Chapter Fifty


The bowels of Starcourt Mall weren't nearly as interesting as the main shopping floors; an endless maze of corridors all painted in the same dull cream paint, and cheap linoleum. It was a stark difference to the bright neon lights and energic buzz of the main mall, and as Jaime tore down yet another of the corridors she couldn't help but compare it to the different root her life had taken. Once upon a time she had had it all, popularity, a glowing social life, a home she had felt safe in, now she was battling monsters with a bunch of loser kids. If god existed he really was laughing at her.

Over head the lights flickered manically, blinking so fast that it was hurting Jaime's head to focus. How many times had she taken a hit that day? She had lost count, all she knew was she had never felt pain like the one her head was currently feeling.

"Billy!" She yelled for what felt like the hundreth time. There was no way she was that far behind him, he was determined though so there was a possiblity he was sprinting through the mall as opposed to her staggered so called run. "Billy!"

A fresh wave of panic hit Jaime as she threw open yet another door. If she didn't run into someone soon she had no idea where exactly Billy had intended to take the kids and she could end up running around Starcourt all night. Not that the monster would we hard to miss. For months she had been haunted by the Demodogs, seeing their faceless head every time she shut her eyes, but they were nothing compared to what she had seen on the roof.

"Bi... Max?!"

Her mom had always warned her to be careful what she wished for and suddenly Jaime understood what she had meant. She had wanted to find someone and now she had, except both Max and Mike were unconscious on the ground, possibly even dead.

"MAX!"

Fear alone had Jaime sprinting to where her sister lay, the agony from the wounds on her leg forgotten at the prospect of losing her sister. Dropping to her knees at Max's side Jaime touched a shaking hand to her cheek while the other nudged at her shoulder to try and wake her up.

"Don't be dead. Don't be dead."

Jaime felt suffocated, like a boulder was on her chest, as she stared down at Max praying to some higher being to let her be okay. Billy wouldn't have killed her, surely? Through all the darkness that had consumed him he was still there, and Jaime refused to believe that he would ever kill Max. She and Max were different from the others, they were all he had, they were all each other day.

"Jaime?" Max croaked, still not fully conscious. "He got her."

No further explaination was needed, Jaime knew exactly who Max was referring too but at that very second El was not her main priority. "Get up slowly." She instructed as she moved over to Mike's lifeless body to try and wake him also. "You're head is going to hurt. Trust me." Turning her attention to the Wheeler boy Jaime tapped at his cheek lightly, pleased when she saw his eyes flickering behind their lids. "Wheeler, time to wake up."

Having successfuly got to her feet and regained full use of her brain, Max quickly made a mental assessment of what had happened. Billy had caught them, he had hit her and obviously Mike too, and El was no where to be seen, then Jaime had shown up. It was the first time she had seen her since she had left to find Billy back at their home and she looked far worse than Max could have ever feared.

There didn't seem to be an inch of skin that wasn't cut or bruised in some way, a specifically nasty looking gash ran the length of her right calf and had stained the sneakers she had borrowed pink with blood. What shocked Max the most though was the state of Jaime's face. There was nothing in life Jaime valued more than her looks, now she was almost unrecognisable. Both her eyes were an ugly shade of purple that had spread significantly since Max had last seen her, countless cuts littered her face, and her lips had split so badly it couldn't form a scab to stop the bleeding. If she was honest Max wasn't entirely sure how her sister was even upright.

"Are you okay?" Max asked Mike as Jaime assisted him to his feet, the wince she gave when he leaned on her not going unnoticed.

"Where's El?" Mike offered in responce, unpropping himself from Jaime's side as his eyes frantically searched the immediate area for El.

Finally Jaime seemed to have some kind of control and she wasn't about to lose it because the Wheeler kid ran off recklessly for his girlfriend. Yes, finding Billy and El was important but she couldn't do that is she was chasing after the Max and Mike aswell.

With that in mind, Jaime grabbed ahold of Mike's bicep and pointed a finger at Max. "Listen up, Losers. I can't do anything to help if I'm worried about you two, so you're going to do as your told. Got it?" When they both nodded their understanding Jaime released her hold on Mike and lowered the hand that had been pointing at Max. "Lets go."

No further encouragement needed Mike slipped past Jaime taking the lead of their little pack. A yelp of pain escaped her lips after a few steps, the adrenaline that had been masking had apparently dropped enough with her small break that Jaime was now more than aware just how bad her leg was.

"You can wait here, where it's safe." Offered Max, her eyes locked on the angry slice on Jaime's calf. A not so gentle shove to her shoulder was a clear enough answer that Jaime had no intention of waiting anywhere.

"I'm fine." Jaime said through gritted teeth wanting to hide the true extent of her pain as much as she could. "Now move!"

Giving Max another shove they took off down the next corridor after Mike. The fluoresent lights that had been making Jaime's head hurt so much were flickering worse the further along they moved. This was the right way.

"Through here!" Mike called back to them before he headed through a door and out of sight.

Inside her chest Jaime's heart beat so fast she feared it would actually explode. This was it. This was the moment they had all been waiting for but dreading at the same time. What if El was dead? What is Billy was too far gone? How could she and some ordinary kids save him? The answer was simple but Jaime didn't want to acknowledge it; if Billy was gone then she would take her sister and get as far away from the Mindflayer as possible, she would have to abandon him.

Wordlessly she gave Max another hurrying nudge, forcing her younger sister through the door at a speed that suited her better. They were officially out of the bowels of the mall and in Scoops Ahoy where a thunderous roar greeted them, so loud that it made Jaime's eyes scrunch a little. Still it did nothing to deter her.

Her injury forgotten once more, Jaime tore past Max so fast tears began to form in her eyes. She needed to save him. Needed to make sure that monsterous roar wasn't directed at him.

Jaime wanted to scream, wanted to yell, but the air had been sucked entirely from her body as she came screeching to a halt beside Mike and saw why he had stopped in the first place. The mall was destroyed, rubble and flames were everywhere she looked, but what had her blood running cold was the creature that towered in front of them all. What she had seen in the hospital was nothing compared to what she was currently staring at, and to make it even worse stood only a few feet from it was Billy.

By some miracle her subconscious registered that Max had come up next to her and Jaime raised her arm stopping her from going any further. She however had no intention of staying back.

"STOP HER!"

Max's voice was like a distant cry, distorted by distance, as Jaime broke into a run heading straight for where Billy was stood. The Mindflayer roared again momenterilly drawing her eyes from her target; just like the Demodogs it had an unnerving amount of pointed teeth but unlike them it seemed to be producing some kind of tenticle from its mouth, that also had teeth on it and was directed at El who Jaime had just noticed at Billy's feet.

The world stopped moving. Everything moved in slow motion, and try as she might to move Jaime felt like she was wadding through tar. Fighting against whatever it was that was stopping her from moving Jaime thrashed wildly but her gaze never faultered from Billy. Billy who had fought back. Billy who was saving El. Billy who was trying to save them all.

A scream ripped up Jaime's throat, blood curdling and pain filled, but none of that registered through the buzzing in her brain as she watched as a second tenticle bite onto Billy's side making him groan in agony. A third one punctured Billy and Jaime wasn't sure if she was still breathing. She felt like she had left her body and she was watching someone elses life -a movie even- it couldn't be Billy, not her Billy.

Fighting harder still she managed to break free, so focused on getting to Billy she didn't notice it had been Mike and Max holding her back. Five. Five tenticles now had hold of Billy and that was all that mattered. Scrambling forward Jaime made it to where El was cowering on the ground, only noticing her when her hand wrapped around her ankle in a weak attempt to stop her from going any further. No one was going to stop her. Jaime Mayfield did whatever she wanted whenever she wanted, and right now she wanted to save Billy.

Suddenly Billy was dropped from the monsters hold, landing a few steps from Jaime. Maybe the world had decided to grant her one small favour? Rushing to Billy's side Jaime realised how wrong she was.

The Mindflayer shrieked overhead, dangerously close as it flung its self about smashing the mall. Using her body Jaime covered Billy's there was no way his could take any more trauma and she was beyond caring about her own pain. Not once did Jaime move her eyes from Billy, too afraid that if she looked away even for a second he would die.

Gingerly she hovered her trembling hand over his blood soaked torso and examined it carefully; she didn't need to be a nurse to know it didn't look good. Realisation sunk in making her stomach do a nauseating flip and the air in her lungs evaporate. Jaime felt suffocated, like she too was on the verge of dying. God she wished she was.

"Billy?" Max's voice wobbled from over Jaime's shoulder, barely piercing through the throbbing in her ears. "Jaime?"

For the first time Jaime could hear the spluttering Billy was making and again her stomach lurched. The sound was almost worse than the sight, it made it so much more real. Swallowing the dry heave Jaime moved to back from sheilding Billy's body, if there was any immediate danger Max wouldn't have come forward.

"Billy, Billy, get up, please."

As much as Jaime wanted to convince Max it was going to be okay, to get her away from looking at Billy, she couldn't. Even as a wet droplet landed on her hand Jaime couldn't take her eyes off of Billy, couldn't drop her hold on him.

"Max...I'm sorry." Choked Billy, his eyes fighting to remain open.

A lump lodged itself in Jaime's throat as Max broke down, the shudders of her body brushing against her. There was only one reason Billy would apologize to Max and it was what Jaime was staring at, but still her brain wouldn't allow her to truly believe it was happening.

As if reading her mind, Billy's eyes opened and his fingers touched the nearest part of her he could reach. He was going to do it. He was going to say his goodbye to her and Jaime was anything but ready. This was not how it supposed to end. She was supposed to have saved him, he was supposed to be with her, she had failed him.

"It was only ever you." Billy coughed.

The scream broke from Jaime's lips before she could stop herself. Her throat was raw, her leg was throbbing, but none of it compared to the agony in her chest as Billy's body went limp. The world around her melted into a blurred mess, nothing outside of Billy existing any longer. Desperately Jaime shook at his body, pleading for him to wake up, but still he just lay there completely unmoving. She couldn't go on with out him, she didn't want to go on without him, and she wanted to tell him that but her body wouldn't let her.

Doing the only thing her body would allow her, Jaime lay across Billy's chest her hands clinging to his sides as great sobs wrecked through her chest. He felt the same. Solid but soft, and it only amplified the aching.

"Jaime."

Ignoring the faint calling of her name Jaime clung tighter to Billy, almost afraid he was going to disappear in a puff of smoke. "Please don't leave me." She spoke into his chest. "I need you."

"Jaime." The voice called again, only this time it was accompanied by a tugging to her body. "Jaime, let go. You've gotta let go."

Slapping at the hands pulling at her Jaime realised it was Steve that the voice belonged to, and it was Steve who was trying to dislodge her from Billy. "Get off of me!" She croaked, swipping at Steve again. "Get off!"

"We have to get out of here, it's not safe."

For the first time since seeing the monster Jaime removed her eyes from Billy and fixed a furious glare onto Steve. She would die before she let him move her. Right up until he was put in the ground she would be by his side. "I'm not leaving him!" She shrieked, ashamed when a fresh wave of fat tears streamed down her cheeks. "I won't let him be alone."

Steve was easy to predict, so Jaime had anticipated he would back off after some resistance, what she hadn't expected was for him to kneel down beside her and place a tentative hand on her back. "And I won't let you be alone."


A/N/ Okay, so I nearly died writing this. It was so unbelievably sad it took me three days to write it. I'm sorry if I have upset a lot of you by following the show but it had always been my intention to do that. That being said I hope you think I did it well.
There will be one more chapter and then this story is done! Honestly I've never been so devistated to be done with a story! I did have a quick thought about doing a kind of prequel following the lives of Jaime and Billy before the move to Hawkins, so let me know what your thoughts on that are.

Savysnape7: I'm staying as healthy and safe as possible and I hope you are too :) I hope you loved reading this even though it wasn't the ending a lot of people wanted :)

Kairi: That's such a lovely comment! I'm so happy that you love my story so much! I hope you enjoy the chapter :)

BirkenstockBilly: Jaime is a Queen! I love her so much too and it's so amazing when someone else does, I know she's not the most likable OC but that's what I like about her. Thank you so much for such a lovely compliment, it's always super nice to hear that people think your writing is good :)