Chapter 6

"This is not what you think. It is not our fault!" Mrs. Wilson refused to listen and stormed out of the room. "It's okay..." Once again, she started to rock back and forth slowly as she held onto the armrests tightly. There was nothing that could comfort her but herself. Not only did her father blame her for her parent's death, but also for the fact that he hadn't stopped her from killing someone. However, Billy didn't care what happened to her. At the moment, she simply needed to focus on calming herself down so that she could regain her sanity. Despite that, she was sure that she would continue rocking in order to calm herself down. With that, she closed her eyes as the rocking sound resonated in the room. As her father approached her side and embraced her in his arms, she buried her head on his chest in order to muffle her sniffling, trying her best not to cause even further damage to her damaged body. The next thing she knew, there was a loud knock on the front door. She opened her eyes in surprise and sat upright quickly. Once again, she looked at her father for guidance. After he got a nod from her in response, he let her down on the floor. "Go ahead, darling. You can leave for now and try not to make too much noise, all right?" she said with an unreadable expression. He walked towards the doorway and glanced over his shoulder before walking outside. With every step she took forward towards the door, she became more convinced that she wasn't going home after leaving her room. She knew that this meant that the man who came for her was still lurking around the area. He was still watching her every move. She couldn't allow herself to be caught by him again. She reached the door as a new voice rang out through the house. "Billy?" Her entire body froze, and as if on cue, she began to tremble uncontrollably. She turned around slowly and stared straight into the eyes of the man standing in front of the door. Her heart started beating faster as the fear engulfed her whole being. She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't think. Everything was happening so fast, and it was starting to overwhelm her. All the memories of the past ten years flashed across her mind one after another. Memories of her mother lying there lifelessly upon the ground. Of course it made perfect sense that it was her father who had found her that day. They had always known it wasn't going to end well. They'd always known that she wasn't going to survive. Still, she never thought she would ever meet him again. Suddenly, Billy found herself sitting on the floor, staring at Mr. Wilson who was sitting in the same chair where Billy had previously been sitting. He was smiling kindly. His lips formed a comforting smile as he gazed at her and asked her question, "How are you feeling, sweetheart?" She gave no answer, instead letting go of her breath. "I understand that this may shock you, but please hear me out." Again, she didn't respond and only stared at him blankly. "Now, I know your life seems difficult now. I know how difficult this situation is, but please trust me when I say I want nothing more than to make things better for you. Just tell me what you need and I'll do everything in my power to make it happen. I won't take no for an answer, I promise. Just tell me what you need. I'm here for you, honey. Your father and I will do anything that you ask, I swear..." She shook her head. "Everything?" Still shaking her head, she continued to refuse to speak. "Anything?" he repeated as if he couldn't believe what he heard. "Nothing." The corner of his mouth twitched. He placed his hand on his forehead as he closed his eyes once again while inhaling deeply. "Billy..." he uttered softly. Before he could say anything else, a sharp ringing echoed from somewhere in the vicinity. The woman jumped slightly in surprise. It sounded very familiar to her. It was her cellphone. Her parents had their own phones, so they would often use them whenever they needed them. Her father noticed her sudden reaction as he reached for it before she did. Before she could protest, he pressed the button and answered it. He listened silently and frowned before speaking once again. After listening to the other line for a few seconds more, the frown slowly disappeared and he turned to look at Billy with an apologetic smile. She stood up and grabbed her backpack. Without saying a word, she hurriedly headed towards the stairs. After passing by her father and Mrs. Wilson, she went upstairs as quietly as possible without waking anybody up in the process. She entered her room and placed her bag inside the closet where she kept all her clothes since her last trip to Hawkins. As she was putting on the second pair of shoes she wore that day, the buzzing sound of her phone caused her to quickly turn her head towards it.