It was becoming routine to Shilo, almost as if this 'alternate person' was a part of her.
It truly wasn't THAT much of an alternate personality-just an alternate appearance. No one knew who she was, she rarely spoke. And no one ever saw her eyes, just lips slightly pursed, occasionally painted a devil red, occasionally glossed, but more often than not left bare… If anyone to find out that the new Queen of GeneCo, the face of hope in a community so darkened over Rotti's years of transplanting and mutilating, was peddling Zydrate on the streets, in the darkened alley ways, alongside the most notorious of the other dealers, well it wouldn't fare well for the company.
And, Shilo thought grimly to herself, as she stood with her needle cocked and ready, her hand on her hip as Graverobber removed the slab of stone off of another body's holding case for her to extract the Zydrate, she probably wouldn't mind if the company crashed and burned. But, she was smart enough to realize, that all the addicts would become ubiquitous in their ways, and since there were no bodies with hasty organ removals, or dying during surgery, there wouldn't be enough Zydrate to go around-there already was a surplus of people dying in the streets from attempted withdrawing, and Amber's failing support group.
"And why, is it failing?" Shilo muttered aloud, as she hastily shoved the needle up the cadaver's nasal passage, her teeth gritted against the sudden rush of anger, "Because Miss Sweet can't get off her 'sweet' little ass, and actually attend one of those meetings. She can't be a role model."
From a headstone, Graverobber watched, one brow raised, one leg swinging over the side of the headstone, the other pulled to his chest. He heard her mutterings-she wasn't as quiet as she thought. For a moment, he wondered if she was jealous of Amber, the girl hadn't been blind the first time she'd seen what happened in the alley ways… Of the lustful way that Amber and himself treated each other, even though those ways were starting to dwindle-though Amber still was a regular customer.
"Shilo?" he questioned
Is your name Shilo? Can you come down please...? So we can speak. For a moment, the words replayed themselves in Shilo's head, the scene where she'd met her idol, and, unbeknownst to her, godmother… She thought that it hadn't been Graverobber who'd spoken the first 'Shilo' for a moment, just a memory playing itself in her head in her moment of sadness, as she drew back from the body, another glass vial glowing in her palm.
"Kid?" Graverobber asked again, hopping off the stone, to snatch the vial from her, and tuck it into one of those many pockets in his trench coat.
Shilo smiled up at him, one hand on her hip again. "Yeah?" she asked, reaching into the hood to twist a finger around a lock of hair, watching as it curled around her finger, locking in place for a millisecond, before it sprang back to it's casual waviness.
Graverobber wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her against himself, smirking satisfyingly as her hands moved to his chest, her fingers splayed out against there. He leaned down, pressing a kiss to her lips, before murmuring, "You don't like Amber?" he asked.
It was, by far, not the first kiss they'd had. Shilo wasn't sure what to make of Graverobber-a 'business' partner, a friend, more?-but his question of Amber, wasn't one that she liked. She truly didn't like Amber Sweet, for many reasons. She'd hated Blind Mag. She'd tried to replace the woman, and ever since Shilo had come to the head of GeneCo, been too much of a kiss-up for her liking… And maybe, there was a bit of resentment, for Graverobber's former lover-though she wasn't quite sure if Amber was former or not, though Shilo hoped. But she and Graverobber spent a lot of time together, she'd probably know if the most renowned scalpel slut was with him… But Shilo was unsure.
Shilo tilted her head to the side, gently taking Graverobber's lower lip between her own for a moment. "When you're kissing me, is that the sort of thing you think of?" she asked, her voice having a faint edge of 'sex sells' on it, though suddenly she was spinning away from him. Things like that, she was normally uncomfortable with doing. Still innocent, in some part of her mind… A thirteen year old, trapped in an eighteen year old's body.
No… Shilo thought grimly, thinking of the first Zydrate Addict she'd ever met.
How old are you?
Seventeen.
I had my first surgery when I was thirteen…
Shilo wasn't even trapped in a thirteen year old's body. She'd had no surgeries, ever. She was sure she'd never need one, either… Rotti never had. But then again, he'd come down with a disease, that HADN'T been curable.
And Shilo was a blood descendent, of him. She was more likely to have the same disease, though she'd never cared enough to probe and find out if it had the possibilities of being genetic. But your future isn't up to your genes.
Graverobber's sudden tug on her hand, not quite a comfort as he normally would have, but an insistent, almost worried tug, had her turning to look at him. She glanced upwards, seeing the flock of helicopters, racing above them.
"Kid, we gotta run. Let's go sell a bit." Graverobber whispered, reaching down to wrap his hand around the faint heels on Shilo's shoes. She'd slow down, thanks to those… But with a quick flick of his wrist, he had them broken off, throwing the discarded material somewhere. A bad move-it drew attention.
"Keep your hood up, no matter what. Move fast." Graverobber instructed, and Shilo couldn't help but be surprised, at how different it was from the last time they'd been near confrontation-when she'd been too brave, and ventured out of her mother's tomb. He'd almost wanted the attention, leaping up and screaming out the words that she replayed over and over in her head, the first night that she'd run into him, after becoming the head of GeneCo, wondering how that man and the one who had offered her something so preposterous, it was almost unbelievable…
Her shoulders were hunched, her arms clenched around herself as if trying to hold pieces that were coming out, together. She wasn't cut out for this line of work; she couldn't handle seeing everyone's face as they told her, fearfully, that they couldn't pay for the operation. Today had been especially horrible, one woman had told her that and started crying, saying that she wouldn't be able to pay in ninety days either, and then the Repo Man would come and kill her.
It was the first mention, of a Repo Man, since she'd arrived-was it truly only a week ago? And how it had hurt. Her father was the most feared, but then again, that man, the one who sliced open people by the handful, wasn't her father. That was the Repo Man. Her father was Nathan Wallace, despite what any genetic test declared.
Suddenly, she became aware of the sound of begging. As she rounded the corner, hesitant at what she would find… She gasped.
"Amber." Shilo murmured, shocked.
Amber was on her knees, clutching Graverobber's leg, like a dog begging for a bone. Above Graverobber's head, he was holding his gun out of reach, his face set in stone. He looked at Shilo, one eyebrow quirked at her attire-just a nightgown, the same that she'd always worn.
Amber scrambled to her knees, brushing off her body. "Shilo, please, don't say anythi-"
Agitated, Shilo simply waved her hand, "Just go Amber."
Amber, glad to be getting off free, quickly lurched away. At the mouth of the alley way, she smiled seductively, as only she could, and blew a kiss at Graverobber, before running away, her head bent.
Shilo turned to go, before Graverobber spoke. His voice came from right behind her; she hadn't realized how close he was.
"So how've you been kid…? You look tense." He muttered in her ear.
For a moment, Shilo thought that he had moved his hand to the crook of her elbow, before she realized-hands weren't cold, nor were they pointed. She glanced down, and was shocked, as she saw the glow of the little glass vial, already loaded in a gun.
"I'll give you a free hit... But you have to keep this little incident between us." He continued.
Everything always comes with a price… And how bad could it be? Despite her better judgment, Shilo rolled up her sleeve, biting down on her lip. Did she really want this? Of course she was tense, but was this the answer?
"It's fun. I promise." Graverobber murmured, turning her to face him, dragging his gun up her arm, in a sick sort of promise, before he brought it to the flesh just above her collar bone. He cocked his gun, and pulled the trigger.
And then all there was, was relaxing bliss. Happiness, which melted absolutely every bone in Shilo's body. She went slack against him, her head lolling back on his shoulder, and her mouth falling open slightly.
Once she'd recovered, from her first hit of Zydrate, Shilo had been angry-he'd all but tricked her into it. And to repay it, Graverobber had promised to give her an outlet, to release her tension. At first, she thought he'd meant sex, and had showed up to the graveyard that night, prepared to refuse him.
But he'd held out a needle to her, and a hooded cape, instead of taking her to some sleazy corner.
And from then on, Shilo was a Zydrate collector, though only recently had she began to deal it out, right along side Graverobber. There was something about her, that spooked the clients, some walked away muttering, 'Shouldn't trust someone whose eyes you can't see…' though Shilo found it interesting that they still took the glow, willingly. It was a surprise, to her.
Shilo was once again jerked out of her thoughts, as Graverobber turned a sharp corner, crouching down beside a dumpster. Shilo's breath was coming in heavy pants, as she couldn't help but laugh. "Is this…?"
"Yeah, Kid, it is. The Zydrate Anatomy alley way." Graverobber replied, chuckling as he glanced up to see the exit door for the little 'support group' closed, showing people were still in there.
"Zydrate comes in a little glass vial." Shilo quoted, smirking.
"I don't know nothing at all." Graverobber countered, smirking and kicking his legs out, waiting for the session to end. He closed his eyes, and pulled Shilo's hood lower over her face. For a long while, he was quiet, and Shilo could have sworn that he was asleep…. But then he moved, his hand uncovering a thick silver cuff, around his wrist, checking the time. "They'll be coming out in ten minutes…" he shifted towards Shilo, hovering above her slightly. Shilo noticed that in his hand, he held his gun, and his smile was mischievous.
"Want a hit of the glow, Kid?"
