35. Complete

Neither Karmen or Billy were sure how long they stayed in the bathtub together, but soon enough their skin was pruning, and the water began to warm up. Just as the pair were thinking of getting out, they heard the front door open, as Billy's head snapped up.

"Oh shit" Karmen mumbled, pushing herself out of the bath.

"It must be my dad" Billy panicked as he followed her.

"Sh, maybe he won't come in" Karmen shushed him, as she buttoned up her jeans.

However, just as Billy grabbed his shirt, the bathroom door burst open, revealing an angry-looking Neil Hargrove. Karmen could see the hatred in his eyes as he realised who was in his house. There had been a very heated argument between the two a couple of months ago. Karmen had come around to help Max with her summer homework and had seen the bruises covering most of Billy's face. She had flipped. All the lights in the Hargrove household had burst as she shouted at Neil and told him what an awful father he was. She allowed herself to be forcibly thrown out of the house, only after Billy pleaded with Karmen to let it go. Ever since then, she had always made sure Billy's father wasn't around when she visited Billy or Max. That was until then.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Neil spat out, seeing the state of undress they were both in.

"Dad, nothing happened, we were just-" Billy started, but Neil cut him off by holding his hand up.

"Not another word from you. I thought I told this whore she wasn't welcome in this household" Neil gritted out, as Karmen took a step forward.

"Don't call her that" Billy told him, as he grabbed Karmen's arm, knowing she was close to losing it.

Billy knew how much Karmen hated his father, he could already see the lights flickering in the main room. She was practically itching to attack him.

"Get out" Neil insisted, looming over Karmen.

"With pleasure. Come on, Billy" Karmen retorted.

"He's not going anywhere" Neil announced, as he stood in the doorway, stopping her from getting any further.

"He's your son, not your pet. He can do what he wants" Karmen scoffed.

"You really don't know when to quit, do you?" Neil exclaimed.

"That's rich coming from you. Does it make you feel powerful beating up kids?" Karmen spat out.

"Karmen, stop!" Billy cried as he could see his dad was practically shaking with rage.

"You're pathetic" Karmen goaded him, her mouth running away from her.

Before she could say anything else, Neil raised his hand and slapped her across the cheek. Karmen's head snapped back the impact, as she touched her now bruised cheek. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, Billy suddenly lunged forward and shoved his father into the doorframe, as his hand went around his neck.

"Don't you ever fucking touch her!" Billy screamed slamming Neil's head against the doorframe with his other hand.

Neil seemed to pass out from the impact, as he hung limply under Billy's shaking hands. Karmen gasped as she could see blood was now running down from Billy's own nose. Black blood.

"Billy…you can stop," Karmen told him, as she reached out to place her hand on Billy's shoulder.

"What…what have I done?" Billy stuttered as he let his father's body drop to the floor.

Karmen quickly crouched down and felt for Neil's pulse, feeling relief flood through her when she felt a steady heartbeat.

"It's okay, he's only knocked out. We can…" Karmen trailed off when she looked up at Billy.

He was staring straight ahead, an emotionless look on his face. The most terrifying thing was the whites of his eyes were now covered in tiny black veins, giving him an almost demonic expression.

"Billy?" Karmen mumbled, as she slowly stood back up.

She took a step back in fear when Billy's eyes snapped up to hers, as he tilted his head in a confused expression. It wasn't Billy in control anymore. She let out a cry when he suddenly grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the bathroom.

"What are you doing? Let go of me" She panicked, as he continued to pull her roughly.

"Where are you taking me?" Karmen questioned, as he shoved the front door open.

"To Heather's" Billy replied, his voice mixed with another tone.

"You bit her too?" Karmen realised.

"No. I knocked her out, threw her in the boot of my car and brought her to him" Billy replied, not caring that Karmen was almost tripping over her own feet.

Karmen cringed in pain as she heard a voice all around her and recognised it as Heather's. It was as if the girl was calling to her. She could tell Billy could hear it too.

"Let me go" Karmen cried, trying to pull away from Billy's grasp.

"Stop fighting it" Billy growled, as he slammed her against his car.

Karmen felt fear flood through her veins, as she saw the anger in his eyes, and felt the way his nails were sinking into her skin. Billy wasn't there anymore. Only the Mindflayer. She was all alone.

"Please…" Karmen began, as blackness clouded her vision.

"Are you sure you're not overreacting?" Max queried, as they walked closer to her house.

The night before they had decided to use Eleven's powers to spy on some of the residents in Hawkins, and that had included Max's brother. Eleven had been surprised to find Karmen with him, but even more worrying was the terrified expression Karmen had on her face.

"You don't believe me?" Eleven sighed.

"I believe that you saw some really weird things but Billy's a bit of a…freak" Max stated.

"I heard Karmen screaming" Eleven insisted.

"Yeah, I know, but here's the thing. When Billy is alone with a girl they make, like really crazy noises" Max explained.

"They scream?" Eleven gaped.

"Yeah but like…happy screams" Max informed her.

"Happy screams? What is happy screams?" Eleven insisted, confused.

"It's like…I don't know, he basically makes them feel so good that they…scream. Yuck, I really don't want to be talking about this" Max grimaced.

"So, you think he was doing things to Karmen?" Eleven suggested.

"What else could it be?" Max shrugged.

"She's with Steve. She loves Steve" Eleven pointed out.

"I know but let's be honest. There's always be something there between them, hasn't there? They have kissed before" Max went on.

"Karmen doesn't cheat" Eleven shook her head, as they stopped outside Max's house.

"His car's not here. Are you sure you want to do this?" Max questioned, as Eleven nodded.

Max cautiously opened the door to her stepbrother's bedroom, knowing if he found out she had been there, she'd be seriously dead. As she and Eleven looked around the room, Max forced herself to open his top draw, expecting to find some disgusting things. She was shocked when all she found were some pictures. Most of them were of Karmen, the one at the top of the pile was of her and Billy in their swimsuits, happy smiles on their faces. He had his arm wrapped around her waist and looked as content as he could be.

"He really likes her" Max mumbled to herself, sadly.

"Max!" Eleven called to her from the bathroom.

"What's wrong?" Max queried, as she entered to see the bath was full of water and had ice packets floating on top.

"There's blood here" Eleven stated looking at the doorframe, that had speckles of blood on it.

"There's more here…" Max trailed off, as she opened the cupboard door.

Eleven took a bin out of the cupboard and found a plaid shirt inside, covered in blood, as well as a lifeguard belt and whistle. Something bad had happened. Neither of them could deny it any longer.

Eleven's heart sunk when they went to the community pool and discovered that Karmen, Billy and Heather had never turned up for their shifts that day. Knowing that there was nothing else they could do, Eleven decided to go into the void to see if she could find them. She was confused when she found herself outside a house she had never been to before. She read the house number at the front and began to wander towards the red front door. Once she stepped through, all she found was a bathtub filled to the brim with ice. With a gulp, she stepped forward until she was looming over the tub. Suddenly, Karmen burst through the ice, with a frightened look on her face, gasping desperately for air. Her eyes widened when she saw Eleven and tried to reach out for the younger girl.

"Help me" Karmen sobbed, as she was pulled back under by an unknown force.

Eleven quickly tried to grab her but the bathtub had disappeared, only leaving black water underneath her. Eleven let out a loud scream as she watched Karmen get pulled under deeper until she had completely vanished.

"Karmen!" She cried as she felt the water all around her.

Eleven ripped the googles she had been using off her face, as she tried to regain control of her breathing.

"What happened? El!" Max exclaimed as she saw Eleven's nose was now bleeding.

"We…we need to call Steve" Eleven panted.

Steve paced around the backroom in Scoops, after having just got off the phone to Max and Eleven. Karmen was in trouble, he could feel it in his bones. He had to find her. All clues seemed to be leading to Heather's house so that's where he was going to go.

"You can't just leave! What about the Russian's? I think I've figured out the code-" Robin began, but Steve cut her off.

"My girlfriend is missing, Robin! I don't care about anything else but that!" Steve retorted.

"Those two weird girls said they were going to check up on her though, didn't they?" Robin pointed out.

"Their just kids. This could be serious" Steve shook his head.

"Why do you say that?" Robin frowned.

"It's Hawkins. Bad things always happen here" Steve sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"C'mon, we better go" Dustin announced, as he pushed through the door.

"Hold up, aren't you supposed to be out there? What about our customers?" Robin insisted.

"I've closed the shop" Dustin shrugged.

"You've what?! Great, now we're going to get fired" Robin groaned.

"So? Karmen's in trouble, that's-" Dustin started, but Robin cut him off.

"All that matters, yeah I know. But how do you know anything's wrong? Maybe she's just run off with this Billy guy?" Robin suggested.

"If you actually believe that then you really don't know Karmen," Steve told her, as he grabbed his bag.

"We'll be back tomorrow," Dustin told Robin, as he made his way towards the door.

"Hold up, where do you think you're going?" Steve announced, putting his hand on the smaller boy's shoulder.

"I'm coming with you, dude" Dustin insisted, as Steve shook his head.

"Absolutely not. This could be Mindflayer connected for all we know, and Karmen would kill me if anything happened to you. Actually…I'd kill me if anything happened to you" Steve admitted.

"That made no sense, Steve" Dustin stated.

"I know, I know. But you've got to stay on the bench for this one, man. I'll bring her home, I promise" Steve told him, as he ruffled Dustin's curly hair.

"Good luck" Robin offered, as she went to stand beside Dustin.

"Don't do anything until I get back, okay? Forget about those Russians!" Steve exclaimed, opening the back door.

"Will do" Dustin nodded.

"I'm serious! No Russians!" Steve insisted as he walked out the door.

"…So, what have you figured out about the code?" Dustin questioned, once the door closed, as Robin turned to him with a smirk.

Karmen's eyes snapped open, as she looked around herself in a panic. The last thing she could remember was being in a bathtub full of ice and Eleven looking down at her. Now she found herself sitting at a dinner table, with Billy and Heather sitting opposite her. She had lost time again. God knows what she had already done.

"Are you feeling okay, sweetie?" Heather questioned, tilting her head, in a way that Karmen now connected to the Mindflayer's body language.

"I'm…I'm fine" Karmen nodded, as she saw there were two adults sitting around the dinner table too.

"Will you come help me with the main course, Karmen?" Billy announced as he stood up from the table.

Karmen quickly nodded, not sure if she would be able to speak. She rushed into the kitchen after him, shaking as she looked around and tried to figure out where she was.

"Is it you?" Billy asked as he took her hands in his.

"Yeah, it's me. Are you…you again?" Karmen queried, as he nodded.

"I came back a couple of hours ago. Just as I was introducing myself to Heather's parents" Billy told her.

"I blacked out after you dragged me from your house…" Karmen trailed off, looking at the bruises on her arm.

"I did that to you?" Billy gaped, as he trailed his fingertips over the bruise.

"It wasn't you. Not really" Karmen shook her head.

"Did I hurt my dad?" Billy gulped.

"You knocked him out. But he was alive" Karmen told him, as Billy breathed a sigh of relief.

"I was so angry when he hit you and then suddenly…I was gone" Billy sighed.

"Wait…that's it! I was terrified when you dragged me towards the car. That's why I blacked out! Emotions make you vulnerable. They let it get in" Karmen realised.

"So, whenever we get emotional, we're basically inviting it in?" Billy suggested.

"Yeah…" Karmen trailed off, as she felt a stinging pain in her ribs.

She pulled up her shirt and gasped when she saw black veins pulsing down her chest, lying just above her belly button now. It was growing by the second.

"Billy, I don't think we have a lot of time left" Karmen gulped.

"I know. I'm forgetting more and more. I can't even remember the name of this damn town anymore" Billy confessed.

"What do you think is going to happen when we can't remember anything? When the infection spreads fully? Do we just…stop?" Karmen asked.

"I don't know-" Billy's scared voice was cut off as the doorbell rang.

"God, what now?" Karmen groaned, as they cautiously made their way into the dining room.

The pair came to a halt when they spotted Eleven and Max standing in the middle of the room, dripping on the floor.

No. No. No.

Karmen realised the words repeating in her head weren't her own. They were Billy's. They couldn't let the girls get hurt.

"Max" Billy mumbled, looking like he had been punched in the gut.

"We didn't mean to barge in" Max replied.

"I'm sorry, who is this dripping in my living room right now?" Heather's father questioned.

"She's my sister" Billy announced, as Max frowned.

Billy had never even wanted to call her his stepsister in the past. The whole scene in front of her felt wrong. She noticed that Karmen still hadn't said anything.

"What are you doing here?" Billy inquired, as he made his way over to the pair.

"We just wanted to make sure everything was okay" Max informed him.

"Okay? Why wouldn't it be okay?" Billy stated, a strange look in his eyes, as Karmen came to stand beside him.

"I was worried about you," Eleven told Karmen, who avoided meeting her eyes.

"I'm fine. You two should really go. I'm sure Heather doesn't-" Karmen began, but the girl in question cut her off.

"Heather would love for you girls to stay actually...I'm sorry, I did not quite catch your name" Heather stated, her gaze on Eleven.

"El" Eleven replied, bluntly.

"El" Heather nodded, a dark tone to her voice.

"Why were you worried about Karmen?" Heather inquired, as she looked the girl up and down.

"I saw…I saw you…" Eleven trailed off, not sure what to say.

"We saw your manager at the pool. He said you guys didn't come into work today, so we got worried" Max explained.

"Karmen wasn't feeling so well today, so we thought we'd take the day off to nurse her back to health. But you're feeling just fine now, aren't you, Karmen?" Billy suggested, turning to the girl.

"I'm feeling so much better" Karmen nodded.

"Steve's worried about you" Eleven went on, as she could see Karmen visibly stiffen.

"Well, you can tell him I'm fine. C'mon, let's go" Karmen insisted, as she began ushering the girls out of the room.

"Nonsense. Why don't you girls stay? Have a cookie?" Heather grinned at them.

"They've really got to go. Their parents will be worried" Karmen retorted, pushing Eleven towards the door, as Billy did the same to his sister.

"We're not leaving you here. There's something wrong. I can feel it" Eleven exclaimed.

"El, please just go" Karmen begged.

"Everything alright out there?" Heather called, as the group stopped by the front door.

"Everything's fine!" Karmen replied.

"Go" Billy insisted, as he pulled the front door open.

"No. I know we didn't listen to you earlier, but we'll listen now" Eleven shook her head, as Karmen balled her hands into fists.

"It's too late to act like you care now, El. All you care about is your little boyfriend. So get out. I don't have time for you anymore" Karmen spat out, as she shoved Eleven through the door.

"Don't follow us again" Billy warned, as he slammed the door in the girl's faces.

Karmen's heart broke as she saw the hurt expression on Eleven's face. She let her head fall against the door, hating her own actions. She loved El, she was the whole reason Karmen had come to Hawkins. But right now Eleven needed to be as far away from her as possible.

"You said what you had to. It was the only way they'd leave" Billy suggested.

"It's more than that. I wanted to say it. For a split second…it felt like I hated her" Karmen confessed.

"That's just the Mindflayer speaking" Billy stated.

"I don't know where it ends, and I begin anymore" Karmen admitted.

"Is everything alright, honey?" Heather's mum interrupted, as she came to stand behind the pair.

"Everything's fine" Billy nodded.

"I'm just going to lie down. I'm feeling a little lightheaded…" Heather's mother trailed off, walking past them and towards the staircase.

Stop her. Stop her. Stop her.

Billy and Karmen shared a scared look as they both heard the command in their heads. Karmen could feel the black veins trailing over her body burn as she resisted.

"No…no…" She stuttered, as her nose started to bleed black blood.

Billy dropped to his knees as he cried out in pain, clutching his chest. He felt like he couldn't breathe.

"There's no point fighting it. There's not enough of you left" Heather announced, suddenly appearing beside them.

"Shut up" Karmen gritted her teeth, as she placed her hands on her head.

"Just let go. You won't have to feel the pain anymore. The loneliness. You'll feel nothing" Heather went on.

"I said shut up!" Karmen screamed as the lights above her head blew.

"What's going on? I heard screaming?" Heathen's mother rushed back down the stairs.

"N-nothing. We were just leaving" Karmen insisted, as she crouched down beside Billy.

"Billy?" Karmen questioned, as she turned him to look at her.

"Who…who are you?" Billy frowned, flinching away from her touch.

Karmen gasped as she saw the confusion in the boy's eyes. He had no idea who she was. In fact, it seemed like he had no idea where he was.

Take her. Take her. Take her.

The voice screamed in Karmen's head, as she fell against the front door. It hurt so bad, it felt like her head was going to explode. Billy turned to look up at Heather's mum, a dark look in his eyes.

"Billy, don't!" Karmen exclaimed, watching as he shoved Heather's mother into a nearby wall.

"It's too late. He's with me now" Heather informed her, as her voice mixed with a male.

The girl started to approach Karmen, her arms outstretched and a manic grin on her face.

"Join us" Heather smiled, only inches from Karmen now.

"No!" Karmen yelled as she kicked out, making the girl stumble backwards.

Her hands flew to the handle on the front door, as she ripped it open and ran out into the rainy street. She didn't turn back as she heard screams from the house getting louder.

Memories began to flash in front of her eyes as she ran towards the Starcourt mall. Dustin. His toothy smile as she told him she'd be moving in that summer. How Eleven's face had lit up when she saw her for the first time in years. Billy's look of shock when she helped clean him up when his father had hit him. Steve looking down at her with worry when she had been hurt by the Demogorgon. Just as she realised, she was finally nearing the Starcourt Mall, after running for what felt like hours, she saw another memory. She was looking up at a pretty brunette, who had toys in her hands. Baby toys. She looked so familiar. Karmen stumbled into the Starcourt parking lot, which was almost abandoned at that time of night. Her eyes widened as she saw the boy she was looking for packing his car. She opened her mouth to shout his name but stopped when she realised she couldn't even remember it. He was important she knew that. She knew she loved him. Without needing any other knowledge, she began rushing towards him. Steve seemed to hear her coming, as he whipped his head around and frowned when he saw his girlfriend bounding towards him.

"Karmen?" He called out, as he jogged to meet her.

Even from far away he could see the terrified expression on her face. It seemed like she was running from someone. Or something.

Karmen practically threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly as she did so. She was so scared. Steve wrapped his arms around her waist, as he could feel her trembling. Suddenly, she seemed to go limp against him, as he had to hold her upright to stop her from flopping to the ground.

"Hey, are you okay?" Steve questioned.

He couldn't see that the whites of her eyes had all but turned black, as dark veins spread underneath. She blinked and pulled away from him slowly, a strange expression on her face.

"Karmen?" Steve queried, touching her face lightly, as he brushed his thumb against her cheek.

"...I'm okay. I'm just fine" Karmen smiled, as she titled her head.

Complete. Complete. Complete.

Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! As you can see from the ending of this chapter, we've got some fun Flayed!Karmen scenes coming up soon. She's going to be a little different from her usual self. I apologise that this chapter has taken so long to come out but life's been really busy recently. What do you guys think of my take on the flayed? Please leave a review:)

NicoleR85: Aw, thank you! Billy really cares about her, but we'll have to wait and see with what happens with them now. As for Steve, my poor baby is going to go through a lot of shit in this season:(

1Demoness: Thank you so much! I've really enjoyed delving into Billy's possession more.

Guest: The real Karmen would never cheat on Steve...but flayed!Karmen could be a different story.

Amadues: Thanks for the review:) We'll have to wait and see whether there's enough of Karmen left to fight against the Mindflayer, let's hope for Steve's sake there is!

Min234: Thank you for the review! I always felt like Billy would have been different if he had someone who really cared about him. Don't worry, Steve/Karmen are still endgame, and always will be:)

Angryfanfic: Thanks for this review:) Don't worry, Steve will always be the one for the real Karmen.

Sitowitz: Thank you so much! Glad you've enjoyed the story so far, and hope this chapter lives up to your expectations:)