaking as she did so — good, because they needed to get Billy's attention.
"Pool's closed," Billy's voice stated.
Serenity put a lock on the outside and shut the door — more creaking and squeaking.
"Hey." A locker door slammed shut. "Do you hear me?"
Footsteps. Serenity ducked away from the door and went into a very, very secluded corner of the locker room, one that was extremely dark and nobody would be able to see anything if they looked. She barely breathed as she watched Billy's shirtless figure walk past her angrily, her chest feeling a little tight.
"Pool is closed!" Billy insisted, slamming his hands onto the front door and trying to push it open, but couldn't because it was locked.
While he was making lots of noise, Serenity got out of her corner and briskly walked away, just as quickly and quietly as before. Meanwhile, all the lights completely shut off, courtesy of some of the kids, which really helped her stay hidden. She finally reached the room that all of the kids were hiding in and ducked inside.
"Billy!" Mike taunted over his Walkie in a sing-song tone. "Billy!"
"Who's there?" Billy called back in the same sing-song voice.
Mike laughed. "Billy! Billy!" He laughed again. "Billy. Come and find me."
"I find you, it is your funeral," Billy threatened.
Definitely not under Serenity's watched. If he tried to hurt any of her kids again, it would be his. Well, unless he actually was a host. She assumed she was really no match for a monster from a parallel dimension.
Serenity reached out, pushing the door to the sauna room open just a little bit and letting it fall, making it seem like somebody had just ran in. Billy then slammed it open and marched right inside.
"Come and get me," Mike insisted. "Come on!"
Billy smiled menacingly. "Got you."
"Come and get me, you piece of shit."
Billy opened the door to the sauna, only for it to reveal the CPR doll. He grabbed it by its neck and lifted it up. Eleven then crept out of their hiding spot, positioning herself right in front of the sauna.
"Hey," Mike said. "Behind you."
He turned around and saw Eleven standing there.
"Hi," Eleven greeted.
Billy threw the doll down and went to charge at Eleven. Eleven merely nodded her head at Billy, and he left the ground, flying straight into the wall. He crumpled onto the floor with tiles falling all around him.
"Now!" Mike shouted.
Serenity, Mike, Will, Lucas, and Max all ran out of the room they had been hiding in. She stopped in her tracks, a chill running up her spine again. Billy got up and charged at them with a yell, but Eleven moved her hand, causing the door to shut. Mike wedged a metal pole through the door handle and behind a pipe while Will wrapped a metal chain around the pipe and the door handle too as an extra precaution. Lucas locked the chain, and the three boys stumbled back. Billy continued to yell and slam his fists against the locked door, grunting in frustration when the door didn't budge.
Billy stopped, a look of realization appearing on his face when his eyes set on the redhead of their group. "Max."
Max's face set in determination. "Do it."
Will ran up to the dial that controlled the temperature of the sauna. He turned it all the way to the right, setting it at the highest temperature possible. Steam started to fill the room. Will went back over to the group, and Serenity slightly pushed him behind her. Her and Eleven were standing in front of all of them mostly — Eleven, because she could protect them with her powers, and Serenity . . . well, she was the babysitter. Old habits die hard.
"Max!" Billy yelled, slamming against the door again. "Let me out of here! Let me out." He breathed heavily, his breath fogging up the small window on the door. "You kids . . ." His eyes slid over to Serenity, who clenched her jaw a little. "You babysitter . . . you think this is funny?"
Serenity thought it was the quite opposite. Literally nothing about this situation was funny. They were trying to find out if he was inhabited by a deadly interdimensional monster. Serenity wasn't having fun. She was fucking terrified.
"You kids think this is some kind of sick prank, huh?" Billy continued angrily. He spat on the window, and Serenity narrowed her eyes at him. "You little shits think this is funny? What is this? Open the door." He slammed the door again, and Serenity flinched from the loud noise. "Open the door! Open the door! Open the God damn door!"
Billy's figure disappeared from the window. He fell to the ground of the sauna, screaming and hitting his hands against the tile. Will ran back up to the dial, looking at the thermometer above it.
"We're at two-twenty," Will announced.
He walked back to the group, taking his old position behind Serenity. Suddenly, sobs started to echo from inside of the sauna. Serenity's eyebrows knit in confusion at it. Billy would never cry, but if he did, it wouldn't be in front of so many people. Serenity's stomach twisted in nerves. Something about this seemed wrong, all wrong.
"It's not my fault," Billy protested in a broken voice. "It's not my fault. It's not my fault, Max. I promise you, it's not my fault."
"Max," Serenity quietly said as the girl started to walk up to the sauna.
"What's not your fault, Billy?" Max asked, peering through the window.
"I've done things, Max," Billy admitted. "Really . . . bad things. I didn't mean to."
Will, Mike, and Lucas all crept closer to Serenity and Eleven at the front of the group. She felt two hands clutch at the back of her shirt — probably Mike and Will because they were the closest to her. Serenity didn't mind and just let it happen, mostly because they had more pressing issues. All of them watched the door in a mixture of concern and confusion.
"He made me do it," Billy voiced, and Serenity's eyes widened.
"Who made you do it?" Max questioned.
"I don't know, it's like a shadow. Like a giant shadow. Please, Max."
Well, shit.
One of the hands tightened on Serenity's shirt. Serenity looked back and saw Will looking absolutely terrified. She felt the same. Serenity grabbed his free hand and held it tight, looking back at the door.
"What did he make you do?" Max inquired.
"It's not my fault, okay?" Billy insisted through sobs. "Max, please. Please believe me, Max, it's not my fault. I tried to stop him, okay? I did. Please believe me, Max. Please believe me."
Max put her hand on the window. "Billy, it's gonna be okay."
"Max, please."
"It's gonna be okay. We want to help you. We want to help you." Max started to cry, too. "You just have to talk to us, okay? You have to talk to us. I believe you, Billy. We'll figure it out together, okay?"
"Renny," Will let out, almost in a whimper as he let go of her hand and her shirt.
She turned back to him, her heart sinking when she saw he had his hand raised to his neck. "Will."
"I feel him," Will stated, his voice trembling. "He's activated."
"Max, come back here," Serenity ordered, her voice firm.
"What?" Max asked.
"Come back here!"
As if on cue, Billy used a sharp, broken tile from inside the sauna to break the window. Glass shattered everywhere, and Max screamed, ducking out of the way and pressing her back up against the wall.
Serenity gasped. "Max!"
"Let me out, you bitch!" Billy screamed. "Let me out!" He slammed his fist against the wall, trying to get Max, who was backing away from him while sobbing. "I'll fucking gut you!"
He pulled the metal bar out from the door. Serenity suddenly felt any air that she had left inside of her disappear, and her mind started to spin. Her chest heaved up and down and she felt her hands start to shake. No, no no no, not right now—
"Let me out!" Billy roared, snapping Serenity out of her state. "Let me out!"
Lucas suddenly pulled out his wrist rocket and put a rock in it. He immediately slung the rock at Billy with surprising accuracy. It hit Billy's forehead, and he fell backwards, his back slamming against the floor.
He waved Max over. "Max, come on!"
Max ran back to the group, instantly going to Serenity. Serenity wrapped her arms around Max and held her tight. The lights suddenly started to flicker all around them, and Serenity looked up, black spots starting to dance in her vision from the strobing.
A shout of anger was suddenly heard from inside the sauna. Serenity's head whipped over to it, only to see that Billy was standing back up. However, there was something new. All of the veins on him had turned black, much like how Jonathan said Will's did that night.
"Shit," Serenity cursed.
Billy charged at the door. He slammed all of his body weight against it, and it budged, but the chains kept it in place. Serenity pushed the kids behind her back, but then Eleven pushed her behind her back. She thought that was fair enough, because Eleven was the one with the powers, but still . . . she was just a kid. Billy did it again, and the chains held on.
"He can't get out, can he?" Max questioned in fear.
"No way," Lucas answered. "No. Way."
That was wrong. Because when Billy slammed into the door again, the chains started to fall apart. Serenity's heart pounded rapidly against her chest as he launched himself into the door one final time. The chains completely broke, along with the pipe on the fall. Billy rolled on the floor, standing back up.
Eleven now really pushed everyone back. Serenity stood in front of Will, Mike, Max, and Lucas while Eleven stayed closer to Billy. Eleven stared at Billy with hatred, and Billy — or should she say, the Mind Flayer stared at her with just as much. Serenity watched in complete and utter horror as everything unfolded.
She lifted her hand, making one of the dumbbells in the room lift off of its rack. Eleven thrusted her hand forwards, and the dumbbell flew right at Billy. The metal hit Billy's neck and sent him flying back into the brick wall. Eleven narrowed her eyes at him with her hand extended, blood dripping down her nose. She extended her other hand and put even more of her concentration on Billy. Eleven started to push him back so far that the dumbbell started to cause the bricks to break.
Billy, however, apparently now had super strength due to the Mind Flayer. He gripped onto the metal bar of the dumbbell and started to push it away from him. Eleven screamed, trying to fight back, but Billy pushed the dumbbell completely off of him, obviously aiming for Eleven. Eleven ducked down on the floor and attempted to crawl back to their group, but Billy grabbed her hair that had been tied up in a yellow scrunchie and yanked her back, forcing her to look up at him.
He looked over at their group, nothing but a stone-cold expression on his face. Billy made direct eye contact with Serenity, whose eyes widened even further. He then wrapped a hand around Eleven's neck, cutting off all of her air flow. Eleven clawed at his hand, gasping and choking for air. Serenity's chest heaved up and down in panic as Billy lifted Eleven off of the floor completely. Eleven's eyes crossed, her face turning red from not receiving enough oxygen.
"No!" Serenity shouted.
Billy — the Mind Flayer — whoever he was was done hurting her kids. Serenity pushed down all of the fear inside of her — which was a lot — and put her mind on helping Eleven. If it got her hurt in the process, so be it. She always said she would die for them, and she meant it.
She glanced around frantically before her eyes set on the metal bar that had been lodged into the door. Serenity ran up to it, ignoring the calls from the kids behind her. She picked it up and held it tightly in her hands before going up behind Billy. Serenity lifted it up behind her head, and with a yell, she brought the bar right down onto Billy's head. Billy fell to the ground on his stomach.
"Don't fuck with the babysitter!" Serenity repeated.
She lifted the bar up above her head and brought it back down. However, Billy quickly flipped around and caught the bar in his hand. Serenity's eyes widened, and she felt her entire body freeze with fear. Billy stood back up and threw the metal bar to the side carelessly. He advanced on her, and Serenity stumbled backwards, all the way until her back hit the brick walls. Serenity suddenly got transported back to that night in the Byers' house, her back pressed up against the wall with Billy standing in front of her and an unconscious Steve on the ground.
Steve.
The name was enough to snap her out of it. Serenity went to raise her fist, and although she knew it probably wouldn't do any good, at least she could try and fight back.
Billy suddenly got lifted off of the ground. Serenity glanced behind Billy's floating body to see Eleven on her knees, both of her hands extended outwards and yelling to keep her concentration. Eleven pushed herself to her feet and maneuvered Billy to face the wall, her breathing labored. She rounded herself around until she landed next to Serenity. Both Eleven and Billy screamed, and with one final push, Eleven launched Billy straight through the wall, bricks clattering to the ground.
Eleven sobbed from pain and exhaustion. Her body immediately crumpled, and Serenity quickly caught her. The two of them slid to the ground, and Eleven reached back, clutching onto Serenity. Serenity wrapped her arms around her tight and held her close as Eleven sobbed.
"It's okay, I've got you," Serenity whispered. She glanced up, only to see everyone else staring out the hole in the hall. "Hey, come on."
Serenity basically picked Eleven up off the ground, knowing that her strength was all zapped. They slowly walked up to the others, and Serenity felt her mind get foggy with fear as Billy ran into the dark woods, out of sight and away from them.
Her worst fear came true. The Mind Flayer was back.
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um I really didn't want to steal that mileven scene of them sliding down the wall because it's one of my favorites but like . . . miss serenity wouldn't have just stood there while billy choked eleven