╔═════   ∘◦ ☽ ﾐ ◦∘ ══════╗

𝗠𝗜𝗗𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧

𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓼𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓷:
"𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚑, 𝙸'𝚖 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢."

╚═════ ∘◦ ミ ☾ ◦∘ ══════╝

WITH ONE DEEPLY elaborated plan to get Billy into the sauna, the group waited until nightfall to begin. While Billy took a shower, Mackenzie placed a lock on the front door so Billy had no way out. She walked back into the room with the sauna, extremely careful not to let Billy see her. The C.P.R. doll that they had found was in the sauna with a walkie taped to it so Mike could pretend it was him.

"You ready?" Mike asked her.

Mackenzie nodded and entered the other room with the rest of the group. Mike began to taunt Billy, calling his name in a sing-song voice. Mackenzie almost gasped when she heard footsteps come into the room. Will grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together. She gave it a small squeeze as Billy entered the sauna and lifted the doll up in anger.

"Hey," Mike said. Eleven emerged, standing close to the sauna. "Behind you."

Billy turned around quickly.

"Hi," El greeted coldly.

Billy threw the doll down and went to charge, but El nodded her head upwards, making Billy fly into the wall and land on the floor.

"Now!" Mike exclaimed.

They all piled out of the room they were hiding in. El moved her hand to the side, therefore shutting the door just as Billy went to run towards it. Mackenzie let go of Will's hand as he ran forwards with Mike. Mike put a metal bar through the door handle and behind a pipe so it would be harder to open. As an extra precaution, Will put a metal chain around the pipe and through the door handle while Lucas locked it. The three boys ran back to the rest of them, Will immediately taking Mackenzie's hand again.

Billy began pounding on the door in effort to try and get himself out. However, it didn't budge. He suddenly stopped, his face holding realization as he stared at a certain teenager.

"Max," he breathed out.

Mackenzie glanced over to see Max slightly sad, but determination was etched onto her features. "Do it."

Will ran up to the temperature dial, dragging Mackenzie along with him. He turned it all the way to the hottest setting. They quickly ran backwards, watching as Billy sweat more and more due to the hot temperature.

Billy banged on the door again, Mackenzie flinching at the loud noise. "Max! Let me out of here! Let me out. You kids . . . you think this is funny? You kids think this is some kind of sick prank, huh?" He spit on the window of the door. "You little shits think this is funny? What is this?" He let out a deep breath of anger. "Open the door." Billy hit the door, everybody flinching at the noise this time. "Open the door! Open the door! Open the goddamn door!"

He suddenly fell to the floor while screaming. Mackenzie urged herself forwards with Will behind her, watching as the temperature dial read that it was two hundred and twenty degrees.

"We're at two twenty," Will announced, glancing back at everyone.

As Will and Mackenzie staggered back to the group, sobs were heard from the sauna. Mackenzie's eyebrows scrunched in confusion at it and she shared a look with Will. Something about this seemed wrong, really wrong.

"It's not my fault," Billy cried. "It's not my fault. It's not my fault, Max. I promise you, it's not my fault."

Max slowly walked up to the door and peered into the window. "What's not your fault, Billy?"

"I've done things, Max. Really . . . bad things. I didn't mean to."

The group moved up closer to El, watching the door with extreme caution.

"He made me do it."

"Who made you do it?" Max questioned.

"I don't know, it's like a shadow. Like a giant shadow." Mackenzie's head whipped over to Will. She could feel his hand slightly shaking in hers, and she squeezed it gently. "Please, Max."

"What did he make you do?" the redhead asked her brother.

"It's not my fault, okay? Max, please. Please believe me, Max, it's not my fault. I tried to stop him, okay? I did. Please believe me, Max. Please believe me."

Max put her hand on the window. "Billy, it's gonna be okay."

Billy's cries and Max trying to calm him down faded in the background as Mackenzie looked back over at Will. He had his hand raised to his neck like many times before.

"Will," Mackenzie began in concern.

"I feel him," he let out, his voice shaking. He looked over to Mackenzie with wide eyes, and she shared a concerned glance with Mike as he did so. "He's activated."

"Max, get away from the door," Mike said urgently.

"What?"

Mackenzie, even though she knew it was dangerous, shook off Will's hand and ran up to Max. "Max, go!"

She grabbed the redhead's hand and pulled her backwards as Billy punched the window, making glass fly everywhere. Billy pulled the bar out of the door and tried to get Max, but ended up grabbing Mackenzie instead since she had flung the redhead backwards into Lucas. He lifted her up by her shoulders, her feet leaving the comfort of the ground. Billy thrashed her around like she was a rag doll while yelling in rage.

"No!" Mackenzie screamed in both pain and terror. "Let me go!"

Her shrill voice seemed to snap everyone out of their thoughts and shook them down to their core. Will rushed forwards and wrapped his arms around her waist, trying to pull her back from Billy's grip. Mackenzie didn't know how long she was being pulled in two different directions, but it only ended when a rock suddenly hit Billy straight in the forehead, courtesy of Lucas and his Wrist Rocket. He fell backwards and landed with a thud on the sauna floor. Will lowered Mackenzie onto the ground and kept his arms around her waist to hold her upright.

"Mack," Will said quietly, reaching up and placing a hand on her cheek gingerly. "Hey, you all right?"

"Yeah," she breathed out, letting him guide her back to the group. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Her entire body felt sore and she could feel bruises forming on her shoulders, but she believed they had bigger things to focus on than her injuries at the moment. Suddenly, the lights began to flicker. Mackenzie looked up and stared at the ceiling, exchanging worried glances with her friends every so often. She heard Billy roar in anger, and she turned to see him standing with black veins on his body. Ones that were extremely familiar, only because she had seen it first-hand when they got the Mind Flayer out of Will.

"Oh, fuck," she cursed.

Billy charged forwards, slamming his entire body into the door. The chain rattled from the sudden force. He did it again, this time much harder.

"He can't get out, can he?" Max asked, frightened.

Lucas shook his head. "No way. No. Way."

Billy slammed into the door again, the chain giving in more. He let out another scream and with another hit, the chain finally broke. Mackenzie jumped in terror as Billy finally knocked down the door. El pushed them all backwards, a deadly look in her eyes as she glared at him. Mackenzie subconsciously moved closer to Will for comfort, fear coursing through her veins. The boy, just as scared as her, pulled her in tighter.

El used her powers to pick up a large dumbbell and pushed it towards Billy, making him fly into the wall. With a drop of blood coming from her nose, she concentrated harder and pushed the dumbbell into Billy's neck, causing the bricks behind him to break from the amount of force. She screamed louder, but Billy pushed the dumbbell off of him and threw it, almost hitting El. El ducked to the floor and tried to crawl away, but Billy grabbed her by her small ponytail and pulled her head backwards.

Billy looked over to the group with no emotion in his eyes. Mackenzie's breath hitched, and suddenly, he wrapped his hand around El's neck. Her eyes widened as Billy picked her up, her feet coming off the floor just as he had done to Mackenzie earlier but ten times more deadly. El's choking noises reminded her much of Joyce's from that one night. Mackenzie felt her breathing pick up as El's eyes crossed, her face turning red from not receiving enough oxygen.

Mike took a bat from the floor and picked it up, walking up to Billy and hitting him in the head with a scream. Billy fell to the floor, as did El.

He raised his bat. "Go to hell, you piece of shit—!"

Mike was cut off by Billy catching the bat in his palm when he brought it down. He threw the bat to the side as he stood up. Billy advanced on Mike, which made Mike take steps backwards until his back hit the wall. Mackenzie felt tears gather in her eyes as she watched.

Billy's feet suddenly left the floor. Mackenzie looked back over to see a completely exhausted El holding out both of her hands. She turned him towards the wall, and with one final push, she launched him out of the room, making a hole in the wall. Bricks clattered onto the floor and Mackenzie moved backwards to avoid being hit by one. El crumpled into Mike's arms, both of them sliding down the wall.

Meanwhile, Mackenzie launched herself into Will, burying her head in the crook of his neck. She could still feel Billy's iron grip on her shoulders. Mackenzie wished that everything would just stop, but she knew that it wouldn't go away so easily. So, for now, all she wanted was be held by her best friend. Will's arms served as a protective barrier from the horrors of the rest of the world. Right now, it was just Mackenzie and Will, cooped up in their own little bubble.

"It's okay," he said softly, placing a hand on the back of her head as her breaths calmed down. He wasn't quite sure, however, who he was trying to convince. Himself or Mackenzie. "It's okay, Mack. I've got you."

She unwrapped herself from him, staring at the outside from the hole in the wall. Billy got up and ran away into the woods, ultimately disappearing into the darkness.

From what they just witnessed, Mackenzie's suspicions were right all along. The Mind Flayer was back, and Billy was the host.

☾ ★ ☽

baby girl mackenzie got hurt :(