Be My Escape

Chapter Three

Standing in the doorway was Karen Wheeler, extremely confused, as the man on her porch is the one that died last year. "Billy Hargrove? I thought you were dead!" She blinked, trying to discern if she was dreaming or not. "I- I don't understand, Billy."

"It's nice to see you too, Karen." Billy reached forward and grabbed her hand, bringing it to his lips and planting a kiss to it. "I don't have time to explain, but is your son home? We need to speak to him, it's urgent."

Eddie wasn't exactly sure why, but seeing Billy kiss Mrs. Wheeler's hand sent a bolt of jealousy through his core. He shot a glance over to him, wondering what the history between them was. He would have to ask later. He kept quiet, though, watching the scene unfold.

Mrs. Wheeler nodded, stepping back to allow the men to enter her home. "They're in the basement." She led them to the door. "It's nice to see you too, Billy." She leaned in, whispering so only Billy could hear. "I never stopped thinking about you."

Billy gave the woman a wink and a smirk, before opening the door and descending the stairs.

Voices overlapped downstairs, in a heated debate, but they grew hushed as they heard someone walking into the room. Once the figure was in full view, they grew silent, nothing but gasps. "Billy?!"

Billy grinned, seeing the group of people that he hadn't seen since the battle in the Starcourt Mall. But one person stood out from the rest. The memories flooded back when he saw him. "Am I dreaming, or is that you, Harrington?"

"Yeah, it's me, don't cream your pants," Steve replied, brows furrowed in confusion. "How the hell are you standing here right now?"

Billy looked at the rest of the group. "Well, I was stuck in the Upside Down for nearly a year. I don't know what happened, but I got stuck there when that...thing shot tentacles at me. I don't know." He shook his head. "But I found somebody! Somebody you left there."

Right on cue, another set of footsteps descended the stairs, standing next to Billy.

Dustin looked like he was about to cry. "Eddie?" his voice broke.

"Yeah, it's me, Dustin," Eddie replied, already in tears as his emotions started to spill out. He grew angry, remembering what they did to him, remembering where they left him, how they left him. "You left me. You left me there to die! I was still alive! You didn't check for a pulse? You didn't even try to come back for me? You just decided to forget I exist?!" Tears spilled from his red eyes, taking an unsteady breath, before continuing. "I can't believe you guys. I thought you were my friends."

The entire time Eddie spoke, Billy had a hand on his back, rubbing it comfortingly. "You guys are bastards," he spat, "You really don't care about anyone else but yourselves. Just tell me where my sister is. I need to see her. I need to make sure she's okay."

Once Max was mentioned, the group grew quiet again, their heads down. Steve was the one to speak up. "Billy, before we tell you, we have to make sure you know exactly what's going on with the town. What's going on with the Upside Down."

"Oh, don't worry," Billy replied, "Pretty boy here told me about Vecna. He told me that the Chrissy girl turned into a bowl of Rice Krispies in his trailer and that he's currently framed for murder." His hand was moving further down Eddie's back, wrapping itself around his waist. "He told me that the giant cracks in the town is probably caused by the monster."

"You killed it, right?" Eddie spoke up, his voice small. He refused to look into anybody's eyes.

Dustin sighed. "I think so," he replied, wiping away a stray tear, "I think Robin and Nancy throwing molotov cocktails at Vecna is what killed him, and killing him is what caused the massive fissures."