The babysitters club|| Steve Harrington

45

The lights were still flickering overhead as they moved through the service hallways with robotic ease. 

Billy seemed to have decided they reached their destination when he kicked a door open, walking through it, not waiting to see if Lucia followed. Of course, she had to. 

The shop they entered was dark, much like the rest of the mall, but Lucia could tell it was an ice cream shop. She wasn't sure why she paused. 

Billy turned around at the door, giving her a long hard look and she willed her legs to work. Lucia was still carrying the girl, though with every step she seemed heavier, but Lucia's mind seemed clearer. 

There was a fridge in the corner and remnants of a conversation long forgotten came back to her. A sailor's hat was resting on the ice cream counter, a black bag on a table top next to a lunch box also long forgotten. 

Another sharp stinging pain between her eyes made her move faster. It was almost as if she was fighting with herself. Her mind was divided between the past and the present. There was some memory, some person she was remembering, but every memory seemed just outside of her grasp. 

Billy lifted the metal grate in the front of the shop with ease, holding it up for Lucia to walk through before he let it fall again. 

The inside of the Starcourt mall was the same as Lucia remembered from a couple days before. But now the mall seemed much too empty, the only noises were of the two sets of feet walking to the sunken plaza as the neon lights and signs continued to flicker all around them. It wasn't helping her headache. 

The once beautiful mall, the one Lucia referred to in disdain and disgust, was truly reduced to rubble now. Many of the shops were destroyed, (the Mind Flayer's doing, Lucia was sure), rubble, bricks, stones and tiles lay scattered making it look unfinished or in the middle of destruction. 

Lucia set the girl down on the top of the stairs that led to the sunken plaza, lowering her gently. She knelt next to the child, wanting to urge her to just give up and give in like she had. 

"Non aver paura," She tried to pacify the girl, for some reason she had slipped back into her familiar mother tongue "finirà presto"

Do not be afraid, it will end soon.

The girl's eyes fluttered open and then shut, making Lucia realize she was conscious but too weak to move. Good. 

"Just try and stay very still"

Lucia's gaze travelled upward to the shattered atrium at the top of the mall. The snarls of the Mind Flayer sending chills to her core, only a reminder of what it could do if she decided to betray it. 

It climbed down slowly, one limb after the other as Lucia got to her feet, standing next to Billy. She may be dwarfed next to him, but she had proven herself just as useful. 

Eleven, on the floor gasped in horror, trying to scramble back, although all she could manage was moving a few inches. 

The Mind Flayer opened its mouth, or what Lucia really hoped wasn't its mouth, letting its tentacle like appendage out. Flashes interrupted Lucia's mind, making her think back to the car crash with Nicole... Nicole, where was she? Where was her best friend? Lucia remembered being all alone in the Metal works factory, the tentacle attaching itself to her face, taking away her liberty, her memory, her identity, her. Making her just another robotic follower. 

Gold flashes exploded on the skin of the Mind Flayer and Lucia was pulled from her memories yet again. The voice controlling her was confused and annoyed and Lucia really wanted it to shut the fuck up.

Pain flared along her body, as she watched the Mind Flayer get attacked. She wasn't sure how it worked, if the telepathic link connected their pain or what. And frankly, Lucia didn't want to know. 

All she knew was that the Mind Flayer was getting hurt and along with it, her. 

Fire works exploded all around her in sparks of gold, red and much too bright for Lucia to keep her eyes open. The Mind Flayer screeched, angry at being assaulted off guard. 

What the hell was going on? Where did the fireworks come from? Lucia spun around, trying to locate the origin of the weapons being fired. They seemed to explode from every direction.

More pain, and Lucia cried out. 

"Flay this, you ugly piece of shit" Someone was saying on the second floor of the mall. The Mind Flayer tried to take the opportunity to attack the child, but all it caught was another explosion, this time straight in its mouth. 

It roared in pain as more sparks flew from the fire works. It was panicking and in pain, even if the fireworks couldn't destroy it, they could disorient him and cause some damage. 

The voice in Lucia's head only got more urgent, more annoying, more insistent. It barked off order after order, getting more and more violent. 

Fire was bubbling under her very skin, assault after assault. Everytime the Mind layer got hurt, so did she. Though she had no physical proof of it, her very skin felt like it might get burnt to a crisp and leave her burned to death.

A salvo of fireworks rained down on the Mind flayer seemingly out of every corner of the mall. The huge monster seemed to be overwhelmed as it stumbled backward, distracted and in pain, screeching and roaring. 

Lucia fell to her knees, half blinded by the pain, much too hurt to focus on anything else. 

"Hey asshole!" Someone screamed, "Over here"

It followed another explosion straight in the mouth of the Mind Flayer. 

It was all Lucia could do to protect herself, ducking away from all the sparks and explosions. She tried to stumble away. Something or someone above on the second floor caught her eye before she could move further away, a familiar face. 

"Leave my mom alone, you fugly fucker" A familiar voice, followed by another volley of fireworks and a small, "Sorry for cursing, mamma" which was barely heard over the cacophony and confusion. 

But the words, or rather the voice warmed her heart. Lucia paused, her head reeling. None of this was making sense and everything was starting to make sense. Her foggy memories were returning and she remembered a boy, her boy. 

Matteo. 

She couldn't see him clearly with all the explosions, but he had blood on his face, he looked beaten to an inch of his life, but still fighting, cursing and kicking like he'd always done. He looked furious, desperate, just like he had since the day he was born. 

Her boy. 

Her son. 

"Mio caro" She whispered to herself.