Chapter Nine
Piper watched as the small hand of the clock hanging from the wall ticked around slowly marking off another hour. Her back was pressed against the headboard of the rickety motel bed as Billy lay sleeping beside her. His arm was draped over her waist with his face nuzzled between her side and her pillow. He'd fallen asleep fully expecting her to follow suit, but Piper wasn't able to close her eyes. Every time she did the haunting face of the monster always quickly flashed behind her eyes causing her to frighten back awake. When the clock struck past three in the morning she'd fully given up. The sun started to rise over Hawkins and stream through the cracks of the curtains strewn across the large window. Birds chirped happily outside – a stark contrast to what was happening within the dark motel room.
Piper sighed softly and reached to rub at her tired eyes before tenderly removing Billy's arm from her waist. Billy murmured something in his sleep before flipping over to the other side of the bed. Piper stood there for a few moments and watched as his bare chest rose and fell with each breath he took. Her name is tattooed on the left side of his chest. After a few silent seconds, she brushed her dark curls from her face and walked toward her suitcase, grabbing a pair of jeans from inside and slipping them on. She didn't bother from changing out of Billy's shirt that she was wearing. The warm musky scent of his cologne still lingered on the worn-down Guns and Roses concert shirt and it was bringing a small comfort to her frazzled and tired mind.
She hesitated for only a moment when she walked to the bathroom – looking into the dark room with hesitation. Her nightmare replayed through her mind like a horror movie.
"Come on, Canon...get your shit together," Piper softly scolded herself before pushing on the aged wooden door.
The door creaked slightly as she pushed on it, but she was thankful to be welcomed to nothing on the other side. Unlike her dream, Piper left the door cracked as she brushed her teeth and washed her face. She scrubbed at her nose as signs of her nose bleed were still there. Piper clipped her hair back with a large hair clip before stepping out of the bathroom. When she stepped into the room, Billy still sleeping soundly on his side of the bed. She walked over and knelt down beside him gently tracing his face. Piper loved how angelic Billy looked whenever he slept. With his long lashes dusting over the top of his cheeks, lush lips slightly parted and freckles dancing across his nose and cheeks. Her fingers lightly caressed his face before bending down to press her lips to his. Billy barely roused when she pulled away.
Piper slipped on her sneakers and grabbed her jacket and one of the motel keys before walking out into the chilly Hawkins morning. The sun showed down on the small town with morning dew reflecting from the grass. She walked along the sidewalk outside of the motel room and toward the main office. The small bell jingled from above her head when she opened up the door. The older woman that sat behind the large desk perked her head up and smiled at Piper.
"Morning, sweetheart." She spoke, her cheeks rouged with a harsh pink blush. "Oh, you don't look like you slept well."
Piper let out a soft humorless laugh, "That would be putting it mildly. You wouldn't happen to have brewed coffee?"
"You're in luck. Fresh pot, just got done."
Piper walked toward the small counter the woman pointed to, a smile coming across her face. She turned slightly toward the woman, pressing her hands together in a prayer position before whispering a thank you. Piper grabbed one of the large to-go cups and quickly filled it with the dark caffeinated liquid. She finished it off with barely any creamer and a packet of sugar. She was hoping that the bitter liquid would shock her awake more. Piper gave a small smile to the older woman as she walked past and headed back into the chilly morning.
As she ventured back down to her room, Piper noticed a burgundy BMW slowly move through the parking lot, seemingly stopping nearly at the same moment she noticed it. Steve switched his car into park before getting out from behind the driver's side. He raised a hand up to draw her attention. Piper hesitated for only a second before quickly moving toward him. The closer he got the more concern seemed to settle over his features. The large dark circles under her eyes gave a clear indication of the rough night that she'd had before.
"What are you guys doing here?" Piper had looked around Steve to see Robin, Dustin, and Max sitting in the car.
"We're going to get supplies for Munson," Steve spoke, keeping his voice low in case anyone was close enough to hear. "Thought maybe you'd wanna come with us, we found out some more information after dropping you off."
Piper gnawed on her already-dried lip as she contemplated for a moment. Her eyes looked back toward the room with the number six barely hanging onto the worn-down red door. The last thing she wanted was to sit in that room left alone with her thoughts, even if Billy would be there beside her.
"You don't have to if you don't want to." Robin's voice came from inside the car.
"No, no." Piper shook her head and turned back to Steve. "I need the distraction. Just let me leave a note for Billy. Let him know where I am so he doesn't worry."
"You tell Hargrove about everything?" Steve asked, Piper quickly nodded her head.
"He didn't want to believe it at first, but I think he's with us that Eddie isn't guilty. But at the same time, he's not exactly eager to jump back into this...after last year I don't really blame him."
"Do you want him in this?" Max asked, rolling the window down to poke her head in.
"No," Piper spoke firmly. "I don't really like the fact that you're in this Max,"
Piper brought the styrofoam cup to her lips and took a sip as she turned on her heel and headed toward the room. Opening the door she saw Billy was still asleep, which she was thankful for. If he was awake, Billy would either fight to keep her there or fight to come with them. Piper was serious about keeping him out of it as much as she could. She knew he deserved to know if it was possible that the Upside Down was a threat again, but that didn't mean she wanted him within the plan to bring it down. Piper had come too close to losing Billy the year before and the last thing she wanted was to lose another that she loved.
Grabbing the notepad and pen from the side table drawer, Piper quickly scribbled down a note before setting it down on her pillow. She quickly, but quietly, exit out of the room and locked the door behind her. Steve and the other were still waiting idly within the car. Piper slipped into the backseat, Max sliding into the middle to make room.
Steve pulled up into a parking spot right outside the double sliding doors of Dudley's Grocery. The five of them climbed out of the small BMW and split off the moment they were inside searching for food. Piper found herself going down a snack aisle looking at boxes of rice Krispy treats, pop-tarts, and granola bars. Her dark brows pulled together tightly as she tried to figure out and decide on what Eddie Munson would want. She saw movement out of the corner of her eyes and spotted Steve turning into the aisle with Robin close behind him.
"What do we think he would want?" She asked
"I think anything would be good. Dudes been living off of stale crackers and warm beer." Steve spoke.
Piper nodded her head and shrugged before grabbing a box of pop-tarts and tossing them into the shopping cart that Robin was pushing.
"So what was the new information that you all found out?" Piper asked as they moved through the store aisles. " Steve sighed and grabbed a pack of YooHoo chocolate milk. "They pretty much are treating Munson like the only suspect for Chrissy's death, but they are keeping it hush hush since he's still missing. The possibility of him being dead as well was thrown around."
"So we just need to keep him hidden for a little longer till we figure out Vecna or whatever," Robin inserted "But it's also only a matter of time before someone else from this Podunk town figures it out."
"And with people's small minds and how they already treat Eddie, they are just going to hunt him down like the freak they think he is." Piper shook her head and sighed "I remember him from school, we had a history together...he was always nice. Nearly smacked Billy for instantly assuming that Eddie was lying."
"Hargrove wasn't exactly the nicest person in high school," Robin spoke up.
"I know. Billy has his moments and trusts me...I correct that shit real quick."
They turned down another aisle where they soon found Max and Dustin in with the drinks and beverages. Quickly they walked over and placed their finding in the cart with the rest of what Steve, Robin, and Piper had found. Soon everyone's voices around Piper started to fade and turn into static background noise. A migraine was starting to form in the front of her mind. The bright overhead lights of the grocery store seemed to only make it worse. She closed her eyes tightly and hung her head down as she willed the pain to go away. It only made her feel more fatigued than she already was.
Steve looked over toward Piper when he looked up and noticed she wasn't in front of him anymore. His eyes moved over and saw her a little away further down the aisle with her head down and her side pressed into the shelf. Steve suddenly felt a flare of concern for his friend as he slipped away from the group with the others not noticing. Steve moved to walk up beside her and gently called her name, but Piper didn't move, seeming to not hear him.
"Piper? Piper?" Steve reached up and gently shook her shoulder, causing her to gasp slightly in shock and stare up at him with wide, fearful eyes. He was about to ask if she was ok when his brown eyes moved down along her face and saw the trickle of blood beneath her nose. "Oh, shit...Piper, your nose."
"What?" She asked, reaching up to touch her nose and pulling her hand away to see the crimson blood on her fingertips. "Fuck"
Steve moved over quickly and grabbed Robin's bag from the seat in the cart. He ignored Robin's protests as he pulled out some tissue from inside and rushed back to Piper. She looked toward him sheepishly as he handed over the tissues.
"Thanks," She whispered before wiping the blood away.
The three others looked and watched on with concern coming over their faces.
"You're getting nosebleeds?" Robin questioned
Piper shrugged, "Only since last night...don't really understand why."
"Stress, possibly, happens to my mom anytime she's overtly stressed out," Max spoke, walking toward the older teenager she saw as a sister. "Seems understandable with everything going on."
"Y-Yeah, maybe," Piper whispered
But deep down Piper knew that something else was happening. With the nightmares, visions, lack of sleep, and now the nose bleeds – her gut was telling her something else more ominous was happening.
"L-let's go and pay for this stuff, get back to Eddie. I'm sure he's starving."
Everyone agreed and nodded their head before heading up toward the front of the store. But Steve looked and watched Piper as she followed behind the others. Steve always prided himself on looking out for his friends and being able to read them. The intense feeling he had in protecting everyone around him was something that only grew stronger with every situation they seemed to find themselves in with the Upside Down. And as he watched Piper, he was noticing the shift and change in her.
She was no longer the outspoken friend he remembered, the one who took charge and tried to ensure everyone was taken care of before herself. Steve always admired that about his friend. But now she was skittish. Closing in on herself and always looked like she was waiting for something to come at her. And seeing her this morning only made the pit of shit stomach feel heavy with worry. Steve also knew Piper would be the last to bring attention to herself if something was wrong. So at that moment, Steve promised to keep a closer eye on his friend hoping to quickly spot whatever was happening – so that he'd be able to stop it.
