Wheel of Fate

32.

Billy was at Mike's house once again. Eleven was sitting on the sofa with something covering her eyes, and the TV was on, but the only thing on it was static. The rest of the kids were sitting down on the floor. Billy observed them with his arms crossed over his chest.

After what he saw at the community pool, he couldn't leave and continued his days as if he knew nothing, as if nothing was happening in the small town of Howkins. Mostly because it involved his father, and recently he found out that both of his sisters were somehow in the middle of all of this.

"I found him," Eleven said; after a few minutes, she was looking for Hopper. "Where is he?" "Woods," Eleven answered simply.

The kids looked at each other, wondering why he was in the woods.

"He's with... Will's mom." Will looked at Mike for a second and then at El "My mom?"

"What are they doing?" Max asked. After a few seconds, El responded, "They're going to Ill-annoy."

There was a knock on the door "Mike! Breakfast," Karen said. "Not now, Mom!" Mike yelled back. "I could eat something," Billy said. Mike looked at him intensely; Billy raised his hands in surrender, "I was just saying."

Mike didn't pay more attention to Billy and looked back at Eleven. "Illinois? Illinois, like the state? The state of Illinois," Mike said, looking at El. She nodded and said, "ill-annoy."

Max and El went to the restroom to clean the blood that was coming out of Eleven's nose, apparently, that was normal. "Something's not right. I can't get Hopper off my back all summer, now all of a sudden, he's hiking with Will's mom to Illinois? And Dustin's MIA, too? I mean, this can't be a coincidence," Mike said, pacing back and forth.

"What does it matter? The bottom line is they're not here. It's up to us," Lucas said, looking up at Mike. "Up to us to do what exactly?" Mike said, stopping for a second and looking at Lucas. "Find Billy's dad and stop him," Lucas said, pointing at Billy, who was sitting down on the couch next to Will.

"Okay, yeah, that's a really nice sentiment, but even if El could find him again, and that's a pretty big if, then what?"

"We burn the shit out of him and make sure he doesn't escape this time," Lucas said, holding a box of cocoa puffs. Billy looked between the two boys and their not well thought out plan.

"Okay, then what?" "Then we win." "No, see, that's the problem. We don't. We don't win," Mike said. "We got the Mind Flayer out of Will before, and he just came right back," Mike added, looking at Will and then back at Lucas.

Billy looked at Will, who looked uncomfortable with the topic. "We don't just have to stop Neil; we have to stop the Mind Flayer," Mike finished by saying.

"How in the hell do we do that?"

"I don't know," Mike said, shaking his head.

"Maybe El does," Will said.

The boys looked at the bathroom door where the two young girls were still in. "What are they still doing in there?" Mike said, looking at the door. "I don't know. Girls just like hanging out in bathrooms," Lucas said, getting up from the sofa and shoving cereal in his mouth.

Billy and Will got up from the sofa. Lucas offered Mike some cereal, but he pushed it away and instead just asked, "Why?" "I don't know."

Billy shook his head. Those boys had no idea about anything when it came to girls.

"They're conspiring against me," Mike had concluded. "I wouldn't doubt it, especially from Max," Billy said, getting some cocoa puffs from the box that Lucas was holding and putting them in his mouth. Lucas and Mike looked at Billy. "That's what you're concerned about now?" Will said, making Mike look back at him "it's not my main concern. It's just a sub-concern."