.𖥔 ݁ ˖꩜ 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐏𝐓. 𝟐 ꩜ ˖𖥔 .

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ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ : 【 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬 9 】

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

a/n: This chapter contains one use of an offensive slur. I have only included it because Stranger Things did to convey some toxic mindsets people had at the time when it was set. If anyone believes I should censor it, let me know and I will.

𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐍𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 ten as Billy put his final touches on his look. He was gonna have Molly on her knees, or at the very least make her regret blowing him off. Although he pushed the feeling deep down inside him, Billy was incredibly worried Molly wouldn't be there. He hadn't been stood up in years but suddenly that fear was very real. As much as he tried to emotionally distance himself, he was growing obsessed with her. This was more than lust, it was more than just primal desire. He wanted her. And he was prepared to do whatever he had to if someone like Steve Harrington planned on keeping her from him.

Just as he was taking one last look in the mirror, cigarette between his lips, Billy heard knocking on his door.

"Billy?", his stepmom, Susan, called out to him.

"Yeah, I'm a little busy in here Susan," he called back, still admiring himself.

His dad's voice then boomed, "Open the door right now."

Billy's expression turned dark. What the hell did he do now?

He put out his cigarette and opened the door to his Susan, looking worried, and his dad looking like his usual bastard self.

"What's wrong?", Billy asked.

"Why don't you tell us?", his dad replied. So this is how he was feeling tonight.

"Because I don't know," Billy retorted.

"We can't find Maxine," Susan explained.

"And her window's open," his dad continued to stare down at Billy, "Where is she?"

"I don't know," Billy said truthfully.

"You don't know?", his dad scoffed.

Like always, Billy sucked up his desire to rip into his dad and calmly told him, "Look, I'm sure she just, I dunno, went to the arcade or something. I'm sure she's fine," he went back towards his closet to get his jacket.

"You were supposed to watch her," his dad said.

Billy sighed, "I know, dad. I was. It's just you guys were three hours late and I have a date. I'm sorry, okay?"

His dad sneered at him, "So that's why you've been staring at yourself in the mirror like some faggot instead of watching your sister."

Getting sick of his shit and wanting to head off, Billy shot back, "I've been looking after her all week, dad. She wants to run off then that's her problem, alright? She's thirteen years old, she shouldn't need a full-time babysitter. And she's not my sister!"

In a moment, Billy's dad turned off his stereo, shoved his son against the wall and pinned him there.

"What did we talk about?", his dad asked in a low, sinister voice.

Billy kept his mouth shut. His dad hit him in the head. Susan, still in the doorway, grimaced and looked away.

His dad grabbed his face and forced Billy to look at him, "What. Did. We. Talk about?"

Swallowing his pride, Billy said, "Respect. And responsibility."

"That's right," his dad nodded, "Now, apologise to Susan."

"I'm sorry, Susan," Billy said, his eyes not moving from his dad.

Susan tried speaking up, "It's okay Neil, really-"

"No, it's not okay. Nothing about his behaviour is okay," his dad shouted back before letting his son go, "But he's gonna make up for it. He's gonna call whatever whore he's seeing tonight and cancel their date. And then, he's gonna go find his sister, like the good, kind, respecting brother that he is... Isn't that right, Billy?"

Billy said nothing, still paralysed against the wall.

His dad turned to him and shouted, "Isn't that right?!"

"Yes, sir," Billy softly said.

His dad sighed, "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you."

"Yes, sir," Billy repeated, venomously.

"Find Max," his dad told him before finally leaving his room with Susan.

Billy shakily exhaled. He couldn't fucking believe this. He hated how he couldn't stick up to the complete idiot that was his dad. He was sure he'd start bleeding from how much he had to bite his tongue. It would've been bad enough if he just got blamed for Max going missing but the fact that he had to cancel his plans and go out looking for the little brat made his blood boil.

Billy got in his car and set off. He did intend to look for Max but before he did, he went by Lincoln Park. Yes, the entire evening had gone to shit but he hoped he could at least explain what had happened to Molly. He might at least get a kiss out of it.

However, when he looked around the park, there was no one in sight. Basketball court, pond, trees, benches, all completely devoid of human life. Billy punched the wheel in frustration. She didn't even show up. He bet it was because of that shithead Harrington. He was sure all that 'code red' stuff was bullshit, Steve probably just hated the thought of Molly being seen with anyone but him, the selfish asshole.

If he didn't find Max tonight, he was gonna find Harrington.

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺
pause

˖𖥔 .

Meanwhile, Molly, Steve, Max, Lucas, and Dustin were trudging through the forest along the train tracks, back where they had come from.

"So?", Dustin exclaimed, looking at Molly.

"So...?", she mimicked him, confused.

"Are we not gonna talk about what happened back there? You have powers?!", he exclaimed.

Molly groaned, having expended all her energy to protect Steve from the young demogorgons (as Dustin had explained they were), "Yes, I have powers, and you're welcome for saving your lives. Any more questions or can I stop thinking for a bit?"

Dustin then turned to Lucas, "Permission to break party law and spill everything to Molly because she has powers?"

"What the...", Lucas gave him a confused look, "Yes, tell her!"

Dustin turned back to "Did you come from Hawkins Lab too? Do you know Eleven?"

"I have never set foot in Hawkins Lab and I do not know what Eleven is," she monotonously replied.

"Then where did you get your powers?", Lucas asked.

Molly paused and looked at Steve, who bit his lip in similar conflict.

"Please tell us," Dustin pleaded, Lucas nodding along.

Max nodded, "To their credit, they do take it seriously. It took a lot for me to find out a single thing about Eleven."

Molly sighed and explained in a hushed voice, "Alright. I'm Russian. I was being held prisoner by the Soviet Union until last year when I killed the team I was sent with and ran away to live with Steve. Until now, he was the only person who knew. And no this is not a joke."

All three kids' eyes widened and they backed away from Molly.

"Seriously?", she raised her eyebrow, "I hate the Soviets because they killed my family and tortured me for five years. But not a word against Russia. That place is my home."

They still looked at her skeptically.

She shrugged, "If it helps, you wouldn't be worth killing. Nobody would believe you if you tried telling anyone."

"Comforting," Max said.

Suddenly, there was a screeching and growling coming from the distance. All of their heads turned and realised the same thing. Dustin, Lucas, Molly, and Steve stayed quiet as they continued heading towards the sounds. Max, however, stayed back.

"Hey guys, why are you headed towards the sound?", she called to them, to no response, "Hello?... Shit."

She then followed after them. The group stopped at the edge of the hill they were on and looked around for the source of the sounds.

"I don't see 'em," Dustin said.

Lucas looked through his binoculars, "It's the lab. They we're going back home.

The group trudged on towards the lab through the woods. Eventually, they reached the entrance where a car was already waiting outside.

"Hey, who's there?", a voice near the car called out, "Who's there?!"

Molly got a better view when the group emerged from the trees and realised it was Jonathan and Nancy.

"Jonathan Byers, where have you been?", Molly playfully scolded him as she dashed towards the two.

"Molly?", he said in confusion.

"Steve?", Nancy asked.

"Nancy?", Steve asked.

"Jonathan," Dustin said.

Nancy and Jonathan went towards the group of children and babysitter.

"What are you doing here?", Nancy asked.

"What are you doing here?", Steve retorted.

"We're looking for Mike and Will," she told him.

"They're not in there, are they?", Dustin asked.

"We're not sure," Nancy said.

"Why?", Jonathan asked.

The back-and-forth was cut off by another wave of echoing screeches coming from the lab. Everyone's faces turned fearful.

Molly pointed towards it, "That would be why."

˖𖥔 .

The two groups devolved into overlapping conversations, trying to figure out where everyone was. Nancy was the first to notice something and started wandering near the building.

Molly noticed this and realised the same thing Nancy did, "Shut up!"

Everyone turned to Molly and then Nancy who announced, "The power's back."

The group dashed towards the control box and Jonathan repeatedly pushed the button to open the gate. Everyone watched for any movement at all but alas, there was none. Dustin pushed him out of the way to try, to the same effect.

However, only a few seconds later, the door opened. Perhaps there was a delay due to the outage, or maybe something much more complex was going on inside.

"Hey, I got it!", Dustin chuckled.

After what felt like too long of waiting around outside, the group heard screeching and screams coming from the lobby. Jonathan and Nancy jumped in the car and drove up to the front entrance.

Molly, Steve and the kids hung back at the front gate.

"So how do your powers work?", Dustin asked Molly.

She sighed, stretched out her hand and went into Dustin's mind. She then made him hold out his hand and made the other smack it before immediately returning to her body.

"Ow!", Dustin exclaimed.

"That's my power," she stated.

Suddenly, two cars zoomed towards them, honking all the way. The first one drove right past them but the second, Chief Hopper's police truck stopped next to them.

"Come on, let's go," Hopper said as they all quickly piled into the vehicle.

The group went to the Byers house to convene. They came to the conclusion that Will was under the control of a being the kids called the Mind Flayer and it was a hive mind. After an intensive interrogation session with Will, who was possessed by the Mind Flayer and had to communicate via morse code, they figured out the way to get rid of the Mind Flayer was to close the gate to the Upside Down. They had to cut the interrogation short when the phone rang, letting the Mind Flayer know (through Will) where everyone was.

Everyone began preparing for a hoard of demodogs (as Dustin called them) to raid the house. Steve was ready with a bat, Hopper and Nancy with rifles, Molly with her hands stretched out ready, and everyone else bracing themselves. However, everyone realised something else was afoot when the echoing growls of the demodogs were silenced with a whimper and a crunch. Only moments later was the body of a demodog sent through the Byers' front window.

Everyone began bracing themselves for something even more dangerous and unpredictable. Molly reached out to see who was behind the door, slowly turning it open and realised it was a human. A human with a mind as strong as hers.

The door opened to reveal a young girl with gelled back hair, dark eyeliner, a black jacket, and most intriguing of all, a bleeding nose. Molly stared at the tiny detail with amazement. Could this girl be like her? After all this time, there's finally another one like her.