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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Shopping for weapons hadn't exactly been on Shannon's daily to-do list, but that didn't stop anything.
She first did as she promised, which was changing clothes before biking home to see her dad. Larry was already awake, his paper rolled beneath his arm from where he'd picked it off the street just before she'd coasted into the driveway. She spent part of the morning with him, then, trying not to get too sentimental about it before she did more crazy, dangerous things with Nancy and Jonathan. Talking to Steve last night, however, had dredged up some thoughts and feelings she'd had tucked away, so she felt a little more raw when she told her dad she loved him before leaving home again.
Now, an hour later, she still felt pretty cut up about it as she strolled around the aisles of the army surplus store with Nancy and Jonathan, all looking for their best case scenario weapons to help them stop and kill the faceless monster from the woods. If the situation weren't so life-or-death, she probably would have laughed at the dumbfounded expression on the clerk's face when he watched Nancy pull all of their purchases out of their basket– the bear trap, the lighter fluid, the nails and flashlights and more. Instead, after Jonathan requested bullets and the clerk asked what they were doing, Shannon's simple response was just, "Monster hunting."
The three teenagers shared a laugh over Shannon's blunt honesty out at the car.
"Monster hunting, really?" Jonathan said.
Shannon laughed louder. "It was the truth, okay? Why bother with lying? It's not like he's gonna call Hopper on us."
"It's funny," Nancy remarked dryly. "Last weekend I was shopping with Barb for a new top I thought Steve would like, and now here I am, monster hunting and buying bear traps with the two of you."
"So what's the weird part?" Jonathan asked. "That you're buying bear traps, or that you're doing it with me?"
Nancy smiled at him. "You. It's definitely you."
From behind them a car horn honked, and all three of them turned in time to see a red car slow long enough for the passenger to call out, "Hey, Nance. Can't wait to see your movie."
Jonathan looked confused. "What the hell was that?"
"I don't know," Nancy answered, her face creased in concern.
Shannon's stomach twisted. She remembered last night, what Steve thought he saw through the window, and wondered if maybe–
Nancy had already turned for the local movie theater, racing down the street as she started to panic. Her fast walk turned into a jog, one that Jonathan and Shannon had to hurry for in order to catch up to her.
"Nancy, wait!" Jonathan called out.
"Nance, come back!" Shannon yelled, jogging faster.
Nancy ignored them both. At the town's intersection, she crossed from one corner to the next in a flash, stopping with abrupt dismay at what she saw before her. Jonathan reached her next, stopping just a few paces behind the brunette as he, too, read the sign.
