Empty Voids (STRANGER THINGS//STEVE HARRINGTON)

The Vanishing of Will Byers

Cassie Grant is a ghost within Hawkins.

Felicity Newby and her daughter used to live in Hawkins up until Cassie turned thirteen and moved to San Diego, California after the unexpected passing of her dad.

Since April 1983, she has been living with her Uncle Bob, Felicity's younger brother.

Everyone in Hawkins definitely took notice of the stoic expression on Cassie's face. The gleam in her eye used to be full of joy, always up to mischief with her best friend, Steve Harrington.

Something happened to her in San Diego, and it was enough to cut a lot of people out of her life.

There are two people that Cassie can fully trust herself around with: Uncle Bob and her new boss over at Benny's Burgers, Benny Hammond.

Though only being a waitress at Benny's for several months, Benny, alongside Bob, became a father figure in Cassie's life.

"Hey, kid. You can head on home now. I can take on the floors." Benny calls out to her after Cassie finishes cleaning the last table.

"You sure, Ben?" she asks.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Tell that Uncle of yours I said hi and thanks for helping me fix the radio." Benny tells her. She gives him a thumbs up as she leaves the restaurant and heads towards her jeep.

Along with a walkman that Bob repaired, he chipped in some money (alongside with some help from Felicity) to buy Cassie a black 1979 Jeep CJ7.

Bob Newby took notice of his niece being a little stand-offish, so he did whatever he could do to make Cassie feel more comfortable.

For the months she has been back at Hawkins, Cassie thought that she feels like an intruder in Bob's house, so she took up a job at Benny's, so she could have some peace of mind to not think of that.

As she drives home, she spots two kids on bikes, it turns out to be Will Byers and Dustin Henderson. She used to babysit those two, Lucas Sinclair, and Mike Wheeler before she moved to San Diego. She looked at them as if they were her little siblings.

"Hey guys." she greets them as she pulls up to them in her jeep.

"Hey Cass." Dustin greets her with a toothless smile. A bashful Will just smiles at her.

"You boys need a ride home?" Cassie asks the boys.

"Nah, we were just racing home." Dustin tells her. "I call dibs on your X-Men 134!" Will calls out as he is racing off on his bike.

"Son of a bitch!" Dustin hisses out as he follows Will's trail.

Cassie just shook her head and smiled at the retreating boys as she continued her drive home, unaware of what would happen next.

The following morning, Cassie got up bright and early to do target training. Because of her love of Dungeons & Dragons and Lord of the Rings, Dennis Grant's idea of father-daughter bonding with Cassie is teaching her archery.

Granted, she hasn't done it in a while, but slowly she is getting back to it. Bob knows of it, so he decides to make a target practice area for Cassie in his backyard.

She draws the bow, eying the target that is in front of her. She lets go of the bow, and she notes that it was a little off from the bullseye.

"You're getting better by the day, Cassie-Bear." she hears the jovial voice of her uncle, bringing a small smile on her face. "It's a little off. I just need more practice." she tells him as she walks up to him.

"You know what they say, practice makes perfect." Bob says with every ounce of optimism as he greets his niece with a hug, albeit awkwardly from on her side.