At first, Shannon Bishop was just the babysitter. It was convenient, living in the same neighborhood as the Hendersons, but it wasn't too much of a stretch to move to the Wheelers' house or even out where the Byers family lived to watch all the boys...
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In a single moment, all of Shannon's hopes were shattered. The sorrow, the despair, the grief welled up inside her, but she held it all back as she followed her dad out to the car where she held onto the door, unwilling to let him go without her. "I'm coming with you."
"No, you're not," Larry told her unkindly, all cop-mode now. He batted her hands away from his door to shut it. "Go back inside and wait for me."
"But it's Will, I have to-"
"No." That single word was spoken so harshly, Shannon sucked in a breath and went quiet immediately. Her dad tried again. "Do as I say, Shannon. Wait here until we can sort this out, figure out what happened. Do you understand me?"
She shrank away from the cold edge in his tone, remembering all too well how harsh he had been right after her mother's death. "Yes."
He pulled out of the driveway right after that, wasting no time to speed off to wherever Will was.
"Shannon." She startled at Steve's voice, having forgotten he was even there. "Are you okay?"
"No, I'm not okay," she told him angrily, turning back to her house. She refused to look him in the eyes for fear that hers would spill tears. "If what my dad said is true, if he really is-"
"Hey." Steve touched her shoulder, which made her jump again. She hadn't realized he'd followed her to her door. "The police will figure it out. Maybe it isn't him."
"But what if it is?" Her stomach cramped, twisting painfully when she realized with horror what that would mean. "Oh god, the boys. Mike, Lucas, Dustin-" She choked abruptly, panic swirling inside her when she realized they didn't know, they had no clue, and they needed to know.
"What about them? What- Shannon, wait. Wait! Bishop!"
She brushed past Steve, jogged out into the road, and started toward the Henderson household on foot, desperate to see Dustin even if he didn't want to see her because he was going to need someone, and here was Steve, following on her heels like he was actually concerned about her well-being. "Shannon-"
"Go home, Harrington!" she demanded. "I'll be fine."
"You're clearly not fine," he protested, reaching out and grabbing her shoulder. He wrenched her to a stop, twisting her in a way that she was forced to look at him. "Just go home, okay? We'll wait for your dad there to see what he says-"
"Go home, Steve," she repeated vehemently. "I don't need your help, and I don't want it. I'm going to see Dustin– he's going to need me."
"Yeah? And who's going to look out for you?" he challenged. "Who's going to be there for you?"
She flinched like his words had physically slapped her. Truth was there wasn't anyone, not with her dad gone to do his job, but he didn't need to know that. "You should go find Nancy, your girlfriend. I'm sure she'll need a shoulder to lean on when the news breaks."
