Shilo stared at the ceiling and let out a small sigh as she listened to what was going outside. Tonight instead of sirens and chaos there was laughter and music. She closed her eyes and imagined what could be going on. In her mind she saw large groups of people. They were the complete opposite of her, they were people who knew the feeling of having a good time, being with their friends- being outside. She opened her eyes again and glanced over at the window, going over her father's words in her head. "You're young..." he would always say when she brought up the idea of going out, "You've got plenty of time for that later."
She mumbled to herself, mocking her father's stern tone and scared attitude towards life. Sure she was young, but young people got to experience life too! She detested being kept inside. She yearned to be the daughter of a normal father, one who would find excitement in taking her out and showing her the world. She imagined herself in one of the families that she had seen out her window. She wished she had grown up being like one of those daughters riding on their father's shoulders with neither of them seeming like they had a care in the world. But that would never happen for Shilo. No, not with her father. She shook her head as a strange noise coming from outside brought her out of her daydream. The music and laughter had died down now, but she could still hear...whistling? She slowly got up and went over to her window.
"It's that one, I swear!" one boy pointed to the large house to show his friend.
"...C'mon, stop it." the other dark haired boy protested, not wanting to be drawn into another one of his friends' stories. His eyes followed which way he pointed and he stared up at the house too.
Shilo looked out her window and glanced down at the boys. One had long brown hair with tattered clothing like he had been in them for days, while the other was the complete opposite of him. He was wearing what looked almost like a suit her father would wear, from the dark colored tie down to his leather shoes. She didn't dare to open the window any further in fear they would see her, and held the curtain tightly in her hand as she watched them while trying to catch what they were saying.
"No one ever comes out of that house, I'm telling you." said the first boy, peering up at Shilo's window, not noticing any sign that someone was there. "I wonder what he's doing right now..." He laughed to himself and turned his attention back to the dark haired boy. "Aw, come on..." he said, seeing that the color had drained from the boy's face. "You said you wanted to see where the Repo Man lived!"
The boy shook his head quickly and looked away from the house. "That's not his house..." he mumbled, hiding his embarrassed face in his mess of bangs. His father employed the Repo Man, after all. If he had really wanted to know he could have asked him, instead of being dragged along on one of his friend's pointless "adventures" once again. He quickly looked back up when he felt his friend's hand forcefully shove him towards the house. Shilo felt her heart beat faster as they got closer, fearing what would happen if her father came home while they were there.
" S-stop it," he said again, staring back up at the house and its boarded up windows and drawn curtains. The other boy frowned and walked over to where he was.
"Of course it's not his house," he said, rolling his eyes and touching the gate. He slowly began to walk along it, examining the almost abandoned looking house, but stopped and stared at the balcony outside of Shilo's window. It was different from the others, with a balcony hidden in heavy looking curtains. Feeling his gaze on where she was, she gasped and let go of the curtain and quickly backed away, thinking he had seen her watching them.
"...What are you doing?" The two boys exchanged looks before turning around. Their gazes were met by the impatient glare of a third boy who seemed to tower over them as he leaned on the fence.
"Nothing, brother..." the dark haired boy answered quickly without looking him straight in the eye. But his brother's gaze was more focused on the other boy.
"Still hanging around with the likes of him, Pavi?" he asked with a smirk on his face. Shilo noticed something in his hand and nervously walked back over to the window. Her eyes widened as she realized it was a sharp looking pocket knife that he was carelessly twirling between his fingers without taking his eyes off of the boy. His knife gleamed from the reflection of the light of the street lamps as he moved closer.
Pavi shook his head trying to dismiss the comment his brother had made and began mumbling to himself, having had a feeling his brother would find a way to ruin the fun as always.
"What did you say?!" He refocused his attention on him, and yelled angrily grabbing him by the shoulder, his knife now pointed straight in Pavi's face. "I asked you a question!"
Pavi looked at his friend and rolled his eyes, trying to seem unaffected by his brother's attitude but feeling slightly nervous. He hesitated before meeting his fierce gaze once again. "Luigi..." he said a bit quietly, not wanting to have to go through this again. But his brother did not let go.
Luigi moved the knife closer to his brothers face, barely a centimeter away from his nose before saying in a low, eerie voice, "...One day I'll do it." He let go of Pavi and forcefully pushed him into the gate, focusing his attention on his friend once again. "What are you still doing here?!" he asked angrily, but the boy seemed unaffected by his rage. Luigi stared at him for a moment, quickly becoming frustrated that he wasn't being taken seriously. The boy merely laughed and looked away.
"We're leaving," said Luigi, his face quickly beginning to turn red from the rage building up inside of him. He grabbed Pavi by the shoulders and without saying another word began forcing him in the opposite direction down the street. Shilo began to feel a bit calmer as she watched them leave. She focused her attention back on the boy who was left. There was something about him that intrigued her. He seemed like an adventurer, someone who was free to live life to it's fullest and who didn't deal with someone like Luigi or a strict father always bossing him around.
When the two brothers were out of sight he began laughing. He hadn't given Luigi what he wanted, he hadn't shown him the intimidation he craved as the "powerful" person he was. He shook his head and took one more short look up at Shilo's window before continuing down the street. Shilo watched him as he walked away and could still hear him whistling the familiar song of Mag's as he turned the street corner. She didnt have much time to process what had happened before she felt her heart start to beat faster once again. This time though, she knew it wasn't her nerves causing it. She soon felt a familiar sharp pain in her chest and began looking around quickly for her medicine as the alarm on her wrist began to go off.
-Nathan Wallace dropped his knife to look down at his own watch. He waited a moment, looking around at his most recent work before calling her. "Shilo?" He asked impatiently when she didn't answer at first.
Shilo took the glass away from her lips before answering. "Yes dad?"
"Are you taking your medicine?" He asked as he carefully began taking off his gloves. He stared for a moment at the blood on his hands that somehow seeped into them before wiping them on his suit.
"Yes..." Shilo answered, staring down into the glass in her hand. Nathan nodded and picked up his knife again before bringing it over to the sink. "Its getting late Shilo..." he said as he turned the sink on. He placed the blade of the knife under the stream of hot water and watched as the stream began to be stained red.
Shilo's gaze wandered over to her clock. "I know dad," she answered, though she did not agree with him. She looked back over at her window staring at the sun that had yet to set.
Ignoring the tone in her voice Nathan reached for a towel. "I'll be home soon," he said, looking around at the rest of the mess he had left to clean up, "but you should be in bed by then."
Shilo leaned her head back frustratedly, thinking that no other person her age would be in bed at this time but knowing it was pointless to argue with him. "Okay dad...I love you." She hesitated before adding this last part, just wanting to be left alone once again. Nathan smiled to himself, thinking this was what made his job worthwhile. "I love you too Shi, Good night."
"Night dad," she replied before quickly before hanging up. She was growing more and more frustrated with her father and all of his rules. She laid back in her bed and got back into the position she was in earlier, staring up at the ceiling. Her mind was flooded as she thought about the boys she had seen. She wished she could be like a normal person who could have gone out to meet them, or joined their conversation about the mysterious Repo Man. She pulled the curtains closed around her bed and let her eyes close. Her mind began towander away from the thought of the boys and her bitterness towards her father as she began to fall asleep, having forgotten completely about the window she had left open.
