Chapter Twenty-Eight: I Think He Knows

"Max! Let me out of here!" Billy slammed up against the door, his face in the middle of the little window. Annie's grip continued to stay tight on Max's hand.

"You kids... you think this is... funny? You kids think this is some kind of sick prank, huh?" Billy asked. His eyes fell onto Annie, who stepped back slightly. "I thought I knew you better, Annie. I thought you were a better person than this."

Annie swallowed hard but didn't waver in the slightest. When he didn't get any movement, Billy spat on the window. "You little shits think this is funny?" His voice was getting louder and echoed more. "What is this? Open the door," he said, his voice too calm.

A beat. "Open the door!" He emphasized his words with a slam on the door that made everyone jump. "Open the door! Open the goddamn door!"

Everyone was breathing hard, Annie's hand shaking- the one that wasn't squeezing the life out of Max's.

Suddenly, Billy fell to the ground and let out a yell. Will rushed forward to the thermometer. "We're at 220." The highest it would go. Will stepped back with the group.

And then Billy was sobbing. Annie felt her own jaw shake- she was scared of what was happening and what was going to happen.

Max let go of Annie's hand and carefully walked up to the door as Billy started speaking.

"It's not my fault. It's not my fault. It's not my fault, Max. I promise you it's not my fault." As Max walked forward, Annie followed a few steps behind. If anything happened, she would grab Max and yank her back.

Max got up at the door and looked at the sight of her brother literally begging. "What's not your fault, Billy?" Max asked quietly. Annie was right behind her, barely able to see into the sauna.

"I've done things, Max. Really... bad things. I didn't mean to," Billy said through his crying. Behind her, Annie could feel the others getting just a bit closer. "He made me do it."

That caused every hair to go up on Annie's arms. "Who made you do it?" Max asked. But they all knew the answer. This was just the way to finally confirm it.

"I don't know, it's like a shadow. Like a giant shadow," he whispered. Annie looked back at Will whose eyes were wide. "Please, Max."

"What did he make you do?" Max asked and Annie could hear the pain in her voice.

"It's not my fault, okay? Max, please," Billy yelled. "Please believe me, Max, it's not my fault. I tried to stop him, okay? I did!"

Annie reached forward and grabbed Max's hand again when she heard her cry. In her own eyes there were tears- this was a hard scene. Annie never expected to see the 'great Billy' fall, yet here he was. Because of the Mind Flayer.

Her open hand went up to the glass. "Billy it's gonna be okay," she said. "It's gonna be okay, we want to help you. You just have to talk to us, okay? You have to talk to us." Max kept trying to talk to him, show him she really cared.

Annie saw something moving inside, something just barely out of her view. She couldn't adjust to see better without getting in Max's way. Will said something behind her, but it was too quiet for her to hear it.

"Max get away from the door," came Mike's slightly louder voice.

"What?"

"Get away from the door!" he screamed. Annie saw Billy charging at the door and pulled hard on Max's arm to drag them to the side.

The girls let out screams as Billy's hand came through the glass, shards spraying everywhere. His head and arm were through the window, and he was armed with a broken piece of tile. "Let me out, you bitch! Let me out! I'll fucking gut you!"

Max barely had time to stand and sob and what the Mind Flayer had done to her brother before shit got even worse. He grabbed onto the metal pole and yanked it out of it's place. The girls hurried back.

Lucas stepped forward and used his wrist rocket to launch a rock at Billy's face, causing him to fall back. At this point, Max was full on sobbing. Annie held her close, letting the girl soak her shirt as she let it all out. Her arms were wrapped around the brunette's torso, holding her close, too.

"Guys come on!" Lucas yelled, and Annie stumbled back with Max as the lights started to go haywire. Max removed her face from Annie's shoulder and they all looked around at the display. No doubting the Mind Flayer was here now.

Strange sounds came from the sauna. It sounded like choking at first but then turned into groans. Then noises of pain. Then yells- borderline roars. Like those of a monster.

They all faced the door as Billy started slamming his whole body into it. "He can't get out, can he?" Max asked, her voice trembling.

"No way. No way," Lucas said. But with every slam into the door, the pipes on the wall bent more and more.

"I think he's finding a way," Annie said, her own voice shaking like crazy. She was scared of Billy before, back in November when he fought Steve, and that was just normal Billy. She wasn't ready for possessed Billy.

With a yell, Billy charged at the door again and it flew open, the chained part of the pipe flying off the wall. Annie let out a shriek as Billy hurtled out of the doorway, rolling once before standing.

El pushed everyone back- not a soul disagreed- and she stared Billy down. Max and Annie gripped onto each other as they watched the two stare at each other. Lucas placed himself in front of the girls, his wrist rocket ready. It felt like an eternity before someone made a move.

The first move was El lifting a huge barbell with plates on it. She threw it into Billy and he went straight to the wall. El held it there and the plates started digging into the wall.

"Holy shit!" Annie screamed when Billy started pushing back. And it was working.

El let out a scream and tried to push back. Instead, Billy won and threw the thing at her, El falling to the floor just in time. He rushed forward and gripped her hair, causing El to let out a small scream.

Billy's head turned to look at the other kids, and it felt like he was staring them all down at once. With his other hand, he gripped El's throat. The room was immediately filled with El's coughs and chokes. As he lifted her up, she started screaming protests.

Tears free fell down Annie's face as she watched, too scared he'd kill her if she looked away. She let out sobs as she watched El's face get redder and redder. "El!" she screamed. Billy finally looked away from them to El's face and that's when Mike moved.

He grabbed an empty barbell and came up behind Billy, hitting the beck of his head with it. Annie gasped and watched Billy release El and fall to the ground. "Go to hell you piece of shit!" Mike tried to hit him again, but Billy turned over and grabbed the metal before he could.

Billy stood and backed Mike up the brick wall he was previously being held against. "Mike!" Will screamed. Annie used her free hand and found Will's to hold.

Before Billy could do anything, he was being lifted off the ground. Eyes wide, Annie looked back over at El to see her slowly coming off the ground. El stood completely and forced her and Billy to change spots, now her in front of Mike.

Both were screaming, Annie wanted nothing more than to curl up in a corner and cover her eyes and ears.

She couldn't though, especially not when she could see what El was going to do. "Move, move," she urged, getting the others out of the way. A second later, El threw Billy straight through the brick wall they were all just standing in front of.

It was weirdly quiet as everyone tried to calm down. El collapsed onto Mike, tears of pure exhaustion falling. Mike was quick to hold her, making sure she was okay. He looked over to the others and Will nodded at him. Some silent communication Annie would never get.

The two stood up, El able to part from Mike, and they all watched as Billy ran away into the woods, letting out painful wails as he did.

When he was gone from view, Max collapsed into Annie's side and the girl held her without question. She sobbed into her shoulder, everything coming out. Because Billy was the new host for the Mind Flayer, which only meant bad things.

Annie looked around the group and in a quiet voice asked, "What now?"

A/n: this is such a good chapter tho omggg