𝑩𝑳𝑼𝑬 - Billy Hargrove [1]

TWENTY SIX

TWENTY SIX|FINDING THE MIND FLAYER

Bernadette leaned back in the armchair in Mike's basement, watching Eleven carefully as she tried to locate Chief Hopper with her powers. After losing Billy at the pool they came back to Mike's, Birdie keeping a lookout in case Billy tried to come back while the kids were sleeping.

"I found him." Eleven announced, giving the group hope as they knew Hopper would be the most help in the current situation.

"Where is he?"

"Woods." She stated, sounding unsure as she spoke. "He's with Wills mum."

"My mum?"

"What are they doing?"

"Ill - annoy?" She repeated back to them, not understanding what she was saying. "They're going to Ill - annoy."

"Mike!" Mrs. Wheeler banged on the basement door, startling everyone. "Breakfast!"

"Not now, mum!" Mike yelled back before turning his attention back to Eleven. "Illinois? Illinois, like the state? The state of Illinois?"

"What other Illinois do you know?" Birdie asked sarcastically, rolling her tired eyes at him.

"Ill - annoy." Eleven repeated slowly, stammering as she spoke, her voice hoarse from Billy's attack. Max took the girl away to the bathroom, helping her clean her nose as Mike paced the room.

"Something's not right." He ranted, making everyone dizzy as he walked in circles. "I can't get Hopper off my back all summer, now all of a sudden he's hiking with Wills mum to Illinois? And Dustin is MIA, too? I mean, this can't be a coincidence."

"What does it matter?" Lucas questioned, growing tired of Mike's voice. Birdie sighed, closing her eyes as she tried to drown out Mike's voice to catch some sleep. "The bottom line is, they are not here. It's up to us."

"Kill Billy and I'll kill you." Birdie mumbled, overhearing their plan to burn Billy alive. "And I don't mean that as an empty threat. I will save Billy and won't hesitate to kill anyone, including everyone in this room and their entire family if it protects Billy."

A knock at the basement door woke Birdie from her nap, her eyes snapping open as she glanced around the room confused before remembering where she was. She rubbed her tired eyes and curled her legs beneath her body as she tried to stay awake.

"Not now, mum!" Mike screamed up at the person knocking on the door.

"Mike, open the door." Nancy yelled back, her voice laced with concern. Mike quickly opened the door, Nancy and Jonathan greeting him before they joined the others in the basement.

"Oh my god, Nancy." Birdie pushed herself off the chair and threw herself into Nancy's arms, holding her close as she sighed with relief that another older person was there to help babysit. "It's been hell." She stepped back, falling back into her chair as she allowed Nancy to explain why she urgently needed everyone.

"It was the same thing, the exact same thing that happened to Will last year." Nancy explained to the group. "And look at this. Look at the body temperatures." She placed a medical sheet in front of everyone.

"He likes it cold." Will looked up, understanding what Nancy was trying to explain.

"Okay, so this crazy old woman who was eating fertilizer-" Mike began to repeat the story Nancy had told them. "Right, yeah, Mrs. Driscoll. What time was this attack?"

"Last night."

"Right, but what time last night?"

"Around nine." Nancy thought back to when she was at the hospital.

"You waited all night to call?" Jonathan mumbled to her, starting a small conversation between the two.

"You weren't there?" Will questioned why his brother would allow Nancy to be alone near a Mind Flayer victim.

"Well, I'm here now, aren't I?" He said defensively, shaking his arms dramatically.

"Hallelujah." Nancy replied sarcastically causing Birdie to snort as she sensed a lovers riff between the pair. "So, uh, what time was your sauna test?"

"Pool closes at eight so it would have been around nine." Birdie confirmed, nodding to herself as she remembered the pool times accurately.

"Well, that proves it." Nancy said enthusiastically. "That proves my theory."

"She's flayed, just like Billy." Mike confirmed, looking around the room as he realised this was going to be a lot harder than attacking Billy.

"Flayed?" Jonathan questioned his word choice.

"The Mind Flayer. He flays people." The boy explained to him. "Takes over their mind. Once they do that, they basically become him."

"If there are two flayed?" Lucas began to question, realising what it meant.

"We have to assume there are more." Birdie confirmed, sitting up straight as she suddenly felt more awake.

"Heather." Eleven glanced at Birdie. "Billy was doing something to her. She was scared. She was screaming. Bad screams."

"What's a good scream?" Lucas asked, the confusion evident in his voice as he asked curiously about her choice of words.

"Max said that Birdie-"

"Nope!" Bernadette cut the girl off, instantly realising what she was going to say. "Let's just say that a bad scream is in pain or fear. That's all you need to know."

"I'm sorry, I'm lost." Nancy cut them all off from being side tracked. "Who is Heather?"

"Heather Holloway." Birdie explained, a sudden realisation hit her that her friend had been mind flayed. "She is a lifeguard at the pool me and Billy work at."

"How do we know Birdie isn't flayed?" Jonathan stared the tired girl down, knowing her relationship with Billy. "She practically lived with Billy."

"Oh my God." The girl gasped, her hand over her mouth as a second wave of realisation hit. "Billy broke up with me straight after he had gone missing. It was when he suddenly started acting weird, like he wasn't himself. He got me far away from him, from the danger of being flayed."

"I told you, he loves you." Max reached across and held her hand, squeezing it reassuringly.