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WHAT THE HELL?
A BOX FELL TO THE GROUND.
Billy cursed under his breath as he bent down to pick up the box before seeing the letters that had fallen to the ground, along with a small book and he picked it up and put it down on Isadora's desk along with the box of letters before he headed into the bathroom to have a shower. Billy had barely left Isadora's side over the last two days except for today, after Beatrix had made him come home while Ellie and Max had stayed with Isadora. At first he had tried protesting, but Beatrix had promised they would go straight back to the hospital if anything changed. After showering, Billy attempted to get some sleep but after struggling for a while, he gave up before sitting up and looking towards Isadora's side of the bed and sighed softly.
"The bed feels empty without you, Is," Billy said quietly before he got out of the bed and made his way back into the study, where the box sat on the desk, along with the book that had fallen out of the box, plus Isadora's half finished assignment and as he looked towards it, Billy noticed the little hearts drawn in the corner and he smiled to himself before noticing the envelope he had put down on the desk earlier with his name scribbled on it, the same one Nancy had found left in the camper van and had given to Billy. The envelope had his name scribbled on it and Billy hesitated as he picked the letter up and carefully opened it, only to see that it was a letter Isadora had written him.
Dear Billy,
I never really thought I would be writing this letter and yet here we are. That day when we figured out Max was cursed, I realised I was cursed too and I am so sorry for not telling you, but I knew if you found out then you would try and stop me from going through with this plan to take down Vecna and save both Max and myself from him. I guess if you're reading this right now, then my plan failed. I hope you can forgive me for not telling you the truth.
I remember the day I first met you, the boy from California who everyone wanted. I remember all the girls talking about how insanely hot they thought you were and how they all wanted a chance with this gorgeous Californian guy. That first day we met, you came up to me and tried to ask me to skip homeroom and when I refused, you tried to ask me to have some fun with you after school. I was pretty naive back then but I knew you were trying to ask me to sleep with you. I remember you started calling me Little Miss Perfect when I turned you down and in that moment, you and I took a strong disliking to each other. I remember that first class we had together where you teased me about answering every question and then I told you off for disrupting my education. If I'm being honest, I loved the way you challenged me despite the fact I acted like I wanted nothing to do with you. Truth was from the moment I met you, I had a crush on you and although you were the last person I wanted to work with on the project, deep down I was looking forward to the fact I was getting to spend time with THE Billy Hargrove. Writing that down just made me realise how much I sound like all the other girls who had crushes on you. If I am being truthful, back then I was kind of annoyed by the fact I was going to be working on the project with you, especially since I realised I would probably be doing all the work alone (And I wasn't wrong about that, don't worry, I will get over it one day).
"No, you won't, Is," Billy muttered, chuckling to himself as he re-read the sentence Isadora had written about doing all the work on the project alone. The project had brought Isadora Jones into his life and even though he had hated school, he would forever be thankful that that project had brought Isadora into his life.
Either way, I am happy that we ended up working on that project together because it brought us together. You know, if I am being honest, if it wasn't for that project I am not sure I would have ever spoken to you. Sure, I had a crush on you but I also used to think that you were a self-centred asshole, but of course that was before I got to know you and as I got to know you, I realised the self-centred asshole thing was just a facade to hide the truth. At first you tried to hide the truth from me, you used to tell me you just got into fights and I remember I would clean up your wounds and tell you that you didn't need to fight people. I didn't know the truth then, I do know and I know you were just doing what you needed to do to survive but I also know you became better and I'm proud of you, William Hargrove, I really am. As I got to know you, I fell in love with you, even though it took me a while to realise it. The day you performed one of my favourite songs onstage in front of the entire school to apologise to me even though I had been the one completely in the wrong was the day I admitted to myself that I was in love with you and I will always be sorry for the mistakes I made back then. And I also know from Kendra that you had realised you were in love with me on the night of the school dance. Despite the way everything went down, I don't think I would change it for anything.
You changed my life, Billy. Before I met you, I was lost and broken. I had been through so much loss, pain and trauma, and I didn't want to let anyone in or give them a chance but you kept trying until I finally let you in and I think it was the best decision I ever made. You showed me I could trust people again, especially after what had happened to me. I had always been terrified about anyone learning the truth but you listened to me and reassured me that you were always here for me. You kept me safe and never pushed me into anything I wasn't comfortable with. I know you don't always believe it but you changed my life for the best. You showed me how to have fun and that it was okay to let loose. You showed me that I didn't have to spend every day studying and you helped me feel real happiness again, especially after all the loss I had experienced. After everything that had happened and everything we had been through, we were finally happy and we deserved to be happy, which is why I guess writing this letter hurts so much.
You are my happiness, William Hargrove. You are my best friend, my soulmate and my other half and I could never imagine doing life without you. This is the hardest letter I will ever have to write because I don't want to say goodbye, not to you. I don't want to die, Billy. I hope everything will work out and we will find a way to defeat Vecna, but I guess if you're reading this letter, it means we failed. Even if I'm not here anymore, I want you to be happy, Billy. I will always be with you and I am so thankful for the time we got to spend together. Hang onto those good memories, Billy, but go out there and enjoy your life, live it to the fullest and enjoy it the same way you showed me how to enjoy life because you never know when it might be your last day. I will always love you more than you will ever know.
Forever yours,
Isadora Mary Hargrove
Billy couldn't stop the tears from rolling down his cheeks as he finished reading the letter that Isadora had written, but smiled to himself as he noticed she had signed her name off with Hargrove, not Jones. He hoped to make that a reality one day, but he prayed that she would wake up first. It hurt him to know that Isadora had been cursed and had never told him, and that she had written a letter to say goodbye to him, but what hurt more was knowing that Isadora had gone through with her plan knowing that she was cursed and that Vecna could kill her if the plan went wrong. Shakily, he put the letter down before spying the book that had fallen out of the box earlier and he hesitated before picking it up and opening it to the first page before he started reading.
21st August 1981
Dear Diary,
Can you believe summer is almost over? This weekend is the last weekend of summer before I go back to school and I am starting ninth grade on Monday. I am so excited to be starting high school because it's only one step closer to my dream of becoming a nurse but I am sad summer's over. I guess I won't get to spend as much time surfing or hanging out with my friends and family. Anyways, my favourite thing about the last weekend of summer is that it's my family's annual summer competition and this year Katie and I are going to be competing against Dad, Daniel and Cody, and even Sophia is joining us this year. I am also hoping this year will be the year we finally convince Mum to join as well. Hopefully the girls will win again this year but I guess we will have to wait and see.
"Billy? What are you doing?" Beatrix asked, as she walked into the study.
"Oh, uh, I tried to take a nap but I couldn't really sleep so I came in here," Billy shrugged before looking towards the corner of the room, where Milo was sleeping on the bed Isadora kept in the study for him for whenever he was in here with her and Billy sighed softly. Immediately, Beatrix noticed Billy looking towards Milo and she looked over at the dog, who was curled up on his bed.
"He hasn't really moved much from that spot and I have had to coax him to eat. I think he misses Isadora ... well, I mean we all miss her," Beatrix said.
"I miss her too," Billy said, as he closed the diary and Beatrix gestured towards it.
"What's that?"
"Uh, Is's diary, I think. I found it in her box of letters," Billy shrugged.
"And you decided it was a good idea to read it?" Beatrix asked, as she raised an eyebrow at her twin brother, who smiled sheepishly.
"I ... I guess so. I miss her, Trixie and I just want her to wake up. I really wish she had never gone through with this plan of hers," Billy said.
"I know, Billy, but she did it to save Max, to save us, to save Hawkins and to save the world," Beatrix said.
"Screw the world. I would sacrifice the world to save her," Billy snapped, as he closed the diary and put it down, as Beatrix walked closer to him and glanced at the box.
"What's in there?"
"Letters Is wrote, along with some old polaroids and I guess she kept her diary in there too," Billy shrugged. Beatrix grabbed a letter out of the box and opened it, only to see it was from Billy and she nudged her brother.
"You wrote Is a letter?"
"It was the only letter I ever wrote her. You know I'm terrible at expressing my feelings so I'm surprised Is even kept that," Billy said. Beatrix put the letter away before looking at some of the polaroids in the box.
"Oh, look at how adorable she was with her surfboard," Beatrix smiled, as she showed the picture of a younger Isadora holding a surfboard that was bigger than she was. Billy looked at the polaroid and saw Isadora was smiling widely at the camera and he couldn't help smiling to himself before blinking back tears.
"I'm gonna go to the hospital. I need to be with her," Billy said.
"You're not coming to Nancy's?" Beatrix asked. Billy simply shook his head before walking out of the room and leaving the house. Beatrix sighed softly to herself before hearing a knock on the door and she hurried to answer it, only to see Ellie and Steve standing at the door.
"Hey, we're on our way to Nancy's to grab the donation boxes to take to the school and we wanted to see if you were still coming with us," Ellie said.
"Yes, let's go," Beatrix nodded, as she walked out of the house and closed the door behind her.
"How's Billy doing?" Steve asked, as the group walked down to the car together and got in.
"He's barely left the hospital, except for when I made him come home to have a shower and get some sleep, but apparently he couldn't sleep. He refuses to leave Isadora's side, not that I really blame him. How's Kendra doing?"
"She blames herself. She knew Isadora was cursed and she feels like what happened was her fault because she didn't say anything to stop Is and she didn't tell anyone the truth about Is being cursed."
"It's not Kendra's fault," Beatrix said softly.
"She's right, you know. We witnessed Is nearly sacrifice herself to the Mind Flayer to save Billy. She was willing to sacrifice herself to save her friends," Ellie said softly.
"Yeah, I know," Steve said, making everyone look towards him. Since returning from the Upside Down, Steve had barely since anything about what had happened to Isadora or even reacted to the news of Isadora being in a coma and everyone was worried about him. Silence fell through the car as Steve drove but they soon arrived at the Wheeler's house and the group got out of the car. As they did, Beatrix looked over to Isadora's old house and sighed softly before noticing there was someone standing on the front doorstep of the home with their hands on their hips and she frowned.
"Hey, someone's hanging out around Isadora's old home," Beatrix said.
"It's probably the people who live there now. Didn't Isadora say she was renting the home out?"
"Oh, you're probably right," Beatrix nodded before the group walked towards the Wheeler's House, with Beatrix looking towards Isadora's old house once again. She wanted to believe what Steve was saying but there was something bugging her about the person hanging out around the house, but she decided to ignore it for now as she followed the group into the house and up to Nancy's room. Soon, the group were all packing clothes and toys into boxes before they carried them out to the car, where Max and Steve were packing the boxes into the car with Dustin, Robin and Lucas.
"Ellie told me that Billy went back to the hospital," Max said, as Beatrix handed her a box to be put into the car.
"Yeah, he wanted to be with her ..." Beatrix trailed off as she heard a sound from behind her and as Nancy, Kendra, Ellie and Mrs Wheeler joined them, the group turned to see a pizza van approaching the house.
"Someone order a pizza?" Mrs Wheeler asked.
"Pizza?" Dustin asked, as the group watched the van pull up before the doors opened and a group stepped out of the van and Beatrix saw it was Jonathan, Will, Mike, Eleven, Hazel and someone else whom Beatrix did not recognise. Immediately, the group hurried to hug their friends with Steve and Kendra hugging Hazel before Beatrix also hugged her tightly and Max, Dustin, Lucas and Ellie went and hugged Eleven, Mike and Will tightly.
"Where's Billy?" Hazel asked.
"He's at the hospital," Beatrix said.
"Wait, was he hurt?" Hazel asked, as Dustin, Max, Lucas and Ellie joined them.
"No, no. He's ... oh, god. You don't know," Dustin said, making Eleven, Hazel and Will look at each other before they shook their heads. After the brief reunion, the group split decided to split up with Hazel, Ellie, Lucas, Eleven, Will, Mike, Nancy, Jonathan, Max and Beatrix all deciding to head to the hospital while Dustin, Kendra, Steve and Robin went to drop the donations off together.
"Kendra didn't want to come with us to see Isadora?" Hazel asked.
"Uh ... Billy kinda told her she wasn't welcome so I think she's avoiding him now," Max said.
"Not welcome? Why wouldn't she be welcome? She is Isadora's best friend. What happened?" Hazel asked.
"Well, it's a long story but the short version is Isadora was cursed by Vecna and she told Kendra, who didn't tell anyone. Billy believes Kendra didn't do anything to stop Isadora from going up against Vecna and now Billy is mad at Kendra for not doing anything to stop Is and Kendra blames herself for what happened to Is," Beatrix explained.
"It wasn't Kendra's fault though," Hazel said.
"Yeah, we know, but Billy refuses to listen," Max told her. Hazel nodded and sighed softly as the group drove to the hospital to see Isadora, none of them knowing what to expect when they got there.
~*~
"Hi, Is," Billy said softly, as he sat down in the chair beside Isadora's bed. The only sound that filled the room was the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor and Billy looked towards it before looking towards Isadora. He hadn't expected her to answer, not really, but a small part of him had been hopefully that she would wake up. Billy stood up and gently kissed her forehead before sitting back down, "I brought this with me. It's your book, Alice in Wonderland, although I suppose technically I have had this copy of this book for long enough that it's mine now. I still remember the day I found you in the gymnasium reading this book. You were so focused on your book that you didn't even notice I had entered the gymnasium but I remember seeing you reading and you looked happy. Do you want to know a secret, Is? I thought you were the most beautiful girl in the world, I still do. I don't know how I forgot to give you your book back, maybe it was because I was so overwhelmed by the fact that you had actually agreed to give me a second chance. I didn't think I deserved another chance or that you would give me one but you did, and I'm so happy you did, Isadora Jones. You know, ever since then I kept the book and I will admit I read it. I can see why you enjoyed the book. There was also a polaroid of you inside the book dressed as Alice, I'm guessing for Halloween. You looked absolutely adorable and I will admit I actually kept that photo. I don't really know if you can hear me right now but I hope that you can. Please come back to me, Princess. I need you."
"Uh ... hi, Billy," Beatrix said, and Billy jumped before looking up to see Beatrix had walked into the room with Max, Ellie, Lucas, Mike, Will, Eleven, Hazel, Nancy and Jonathan right behind her. As the group walked into the room, Billy stood up and walked over to them.
"You're here? We've been calling you guys like crazy, trying to get a hold of you."
"Yeah, we came as soon as we heard what had happened," Hazel said, as she hugged Billy. As he left of Hazel, Billy nodded at Will and Mike before looking towards Eleven and walking over to her. She hesitated as Billy took another step towards her before hugging her tightly.
"I'm so sorry," Eleven sniffled, as she hugged Billy before she looked towards Isadora and she let go of Billy before she walked closer to the hospital bed and Eleven leant against Mike as she looked at Isadora before she looked back towards Billy, "Do they know when she will wake?"
"No, but her heart stopped for over a minute. S-She died, I ... I mean, clinically, but then she came back, somehow. The doctors don't know how, they say it's a miracle and I keep hoping she'll wake up," Billy told them. Mike and Will looked at each other and Hazel looked towards Eleven, who took a deep breath and then walked over to the bed and sat down on the bed and slid her hand into Isadora's.
"I'm here, Is," Eleven said before she closed her eyes and attempted to enter Isadora's mind, only to be met by complete darkness. Eleven tried calling to Isadora but there was no reason and as she opened her eyes again, Eleven blinked back tears before looking over her shoulder at Billy, knowing she couldn't tell him that she had seen nothing except darkness when she had entered Isadora's mind. The group stayed for a short while before leaving to head to Hopper's cabin, planning to restore it for Eleven, Ellie, Hazel, Will and Jonathan to live in, at least temporarily.
"Uh, did you want someone to stay with you or is it okay if I go with the others to Hopper's cabin?" Max asked.
"I'll stay if you want, Bills," Beatrix said.
"It's okay, Max. You can go to Hopper's cabin if you want to. Bea's here with me," Billy said. Max nodded and thanked him before she said goodbye and left the room and Billy watched her go before he sat back down in the chair beside the bed while Beatrix sat down in one by the window. Silence filled the room at first before Billy finally spoke up, "I'm gonna kill that Vecna for what he did to Isadora."
"Is wouldn't want you to do that, Billy."
"I will do whatever it takes to save her, Beatrix, even if that means going after Vecna and killing him myself."
"You know, every time I close my eyes all I hear is her cries. I just keep hearing her say that she didn't want to die and that she wanted you and I wish ... I wish I had done something more to save her from Vecna and to stop this from happening," Beatrix said.
"This isn't your fault, Trix, and we're going to find a way to save her," Billy said. Beatrix nodded before she looked out the window as Billy made himself comfortable in the chair and both soon drifted off to sleep, but Beatrix was soon plagued with nightmares and she quickly woke up and looked towards Isadora before she looked out the window and as she did, she stood up and frowned when she noticed that there was something odd happening outside.
"Billy, wake up!" Beatrix called.
"Huh — what? What's wrong? Billy asked, as he jerked awake and looked towards Isadora, her heart monitor still beating away rhythmically, before he frowned as he looked towards Beatrix and noticed she was looking out the window.
"I think it's snow," Beatrix said.
"Wait, what? That's impossible, it's not the right time of year for snow," Billy said, as he walked over to the window and looked out to see what appeared to be snow falling over Hawkins and the two looked at each other before Billy looked over at Isadora. He had no idea what was happening right now or what was going to happen but he made a vow to himself that he was going to find a way to destroy Vecna and save Isadora, no matter what it took.
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This chapter with Is's letter and her signing it off as Hargrove, Beatrix & Billy finding a Polaroid of Is from when she was young, Billy reading her diary and Billy talking to Is in the hospital was emotional. Also the way she signed the letter off as Hargrove and not Jones 🥺
The diary entry has a connection to a prequel that I am working on which focuses on Is's life pre-Hawkins, in particular 1981-1982 (and will include some stuff from 1983-1984).
The Great War will return once s5 has come out. I have big plans already for the next part of the book and I cannot wait to start writing. Until then keep an eye out for my other books which will be coming soon.
Enjoy! Xo
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