CHAPTER TEN
THE FIGHT
"Where did you say that Wheeler kid lived?" Sitting in the passenger seat, Jess flipped out the piece of paper Mrs. Sinclair has written the address on for the couple.
"2530 Maple Street."
Gripping the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white, Billy gritted his teeth and stepped on the gas faster.
"Billy, you're not gonna get there faster just by putting a few miles on," Jess rolled her eyes at his childness. "If anything, you'll ruin your tires."
He didn't respond to her. He was too angry to say anything. He didn't want to snap at her for no reason, so he kept his mouth shut.
The girl next to Billy felt the air around him stiffen and she shut her mouth. Jess didn't feel uncomfortable but she did feel guilty. This whole mess was her fault, but she couldn't tell Billy that.
"Wheeler..." Billy mumbled under his breath. "Why does that name sound familiar?"
"Nancy Wheeler." Billy nodded at Jess's response in recollection. "Fucking slut."
Billy's eyes widened in surprise and awe. "Where did that come from?"
Jess gave an irritated sigh as she threw the paper Mrs. Sinclair gave her on the floor or the Camaro. She didn't want to talk to Billy about it but she couldn't help but let that word slip through her lips.
"Nothing. She just is."
"No, tell me," Billy prodded. "Anything to get my mind off of Max."
"Fine. Don't tell anyone else though," Jess turned to Billy who nodded as his eyes stayed on the road. "I had this friend, Jonathan, and when I needed him most he was off fucking Nancy Wheeler for three whole days."
"Holy shit!" Billy whooped loudly and hit his steering wheel with a gigantic grin plastered on his face. "I gotta meet this Jonathan. Lucky bastard!"
"Billy!" The boy turned to the girl beside him who gave him a disgusted and disapproving glare. Billy cleared his throat at Jess's intimidating face.
"I mean, what a bastard," Billy rolled his eyes. "Sorry."
"Whatever." Jess turned away and crossed her arms as she stared out of the window.
"Jess..." Billy cooed. "C'mon. I'm playing."
"Whatever, shut up," Jess brooded in her seat as she felt the car slow down and eventually enter a driveway. She didn't need to peer out of the window to know it was the Wheeler residence. She couldn't even look at the house without letting hot, angry tears flow out of her eyes.
"I'll be back." Billy unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the car door, half expecting a reply. When Jess didn't indulge him, he shut the door carefully.
When Billy stepped up to the front door, Jess lowered her head so that she could cry and not worry about him seeing her.
Jess knew that her pain was stupid. She shouldn't be mad at Nancy but she couldn't help it. If they hadn't been gone the last week then she maybe could've had answers by now.
Nancy hasn't done anything to Jess to deserve her hate. In fact, she had been nothing but nice, and Jess knew this. She wanted to ignore that fact so bad. She wanted to feel happy for Jonathan and Nancy. She wanted to be able to extend her congratulations to the couple for finally getting together but her anger had blinded her.
The wound was still fresh and the pain hadn't receded the tiniest bit yet, so, until then, she would hate Nancy Wheeler's guts until she was satisfied.
And then there was Billy. Her anger wasn't needed moments before yet Jess had lashed out. She felt horrible, why does she keep on exploding in front of everybody over the smallest things?
Before Jess could finish her thoughts, Billy came sauntering back to the car. She sat up and wiped the left over tears from under her eyes and cleared her vision to see Mrs. Wheeler standing at the doorway, watching Billy's every move.
Squinting her caramel colored eyes, Jess could make out the lip-biting on Mrs. Wheeler's face. With her eyebrows furrowed, she turned to Billy who got into the car with an uncomfortable cough. Before Jess could question what had happened inside, Billy spoke up.
"I see where Nancy gets her sluttiness," Billy swallowed harshly and started to back out. Mrs. Wheeler extended her hand in a goodbye and Billy raised his from his steering wheel with a tight smile.
The car was filled with the bell-like laugh that came from Jess's throat. All anger that she had unfairly held against Billy had fallen away easily.
"Thank you," Jess chuckled as her laughing calmed down.
"For what?" Jess shrugged and turned to look out of the window at the Wheeler's house growing smaller into the distance.
"Making me laugh." As Billy's face flashed with a hint of amusement, Jess watched as it shifted and changed with content.
"Anything for you, doll."
After a beat of silence, Jess asked, "What's the next address?"
"This house," Billy gave Jess a piece of paper that had the Byers' address on it.
The feeling of visiting the houses of people she wasn't on the right terms with crept up the brunette's spine. These weren't the best circumstances, but when she last saw Max she told her that she was going to the junkyard. This was better than going there.
"I know this house," Jess nodded. "Take a turn on Mirkwood."
"Where?" The turn was almost perpendicular to the car and Jess had to point quickly so that Billy didn't miss it.
"Here!" The car jerked to the left and Jess was thrown towards the door next to her and she grabbed onto the dashboard so that she could pull herself vertical again.
The pair cruised down the vast road for a little while, the only thing that kept on changing were the trees. Lights that shot out from the headlights of the Camaro were the only thing to make the grey asphalt visible in the dark moonlight. The car kept at a rhythmic speed throughout the whole ride.
That all came to a stop when Billy pulled into the first driveway of the Byers'. Jess got an uneasy feeling settling in the pit of her stomach as she watched a figure move behind the glowing curtain inside the house.
What if Jonathan was home? What if he was with Nancy again?
The blues of Billy's eyes kept a watchful gaze towards the wooden door, waiting for it to open.
"Let's see what the Shitbird has been up to," Billy mumbled as he took a drag of his cigarette that he lit moments earlier. He kept his glance on the door as he stepped out of the car and grabbed the roof of the machine with one hand.
The creak of the passenger door echoed through the silence as Jess got out to see who had walked out of the house. Preparing herself to come face-to-face with Jonathan, Jess made eye contact with Steve Harrington.
"Am I dreaming it is that you, Harrington?" Billy answered Jess's question for her. Steve gave a half roll of his eyes as a sign of obvious annoyance and glared at the dirty-blond with his hands on his hips.
"Yeah it's me, don't cream your pants." If the situation were any different, Jess may have laughed. Sassy Steve gave a sassy reply as he sassily held his hands on his hips. But, by judging Billy's agitated demeanor she could tell that laughing at his sworn enemy would not be ideal.
Billy shrugged off his leather jacket and threw it into his vehicle before shutting the metal door. Jess walked up to her... what is Billy to her? Her male lady friend?
Anyways, she walked up to him so that he wouldn't do anything rash. Her logic behind this was he wouldn't hurt Steve if she was in the way, right? Or was she just asking to get hurt?
Billy seemed opposite to her worries. He draped an arm over her shoulders and took another drag of his cigarette.
The two Kings of Hawkins High met in the middle. Steve looked to be more squared-up while Billy was laid back, appearing more nonchalant than how he really was.
"What are you doing here, amigo?" Billy asked, his boots scraping the dirt from the pavement underneath their feet.
"I could ask you the same thing," Steve said and the trio finally came face-to-face. "Amigo."
"I'm looking for my stepsister," Billy's cigarette bobbed in between his lips as he explained himself to Steve. "A little birdie told me she was here."
As soon as Billy was done speaking, Steve responded. "Huh, that's weird. I don't know her."
"Do you know where she went?" Jess decided to ask a relevant question. By this time, she doubted Max and Lucas were still at the junkyard. It was dark out and if they had any sense of self-protection they would head to someone's house.
"Nope, never once came by here," Steve shook his head no. Jess narrowed her eyes. She could tell he was lying. Firstly, he was answering their questions too quickly. Secondly, what was he doing at the Byers'? Even better, with a hand towel tucked in his jean pocket?
"You sure? Small, redhead?" Billy held up his hand with his pointer and thumb only inches apart to demonstrate Max's exaggerated height. "Bit of a bitch?"
"Billy," Jess scolded the mullet-wearing boy. She turned to look at him with disappointment but he ignored her eyes.
"Doesn't ring a bell, sorry, buddy," Steve answered quickly again. Jess rolled her eyes, expecting Billy to throw a verbal jab and to walk away, but her eyes caught a movement in the bay window of the Byers' residence.
Four little heads peered out onto the scene with curiosity, and no doubt, fear. Jess internally groaned. Why would Steve lie about this? If Billy saw, he'd kill him.
Billy looked down and pulled out his cigarette from his mouth, waving in the air and creating small billows of smoke that trailed from it.
"You know, I don't know, this..." Billy sighed and stepped closer to Steve, letting his arm slide off Jess's shoulder and hang by his side. He clicked his tongue while waving his free hand in the air. "This situation, Harrington, I don't know. It's giving me the heebie-jeebies."
"Oh yeah? Why's that?" Steve allowed a small, amused smile dance on his lips. Preparing herself for the worse, Jess took a small step back. Steve caught her movement and his smile faltered.
"My thirteen year-old sister goes missing all day, and then I find her with you at a stranger's house?" Billy's face faltered to give off a disgusted look. "And you lie to me about it?"
Steve chuckled uncomfortably as he responded slower this time. "Man, were you dropped too much as a child, or what?" Billy laughed and rolled his tongue over his bottom lip. "I don't know what you don't understand about what I just said. She's not here."
Billy raised his lit cigarette and pointed it in the direction of the bay window. "Then who is that?"
Steve turned around and the four little heads dropped down quickly. "Oh, shit. Listen- "
Billy placed both hands on Steve's chest and pushed him down onto the pavement. Jess covered her scream with her hands.
"I told you to plant your feet," Billy said before he kicked the boy in the stomach. He trekked ahead to the door and Jess quickly walked Steve's side.
"Steve," Jess said quietly to the boy who was getting up slowly. "Why are you hiding under age children at Jonathan's house?"
"It's not- " Steve panted as he stood on his wobbly legs. "I gotta get in there."
Steve limped to the door, fully able to walk when he opened it. Jess was right behind him as he walked into the house.
"You're dead Max," Billy roared at the frightened redhead as she was cornered with her friends. Jess could only see his backside but she could tell he was seething. "You're so dead!"
"No- " Steve grabbed Billy's shoulder and pulled him to have the boy face him. Steve's knuckles turned white as he balled his hand into a fist and thrusted it into Billy's face. "You are!"
Billy's head snapped back when Steve's knuckles made contact. Jess stood horrified. She didn't want to get in the middle of the fray, but what could she do?
"Steve!" Trying to call off the metaphorical dogs, Jess started to follow the pair into the kitchen.
Billy cackled maniacally as he threw the second punch. The kids followed the fighting boys to the kitchen as well, leaving Jess behind in the living room.
The whole room seemed to pulsate and Jess's vision blurred. This wasn't sympathetic pain nor was it any other pain she has felt before. It felt like something was trying to talk to her.
Suddenly, her head was filled with a high pitched ring, blackening her vision around her eyes. Her hands shot up and grabbed the sides of her head, gripping at the brown hair that cascaded down her head to stop right beneath her chin.
Jess's throat constricted and her breathing was cut off, making her fall to the floor. The tell-tale sign immediately alerted her that whatever was inside her head was trying to say something.
Her head was suddenly filled with a fast motion picture of something crawling towards her location quickly. It took her a moment the thing inside if her was crawling towards her.
With all of her strength, Jess shut the doors to her mind, closing out the monster. It poked and prodded at her, but she tried her best to ignore it.
Picking herself off of the floor, Jess's eyes fixated on the situation in front of her. No one noticed her falling or crying in pain, they were all too busy watching the fight between Billy and Steve.
Steve fell onto the floor beside Jess and Billy climbed on top of him. Throwing punches left and right, Steve was being beaten to a pulp.
I have to stop this, Jess thought to herself. But how? Billy was in too far deep to be pulled out of this. His face showed her that his pain tolerance has been severed and he was now taking it out on Steve. And Jess couldn't tackle Billy to the ground, he weighs a hundred pounds more than her.
While quickly trying to think of something, Jess's gaze fell onto a ceramic lamp that was sitting on the side table of the couch, untouched and glowing like a firefly.
Like a moth to a flame, Jess reached out and grabbed it, yanking the power cord out and turning around to smash the porcelain-like material onto Billy's head.
His movements stopped immediately and he fell to the ground with a big thump. Heaving heavily, Jess shook the pieces of ceramic off of her maroon-colored sleeve.
I just knocked out Bill Hargrove, Jess thought to herself. Shit.
Feeling her mental barrier wearing thin, Jess looked at the broken vase longingly. If she doesn't disconnect her mind in the next few seconds, the monster will know where she is.
"Jess..." Max looked at the brunette along with her friends with wide eyes.
"What's that?" Jess pointed to a syringe on the side table that she threw down earlier that day that was surrounded by gallons of clear liquid.
"No, Jess don't touch that, you'll pass out!-"
"Perfect," Jess heaved. She grabbed the syringe and saw the liquid slosh inside of the clear tube.
"No! Don't!"
"Jess, no!"
"Stop!"
The children's cries of pleas were muted by Jess's drive for unconsciousness. She raised the syringe above her neck and then stabbed her skin, barely wincing at the small pinch. She pressed down on the plunger quickly, releasing the liquid into her bloodstream.
As soon as she took the needle out, her body fell onto the floor and she was out cold.
-
A light crept through the slits Jess's closed eyes. She peeled them open to see the wooden roof of the Byers' residence above her. Beside her was a figure laying on the floor, still as a board.
The brunette slowly propped herself by the elbows then pushing herself in a sitting position with her hands. After rubbing her eyes that felt oddly bruised and stinging, she glanced at the lifeless body next to her.
Her breath caught in her throat when she saw Billy's relaxed features on the face of the bleeding body. She immediately got on all fours and crawled over to him, grabbing his face and slapping it gently back and forth.
"Billy? Please don't be dead, please don't be dead." Billy's face rippled with every hit of Jess's fingers on his cheeks. His head lolled to the side and Jess held her forehead in her hand.
Did I kill him? Jess cringed at her thoughts. Her pale hand crept near Billy's face, pinching his nose together to cut off his breathing.
Billy's eyes flipped open and Jess immediately let go. The boy's body lurched up and he gasped for air. He was now sitting up, glancing around the living room that was still littered with drawings of the tunnels.
Relief settled over Jess when she saw Billy looking at her and seeming fine. He grasped the back of his head, rubbing it softly and letting a small groan escape his lips at the pain.
"Billy? Are you okay?" His blue eyes flickered towards Jess who was sitting on her legs, a cautious look twisting her features.
"Yeah, I'm- I'm okay," Billy propped a knee up and settled his arm over it, the other propping his body up. "What happened?"
"What?" Jess gave Billy a frightened glance. How hard did she hit him?
"I blacked out. One minute I got punched by Harrington and the next, I woke up and you were sitting next to me." Slowly, the recent events started to roll back in Jess's memory. They showed up, Steve lied about Max, Billy and Steve fought, she crashed the lamp over Billy's head and then she sedated herself.
Easy peasy, Jess nodded.
"Oh shit," Jess mumbled.
"Where is that lying son of a bitch? Did he take Max?" Jess bit the inside of her lip.
"I don't know, I just woke up." Billy was rubbing his eye with the heel of his palm when he heard Jess's statement.
"Did Harrington hit you?" Billy's eyes were set ablaze with the same animosity that he had earlier. "I swear to God- "
"Stop. He didn't. I had another... episode. And I passed out. That's it." Jess lifted her hand to cup Billy's face. He still wouldn't look at her. "Stop assuming Steve is everything bad."
"I still can't believe Harrington knocked me out," Billy shook his head. "If it were any other day I'd clock him and he'd be out."
Jess gave Billy a tight smile and tsked. "Yeah... that wasn't Steve."
"What'd you mean?"
"That was me. I smashed a lamp over your head." A moment of silence ensued and absorbed the pair. Jess stared at Billy, waiting for him to explode and yell at her.
"No shit?" Billy laughed, rubbing his eyes with his pointer finger and thumb. His body vibrated with every chuckle and he shook his head. "Damn, you could've killed me."
"Yeah, sorry about that. I'm not sorry about doing it, though. You were about to kill Steve, Billy." The boy's face immediately flashed with a dark, guilty look.
"Yeah. He deserved it, though." Jess scoffed, rolling her eyes and standing up. She paced the room with her hands on her hips.
"No one deserves to be beat up. Especially by someone like you," Jess shook her head, her dark copper hair swaying with every movement. She crossed her arms, staring straight at Billy. "You could've killed him."
"He had my sister who went missing all day. They were at this house that I had no idea existed. Do you see what I'm seeing?" Billy stood up, pointing to himself. "He had three other kids hiding in the corner. This whole situation rubbed me the wrong way."
"You could've just taken Max and left," Jess shrugged, not willing to admit that the situation did seem fishy.
"I was! He was the one that punched me!" Jess's crossed arms fell to her side in exasperation.
"Because you were yelling at the poor thing! He probably thought you were gonna hurt her." Billy shook his head, waving his hands no.
"Whatever, I don't understand why you're defending him. He's a creep!"
"I'm defending him because I know him! He wouldn't do that!" Jess pinched the bridge of her nose, annoyed. She willed herself to forget about everything that had just happened. "Look, let's just forget about this, okay? Let's go home."
"I can't. Not without Max. If I show up alone, my dad'll kill me." Billy gripped his elbows and held his arms close to him. He nervously nibbled on the inside of his lips and his eyes danced to the window who's curtains were pulled.
"Fine, then, we'll just sit in your car until she shows up. Then you guys can walk in together," Jess suggested.
"What about you?"
"What about me?"
"You don't want to wait in the car with me." Jess gave Billy an amused look and walked up to him with confident strides.
"I told you, I would help you find Max, and I am a woman of my word." Shaking his head at the girl's stubbornness, Billy cracked a small smile and shrugged, saying okay.
"Let's go, she's probably God knows where by now," Billy's hand lightly guided Jess out the door. Once the pair was outside, they both stopped in their tracks and stared at the empty driveway. The Camaro wasn't in sight.
"She took my fucking car?" The growl in the back of Billy's throat made Jess unable to take the situation seriously. She knew that this was the highest offense you could commit against the boy, but she couldn't help but find the hilarity in the scene before her.
"What?" Billy asked when he saw Jess's wide grin and heard her bell-like laugh. "What wrong? What is so funny?- "
Shaking her head for the millionth time that day, Jess turned to the confused brute beside her and grabbed his head, bringing his lips down onto hers and giving Billy a small smooch.
Jess held his head and giggled. "Anything that could go wrong went wrong."
Rolling his eyes, Billy grabbed Jess's hands and held onto them and they started walking down the steps and onto the driveway.
"Where are we going?" Jess asked, the giggles gone. Billy turned to her with a small smile, then turned back to the dark road ahead.
"Home."
-
[SEMI-EDITED]
a/n sorry for not updating yesterday or the day before but i've been crazy busy lol. thank you guys for understanding!