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Name: Shannon Rutherford
Age: 20
Occupation: None currently. Was at some point a part-time ballet instructor.
Why she was on the plane:
Shannon was returning to the United States with her stepbrother, Boone, from Australia. She had called upon Boone to 'save' her from her latest boyfriend, Brian - but it was truly only a scam set up, in which she planned to split with Brian the money she knew Boone would give Brian to disappear from Shannon's life. Boone found out about the scam after Brian angrily told him what Shannon had been doing.

That night, Shannon turned up at Boone's hotel door. Brian had run off with all of the money. Shannon never said she was sorry, and Boone never asked her to. Regardless of what she felt on the inside (you'll find that there is a thick sheet of metal between Shannon's outside and her inside - and no one gets in unless she is so low that she can't keep herself from breaking down) she seduced Boone to cause him to forgive her. Because he couldn't very well hold a grudge when it was out in the open between them that he loved her, and especially after they'd had sex.

The next morning, they left for the airport - with Shannon acting as though nothing had ever happened.

Items they have with them from the plane, or on the island:
Lots of luggage - she does /not/ know the meaning of 'packing light' - and besides, she'd been living in Sydney for long enough to have done lots of shopping. Not her inhalers, though - because she always forgets to pack them. Luckily Boone put them in his stuff. One special thing she has is her ballet slippers.

Physical Description:
Shannon is the token beautiful girl: blonde hair, blue eyes, tan skin, tall, and slim. Her hair is styled to the current fashion, and her clothes let one know just by looking at her that she is wealthy and fashionable. Or, perhaps, to some: vain and shallow. Not entirely untrue. It is all the same thing, though, isn't it?

Though she is slim, she is not skin-and-bones - and every extra pound on her body is seen as a disgusting weight of fat hanging on her. Though she hides it extremely well under tough skin that no one would begin to imagine as being tough, she hates her appearance. Men tell her she is beautiful, and women are often clearly jealous, but Shannon knows better. She knows that she isn't good enough. She is literally living a lie.

But back to her outside. Shannon moves with grace, whether in flip-flops or in four-inch heels. Her body is toned; though the muscles are not visible upon looking at her, years upon years of dancing and exercising have toned her legs and abs especially. Thanks to a barrage of skin care products, her skin is flawless and thanks to practiced skill with make-up, she puts on beauty with ease.



History:

Shannon's mother died when Shannon was very young, and she has no memory of the woman. Her father, Adam Rutherford, a very wealthy businessman, remarried Sabrina Carlyle when Shannon was eight years old. Shannon was very independent from her early teens on, and she was never truly satisfied with her home life - though her father was very loving, she always felt animosity from her stepmother, and so she never spent much time with the woman. They never formed any sort of a bond.

Sabrina's son, Boone, who was two years older than Shannon, had a crush on Shannon early on. It was something that he fought all his life, and though Shannon always knew about it, she ignored it completely, never even letting on that the thought of his crush on her had ever crossed her mind. Boone was always protective of her, and got her out of trouble more than once. Shannon, though she truly cared for Boone as a stepbrother and a friend, used his protection of her many times. They had an incredibly complicated relationship from the time they met.

Shannon studied ballet from a very young age, and when she grew older, she began to teach classes. She had a feeling of unrest as she went through her older teen years, an itch to travel and see the world. Perhaps it was all in an attempt to be as far away as she could be from the sense that things were not good enough and would never get better that she had every time she was at home for very long.

When she was nineteen, her father died in a car crash. He had no will, and so everything went to Sabrina. It was then that Sabrina's detestation and jealousy of Shannon reared it's ugly head. She cut Shannon off from receiving any money completely. Shannon lived elsewhere at the time, and worked as a ballet instructor. She knew that at the end of the month she would lose her comfortable apartment, but she was holding out until she got word from the prestigious Martha Graham Dance Company in New York on whether or not she was accepted. It was her dream to become a professional ballerina; ballet was her passion.

She was accepted, but knowing that she couldn't afford it herself, she went to Sabrina for help. Sabrina refused, and Shannon turned to Boone. He couldn't do anything, though; as it was against his mother's wishes and he'd just taken a job in his mother's company.

Terrified at the sudden prospect of being forced out into the world without money and without a way to make money, and furious at her stepmother's heartlessness and her stepbrother's spinelessness, Shannon came up with a plan. It was pathetically easy, really; and this was how she justified herself in doing it. At first, all it was was this: she depended on men she dated. All she had to do was find a man - not even a rich man, just one well enough off to support her. She picked men she liked; it was exactly the same as if she were simply dating them. She wanted to be happy, after all. Essentially, it was just simply dating - but she just knew how to cause them to dote on her a little more. She kept them in the dark, thinking that she was still a rich man's daughter.

But Shannon began to torture herself inwardly. She's never allowed herself to love anyone, or believe that anyone loves her - except for her father. When she began to feel herself falling in love with a man, she forced herself to end it - so she won't make the mistake of thinking someone loves her. And she found a way to kill two - no, three - birds with one stone. She would call Boone, to 'save' her from an 'abusive' relationship. She knew he would come running to her side, using his checkbook to make the men disappear. It shows something about her self-deprecating view on love, that she knew that any man would leave her if the sum was large enough. By doing this, she also caused him to lose money - money which was rightfully hers, anyway. It was revenge on Sabrina and Boone at the same time as it was saving Shannon from stupidly thinking she could feel true love.

In some of the relationships, she would let the man in on her schemes. After telling them how her stepmother had robbed her of all of her money, the men were on her side, and the way she presented it all (Shannon was very manipulative, both of words and of people's emotions) made them agree to con him with her.

She did this many times; until one night, Boone received a call from Australia, his sister weeping on the phone. He went across the world to save her again, writing Brian a huge check to leave his sister alone. Later that day, he went to Shannon's house - to find Brian and Shannon there together. Shannon's plan had been to leave with Boone the night before, spend maybe a few days where he'd know where she was, before going to live with a friend in NYC until she could find another man. She told Brian she'd be gone with Boone for a few days, and then she'd be back. She didn't plan to come back, of course - it would only keep her in her dreaming.

But Boone came a day earlier, and saw Brian with Shannon. He tried to attack Brian, and Brian began to beat him up. Brian told Boone about Shannon's schemes.