"MATERIAL GIRL" // Will Byers x Reader

The Source //CHAPTER 15

I DON'T THINK WE'RE IN HAWKINS ANYMORE

'And that's not normal, right?' Nancy clarifies, holding a hand up.

'Billy staying in his room on the Fourth of July?' Max raises her eyebrows. 'No, that's not normal.'

'He wants us to find him.' Will says slowly. 

'Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. If we go to Billy, then the rest of the flayed know where we are,' Nancy says. 

'It's a trap, I agree. We'll be ambushed,' Mike nods. 

'We won't be surprised. We'll know that they're coming, and we will kick their flayed butts,' Lucas says evenly. 

'You mean El will kick their flayed butts,' Mike says. 

'And Y/N,' Will adds. 

Max rolls her eyes. 

'I'm going to get a drink of water,' I say, following El into the kitchen. 

She's staring at a box of lucky charms, shaking her head. 

'El?' I ask. She doesn't answer. Gently, I place my arm on hers. 

'Papa!' A voice yells.

'Three to the right, four to the left. Sunflower. Rainbow.' 

'El, are you alright?' I take my arm off. She jumps, staring at me. 

'Yeah, I'm okay,' El glances at the cereal box again. 

'I know you miss her,' I sigh. 

Eleven nods, brushing a strand of hair out of her face and leaning against the counter. 'I wish she remembered me.' Her voice is so quiet I could barely make out the words. 'but she doesn't...love me.' 

'She loves you,' I say firmly. 'What they did to her was horrible, but deep down, she still loves you. Mama risked everything to get you back.' 

'Thank you, Y/N,' El says, smiling slightly. 

'It's too risky.' Jonathan's saying when we get back. 

'Yeah, and unnecessary. Killing the flayed won't stop the Mind Flayer. We have to find out where
it's spreading from.' Nancy shakes her head.  'We have to find the source.'

'Billy knows it.' El says. 'Billy's been there. To the source.' 

'Yeah, but...' 

'It's a trap. I know.'

'We can't go to Billy, but I think there's another way. A way for us to see where he's been,' El says. Mike casts a worried look towards her as she picks up the blindfold from the counter. I sit down next to her, placing the tissue box in between us. 

'Be careful in there,' Will says, giving me a significant look. 'Don't do anything stupid.' 

'I'll try,' I say with a small smile. 

Mike kneels down beside El. 

'El, I know you think you have to do this, but you don't.' he says as Max rolls her eyes from behind us. 'It's just, you've only done this before once. And your mom, she loved you, and wanted you to know what happened. And Billy's mind is... is sick, diseased. The Mind Flayer is in him.'

'He can't hurt me. Not in there,' El reminds him. 

'We don't know that,' Mike points out. 

'Mike,' El places her hand over top of his. 'I need you to trust me.'

It's a really good thing El's so patient. 

'Yeah. Just...stay...safe.' Mike says. He glances at me. 'Both of you.' 

'Thanks bro,' I say, half sarcastically. 

El puts the blindfold on, taking my hand. I close my eyes, listening to the TV static blare in the background. 

We appear in the void. 

I can see Billy in front of us, sitting on his bed. He honestly looks quite terrible with his gross mullet and clothes that he probably hasn't changed since his last murder of innocent people. 

'Billy,' El whispers, stepping closer. 'Can you hear me?'

'We want to see,' I say. 'We want to see what happened.'

Suddenly, Billy grabs El's wrist, yanking her towards him. She cries out, trying to free his grasp. 

'Something's wrong,' Someone's voice says from outside the Void. Probably Mike's. 

'Let her go!' I yell, trying not to break the connection with El. 

'Stop!' El screams. 'No!'

Billy's eyes cloud over for a second, and possible remorse flickers over his gaze. And then it's gone. And so is his grip on El's arm. We go flying backwards, scrambling for the ground that isn't there. 

And we land on the beach. 

There are no beaches in Hawkins. 

'El, Y/N, are you guys okay?' Mike asks. 

Sand is underneath me and I spit out sea water that somehow got into my mouth. 

'Are you okay?' He repeats. 

'Yeah,' I say, looking up at the vibrant blue sky. 'We're on a beach.' 

'What else do you see?'

'A woman,' El says, glancing further onto a beach where a woman is smiling and waving. She's wearing a long white sundress and a hat. 'She's...pretty.'

'I...' I breathe, trailing off. 'Is she looking at us?' 

'Woo!' A boy's voice yells from behind us. He sounds joyful, almost ecstatic. 'Yeah!'

'You did it!' The woman says  happily, walking to greet him. 

'There's...a boy,' I say. 

'Did you see that?' The boy asks, smiling at the woman. 

'Yeah, I saw that!'

'That was at least seven feet,' He beams from ear to ear. 

'I don't know what it was, but it almost gave me a heart attack,' She laughs, ruffling his hair. 

'Ten more minutes?'

'Yeah, okay, ten more minutes.'

'Okay,' he runs back off to collect his surfboard. 

'But any longer than that, Dad's gonna be mad, okay?'

'Okay!'

El's eyes widen as she opens her mouth again. 

'Billy? Watch out for rip currents!'

'I know!'

'It's Billy,' I say with disbelief. 

'It's California,' Max's voice says, sounding almost nostalgic. 'It's a memory.'

'I think I see it,' El murmurs, walking down the beach. 

Just above us, there's a large red and black cloud forming. It starts to swirl, electricity crackling inside. 

'The source.'