Hell is for Children

Black Sea

"I think you need to use your powers to find Billy. It'll give us an advantage" Lucas suggested.

"She's not doing anything she isnt comfortable with! So you can all stop pressuring her!" Mike exclaimed. 

El looked at Max who sat beside her on the floor of Hopper's cabin. 

"Can you give me the blindfold?" El asked. 

Max handed her the black blindfold she had used the night they used El's powers to spy on Billy. 

"Guys shut up!" Max yelled at the boys, who were arguing over El. 

The room fell silent as El went into the Upside Down. She saw Billy in the distance, sitting on his mattress, staring at a floor that wasnt there. She approached him slowly. Once she was directly in front if him she reached down and took his hand into hers. He slowly looked up at her. When they made eye contact El got flashes of him being dragged away from his car by an invisible force. She then saw the Mind Flayer take over his body. She got fast flashes of him with Diana, but when she tried to delve deeper, Billy released her hand, throwing her backwards. 

She tumbled and tumbled until she sank beneath the black water that was the floor of the Upside Down. 

She splashed into an ocean on the other side. 

As she struggled to get her feet and her bearings, she took in the surroundings. A long beach stretched out in front of her, sun shining. But darkness loomed straight ahead. At the end of the beach a storm raged on. Red lightning pierced the sky as black clouds tumbled. 

"Im on a beach" she announced to the others. 

"What do you see?" Mike asked. 

El began to walk along the sand, water slapping her feet as she went. 

"Birds. Sand and water" she said. 

"Thats California" Max told them. 

Straight ahead El saw a beautiful, blonde, middle aged woman in a white dress smiling as she tucked her long hair behind her ears. As she got closer she saw a young boy emerge from the water carrying a surfboard. 

"Did you see that!? That wave had to be seven feet at least!" The young boy told the woman happily. 

"I saw!" She smiled at him, putting a hand on his head affectionately. 

As El continued to walk along the beach, the closer she got to the storm, the darker the images were. She saw a man, who she assumed to be Billy's father, screaming at a young Billy dressed in a baseball uniform, calling him a pussy. 

She saw Billy's father screaming, then hitting his mom, as  Billy tried to fight him off.

She saw Billy's mom, frail and sickly, die of cancer. While Billy begged her not to leave him alone in this world. 

She saw Billy beating up another young boy, calling him a pussy just as his father had done to him. 

She saw Billy and Diana screaming at each other about Billy having slept with another girl, then watched as she left with Steve Harrington. 

She saw the Billy she recognized, beating on Steve Harrington, she saw Diana try to stop him. Billy turned around and knocked Diana out cold. 

She felt tears sting her eyes as she watched every horrible moment of Billy's life unfold in front of her. When she had finally saw all she could take, she ripped the blindfold off. She sat on the floor of Hopper's cabin, but her friends were gone. 

She turned around when she heard footsteps behind her, coming face to face with Billy Hargrove.