╔═════ ∘◦ ☽ ﾐ ◦∘ ══════╗

𝗠𝗜𝗗𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧

𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓮𝓵𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓷:
"𝚗𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝, 𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔."

╚═════ ∘◦ ミ ☾ ◦∘ ══════╝

BILLY HARGROVE WASN'T the type of boy to stay in his room during the Fourth of July. Even though Mackenzie had never gotten to know him, the personality that he gave off told her that he was a player and a partier. That's why when Eleven revealed that he was just sitting on his bed instead of joining a celebration, she was extremely confused. While El got up to get a drink of water, the rest of the group began to discuss. Mackenzie sat on the arm of the couch next to Will, absentmindedly twisting the ends of her braids.

"And that's not normal, right?" Nancy asked.

"Billy staying in his room on the Fourth of July? No, that's not normal," Max replied.

"He wants us to find him," Will concluded.

Nancy nodded. "Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. If we go to Billy, then the rest of the flayed know where we are."

"It's a trap, I agree," Mike voiced. "We'll be ambushed."

"We won't be surprised," Lucas argued. "We'll know that they're coming, and we will kick their flayed butts."

Mackenzie raised an eyebrow at him. "You gonna take 'em down with your Wrist Rocket, Lucas?"

"Hey, it saved you from Billy."

Her bruises ached just thinking about him. "And I'm very grateful for that, thank you, but that was just one person. We're talking a whole army of flayed people. If we want to win, we have to let El handle it."

"What if we try and kill one of the flayed?" Max suggested.

Mike shook his head. "It's too risky."

"Yeah, and unnecessary," Nancy added. "Killing the flayed won't stop the Mind Flayer. We have to find out where it's spreading from. We have to find the source."

"Billy knows it." Everyone turned to look at El. "Billy's been there. To the source."

"Yeah, but—" Mike began.

"It's a trap. I know. We can't go to Billy, but I think there's another way. A way for me to see where he's been."

Mackenzie sighed, knowing what she was going to do. "Are you sure, El?"

"Yes."

She nodded her head. El began to get prepared, turning on the television again to a channel that only had static. Mackenzie saw Mike beginning to talk to El, so she got up from her seat and entered the kitchen where Lucas and Will had been for the past couple of minutes. She opened up a cupboard, reaching up on her toes to grab a glass. Mackenzie walked over to the sink and put her glass under the tap to fill it with water.

While she did that, she looked out the window and began to ponder. About everything. At the beginning of the summer, all she wanted was to let loose and have fun. The past two years had been filled with awful incidents, especially on her best friend who didn't deserve it. And now, her summer was taking a turn for the worst. She didn't want to go through this again. For goodness sake, they were teenagers, and they had already endured so much. Why couldn't the universe just leave them be?

"Kenzie."

Lucas' voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She felt cold water running on her hands and looked down to see her glass completely overflowed. Mackenzie gasped and quickly turned off the tap, pouring a little water out of her glass so it wouldn't spill. She sighed, wiping of the sides of it with a dish towel.

"Are you all right?" he asked in concern.

She forced a smile. "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. Just a little . . . out of it, I guess."

Lucas nodded hesitantly before walking back over to the couch.

Will gave her a knowing look, suddenly noticing the dark circles that were under her eyes. In fact, he seemed to notice everything about her in that very moment. Her slightly sunburnt cheeks, the freckles dusted across her face . . . but the worry inside of him clawed away at the butterflies in his stomach.

"Something's bothering you," he began. "What is it?"

"Nothing," she quietly responded. Damn him for knowing me so well. "I'm fine."

"Mackenzie," Will urged, his tone still gentle.

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

"It definitely does matter if it's affecting you this much. Come on, Mack, talk to me. You know you can tell me anything."

She looked at him pleadingly. "Will, please, we have bigger things to focus on."

Mackenzie brushed past him and took her seat on the couch. Will sat next to her after a moment, flashes of hurt reflecting on his face. She took a sip of her water, watching as El tied the blindfold around her eyes. Mackenzie leaned backwards for a moment as worry settled in her heart. If Billy saw her once, there was a chance he could see her again.

El suddenly started hyperventilating. Mackenzie sat forwards, splashing some water over the side of her glass onto the floor, but it didn't matter.

"Something's wrong," Mike announced.

Mackenzie stared at him for a moment. "No shit, Sherlock."

"Kenzie, I swear to God—"

"Okay, fine, I'll be quiet."

El didn't even tell them to stop their bickering. They all began to glance at each other with worried gazes until El stopped whimpering.

"El, are you okay?" Mike questioned. "Are you okay?"

She let out a breath. "I'm okay," El choked out.

"What's going on?"

"I'm . . . on a beach."

"Okay, I may be dense, but the last I checked, there weren't any beaches in Hawkins," Lucas pointed out.

"Good observation," Mackenzie responded, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Max leaned forwards. "What else do you see?"

El was silent for a moment. "A woman. She's . . . pretty. I . . . I think she's looking at me." Another moment of silence. "It's Billy."

Max's gaze was directed at the floor. "It's California. It's a memory."

"I think I see it," El voiced. "The source."

Everyone straightened up in curiosity. Mackenzie looked over at Will for a moment before turning back to the girl in front of her.

She let out a shaky breath. "Be careful, El."

The silence was excruciating. She knew that El would be okay and wouldn't let anything bad happen to them, but she was still her friend, so she of course had to worry. She worried about all of her friends. Each minute that passed by that El didn't reveal anything about what she saw felt like a year. After about five minutes, El spoke up again.

"I think I found it. The source."

"Where, El?" Max inquired. "Where are you?"

"Brimborn . . . Steelworks."

Jonathan got up from the chair he was sharing with Nancy. He ran over to the kitchen and snatched the phone book off of the counter. Jonathan began flipping through the pages to try and find it, Nancy getting up to help him look.

He apparently flipped to the right page. "Found it. Six-five-two-two Cherry Oak Drive."

"That's close," Nancy voiced.

Mike looked back over to the girl on the floor. "El, El, we found it. Get out of there. Get out!"

El didn't listen to him. She didn't move and definitely didn't take her blindfold off.

"What is she doing?" Max asked.

Mackenzie shook her head slowly, placing her glass of water on the table in front of her. "I don't know."

Will grabbed her hand, noticing her tense state. She gave him a gracious smile, but it immediately fell off her face as El began whimpering again. This one sounded more sad than scared. Mackenzie shared a worried look with Mike.

El ripped off her blindfold, letting out an agonizing scream as blood poured from her nose. Mackenzie's eyes widened at it and she squeezed Will's hand. Mike left his chair, reaching down to take the girl into his arms. He was telling her that everything was going to be okay, but Mackenzie knew deep down that it wasn't. That nagging feeling in the back of her mind was becoming a reality.

☾ ★ ☽

I love the beach. that's all

also this chapter is such a filler but yk it happens