Mackenzie had been sitting in her seat, staring out the window at the trees and how the sun shone on the green leaves. The camper had been quiet for a while as Steve drove, besides from the murmurs of Steve and Nancy in the front and Lucas and Max in the back. Her and Megan hadn't shared a word at all, until now, when Megan just asked that.
"Yes," Mackenzie answered.
Megan sighed. "Mackenzie, I'm sorry."
"I just don't understand why you didn't just listen to me. The one thing — the one thing I needed you to listen to me about."
"I was worried about you." Megan paused for a moment. "I've been worried about you since Will disappeared three years ago. You keep having nightmares but won't tell me or mom about it . . . but now I guess I know why."
Mackenzie's eyes slightly softened. "Thank you for being worried about me, but Meg, I wasn't lying when I said Hawkins wasn't a normal town. And now you know about the Gates, and Vecna . . . this is the worst one we've had to deal with."
"The worst one? How many others have you had to deal with?"
"A lot." Mackenzie let out a deep breath. "I'll tell you everything after we get everything from the War Zone. Promise. But it's a really long story with a lot of . . . awful details." She looked at Megan. "You used to believe monsters were in your closet and mom always told them they weren't real. Are you up to know that they are?"
"I guess so," Megan replied. "As long as you're there, I think I'll be okay."
Mackenzie gave her a tight smile. "Well then, welcome to the Party, Meg — where we deal with dangerous things from a parallel dimension."
After a little while more of driving, they finally made it to The War Zone. Steve parked away from the main parking lot at the side of the building. This was to ensure that nobody saw Eddie, because he was still actively being hunted for murder not only by the Hawkins High basketball team but by the police as well. Lucas and Dustin stayed with him, too, because they were known to be friends with Eddie due to them being in the Hellfire Club together.
