The storm in our eyes

I clutched my knees further into my chest, everything in me begging to run, leave this place behind, escape it.

I could hear it, smashing trashcans, squelching insistently against the floor. It was calling to me, begging me to fall into the abyss of uncertainty and terror the upside-down had created inside of me.

Pillars began to crack under its weight, making me shake a little but more.

A low hissing noise broke the suspense, I involuntarily twitched violently, doing everything possible to keep my mind away from that place.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

I could feel him getting closer. My gut had been fluttering since he arrived, but now it was deathly silent.

'Not all of us might survive this encounter.' My mind whispered traitorously. 'he is only silent when he's hunting.'

I squeezed my eyes shut.

Breathe.

Count.

1.

Thump. God he's coming closer...

Breathe. in. breathe. out. calm down. you've survived this before.

Breathe.

Count.

2.

Another step.

Nobody will die tonight if I have anything to say about it.

Breathe.

Keep counting.

3.

The car flipped over our head and Lucas let out a high pitched shriek, Jonathan dived, shoved Nancy behind a pillar, and grabbed Lucas and I by our collars. In a heroic turn of events, he attempted to shove us behind the other pillar, leaving himself the primary target.

Nancy rolled back into focus before he could, she pulled out a gun and began shooting with deadly accuracy.

The mind-flayer screeched and lifted its big stick arms up, Nancy pivoted right before it slammed them down right in her former place.

The mind-flayer rose from an invisible hand and hit the wall hard, momentarily stunning it. El appeared with Max and Mike, the dim flashing lights making her skin glow in an eerie supernatural way.

"Let's Go!! RUN!" Jonathan yelled, shoving me in front of him, as we raced towards the exit. We all practically leapt into the car, Nancy and Jonathan hurrying under the hood to put the ignition cable in.

I loud revving noise broke out, dazzling us in the bright headlights of a car. Billy appeared in my peripheral vision, his face carved into a cold mask, one I could easily decipher.

Him.

Billy was probably incased in ice somewhere deep in his brain where only Eleven could venture. He was probably confused, and scared.

Like me.

Now there was only him.

Billy was a jerk, no doubt hitting Max. But nobody deserved to be with him, the soulless conscience the mind-flayer ordered you around with.

The screaming of tires against asphalt directed my attention back to the car as it sped towards us. Nancy began shooting to defend us.

I didn't have the heart to tell her it wouldn't work, the mind-flayer was immortal, and his shadowy body of goo would reappear soon.