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𝗠𝗜𝗗𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧

𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓮𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽:
"𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞
𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊 𝚍𝚊𝚢."

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THE GROUP, STILL obviously shaken up from what they had experienced, all went back to Mike's basement where they decided to spend the night even though they didn't plan on sleeping. After what happened to her, Will didn't really want to leave Mackenzie's side. She didn't mind and let him hold onto her hand the entire night. When Mackenzie had looked in the mirror at her shoulders, light purple bruises were beginning to form in the shape of fingerprints. Will's jaw had been clenched in anger, but she was quick to assure him that she would be okay, even though her shoulders hurt like a bitch.

The next morning, Eleven wanted to try and find Hopper since she hadn't seen him since the other night and he wasn't answering any of El's calls she made on the telephone. She sat on the couch with a blindfold around her eyes, the television playing static in the background. The rest of them sat around, watching her in anticipation. Mackenzie resisted the urge to throw up at the blood dripping from El's nose and distracted herself by rubbing her thumb back and forth on Will's knuckles.

"I found him," El announced.

"Where is he?" Max asked.

"Woods."

Lucas looked confused. "Woods?"

"He's with . . . Will's mom."

Mackenzie raised an eyebrow at that.

Will shared a confused look with Mackenzie before leaning forwards. "My — my mom?"

"What are they doing?" Max questioned.

"Ill . . . annoy." Mackenzie blinked. Um, what? "They're going to Ill-annoy."

A knock was heard from the top of the stairs. "Mike, breakfast!" his mother yelled.

Mike turned to face the stairs. "Not now, mom!" He then quickly turned back to El. "Illinois? Illinois, like the state? The state of Illinois?"

El took off her blindfold and shrugged in confusion. "Ill-annoy."

Mackenzie shook her head and stood up, holding out her hand to El as she let go of Will's. "Come on, let's go get you cleaned up."

She led her to the bathroom in the basement with Max in tow. Max grabbed a towel from the cupboard and wet it before gently wiping away the blood on El's face. Her eyes trailed down to her neck where a mark was left from Billy choking her.

"Does it still hurt?" Max asked her as El lightly grazed her fingers over the bruise.

"Only when I talk," she responded.

"Well, it's a good think you're not Mike, then. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, you'd be in constant pain."

They all laughed for a moment before Max looked to Mackenzie. "What about you?"

Mackenzie sighed and pulled on the neckline of her shirt to expose her shoulder. The bruises had gotten progressively worse, now turning a deep purple with a slight hint of red around the edges. They also looked more like fingerprints than before. She frowned before readjusting her shirt into its original position.

"I'm sorry, Kenz," Max said quietly.

Mackenzie shook her head. "No, it's not your fault. It's the Mind Flayer's fault. Maybe when I see it I'll give it some bruises of its own."

Max chuckled and continued to wipe the blood off of El's face. They were beginning to dive into another conversation when hushed talking was heard outside the door. Will, Lucas, and Mike were talking about how the three girls were conspiring against Mike and how Mike and El were just taking a break despite her saying she dumped him.

Max sighed. "All right, who wants to do it?"

Mackenzie shrugged. "I will."

She opened the door slightly, peeking her head out and looking at the three boys standing there. "Yes, Mike. We are conspiring against you on ways to get rid of your annoying ass. How'd you know?"

Mike raised an eyebrow. "Is now really the best time to be sarcastic?"

"I'm always sarcastic, dipshit. And if El didn't make it clear enough, you guys are over. So can you please shut up about it before I come and smack you across the face?"

Mike didn't seem fazed by her threats. "You done being harsh, Kenz?"

"I have to insult you at least once a day," she grinned, making him roll his eyes despite the ghost of a smile on his lips. "Oh, and just for the record, we can hear everything you're saying in here."

Mackenzie closed the door and turned back to Max and El. El was laughing at her, and Max raised her hand for a high-five which Mackenzie happily obliged to.

A small knock was heard from the door. "Mack?"

Max sent her a smirk at Will's voice, which she ignored.

She turned towards the door. "Yeah?"

"Uh, Nancy and Jonathan are here and they're saying they have some news to tell us. You might wanna come out of the bathroom."

"Be out in a sec!" Once she heard footsteps padding away, she turned to Max and El with wide eyes at remembrance of what had happened. "We almost kissed the other night."

Max's jaw dropped. "What? And you didn't mention it until now?"

"Well, I think we had bigger things to worry about," she whispered harshly. "Anways, um . . . after we went to the pool and I left to go see Will, we were just talking on his bed and all of the sudden we just started leaning in until the telephone rang. Neither of us have talked about it, but there's something . . . different between us now."

"Girlfriend?" El asked, her voice holding a twinge of excitement.

The brunette shrugged. "I-I don't know. Maybe?"

"Kenzie!"

She rolled her eyes and turned towards the door at Mike's voice. "What?"

"You're taking forever!"

She scoffed and opened the door, sending Mike a sarcastic smile. Her, Max, and El walked over to the sitting area, Mackenzie opting to take her previous seat on the arm of the couch. Nancy quickly explained what she had seen when visiting a woman named Mrs. Driscoll at the hospital. After she did so, the group explained what had happened with Billy last night.

"It was the same thing, the exact same thing that happened to Will last year," Nancy said while pacing around the basement. "And look at this. Look at the body temperatures."

Nancy put the hospital records down on the table. The temperatures were a few degrees lower than normal.

"He likes it cold," Will concluded.

"Okay, so this crazy old woman who was eating fertilizer—"

"Mrs. Driscoll," Nancy corrected Mike.

"Right, yeah, Mrs. Driscoll, what time was this attack?"

"Last night."

"Right, but what time last night?"

"Around nine."

Jonathan looked over to Nancy. "You waited all night to call?"

"I was waiting for the doctors to run some tests," Nancy answered sheepishly, trying to defend herself.

"You weren't there?" Will asked his brother.

"Well, I'm here now, aren't I?" Jonathan argued.

"Hallelujah!" Nancy exclaimed, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Mackenzie's eyes narrowed in thought. She noticed a sort of . . . tension between them.

"Ooh," Lucas let out, his tone suggesting that he felt Jonathan's pain.

After a moment of awkward silence, Nancy spoke up again. "Um, so, what time was your . . . sauna test?"

"Around nine," they all chorused.

Nancy's eyes widened. "Well, that proves it. That proves my theory."

"She's flayed, just like Billy," Mike agreed.

"Flayed?" Jonathan questioned.

"The Mind Flayer. He flays people, takes over their mind. Once they do that, they basically become him."

"If there are two flayed—" Lucas began.

"Then there are definitely more," Mackenzie finished. Her eyes then widened, and she looked over to Max and El.

"Heather," El said softly. "Billy was doing something to her. She was scared. She was screaming. Bad screams."

"What's a good scream?" Lucas questioned.

"Max said—"

"Doesn't matter," Max said at the same time as Mackenzie said, "Nothing."

Will gave her a suspicious look, but she ignored it with flushed cheeks and kept her gaze on Nancy.

"I'm sorry, I'm lost. Who is Heather?" Nancy inquired.

"She's a lifeguard at the pool," Max answered.

"Heather Holloway?"

Mackenzie nodded. "Yeah."

Nancy and Jonathan merely looked at each other before saying only one word: Tom. They ran up the stairs, the group quickly jumping to their feet and following them. All of them walked out to the car, Nancy taking the driver's seat and Jonathan taking passenger. Lucas, Max, and El all sat in the back seat. Mackenzie paused, staring at the very back of the car with Will and Mike.

"Seriously?" Mike asked, obviously annoyed.

Will sighed. "Welcome to my world."

Mackenzie took a seat next to Will. She smirked at Mike, who was sitting across from her, and extended her legs so her feet were resting on his lap. Mike rolled his eyes, yet he didn't complain and began to fiddle with her shoelaces like Will had done yesterday.

"Seatbelts," Nancy ordered while putting her hair back in a clip.

All of them fastened their seatbelts. Nancy started the car and reversed, knocking over the bikes while doing so, before driving up the driveway. Mackenzie sighed, staring at the scenery out the window, wondering what they might find when they got to Heather's house.

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this is such a filler I'm sORRY