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𝗠𝗢𝗢𝗡𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧

𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓵𝓸𝓰𝓾𝓮:
"𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘
𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜."

╚═════ ∘◦ ミ ☾ ◦∘ ══════╝

hawkins, indiana. circa 1985.

MACKENZIE TATE HAD realized her favorite subject was astronomy on July 4th, 1985.

She remembered that night in the mall — that absolutely horrendous night in the mall. The night that went to shit, the night that Jim Hopper died, the night that Billy Hargrove sacrificed himself to the Mind Flayer to save Eleven. That night left her with trauma, so much trauma, but it had a silver lining, one in the form of stars and planets.

Because that was also the night that she had kissed Will Byers once and for all, and they had finally expressed their deep love for each other.

She remembered how they were looking at each other after their kiss, the screeches of the Mind Flayer fading to a dull noise in the background. It was just Mackenzie and Will, like it had always been, but so much more. The lights inside the mall had shone brighter as a new universe formed, one that was still young, warm, and full of light. Stars came from the freckles on Will's face and planets came from Mackenzie's eyes. The two of them could see that multiple types of galaxies swirling around them with new life. This new universe was begging to be discovered, and Mackenzie and Will had done that.

But suddenly, everything turned dim, like a black hole came and sucked all the light away. Joyce Byers had made the final decision that her family had to leave Hawkins after all the horrible tragedies that had happened to her and her family — especially Will. So they packed up the house that Mackenzie had practically grown up in, and the Byers plus Eleven moved to California. Mackenzie was left standing outside of the empty house, tears in her eyes and the lingering feeling of a kiss on her lips as she watched a second mother, an older brother figure, a girl who had grown to become her sister, and the boy she loved drive away towards The Golden State.

The bruises Billy gave her back in the sauna had long faded, but nothing could heal the bruise in her heart.

It was clear to everyone that Mackenzie was hurting. Without Will by her side, it felt like a piece of her was missing. After all, he basically did take most of her heart with him to California. The small part that was left in Hawkins stayed with her, but she wasn't the girl she used to be. She didn't know who she was without him.

Mackenzie and Will had been best friends since they were three years old. Their mothers had set up a play date for them, and while they were coloring in Mackenzie's kitchen — because Will loved art — Mackenzie had introduced her name to him. He had looked up at her with big brown eyes and tried to pronounce it, but all he had gotten out was Mack. That started the nickname that only Will was allowed to call her. They were inseparable ever since.

And then finally, after years of hiding their feelings for each other, they had confessed everything in the moment of true danger. It was suddenly ripped away from them so fast that they were left stumbling to try and heal themselves while still holding on to what they had. In short, Mackenzie Tate was totally lost.

But it wasn't just Will that made her like that. After everything she had gone through the past couple of years, all the awful things she had seen . . . it was bound to change anyone.

She was sick and tired of being so lost all the time. So, Mackenzie Tate decided to better herself.

She was still the same Mackenzie in some aspects. Converse were still the only shoes she wore, she kept listening to Madonna and ABBA, she hung out with her friends — Mike Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair, Dustin Henderson, and Max Mayfield — whenever they could. Then they started the new school year at Hawkins High, and things started to change a little more.

However, the one thing that was constant was the nightmares.

She had been having them ever since Will disappeared three years ago. They had only gotten worse as she went through more and more trauma. Who wouldn't have nightmares about encountering monsters from a parallel dimension? She had been dealing with that for the past three years. From the Demogorgon to the Mind Flayer, the screeches of the two monsters were forever engrained in her mind.

And that's where Mackenzie Tate is found now, curled up in her bed with her heart racing and tears staining her face. She had just had her most frequent nightmare that she had been having nonstop for the past three days. Although it never happened in real life, it always managed to feel so real.

She was back in the Starcourt Mall. All of the neon signs and lights around her illuminated her with a red glow, but just like how it used to make her feel happy before that night, it made her feel anxious. And then suddenly, she would look up, and the Mind Flayer would be above her. All of the slime and blood on him would drip onto her, making her feel like she was going to throw up, because she still absolutely hated blood. The Mind Flayer would let out that horrible screech of his. Mackenzie would turn and start to run, but one of his arms would reach out and grab her, pulling her back to him. And then he would get her, and everything would go dark.

Mackenzie hated how much she was still letting the Mind Flayer still affect her. That son of bitch deserved nothing, absolutely nothing. Not after what he did to Will, not after what he did to Billy, not after what he did to all those people. Mackenzie was glad he was dead.

She sniffled and sat up. Mackenzie took a quick glance to her door. She could always go to her mother, Elizabeth, or her little sister, Megan, to talk. But they wouldn't understand, would they? They weren't there. And Mackenzie couldn't exactly tell them about the Upside Down. They would never believe her, and not many could know about the parallel dimension. Both of them would just think Mackenzie made it all up in her head.

She wished she did. But no, monsters were real.

Mackenzie had to talk to someone. This dream wouldn't stop unless she did. However, she could only do that with someone who really got her — well, besides Will.

Despite it being one in the morning, Mackenzie threw her covers off of her. She stood up and shoved her feet into her beat-up white Converse before throwing a plaid coat over her. Mackenzie walked over to her window and looked back at her door once more. If her mother caught that she was out again, she would be so screwed.

Nightmares were more important than being grounded.

Mackenzie opened her window and climbed out of it onto her roof. She maneuvered herself to go onto the tree branch next to the house and climbed down easily. Mackenzie walked over to the side of her house and got her pink bike, turning on the light that it had so she could see.

After a short five minute bike ride, Mackenzie reached her destination. She got off her bike and placed it on the side of the house. Mackenzie rounded around the house to the tree next to the window of the bedroom she needed to get into and climbed up. Thankfully, the light was on, meaning the boy was still awake.

Mackenzie tapped on the window. Mike Wheeler, who was sitting on his bed reading a letter (presumably from El) whopped his head over to look at her. She gave him a tiny smile and waved. Mike's eyebrows knit in confusion and looked over at his door momentarily. He set down the letter and walked over to the window. Mike opened it and stared at her.

"Kenzie?" Mike asked.

"In the flesh, Mike," Mackenzie responded, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. However, it was mostly overpowered by how much her voice was shaking. "Can I come in?"

Mike seemed to notice something was wrong and nodded. Mackenzie let out a breath of relief and climbed through the window into his warm house. Mike shut the window behind her, and Mackenzie sat down on his bed, staring straight ahead. She tucked some hair behind her ears and sniffled.

He sat down next to her. "What's going on?"

"Nightmare," Mackenzie answered simply, and even though her answer was childish, it was true. "Bad nightmare."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Mackenzie then recounted her nightmare to Mike. He listened to her patiently, even when she started to tear up about it. Once she finished, Mackenzie had slumped her head onto Mike's shoulder. He placed a hand on her back and rubbed it softly. They sat in silence for a couple of moments.

"It's been the same nightmare for the past three days, and I'm tired of it," Mackenzie admitted sadly.

"I hope talking about with someone helps," Mike replied. "But, I can't help but ask . . . out of all of our friends, why choose to come to me?"

"Well, first of all, we're really close."

Mike let out a small laugh. "True."

"I could go to Max or Lucas or Dustin, but I feel like we really get each other, you know?" Mackenzie continued. "Out of all the Upside Down stuff, we've basically always been together. Also, you understand seeing the person you love move all the way across the country and wanting nothing more than for them to be here."

"Bet you would've gone to Will about this if he was here, huh?"

"No offense, but yeah." Mackenzie managed to laugh with Mike for a moment. "Of course I would. He practically knows me better than I know myself. But right now . . ." she picked up her head and looked at him. "You're the only one who understands."

"I guess we've always sort of understood each other," Mike admitted. "I mean, besides Will, you and I have a pretty deep connection. It also probably has to do with the fact that we spent a lot of time together when they moved away and everything was happening."

That was true. All of the friend group had been falling apart at first it seemed. Max started to pull away because of what happened with Billy and Mackenzie was left trying to pull her back in. Mike, Dustin, and Lucas stuck together, but they all could tell a piece of them was missing without Will. And Mackenzie was just . . . lost.

Mike and Mackenzie began to confide in each other. The times were stressful, but just like Mackenzie said earlier, they just got each other.

"Yeah," Mackenzie agreed quietly. She looked at the floor, insecurity getting the best of her. "Do you think he misses me as much as I miss him? Will, I mean."

Mike raised an eyebrow. "You'd be quite delusional to think otherwise. Do you hear the way he talks to you on Cerebro? That boy wishes you were with him twenty-four-seven."

"I just get paranoid sometimes. About him, I mean. He's been through a lot. I don't want him to pull away like Max is doing, especially from me. I can't lose him, Mike."

That had been the fear Mackenzie had ever since he went to California. What if he found somebody better there? Someone that made him forget all the years of friendship, all the love they shared? Mackenzie knew that Will wasn't the type of person to do that, but her head was constantly telling her otherwise.

"You're not going to lose him, Kenzie," Mike stated firmly. "Will loves you. You've been there for him this entire time. He'd be stupid to let somebody like you go."

Mackenzie gave him a small smile. "Thanks, Mike."

"Any time. What are friends for?" Mike patted her shoulder before standing up. "You could stay here for the night, I don't mind."

She shook her head. "My mom doesn't know I left. If I get caught, I'll probably be grounded forever, and that's really not what I want to do." Mackenzie stood up from the bed. "Thank you, again. For listening . . . and reassuring. I think I really needed that."

Mike grinned down at her softly. Mackenzie walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him into a tight hug. Mike hugged her back, resting his chin on top of her head that laid against his chest. They stood there for a couple moments before Mackenzie was the first to pull away since Mike didn't know how long she wanted to be hugged.

"Goodnight, Mike," Mackenzie voiced.

"Goodnight, Kenzie," Mike replied.

And as Mackenzie opened his window, climbed down the tree, got her bike, and rode back home in the chilly air, she had an inkling that things would maybe be okay again.

Oh, how wrong she was.

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hi hi hi! welcome to moonlight!

I know it's been like over a year since midnight was completed because stranger things took so fucking long to put out season four 🤚🏻 but it's fine.

I'm very very excited for this book!!!!! I've missed my baby girl mackenzie so much. also, over the past year since midnight was completed, I've definitely improved my writing so much. since then I've put out fourteen more books bc I'm a fucking maniac, but over the course of those fourteen books I've definitely found my writing style.

in short, this book will definitely be less cringey or "embarassing" like some comments like to say than midnight, and I hope y'all are as excited as me to continue this story <333

OKAY LOVE YOU BYE MWAH