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TWO DAYS LATER, KALI FOUND herself in bed. The sheets were warm and her body was in bliss as she snuggled in beside the girl she adored, but when she was forced to open up her eyes, the world turned grey again. She was reminded with the truth again. Outside Nancyʼs bedroom window, the lines were made out so clear. Four long, wide gates crossed over their town and nobody knew what it was. Nobody knew about the group of kids who desperately tried to save their town, and nobody knew how they failed.
"How are you?" Nancy whispered, turning around in the bed to face her girlfriend.
Kali shrugged. "I told you I should've done it alone," she whispered sadly. "Now Max and Eddie..." She shook her head. "...they're gone."
"Max is alive," Nancy told her, reaching her hand over to covers to cup Kaliʼs face. "And there was nothing you could've done to stop it. Any of it. You tried your hardest."
"She's not alive, Nancy," Kali said. "She's far from it."
Nancy tried smiling but it was only sad, and she squeezed Kali by her bicep. "We can fix this," she said confidently. "This isn't over."
"I'm gonna make sure I kill him next time." Kali nodded, clenching her jaw in anger as she thought about Vecna. "I'm not going to leave until he's a pile of ashes."
Nancy nodded. "We need to take some time to figure things out first, though, okay?" she said, knowing Kali would get too deep into it. "We can't go straight back in, not until we understand what's happening."
Sighing, Kali gave in, promising Nancy that she wouldn't do anything stupid.
Her girlfriend shifted closer to her, pressing a kiss to her bruised forehead. "I love you," she whispered.
"I love you too," said Kali.
"Girls!" Karen Wheeler called. "Come down and help us!"
When Kali went to slide off the bed, Nancy groaned. "Do we have to?" she asked.
"Get up, we're going to help your mom," she said, tapping the bed.
"Kali! Nancy!"
Nancy sighed, forcing herself out of bed, causing Kali to giggle, wrapping both arms around her waist. "We can get through this," Nancy whispered, leaning back against her touch.
"I know," Kali said. "I'm not leaving you this time."
༄༄༄
“HEY, NANCE!” MRS WHEELER CALLED as the girls finally left the home, dressed in real clothes as opposed to the pyjamas they'd been living in for the last forty eight hours. "I found some more of your old stuff in the attic."
Kali took a look at the box in her arms, picking out a ratted, beige stuffed bunny with a grin. "Who's your friend?" she asked, glancing at her girlfriend, who snatched it off her.
