Chapter Ten

GraveRobber stepped out of the bathroom holding onto the waistband of the dark brown sweatpants the girl had given to him with one hand, his dirty clothes under his other arm. He didn't bother putting on the white t-shirt that she gave to him; white wasn't exactly a good color for a grave robber, and white was never the man's color. A quick glance around the hallway, and no sign of Shilo.

'She probably left.'

'Doubtful.'

He walked to her bedroom and nudged open the door to see her standing on the balcony attached to her bedroom, looking toward the sky. Placing the clothes down on a chair nearby the bed, he kept a grip on the waist of the pants and walked over to her. "Anything interesting?" he asked as he stood beside her.

"Naming the stars and constellations." she whispered, wondering if Mag would've really joined her if she had the chance and if she would've enjoyed it.

"Like Cassiopeia? Perseus? Orion?" GraveRobber looked at the sky but out of the corner of his eye he noticed Shilo pivot her body towards him, one hand on the balcony's railing. She looked at him, questioningly. "You underestimate me too much." he turned his body towards her, his face looking down at hers.

She gasped a little. "You- You look..."

"Less intimidating? Scary? Normal? Maybe even slightly handsome?" he grinned as his eyes seemed to sparkle.

The girl blushed a little. "We'll go with scarily normal." her eyes locked with his.

The older man realized they were standing barefooted; toe-to-toe. He stared into her eyes with as much intensely as she stared into his.

'Do it.'

He leaned forward a little.

'Just do it.'

A little more and this made him able to feel her breath trembling against his face. He gripped the railing harder, using his free hand to brush away a strand of hair that fell in front of her brown eyes.

'She's only seventeen.'

He straightened his position and cleared his throat. "Let's go in. Maybe we can find something to eat."

Shilo nodded quickly and hurried inside. The feelings she had at the moment were quite new for her and she didn't know what to make of them. Her heart was beating so fast, it was almost dizzying. Her skin was burning again. Her stomach seemed to be tying itself in multiple knots. She left the bedroom and went downstairs.

GraveRobber let go of the railing and quickly grabbed onto the sweatpants before they crumpled around his ankles.

'That was pretty intense.' he grinned, walking inside and closing the door behind him.

He walked down the stairs and into the kitchen to find Shilo standing on a chair, arms lifted up, head buried in a cabinet. 'Must be looking for something.' his eyes wandered from her arms, to her back, to the ass cheeks that were peeking out from her nightgown.

'Instead of drooling over her ass, how about you help her?'

'In a few minutes. I'm enjoying the show.'

'Seventeen!'

'Which means I can look but can't touch.'

Shilo went to step back in the chair but misplaced her foot. She squeaked and started to fall.

The squeak brought the man out of his thoughts, and in a flash he was there to catch her in his arms.

The girl removed the hair from her eyes and smiled a little at him, shyly.

"Thanks."

Seeing the smile, he couldn't seem to fight the smile that grew on his lips. "Anytime." he replied, his voice almost tender; one he hadn't heard come from himself in a long time. He set her back down on the floor. "What are you looking for anyway?" he held back onto the waistband of the sweatpants.

"Food. Something more substantial that soup."

"Any luck?"

She shook her head.

"Soup it is, then."

The girl crossed her arms and huffed. "I hate soup."

GraveRobber walked over to the chair and moved it, then reached an arm up to grab a can of soup. "You'll get some food tomorrow..." he turned to face her, tossing the soup can up in the air and catching it again. "Got a pot?"

She nodded and pointed underneath the sink.

He turned on his heel, crouched down, opened the cabinet, and grabbed a pot.

"You make the soup, I'll go sit." he stood up and faced her. He raised an eyebrow when the girl didn't move after a few seconds. "Well...?"

"I-" the girl looked down and played with the hem of her nightgown.

"You... what?" his arms stretched out to hand her the pot and soup.

Her fingers continued to play with the hem of her gown. "I don't know how to cook." she kept her head down, and looked at her feet.

"Soup's one of the easiest things to make, Kid." he said as he walked over to the stove, placing the pot down on the burner and turned it on, opening the can when the burner was hot enough. He dumped the contents in the pot, found a spoon, and started stirring. "This is pretty much it."

She looked up. "That's it?"

He chuckled. "You've got a lot to learn."

"Will you teach me some things?" the words slipped ever so softly from her mouth, and she instantly regretted them. Her hands went over her mouth and she backed away slowly when she saw his gaze.

He blinked and when he looked at Shilo, his cobalt blue eyes were darker and lust-filled. 'Fuck yes! Take her now. Bend her over the kitchen table!' A seductively evil grin splashed across his face. "Things like what?" he purred.

She stopped walking backward, held her ground, and shrugged.

He chuckled again, shaking his head. "I need to teach you to use better words." he turned off the stove and removed the pot from the hot burner. "Bowls? Spoons?"

"Top left cabinet, and first drawer on the right."

He grabbed two bowls and poured the soup into them, giving the girl more than he gave himself.

They ate their soup in silence; their silence continued well after they were done. The only sound they heard was the tick-tock of the clock on the kitchen wall.

GraveRobber glanced over at Shilo, noticing her eyelids were half over her eyes. "Tired, Kid?"

Her eyes snapped open, looking fully alert but they told the man another story. "Nope. You?"

"C'mon, let's get you to bed." he stood up from his chair, waiting for her to get up from hers at the opposite end of the table.

"Don't wanna." she stood up, legs shaking slightly from sitting down so long.

She dragged her feet as she walked over to him.

They made their way up the stairs and into her bedroom.

"Why do you keep holding the pants?" she asked as she moved the plastic surrounding her bed off to the side so she could plop down on the mattress.

He looked down and tried to hide his smile. "They're a little big." he looked up, face as solid as stone. "Got anything smaller, by any chance?"

She shrugged. "Maybe. You're welcome to go look. Keep your hands to yourself."

He gave her half a smirk as he left the room.

The girl lay on her stomach, resting her head against her pillow, fighting to keep her eyes open. She needed sleep, but she couldn't handle the dreams that kept haunting her every night. She sighed and got off the bed, placing her wig on an empty wig stand. She crawled into the bed, getting into the same position she was in.

GraveRobber reentered the room, wearing another pair of sweatpants, hunter green in color, but was thankful that these had a string at the waist. He walked over to the bed to see Shilo's eyes still open. "Sleep." his voice was slightly commanding.

"I can't." she said simply.

"Well I can and want too. So go to bed so I can go crash."

She turned her head into the pillow and mumbled "No." she could feel her throat start to hurt, eyes starting to water, nose getting stuffy. She knew the man wasn't going to stay; and why would he? He had no reason to anymore. A single tear fell from her eye and onto her pillow. After tonight, she knew she was going to be alone.

He ran a hand through some of his hair. "Kid, if you need me..." he started to head for the door. "You'll know where to find me."

She could only nod as she heard him walk away.