(Ep. 8: The Battle of Starcourt)

Gwen followed the others to the second level of the mall to get a better advantage point of the Mind Flayer. The kids wanted to attack from the first floor as it seemed better to attack from a closer distance, and even though their intentions were good, they weren't ideal.

It took lots of convincing and arguing, but eventually, the older teens were able to reassure them the second level is the better option. So now, hauling up the stairs appeared to be the only solution.

As they carried boxes of fireworks upstairs, it only reminded Gwen that this was not the way their Fourth of July should be going. She should be at the county fair with Steve and the kids, just getting on the craziest rides and filling themselves with junk food as they wait for the fireworks show to start. Only now, the only show they were getting was lighting up the monster with these pyrotechnics.

They should be having fun, not doing this, and certainly not endangering their lives again.

As she made it halfway up the stairs, Gwen suddenly felt something pull her down the steps. The jarring collision of the ground took her breath away and left her stuck in a daze. She blinked sharply to adjust her sight, but found her fingertips covered by her blood. 

A sudden kick against her ribs sent her a few feet from the spot she fell in. Gwen didn't have to perceive what happened. It was until hearing a familiar voice when she comprehended what occurred. 

"Miss me?"

Gwen was stunned to find Natalia standing a couple meters from her. The once popular cheerleader was supposed to be getting ready to leave for college, but instead had become one of the victims of the mind flayer. The others told her that she probably melted with the rest of the flayed, but it was now impossible when seeing her standing right in front. 

"Oh, great. It's you," Gwen breathed out, and quickly raised herself from the tiles. Even if she didn't like Natalia, she couldn't help but worry when seeing the terrible state she was in. 

Black veins covered her body, droplets of blood were splattered in her arms and legs, and her once vibrant lifeguard uniform was now filled with dark stains and what appeared to be dried blood. 

Gwen knew there was no conceivable way that she stood a chance against her. With the strength of the mind flayer inside her, it was a fight bound to be lost. She discreetly glanced toward the escalators and hoped no one would notice her absence, but like expected, Steve was already running down in a panic. 

"Gwen!" Steve yelled, and came to an abrupt stop when recognizing Natalia. "Holy shit."

"I got it handled! GO!" 

(But it wasn't in Steve's nature to abandon her

And Natalia knew it.)

Within the blink of an eye, Natalia dashed to the escalators faster than a bolt of lightning. Her expression remained stoic, but it was the darkness in her eyes that expressed her malicious intents. 

Steve remaining standing, not daring to run away in spite of everything telling him he should. 

Gwen ran as fast as possible in their direction, fully determined to protect the man she loved. She grabbed ahold of her waist to shove her down the flight of stairs, but Natalia didn't flinch at her action. 

A threatening glare gathered in her eyes as she grabbed Gwen by the head to smash it against the escalator's railing, but her reflexes came in hand. By a mere second, Gwen dodged the attack and pushed her elbow back to ram it against her nose. At Natalia's distraction, she yelled in Steve's direction, "Go with the others! I'll be fine!" 

(Like always, he didn't listen.)

Steve frantically looked around for anything to use against Natalia. He looked in the direction of the others and was relieved when seeing Robin running to them. He took the crowbar from Robin's hands and wasted no time in hitting Natalia with it. 

The girl reached for her head and formed a low growl when seeing blood in her fingertips. She released her grip on Gwen and sprung forward to grab Steve's wrists, proceeding to yank the crowbar from his hands to smash it against him. 

The sight of Steve's unconscious body was enough for Gwen to see red. She couldn't care less for not hurting Natalia anymore. It didn't matter if she was being controlled by the mind flayer. All she saw in the girl was a monster that hurt the man she loved. 

And she wouldn't let her get away with it.

"Get him out of here," Gwen ordered Robin, not taking her eyes off Natalia and beginning to walk down the steps to get her to follow her. 

Natalia's eyes remained cold and heartless. She lost interest in the pair behind her that all she could bring herself to do was focus on the challenge in front. In a sudden movement, Natalia sprinted down the stairs and leapt onto Gwen, who managed to turn the girl over to obtain a softer landing. 

Gwen ignored her intense headache and slight blurriness in her vision. She stood up and curled her hands into fists, nodding at her to come closer. The dark haired girl tilted her head to the side, a faint popping sound being heard before running in a loud yell toward her. Gwen threw her to the side and raised her boot to kick her against the ribs. Natalia then took a step forward and entangled her right hand around Gwen's neck. Raising her into the air with only one arm, she slammed her against the wall and admired the sight with a dark smile spreading across her face.

Gwen flailed her legs forward and used every ounce of strength within her to try and release herself. She felt the air in her lungs fading, the blood in her head feeling like knives pressing against her skull, and her body turning weak with every attempted breath she tried to take.

She stared into Natalia's eyes, seeing nothing but pure hatred and determination to strangle her to death. An odd sense of familiarity was felt in this. Billy had one slammed her into the wall and tried choking her last fall. It was quite ironic that his ex-girlfriend and partner in crime was now doing the same. 

Gwen shut her eyes and gasped for air, her anger becoming much greater. Even if Natalia was possessed, it didn't take away all the years she tormented her and made her life a living hell. She always believed karma would get her and it seemed karma came in the shape of Billy Hargrove. 

She wasn't going to let her ruin her life. Not anymore. 

Her hands started loosening her grip on Natalia's and proceeded to bring her elbow to the girl's arm and begin striking it continuously as hard as possible.

Natalia's grip weakened for a split moment before managing to slam her into the wall again. Pain spread throughout her back, causing Gwen to bite her cheek to avoid letting out an agonized scream. She grabbed ahold of Natalia's head to lower it and bashed it against her raised knee.

She didn't even flinch at the hit as it only infuriated her even more. Her eyes reflect the pits of hell, burning with rage as the Henderson girl wraps her legs around her waist to climb up her shoulders.

Gwen shoots forward, flipping both of them to the ground in a rough collision. With little to no time to attack first, Natalia is already grabbing her by the sleeves and crashes her against one of the columns.

Letting out a loud scream, Gwen is absolutely certain something broke inside her. She's experienced pain before, and even if the Russians tortured her in every possible way, this feels different. It sure doesn't help having the feeling of blood gathering in her mouth that she's forced to spit onto the mall floor.

"Okay, now you're getting on my last nerve." Taking a deep breath, she tries ignoring the crushing pain and takes another swing before leaping on top of her again. Her elbows pound against Nat's face, her legs tighten around her shoulders all while ignoring the piercing fingers digging into her skin.

Natalia moves her hands up to her waist, gripping them intensely before shoving her to the ground. Standing a couple feet from her, she manages to send a direct kick to her jaw. She runs her tongue against her teeth and hovers above her as she holds Gwen's arms beside her head.

The sudden impact of Gwen's knee against her forehead sends her falling backwards, giving the girl enough time to stand in an assertive stance with her fists hovering in front of her. Gwen breathes uncontrollably, ignoring the blood running down her cut cheek as she waits for Natalia to make the first move.

The time appears to have become frozen, the seconds feel like an eternity, and everything appears to be in slow motion.

Now would be a good time for the fireworks to come in.

Natalia reaches into her shorts, revealing a small pocket knife that she flicks open in a swift motion. She licks her lips, soon forming an insidious smile that doesn't match the void in her eyes.

Gwen takes a step a back and quickly looks around for anything to defend herself with, but there's nothing laying around that'll give her any advantage. She only has herself, her strength, and her will to survive.

The flayed girl dashes towards her, sinking to her knees as she hovers the weapon a few inches from her rival's face.

Gwen pushes back against the knife. Her muscles tense and the vein in her forehead is popping as sweat trickles down. Her hands turn white from the pressing hold that she begins losing sensation in her fingers.

"Don't be afraid. It'll be over soon," Natalia's voice is anything but a whisper.

Gwen narrows her eyes, squeezing the weapon away from her face as she tries using her lower body to free herself. A groan escapes her lips as with every struggle, the sharp end lowers itself even more.

She hates to admit when she's at a loss, especially when she's supposed to be strong and give it her all, but she's tired and in agony. Every restraint and every movement only brings the knife closer that all she can do is try to make more time until some form of help arrives.

Only it seems the others read her mind since the loud sound of fireworks going off fill the mall. The hard push coming from Natalia loosens as she falls back while letting out a gut wrenching shriek. The flayed girl stares up as if searching for the source of her pain when she sees Gwen strolling away from her.

Gwen's chest burns with every exhale as she continues running off, praying Natalia follows her to keep her away from Steve and the others. Her head whips back and forth continuously until the realization that she's not being followed takes over.

Nearly reaching the food court, she slowly comes to a stop and glances between the locked stores, through every decorative plant, and any small places that could serve as a good hiding place. She was certain she walked at least twenty feet before perceiving this must be some kind of trick.

Running with an injured back, some possible cracked ribs, and a sprained ankle would appear to be challenging for many, but for Gwen, she's become used to this type of pain that all she can do is push through it. Her friends need her and she's not about to let this monster or any of the flayed hurt them.

"Gwen!" The voice of Steve comes from the second floor.

Looking up, relief and ecstasy consume her when seeing him and the others are okay. Her lips curve upward into a smile until an eerie hum starts filling her ears.

She's not sure how much more she can keep fighting. Her limbs are aching, her head feels like it's been mushed together, and her ankle is killing her.

Slowly taking a step back, she focuses on not losing sight of the girl. Natalia walks in a calm manner while the knife spins in her hand with ease. Even with the fireworks continuing, she pushes through in determination to end her. Her humming never ends as it's only getting more excited and louder.

The song sounds familiar and Gwen's almost certain she heard it somewhere. It's definitely an oldie and maybe she liked it when she first heard the original version, but now, this is something straight from her nightmares.

"Nat, please listen to me," her voice comes out lower than intended. "I know you're still in there, and I'm certain you don't want this creep to continue controlling you." Natalia continues humming, her expression remains blank as the knife continues to twirl. "You need to fight it! Find the will to resist that son of a bitch!"

Her humming fades into a distance and her walking eases. The knife lays on her palm as she begins stroking it like it's some kind of pet. There's not an ounce of humanity left in her, only worsening the situation when seeing there's one or two ways this can end.

As much as Gwen dislikes Natalia, she can't imagine having to resort to extreme measures to save herself. There needs to be another way to save her and she needs to be quick to try and reach the real Natalia. She slowly takes a step forward, raising her hands in surrender that leave her completely vulnerable for an attack.

The loud yells from her friends disrupts her concentration and brings Natalia to attack. She doesn't even get the chance to react as she's now sprawled on the floor with the girl pushing the blade lower to face.

Gwen ignores the yells coming from the second floor, her focus lays on getting rid of the threatening weapon when her eyes glance up at Natalia's. That's when she notices a glimmer of reluctance in them, opening up the realization that the girl is resisting since she has every opportunity and a massive amount of strength to kill her, but she hasn't.

The continuing fireworks make Natalia slightly lose her grip, giving Gwen the advantage to curl her hand around her wrist to wield it to the side. Nearly tossing it the furthest from them, Nat runs the sharp edge against Gwen's cheek, inching it a few centimeters from her neck before another firework is enough to bring the weapon to the ground.

Gwen clenches her jaw, pushing her arms onto Nat's shoulders to escape her grasp when the possessed girl sends her arms falling to the side of her head. Natalia shuts her eyes painfully, her hair falls down to her face when her hair clip with a blue rose encrusted in the center starts slipping down.

She's not sure why the clip caught her attention. There are far more important things to worry about - like surviving - but something about the small clip seems familiar. It's like she's seen it somewhere, but just can't quite wrap her finger around.

"Gwen," a faint voice calls out to her.

The girl slowly turns her head to the side, finding the voice belongs to El. The young girl has her hand stretched out towards her, trying to hold her hand despite being under similar circumstances.

"El," she says back, bringing her hand to hers that nearly touched when Natalia brought her hand on top of hers, tightening it with force that made her fingers form a cracking sound. Loud screams escaped Gwen's lips as she felt her fingers break, her eyes close painfully as she breaths out an agonized groan.

There's no certainty if any of them will survive this night or if the fireworks are even doing anything. El and Gwen only have each other to save themselves and try helping Billy and Natalia. There's no other way to end this than reaching out for the real them and hope it's enough to free them from the monster.

The girls nod to each other, a sign of understanding they need to do whatever it takes. Their eyes fill with tears as they're not certain if this will work. They could die and never see their loved ones again, so they try to memorize their faces as it could be the last thing they look at.

Gwen is the first to turn away. Her mind starts recounting every memory she has of Natalia, certain there's something to reach her. Only after a few seconds, she realizes all the memories of her have Chrissy in them, her best friend. Whether it was in the halls, the classrooms, parties, the Hawkins Festival, and even the Miss Hawkins Ball, Chrissy was always by her side.

That's when it clicks. The small clip belongs to her friend, the same one she always wore for everything. The one she wore during cheerleading performances, for an everyday look, and even during the ball despite the color not matching her yellow dress.

"I love your dress," Gwen begins, "Hate you though." The words seem to catch Natalia's attention. They were the words she told Gwen when trying to compliment her, but wasn't quite ready to be nice just yet. "You told me those words at the ball. Do you remember?" Her gaze softens as her eyes fill with a sense of familiarity, almost like her mind is remembering. "You were there with your best friend. You were with Chrissy."

Natalia stays still as the image of her best friend walking down the stairs with a smile fills her mind. They've been friends since preschool and went through everything together. Whenever Chrissy was having troubles with her family, she'd run over to Nat's house and sleepover. They would spend the night laughing the time away while promising to remain best friends forever.

"She wore a yellow gown, her hair was curled and placed onto the side," Nat begins loosening her grip, listening to her words as the memories start rushing back. "And she wore this pin," Gwen reaches for the small hair clip, ignoring the tight grip Nat has on her wrist. The pain was getting even more unbearable, but despite everything, she needed to save her. To let her know there's people waiting for her and she has someone to fight for. "She always wore it for everything, which means it's important for her."

To others it might seem like a regular clip, like it's just an insignificant thing to hold your hair back, but to them, it was more than that. It would be their something blue and something borrowed when one of them gets married. Wanting each other to be their bridesmaids, little Chrissy and little Natalia grabbed the only blue object nearby, a hair clip.

The fireworks turn louder, making Natalia flinch again, but instead of attacking, she continues listening. "Now you have it. She trusted you with it because you're her best friend. You're her person."

Natalia stays still, remembering how Chrissy handed it to her so she'd remember her once Nat is off to college. Claiming it was better for her to keep for safekeeping, Chrissy made her promise to take care of it as if her life depended on it. It was the last day she ever saw her friend, and all because Nat was worried when seeing her ex run off to the showers in a drowsy state.

"You've been best friends since I can remember. She's always been by your side through everything just like you've been for her."

Gwen knows the feeling of having someone like Chrissy. Growing up not knowing how to make friends, she started believing she wasn't worth anything. That maybe she was meant to be alone and would have to settle in fantasizing about the love of an unconditional friendship. Only now, she's lucky to have more than one best friend. She has Robin, Nancy, Jonathan, and the man she's lucky to have fallen in love with.

With everything that's happened regarding the monsters and all the pain, it's worth every single drop of agony when having the people you love by your side. She could have run away from this back in '83, but it's the love for her family that made her unwilling to run off. She had someone to fight for, just like Nat does.

"You need to fight this. You need to fight him so you can see her again," her voice breaks as she places the clip onto Nat's dark hair. "Fight him."

Something breaks inside Nat. Her eyes fill with tears as she remembers her friend's bright smile, the way her ponytail bounces through every routine, and the way her laughter fills her with gratitude for having found her person. Chrissy's her sister, her family, she's everything to her, and she can't leave her behind. Not when she's the one who's been more like a family than her own.

Nat gently nods, the smallest smile starts to form before a terrible pit in her stomach takes over. Walking away, she starts puking out a black substance, slowly making the black veins disappear. Her throat runs dry, her chest burns through every constrict, and the corners of her eyes release a few tears.

Gwen takes a breath of relief, ignoring her throbbing hand as she begins standing up. With everything that's been happening, she's barely come to notice the fireworks have come to a stop.

Through the neon lights and the now fading smoke, she's able to make out the figure of Billy releasing El and slowly standing up with shaky legs. His skin is still covered in black veins, only he didn't appear to be under the mind flayer's control anymore. He stood in front of the young girl, his stance was protective before he turned his head in her direction.

Gwen looks at Billy, her eyes are filled with fear and anguish when seeing the real him staring right at her. It's the same look he used to give her during those brief moments of when he wasn't an asshole and actually played the part of a loving boyfriend.

Billy gazes at her with warmness, with an undeniable sense of fondness for the girl he deeply regretted hurting and wished to have gotten a second chance with.

But it was too late.

Ignoring every ounce of pain in her, Gwen springs out and tries reaching him. Her eyes fill with tears as she can't let him make this sacrifice. She can't let him face this monster by himself, and she certainly can't just stand here and let him die. Screaming out his name, she tries running to him when a pair of arms hold her back.

The mind flayer opens its mouth, showing his pointy teeth and towering over Billy like a wave ready to submerge him. A loud shriek escapes the monster before one of its tentacles heads in the direction of El. Billy stretches his hands out in front of him, pushing the creature away in full determination to protect the young girl that showed him more compassion than anyone ever has.

Still struggling to free herself, Gwen's eyes widen in fear as her fight or flight response takes another turn. Instead of running off or joining the battle, her body freezes, leaving her standing by the corner with Natalia holding her in a tight grip.

Billy's screams compete with the mind flayer, both are brutal and jarring as he uses his remaining strength to do one last good thing. He had always been the most self-destructive person. Every time he found himself closer to happiness, his mind always convinced him of how unworthy he was of such feeling. He was convinced he didn't deserve anything good, especially since his own mother had abandoned him and left him in the care of his abusive father.

If his own mother didn't believe him to be worthy, why should he?

Yet as he's standing in front of this monster and second abuser, he has a chance to prove he's not like his dad. And even if it costs him his life, at least he'd die knowing he did one last good thing.

He ignores the piercing tentacles striking his body, inflicting a massive amount of pain that makes him roar in agony.

All she could do was watch. Her body was adamant on staying in place no matter how hard she tried to move. She was a bystander, watching the monster crash more of its tentacles all around Billy as his painful screams became replaced by one last battle cry. His knees sunk to the floor and his eyes lock onto the creature's, who roared defiantly at the betrayal from his fallen soldier. With one final strike into his chest, the monster gave one last shriek before dropping Billy's flail body to the ground.

The sound of Gwen's heartbeat pounds against her ears, freeing her from her frozen state as Natalia's arms start loosening themselves. Everything around her starts fading into a distance, the yells, the sound of everyone calling out to them were ignored as all she could do was watch Billy.

And the way he was slowly dying right in front of her.