𝑩𝑳𝑼𝑬 - Billy Hargrove [1]

TWENTY THREE

TWENTY THREE|CODE RED PT.1

Bernadette groaned as she rolled over in bed, her hair messy as she sat up in a huff. Lucas's voice echoed around her room, the walkie sticking out of Max's jacket pocket.

"This is Bernadette Harrington formally requesting you shut the hell up!" Birdie stated in a fake polite voice before turning the walkie on silent. She pressed her face back into the silk pillow, feeling her eyes grow heavy once more. The phone in her room rang, waking all three of the girls.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Max cursed, climbing over Birdie to answer the phone. "We're sleeping, go away." She tried to put the phone down but hesitated, putting it back to her ear. "What are you talking about?"

Birdie sat up in bed, growing concerned over what the boys had to say as she pushed her hair away from her face. She waited for Max to put the phone down, noticing Eleven starting to wake up fully.

"What did he say?" Eleven questioned groggily, glancing slowly between the two girls.

"Something's happened, we need to go to Mike's." Max stated, putting the phone down as a serious look played out on her face.

"I'm coming with you." Birdie said seriously, scrambling out of bed and wandering into her large closet, debating what clothes to wear. "God, I'm becoming my brother."

The three girls grabbed their bikes, Eleven riding on the back of Max's, and cycled across town to the Wheelers home. Dumping their bikes on the lawn, Mike let them in, staring at Bernadette confused as he questioned loudly why she had come with them.

"I'm babysitting." She answered, throwing herself down on the armchair as she waved hello to the other boys.

"I didn't think it was anything at first." Will began to explain why he had called them all to Mike's basement. "I mean, I think I just didn't want to believe it. The first time I felt it was at 'Day of the Dead'."

"Power went out that night, too."

"And then I felt it again at the field near the Nelson farm the next day." The boy continued to inform them. "Then again yesterday outside Castle Byers."

"What does it feel like?" Max asked, staring at the boy intently.

"It's almost like, you know when you drop on a rollercoaster?" Will tried to think of how to explain his feeling, the whole group growing anxious as they realised what it meant. "It's like everything inside your body is just sinking all at once, but this is worse. Your body, it goes cold and you can't breathe. I've felt it before, whenever he was close."

"Whenever who was close?" Birdie began to wonder if she should tell Steve or Nancy or anyone who would know how to deal with this arising situation.

"The Mind Flayer."

"I closed the gate." Eleven reminded Will, not understanding how he could still feel its presence.

"I know, but what if he never left?" Will questioned aloud. "What if we locked him out here with us?" He slammed a plain piece of paper on the table in the middle of the room, drawing the Mind Flayer. "This is him. All of him. But, that day on the field, a part of him attached itself to me. My mum got it out of me and Eleven closed the gate. But the part that was still in me, what if it's still in our world? In Hawkins."

"I don't understand." Max looked up at the boy confused, asking the question many were wondering. "The Demo-dogs died when El closed the gate. If the brain dies, the body dies."

"We can't take any chances." Mike disagreed with her. "We need to assume the worst. The Mind Flayer is back."

"Yeah. And if he is, he'd want to attach himself to someone again." Will continued to explain. "A new me. A new host."

"How can you tell if someone is a host?" Eleven questioned, sharing a look with Max before turning to look at Birdie.

Bernadette fell back in the arm chair, suddenly realising who the girls thought was the new host. She held her head in her hands, mumbling curses under her breath.

"Birdie?"

"I can't do this again." Birdie sighed, looking up at the young teenagers all staring at her with concern. "It can't be Billy. His actions scream "under control" but it can be him."

"We need to go find out." Max placed a comforting hand on the older girl's shoulder, trying to reassure her as they prepared to find Billy. "Please, come with us."

"Of course." She slowly raised to her feet, nodding her head to everyone. "Someone needs to look after you troublemakers."