Josie Hopper hasn't been the same since losing her Father and Boyfriend in what Hawkins knows as the Starcourt Fire. Nearly a year has passed, and strange things have been occurring. Disembodied voices, unexplainable apparitions, and painful memories have begun to creep into Josie's life.
She begins to suspect the darkness has returned to Hawkins. What form it has chosen to take is unknown. It is only after witnessing the death of Chrissy that Josie becomes painfully aware that her suspicions are indeed more than just that.
Forced to go on the run with Munson for Chrissy's murder, she will begin to realise her time is running out. And Eddie? This time, he'd stay and fight. Because the truth was, he'd walked into Mordor for her.
Chapter One
"Smells like it's going to rain," Billy commented as he leaned against his car door, waiting for her to get in.
"I'm pretty sure there's a specific word for that fragrance."
"What do you mean, the smell of rain?"
"Mmhmm. I can't seem to recall the scientific term at the moment," she said with a smile as she settled into the passenger seat and turned towards him.
He grinned, revealing his gorgeous smile. Josie adored it. "You are the sexiest nerd I've ever met, you know that?" …
She felt a fluttering sensation in her stomach like butterflies turning knots. As Billy leaned in for a kiss, she couldn't help but catch her breath at the thought of them together.
Josie wiped away her tears as she opened her eyes, realising it was just another memory. She sat on the fresh spring grass and gazed longingly ahead, where the gravestone of Billy Hargrove stood. "I miss you so much," she whispered to herself.
No response came. Did she anticipate one? Josie held onto hope. It had only been a short while since she started having visions of Billy, along with voices from unseen sources.
A grief-stricken pain crept out of her lungs as the crying continued, unhinged. Josie nudged her body closer to his stone. Outreaching her hand and searching, it gradually rested gently on his name, carved deep in the rock. It was still warm from the springtime sun. How cruel. A stone bearing his name was warmer than his lifeless body six feet beneath her. The rough texture reminded her of his stubble, smile, heartbeat... She'd have given anything to hold him one more time.
"It's been almost a year since you and my dad left," Josie said, gazing up at the swirling grey clouds above. "I'll be graduating soon, but you already knew that." Her chest heaved as her shoulders shook with sobs. "You had promised to take me to California after that, remember? You were going to teach me how to surf."
The silence of the grave felt oppressive as Josie wept, burying her head in her lap.
Josie's crying wasn't the type that could be disguised with a pretty facade. It was a deep, heart-wrenching cry that she needed to release. Every broken promise and shattered dream weighed heavily on her, and she had to let it out. She screamed until her voice was raw and her face turned red, hoping that those who had caused her pain would finally take notice of the damage they had caused. Billy and her father had been taken away by darkness, but Josie refused to let it swallow her too.
Tears and spittle streaked down her face, causing her hair to stick to her skin. She leaned against Billy's grave, seeking comfort from its warmth. Looking up at the sky, she felt the distant rumble of thunder and inhaled the scent of impending rain. After taking a few deep breaths, she could compose herself enough to talk to Billy again.
"I forgot to mention," she said, her voice barely audible and hoarse.
She exited the grass and folded her arms, staring at Billy. He was present this time, with a calm look on his flawless face. He seemed so tangible and alive. She wondered if she was truly losing her mind. Was he really there or just a creation of her mourning mind?
"The word that describes the fragrance of rain is petrichor."
"I bet you're feeling pretty smug right now, Miss Smarty Pants. You've got beauty and brains on your side. I'm a lucky guy," she imagined him saying.
"Your smart ass." Josie blinked. At that moment, he was gone.
She could still hear his voice clinging to the air around her. "Now, forever, and then some doll-face."
A single tear fell on the final resting place of Billy Hargrove, followed by the gentle pattering of hundreds of hoary droplets as the heavens finally opened up. Josie gave a final glance towards the sky, brushing the matted hair from her face and wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand. Despite the gnawing desire to stay with him a while longer, Josie knew she'd needed to get a move on. Aside from the fact it was now raining, she knew it was getting late and they wouldn't wait for her forever. It felt wrong though, leaving him to go and have fun with her friends. That was if any fun could be had at that point. Josie wasn't even sure she was in the mood for Hellfire tonight, but Billy would have wanted her to go through with the plans she had made. He'd be pissed if he knew she hadn't on account of him, wouldn't he?
Her attention was grasped when she noticed Billy, again. He was now standing in front of her. Hooking one finger under her chin, he brought his forehead to hers. "Yes. Go. I'll be here waiting for you. Not like I got places to be." He winked. "You just remember who you belong to..."
"You're such a pessimistic asshat," She sighs, reaching down to grab her jacket before pulling it on over her shoulders. When she looks towards Billy, he is gone.
"I'll be back to see you soon." Kissing her fingertips Josie presses them to the headstone.
She was late, really late.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit! Josie pumped her legs as fast as she could to get her bike up the hill in the rainy darkness. Panting, sweating, and with her lungs on fire, she could just make out the high school in the distance. Reaching the top of the street felt like reaching the summit of Mount Doom. She struggles to catch her breath. Josie gave a short sarcastic snort. Well, at least the rest of the journey to Hawkins High was all downhill from there. Placing her feet back on the pedals she coasted downwards towards the school, the tires of her bike splashing puddles of water in either direction.
Part of her was kicking herself in the ass. Hellfire Club was not worth biking five miles in the dark and rain, all things considered. And she damn well knew she'd be hearing it from Munson, who took Dungeons and Dragons so seriously, you'd think his campaigns were holy gospel. Sometimes she wondered why she even bothered with Hellfire. Realistically, Josie knew the reason why though. It gave her a reason to hang out with Dustin, Mike, and Lucas. Three of the few other people still in Hawkins who knew what happened that night at Starcourt… The few people who shared her loss.
Having made it to the school, soaked from head to toe, Josie tossed the bike to the ground with little care. She flung open the doors and ran for the clubroom. Squeaking noises from muddy Chuck Taylors reverberated off the hallway walls as she navigated them with ease. When she finally arrived at Hellfire, she was fuming as she tried to open the door. They fucking locked her out. She tried the handle again, banging on the door.
"Guys! Open up!" Josie kicked the door this time. "You fucking cunts, let me in!"
It was no use. If they heard her—she was pretty damn positive they had—then they wouldn't let her in. Josie glanced at her watch and groaned. It was 8:45 PM. She was meant to have been there by five.
She threw her hands into the air, giving up, letting them fall to her sides in a wet thud. There was nothing to do now but wait. Wait and stew over being barred from the club, even if it had been the third time that week she had bailed on them or was late. Josie swore their dungeon master purposely gave her a harder time than the others. She knew damn fucking well that if it had been any other member of Hellfire, they wouldn't have been locked out.
"And you say I'm a prick."
Josie jumped out of her skin when she heard his voice, fighting off the fear of her impending insanity. "Billy, don't start with me right now. I'm not in the mood."
Her dead boyfriend chuckled, leaning against the barred door. "You look like a drowned cat."
"Go fuck yourself, you asshole." Josie turned her back to him. She wasn't in the mood to be insulted. Especially by a spectre.
"Excuse me," Billy's tone became dark—sinister. His eyes carried a primal, animalistic rage. "You know better than to take that tone with me."
The blonde rolled her eyes. She was becoming increasingly fed up with these irritations. They had been causing her nothing but unwanted pain for days. And now this. "You're dead, Billy. This isn't real. Just leave me alone. Fuck off."
In an instant, Billy was no longer behind her, but in front of her, his hands painfully pushing her backward, pinning her to the door of the clubroom. "Oh, I'm pretty real—wouldn't you say? More than a memory buried in the ground. Forgotten."
Josie nearly screamed. Her hands were trying to pry herself free from his vice-like grip, terrified that her visions had taken a deadly turn. "Get off me. Get off me!"
"Why are you choosing to remember only the good times, Josie? Why are you acting like I wasn't a piece of shit? You were happy, weren't you? You were so happy when I died."
Billy gently ran his thumb over her jawline as his hand rested with tested pressure against her neck. His eyes were softer than before, but no less threatening.
She closes her eyes tightly. This wasn't happening. It wasn't.
His thumb was now caressing her lips, begging for entrance. Josie opened them, letting his thumb enter before gently biting down. Her eyes were still closed, streaming silent tears. He growled lowly.
"Now, be a good girl and apologize. You want to make me happy, don't you?"
Josie took a bated breath, gently removing his hand from her mouth and face. Opening her eyes and gazing up at him, she's aware of what he wants from her: total obedience. Billy had always expected that of her and if she gave it, there were no issues between them.
Carefully she chose the right words—the words she knew he wanted to hear. "I'm sorry for talking to you that way. I was wrong. You are right."
"That's my good girl," he purred in her ear. "You know I only ever wanted the best for you. I loved you...I still love you...and soon, all this pain will be over."
Josie began to weep again, her lips quivering when she took notice of Billy's changing appearance. His skin began to rot, fleshy tissue crawling with worms and spiders. The smell of decay filled her nostrils. She couldn't feel his breath on her skin. "Go away Billy...please, just go away."
His voice transformed into something dark, and with it came a blackness that surrounded them. Lights flickered. "I won't ever leave you, Josie. It will all be over soon. We'll be together again." Each word he spoke was laced with demonic intention. They were poisonous words—frightful words.
She couldn't move. Her limbs were frozen.
This creature—it was no longer Billy—leaned into her, lifting her chin so she might be face-to-face with it. It began to close the gap between them. At that moment, she feared for her very life.
BANG!
Josie was snapped back to reality when the club door swung open and hit the wall. She found herself in the middle of the hallway, a good ten feet from where she'd been pinned against the door. What the actual fuck just happened? Was she going mad? Josie shook herself, brushing her arms and legs, afraid that spiders and maggots were crawling under her rain-drenched clothes. Ugh, that putrid smell...
"Hey, Josie!" Mike called out to her as he left the room, a book under his arm. "What happened, we waited like an hour for—hey you okay?" His tone shifted from annoyed to concerned.
She gives him a look that says, 'I don't know'.
Her eyes flutter to Dustin and then Lucas as they all exit the room and file into the hallway. They were all staring at her, trying to read the atmosphere of the hallway.
"I-"
"Well, well, weeellll, how nice of you to finally show!" Eddie Munson and the remaining members of Hellfire left the clubroom, his voice breaking through the tension that engulfed the space only moments before. "I'm revoking your club privileges, Hopper-" The leader of Hellfire paused mid-sentence after taking in the state of Josie with his own two eyes.
His expression changed to one of apprehensive scrutiny. "You look like shit—you alright?"
With all seven pairs of eyes on her now, Josie gripped the fabric at the sleeves of her jacket, tightening into fists. She shrugged off the nightmare as best she could.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine...just got caught up at the cemetery—I mean just lost track of time...no car...took forever to bike here." It wasn't a lie but hardly the truth. She sniffled and cleared her throat while analyzing their features. Not one of them looked like they believed her.
Josie did her best to change the subject and get everyone moving toward the school's exit. She didn't want to be in that hall anymore.
"How'd the campaign go?" She questioned, beginning to walk backward so the others would follow.
"Oh, you know...fine. It wasn't like there happened to be a scenario where Nog could have used the lending hand of the Drow Priestess, Lady Maethoriel the Redeemed, or anything." Eddie quipped sarcastically.
Dustin giggled. "Dude, that was an oddly specific answer."
"Eddie's just shitty because he missed his—what did you call it—the grand opportunity to impress-" Lucas was cut off when Eddie stuck his foot out, tripping the young teen, nearly sending him to the floor. "What the fuck, dude?"
Josie was barely paying any of them attention.
Eddie squinted his eyes and managed a pursed smile, before rushing ahead to open the exit. His rings clinked against the glass as he pushed open the door, holding it ajar as the members filed out of it. He was still holding it open when Josie went to pick up her bike.
Lucas hadn't been wrong when he tried to say that Eddie was in a shitty mood. He'd spent a lot of time on that campaign, which may or may not have been an attempt to impress Josie. However, you can't impress them if they never show up. Eddie could understand though; after all the anniversary of the Starcourt fire was getting closer and closer. It hadn't escaped his ears that she had been at the cemetery that afternoon. He could only imagine what it must be like, having lost so much that day.
Letting the door to the school close, Eddie said his goodbye as he watched the boys get on their bikes and hoof them home. When they had all gone, he turned his attention to Josie. She was already pushing her bike up the car park towards the road. Damn, she was quick.
"Hey, wait! Josie, wait a minute!" He jogged over to her, hands in his jeans pockets.
She paused, looking up at him paranoid and fearful. "What?"
His expression was blank as he studied her face for a fraction of a moment. Her blue eyes were swollen. He could tell she'd been crying—her little upturned nose was red from the cold, wet weather. Sandy blonde hair began to dry in ringlets and waves that framed her heart-shaped face. Damn.
There hadn't ever been a time Eddie could remember that he hadn't pined for Josie Hopper. And that was saying something. After all, she was—or had been—the daughter of Jim Hopper, former chief of police in Hawkins. That wasn't exactly the kind of girl you wanted to get involved with. Especially if you were someone with a touch of the degenerate side. Like a Munson.
"Uhh..." He cleared his throat, shivering in the cool night air. "Let me give you a ride home?"
Josie stared at him incredulously. "I don't want to put you out. It's fine. I can bike."
Eddie felt the corner of his mouth pull into a smile. He peered down at her with kind brown eyes. "Shot down again—thanks."
"Pardon me?" Josie furrowed her brows.
"Yeah, I don't blame you. I'm not memorable." He let out a small chuckle, his breath visible in the cold. "You don't remember?"
She shrugged her shoulders and frowned. "No, sorry. I have no idea what you're talking about."
Biting his lip, Eddie shakes his head at her. Was he that forgettable? "You turned me down when I asked you out last summer—to catch Back to the Future at the cinema?"
Last summer. The thought of it made her wince. She didn't enjoy remembering—or more often than not, not being able to forget—that summer.
"I... was getting over my breakup with Billy. Wasn't really in the headspace to start something new...and then you know, my dad." At that moment, all she could think about was everything she lost that night. How much she missed her father.
Eddie could see that what he said had opened old wounds for her. You fucking idiot, he thought.
"I'm sorry—I didn't mean to bring-"
She cuts him off, "It's fine."
Placing a hand on her shoulder, Eddie easily changes the subject. "You still live with Mayfield, yeah?"
She had decided to stay with Max and Susan when the Byers took off for California with Jane. It would have been too painful to go with them—despite the love she had for her adopted sister. Dealing with the death of her father was a delicate matter. Josie had wanted to come to terms with it on her own, and in her way; seeing Jane daily just wasn't something she could have done. So, with Josie having been Billy's girlfriend and Mr. Hargrove walking out on his family, Susan didn't seem to mind letting the young girl into their lives when she had nowhere else to go. Max was grateful for the company of someone else who had shared a complex relationship with her brother.
Josie nodded in response to Eddie's question.
"Well, it's not out of the way for me to drive you home then... neighbour." He gave her shoulder a little nudge, softly smiling like the goofball he was.
He made her smirk. That was a victory he'd take. "Ah, the Lady can smile! C'mon, you can put the bike in the back of the van."
Too tired to argue with him, Josie trudged alongside him, pushing her bike toward his vehicle. The sound of raccoons fighting in the nearby dumpster made her jump out of her skin. Eddie noticed.
"Hey... you alright? You do know I'm not going to murder you, right? I'm just trying to help. You look like you've had one hell of a day." He opened the sliding door to his van and lifted Josie's bike into the back.
"It's...it's not that," she tried to steady her breathing. "Besides, you giving me a lift is recompense for locking me out of Hellfire tonight." She climbed into the passenger side and shivered in the dampness of the night.
Munson shook his head in confusion, closing the side door and opening the other.
"Exsqueeze me?" He slid into the driver's seat; a perplexing expression plastered across his face.
Josie returned the look of confusion, pointing a thumb at the school. "You fucking cunts locked me out. I figured you were pissed I was late again...teaching me a lesson or some stupid shit."
"I hate to burst your bubble there Goldilocks, but even if I wanted to do something so stupid, the doors to the classrooms don't lock."
Eddie rummaged through mix tapes, deciding on which one to pop in the cassette player. He only paused when he noticed how stiff Josie had become. Petrified even. "Hey, Josie? Jo—Josie?"
Josie was looking into the side mirror on the right-hand side of the van. In the shadows, she saw Billy sitting there, in the back. He looked very much the same as the day he died.
When she spoke, her eyes never left Billy. "Did you not hear me pounding on the door? Screaming at y'all?"
Eddie's head shot back in disbelief. "There wasn't any banging. The door doesn't lock."
He placed his hand over hers. She felt like ice. Not so surprising really; she had been wearing wet clothes. "Josie, are you—are you alright?"
"Joooossie..." Billy's voice echoed in her head. "We are waiting for you, Josie."
"Honestly, Eddie," She couldn't tear her tearful eyes away, watching as the apparition began to decay and rot. "I think I'm going mad."
This is a story I've spent quite a lot of time rewriting and finishing. Any Kudos/Comments are the icing on the cake and mean the absolute world to me. For those of you who have followed this story in the past, I hope you can find a place for it again in your hearts. Josie and Eddie have a special place in mine, I assure you. Much love to everyone and Happy Holidays to all. -TheLadyAranel
