𝑩𝑳𝑼𝑬 - Billy Hargrove [1]

THIRTY ONE

THIRTY ONE|FIREWORKS

Bernadette stilled as she heard a faint screeching nose in the distance, suddenly feeling unsafe by herself on the porch. The loud thudding noise grew closer, forcing the girl to her feet.

"We need to leave!" She burst into the house, a scared expression painted on her face as the hairs on her arm pricked up.

"He knows we're here." Will announced, holding the back of his neck. One by one they ran out of the house, looking down the barely lit driveway at a creature lingering in the distance.

"What the fuck is that?" Birdie screeched, hiding behind Nancy with fear. The group went into fight mode, boarding up the windows and grabbing weapons from the shed, all preparing to help El.

"Get away from the windows!" Nancy ordered, grabbing a shotgun and loading the barrel.

They all stood back to back, going quiet as they waited for the Mind Flayer to show up. A shiver ran down Birdie's spine as she felt it get closer.

Suddenly a tentacle broke through the wall, going straight for Eleven. Nancy and Jonathan tried to fight it off as Bernadette forced the kids behind her. Eleven stepped forwards, stopping the tentacles as they broke through the walls.

The Mind Flayer attacked Eleven through the roof, grabbing her ankle and trying to pull her out as the others tried to pull her back in.

"Nancy, shoot it!" Jonathan screamed to his girlfriend, feeling his grip starting to loosen.

They fell backwards, Eleven screaming in pain at the wound the Mind Flayer left on her leg, it's sharp claws digging into her skin. She panted in pain, standing up and using her powers to momentarily damage the creature enough for them to escape.

The group piled into the car, Nancy stepping on the accelerator as they raced down the drive away and far away from the house. She pulled into a supermarket that had closed for the Fourth of July celebrations, knowing they could at least find medical supplies for Eleven.

"I'm going to look for anything that could be useful." Birdie nodded to the others, not wanting to watch as they tried to clean up the wound. "Yell if you need me."

She looked around the shelves, grabbing a chocolate bar and eating it as she collected more sugary products for Eleven to get her sugar levels up. Birdie grabbed an energy drink, slowly wandering back to the aisle Eleven was on. She stopped at the end, listening quietly as Mike tried to confess his feelings to Eleven.

"Okay, that was worse than my attempt." She shook her head, crouching down beside Eleven as Mike dived for the radio, hearing Dustin's voice. "Here, to give you energy." She passed Eleven the energy drink and opened her own one.

"Dustin?" Mike said in surprise as he answered. "Dustin, you're breaking up. Dustin, you're cutting out."

"What is it?" Nancy questioned as she rounded the corner with Jonathan.

After bandaging up Eleven's leg, they helped her to the freezer section, opening the doors to cool her down as she tied a blindfold over her eyes.

"How do you even drink that?" Mike questioned Lucas with disgust as he sipped at a can of coke.

"Because it's delicious."

"What?" Max and Mike stared at him with shock, both finally agreeing on something.

"It's like Carpenter's The Thing." Lucas explained with an analogy. "The original is a classic, no question about it. But the remake..." He took a long, loud sip, smacking his lips together as he let out a satisfied sigh. "Sweeter, bolder, better."

"There are far better drinks to choose from." Birdie glanced at his with a raised brow, judging his drink choice.

"You're insane." Mike added, refusing to accept Lucas's drink.

"So, you prefer the original Thing?"

"What? No, I'm not talking about The Thing, in talking about New Coke." He explained, shaking his head at Lucas.

"It's the same concept, dude."

"It is not the same concept."

"Hey!" Eleven pulled away her blindfold, stopping the boys from bickering.

"Did you find Dustin?" Birdie glanced down at Eleven, hoping she had managed to find him before the two boys disturbed her.

"He's at the movies."

"The movies?" Lucas rambled as he pushed a trolley around the store, everyone grabbing supplies as they went. "Dustin's so freaked out about the gate, he decides to go watch a movie? Yeah, makes total sense."

"You're positive he said "gate" and not "great"?" Max asked Mike, glancing behind her at the silent boy.

"Yeah, like, "this movie I'm watching is great"." Will suggested, shrugging as he tried to think about what Dustin could of said.

"I heard "gate", as well." Birdie piped up, grabbing a packet of crisps to snack on. "Which would explain how the Mind Flayer is still alive."

"Yeah, we just have to shut it again." Nancy added, trying to formulate a plan.

"Then the monster dies."

"And Billy will be free." Bernadette smiled to herself, hoping their plan would work.

"But if not, we always have Lucas's fireworks." Max stated sarcastically, helping carry the fireworks out the broken door.

"Keep mocking my plan, Max." Lucas sassed back to her. "Keep mocking it. I wanna hear you say it again, because you keep doubting me."