battle scars

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

Deep breaths, Ally. The words surfaced from some deep corner of Alina's brain, in the exact same tone her dad used a long time ago. Years ago, when he was still alive and she was still traumatized, but less so. When all she had to worry about was the bite of Linda's switch and the harsh intonation of her screams. And even after all of this time, Alina could still picture Brandon Fairgrieves' warm hand in hers, his face soft as the two of them sat on the stairs together. Alina was maybe seven or eight, a mere wisp of a child, a small thing that had not managed to grow yet, and she was sobbing her eyes out.

It was another fight, which, although common, had always struck Alina through her very core. She was like a volcano, just waiting to erupt, her lava boiling in her throat and refusing to surface only out of fear of a slap or of more screaming. Her emotions were shoved deep, deep inside, but as soon as Linda made her way outside—to go to work, to go to a hotel, to get away from this house and her husband—they always came bursting through. And on this particular day, Alina was an ocean of tears.

That was when her dad had come and sat beside her, grabbing her hand and tilting her chin up so she could meet his eyes, which were the exact same brown as her own. He'd rubbed circles in her palm (which Lucas frequently did as well—it was funny how sometimes, the two of them could be so alike, even though they'd never really met) and he'd said those three words. Deep breaths, Ally.

Deep breaths, indeed. Right now Alina's chest was heaving rapidly, even as she remembered her dad's soft reminder. Her hands were red, encased with the glow of her energy, and she had her arms flung out, shielding the others from harm. El was doing the same, her face determined, her jaw set. Alina wondered if she was trying not to cry, like Alina was.

Her dad had died to protect her, and although it kind of felt like a middle-finger to his corpse that Alina was here, throwing away her life with both hands, the other part of her knew that he'd be proud of her, that although she was scared, she was standing tall, and that she wouldn't go down without a fight. She'd honour his memory that way, at least.

In the sauna, which was too close to her for her liking, there was a jolt, and the chain rattled as the possessed Billy threw his weight against it. The lights were still flickering, his roars filled the air, and Alina managed to take a step forward, unshed tears burning in her eyes. Blood dripped from her nose, but she didn't back down, not now, even though her palms were screaming and exhaustion weighed down her eyelids. She was deeply, deeply petrified. But she was going to fight.

Billy didn't even sound human as he slammed against the door again. He really was a monster now, and, through the crack in the door, Alina could see black streaks crawling up his flushed skin. The party behind her let out gasps, and Max's voice came out higher than she probably would've liked as she asked, "He can't get out, can he?"

Lucas shook his head, his eyes wide. "No way. No way."

Alina, El, and Gabe were not convinced. Alina managed to speak. "He's not himself," she said, trying to keep her voice from breaking too much. "He's... he'll be stronger now—stronger than he was before—"

Billy slammed against the door again, and Alina knew it was not an if it was possible for Billy to break out, but a when. Any second now, he'd come bursting through the door.

"Can we run now?" Gabe asked. But even he seemed reluctant to turn his back on the sauna. And besides, every single one of them was frozen to the ground, as if their feet had been superglued there.

And that was when it happened. With a roar like a prehistoric dinosaur, Billy lunged forward, slamming his body against the door—which burst open, sending him sprawling to the ground in a heap. Everyone screamed as Billy rolled once, twice, before getting to his feet, his entire body pockmarked with the black streaks. El pushed the party further behind her, and it was Alina's time to move, lunging forward and shooting her energy right at Billy. Unfortunately, although she was right on target, Billy managed to dodge, so instead of the red blasting a hole in him, which she would've liked, it instead crashed into the wall beside the sauna, burning a hole right through.

Billy got to his feet again, stumbling slightly like a drunk person, and El concentrated, her eyes narrow, her entire body stiff. Lucas ran forward a little, attempting to pull Alina back, but she shook him off, shooting a look that told him she could protect herself. With a terrified nod, he instead put an arm in front of Max, shielding her from her malicious stepbrother.

Thrusting one hand out, El lifted a barbell from the rack, where it hovered in the air for only a moment before she sent it flying at Billy, a scream rocketing from her lips. This he was unable to dodge, and, although he tried to grab it, the force of it was too strong, and it shoved him against the wall, pressing him further and further in. Alina could see him struggle against it and formed another ball of energy, shooting it right at him. It crashed into his side, making him let out an animalistic scream as the air filled with the sound of burning flesh. This provided the perfect distraction for El, who was concentrating hard, heavy breaths coming from her as she struggled to keep Billy pinned. She then screamed again, thrusting her other arm out, and the barbell burrowed into the wall.

With the barbell grinding through brick, pressing up against Billy's neck, they seemed to be winning. After all, Billy hadn't touched them yet. And although El was evidently in pain—Alina could tell by the amount of blood running down her face, and the pained grunts as she fought to keep Billy trapped—she'd been in worse agony before.

Billy's blackened toes skimmed the ground as he gasped, suffocating against the weight of the barbell, and Alina fought to keep her eyes open, forming a new ball of energy on her palms. She didn't throw this one, not yet, when Billy might break free at any moment, so instead she just held it, letting it bob up and down in her palms slightly, her teeth gritted. Adrenaline had taken over her fear, and now, instead of being glued to the spot, she was ready to attack.

It was lucky she was, because just then, with inhumane strength, Billy shoved the barbell away from himself. Strained grunts emanated from his lips as El screamed, her face red with exertion, trying desperately to fight back. But anyone could tell it was a losing battle.

Billy threw the barbell forward, and El collapsed to the ground in a heap. Alina couldn't tell whether he'd hit her with it or not, but she yelled anyway, running forward towards her friend. "EL!" she cried, but Billy was there first, knotting his gnarled fingers in her hair as she attempted to crawl away, and then seizing her by the neck, effectively cutting off her air supply. El tried to claw him off, but she was already weak. She couldn't do anything.

But Alina could. As Billy hoisted El into the air, her legs dangling as he continued to squeeze her throat with his brutal fingers, Alina ran forward, a feral scream tearing loose from her lips as she tried to get the monster off of her friend. Her hands were encased in red, and all she had to do was tackle Billy, singing more of his flesh, for him to temporarily loosen his grip.

A savage snarl came from Billy as Alina squeezed his back, curls of smoke coming from his skin along with the disgusting squeal of melting flesh, and then, before she could react, he swung his leg out and slammed it into her side. It wasn't the most powerful of kicks—he was wounded, after all—but it was enough to send her flying, skidding across the ground right in front of the rest of the party, who were standing there with gaping mouths, and make pain explode into her ribs as stars burst across her vision. Lucas immediately bent down to attempt to help her stand, but it was obvious she was unable to continue the fight.

Gabe, staring at her, watching groans tear loose from her lips and her body curling around her injured side, finally got the urge to do something. His legs wobbled slightly, but Billy was still gripping El's neck, and she was looking dangerously close to passing out, her face tinted blue. So Gabe was the next one to lunge forward, his Swiss Army Knife in hand with the blade out, aiming it right for Billy's flesh. Will cried out for him, but by then he'd already slammed it into Billy's shoulder, which was already red with burns. The knife hit home, piercing flesh, and blood spurted around it, dripping down Billy's muscled arm.

Gabe barely had time to yank it out before a blow hit him across the face. In that single hit, Gabe recalled everything Linda had done to him and multiplied it by a thousand, because that was how it felt. It was like comparing a penny to a million dollars, and it was so hard that it sent him flying, flying across the room in a moment that seemed to take forever. Until he slammed into the locker and immediately blacked out.

Everyone was screaming now—for Gabe, for El—because now they had no good fighters left, and who knew how badly Gabe had been injured? Lucas was too busy supporting Alina to get out his wrist rocket, and he doubted he could hit anything with the amount he was shaking. Instead, all any of them could do was watch as El punched at Billy's arm, attempting to get him off her.

"No!" she screamed. "No! NO!" tears were streaming down her face, but her blows were nothing. And Billy had finally moved his attention away from the party, away from Max, and was focused solely on her, which made him all the more immovable. "No..." she choked again, her voice getting weaker, and then her eyes rolled back in her head, signalling she was about to fall unconscious.

Alina could do nothing but watch, her ribs still throbbing with pain, but Mike seemed to be tired of just watching his ex-girlfriend suffocate, as he suddenly lunged forward, a metal bar in his hands. He held it like a baseball bat and swung at Billy, hitting him across the head, and it was this blow that caused him to fall to the ground, dropping El as he did so.

"Go to hell, you piece of shit!" Mike yelled, attempting to hit Billy again, but with inhuman reflexes, Billy twisted, catching the bar in his hands. Mike's eyes bulged in fear as Billy stood up and threw the bar aside in one movement, and began advancing on a now-defenseless Mike. Alina cried out, attempting to summon her energy, but it seemed there was no more power left in her because nothing sparked. Instead she had to watch, watch as Billy prepared to beat Mike to a pulp. And kill him. Even as Will tried to run forward, they all knew it was too late, and there was nothing he could do to even make a dent in him.

Then Billy flew into the air, choking. He let out a feral scream of pain, and that's when Alina noticed El had gotten to her feet, her face still tinged a little blue, shrieking as well. Her face was wet with sweat and tears as she held Billy hostage in the air, refusing to relent.

They were both screaming, spittle dripping from Billy's mouth, and then El jerked her arms, and Billy Hargrove went flying. He crashed into the brick wall and burst right through, falling into a heap outside, covered in dust and rubble, and El sank to the ground, Mike holding her close. Lucas, Alina, and Will all immediately ran to Gabe, who was stirring, a handprint clear on his face and blood running through his hair, and Max simply looked through the hole in the brick wall, tears streaming down her face.

Mike helped El stand, and the rest of the party watched as Billy extracted himself from the rubble. Instead of heading back towards them, however, he instead ran away, tearing into the night. Burns shone on his skin and his shoulder was bleeding from Gabe's blow, and it was clear that he'd lost. Alina listened to his wails as the locker room plunged into darkness. Every single party member was sweating, their faces pale and their hearts racing, even though the threat was gone.

They'd won the battle. But this was worse, way worse, than any of them had ever thought it would be.

And hours later, in Brimborn Steelworks, things went from worse to absolutely terrible. Billy Hargrove, or what was left of him, knelt in the darkness in front of Heather Holloway, who was tending his wounds. Already he'd put ice on his burns and a bandage on his shoulder, and Heather sponged his face as she spoke.

"The girl, was it her?" she asked.

"Yeah. It was her." Billy shifted slightly. "And the other one was there, too. The other host. And they know, now. They know about me." He gritted his teeth, and as Heather moved to wipe his face again, he caught her arm, stopping her. "They could've killed me."

"Yes," said Heather. It wasn't her, though, just like it wasn't Billy. "But not us. Not us."

Because deep in the bowels of Brimborn Steelworks, an army waited. An army that, unlike the one last year, would succeed. Because instead of being made from Demodogs, it was made of people.

The people of Hawkins.

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

a/n: okay so not to be sadistic, but this chapter was super fun to write lmfao. i know i'm pretty bad at action, but i hopefully did this scene justice. and don't worry!! gabe and alina are fine. just a little bit injured (gabe more so). i really wanted this scene to be one of gabe's, because alina definitely gets her moment a lot more given her abilities, which is why i took her out of commission earlier. 

the next chapter, we're getting a little break from the awfulness and instead getting a gill moment!! it's what gabe deserves after getting wiped tf out. 

'till next time!