Chapter Text
Once morning came, Nancy had to make a quick pick-up, Chrissy going with her, everyone converging back at the Wheelers.
“Alright people so there’s good news and there’s very very bad news.” Dustin announced as he descended into the basement, the kids being the last in, “Which one would you like first?”
“Bad news first. Always.” Eddie instantly demanded.
“El is probably not coming.”
“What?!”
“What do you mean?!” Nancy questioned.
Dustin winced, “Well as it turns out, Will finally picked up this morning and umm… Owens went to get her-”
“WHAT?!” Jonathan jumped up, eyes wide.
“Apparently they’ve designed some kind of program that will help her get her powers back-”
“They just took her?!”
“No- apparently, she went willingly. That’s what Will said.”
“No- she wouldn’t have-” Jonathan turned away, going to run his hands through his hair, “What about my mom? She wouldn’t have let them-”
“Your mom’s not in California anymore.” Lucas awkwardly told him.
“…what?”
“Mike said she went to Alaska-”
“ALASKA?”
“With… Murray-”
“MURRAY?!”
“For some job thing? I don’t know.” Lucas shrugged helplessly.
Jonathan was starting to turn red, pacing so fast it was a miracle he didn’t leave scruff marks on the carpet, “So the boys are alone?”
“They have…” Dustin stopped to consider what word he should use, “company.”
“They left guards with them to babysit.” Lucas supplied, “We were only able to communicate because Owens’s friends were left with indications to let them call you to give you an update. They won’t be able to communicate again but they mentioned something about a pizza run that Dustin is convinced was code for making a run for it.”
“Making a run for it?!” Nancy questioned, “From the guards- do they have guns?!”
“Nancy- Nancy-” Jonathan went to grab her hand, “Pizza run is probably that they’ll ask Argyle to drive them someplace else, he’ll help he-” he turned to the kids again, “My mom’s in Alaska?”
“Yep.”
“Where did they take El?” Steve asked.
“They have no idea. They didn’t tell them shit.”
“Oh my god-” Nancy pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment, “Did you give them Steve’s number?”
“Yeah, told them to try and call at the first pay phone they saw. That someone would try to be here at all times or at Steve’s.” Dustin said.
They all fell silent for a long moment.
“…Will and Mike are smart.” Steve said tentatively, looking at Jonathan and Nancy, who both looked like they wanted to scream, “I’m sure they’ll figure something out.”
“Yeah and- and Owens is a friend right?” Robin continued, “If the guards are his men they won’t be under orders to hurt them.”
Nancy sighed heavily before going to nod along, “Yeah… yeah um- we’ll have to wait for their call… um- I had an idea. On what we can do for more information.”
“What’s the plan?” Eddie leaned forward with anticipation.
Chrissy stepped forwards, showing off a folder, “Thanks to Nancy’s friends in the newspaper, we, along with Robin, are now dazzling psychology students at the University of Notre Dame. I’m now Lucy.”
“I’m Rose.” Nancy grinned.
“And I’m Ruth.” Robin finished as she looked over the papers, “Nice GPS Chrissy.”
“Why thank you.”
“We called Pennhurst Asylum, told them we’d like to speak with Creel for a thesis we’re writing together on paranoid schizophrenics.” Nancy continued, “To which they said no… but, we landed a three o’ clock with the director. So now all we have to do is charm him and convince him to let us talk to Victor.”
“And hopefully, since, if we’re right he’s the only person we know of that has survived Vecna and maybe remembers it, he might have a way to help us save Billy.” Chrissy finished.
“Okay so- wait- you’re going on your own?” Steve asked.
“We’re not on our own, we’ll be together.” Nancy corrected.
Jonathan inspected the papers, “You sure about this?”
“I have no idea if it will work but… I’ve studied the story, I know it like the palm of my hand, Chrissy will help lay the charm and Robin is gonna ramble about how much we admire the treatment at Pennhurst Asylum, I was going for an intellectual look.”
Billy weakly snorted, “Because Buckley screams intellectual to you?”
Robin flipped him off.
“She doesn’t…” Nancy admitted, shooting Chrissy a glance, who revealed the clothes she’d been holding behind her back, “But she will.”
Robin’s face slowly fell, “Wait… you’re not serious right.”
Nancy shrugged.
The girls practically dragged Robin upstairs and made her change, Chrissy herself pulling on her white skirt from the previous day and a lavender blouse she’d shoved into her duffle bag, Nancy and Chrissy working on Robin’s makeup and hair.
Before Nancy knew it, they were setting off.
Robin fidgeted in the passenger seat with the neck of her blouse, “Hey um… I know you probably don’t want to talk about it but-”
“I’m fine.” Nancy said quickly, casting a glance to Robin and in the review mirror to see neither of the girls looking very convinced, she sighed heavily, “Okay I’m not but… right now… I just want to focus on this. I can lose my shit later.”
“That’s a good mantra to live by.” Robin said in a light voice, surprisingly earnest.
“If we do get to talk to Victor…” Chrissy began, Nancy relaxing at the conversation steering away from her, “What will we ask?”
“We’ll ask about the demon, and based on whatever he says… I was hoping you might come up with a few questions given you’re the only other survivor we know of.” Nancy told her gently.
Chrissy took a shaky breath, nodding along before going to lean back.
***
Downstairs, Billy felt like he was losing his mind.
He’d spent most of the night preparing a few letters. Max, Steve, Robin… and, perhaps… probably stupidly… his mother.
Just in case.
He didn’t react when Max slowly went to join him, going to sit on the desk, looking down at her hands.
After a few minutes…
“You’re just going to leave me with a letter?” She half mumbled under her breath, clearly trying to keep her emotions under control.
Billy sighed heavily, he went to take her hand, “I don’t want to leave you Max but I… I don’t know how to fight this. I don’t know if I even can.”
Max slowly went to meet his gaze, “You didn’t say that you don’t want to die.” She pointed out.
He hesitated, “It’s not like I want to die… I just…. I don’t know that I… want to live.”
“You mean you don’t think you deserve it?” Max’s voice cracked for a moment, “Billy- Heather… Heather wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t-”
“Don’t Max. Please don’t.” He half pleaded.
“I don’t want to be without you.” She was looking down, lip wobbling slightly.
Billy went to get up, pulling her into his arms, “I’ll try Max. I- I don’t want to promise you anything but- but I’ll try.”
Max pulled back slightly, going to say something before hesitating, eyes trailing to the stairs, sucking in a shaky breath and stepping back.
Billy frowned going to follow her gaze and-
His stomach dropped, instantly throwing an arm in front of Max.
“There you are.” Neil said from the foot of the stairs, eyes cruel and furious, “You little fucker.”
“Get out-” Billy could barely breath, hating himself for the fear and hatred flooding through him, what was Neil doing there?, “You’re not welcome here. Get out!”
“You think you can tell me what to do boy?! You think you’re a man?!” He mocked before laughing, “You can’t do shit right. You’re a useless, pathetic waste of space just like your mother!”
“Don’t talk about my mom!”
“Why do you think she left you huh?!”
It stung, the words cutting deep even now.
Neil had used those words like a weapon over the years.
It was Billy’s fault that his mom had left, if he’d been stronger or smarter or had managed to keep her safe then maybe- maybe-
“Don’t talk to him like that!” Max tried to approach, Billy trying to pull her behind him, “You don’t talk to him like that!”
“So protective of your greatest burden Max. You really think he can protect you?”
Before either of them could react, Neil pulled out a gun.
Billy screamed, but Max had moved beyond his arm, he couldn’t move in time, couldn’t reach her, couldn’t-
Max stumbled back, Billy barely managing to catch her and slowly bring her down, panicking as scarlet blood streamed down from her chest, staining his hands and her clothes and the rug beneath them in seconds.
Max’s eyes were wide with fear and panic and pain.
“NO- NO!” Billy laid her on the floor, trying to put pressure on the wound, “WHAT DID YOU DO?!”
“What did I do?” Neil frowned, tilting his head slightly, “No Billy… what did you do?”
Billy’s stomach dropped to the floor when he looked down…
The gun was in his hand.
And Max, through her pain and even coughing up blood was trying to crawl away from him, terrified.
“No… no I didn’t… I didn’t…” Billy dropped the gun like it burned, tripping back, panic threatening to close up his throat.
“We’re cut out of the same cloth William.” Neil told him, eyes tracking Max’s weakening form, “That’s what you’ve always tried to deny. You are a curse… you always hurt what you love. You can try to deny it, but deep down you already know…” Neil’s voice’s dropped, gradually becoming raspy and deep, “You can’t escape what you are.”
“BILLY!”
He gasped, suddenly at the desk again, Max in front of him, he jerked back, tripping and falling over the chair, hitting the ground harshly.
Max was at his side in an instant going to grab his shoulders, Steve at his other side, “Are you okay? Are you alright?”
Billy couldn’t breath, he reached for Max, eyes flying over her, checking for blood before he looked towards the stairs.
“What did you see?” Max asked.
Billy shook his head, trying to control his trembling hands, “I- I have- I have to go.”
“What?!” Eddie barely avoided Billy barreling straight through him as he stumbled for the stairs, “You can’t leave man! You can’t be alone-”
“SHUT UP!”
“Billy hey-” Lucas got in front of him, hands up, “We can go somewhere else if you really want to but you have to take a moment to breathe first. Please you… you’re scaring Max.”
That was a low blow.
But it was also the truth and Lucas must’ve known it’d be effective.
He forced himself to look at Max.
He hadn’t hurt her, she was okay.
But she was indeed scared.
Not of him but for him.
Billy let himself fall on the couch, going to cover his face with his hands as he willed himself to calm down.
Steve gently stopped Max when she went to sit down with him, jerking his head to tell them to go wait upstairs, Max ready to fight him until-
“He won’t talk if you’re here.” Jonathan told her under his breath as he went to pull her away, trading a glance with Steve, who nodded to say he could handle it even if he very much doubted that to be true.
Max hesitantly let herself be guided upstairs, Dustin and Eddie going along.
Steve went to sit down next to Billy.
And he waited, he had a feeling trying to push now would get him nowhere.
Billy took a shaky breath, “Chrissy said- Chrissy said Vecna used her deepest fears and shames… her darkest secrets and worries… but I didn’t- I didn’t- think…” he went to cover his face again.
“He used my dad Steve.” He confessed, nearly choking on the words, looking towards the stairs like Neil might still be there, “He came down here and and- it was so real and- he shot Max… she was bleeding but but- but I was the one holding the gun and he said I couldn’t escape what I am-”
“No no. Billy.” Steve wrapped an arm around him, trying to pull him against himself, “Billy you are nothing like your dad. And Vecna can go fuck himself. It wasn’t real. Max is okay and you are nothing like that jackass and-”
“How do you know?” Billy jerked awake, just barely managing to keep his tears at bay.
He couldn’t cry.
He wouldn’t cry.
“Because I know you.”
Billy scoffed, going to stand up.
Steve insisted, “I know you. I know that you’d do anything for Max and that you didn’t hesitated to jump in and help me protect the kids when you didn’t even know anything about the Upside Down and even now you’re trying to hold everyone at bay because you blame yourself for what happened to Heather and you think you deserve to be alone. And- and- you think I can’t tell that you were writing letters? You’re ready to say goodbye and that’s bullshit Billy.”
“Steve-”
“I don’t need a letter. I don’t want a letter. I’m right here. We’re all right here Billy. Just talk to me, tell me how to help-”
“You can’t help.” Billy snapped, tensing up, “This isn’t a fight you can win Steve.”
“You don’t know that-”
“And it’s not a problem you can beat with some nail bat. It’s not…” he shut his eyes for a moment, “You can’t save me Steve.”
“You won’t let me try.” Steve nearly growled as he went right up to him, “…what happened? You… you let me in before.”
Billy looked away.
Because he had.
Before the mall fire he’d found himself telling Steve about California and a tiny bit about his mom after late night study sessions, Steve sharing stories about his mostly lonely childhood and how he feared someday he wouldn’t be able to protect the others and how that was what haunted his nightmares.
They made bets and dumb games to spend the time at Scoops Ahoy and Billy had had to cut him completely off to keep himself from slipping after Heather’s death.
And it hadn’t worked.
Because even now he hadn’t been able to keep himself from telling him what Vecna had shown him or writing a letter for him.
He gritted his teeth, “I can’t stay here.”
“Billy-”
“I can’t stay here!” He snatched his jacket from the chair he’d toppled on the floor and started heading upstairs.
“Alright fine- but you can’t be on your own.”
“Steve-”
“I will follow you if I have to, shove and scream all you want, I’m not leaving you alone.”
They reached the living room, Billy stomping outside, Max instantly following as Steve hurriedly spoke to the others, “Lucas, Dustin, you guys stay here in case Mike and Will call. Eddie, Jonathan you gotta come along.”
Jonathan nodded in an instant, Eddie hesitating.
“Oh sure- but why me?”
“Because if he tries to do something stupid, I’ll need help stopping him.” Steve said grimly.
The boys didn’t dare argue, Lucas half tempted to demand to come along for Max’s sake but he forced himself to stay put.
Max barely managed to open the passenger door to Billy’s car before he could take off, “Where are we going?”
“Max-”
“Where are we going?” She insisted as she slipped inside, Eddie, Jonathan and Steve going to climb into the backseat.
Billy rolled his eyes, seeming to half accept that they weren’t going to let him leave alone.
“You’ll see.”
He started driving.
Max reached over the console to hold him hand.
He let her.
She couldn’t quite get it out of her head, talking to him, hugging him just to feel his stiffen up, pulling back to see his eyes glazed over and being unable to wake him up for a minute before he was nearly screaming in terror.
It was terrifying, seeing her brother like that.
It was even worst to know that he was seemingly devoid of hope.
Max held his hand and used her other hand to open the glove compartment and look through the cassettes there.
She didn’t think either could bare silence at the moment.
***
Nancy wasn’t sure whether she wanted to scream, cry or cheer.
She’d hoped they could use nothing but pleas, praise and charm to manage to convince the Director of the Asylum to let them see Victor.
That hadn’t seemed to work, the old man clearly not taking them very seriously and assuming (partially correctly) that they hadn’t gone through the correct channels to get their interview with Victor.
She’d been grinding her teeth and dreading the idea of returning to the others with no answers when Robin had begun to rant and call the director out, rising up, making it clear she was very much uncomfortable and felt ridiculous in the outfit Chrissy and Nancy had all but shoved her into.
At first Nancy had been tempted to rise up to her feet and attempt to shove Robin out the window, because she was blowing any minuscule chance they’d had right out of the water, but as her speech went on to speak of a passion for psychology , complaining how women weren’t taken seriously in the field and how they’d been denied several times when they had tried the proper channels and how they were all morbidly curious about the inner workings of Victor’s sick and twisted, and fascinating, mind…
She could see the quiet respect growing in the director as he realized how ‘passionate’ they all were and how they felt so slighted that they’d had to come all this way just to practically beg for scraps.
“So, forgive me if I’ll now try anything in my power, including wearing this ridiculous outfit, if I might get to speak to the man that ignited my passion and learn a little more about how his twisted, but let’s face it, totally fascinating mind works.”
“So, yes,” Robin approached the end of her speech with righteous anger and almost desperation, “we don’t have the official paperwork, but don’t tell me that cry-baby Petey McHew wouldn’t have gotten an audience with Victor in moments if he’d asked politely, because you and I both know that he would.”
Nancy traded a stunned glance with Chrissy, who was so wide eyed Nancy half worried her eyes might just pop out.
The Director considered them all for a long moment before going to press a button on his phone, “I’ll be back in thirty minutes.”
Then he rose up and gestured for them to follow him.
Nancy gave her a subtle high five and Chrissy squeezed her arm, barely containing a chuckle.
They went out into the gardens, Doctor Hatch assuring them that most of the patients actually liked their environment and weren’t considered at risk of attempting an escape.
As they passed into another room…
Chrissy tilted her head, “Music?”
“This is the listening room, one of our more popular areas.”
“Is there a reason for it?”
“We found that music has a particularly calming effect on the broken mind. The right song, particularly one which holds some personal meaning, can prove a salient stimulus.”
Chrissy half frowned, seeming to mouth some of the words to herself, thoughtful.
“Uh- Doctor Hatch, do you think it might be possible for us to speak to Victor alone?” Nancy questioned, all but crossing her fingers in hope.
“Alone?”
“It’s just- I think that we’d just love the challenge of trying to speak with Victor without the safety net of an expert such as yourself.” Chrissy laid the charm on.
“Then we could really rub it in Professor Bradley’s face.” Robin added.
Doctor Hatch froze for a moment, frowning, “Professor Bradley? I don’t believe I know a Professor Bradley.”
Nancy’s stomach fell to the floor, “Brantley. She- she meant to say Brantley”
“She’s dyslexic.” Chrissy half laughed, gently shaking Robin by the arm, “Has gotten us in trouble once or twice on a paper.”
“Yeah- that- words and letters- it’s worse when I’m nervous- I mean- excited. So excited to get to speak to Victor… preferably alone?”
They all held their breaths, tense as they waited for his reaction.
He half smiled, “Yes, why not? You’ve caught me in a rebellious mood.”
They chuckled nervously as he went to unlock a set of doors.
“Now there’s something I need to check on anyway so,” he turned to a guard, “Keep a close eye on them.”
“Sure.”
“Thank you so much Doctor Hatch, you can’t imagine what this means to us.” Chrissy told him with a grateful smile.
Nancy took a deep breath as she stared down the hall of cells she was now facing.
“…well this isn’t gonna give me nightmares.” Robin muttered under her breath.
She sighed, “Let’s get this over with.”
They followed the guard as he pushed open a door of bars before guiding them deep inside, “Do not startle him. Do not touch him. Do not pass him anything. Stand five feet away from the bars at all times. Is that clear?”
“Yes sir.” They all echoed in an instant.
The guard clanged on the bars of the last cell, “Victor. Today’s your lucky day! You got visitors. Real pretty ones.” Nancy allowed herself to roll her eyes at that since he was facing away from them. They heard vague scratching, the guard shrugged, “Must be in one of his moods… have fun.”
They waited until the guard was gone, going to trade nervous glances.
Victor was laying on his cot, facing the wall, seemingly scratching at the wall.
“Victor? My name is Nancy. Nancy Wheeler. These are Robin Buckley and Chrissy Cunningham… we um… we have some questions.”
“I don’t talk to reporters. Hatch knows that.” His voice was hoarse, from misuse or screaming Nancy couldn’t even begin to tell.
“We’re not reporters.” Robin said, “We’re here because… we believe you. And because we need your help. Whatever it is that killed your family… we think it’s back.”
The scratching stopped.
Nancy turned to Chrissy, waiting.
Chrissy took a shaky breath, “When it attacks… it’s like a trance… right? A waking nightmare… it uses… your worst memories… your shame… your fears…” she looked down, blinking back tears, “The darkest parts of you you keep buried deep… does any of that sound… like what happened to your family?”
He said nothing, breathing harshly.
Nancy licked her lips, “Victor, I know this is hard-”
“You don’t know anything!” He screamed, voice cracking.
“…you’re right. We don’t know.”
“That’s why we’re here.” Robin continued, “To learn. To- to understand. We need to know how you survived that night?”
“Survived?” He laughed in disbelief, “Is that what you would call this? Did I survive? No… I assure you… I am still very much in hell.”
He moved slightly, approaching the edge of the bed until his face left the shadows and-
The girls gasped, taking a half stepped back at the sight of the cuts over his eyes, they looked almost infected or maybe just not properly healed.
He began telling them his story.
How he’d just returned from the Great War, hoping for a new life. How his son had sensed something wrong with the house from the get-go. They’d only had one month of peace and then…
Dead animals, mutilated and tortured. Attacks blamed on a wildcat when Victor knew it to be pure evil… the spawn of Satan. A demon.
How his family began having encounters conjured by the demon, waking, living nightmares they couldn’t escape from.
Chrissy took a shaky breath at that, Nancy slipping a hand into hers and squeezing gently.
How the demon took pleasure in tormenting them, how it’d cursed their home… their family. And how eventually… it’d attacked one last time. Taking his wife first and then as he tried to get the children out… he’d found himself trapped in a memory. Back in the war, to the mistake that would haunt him to the end of his days.
Victor had thought it would take him…
“But then… I heard… another voice.” Chrissy found herself getting slightly closer, Robin tensing up, ready to pull her back if needed, but she seemed almost hypnotized by Victor’s story, “At first, I believed it was an angel. And I… I followed her… only to find myself… in a nightmare far worse.”
While Victor had been in his trance, the demon had taken his children.
His son had slipped into a coma and died a week later.
“I tried to join them- I tried!” He pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes, “But Hatch stopped the bleeding… he wouldn’t let me join them.”
He began to weep, turning over in his cot to face the wall.
Chrissy went straight up to the bars, voice urgent, “The angel you followed. Who was she?”
He started humming a melody to himself, ever so slightly rocking.
Chrissy grabbed the bar, “Victor who was the angel!?”
“Chrissy!” Robin pulled her back and-
“Is he everything you hoped he would be?” They whipped around to find Doctor Hatch standing at the end of the hall, jaw clenched, “I just had a very interesting conversation with Professor Brantley. Perhaps we should discuss in my office while we wait for the police.”
***
Billy knew the moment Steve and Max realized where he was headed, both tensing up but saying nothing.
He had barely parked when he was already going to get out of the car, Max scrambling to get in front of him, “You said you’d try. You- you told me you’d try.”
“Max-”
“Please don’t go out there.”
Billy sighed heavily, “Max-”
“It’ll just make it easier for him to get in your head I know it!” Max launched herself forward, wrapping her arms around him, choking on tears, “You said you’d try you- you promised.”
Billy held her tight, pressing a kiss against the top of her head, “I know you don’t understand Max but… this is something I have to do.”
He gently pulled away, placing his hands on her shoulders, squeezing before going to walk away, Max just watching.
He climbed up the small slope of a hill to where the graves began. Stepping up a ledge and finding himself face to face with Heather’s grave.
Given that both her parents had perished with her, Billy had somehow found himself being asked by one of her aunts if there was anything he felt appropriate for the stone.
‘Heather Holloway
April 17 1967
July 4 1985
“I wish I were a girl again; half-salvage and hardy, and free”’
She’d had that quote written in the cover of notebooks and stitched into a cushion from when her mother had insisted she learn how to embroider and said it wistfully when she rolled down the window of his passenger seat after a fight with her parents.
He’d always answered with joking she was still a savage.
She’d always flipped him off and told him he had no respect for the classics.
Her aunt had let him keep Heather’s well loved and well read copy of Wuthering Heights as well as her copy of A Tale of Two Cities… that one had had a note for him in the cover, it’d been meant to be a gift for him, saying he reminded her of Sydney and that he’d best grow out of it.
He settled down carefully.
This was far from the first time he’d been here.
He’d even come once with Nancy, leaving flowers for Barb before reaching Heather.
He took a shaky breath, “Hey Heather.” He looked down, fidgeting with his fingers, “I’m sorry. I don’t- I don’t even know if you can hear me… I should probably stop assuming I know anything at all given everything I’ve learned these past two years… I know I’ve visited but… I haven’t spoken much when I come here…”
He shut his eyes for a moment, sighing heavily, “I miss you. I miss you you like crazy Heather. I um- I finally got away from my dad… Max and I moved to the trailer park off Kerley… I think you would’ve been glad to know that. That’s has been nice but everything else… I don’t know how to be without you Heather. And everything has just been… a total disaster.”
“And the worst part is-” his voice broke, “Is that I can’t even tell anyone why you’re gone. I can’t tell them that you saved El’s life… that you saved my life… I play that moment back in my head all the time. And sometimes I imagine myself running to you, making it on time, pulling you away. I imagine that if I had… that you would still be here… and- and everything would be right again.”
“I imagine that maybe we could’ve figured out a way to leave Hawkins together. Maybe we could’ve gone to West Virignia, drag Max along with us… or maybe you could’ve gone on your own and we could’ve written letters and called one another until I could go along. I imagine watching you drive away to a new life… to the kind of life you deserved. Half-savage and hardy and free. The way it should’ve been…”
“But that’s not what happened. And I can’t go back and change it… I can’t… I remember trying to run… to reach El… I remember freezing when the Mind Flayer attacked. And I just… I just stood there. I just stood there… and I watched. And I- I tried to be happy for a little while… to be normal… but a part of me died that day too.”
“And I haven’t told anyone this… I just… I just can’t. But I had to tell you. Before it’s too late. If you can even hear me… I really hope that you can.”
“I’m sorry. I’m so- so sorry Heather.” He sniffed, feeling his tears finally falling as he leaned forward, covering his face with his hands, nearly leaning his forehead against her gravestone, taking a moment to breathe.
He felt a cold breeze against him, slowly looking up and… clouds seemed to have covered the sun, fog emerging from seemingly nowhere to cover the graveyard like a carpet.
He looked to his right instinctually, but he couldn’t see his car or Steve or Max.
He felt himself tense up and-
“Billy.” He jerked to his left, seeing a vague figure in the fog.
***
Steve was pacing, watching.
Max had been leaning against the hood, stomach crawling with anxiety until she couldn’t handle it anymore, “Okay- that’s it. It’s been long enough.” She said as she started walking.
“Max- Max hold on-”
“No!” Max snapped at Steve, “He’s had enough time, I’m done!”
She all but stomped her feet as she went up the slope of the cemetery, making sure Billy heard her, “Alright that’s enough time let’s go!”
Billy ignored her. She could all but feel her blood boil.
She clapped her hands, “Time to go Billy! We gotta-” she trailed off as she reached him and got a proper look, his eyes almost milky, glazed over… just like, she crashed to her knees at his side, shaking his shoulders, “Billy? Billy! Billy no no no- come on wake up! Wake up Billy!”
She could barely breathe, panic already clawing up her throat and constricting her lungs as she turned towards the car, to where Steve, Jonathan and Eddie could already tell that something was wrong and-
“STEVE!”