𝐈'𝐌 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 ( mike wheeler )

CHAPTER NINE

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄
the flea and the acrobat

THE GROUP OF kids were finally alone in the AV room, and eleven sat down in a chair right in front of the heathkit, while the rest of the kids crowed around.

"now what?" dustin asked.

"they'll find him." mike replied. eleven and makenzie both closed their eyes. the plan was makenzie would talk to will, and eleven would make is voice come through the radio so the boys could hear will.

"they're finding him." mike repeated.

"this is crazy." dustin chuckled.

"calm down, she just closed her eyes." lucas said, and as if it was on cue, the light above them turned off making the boys gasp. makenzie and eleven had both found will. he was at his house trying to talk to his mom.

"mom?" will whimpers banging on the wall.

"hey will! it's makenzie." makenzie talked to him through his mind.

"m-makenzie?" will asked softly, as the other boys listened to his voice that eleven was playing on the radio.

"yeah." makenzie said softly as well.

"i-i need help. can you help me? please?" will pleaded.

"i wish i could will. i really do. but i can't right now. we are trying to find a way to get you out. mike, lucas, and dustin, they can hear you right now. can you explain to them where you are?" makenzie asked even though she knew what the upside down looked like, she wanted the boys to hear it for themselves.

"it's like home, but it's so dark... it's so dark and empty. and it's cold!..... i-it's... it's coming." will cries.

"will... run!" makenzie yelled. and with that, the light turned back on and the heathkit set on fire, making eleven and makenzie snap back into reality. the fire alarm started going off,
and dustin grabbed the fire extinguisher and set out the fire.

"hey, hey, are you guys okay?" mike asked makenzie and eleven. makenzie forced a smile and a thumbs up while leaning onto the table in front of her, not really able to stand up very well, and eleven just sat in the chair saying nothing.

"here you guys help eleven, ill help makenzie." mike said quickly, and grabbed makenzie's arm and wrapped it around his shoulder helping her walk, while dustin and lucas did the same with eleven.

makenzie's mom helped her get ready for will's funeral. even though she and the boys knew he wasn't dead, they still had to go. makenzie wore a knee length black dress with a cropped black jean jacket over top, and her mom curled her hair.

at the funeral, makenzie stood next to mike and his family, not listening to anything any adults were saying. she never liked funerals. why can't we at least make it less depressing by wearing colors that aren't black. she thought.

"just wait till we tell will that jennifer hayes was crying at his funeral." dustin giggled nudging the guys. mike's mom quickly cut off their conversation by shushing them. makenzie leaned her head on mike's shoulder, causing him to tense up a little at first, but soon relaxed and his cheeks became tinted pink at her actions.

"mr. clarke?" mike said trying to get their teacher's attention.

"oh, hey there. how are you guys holding up?" he asked.

"we're in.... mourning." lucas said monotone.

"we were wondering if you had some time to talk?" mike asked.

"we have some questions." makenzie added.

the group of kids sat down at a table all facing mr. clarke, and mike started asking questions about how to theoretically get to the 'upside down'. makenzie didn't pay very much attention, and let all the boys do the talking because she wasn't really the science type of person.

the one thing that did catch her attention, was mr. clarke pulling out a pen and starting to draw on the paper plate in front of him.

"picture an acrobat, standing on a tight rope. now, the tight rope is our dimension, and our dimension has rules. you can move forwards, or backwards. but what if, right next to our acrobat there is, a flea. now, the flea can also travel back and forth, just like the acrobat. right?" mr. clarke explained while drawing everything on the plate.

"right."

"now here where things get interesting. the flea can also travel this way, along the side of the rope. he can even go underneath the rope." mr. clarke finished explaining.

"but we're not the flea we're the acrobat." mike said.

"in this metaphor, yes, we're the acrobat." mr. clarke nodded.

"sooo, we can't go upside down?" lucas asked, and mr. clarke shook his head no.

"well, is there any way for the acrobat to get to the upside down?" dustin asked. then mr. clarke went on to explain about how you need a massive amount of energy to open some kind of tear in time and space. makenzie knew there was a gate, and not some portal, but she didn't know where it was or how to get there.

but maybe eleven does. she thought.