Hell is for Children

Devil In Me

Positive. 

"No. No! This cant be happening to me!" Diana whispered to herself as she stood in her bathroom, test in hand. 

"Hey everything ok in there?" Corinne asked quietly through the door. 

Diana felt tears begin to streak her cheeks. She quietly began to sob as Corinne opened the door.  By the look on Diana's face, Corinne already knew the answer to the question she didnt need to ask. Instead she just hugged her friend tightly. 

"Itll be ok. Billy loves you, and you love him. Itll all work out I promise." Corinne said, trying to reassure her. 

"Billy's off his gourd right now, Cor. How the hell am I supposed to spring this on him? Not to mention Hopper AND Rudy are going to kill him, then me!" Diana sobbed. 

"Just clean yourself up before Rudy starts to ask questions. We'll figure this out" Corinne said as she left the bathroom, closing the door behind her. 

Diana washed her face and reapplied her makeup so it wouldnt look like she had been crying. As she stared in the mirror running her fingers through her long red hair she heard the doorbell ring. 

A couple minutes later she heard foot steps, then the door opened. It was Corinne, wide-eyed. 

"Um. Dont freak out, but Billy's here" she said nervously. 

"Shit! Shit. Shit shit!! What is he doing here? God dammit!" Diana babbled as she practically ran down the steps to the foyer. Billy stood by the front door, handsome as ever in a light blue shirt and jeans, his hair perfectly quaffed. He was a compete 180 from the last time she had seen him at the Hawkins Pool. 

"Hey Baby" his voice sounded oddly deeper than usual. 

"Uh. Hey" she crossed her arms, which had goosebumps. 

He walked right up to her, took her into his arms and kissed her deeply. 

The usual fireworks and butterflies werent present though. Instead a quick, sharp pain coursed through her head then down to her abdomen, almost like electricity. Jumbled images of them meeting for the first time, their first date, their graduation, their California trip, all coursed through her head at lightning speed. Then an image of Billy sitting alone on his bed in front of a television, watching this exact moment. 

She broke away from him and he smiled a dark, twisted version of the cheeky grin she was so used to. 

"Diana honey" her step mother Lynnette called from the kitchen "why doesnt Billy stay for dinner? I feel like we havent seen him in a stones age". 

Before Diana could respond, Billy called back to her. 

"I would love to stay Mrs. Lister" he never took his eyes off Diana. 

Lynnette came around the corner, smiling. "Oh Billy! Youre being so formal today!" She giggled and pinched his arm as she walked by. 

Hades slunk down the steps, glaring at Billy the entire way. Diana waited for a snide remark from Billy like usual. Instead he walked over to Hades until he was about eye level with the small black cat. Hades let out a blood curdling wail and pounced at Billy's face. 

"Hades!" Diana screamed as she struggled to get the cat off of him. 

When she finally broke him loose, Billy glared in Hades direction, causing him to pee on the carpet. 

"What the hell was all that ruckus?" Rudy demanded as he walked around the corner. 

"Aw jesus christ Diana! The god damned cat pissed on the floor" Rudy said angrily, shooing Hades with his foot. 

"Dad he was just really scared for some reason. I'll clean it up" she turned towards Billy "Are you alright?" She asked. Four deep scratches had tiny bits of blood beading onto Billy's exposed chest. 

"Fine" he responded.

"Dammit, your bleeding. Here come with me, I'll clean you up" she grabbed his hand, that same weird electricity coursed up her arm, causing her to let go quickly. 

She led him to the small bathroom by the kitchen and grabbed the alcohol to clean it. When she opened the lid, the chemical smelled oddly sweet to her. She looked at the bottle, thinking she had grabbed the wrong one. As she dabbed it onto Billy's chest, she got insatiably thirsty. 

"There. Youre set. Lets go eat" she said as she headed to the fridge. She grabbed a pitcher of lemonade and poured herself a large glass, then drank it until it was empty, and poured another. 

Corinne had come down for dinner as well, so the five of them sat in awkward silence at first. Diana caught Billy giving Corinne the odd stare. 

Rudy finally broke the silence. 

"So Billy, whats new and exciting? Hows the lifeguard job going?" He asked. 

Billy smiled in-genuinely "Great. Gets a little warm up there though" 

"Arent you from California? You should be used to the heat, look how tan you are" Corinne imposed, mouth full of mashed potatoes. 

Diana pushed her food around her plate, the sight of it making her nauseous. 

"I sure do miss having you at the garage, Billy. Bob retired so we're short staffed at the moment. If you ever want to come back just let me know. Doors always open to ya" Rudy offered. 

"You know what? You let me know when its just you around and I will stop by." Billy smirked. 

All of a sudden Diana's stomach wretched. She got an image inside her head of Billy arriving at Rudy's garage. The two go into Rudy's office, Rudy turns his back and Billy hits him over the head with a wrench. 

Diana gripped the edge of the table, causing the drinks on it to shake and splash onto the mahogany. 

"Pumpkin...are you alright? Youre lookin' a little green in the gils over there" Rudy asked, concerned. 

Diana looked over at Corinne, who was staring at Billy, who was staring at Diana, that same twisted smile plastered on his handsome face. 

"Im...fine. Just not very hungry" Diana barely got out. 

As Lynette and Corinne cleaned the table and Rudy headed into the living room, Diana and Billy remained at the table. Billy stared at her, grinning. She looked nervously up at him. He reached his hand underneath the table, up her leg and across until it rested on her stomach. He leaned in close to her and put his mouth to her ear. 

" Youre more important to me than you will ever even know"