melancholia. [ ALTERNATE SPIN-OFF ] [ BILLY HARGROVE ]

xxii. CHAPTER NINETEEN

~*~
warnings: mature language

     "Take it off." The cloth bag was pulled from Billy's head, the boy wincing at the bright light. He turned his head away immediately, shutting his eyes to try and regain his vision. He opened them again to see the blur of a figure. He finally gained back his sight, noticing the person to be Jackson. "Welcome home, Billy." Jackson smiled wickedly, then turned and walked to the table behind him. "This mission, it... I really didn't expect it to end with you." 

     "What... Where's Mary?" Billy asked, looking around the room. 

     "She's on her way, I'm sure of it," Jackson answered easily. "How do you like your coffee?"

     "I don't drink coffee," Billy answered. 

     "Right," Jackson said, snapping his fingers. "Forgot." 

     "Jack, what are you doing? Why are you with them?" Billy asked, leaning forward in his chair. 

     "You know, that's exactly the question my last girlfriend asked me," he said, tilting a knife toward Billy. "She was our age, lived in Utah. When my cover was blown, I had to kill her, obviously. It was hard to kill Mandy, it was. I did love her, but... my work is more important." Jackson set down the knife, walking to Billy. "I presume you don't know why you're here, still." 

     "Let me guess, I'm bait to lure Mary here," Billy answered with a sigh. 

     "Bingo," Jackson said, pointing at him. "She'll be bringing herself and that other man. Andrew. They'll both be taken and executed for their crimes against us." 

     "I'm sorry, what?" Billy asked. "No, you can't kill Mary." 

     "Why not?" Jackson asked. Billy gritted his teeth, anger boiling up inside of him. "And, you know, when we kill her, obviously you'll be watching." 

     "Death isn't so permanent for Mary," Billy snapped, eyes narrowing at Jackson. 

     "Uh, thanks to us. She'll be staying dead this time, thank you very much," Jackson said, walking to Billy. "And right after we kill her, we'll kill your family, your Hawkins friends. And you'll stay here tied up, helpless. Hopeless. Then, finally, we'll kill you." 

     "You don't know these people. They've defeated creatures so much stronger than them, you couldn't take them on," Billy said, trying to defend his friends as best as he could. 

     "Yeah, I figured you'd bring up that wonderful point. That's why we've got our backup," Jackson said. He stood, going to a door. "We've got backup number one." He hit the cage, the demogorgon roaring from inside. "Backup number two." He hit the cage, a demo-dog scratching at the door. "And backup number three." Jackson walked to the wall, pointing to the small slit in it. "Mind Flayer's locked up in there, for now." Jackson walked to Billy, crouching in front of him. "It could take you as host again." He laughed, turning and walking to a different door than the two he hit before. "Only a matter of time, Hargrove. I'll say hi to Max for you." Billy's eyes widened, and he fought against his restraints as Jackson walked out. 

     "You touch her and I'll kill you, Jackson! You hear me! I'll kill you!" Billy screamed. Jackson smiled, stepping into the elevator to commence his plans. 

~*~

     Mary gripped the steering wheel of the Impala, passing the 'Welcome to Hawkins' sign after the long ten hours of driving. 

     "You sure Georgia was okay with you coming?" Mary asked, looking to Andrew. 

     "Yes, she'll be okay. She can protect herself," Andrew answered. "I'm not very worried." Mary just nodded, looking to the road again as the music played lowly. She slowed the car once she was in town, going to her house first. She pulled into the driveway to see that the cars were there, and she rushed to the front door. She knocked on it, her brother opening it after a minute. 

     "You're home," he said, eyes wide. 

     "Yeah, there's a situation. Is mom home?" she asked. 

     "No, she's-" 

     "Good, let's go," Mary said, pulling him out of the house. 

     "Hey!" Dustin complained. 

     "Look, I'll explain in the car, but we need to go," Mary said, Dustin nodding along with her. He got in the car, noticing Andrew first. 

     "That's not Billy," he said, pointing to him. 

     "Yeah, I know," Mary scoffed. "Okay, Andy, tell him the whole story." Andrew nodded, beginning to tell Dustin everything about the Russians. The car was silent once Andrew finished talking, Dustin just staring forward in shock. Mary glanced to her brother, wondering if she'd just made him go mute with all the information. "Earth to Dustin? You in there, brother?" 

     "Yeah, it's just... A lot of information," he said, nodding slowly. "If you could pull over, I think I'm going to puke." 

     "Why?" Mary asked, getting concerned for him quickly. 

     "You have superpowers and didn't tell me," Dustin snapped, eyes wide in shock. "And you're working with this guy who's awesome! And you're in a battle showdown that's kind of on the clock. This feels like some type of finale or something. You sure we don't need backup?" 

     "Kid, you're insane if you think I didn't already call backup," Mary said with a small chuckle. 

     "You called for backup? Who did you call?" Dustin asked, Mary not smiling as she didn't want to tell him yet. "Mary, who'd you call?" 

     "I know a girl," she answered. 

~*~

     The Impala rolled up to Hopper's cabin, and she saw the two other cars already there. The three riding in the car all got out, Dustin not recognizing one of the parked cars. 

     "Who's car is that?" he asked, pointing to it. Before Mary could answer, Steve rolled up to the house with Robin in the passenger seat. They both got out, Mary smiling as she hugged Steve. 

     "When you called and told me to get you the package, I was a little confused. How'd you know he was out of jail?" Steve asked, beginning to walk to the trunk of his car. 

     "Oh, little research never hurt nobody," Mary answered, motioning for Steve to hand her the keys to the trunk. He did, Mary opening it quickly. Her, Steve, Robin, Dustin, and Andrew all stared at the tied up and gagged Alexander Gold, a smirk growing on Mary's face at the site. 

     "You stole... your former abuser," Dustin stated, breathing heavily. "Yeah, I'm really going to puke now." He turned away and threw up, Robin and Steve grimacing at the teenager. 

     "I hope everyone's ready for this next one," Mary said, "because it's about to get fucking insane." 

-----

words cannot express
my excitement
for the rest of this book
bitch i'm so ready