▸ The Tide Is High - Blondie

T H E B A T T L E O F
S T A R C O U R T M A L L
P T . I I I

Johnathon, after speeding like hell and taking short cuts, parked the car in front of the mall. By some miracle, we had some how made it before the monster. We quickly exited the car. Lucas had went straight for the baskets tied on top of the vehicle.

"Billy's no longer in the car." I saw my friend's car still on fire, but with no one in it. "Think he's inside?"

"He's gotta be if the monster is coming this way." Robin looked over her shoulder to see the monster approaching.

"Let's go." Will urged us to follow them.

"Upstairs, hurry." Nancy stated as we ran inside the building.

"Escalators are closed." I informed them. "We're going to have to take the stairs. The elevator will alert Billy that we're here."

"Stairs it is then." Johnathon changed direction and ran towards the stairs.

We split into groups once we arrived on the second floor. Each of us got a basket. There were all types of fireworks in them to light up and hurl at the monster. It had also came with a lighter. Steve, Robin, and I were in one group. We stationed ourselves near the hair salon my mother goes to.

We looked over the ledge to see Billy carrying El. He placed the young teen in the floor and whispered something in her ear. As he started to back away, the monster stepped into the mall. Swallowing my nerves, I grabbed the lighter and flicked it on. The flame danced as Steve and Robin brought their fireworks closer.

There was a loud crack as the first firework hit the monster's back and exploded. It shrieked in pain.

"Eat this you piece of shit!" Lucas yelled.

The monster turned to face him. It roared at Lucas. He used that to throw the lit firework into it's mouth. It exploded inside of the monster. The monster let out another painful screech, taking a few steps backwards. We all started to throw our fireworks at it.

"Hey, asshole!" Steve shouted with a lit firework in hand. "Over here!"

Steve threw it at the monster's face. The firework exploded with a loud crack. Another high pitch shriek came from the monster. I quickly lit firecracker for myself and mentally counted to three. At three, I hurled it at the monster.

I quickly glanced at El and Billy. El was watching with wide fearful eyes. My friend was gritting his teeth from pain. My heart clenched as I remembered that the host also feels what the Mind Flayer does.

Billy fell into the ground. His hand was clutching his chest. He started to squirm on the ground as El scooted away from him. I licked my lips, not knowing what to do. One on hand, we had to defeat the Mind Flayer. But, in the other, I wanted to save my best friend. Billy had managed to grab El's ankle and drag her back.

"Come on, Dawn." Robin grunted as she threw another firework.

"What's the matter?" Steve asked, lighting one up for himself. He followed my gaze to see Billy. "Shit."

"I..." I looked up at Steve and shook my head. "I-I can't hurt him. I can't."

"Hey, hey." Steve gently grasped my arms. "It's okay. You don't have to, just keep an eye on El, okay? Hopper and Joyce are going to close the Gate and we're going to save Billy. Okay?"

"Okay." I nodded, holding back tears.

"Steve, we're almost out." Robin stated.

We turned to see that there were about three more firecrackers in the basket. My boyfriend picked up the radio he had placed near the basket.

"Dustin! We're out of time!" Steve informed my brother through the walkie.

Robin lit another firework and chucked it. It appeared everyone was almost done with theirs. Explosion of colors danced around the monster. It made it hard for me to see what was happening downstairs with Billy and El. I leaned against the railing to try and get a better look.

Billy was kneeled over El. He seemed to be frozen. My friend wasn't shaking with anger or trying to hurt El. He was just frozen. I didn't know what was exactly going on down there, but I was praying that it was Billy trying to fight back against the Mind Flayer.

The fireworks had stopped as everyone had run out. The monster took a few steps towards El and Billy. I gripped the railing tighter as I saw Billy send a glare at the monster. Billy stood up and faced the evil creature. Hope fluttered in my chest when I realized he was back.

El started to scoot away. Something had shot out of the monster's mouth, aiming it at the young girl. However, Billy stepped in front and stopped it. He held on to the weird tongue-arm appendage and with all his might, he kept it at bay.

"No!" Billy yelled, digging his feet to resist the monster.

Billy yelled as he fought against it. My heart raced as I watched the scene. The color of my hands had changed to a paling white from how hard I was gripping the railing. More appendage like arms came out of the monster. Fear swelled in my chest. One of the appendages stabbed Billy in the side. He screamed in pain.

"No!" I yelled in horror.

Wincing, Billy looked up at me. My lower lip trembled as another penetrated his body. Billy let go of the monster as he blankly stared ahead. A sob escaped from me as I was pulled away from the railing. Steve wrapped his arms around my waist and held me tightly.

"No, no! We've got to go help him!" I cried, fighting against my boyfriend.

"Dawn." Steve grunted as my head knocked against his chin. "Dawn."

Robin stared at the both of us with wide eyes. Her hands shook as she kept looking between Billy, Steve and I. Tears streamed down my face as I saw more appendages stab Billy. I continued to fight against Steve.

Billy's painful screams echoed in my ears. I need to go help Billy. He needs help. I had managed to slip away from Steve's grasp. Breathing heavily, I ran for the stairs.

"Dawn!"

By the time I reached the first floor, I saw Billy kneeling in the ground. The monster had his appendages still in Billy. It was slowly walking towards him. Billy yelled, blood spilling down his chin from his mouth.

The appendage that was in the monster's mouth shot out. It stabbed Billy in the middle of his chest. I stopped at the sight, stumbling to hold onto something. Billy stopped screaming, his head lolling forward. I chocked on a sob.

"Billy!" Max screamed.

The monster yanked out the mouth appendage from Billy's chest. It had also withdrew the rest of its appendages, letting Billy collapse to the ground. I cried, starting to fall onto my knees. Arms wrapped themselves around me and fell down with me. I leaned back into the familiar touch and sobbed. Steve pulled me closer into his chest as if he was trying to shield me from anymore pain.

There was a loud shriek. The monster started to stomp its feet on the ground as it wailed in pain. It snarled, throwing its legs into the walls. With a groan, it had collapsed into the ground. I studied it for anymore movement. There was none.

I broke out of Steve's protective embrace and ran towards my friend. Steve called out my name, but I ignored it. He followed after me. I slid into my knees next to Billy's body. Sobs racked my body as I saw him slowly flutter his eyes.

"B-Billy?" My lower lip trembled as I gently placed my hand on his check.

"I...I'm..." Billy gasped for breath. "B-babe...I'm..."

My heart clenched at the nickname.

"Shh, shh, save your breath." I choke out. Billy kept trying to speak. Black blood would spit of his mouth every time. He winced in pain. "Stop talking, you asshole. I told you to save your breath."

Billy only gave me a small smile.

"You're not an asshole, you're my friend. Billy, please, you gotta hold on. Please. Billy...Billy-" a sob tore through my throat, interrupting my sentence.

"El."

"Mike!"

"You did good." I cried, running my hands through Billy's curly hair. He closed his eyes before fluttering them open. My heart hurt at the sight. "You saved us. You saved us all. You're a hero, Billy. You're a good guy."

Billy's chest heaved with each shallow breath he took. I sobbed as I saw Max slowly walking toward us and passed a hugging Mike and El. Her face was paler than usual and tears were in her eyes.

"Billy?" She kneeled down next to me. Max placed her hand on his arm. "Billy, Billy, get up, please. Billy, get up, please, please."

"I'm sorry." Billy was able to form a sentence for his step-sister.

"Billy..." Max uttered.

Billy's chest rose one last time. He stilled, staring blankly at the ceiling. Fresh tears streamed down my face as I cried.

"Billy, wake up. Billy, get up. Please, Billy..."Max shook him. She released a sob when she realized he wasn't getting up. "Billy!"

With trembling hands, I closed Billy's eyes. Steve extended a hand toward me. I slowly averted my gaze from my friend to my boyfriend. El kneeled next to Max and brought her into a hug.

"It's okay. It's okay." El cradled Max in her arms. "It's okay. It's okay."

I grabbed onto Steve's hand and allowed him to pull me up. My lips continued to wobble as my chest ached. Steve brought me into a hug. I cried into his chest, fisting the front of his work uniform.

"W-we need to go a-and find Danny." I stumbled out through my crying.

"Okay, let's go." Steve softly told me.

"I'm coming, too." Robin held on to the walkie.

"Watch her for a sec?" Steve asked Robin. The teen nodded and walked towards me. "I'm going to talk to Dustin real quick."

"Okay." Robin muttered.

"Hey, I'm going to talk to Dustin real quick, okay?" Steve looked down at me. I nodded slowly letting go of him. "I'll be right back, okay? Robin is going to be right here."

Steve hesitantly let me go. He bit his lip when he grabbed the walkie from Robin. I hiccuped through my sobs as I turned my attention back to Billy.

"Hey, don't do that to yourself." Robin placed a gentle hand on my arm and turned me away from Billy's dead body. "Want want something to drink? We can raid any store here."

"I just want to find my brother."

Robin opened her mouth and quickly closed it. She didn't know how to respond to me. Everyone had circled around Billy's body. I looked down at my hands to see them spotted with Billy's blood. I quickly wiped them onto my jeans to get it off. Steve exchanged nervous glances with Johnathon and Nancy.

"Dustin, are you there?" Steve talked into the walkie.

"Yeah, I'm here. Is it done? Is it dead?" Dustin asked.

"It's dead." Steve nervously swallowed. "Dawn, Robin and I are about to head over there to pick you guys up. Be ready."

"How's Dawn? Is she okay? Is she hurt?" Dustin rushed out.

"She's fine." Steve glanced at me.

"Is she hurt, Steve?"

"She's alive." Steve sighed, running a hand through his tangled hair.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dustin snapped. "Is she okay!?"

"She's fine, just...just not physically. Look, we gotta head over there so we can pick you guys up and search for Danny." Steve licked his lips. "I'm leaving this radio with the Griswold Family, okay? They can answer any questions you have."

"Steve-"

"Johnathon, here, take it." Steve quickly handed the walkie to the oldest Byers boy. "He's going to ask a shit load of questions, so answer them as best as you can. We gotta go find Danny."

"Okay, we got it from here. You guys go ahead." Johnathon nodded.

"Keep us updated." Nancy told us.

"We will." Robin started to lead me around the dead body of the monster.

"Alright, let's go."

▷

I stared blankly ahead of me as Steve sped through the back roads. The shadows of the trees blurred passed us. I had decided to sit in the back seat. He and Robin kept glancing at me the entire way to Weathertop. Steve started to drive up the hill, stopping when it couldn't go any further. Dustin and Erica jogged toward us.

"What the hell happened to the car?" Erica asked.

"Just get in." Robin waved them to come over.

"Dawn?" Dustin ran to the car. He sighed in relief once he saw me. Dustin quickly got in and brought me into a tight hug. "You okay? They filled me in about Billy. I'm so sorry."

I didn't say anything. I just leaned my head on my younger brother's shoulder and cried. Dustin rubbed soothing circles on my back. Erica climbed into the car and looked at me with sympathy. Steve reversed the car and drove back to the road.

"Where are we going?" Dustin questioned.

"Rebecca's house." Steve replied, pressing on the gas.

"You think that's where he is?" Erica leaned forward.

"I'm hoping." Steve uttered.

This was super emotional to write. I had to take breaks so I could calm myself down.

How are you guys? Still breathing?

I'll admit it, I cried while writing this.

One more chapter to go