Drowning • Billy Hargrove

Chapter 56

Billy lifted El off of the curb and into the backseat, trying his best now to wake her. Meanwhile, I climbed into the passenger's side seat and rested my head against the window.

"You ready?" Billy asked me once everyone was all set.
"Yeah. I can't wait to see my bed."
He chuckled. "Well I bet everybody can't wait to see you two. We thought you were gone for good."
I looked at him and smiled. "Not yet."

We finally arrived back at my house where everybody was waiting for us. As soon as Billy pulled into the driveway, everybody came sprinting to the car.

"I'm so glad you guys are okay!" Nancy says while I climb out of the car.
"Me too." I respond.
"Is El okay?" Joyce asks.
I look back at her. "They pushed her to her limit. She was exhausted and just collapsed into my arms."
Dad looks at me confused. "What? What happened?"
I begin to shiver. "Can we talk about this inside?"

Once we entered the house, I went over everything that happened. How El and I were thrown into the back of a van and taken to the metal junkyard where the hidden trapdoor is. Also, how we saw the same guy who killed Alexei and how he took us to a room where a guy named Dima told us what was about to happen.

"He said that if El didn't open the gate without any complications, there would be no consequences. But if she refused, they would possibly kill me." I tell the group.
Dad runs his hands through his hands. "I can't believe we're going through this again."
Joyce nods. "I thought we were done for good."
"We have to go down there and close it once again." Johnathan suggests.
"No!" I say, raising my voice.
"What do you mean?" Dad asks.
"Dima said that if we go down there and attack their base, that he would have us thrown into the Upside Down. Plus, they outnumber us by a hundred people."
"So there's nothing we can do at all?" Nancy questions.
I shrug my shoulders. "I don't think so."
"So we just wait?" Billy asks.
"I guess so." Joyce says while letting out a long sigh.
"What about Brandon?" Steve says from behind everybody. I didn't even realize Steve was over because he had no input into the conversation.
"What about him?" My father asks.
Steve looks at me. "Well you know... Last time the gate was open he went out of the coma and started going crazy."
Everybody looked at him with crazy eyes, but they didn't realize that he was telling the truth because we had told nobody about the new information we discovered.

"He's right. The last time the gate was open he went crazy. The Mindflayer is still in him and it's only activated when the gate is open."
Nancy runs her hands through her hair. "Shit."
"Are you sure that he just didn't randomly wake up?" Dad asks.
I look at Steve and Billy. "We visited him the day of and the timelines match up perfectly. Also, Brandon's dad said that his veins were all black, similar to what happened to Billy and Will." I gestured my head over to all of the Will and all of the other kids who were passed out sleeping on the couch and floor.
"Damn it." Joyce mumbles.
"So you're telling me that what's going to happen is the Demogorgans and Demodogs and whatever the hell other types of monsters that are in the Upside Down are going to break out of the secret base and take over Hawkins?" Nancy says, sounding extremely angry.
"Nance." Johnathan says, trying to calm her down.
"No. I'm right and nobody wants to admit it." She spits out.
I look down at my dirty shoes. "We all know you're right. Nobody just wants to accept the fact that it's going to happen."

Everyone ended up sleeping over at our small cabin because it was too late at night to have them drive home. Also, we didn't know what was out there.
So, we had people sleep on the floor, couches and a couple of chairs.
Billy obviously slept with me in my room.

"Our world is going to hell again." I say to him as soon as we're settled in bed.
He nods his head. "It is."
The next morning I awoke to loud noises coming from down the hall
"What the?" I silently question to myself.

I pull the blankets off of myself and run out to the living room.
I notice my father frantically walking around the house.

"What's going on?" I ask my father who was standing in his uniform.

He shakes his head. "What do you think? In the past nine hours, the Russians lost control and now we have Demogorgans and Demodogs running around loose."
My heart drops. "Seriously?"
Dad nods his head. "I'm going into work early today because the station is getting bombarded with calls. Everything is going downhill."
I sigh. "Shit."
He nods his head. "Nobody leaves the house today. I don't care if its cramped, everybody stays in one place till we come up with a plan."
"Okay. Stay safe."
He nods his head and walks out the door.

I run back to my room and wake Billy.
"What are you doing?" He groans.
"The Russians lost control of the gate." I say, close to tears.
He sits up in bed. "What?"
"My dad just told me that there are a bunch of Demogorgans and Demodogs running around loose. The station is getting overwhelmed with calls so he's going in early."
"Well shit." He responds.