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𝗠𝗢𝗢𝗡𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧

𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓯𝓸𝓾𝓻:
"𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢
𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜."

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MACKENZIE, TEARS WHIPPING off of her face from the wind, biked with Max and Dustin to Family Video. After the Starcourt Mall shut down, Steve and Robin had started to work there together. They were their best hope for this whole situation.

The three friends got off their bikes once they reached the store. They leaned them against the wall quickly before walking over to the doors. Mackenzie sniffled, wiping away another tear that had managed to fall as Max and Dustin opened the double doors, the bell to signal somebody had entered ringing.

"Hey, Steve," Dustin began.

Steve gestured to the television, which was showing the news, making Mackenzie cross her arms over her chest and avert her gaze to the floor. "You guys see this?"

"How many phones do you have?"

"Someone was murdered," Steve continued, and Mackenzie saw her vision go blurry with more tears.

"How many phones do you have?"

"Uh, two, why?"

"Technically three, if you count Keith's in the back," Robin added.

Max looked at Dustin and nodded. "Yeah, three works."

"What are you doing?" Steve asked as Dustin flung off his backpack and slid it over the counter. "Woah, what are you—"

"My pile!" Robin complained as Dustin jumped over the counter.

"No, no, no, no! My tapes! Dude!" Steve approached Dustin as he sat down at the computer. "What are you doing, man?"

"Setting up base of operations here," Dustin answered, Max rounding around the counter to stand by him, but Mackenzie stayed in her same spot.

"Base of operations?" Robin repeated.

"Stop, get off of that," Steve scolded as Dustin started to type on the computer.

"No, I need it," Dustin insisted.

"Need it for what?"

"Looking up Eddie's friends' phone numbers."

"Oh, Eddie," Steve commented. "Your new best friend that you think is cooler than me because he plays your nerdy game?"

"Yes," Dustin replied in exasperation before looking up at Steve in confusion. "I never said that."

Robin started to make her pile of the tapes again. "Seriously, you guys, maybe on a Monday you can play around in here like toddlers, but it's Saturday. It's our busiest day."

"We're not playing around," Mackenzie said quietly, speaking up for the first time since they walked in. All of them looked at her, but she didn't move her gaze from the floor. "This is a . . . um, right now sort of thing."

"Woah, Kenzie," Steve voiced, and the teary-eyed girl looked up at him. He immediately got concerned. "What's the matter?"

Mackenzie didn't say anything as she allowed her backpack to fall off her shoulders. All she did was walk fast around the counter and collapse into his arms, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her head into his chest. Steve, his eyebrows knit in confusion, instantly hugged her back and placed a hand on her head, softly starting to stroke her hair.

In reality, all Mackenzie Tate wanted was a hug from Will Byers. However, that wasn't readily available to her, considering the boy was all the way across the country. But a hug from an older brother figure, especially one from Steve Harrington, would do. She loved Steve's hugs. They always made her feel safe.

Dustin looked at Max. "Can you fill them in while I do this?"

"Fill us in on what?" Robin questioned.

Max then told Steve and Robin exactly what she had told Mackenzie and Dustin, everything from Eddie and Chrissy to how Eddie drove away like a maniac. Steve continued to hold onto Mackenzie, some stray tears of hers leaking onto his shirt as she heard the whole story over again. He pulled her in just a little closer when he heard it was Chrissy who was dead.

Immediately, Robin pulled together all of their phones on the front counter. Her, Max, and Dustin each called a different number of Eddie's friends to ask about his whereabouts. Mackenzie hesitantly pulled away from Steve, rubbing her palms across her face again. She probably hadn't cried this much since her mom told her once and for all that she couldn't go to California. Steve rested his hands on her shoulders.

Steve glanced over at the door when the bell rang, signaling that somebody else came in, before looking down at her. "Will you be okay?"

"Go help them," Mackenzie responded, sniffling once more. "I'll be fine."

Steve stared at her in concern for a moment longer before walking away from her to help the customer. Mackenzie then pushed herself up, sitting on top of the counter. She interlocked her hands in her lap and looked down at them, not really listening into how Max, Robin, and Dustin were calling multiple people.

She could feel her head start to hurt from crying. Like she said before, her and Chrissy weren't that close, but in Mackenzie's eyes, that girl was a ray of sunshine. Having something so dark from the Upside Down — or Eddie killing her — just ripping it away . . . it wasn't fair. Especially if Eddie hadn't killed her and it was from the Upside Down. Mackenzie had watched as her and her friends, especially Will and El, get tormented by the Upside Down for years. Maybe that's why she was crying so much. It was a combination of Chrissy's death and just being so fed up.

Max then hung up the phone, making Mackenzie look up. "Hey, guys, I might have a lead."

Dustin turned around in his chair to face her. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. Apparently, Eddie gets drugs from some guy named Reefer Rick, and sometimes, Eddie crashes there."

"That sounds promising," Robin admitted. "Um, where does this Reefer Rick guy live?"

"See, that's the thing," Max replied. "No one knows. He's more of a . . . a legend than someone that people actually know."

"Well, what about a last name?" Dustin inquired.

"I don't know that either."

"Bet the cops know the last name," Steve revealed, rummaging through a bin of movies.

"What?" Max asked.

"Cops. I mean, listen, if this Reefer Rick is actually a drug dealer, I guarantee you he's been busted at some point. Means he's in the system."

"The cops?" Dustin echoed incredulously. "Really, Steve, that's your suggestion?"

"I mean, I just think at this point they should probably be filled in on what we know, what's going on," Steve argued.

Dustin crossed his arms. "You think Eddie's guilty, don't you?"

"Woah, I believe in innocent until proven guilty, all that Constitutional shit. I just, you know, don't think we can rule it out."

Mackenzie's eyebrows knit in confusion. "Uh, Steve, that's literally the whole damn reason while we're here. To rule it out."

Dustin pointed to her in agreement. "And maybe we'd have a little bit more luck if you spent less time trying to find a girlfriend and more time trying to find Eddie."

"Oh, well, somebody has to attend to the customers," Steve protested.

"Especially if they're babes, right?" Robin teased with a wink.

"Hey, not fair, okay? I attend to all customers equally, babes and non-babes alike. We've got a very big selection in here, okay? It can be super overwhelming for people."

Robin suddenly got a look of realization on her face. "Yeah, it can be."

She then turned around and sat down at the computer, starting to type. Mackenzie got off the counter and walked up to her.

"What are you doing?" Max asked.

"Maybe we don't need a last name," Robin announced. She typed on the computer, and a list of people with the name Rick came up. Steve came back behind the counter and placed a comforting hand on Mackenzie's shoulder. "Twelve Ricks already have accounts here."

"That's a lot of Ricks," Max commented.

"So, let's narrow it down." She pressed a couple keys and pulled up the list of rentals from the first Rick. "Rick Alderman's latest rentals are Annie and Dumbo. What are the chances our drug dealer has a family?"

"Not likely."

Robin went to the next Rick. "All right, Rick Conroy. Sixteen Candles, Teen Wolf, and Romancing the Stone."

"No," Mackenzie, Max, Dustin, and Steve all chorused.

Robin started to type again. "Okay, Rick Joiner. Mask, Footloose, and Grease."

"Nah."

"Rick Kimbrough. The Blue Lagoon and Splash."

Mackenzie shook her head. "Definitely not that one."

Robin typed again. "Okay, Rick Lipton. Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Cheech & Chong's Next Movie, Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams, Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke."

For the first time since Dustin's house, Mackenzie allowed a small smile to be placed on her features. This was definitely the Rick.

"Bingo," Dustin said.

"Lipton?" Max questioned.

"Spelled like the tea," Robin confirmed. "Twenty-One Twenty-One Holland Road."

"That's out by Lovers Lake," Dustin voiced.

"Middle of nowhere," Max added.

Robin looked at all of them. "It's a perfect place to hide."

Like they always did, when trouble came around, they decided to chase it. After the lingering customers had left the store, Steve and Robin grabbed their things before leaving the store. As Mackenzie climbed into Steve's car with the others, Robin flipped the open sign on the door to closed and locked it.

Mackenzie let out a deep breath as she sat in between Dustin and Max in the back of the car. She was determined to both find out what exactly happened to Chrissy and if it was actually something from the parallel dimension.

༻✦༺༻✧༺༻✦༺

IT WAS DARK when they arrived at the address. Steve drove down the street, the only lights being from the headlights of his car. He pulled into a driveway, passing an old rusty mailbox that had the name Lipton on it. Steve shut off his car and Dustin passed them all flashlights before they left.

Mackenzie flicked on her flashlight and got out of the car after Max. She slightly shivered as the breeze hit her and crossed her arm over her body in effort to try and conserve some warmth. The group of five walked up to the front door of the house, which had a light on inside. Dustin rang the doorbell. When nothing happened, he rang it again. Still, nothing happened. He started to press it repeatedly, the chime ringing out in the night air.

"Okay, well, that's settled," Steve said, gesturing to the door. "He's not here."

Dustin knocked on the door loudly. "Eddie!"

"Great."

"It's Dustin! Look, we just wanna talk, okay? No cops, I swear. We just want to help." He knocked again. "Eddie!"

"Shh," Robin scolded, shining her flashlight inside the house.

Dustin continued to ring the doorbell. "Rick!" He banged on the door. "Reefer Rick!"

Mackenzie closed her eyes, the ache from crying still pounding through her head. "Dustin, I love you, but can you please shut up for a moment? Also, you probably shouldn't scream that name."

Dustin ignored her and knocked again. "Rick!"

"He's not there," Steve responded.

"Reefer Rick!" He looked up at Steve. "He could just be really high."

"Is that a foot?"

"No, that's a shoe."

Mackenzie's eyebrows then knit in confusion, seeing Max walk off. She followed her, only for their flashlights to point at a boathouse. The two of them shared a look.

"Hey, guys?" Max called.

Dustin, Robin, and Steve all joined them. The five of them all stared at the rusty boathouse, the door being illuminated by a single fluorescent light. Together, they slowly approached the boathouse and started to shine their flashlights through the windows and cracks.

Robin pushed open the door slowly. "Hello? Is anyone home?"

Mackenzie was the second one in the door, trying to ignore the way her heart was beating against her chest. She shined her flashlight around. There was no sign of a person, just a boat covered by a tarp and some boat supplies laying around.

Steve looked around. "What a dump."

She then saw Steve take an oar off the wall. Mackenzie stopped in her tracks and stared at him in confusion. Suddenly, Steve lifted the oar, hyped himself up for a moment, and shoved it right into the tarp that covered the boat.

"Oh my God," Mackenzie mumbled.

"What are you doing?" Dustin demanded as Steve continued to poke the tarp with the oar. "What are you doing?"

"He might be in here," Steve responded.

"So take the tarp off!"

"If you're so brave, you take the tarp off!"

"Hey, look over here," Max stated, and Mackenzie walked up to her. She was standing by a table that was covered in beer bottles, food wrappers, and cigarettes. "Someone was here."

"Maybe he heard us," Robin suggested. "Got spooked and ran."

"Don't worry, Steve will get him with his oar," Dustin said sarcastically.

Steve continued to jab the oar into the tarp. "I know you think you're being funny, Henderson, but considering the fact that everyone in this room has nearly died about a hundred times, personally, I don't find it funny in the slight—"

However, he was cut off by somebody actually standing up from under the tarp and yelling loudly. Mackenzie jumped in surprise and screamed as none other than Eddie Munson grabbed Steve and pushed him up against the wall, holding the sharp edge of a broken beer bottle to his neck. Her eyes widened in shock.

"Woah!" Dustin shouted.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" Steve protested, breathing heavily as the sharp edge touched his neck.

"Woah, woah, woah, Eddie! Eddie, stop! Eddie! Eddie!"

Eddie finally looked over at Mackenzie, Dustin, Robin, and Max. His muscles were tense and overall just looked panicked.

"It's me," Dustin reassured. "It's Dustin. This is Steve. He's not going to hurt you, right, Steve?"

"Right, yeah," Steve whispered.

"Steve, why don't you drop the oar?"

He then let go of the oar. It fell to the ground with a clatter, but Eddie moved the broken beer bottle closer to Steve's neck.

"He's cool!" Dustin insisted. "He's cool!"

Steve slightly nodded. "I'm cool, man. I'm cool."

"What are you doing here?" Eddie demanded, his voice shaking.

"We're looking for you," Dustin answered.

Robin spoke up. "We're here to help."

"Eddie, these are my friends. You know Robin, from band. This is my friend Max, the one who never wants to play D&D. And this is my friend Mackenzie, she's on the cheer team and we've known each other since we were little. Eddie, we're on your side. I swear on my mother! Right, guys?"

"Yes, yes, we swear," Max agreed.

"Yeah, on — on Dustin's mother," Robin added.

"Yep, Dustin's . . . Dustin's mother," Steve stammered.

Mackenzie nodded. "We love Mrs. Henderson."

Eddie stared at Steve for a moment longer before letting him go. Mackenzie let out a breath of relief and Steve doubled over, Robin silently asking him if he was okay. She then looked over. Eddie was walking away from their group. He pressed his back to the wall and started to slowly slide down. She brushed past Dustin and approached Eddie, seeing sweat gleaming on his face and tears pool in his eyes. His hands were also shaking, and his eyes were swimming with fear.

Everything about this told her that Eddie hadn't killed Chrissy. If he was acting so scared, he had to see something unnatural. Mackenzie crouched down in front of him, trying to meet his eyes, but he just kept looking away.

"I know you don't know me that well, but my name's Mackenzie Tate," Mackenzie voiced softly. "Dustin, Mike, and Lucas have told me a lot about you. But Eddie . . . you saw what happened to Chrissy. She was my friend. We were on the cheer team together. All we want to do is talk. I need to know what happened to her."

She reached forwards to try and place a hand on his knee, but Eddie flinched and backed further into the wall. Mackenzie slowly retracted her hand. He was acting the same exact way Will had when he came back from the Upside Down. For the first couple of days after being back, Will would flinch every time somebody tried to touch him, probably being reminded of the Demogorgon trying to take him.

"It's okay," Mackenzie continued calmly. "But please . . . tell us what happened."

Eddie looked up at her, shaking his head while sniffling. "You won't believe me."

"Try us," Max urged.

Eddie met Mackenzie's eyes again. She gave him a small nod to encourage him. He finally sat down on the floor all the way, staring down into his lap. It was a couple moments before he finally let out a deep, shaky breath started to speak.

"Her body, just, like, lifted up into the air, and, uh . . ." Eddie explained. "And she just, like, hung there. In the air. And her bones . . ." Eddie stopped for a second. "Her bones started to snap."

Mackenzie felt her eyes fill with tears again, and one escaped, traveling down her cheek. She sniffled as well, reaching up to wipe the tear away. Her heart broke, both for Chrissy, who was now dead in such a gruesome way, and for Eddie, who had to watch that entire thing.

"Her eyes, man. It — it was like there was something, like, inside her head, pulling. I — I didn't know what to do, so I . . . I ran away. I left her there." He scoffed quietly. "You all think I'm crazy, right?"

Dustin shook his head. "No, we don't think you're crazy."

"Don't bullshit me, man!" Eddie exclaimed. "I know how this sounds."

"We're not bullshitting you," Max revealed.

"We believe you," Robin said.

"Eddie," Mackenzie began quietly, her voice slightly choked up again. "We've seen . . . things. Things as horrible as you have."

Dustin nodded in agreement. "Look, what I'm about to tell you might be a little . . . difficult to take."

"Okay," Eddie replied.

"You know how people say Hawkins is . . . cursed? They're not way off. There's another world, a world hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes, it bleeds into ours."

"Like ghosts and shit?"

"There are some things worse than ghosts," Max told him, and images of the Demogorgon and the Mind Flayer flashed through Mackenzie's mind.

"These monsters from this other world . . . we thought they were gone," Dustin continued. "But they've come back before. And that's why we needed to find you."

"We need to know if they're back again," Mackenzie insisted, another tear dripping down her cheek.

"You know, I tried to wake her, man," Eddie admitted. "She couldn't move. It was like she — she was in a trance or something."

Dustin straightened up. "Or under a spell."

Eddie looked at him. "A curse."

"Vecna's curse."

"Who's Vecna?" Steve questioned.

"A D&D character," Mackenzie replied, sniffing again. "Will told me about it."

"It's an undead creature of great power," Dustin elaborated.

"A spell caster," Eddie added.

"A dark wizard."

Mackenzie let out a sigh and stood up, rubbing her palms against her cheek. "Here we go again. It's never really over, I guess."

☾ ★ ☽

THREE DAYS UNTIL VOL2 OH GOD I'M GONNA BE SICK