Chapter Twenty-Six:
Certainly Goners
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
Addison's heart hammered against her chest as she felt the hot salty tears rolling down her cheeks. Max kept a tight grip on her hand as she tried to silently reassure her girlfriend that it would be okay. Addison squeezed her eyes shut as fear pumped through her veins, the sound of the creatures growls and sharls grew closer.
Max looked over at her, shakily raising her hand and forcing the girl to look at her. She locked eyes with her, silently trying to calm her down.
Mike lifted his head, turning around and peering over the edge of the counter. "It's turned away. If we go up the stairs now, we'll make it."
"Are you crazy?" Addison hissed, shaking her head frantically. "I-It could see us. And we're gonna die if it does. That thing is huge. Look at it.. There's no escaping that thing, I-I.. No way.."
"Right, no way, not with El's leg." Max shook her head, tearing her eyes from her girlfriend's face.
"We have to try." Mike argued, glancing over at the mind flayer again.
"There's another way.." Eleven whispered, gaining the attention of the three. "To get out. Through the Gap."
"The gap? What gap-" Addison's sentence was cut off as Mike pointed to the store across the mall. "O-Oh.. yeah, okay."
"Okay.. Now." Mike stood up, slipping his hand into Eleven's and pulling her with him.
Addison let out a quiet yelp as Max roughly pulled her along with her. Addison's heart dropped as a piece of metal clatter to the ground. "Shit.."
The sound of the monster's screeching caused Addison to yelp as she ran towards the back of the store and. dove behind a shelf.
Max looked over at her, reaching around and pulling the girl close. She shakily brushed her fingers through the girl's hair. "Sh, sh.. sh.."
Addison let her eyes fall shut as she tried to block out the sounds around her. She jumped and opened her eyes as a mannequin was thrown in front of them. "I-"
A whimper left her mouth as she clamped a clammy hand around her mouth, trying to silence her breathing. The sound of a tentacle screeching as it slowly inched towards them caused her panic to heighten as she tightened her grip on Max's hand. Baby hairs stuck to Addison's forehead due to the sweat as she squeezed her eyes shut, praying to anyone or anything that was listening that she would survive this.
Her prayers were answered when the sound a balloon popping echoed around the mall. Deafening snarls and screeches flooded her ears, overwhelming her senses as the mind flayer disappeared to investigate.
A sigh of relief passed her lips as she let her head hit the wooden shelf behind her. "Come on, let's go."
Max pulled her up as she stood, looking back to quickly check on her. Addison sent her a weak smile, "I'm okay."
"Good." Max blinked slowly as her heart raced, her mind falling blank as she pulled her towards the back of the store. The sound of shoes squeaking against the tile floor distracted Addison as they rushed into the mall tunnel, slamming the door behind them.
"Oh, thank God!" Addison cried in relief, "I sure thought that we were goners out there!"
~~
The hot air blew Addison's hair from her face as her feet slammed onto the pavement. She took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air. She looked up at the sky, her heart still pounding in her ribcage. The ringing in her ears became visible
"Shit!" Max cursed, causing Addison to tear her eyes from the sky and follow her girlfriends gaze. Her heart dropped into her stomach and her body froze when her eyes landed on Billy standing there with an evil glint in his eyes and his veins pitch black.
"Go, go, go, go, go, go, go!" Mike repeated, reaching forward and roughly shoving her backwards. "Go!"
Addison stumbled backward, blinking slowly as she processed what was going on. She froze when she watched Max dart back towards the gate. "Max!"
"Hold on." She said back, slamming her hand onto the button. Relief flooded Addison as the gate began to close.
She slipped her hand into Max's, interlacing their fingers as the two girls ran towards the mall door. She paused, glancing at the gate to make sure it had shut. Addison nodded in confirmation when she saw that the gate had just closed completely.
The sound of the door slamming behind her filled her ears as Max wrapped her free arm around Eleven to help her along. The lights flickering above Addison's head provided an eery atmosphere as they ran down the seemingly never ending hallway.
Eleven groaned in pain as the flickering increased. Addison squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to let panic set in again. "We're so close, okay, El? Okay? You can do it."
Addison didn't know what she meant by close, but she knew Eleven needed to hear it.
Eleven nodded slowly, curling her toes in pain. "O-Okay.."
"In here, in here!" Mike said, pointing his head towards elevator.
"Oh, thank God!" Addison sighed in relief, reaching up and raking her free hand through her hair.
"Okay.. Come on, come on, come on, come on!" Mike muttered, pressing the up arrow repeatedly.
"Max?" Addison murmered, watching as she left and walked toward the hallway. Panic covered the redhead's face as she locked eyes with Billy.
"Billy." Max muttered. Addison's heart dropped and her throat went dry as she looked over at Eleven and Mike.
"Max.." Addison whispered, watching her in worry as she tightened her grip on the hem of her tank top. "Be careful."
Max nodded subtly, barely noticeable to the three others, "Billy.. You don't have to do this. Billy! Your name is Billy. Billy Hargrove. You live on 4819 Cherry Lane. Billy, please! I'm Max, I'm your-"
Addison yelped as Billy reeled his fist and swung at the girl, causing her to go crashing into the metal wall on the floor. "Max!"
Her heart dropped as Billy set his gaze on her. Rage flooded his body as he locked eyes with her.
"B-Billy.. Please." Addison stammered, slowly backing up. She looked over at Mike and Eleven in a silent plead for help. Which turned out to be a mistake, as within a blink of an eye, Billy had her held up by her collar. She kicked her feet, trying to escape him as her breathing increased.
Addison let out a yell as Billy slammed her down on her leg. Pain spread from the center of her shin throughout her leg as she looked down at it. A large bump appeared in the center, indicating that Billy had broken her leg. Tears began to form in her eyes as she struggled to crawl over to the love of her life. "Ma-Max.. M-"
Addison sentence was cut short as Billy grabbed her by the hair, pulling her backwards and roughly slamming her skull against the back of the wall. Addison's amber eyes fell shut as the world around her went black.
Eleven gasped as she watched Addison's unconscious body crumple to the floor. "No!"
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
{ A/n: One or two chapters left,,,, im sad }
{ Edited: No }