𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 ― stranger things ² ✓

( twelve ) whatever his name is, I'm still punching him.

"Wait," Megan interrupted. "I ⁠— I don't understand. What are Gates, and what is the Upside Down? Can someone please explain to me what's going on?"

Steve stared at her. "Little Tate, we don't have time for that."

"It's a long story, Meg," Mackenzie said, giving a pointed glare to her little sister, making Megan look away. "One that I wouldn't have to tell if you had just stayed with mom. And I really don't want to tell you, but you've seen too much already."

"Four chimes," Max stated, and Mackenzie looked over at her. "Vecna's clock. It always chimes four times. Four exactly."

"I heard them too," Nancy whispered.

"He's been telling us his plan this whole time."

"Four kills," Lucas voiced. "Four Gates. End of the world."

"If that's true . . . he's only one kill away," Dustin announced.

Mackenzie felt her heart sink to her stomach. Chrissy. Fred. Patrick. The only one who had managed to escape was Max, and that meant . . .

"Oh, Jesus Christ," Eddie muttered to himself, putting his face in his hands. "Jesus Christ!"

Steve pointed at Mackenzie. "Try 'em again. Try 'em again."

Mackenzie turned and walked over to the phone on the wall. She typed in the Byers' number, one that she had typed in so many times in her life. Mackenzie held up the phone to her ear and anxiously played with the cord with her other hand. She desperately needed someone to pick up. Even if it wasn't Will, which she did hope he would, any one of them in California would be fine.

Nope, nothing. The same old busy signal that had been there for the past couple of days. Mackenzie sighed and placed the phone back on the wall, going back to the others.

"Anything?" Dustin asked.

"Nothing," Mackenzie answered. "It rang a few times but went back to the busy signal."

"Maybe you punched it in wrong," Steve suggested. "Try again." ⁠

Mackenzie gave him an incredulous look. "Do you really think I would type my own boyfriend's number in wrong?"

"Well, I don't know."

"I think she knows how to use a phone," Dustin told him. "And it's Will's house. Steve, come on."

"I'm just saying she could've typed it in wrong," Steve protested.

Mackenzie shook her head and went back to the phone. She typed in the familiar number once more and held up the phone to her ear again. Once again, it did the exact same thing. She let out a frustrated breath and threaded her fingers through her hair, pushing it slightly back as she hung up the phone.

"Same thing," Mackenzie said.

"How is that possible?" Lucas questioned.

"I don't know. It's really fucking weird, because Joyce has this telemarketer job, and she's always on the phone. There's no reason why nobody's answering, unless something's going on in California. The phone's been busy for three days. At most, they should've called us back in a day." Mackenzie dropped her hand from her hair, letting her hair fall back to its original position. "Something's wrong. Really wrong."

"She's right," Nancy agreed. "It can't be just a coincidence. It can't be." She stood up from her chair and walked over to the window. "Whatever's happening in Lenora is connected to all of this. I'm sure of it. But Vecna can't hurt them. Not if he's dead." She turned back to face them all. "We have to go back in there. Back to the Upside Down."