There's No Place Like Hawkins//Stranger Things. SH

NINE

The Body

Catherine somehow managed to drag herself to school the next morning. She was going to stay home and comfort her brother after the evenings events but when Nancy called and said she needed to speak to her about Barb's disappearance she forced herself to cycle to school.

Cat stood between two of the school's buildings next to the sports track, her usual smoking spot, except this time she was joined by Nancy and Steve- the school's hottest couple. Nancy was telling them about what she saw near his house when she went back the previous night to look for Barb.

"So, wait a sec. I don't understand. You went back to my house?" Steve questioned.

"To look for Barb." Nancy told him.

"Yeah, okay, but why didn't you just talk to me? That's crazy."

Cat rolled her eyes, deciding now was a good time for a smoke. She reached into her pocket, placing the last cigarette between her lips and lighting it, blowing smoke elegantly from her lips.

"I don't know, I... I was scared."

"You could have told me. I was babysitting those little shits. Wouldn't have minded a break from that for a minute." Cat told her friend, taking another drag from her cigarette. Nancy apologised to her, saying that it was a last minute thing. Cat nodded, forgiving her friend.

"You seriously think you saw a guy in a mask just hanging out in my yard?" Steve asked.

Cat scoffed. "For such a large house, it's quite easy to break into, apparently. Clearly, you need a better security system Harrington."

"I don't think it was a mask." Nancy said, looking between her boyfriend and her remaining best friend.

"But he had no face?" Steve questioned.

"I don't know! I don't know, I just... I have a terrible feeling about this."

"Oh, this is bad." Steve muttered. Cat raised an eyebrow at the boy, thinking for a moment that maybe he actually care about their missing friend. "This is really bad." He muttered again, taking a step back, leaning against the other wall.

"What?" Nancy asked him, taking a step towards him.

"The cops... they're gonna want to talk to all of us now."

"So?" Cat asked, not seeing why it was so bad. Barbara was missing and they needed to find her. Involving the police gave them a higher chance of finding Barb, didn't he understand that? She took another drag of her cigarette, blowing out more smoke from her lips.

"Tommy, Carol, Henderson over here," he pointed to her, "everybody who was at the party."

"Okay... and?" Cat asked, not quite understanding what he was getting at. The cops would help them find Barb, wouldn't they?