SHE WAS ALIVE.

That was all that went through Carla's mind as she laid on the cool tile of the locker room, chest rising and falling in uneven motions as her lungs desperately forced air inside. Her throat seared in pain with every breath, burning as if it the air was fire, showing that Billy had not only damaged the outside-her skin was littered with bruises, his fingertips imprinted on to her neck-but the inside too.

Her head pounded from the concussion she'd received, blood trickling down the side of her face from the wound. Her wrists and ankles felt numb to any sort of sense, tingling as they fell asleep from the tight rope wrapped around them, enabling any sort of movement.

But, despite all the pain and injury, Carla was alive.

Nonetheless, she knew-even with a concussion-that she wouldn't be for long if she didn't get out of that locker-room within the next few minutes.

It wouldn't be long before Billy either found the person in the building, or just let it go and returned to Carla, knocking her out and leaving her to the Mind Flayer enjoyment, and Carla truly didn't like the idea of becoming like the nightmare version of herself-cold, emotionless, uncaring.

So, with the idea of escape in mind, Carla began scooting away from her attacker, which was easier said than done. Turns out, trying to move without the help out joints was rather difficult, and the fact that her body was in a weak state didn't add any help whatsoever-neither did the pain that overcame her when she moved.

Still, Carla had to try.

So, with Billy still charging towards the door, the weak girl slowly attempted at scooting herself away, knees and elbows rubbing against the tile as she inched her way towards the door, which felt as if it were miles and miles away.

"Do you hear me? Pool is closed!" The Hargrove's voice echoed through the small room, causing the girl he'd previously been trying to harm to slightly jolt. Never had she felt so threatened and afraid by the voice of a man-or a person in general. She hated the fact that she was so scared of Billy, but then again, she couldn't help it. He'd just threatened her life, and was more than likely going to do so again if she didn't find a way out sooner than later.

A few slams followed Billy's harsh words, showing his struggle to open the door-for what reason, Carla didn't know. She doubted he would have locked it, as he may have needed a getaway option if someone was to catch him with her.

Then, as if it were planned, the lights dimmed, causing Carla's eyes to narrow. Unless there was an unexpected power outage like there had been a few days beforehand, there shouldn't be any way for the lights to just turn off. Unless......

A light bulb of hope flickered inside of Carla's chest at the thought. Someone was still here. They hadn't been scared away by Billy. Someone was here and if she could just-

"Billy!"

Carla let out an unexpected sob of relief the moment she heard the boy's name echo. She knew that voice; she knew it very well.

It belonged to her brother. Mike was here.

Biting her lip to keep quiet, the girl listened in to what her brother was saying, the tone of his voice, trying to figure out what he was doing. Mike obviously didn't know that she had almost been kidnapped, nor that she was here to begin with.....so why was he at the pool taunting Billy? Did he know something she didn't, or was he just messing around for the fun of it?

Billy's voice followed, quieter than before, but just as threatening, "Who's there?"

"Billy!"

"Who's there?"

The lifeguard, getting more pissed off the more Mike's voice came through, shoved a shower curtain open, as if he expected the boy to be hiding in plain sight. Little did he know, If there was anything to be known about Micheal Wheeler, it was that the boy never made anything easy-whether it be with his loud and sometimes annoying mouth, or his smart mind.

The Wheeler boy laughed, repeating the blonde's name once more, "Billy!"

Billy sneered, "You think this is funny, huh?"

Now, was Carla relieved that her brother had come to her aid, whether it was known to him or not? Yes. But, she was also starting to get worried as she heard the Hargrove's words grow more and more harsh. While Mike may be good at planning, if something went wrong and Billy found him......she hated to admit it but, he'd be a goner.

The Wheeler's words became more realistic as Billy spoke next, "I find you, it is your funeral."

"Come and get me. Come on!"

At those words, a door lightly slammed shut, leaving a clue to where Mike was hiding. Catching on, Billy stormed towards the exit without any thought, mind set on making sure whoever was messing around with him wouldn't get the chance to say another word.

A worried expression grew on Carla's face as she watched the boy pass her, knowing that he wasn't going to be easy on the boy. She prayed that Mike knew what he was doing, and that whatever he was trying to do had been thought through. She couldn't lose Mike tonight. She'd never-ever-forgive herself if she did.

As he passed the girl, Billy noticed the frightful expression on her face, and came to a halt. Why did she look so afraid of him leaving the room? She didn't know the person that he was about to hunt down.....or did she?

Tonight had already gone off plan enough as it was-he was supposed to be at Brimborn's by now, handing her off to him, not shooing away an intruder-but Carla recognizing the voice and the person who owned it could possibly help him get rid of the voice faster, untimely helping him return to his main goal; getting Carla to him.

With the thought of the Wheeler possibly knowing whoever was messing around with him, Billy stormed right back over to the brunette girl, who, on instinct, tried to move her arms as close to her face as possible to protect herself.

"You know who that is?" the Hargrove spoke through gritted teeth, the Wheeler girl shaking her head back and forth with a trembling lip as if she were about to break down in tears. She looked rather pathetic in his eyes; a helpless girl who was easily breakable. "You know who that is, huh?"

"I don't, I promise, I don't." Carla tried to sound strong, but she was truly scared. Scared for what was about to happen to her-Billy wasn't going to just let her sit here, definitely not after noticing her sketchy behavior-and scared what was going to happen to her brother. "Billy, I don't-"

"Stop lying to me." Billy tore her wrists away from her face, pinning them down on the ground below.

"I'm not lying! I don't fucking know who that is!" Carla cried out, trying to ignore the lifeguard's hold on her wrists. He wasn't believing her, and wasn't going to let her go until he got an answer, she knew he wouldn't. But, she was stalling time, and kept on lying to her attacker, "I promise you I don't know who that is. I just want you to let go of me, please-"

Cutting her lies off, Billy let go of her wrists, his hand grabbing a fistful of her hair instead. He forcefully yanked it, causing the Wheeler to let out a cry of pain as her head was unexpectedly pulled upwards.

"Do you think this is funny?" the blonde asked, "Do you think you're protecting whoever's out there by not telling me who they are?" He gave a small laugh, like something that he had said was funny.

"Don't be a pussy! Come and find me!"

Mike's voice caused Billy's demeanor to go serious once more, and he gripped on to her hair even tighter, "Listen here, bitch. Tell me who the fuck that is or I'm gonna fucking gut the two of you right here, right now!"

"Fuck you!" she spat, cursing the boy and his threats once more.

Roughly, the blonde snatched her tied arms from the floor, pinning them right above her head-a position that he knew would make her feel defenseless. He was growing angrier with the fact that the brunette girl below him, who he'd already shown what he was capable of moments before hand was still trying to fight back.

But, then again, last year he learned that Carla Wheeler never made things easy. She always put up a fight.

Carla's eyes squeezed themselves shut, avoiding the boy who'd lowered his face right below her ear. God, she wished this was a nightmare-that if she closed her eyes tight enough, she'd wake up safe in Steve's arms, away from the boy she'd come to fear.

But, it was Billy Hargrove's quiet and emotionless voice that reminded her that this wasn't a nightmare-she was truly here. While he wasn't yelling at her, his words, which came in a threatening whisper, almost made Carla more scared. She didn't know what he was planning or thinking. "Tell me who's behind that door before I force it out of you, Carla."

For the sake of protecting herself, she answered. Her voice was weak and slightly broken as she muttered, "It's my brother."

"Who?"

Carla repeated herself, trying to regain her strong demeanor, "It's my brother."

Pleased that he'd received the name of the boy-or, Mike Wheeler as he now knew-Billy stood back up. "That wasn't so hard now, was it?" He wasn't met with any sort of comment from the tied up girl, which pleased him even more. She'd finally learned her place.

But, just as quickly as she'd stopped talking, Carla's mouth was quickly moving once again when Billy started dragging her away by her wrists, unsure of what was happening with her. "Where are you taking me? Billy? Where the fuck are you taking me!"

Without glancing down at the girl, Billy replied, "I'm gonna go find your brother, and you're coming with me. You can watch what's gonna happen to you next time you decide to fuck around."

Her eyes slightly widened. She didn't know what the lifeguard had planned, but whatever it was, Mike was in trouble. There were only so many places where the boy could be hiding, places that Billy knew better because he worked there. Carla didn't want to know what was going to happen when he was found.

"No! Billy, please don't hurt him. Please. He doesn't know I'm here, he's just being a pain in the ass. He's just a kid-" the Wheeler knew pleading-especially in her weak and broken voice-was going to get her nowhere, but she didn't want to see her brother get hurt. While he was a pain in the ass-especially ever since he became a teenager-he was her brother. She loved him, and was gonna stall or do whatever she could to protect him.

"Does it look like I care?" Billy snapped back, quickly opening up the door that led to the room where Mike was supposedly hiding. Dragging the girl forcefully, pulled her right into the middle of-what Carla supposed to be-a sauna room, barely missing her feet as he slammed the door.

"Billy!"

The brunette cringed in pain as her lower body scraped against the floor, cringing even more when the Hargrove's hands left her wrists, allowing her to collapse onto the cool ground. Looking around, she tried to find where Mike was hiding and to her demise, it was obvious where he was. A lone figure stood inside the sauna, completely still, almost waiting to be caught.

Carla bit her lip-wasn't her brother smarter than this?

Then it occurred to her that Mike was indeed smarter than obviously standing in a doorway-for all she knew, it was a dummy-and definitely had a plan to whatever he was doing. A plan that was working out perfectly, if Billy was supposed to think that figure inside the door was him.

Billy was quick to see the frame inside the sauna, and allowed a sly smile to grow on his face. "Got you." He let out a cackle, clapping his hands together at how easy the catch was. "Let me tell you, Carla, I expected your brother to be much smarter than this."

"Come and get me, you piece of shit."

Billy's hand latched on to the door handle, and Carla sucked in a breath, praying that whoever-whatever-was behind that door wasn't her brother.

And, as if the Gods had answered her prayers, it wasn't.

Though her view wasn't great, Carla saw from behind the Hargrove boy that the figure inside the sauna was no more than a dummy with a walkie taped to it's center, creating the illusion that Mike was hiding inside of it.

Carla had never been prouder of her brothers nerdy ways. He'd just saved himself, and her without realizing it.

Even more aggravated than he had been beforehand, having gotten fooled by a fourteen year old, Billy grabbed the dummy by the throat-just as he'd done to the girl in the center of the room moments before hand-lifting it to the ceiling.

He then turned back to Carla, who laid on the floor, unsure of what he now wanted from her. The Hargrove boy spoke loudly, pissed off at what had just happened, "Were you lying to me? Do you know about this plan? Your gonna regret lying to me you bitch-"

Carla was expecting the boy to come over and harm her when suddenly, Mike's voice came through the walkie again. "Hey." Looking back at the device taped to the dummy, Billy was quick to miss the figure appear from the dark corners of the room. A figure who caused a small flash of relief across the Wheeler's features.

Eleven.

Revealing her presence was Mike, who spoke two more words to Billy, "Turn around," hinting that something was waiting behind the blonde boy. To his surprise, Eleven-a girl he'd spoken about many times in the few days that Billy had been infiltrated with his thoughts-stood waiting for him, sending a greeting his way.

"Hi."

Billy was quick to charge at the girl he assumed to be weak, but was easily slammed into the wall by her powers, a grunt leaving Eleven's lips and groan falling from his as he collided with the sauna tiles.

As the Hargrove boy fell to the floor, the entire party flooded out of the locker room that the two elder teens had left moments beforehand, Mike commanding, "Now!"

Carla knew he had a plan-he always did.

As Eleven slammed the sauna door shut to keep Billy inside, the three boys came to the door, Mike wedging a metal pole through the handle and a nearby pole, while Will and Lucas stuck a chain around the two items, locking it to stop Billy from flying out.

While the boys worked on Billy, Max was immediately at Carla's aid, not wasting a second to get on her knees. Looking at the girl she saw as a sister-the blood trailing down her head, the bruises forming on her throat-the Mayfield almost wanted to cry herself. She couldn't believe that Billy, her brother, could do something so cruel-then again, Max knew that the boy that did this couldn't be her brother. He was under the Mind Flayer's control.....he'd never have done this on his own accord.

"I'm so sorry." Max shook her head, fingers quickly working through the knot around Carla's wrists. The redhead truly didn't know what to say; she'd never gone through anything like the brunette just had. "This is fucked up. I can't believe I live with who did this to you. I just-"

"Max, this isn't your fault." the Wheeler girl whispered, voice still broken from the events beforehand. As Maxine fiddled more with the knot, Carla's eyes fell to Billy, who was trapped in the sauna. "Whoever that is...." She paused, watching as the blonde boy threw his body at the door with rage, trying to break the metal bar, "isn't Billy. He'd never do something like this."

Max finished, and the rope around her wrist fell, leaving only her ankles. Her fingers were numb, her wrists slightly swollen from the suffocation they'd previously been kept within. A few moments later and her ankles were freed too, just as numb as her fingers.

As the boys backed up towards Eleven, the Mayfield helped the elder girl up-which was rather difficult with Carla's shaky, numb, legs. But, once she did so, Max engulfed Carla in a hug, relieved that her friend was still alive.

Carla was one of the first people in Hawkins to show Maxine kindness. She was there to guide her, and protect her when Max was a complete stranger. She was always there for Maxine, whether it be her love-life, or to show her comfort when Billy was being cruel. Carla was the sister Max never had.

In simple words, Max didn't know what she'd do if she didn't have Carla Wheeler.

Carla didn't have to be told any of that to know what Max was feeling, and wrapped an arm around the girl in return, taking in a breath. And while she wanted the moment with the younger girl to continue, the sound of Billy slamming himself against the wall reminded her of the task at hand.

She had to protect the kids.

mara's misc!

greetings from florida!

this chapter is actually being split into two! i wanted to write the whole sauna scene in one chapter, but it ended up being a little too long for my liking, and i decided to split it up.....which means chapter nine will be up within a few days!

sorry it took me like a month to get this chapter up-i re-wrote the beginning too many times to count but i finally feel satisfied! i've also been in disney with family+family friends for the past few days, and haven't had much time to write :(

but, it's finally here so yay!

hope you enjoyed<3 see you back with ten in a few!