Chapter Two

Shilo began to come to, he head pounding and her entire body aching with a pain she could describe. She had never gone so long without her medication and in all honesty should have and had planned on taking it before she left for the cemetery. Her eyes slowly cracked open, the warmth of her bed sinking into her skin as she regained consciousness. Her vision was blurry at first, the plastic sheets surrounding her bed making it all the more difficult to see. Her eyes focused and she looked around slowly, and attempted to sit up. Her head, which had just before been covered in long black hair, was now completely bare. As she scanned the room, her eyes caught a glimpse of something and locked on. A dark figure in the corner of her room moved towards her, placing a hand on her shoulder and slowly lowering her back down to the softness and safety of her mattress. She looked up at the face that hovered above her. "Dad?" she questioned, her voice raspy from not being used. The shadowy figure of her father moved to hover over her side table. "Dad, what happened?"

"Hush now." he said, picking up his stethoscope from the table and placing the buds over his ears. He gently moved the plastic sheet to allow him access to her bed and sat upon the edge. He held out the receiving end of the instrument moved it towards Shilo's chest. "You're alright."

"W-Was I outside?" she asked, placing a hand on her head, trying to calm her raging headache.

"Why would you think that?" Nathan prompted, gently the cold metal circle upon Shilo's bare skin.

Shilo remained quiet for a few moments, allowing her father to properly hear her heart beat, then began to speak when he pulled away from her. "There were these," she swallowed hard. "bodies."

He hushed her and moved away from the bed yet again, moving to another table to prepare her medication.

"They were all dead and," she paused, moving her hand down to rest on her stomach. "the smell." Her face scrunched just thinking about it and she nearly dry heaved. "I-It was horrible."

Nathan moved back over towards her bed. "You just missed your medication. It must have been a fever dream."

Shilo quickly turned frantic. "I-I-I couldn't have dreamt it. I-It f-felt so real." She sat up quickly. "I could s-smell them and t-there was this...man"

Nathan handed her a long, black wig, coaxing her to put it on. "Enough. You'll work yourself up. Just drop it."

Shilo spoke again, nearly yelling. "It was real! I know it was! I could smell the death!"

Nathan shot towards her, hovering over her like a cloud. "Enough! You could have di...You scared me to death!"

Shilo jumped slightly and slumped down in her bed. She hated yelling, especially when it was coming from her father. But something about the way he was speaking to her worried her, like it wasn't even him at all. A sudden chill traveled down her spine.

Nathan looked down into his daughters eyes, noticing her discomfort. He sat down on the edge of her bed and placed a hand on the one she had rested on her stomach. "You know you're not supposed to be outside." he said, somewhat calmer than before but still with a sharp tone. He looked down at his own hand and gave hers a slight squeeze. "And associating with men," he squeezed her hand a little harder. "is most certainly not allowed."

Shilo's heart beat quickened and her entire body started to shake. Not now. No. Please. She attempted to pull her hand from beneath his, but it only caused him to squeeze it tighter, causing Shilo to wince from temporary pain. "I-I," she stuttered, nearly unable to speak. "I-I-I."

Nathan ran his thumb over the back of Shilo's hand a few times, then released it completely, bringing his hand down to rest on her thigh, his eyes following his hand and never meeting Shilo's. "This man," he began, his hand briefly moving up and down over the blanket that covered her legs. "Did he touch you?"

Shilo shifted in her bed, trying to make it impossible for him to touch her. "I-I-I-I." The movement of her leg caused the hand upon it to press down hard, keeping it in place.

"That's not an answer." he said harshly, his hand still holding her leg down.

Shilo swallowed hard again, attempting to pull herself together so she could speak."I-I," she paused and took a breath. "N-No." Her voice was raspy and she couldn't stop shaking.

His hand moved down her thigh slightly, grasping at her knee cap. "Good." he said, his head finally moving to look at her. His piercing eyes stared into hers, making her cringe internally. They weren't her father's eyes. Not even close. They were dull and lifeless, barely human. "No one touches you." he stared endlessly into her eyes, a sinister smirk on his lips and his voice raspy and deep. He leaned closer to her, causing his hand to move up her leg again and rest on the curve of her hip. "Ever."

Shilo couldn't move. Her entire body locked up as soon as the weight of his hand moved to her hip. She stared back into his eyes, unable to look away but desperately searching for the courage to. This was not her father. It was...him.

After a few moments, his eyes broke from hers and return to his hand. He trailed a finger along her waist then stood up swiftly, walking slowly to the other end of the room and staring into her fireplace.

All Shilo could do was stare, his silhouette tall, dark, and terrifying. She sat completely still, afraid that movement would lead to more unwanted touching.

"Get up." he said harshly, his voice booming through the deafening quiet.

Shilo jumped yet again and stayed in place. She couldn't...wouldn't move. Beneath the covers all of her clothing had been removed and replaced with a white nightgown that barely covered her the area below her waist.

"Get," he said, a warning tone in his voice. "up."

Still shaking, Shilo reluctantly sat up and slid towards the edge of her bed, keeping her blanket on her legs as long as humanly possible. She sat there for a few moments, hoping that this would be good enough for him, though the previous experiences told her otherwise.

"All the way, girl." He never turned to look at her, but by the sounds of her movement could tell she was still sitting upon the bed.

Now trembling, Shilo attempted to stand, the blanket trickling off her legs and falling back onto the mattress. Her knees nearly gave out and hands moved in front of her, attempting to cover up what may or may not have been showing.

Content with the noises he hand heard, he turned around and looked the shivering child up and down. "Good girl." he said softly.

Shilo could feel tears welling up in her eyes. Why now? Why tonight? Why at all? Why? A single tear fell from the corner of one of her eyes and fell swiftly down her cheek. She tried so desperately not to cry. Tried to be strong and brave like she had always hoped she could be, but her emotions overcame her will and she began to sob.

"Don't cry, precious." he said, the harsh tone still heavy in his voice. He moved swiftly towards her, his eyes locked on her weeping face. A good enough distance away from her, he reached a hand out and attempted to wipe a tear from her cheek, the gesture anything but nurturing.

On instinct, Shilo smacked his hand away from her before it could make contact, immediately regretting the action. Now even more terrified, she slowly looked up at him, fearful of what he might do now that she had angered him.

His eyes went from piercing and cruel to menacing and wrathful. His hand raised up next to head, causing the quivering girl to hunch down and shield herself with her arms. After a few seconds of contemplating the swing, his arm fell slowly back down to his side, a slight chuckle escaping from his mouth. He moved closer to her, placing a hand upon her shoulder and using the other to lift her chin up so she was looking at him.

Confused and reluctant, Shilo allowed him to lift her head and tried to avoid looking at his eyes. She couldn't stop shaking, no matter how hard she tried the simple fact that he was breathing on her unnerved her, let alone touching. She remained still.

He examined her face, fresh tears still streaming from her eyes though her expression remained vacant. Her eyes were red and puffy from the tears, but the glisten protruding from them intrigued him. He leaned his head forward, slowly, pressing his lips to her forehead and moving a hand to the back of her head.

Shilo jumped as he kissed her and thought about pulling away, but the threat of an actual swing to her face still hung in the air. She stood there, feeling helpless and alone and hoping that it would all be over soon.

He kept his lips pressed to her head for about a minute, breathing in slowly and taking in the sweet nectar of her skin. His fingers curled through her hair as he moved his head away from hers. He removed his hand gently from her head and walked towards the door, turning around briefly to look her up and down once more before walking through the door and shutting it behind him.

Shilo stood alone in her room, still trembling and slightly confused. Why had he left, and when he returned would it still be him, or the loving father she so desperately longed for. She cautiously moved to her bed and sat upon the edge, still facing the door so she could stand up quickly if he were to enter again. Her eyes unable to produce anymore tears and her mind swirling with thoughts of only her horror, Shilo got lost in thought. She thought about her father. Sweet, nurturing, and kind. His soft voice helping her through the guilt she felt about her mother on many an occasion. His tender embrace holding her close to him when she cried. The stories that he used to tell her before she fell asleep. The her thoughts moved to...him. His breath hot against the nape of her neck. His words stinging and making her quiver in fear. His body heavy on top of her. The years and years of abuse that she had suffered. Although they shared the same body, the man who had harmed her time and time again was not her father. He was something darker. A force that had taken over her loving father around the same time Shilo turned 13. He was dark and menacing and terrified her. Out of the handful of times she had tried to put a stop to it by telling her father, he had always insisted that she was delirious and insisted that she take some more medication and it would away. That she should sleep it off and when she awoke it would all be okay. She tried desperately to believe him, but each time it didn't broke her heart and terrified her even more.

A sound coming from the hallway broke her away from her thoughts. She could hear footsteps growing closer to her room and thought of him even entering her room again made her cringe. She stiffened up, hoping to god that the man who walked in was her father. She didn't think she couldn't handle anymore trauma tonight. As the handle turned and the door began to open, Shilo felt herself take a breath and hold it in.

He entered the room to find the girl sitting at the foot of her bed, hands in her lap and her head hanging down. She didn't look up to greet him, which frustrated him. He moved through he doorway and let it close behind him.

Shilo raised her head slightly, looking up at his face. She searched desperately for his eyes, but where he was standing prevented her from seeing them clearly. The top half of his face was consumed by darkness and his arms were crossed behind his back. There was something different about him. Not about his mannerisms or the way he stood, but his clothing. He looked disheveled and somewhat thrown together, not like he had before leaving her room.

He drew closer to her, still lurking in the shadows of her bedroom. "I hope you appreciate what I've done." he said, motioning towards his clothing. "Just let it be known that I did it purely for my own personal satisfaction and not your own."

Shilo lifted her head a little more, narrowing her eyes in confusion and watching him move to her side. She was confused and still extremely terrified.

"You are in no state to satisfy my needs due to your careless actions tonight, and although I generally wouldn't care I don't need you broke for the next time I intend to," he paused, stopping in his tracks and giving her a wicked grin. "satisfy myself."

A shiver flew down Shilo's spine. He still had not clearly stated what he meant, but Shilo got the general idea. He would leave her alone tonight, and though it frightened her that she didn't know the reason, she was extremely relieved and let out a deep breath.

Realizing the child's relief, he stalked towards her, bending down and lowering his head so his mouth was level to her ear. "Don't take this as an opportunity to save yourself. Next time I will not be lenient." He lowered his voice to a soft whisper and spoke again. "Until tomorrow night, precious." He placed a rough kiss to her cheek and walked over to the fireplace, staring into it once again.

A single tear fell down Shilo's cheek, though no other's followed. She felt the lump in her throat move as she swallowed and attempted to collect herself. After a few moments of sitting in silence, she wearily crawled back up her mattress and lay down, immersing herself in her blankets and hiding her face from the world.

Nathan turned around and saw his daughter laying peacefully in bed. He quietly moved towards the door and opening it slowly, turning around before he exited the room completely. "Sleep tight, Shi." he whispered sweetly, closing the door behind him.

Shilo heard the soft sweet voice of her father as he exited the room and began to relax. At least she'd be able to sleep soundly tonight, knowing that nothing lurked in the shadows waiting to pounce. She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep, but her head was still swimming with thoughts of...him. As she drifted off, his last words flew through her mind like a piercing knife. Until tomorrow night, precious.