"First thing's first", Graverobber told Shilo, "Zella needs to clean this damn place up, and then I need to go live up to my name. We're getting Zydrate tonight. Then we can go to your house if you really need." He agreed.
"Oh, thank you!" Shilo said, jumping up and hugging him again. The amount of physical affection Graves was getting lately that didn't involve sex was astonishing.
"That is, of course," Graves said, looking over her head at me, "If you can handle it, Zella. Getting the Zydrate, I mean."
"I'll be fine." I said sternly. One second kissing me on the counter, concerned for me, and the next playing this fucking game. I swear I don't understand this man at all. He winked at me and grabbed a burrito from the bag and dug in.

The rest of the day was relatively boring, after cleaning up some, it was mostly just Graverobber and I snapping at each other, Shilo, talking to each of us in turn, barely noticing our venomous attitudes toward one another. Half the time, it seemed to be a competition to see who could get Shilo to like us more. We'd be overly affectionate and "jokingly" put the other one down. It was insanely childish, something we both understood on some level, but more importantly was winning this girl affection. It was a few hours before nightfall when Shilo said she was going to take a little nap before we left. Graves offered her his bed again and to bed she went shutting the door behind her. Graves and I sat in silence for a little bit, just looking at each-other.
"What're you lookin' at?" I asked him, hands on my hips. He smirked,
"You know, you're pretty sexy when you're mad." He said with one of his smirks
"Is that why you've been pissing me off all day? Because you get some weird boner out of it?"
"That's exactly it." He whispered coming over to me, cupping my face with his hands, bringing my lips to his. It was tempting to kiss him back, but impossible to not push him away from me.
"What the fuck is wrong with you today?" I asked, "One second you're kissing me, the next you couldn't care less-" He came up to me and kissed me again, quickly and fiercely and said in a low voice, "Of course I care about you, Z." and he began biting my neck lightly and whispered into my ear,
"I'd do anything for you."
The misleadingly tender words were accompanied by a hand grabbing my rear. Part of me wanted to talk some more about why he had been acting the way he had, but something was telling me he wasn't much in the mood for talking. He bit my earlobe, a bit too hard and I responded with roughly grabbing his hair. He let out a low satisfied laugh, knowing he was going to get what he wanted and lifted me up so my legs were wrapped around his hips. He bit my lip, I scratched his back and it was hard to tell if we were about to fuck or kill each other.
He carried me into the kitchen, far enough away so that Shilo wouldn't be able to hear us in the bedroom. Against the counter, he hastily took my pants off, and I helped him undo his. He lifted my shirt off over my head with enough force that he could have just ripped it from my body and quickly took off his own, revealing his pale, muscular torso. He lifted me off the counter again and slammed me against the opposite kitchen wall, so I was suspended between that and his body. We seemed to be playing a game of trying to make the other make noise. He broke first and let a deep growl escape his lips as he entered me, though it was everything I could do to not moan myself.
"Control yourself." I whispered in his ear, and tugged on his hair again. He held onto me tightly, and took both of my wrists into one of his hands, holding them above my head and hissed "I have plenty of control." The words tickled my ear and I gave an involuntary shudder. We continued in this aggressive tangle of biting and scratching and thrusting, until we both finished, nearly collapsing on each other, euphorically out of breath.
"You're even better when you're not high." He commented as we collected our clothes from around the kitchen and pulled them on.
"I wish I could say the same." I teased, as if it wasn't amazing for me. He came over to me with only my pants and bra on, and kissed me hard on the mouth. He retreated quickly and I was left with my head stretched out, wanting more. He raised his eyebrows making a point that I had just a great of a time as he did. We finished getting dressed, and not a moment too soon. We had maybe a minute before Shilo came sleepily out of the room, rubbing her eyes. A tiny part of me wished she had walked in on us. Not to scar her or anything, but a selfish part of me wanted her to know that I came before her. Not in situational need, but in Graverobbers mind. This man who I could hardly stand most of the time, I wanted to claim him as mine for whatever reason.
"Well, look who's up." Graverobber greeted her. I smiled at Shilo as she stretched, waking herself up.
"That was a quick nap." I commented.
"Yeah, but that's all I needed. What happened to your hair?" she asked. I didn't even have time to make up an excuse before Graves quickly put me in a head lock attacked me with a noogie.
"This." He said as I tried hitting him away from me as Shilo laughed. He let me go and I hit him playfully on the arm.
"You guys are like brother and sister." Shilo said, still giggling while Graves and I forced ourselves not to gag. "Not quite" Graverobber muttered.
The three of us had a decent dinner without any arguments, save silly little banter that no one was actually angry during. It occurred to me that Graverobber truly could have been trying to piss me off earlier, in the hope that he'd end up having angry sex. Immature on his part, but who am I to judge? It was pretty amazing sex.
The time eventually came where we had to head out. Shilo once again gave up her wig to disguise herself. According to her, the Largos didn't know she wore a wig, and it'd be unlikely for her to shave her head. We figured she'd be pretty safe, once again looking like a young boy with Grave's clothes on. Shilo was right earlier in saying that there's a pretty good chance that Pavi wouldn't even be looking for me quite yet, that finding me now simply wouldn't be as much fun for him, but we all agreed I should take some extra percussion. Shilo offered to cut my hair with a pair of scissors found in Graverobbers kitchen. She told us that all those years being locked in her room, she had some experience styling different wigs she had in her room. I agreed, doubting this would make a giant difference at all, but I'd be slightly less recognizable and that just might help me. And I could use any help I could get.
It was just a few minutes that Shilo worked and I saw long locks of my hair fall to the ground. Far too much hair.
"Done!" She announced proudly. I reached up to touch the hair that didn't even reach my shoulders anymore. It felt incredibly short and uneven. "Go take a look!" Shilo said and pointed to the bathroom. I walked there, not sure I wanted to see what had become of my hair. I had never worn it short and though it shouldn't be a big deal, I couldn't help worrying more about this than the lunatic that has it in for me right now.
"Wow, not too bad!" I said, genuinely surprised, looking in the mirror. It was shaggy so that it had a sort of rock-star quality to it. My bangs were long enough to come over my eyes, but easy enough to sweep away. The back was different lengths and very playful looking. The unevenness I felt were dramatic layers and I wandered what other talents a girl locked in her room for seventeen years could have. I shook my head around, getting used to the new light weight of it.

"Seriously, Shilo, you could do this for a living one day!" I complimented her. She beamed with pride, "Go show Graverobber!" She said. Graves had been in the living room, uninterested in the whole ordeal, he just wanted to go to work. I walked in on him, sitting on the couch staring up at the ceiling.
"Whatddya think?" I asked him, caring a little too much about what he might think of it.
"That we should have left by now." He responded. He looked from the ceiling to me, and raised his eyebrows without a word.
"Doesn't she look pretty though?" Shilo asked, pleased with herself. Graves stood up and gave it only a moments look.
"Yeah, it'll do. Now lets go, shall we?" He said carelessly. I expected as much, but the reaction was still a little disappointing. Graverobber held the door open, gesturing Shilo and I out first. Shilo led and Graverobber whispered in my ear right behind me,
"It looks very sexy.", with a quick squeeze of my ass. I winked at him, entirely forgetting about how angry I was with him earlier. True, Graverobber pissed me off plenty, but never without making up for it. No, not just in sex, but he was putting his own life in danger helping me, and I couldn't ignore that. He could have Shilo or I turned in at any second, and the kind of money that is probably offered for either of us is most likely something most people wouldn't turn down.

We traveled the same way we did when I got Pavi's letter; Shilo and I leading with Graverobber keeping a watchful eye from a small distance behind. I tried to appear calm, but I couldn't help keeping a lookout for Pavi hiding somewhere. I wondered if he was actually going to catch me himself, though that hardly seems likely. He mentioned he wasn't going to use a Repoman. Maybe a GeneCop? Odds are, he was going to try to lure me somewhere. Unless he was lying about using a Repo-man but something told me he would be playing by the rules he set.
We arrived after a few minutes to the graveyard. Unsurprisingly, no one paid much attention to us on the walk there and the graveyard was entirely empty aside from the three of us. Regardless, I couldn't shake the feeling someone was watching us. My anxiety was building and I could feel the yearning for Zydrate beginning to grow.
"Ready, gang?" Graverobber said, putting one arm around Shilo's shoulders, one around my own. Shilo took a deep breath and nodded, nervous, but willing and I said nothing. "You gonna be okay?" he asked me, with a small squeeze of my shoulder.
"Yeah, fine. Let's do this shit." I said with a smile. I bounced on the balls of my feet, wanting to get rid of this anxiety and extra energy. Graves laughed and instructed us on how we were to help.
"Tombs are your best bet, not actual graves, and look for older ones if you can, the cement holding it together is usually a bit looser or cracked. If you find one that seems promising, let me know. From there, if you want, I can show you ladies how to extract the Zydrate. Got it?" Graverobber was excited, totally in his element. He did enjoy his job, the rush of the illegality of it, the lack of people- well, lack of living people anyway. The idea of the whole thing was terrifying, taking a drug from a dead body. The worst part was knowing that I would do anything to inject it into myself. I was suppressing my symptoms as best I could, I tried to keep my hands still, or stuff them into my pockets, but I knew that Graves was right saying that my attacks were only going to get worse. I wondered how much more I'd be able to take before I snapped. Shilo and I walked from tomb to tomb, weakly and awkwardly testing their strength while Graves mocked us, "Put your backs into it! My grandmother could do a better job if she weren't in here herself!" he laughed at his own jokes while following us around, not actually doing any tomb-testing himself, he was mostly here for criticism. Eventually, I pushed on the top of a one and it budged a little bit.
"Found one" I said, surprisingly proud of myself. Graverobber came over, Shilo folliwng behind and he shoved the cover right off.
"Not bad, Z." Graverobber said, and he looked into the grave. With a grunt, he lifted the body up and onto the ground. A full grown, once blonde woman, face distorted from decay, her skin rotting and drained of color. Her blue dress was being eaten away like the rest of her by worms and maggots. Shilo was staring at the body, unblinkingly and I suppressed the urge to throw up. "Not bad at all, she's pretty young and hasn't been dead more than a few months." Graves analyzed her and took out his tools. He took out a giant syringe, with an empty vial.
"Now, students, gather 'round." He said, "Zydrate, as some of you may know, is a drug that comes from the human brain. The frontal lobe is the best place to start, but depending on the amount of decay of the body, you can sometimes collect from a few other angles. Because of the cartilage and soft tissue, the nose is the best place to insert the syringe. With a steady hand, you simply smack it straight and true, aiming for the brain." Graves did just that, positioning the needle and shoving it straight through the dead woman's skull. Shilo and I both gasped in shock. I was half expecting the woman to jump up screaming, but that's something dead people just can't do. The little glass vial filled quickly with the blue glow, and Graves swiftly switched it with another vial.
"Reduce, reuse, recycle." He chuckled "See, she's been dead long enough to produce a lot of Z, but not so long that it's deteriorated or spoiled. Also, as you can see, this glow is particularly bright, which meant that she was probably a Zydrate addict herself." I wished he would stop talking. That could be me one day, decomposing and nothing more than a sweetspot for a graverobber to collect a drug to give to a living addict. That thought alone should be good enough to kick me of my habit, but I had never wanted to escape more. I could have ripped one of the vials from Graverobber and injected it myself right now. I clenched my fists and watched him fill up several more vials. He was able to collect 16 in total.
"Thanks, Zella. You're a real natural, she was a goldmine." He said with a smile and pat on the shoulder after organizing his supplies and securing the Z in his coat where it would be impossible for me to get it without fighting him for it. Which I was trying to not do.
It was only a few minutes more before Graves found his next victim, a larger man who had died a little earlier than the last woman. His glow was slightly duller indicating he wasn't an addict. Those were the cheaper drug, Graverobber told us, the most expensive would come from a Zydrate addict who had used Zydrate that came from someone who used Zydrate and so on. Reduce reuse and recycle, indeed.
With a total of 25 vials, Graves was willing to call it a night. Shilo barely said a word the entire time we were there. I wasn't too chatty myself, but it must of occurred to Graves at one point that that may have been a bit traumatizing. On the journey to Shilos home, the two of them walked ahead of me who trailed a little behind. His arm lay around her shoulders and he spoke to her chattily. She must be nervous, going back to her home, and I was too focused on how cold and jittery I was feeling to even begin to feel jealous when his arm moved from her shoulder to her waist. My arms were crossed and held tight to my body when we came to yet another tomb. This one was enormous and elaborate. Beautiful, but haunting.

Surprisingly the door opened easily when Shilo pulled it open. The three of us went inside and were greeted with a large slab reading the name 'Marni Wallace' with her dates of birth and death. There was also and etching of her image. Beautiful and young with dark hair and large round eyes, identical to Shilos. Above the tomb was a portrait of her as well. She seemed to look right through me with a small smile playing on her lips.
"The tunnels that lead to the house are dangerous with chemicals. I usually have a gas mask, but if we move quickly and don't breathe too much, we should be okay." Shilo said without emotion. She didn't even look at the tomb, "Stay close." She instructed. The portrait of Shilos mother swung open to reveal a large tunnel with torches that lit at the pictures opening. We moved quickly and holding our breaths as much as possible as Shilo instructed. The tunnel broke into several passages along the way. There was an extremely specific path to take that Shilo knew by heart. It was a several minute journey until we reached a door that opened to a large and beautiful foyer with a fireplace and an enormous holographic picture of Marni. Hot from the half-jog here, Graves left his coat on the bottom of the banaster of a grand staircase that led upstairs. Shilo moved up the stairs automatically without a word.
More than just my Z withdrawal, the house had an eerie chill to it. The hallways leading to Shilos bedroom were lined with more holographic pictures of her mother. It was incredibly intimidating having this dead woman stare straight ahead of her with an expression of someone who knew you were up to something but was keeping that to herself. Graves shot me a look over his shoulder that told me he was just as weirded out as I was by this whole thing. And that was coming from a man who just took drugs from someone's brain.
Shilos room was large, filled with an array of different things. Upwards of ten wigs (the ones she must have used practicing hairstyles), a piano, a bed, a menagerie of stuffed animals, several dressers, a skeleton, a very impressive bug collection and, unsurprisingly, another picture of her mother. The only thing Shilo payed any attention to was the moment she spent looking at a Blind Mag poster.
"Well," Shilo said, turning to Graves and myself, "You guys are free to make yourselves comfortable. Zella, if you want to pick out some clothes, help yourself." I was terribly uncomfortable with taking clothes from Shilo. I think part of me was worried the picture of her mother would yell at me. She picked up on my lack of reaction and smiled,
"Can I help you pick some stuff out?" She offered. I nodded gratefully. What I really wanted to do was run downstairs and take the Z from Graverobbers coat, but I forced myself to stay in the room. I could feel myself start to sweat even though I was getting colder, but I made my best effort to ignore it. Graves decided to go for a stroll around the house while Shilo and I did "girl things".

Shilos wardrobe was relatively simple. Mostly conservative dresses, skirts and leggings and almost entirely black and white. She gave me several pairs of pants, a few tops and two dresses. Her skirts, which weren't terribly modest on her, hardly covered me at all, me being a few inches taller than her. We had some fun playing dress up, and she was holding up surprisingly well considering she was back in her room where she was trapped all of her life. She was certainly holding up better than I was. After a few minutes, I suggested finding Graves and to my relief, Shilo opted to stay in her room for a little while more. I made a beeline for the bottom of the staircase where Graverobbers coat hung, filled with everything I needed to get my Zydrate fix.