Chapter Fifteen

Creel House

The annoying echo of a voice mixed with static was the first thing to wake Billy as the morning arose. He groaned as the ache that was currently in his lower back began to make itself known, thanks to the position he'd fallen asleep in on the Wheeler's basement floor. Just as silence filled the large room, the annoying noise returned.

"Dustin can you hear me?" spoke the voice, slightly muffled no that he was becoming more aware. "Dustin...Dustin...Duuustiiinnn..."

Billy began to wake more and sat up, looking around to find the source. Dustin's walkie-talkie sat in the middle of the chaos that became the coffee table. Everyone around him was asleep, soft snores coming from both Steve and Lucas. He spotted his stepsister cuddled close to the Sinclair boy with Dustin curled in on the other end of the couch. Billy rubbed at his face feeling a bit more of his scruff along his jaw, now that he hadn't shaved in a few days.

"Henderson! Do you copy?"

Eddie Munson. Billy groaned before stretching over Nancy's body to grab the walkie-talkie, pressing down on the button to answer.

"It's Billy, what do you need?" Billy's voice was thick with sleep, and grumpiness, as he answered back to the wanted man.

"Hargrove!" Eddie answered with a slight rise in his voice, "Hey, man, uh...I'm gonna need a food run in a little bit, running a little low."

"Sure, dude," Billy answered

"And I know it's not the appropriate time to ask...but I could use a six-pack as well,"

Billy rolled his eyes, but also couldn't blame him. Billy was sure if he was in Eddie's shoes, he'd want something to take the edge off. But as Eddie's voice became background noise and his blue eyes moved across the slumbering friends and quickly noticed someone missing. He'd felt his heart leap into his throat as he quickly noticed that Piper was missing.

"...yeah, yeah man. Whatever you need." Billy spoke, interrupting Eddie, "We're gonna have to get back to you, yeah?"

Billy didn't even pay attention to the callings of his name from Eddie before he flipped the walkie off. He reached over and smacked Steve in the back of the head, quickly waking him.

"Jesus fuck!" Steve screamed, his dark brown eyes flying open quickly as he stared toward his assailant. "What the fuck was that for, Hargrove?"

"Where is she!?" Billy asked in a panic, his arm stretching out and pointing toward the obvious vacant spot where his girlfriend was once laying. "You were to be the one up with her on the last watch! Where is she?"

"She was right there, not too long ago, I just dozed off like..." Steve looked down at his watch and felt his heart drop into his stomach, seeing that a little over an hour had passed from the last time he looked. "...shit."

Billy didn't wait or hesitate more before he nearly tripped over himself scrambling from the brown carpeting of the Wheeler's basement. Steve wasn't too far behind him with the two of them running up the steps back to the main floor. Scenarios played through Billy's mind as he tried to imagine where you could've possibly gone. Why had you wandered off? Did Vecna finally get you? Was he going to come across your mangled body with your eyes sucked out, just as Eddie had described Chrissy. But as the worse case scenarios played through his panicked mind, Steve and Billy nearly tripped over each other as they came through the basement door – only to find you sitting at the dining room table. You didn't move at all, instead still focused on whatever had your attention at the dining room table.

"Morning boys!" Karen Wheeler spoke with a wide smile, drawing both their attention to her, "You're up early, didn't think any of you would be coming from down there any time soon."

There was a lightness to her voice as her bright smile greeted the two of them, oblivious to the turmoil and panic that was going through the two young men in front of her.

"You know I think it's so great that you guys are all sticking together through a time like this," She spoke, before turning back to the stove and flipping the pancakes.

Billy quickly moved away from Karen and toward the small table that sat on the other side of the kitchen. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, but even with a soft approach, Piper jumped slightly before turning around. Her green eyes widened, fully expecting to see a distorted version of her family behind her, but relaxed when she saw it was Billy.

"You scared the living hell out of me," Billy spoke, keeping his voice low so Karen wouldn't hear. He knelt in front of her and gently caressed her face, with his thumb moving along her cheeks. "Can't be running off like that,"

"Sorry," Piper whispered, bringing the headphones of Max's headphones down around her neck, the sound of music becoming louder. "Couldn't sleep with the music blaring through my ears all night."

Billy sighed heavily and moved up to wrap his arms around her more, bringing her into him and holding her tightly. He mourned her in the few seconds she wasn't within his sights. Steve moved to sit down in the chair that was across from Piper. Drawings were strewn across the family breakfast table, all frantic sketches. His eyes moved back to his friend where he saw the blackened soot of the pencil lead left behind as she smudged in the shadings.

"Did you do this all night long?" Steve asked, his brows pulling together tightly.

"Uh..." Piper pulled back from Billy, looking back to the small drawings and creations that she'd moved from her mind down to paper. "Yeah, couldn't really get it out of my head. Playing like a bad horror movie over and over. Thought it would be easier for you guys to see it all instead of trying to explain it."

Piper grabbed one of the papers she'd set off to the side. Within the photo, it was hard to make out at first. It looked like floating random shapes with a mist around them.

"It was weird, it was like I came into his lair...or something. These pieces were floating around and everything was red. Almost like a mist? Maybe?" Piper shook her head and sighed heavily, "But there was also this twisted staircase along with these," She reached over and pulled another drawing out, within the drawing were what appeared to be two twisted tree trunks with bodies mangled within them. It wasn't hard to distinguish them as Fred and Chrissy. "It was like he had them on display."

"Shit," Steve cursed, pulling out another drawing. Quickly he noticed something familiar. "Is this a window? Or something?"

He flipped it around to show Piper, and quickly she nodded her head, "It was a door, and that was in the middle, it was pretty. Weird to have a door with a stained glass window in the middle."

Piper shrugged her shoulders and gathered her pictures together, "Now I look like a mad woman doodling away her nightmares and traumas."

"I don't think so, baby, you needed a way to cope." Billy soothed her, reaching quickly to grab her hand and hold it tightly.

Steve was barely paying attention to the couple in front of him and instead was focused on the drawing in front of him. He knew that there was something familiar about the stained glass window that was drawn out in front of him. Steve went through his memories like a roll-a-dex trying to find the answer.

"You ok, Steve? You look lost in thought." Piper spoke up.

"I have seen this somewhere," He spoke his thoughts out loud. "I just...can't fucking remember how."

Billy looked down over them again as he spoke, "Maybe this all means something to this Vecna. Almost like you stumbled into his mind, just as he entered yours."

"That...actually makes a lot of sense." Piper looked up at her boyfriend, "It was like suddenly I was out of the cabin and sucked into the Upside Down, but a version I'd never seen before. He wanted me to join his sick display."

"We're not letting him get you," Steve spoke sternly. "He's not gonna fuckin' win."

The sound of the basement door opening snapped the three of them out of their small bubble for a moment, all of them turning to see Nancy coming into view. She sighed heavily at the sight of them before walking over.

"There you are," She sighed heavily, before stopping quickly the moment she saw what was occupying the table. "Oh...wow...you've been...busy."

Nancy tried to cover her obvious worry with a strained smile, but it wasn't working at all.

"Could say I was taking a trip down nightmare memory lane," Piper nervously chuckled "This is where Vecna took me essentially."

Nancy hummed softly before coming up next to Steve and gently taking the drawing he'd still be holding within his grasp. The same look of confusion came across her features, almost exactly as they had for Steve. Her eyes solely focused on the drawing of a stained glass window.

"That looks like the door from the Creel house," Nancy spoke up. "Almost exactly like it."

"Creel House! That's where I'd seen it," Steve spoke with a surge of excitement in his voice, a prideful smile spreading across his face.

"Creel house? As in Victor Creel?" Piper asked

"Yeah, looks just like that door in the photos of the article that Robin and I had found." Nancy spoke, "This was in your memory?"

"That was floating around in Vecna's...whatever when he tried to kill me." Piper answered "So this place exists? In Hawkins...currently?"

"Creel House is still standing, sort of now like a run-down house on the north side. Became that house that kids would use to tell ghost stories and stuff. Dare a few people to run up and knock on the door at night. It's pretty boarded up now due to people breaking in and stuff, but it still stands."

Piper stood quickly and snatched the drawing from Steve's hand before turning and heading back toward the basement door.

"Piper, babe! Where are you going?" Billy called out after her. Everyone was watching her with confusion, even Mrs. Wheeler who'd paused from making breakfast.

"I'm going to wake the others!" She opened the door, "We've got someplace to be,"

Steve pulled up to the house that sat, oddly, on the top of a hill on the north side of Hawkins. A broken-down decrepit playground sat across the street giving more indication it was a forgotten part of the town. Piper's heart jumped into her throat as she stared up at the Victorian home with nature seemingly starting to take over the home. She was the first to exit the car and walk up the steps that led toward the home. It seemed to loom over her more and more with each step that she took. Making the house seem more ominous. Her heart beat harder and harder in her chest as her eyes looked up at it. Piper felt sick just standing on the front lawn of the home, and couldn't imagine how she'd feel being inside. But also knew she'd have to get over it.

"Wow," Robin whispered as she stepped up beside Piper, "Never seen or heard of this place before."

"Neither have I." Piper replied, "But then again I rarely come over to this side of town."

"Let's get this over with," Steve spoke as he walked past the two of them and straight toward the front porch.

One by one the others followed with Piper being one of the last up the steps. Dustin reached into his backpack and grabbed the crowbar and hammer they'd grabbed from the Wheeler's garage. One went to Steve and the other to Billy. With each pop of a nail from the boarded-up front door, Piper couldn't help but suddenly feel jittery and jump.

"So what are we supposed to find within this...hell hole?" Robin asked.

"For some reason, it's important to Vecna, why else would Piper have seen the front door floating around in Vecna's little world." Nancy sighed heavily, crossing her arms over her chest.

Pop, another nail.

Pop, and another.

"So then what? How do we know that Vecna's not in there?" Max asked

That seemed to give everyone pause, someone looking from one to another as if one of them was to have the answer.

"Really think he's just sitting in here making everything happen?" Lucas asked.

"Well, there is only one way to find out," Piper sighed deeply.

Her eyes focused on Billy and nodded her head slowly, a silent indication for him to continue. Billy hesitated for only a moment before prying off the last couple of nails that kept the large board in place. Both Steve and Billy stumped a few steps back as it leaned forward before slamming down against the aged porch. As if it had been untouched by time, coming perfectly into view, was the stained glass door.

"Shit," Billy cursed, looking between both the door and his girlfriend.

"Alright, so this place is important," Robin spoke up.

"We supposed to knock or something so that someone can let us in?" Steve tried to joke, but the joke fell flat with the worried and afraid looks on each of his friend's faces. Most importantly, how Piper seemed to pale with her eyes unmoving from the door.

"No worries," Robin spoke, as she bent down and picked up a brick from the porch, "I found the key."

Without hesitation, she chucked it forward sending the brick through the perfectly preserved window. The loud cracking and breaking ran through the tense silence between the friends.

"That's one way to take care of it," Dustin chuckled as Steve stepped forward to reach his hand through and unlock the door.

They slowly filed into the room ready for something or anything to come at them. None of them were sure if they weren't going to be stepping into a trap laid out by Vecna. But it was soon figured out that there was nothing left behind except for an old home that hadn't been touched for over thirty years. The home smelled of old dust and stale air. Everything was laid out perfectly and untouched.

"They just up and left," Nancy spoke as they filed into the foyer one by one.

"I may not know much, but I don't think triple homicide is good for the market." Robin shrugged.

Piper slowly wandered and walked away, only slightly, from her friends as something at the head of the foyer caught her attention. Standing tall against the back wall covered in layers of dust and cobwebs. Her footsteps led her closer and closer as if it was beckoning that she was unable to resist.

"Guys," She whispered with a thickness building up in her throat, causing a choking sound to come with her words. "Please tell me I'm not the only one that is seeing this?"

She prayed that she wasn't the only one to see the looming grandfather lock that stood above her.

"Please tell me I'm not alone," Her voice cracked again before she turned to look over her shoulder at her group of friends.