• The Case of the Missing Lifeguard •

A/N I'm trying to get back into it, sorry it's taken me so long to post but here's a long chapter for you.

IT WAS LATE AT NIGHT and Winnie was laying with Dustin on the couch while they watched Star Wars. Dustin's mom was working late so they had the house to themselves.

"So Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker?" Winnie asked.

"Winnie we've been over this, Luke Skywalker." Dustin said smiling looking down at her while her head was in his lap.

"But you get a red lightsaber. Pretty cool." Winnie says grabbing a piece of popcorn and eating it. "But at the same time he does have to be in a suit all time, how does he pee?"

"You ask all the right question Winnie bear." Dustin says and kisses her nose, making her face scrunch.

"I love you Dusty." Winnie said.

"I love you too, Winnie." Dustin says and leans down again and kisses her.

She touches his cheek as he kisses her and she smiled. As they parted they both smiled and Dustin then began to tickle her making her laugh.

"No! Dustin stop! I'm gonna- I'm gonna pee!"

Dustin continued to tickle her until they heard the phone ring. Winnie sighed and got up, she kissed Dustin's cheek and walked over to the phone and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Winnie, is that you?" Max asked nervously.

"Yeah Max it's me." Winnie says and Dustin's face drop knowing what was happening.

"Look I need you to get to Hopper's El, saw something and I think she's having a panic attack or something."

"Okay, I'm on my way."

Dustin sighed knowing that his girlfriend was leaving him. Again.

"Your leaving aren't you?" He said sadly and Winnie turned to him and gave him a sad expression,

"El is having a panic attack. Something happened that spooked her." Winnie says rushing into her room and grabbing her bag. "Max said she's freaking out."

"It's just you've been leaving me." Dustin said truthfully and Winnie stopped putting stuff in her bag and went over to Dustin.

"I will never leave you Dustin." She told him firmly taking his hand and looking into his eyes. "It's just I got El back and I'm the only one besides Mike that can calm her. I don't want to leave you either."

"Then don't go at least tonight ." Dustin pleaded and gave her puppy dogs eyes.

Winnie sighed and went over to the phone and called Hopper's place. She waited a few moments hearing the phone ring and the phone was picked up after a few rings.

"Hello?"

"Hey Max, I need to come over tomorrow." She told her.

"But El."

"Just talk to El, make a few Egos, add chocolate syrup that's her favorite and play "blackbird." From the Beatles." Winnie told her. "It always works. I'll come over tomorrow I promise."

Max sighed on the phone and knew that Winnie was staying for Dustin. Max looked at El as she had a look of fear and shook a little bit on the bed.

"Okay, your promising so I'm holding you to it." She told Winnie.

"Got it and I'll throw in a free pepperoni pizza." Winnie said laughing. "Bye Madmax."

"Bye Poison Ivy."

She hung up the phone and looked at Dustin and smiled. She ran over back to him and laid down in his arms.

"So let's continue our Star Wars marathon."

He kissed her forehead and grabbed the remote, pressing play and watching as Han got carbon freezed.

••••••

Winnie woke up in Dustin's bed the next morning in one of his shirts and sweatpants. She looked beside her and saw that he was sleeping soundly. She kissed his cheek and began to move as quietly and calmly as she could without waking him.

She got up and stretched, hearing a few bones crack as she stretched. She walked up to the window and looked outside, seeing the stormy sky. She sighed knowing she had to leave now before the storm hit and she'd be soaked.

She grabbed a few clothes she kept at his house and put on some nike shorts and light pink T-shirt. She grabbed her sneakers and quietly left Dustin's room. She grabbed a piece of paper and wrote a note for him and left it in the kitchen.

Hey Dusty,
Went to Max's, Radio me if you need anything.

Love,
Winnie

She went into the coat room and grabbed Dustin's rain jacket and hoped he wouldn't mind. She exited the house and went over to her bike and one last time
looked at Dustin's house and peddled away.

She rode her bike down the road and went the way she always did to Hoppers. She however heard the sound of an engine. She turned around and rolled her eyes, it was Billy.

She got out of the road, knowing him he would try something. She peddled and saw that he was coming to pass fast and she decided to slow down so she wouldn't have to see him. But the strange thing is that he began to slow down as he came closer to her. She furrowed her eyebrows when he slowed down and pulled down his window.

"Hey, Winnie right?" Billy said and she turned to look at him and then back at the road.

"Yeah, what do you want Hargrove?" She asked annoyed.

"Nothing, it's gonna start pouring do you want me to give you a ride?"

Then all of a sudden she felt that feeling just as she did on the hill and in the theatre. She looked at Billy's eyes and saw that they were dilated. She tried to stay calm and try not to cause suspicion.

"No but thanks though Billy."

"Come on." He urged. "Your probably going to see Maxine anyway."

"It's fine Billy, I have to go see the Chief. Besides when did you know where Max is?"

"Look I'm being nice here, just get in the car." He said this time showing a bit of anger.

"No means no bitch." Winnie said and she peddled faster.

"Hey!" Billy yelled and went faster coming beside her and began to come off the road and tried to hit her.

"What the hell Hargove!" Winnie yelled and as she did she grew vines from the ground and wrapped them around his wheels.

As he tried to speed up, he was halted to a stop and stood in place and grew more angry. She could hear his engine roar and the sound of him yelling but she kept the vines on tight and swerved to go into the woods on her bike, and to get away from Billy. Her nose bled and felt drops go onto her handlebar.

She felt scared as she looked back and hoping that he wasn't coming after her. She wondered what happened to Billy, and even though she got away from Billy she could still feel the presence on the back of her neck and she touched it. She peddled faster hoping she could get to her sister and Max fast.

•••••

She got to Max's house and put her bike on the side of the house. She didn't see Billy's car and she was relieved, as she was still shaken up.

"Max!" Winnie yelled. "I'm here."

She walked up to the house and saw that Billy hadn't come to the house and was relieved. She did however see El and Max walking along the street.

"Guys!" Winnie yelled and waved over.

She walked over to them and hugged El tightly.

"It's gonna start pouring soon. We should be at the mall, or watching a movie." Max said.

"You don't believe me?" El asked confused.

"I believe you saw some super weird stuff."

"What stuff?" Winnie Asked, and the three of them began to walk up Max's driveway.

"El saw Billy last night we were playing spy and El had her blindfold on. She was looking for Billy and apparently he saw her."

Winnie looked a little frightened and Max and El could tell.

"What wrong?" Max Asked.

"Max your brother attacked me on the street today, he was trying to get me to get in his car. When I said no he went ballistic." Winnie explained. "Maybe El is onto something."

Max opens the door to her house and the three of them went inside.

"I heard screams, happy screams right?" El Asked Max.

"What are happy screams?" Winnie Asked.

"I'm not explaining this, just forget I mentioned it." Max said and laughed forgetting that the two girls had a clean mind. "Look we can look in his room to make you feel better, okay."

Max looked at the sisters and they both nodded, Winnie knew that something was off with Billy she didn't understand what but if what El was saying was true than Billy was a threat.

Max goes through the hallway and opens Billy's room, the sound of rock music faintly playing.

"Why do I get the feeling we're gonna find all kinds of wrong in here?" Max said wearily.

It smelled faintly of cigarettes, Winnie knowing the smell from Hopper and her mom. She looked around and saw pictures of women on the wall and his clothes scattered everywhere. The definition of a teenage boy's bedroom.

Max goes over to his nightstand and opens the drawer, she looks in disgust and found his playboy magazines.

"Gag me with a spoon." She said grossed out.

The girls looked around a bit more and couldn't find anything, so they left Billy's room and went into the bathroom. Winnie went in first and when looking into the bathtub she saw water with empty ice bag in it.

"Max?" El said fearfully.

"Ice. It's just ice. Probably for his muscles or something. He works out like a maniac." Max explains picking up the wet ice bag.

El turns to under the sink and opened the cabinet under the sink. El grabbed the trash bin and when looking inside she trembled.

"El what is it?" Winnie Asked.

El began to pull out life guard items one of them being a red fanny pack out of the trash bin and Max's eyes widen. Finally El pulls out a bloody whistle and the three girls began to become fearful. The girls frantically leave the house but unknowingly to Winnie is she left her walkie talkie at Max's house.

•••••••••
The girls decided to head to the pool, it was pouring so the three of them grabbed their rain jackets and grabbed their bikes. Max however decided to ride with Winnie on her bike seeing she only had a skateboard and didn't want to risk it.

The rain poured down heavily and as they peddled to the pool, the pool was empty. The girls could see many people leaving as they grabbed their items and bolted to their cars or ran for cover. Max got off of Winnie's bike and Winnie and El parked their bikes, walking over to where the lifeguards would be.

"Excuse me?" Max asked as the two life guards were reading magazines.

"No one in the water until 30 minutes after the last strike." The guy said in monotone voice. "And don't try and argue with me. You wanna get electrocuted go climb a tree:"

"Yeah we don't care." Max said. "We're not here to swim."

"Or get electrocuted." Winnie added.

"We found this." El said and held up the fanny pack.

"Does that belong to anybody here?" Max Asked.

"Oh yeah." The male lifeguard said. "That's Heather's. I'll get it back to her."

"We could give it back to her." El said.

"You could, except she's not here. She bailed on me today." He said.

All the girls looked at each other and knew it had something to do with Billy.

"What is this?" the guy asked. "You girls want a reward or somethin'?"

"No." Winnie said.

"We're just good samaritans." Max added.

Winnie looked behind her and saw the bulletin board and saw that there were pictures of the lifeguards. Winnie tugged on El's jackets and pointed at the bulletin board. Winnie and El walked over to the board and Max followed behind them.

"Heather." Max said as she looked at the photo. "You think you can find her?"

Winnie looked at the lifeguards seeing that they were occupied and grabbed the photo and handed it to El.
El grabbed both of the girls's hands and lead them to the girl's locker room. Winnie and Max made sure there was no one in there and Winnie locked the bathroom door and to make sure, she wrapped the handle in vines.

Winnie looked at one of the lockers and saw goggles and gave them to El to use.

"I need something to cover it with." El told her and Winnie began to look for something. She looked in every locker until she found ducktape and smiled grabbing it and running over to El and handing it to her.

Max begins to turn on all the showers to help El and Winnie places the picture of heather in front of her. El had finished duck taping her goggles and placed them on, beginning to search for Heather.

Max and Winnie waited patiently and Winnie could see El's breathing began to quicken. All of sudden El ripped her goggles off and her nose began to bleed.

"What happened?" Max Asked.

Winnie grabbed her sister's hand and for a brief moment saw Heather and asking El to help her. Then Heather was dragged underwater. Winnie looked up at Max.

"She knows where she is."

•••••••••

The girls peddled across the street as it still poured from the late afternoon. It was now nighttime and the girls had the lights on their bikes lighting the way. El lead the way to Heather's home as Winnie and Max followed behind her.

El stopped at front of the mailbox and Winnie did the same.

"Is this it?" Max Asked El.

El nodded and the girls went up to the front door and placed the bike down. El looked at the door and closed her eyes, unlocking the door from the inside. They went inside and walked carefully through the hallway, and looked up at family portrait of Heather's family.

"Is this her house?" Max Asked.

"What?" El asked.

"Heather's house." Max said.

The three girls heard people laughing and they turned their head. They walked down the hall and heard a voice.

"He's so funny." A woman said.

The girls come to the end of the hallway and see the dining room and there sat Heather's parents and Billy.

"Max." Billy said and Heather's parents look at the three girls.

"We didn't mean to... barge in." Max said.

"We tried to knock but, maybe you didn't hear us over the storm." Winnie said.

"I'm sorry, who is this dripping all over my living room right now?" Heather's father asked agitated.

"I'm sorry." Billy said laughing. "Janet, Tom, this is my sister Maxine."

"Oh." Janet said with a smile.

"What on Earth are you doing here?" Billy Asked "Is something wrong?"

"We wanted to make sure everything was okay." Max said.

"Okay?" Billy Asked confused. "Why wouldn't it be okay?"

"Where is she?" El asked him.

"I'm sorry, where is who?" Billy asked El a little angry.

Winnie could see for a second his eyes dilated and she could feel that feeling again.

"Well, they're a little burnt. I'm sorry-" heather said walking in completely fine.

"Heather! This is my sister Maxine. Her friend Winnie and I'm sorry, I did not quite catch your name." Billy said to El.

"El." El said to him angry.

"El." Billy said. "Now What is it you were saying, El? You were looking for somebody?"

"I-I saw." El began to stutter but Winnie cut her off.

"Your manager, at the pool. He said you guys didn't come in to work today. So we got worried. Especially when I saw you on the road." Winnie said and glared at Billy.

"Heather wasn't feeling so hot today, so we thought we'd take the day off to nurse her back to health." He explained. "But you're feeling just fine right now, aren't you, Heather?"

"I'm feeling so much better." Heather said. "Do you girls want a cookie, they're fresh out of the oven."

"No but thank you." Winnie said and looked at Heather's parents. "Sorry again, we just wanted to make sure Max's brother was alright."

"Oh no, you're fine dear." Janet said. "Nothing more touching than a sister worried about her older brother."

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Billy Asked.

Winnie went over to him and getting closer

"Just like you asking me to get in your car, no thanks." Winnie says to him quietly and leaves.

"Thank you again." Max says and grabs El's hand and walks out of the house behind Winnie.

Billy closes the door behind them, and stares at the girls and they begin to leave. Winnie stares at Billy right back, slowly vines wrapped around the wheels of his car and popped one. She goes over to her bike and all of sudden she felt it more stronger than before and touched her neck and felt a little dizzy. Max looked at Winnie confused and touched her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah just a little dizzy." Winnie said.

"You want me to peddle?" Max Asked.

"Yes please. Drop me off at Dustin's house too." She told max and looked over at El.

"Dustin's house and then mine." Max told her.

El nodded and the girls peddled on the street, unknowingly Billy stared at the sisters and his anger grew.

•••••••••

El and Max peddled up to Dustin's house and Winnie jumped off the bike. She hugged El as Max got on top of El's as Winnie grabbed her bike.

"I'll see you guys later, I just need to lay down." Winnie said and looked at the driveway and saw that Dustin's mom wasn't home, probably working a late night shift.

"Feel better, okay?" Max said and Winnie nodded and went to the driveway and placed her bike on the side of the house. Winnie watched as Max and El disappeared from sight and went to the front door grabbing the spare key from under the cat stone, and unlocked the door and placed the key back.

She went inside and saw Dustin pacing back and forth in the living room and knew he was angry.

"Dustin are you-"

"Where have you been?" He asked her.

"I was with El and Max, I left a note."

"But I tried calling you on the talkie." Dustin said angrily.

"Shit, I left it at Max's house. I'm sorry it just El-"

"El needed you, that's what you been saying ever since she got back."

"Dustin, she is my sister, I thought she was dead. Dead! You remember what happened when you mentioned her name to me?"

Dustin didn't say anything, remembering what happened.

"Look I'm sorry, I went to help my sister when I promised Max yesterday I would go see her." She said frustrated.

"I know but Steve, Robin, and I found some hard evidence and you weren't there. I thought we were in this Russian thing together?"

"We are."

"Look everyone hasn't been there, Mike, Lucas, Will. We haven't been hanging out and it gets me you know. I feel like I've been pushed out. I guess I'm worried about losing you too."

"You aren't going to lose me." Winnie said and kissed his cheek. "You putting a pudding cup ring on me." She said laughing.

She went over to the record player and looked through some of his mom's records.

"What are you doing?"

"Playing our song." Winnie said and grabbed Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling In Love With You". Winnie placed it on the record and it began to play.

Winnie went over to Dustin and put her arms around his neck and began to slow dance. He began to do the same and dance with her. He leaned his forehead down to hers and just danced in silent, letting the music play and to have blissful moment, just the two of them.