Wheel of Fate

39.

The mind flayer was in front of El.

She tried to go away, but Olivias father pulled her leg closer to the monster. She screamed for help as well as she tried to hold on to anything her hands could reach.

"Let her go," Olivia said, walking closer to her father.

She should be afraid of whats in front of her but at that moment she wasnt thinking. Her father let go of Els leg and looked at her daughter.

She was done being scared of him; he had hurt her too much.

El crawled back; Mike ran to her and hugged her. Neil looked at El as she walked away with Mike by her side. "Hey, look at me," Olivia yelled, getting her father's attention.

Neil looks at her and sees her as a stranger. Neil looks at his daughter with emptiness in his eyes.

"Dad," Olivia said so quietly she wasnt sure he even heard her.

Neil looked at her intensely; something snapped inside him; his mind was filled with memories of her. He remembered the time he showed her how to ride a bike when she was five. She was scared at first, he was going to teach her how to ride it without any training wheels. He thought that was the most effective way to teach his only daughter.

Sitting on the bike, Olivia looked up to her father, he could see it in her chocolate brown eyes she was afraid. "Dont worry, my little Liv, I wont let anything happen to you, I promise," he said with a warm smile, his hand on her small back, and he leaned to kiss the top of her head.

He had failed her.

He had hurt her time and time again. He had seen his daughter cry and scream in pain because of him. She wasnt his little girl anymore; he knew she didnt see him as her father anymore. She had every right to he didnt treat her how she should be treated. Neil had failed her; he had hurt her too much; he knew he couldnt go back in time and fix all the mistakes he had made, but maybe he could do something right.

Maybe this was his last chance.

The mind flayer took a few steps closer and growled loudly at her. The mind flayer opened its mouth, revealing several rows of sharp teeth covered in blood. She knew this was a stupid idea, she knew she shouldn't be there, but she stood her ground and looked up to the mind flayer trying her hardest to not show any kind of fear.

She could hear faint screams in the back, Steve and Max yelling her name, wanting her to go to safety.

The mind flayer opened its mouth, extending its tentacle moving closer to Olivia. She couldn't move her legs wouldn't move. She stared at the mind flayers tentacles just a few feet away from her.

"Olivia!" Steve yelled her name from the second floor, but she heard it as a whisper.

Everything felt like it was happening in slow motion. Before the tentacle could reach Olivia, her father had moved in front of her facing the mind flayer.

With his bare hands, he stopped the tentacle from going any; further, he tried to push it away, but the thing is that the mind flayer had more than one. More tentacles appear next to Neil colliding into his side; he screamed in pain, throwing his head back. Another tentacle went into his other side; black blood was coming out of his mouth. With the tentacles now in his body, the mind flayer lifted him up. Olivia was in shock to see her father's blood dripping from his fingertips splashing into the ground.

He looked at her over his shoulder, "Im sorry, Liv," he said, choking on his own blood. She hadn't heard that nickname in years; she couldn't even remember when was the last time he called her that.

Another tentacle went into his chest, his body went limp, and his arms dropped to his side. A single tear was forming in Olivias eye that she didnt see what was coming her way. She was too occupied to notice it, but when she did, it was too late.

She gasped when she felt it, her eyes went wide as she gasped for air. She looked down a tentacle was attached to her stomach. Her mouth was wide open as she saw it. Her hands moved in front of her, wrapping her hands around it, trying to take it out, but they dropped weakly.

She was having trouble breathing; she couldn't keep her eyes open her eyelids felt heavy. The mind flayer dropped her body on the ground as it lost balance, falling to its side with a loud thump to the ground with a loud crash; they had done it, the gate was closed.

Max let out a horrific scream seeing the body of her sister, her stomach covered in blood. Her friends around her were shocked to see the painful scream she let out.

No words nor sound came out of Billys mouth, only tears; he was sobbing so much his vision went blurry with tears. No one had ever seen Billy cry; it's something he didnt do very often, and when he did, he would do it privately and quietly in his room.

Then there was Steve, who ran fast to her body; he had never run that fast in his life, not even when he ran away from all the monsters that had appeared in Hawkins in the last year.

He felt like someone had stabbed him in the chest; he felt the most pain he had ever felt before seeing his girlfriend on the floor surrounded by a pool of blood. He kneeled next to her and gently had his hand on her cheek. He was gentle like he always was. He looked at her as if she was the most important person in his life like she was his entire world which she most definitely was.

Steve Harrington existed because of her.

He couldn't hide the sadness and fear in his eyes as he looked at her. She was able to weakly move her arm, placing her hand on top of his. "Olli," he said, his voice breaking, letting out a few tears.

He was so afraid of losing her of never having her by his side. He couldn't imagine a life without Olivia Hargrove, and truly he didn't want to think about it or live in that life.

Giving her a ride at that Halloween party was the best decision he had made in his entire life. He was heartbroken because of Nancy breaking up with him, but then she walked up to him and asked if he could give her a ride home. Before that, he had never seen her; he was too occupied to even notice her. She had called him cute that day he had never shared with her, but that night he couldn't stop thinking about her about how she had called him cute. It felt silly to him how that word affected him that much.

More tears fell from his eyes. Olivia looked up at Steve; she wasn't ready to die; she didn't want to leave Steve; they had so much ahead of them. She didn't want to die; she didn't want to lose the memories she had made with Steve. Olivia wasn't afraid of dying; it had never bothered her until now; she didn't want to leave Steve, Max, and even Billy.

She opened her mouth to say something, but she was having trouble breathing, her throat was going dry. "Stevie," she was able to say, her voice sounding raspy. He let out a chuckle, "Im here, Ollie," he said, caressing her cheek.

He wasn't going to leave her side; he didn't want to let go of her, afraid that he might lose her forever, afraid that she might be gone. He cried more; he felt so vulnerable, "Ollie, I love you like I have never loved anyone before," he shared with her.

He wanted her to know how much he loved her and how special she was. He was in love with Olivia; he couldn't deny it; he wished he had told her more times.

She blinked slowly, "I lo-" she tried saying, and then everything went black.