Chapter 11

Shilo waited, but it never came. Just as the man was about to rip away the last of Shilo's innocence, he was wrenched backwards by the shirt collar. Shilo peeked fearfully from beneath her lashes to see Graverobber swing the man that had accosted her into the wall opposite where she now stood disheveled and sobbing. Shilo quickly regained enough control of her wits to pull her tattered shirt closed and sink to the ground. She sat there with her knees drawn to her chest and continued to weep.

*********

Graverobber was furious. He found it hard to control his temper as he alternated between slamming the man's skull into the wall and bloodying his face with his fist. He'd caught him by such surprise that the man hadn't even had a chance to put up a fight. He grabbed at Graverobber's coat without much luck as Graverobber pulled him back again and landed a punch to his jaw, splitting his lip and causing a thin line of bloody spittle to drip from the corner of his mouth. Graverobber pushed him away in disgust. The man stumbled back and fell to the ground. Graverobber gave him a few swift kicks to the stomach and ribs. He could feel bones crunch as they met with the steel toe of his boots,but Graverobber didn't much care. The man was lying at his feet, curled in the fetal position, barely conscious. Graverobber gave him one last hard kick to the groin.

Shilo's would be attacker drew his knees up to his chest and lay motionless. His face was a mask of agony and he could only whimper as blood seeped from the gashes in his scalp and face. Graverobber nudged him with the toe of his boot and he rolled onto his back. He stepped on the man's throat causing him to gag and grab at the boot crushing his windpipe. Graverobber looked down at the man beneath his foot. "You're lucky I don't put you out of your misery you waste of fucking sperm. Don't fuck with whats mine." He gave the man one last sharp kick in the side and left him sputtering and coughing up blood as he went to check on Shilo.

She was holding her shirt closed and sobbing. He crouched beside her tiny terrified form and lifted her chin up to look her over quickly. She blinked the tears away and looked at him briefly before throwing herself at him and wrapping her arms around his neck. As gently as he could, he pried her arms from his neck and pulled the coat off his back and wrapped her tightly in it. He'd wanted to see her in the underwear he'd picked out for her, but not under these circumstances. He lifted her up in his arms and carried her out of the alley.

She sniffled and stopped him as he started toward home, pointing to the bags of toppled groceries on the sidewalk. Without argument, Graverobber set her down as he gathered the spilled items back into their plastic sacks and hung them over his arm before picking her back up and carrying her home.

He was quiet as he held her close to him and walked her home as fast as he could. He didn't like letting his anger show, he liked it even less when Shilo was there to witness it, but what he'd done had been well beyond justified. Graverobber had never considered himself to be a particularly good man, but he'd prided himself on being a moral man. There were levels that even he wouldn't stoop to. Murder and rape were at the top of his list. He'd seduced his share of women, mostly young girls aching for glow that still had enough of a head on their shoulders to be hesitant about selling their bodies for a fix. In the end though, it had always been their choice. They either walked or gave themselves over, but not once had he ever backed a woman into a corner and given her no choice in the matter. Right now he wished that his conscience would have allowed him to finish the poor excuse for a human being that he'd left writhing on the ground behind them. Still, even if he could, he didn't think he could do it with Shilo watching. She'd had enough of seeing men turn into murderers. The last thing he wanted to do was show her that he was no different. He knew in his heart that he was. He was no murderer, and he hoped that Shilo could see that.

He set the bags on the dining room table and brought Shilo up to her room and laid her out carefully on the bed. Her sobs had subsided and she'd calmed down considerably. He brushed a few disheveled strands of hair from her face and looked into her eyes. He found it difficult to voice the words he knew he had to ask. "Are you ok Shilo? Did he..." Graverobber's voice trailed off and he broke eye contact. The words stuck in his throat. He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer. He cared about her; he hadn't felt that way about anyone in a long time. To him she was purity and innocence and natural and he secretly hoped that nothing had happened to mar that. It was selfish, and had an air of perverseness about it, but if anyone were to spoil the purity of something he loved so much, he wanted it to be him.

He swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "Did he touch you? Was I too late?" Shilo sniffled again and shook her head. Graverobber breathed a sigh of relief and silently thanked whatever deities that might still exist in this godsforsaken world for that small favor. He held her close and stroked her hair. "You scared me to death."

Shilo gave him an apologetic look. "I'm really sorry Graverobber. How did you find me?"

"I got worried when I saw that you were gone so I went looking for you. I figured maybe coming back was too much for you and you went fer a walk ta clear your head." His tone became sterner. "It was pure luck that I found you kid. Don't scare me like that again. I don't want you leaving without me, no matter what, promise me."

"I'm sorry Graverobber," she apologized. "I promise I won't. It's just, you've done so much for me that I just wanted to do something for you. I was just going to get some food at the store and come back and make you breakfast."

Graverobber smiled. "Thanks kid, but you don't gotta do anythin' special fer me." The tension had begun to ease rather quickly and for that he was thankful. He took a good look at her, glad that he'd shown up in time. His coat was twisted on her frame and her torn blouse hung open revealing far more than was appropriate at a time like this. He ignored the ache that sprung up inside him at the sight of it and he shifted the coat to cover her. "Why don't you take a nice hot bath and I'll see if I can salvage breakfast?" He smiled and Shilo smiled shyly back. In truth, she'd feel a lot better after she washed the feeling of that creeps hands from her body.

Graverobber disappeared into the bathroom. Shilo could hear the water splash into the tub as he turned the faucet on. She'd started to get up and slipped out of his coat as she stood. A wave of shame and disgust washed over her as she looked down and remembered her torn shirt. Her face flushed and she held the loose fabric together covering the mostly bare flesh beneath. Graverobber walked back into the room as Shilo tried to steady herself. It was no easy feat. Her arms and legs still shook from her earlier shock. Graverobber scooped her up in his arms and carried her into the bathroom.

He set her down on the edge of the tub and lifted her chin til she looked him in the eyes. She wanted to avoid his gaze. She felt dirty and undeserving of his kindness. Deep down she knew that nothing that had happened had been her fault and that Graverobber wasn't disgusted with her as she was with herself. Still, her gaze was unfocused and her mind far away. "You can trust me kid, okay? I'm not gonna do anything to you that you don't want me to, that's not the kinda man I am. I need ya ta believe that. Do you trust me?" Shilo nodded shyly.

Graverobber took her nod of approval and gave her a quick hug. He pulled off her boots and stockings and set them aside before sliding the remnants of her shirt from her shoulders; she shuddered beneath his touch. He threw the tattered cream colored rag in the waste bin and looked over her briefly. There were the beginnings of bruises on her arms. He traced a calloused thumb gently over them wondering to himself if they were from today or last night. He could see the beginnings of self hatred flicker to life in eyes. He swallowed hard and kissed her forehead as he unclasped her bra and slipped it off. His body screamed at him to look at her, feel her, love her, but he overrode his baser instincts and kept his attention focused on her face. Without even realizing it, she brought her arms up to cover herself.

Graverobber stood up and took her by the hand, pulling her gently to her feet, ever ready to catch her should she fall. Satisfied that she wasn't going to collapse, he unzipped the tiny skirt that he now cursed himself for picking out and let it slide to the floor. There were more small bruises on her thighs, just the size of a man's fingertips. He bit the inside of his cheek as he slid her panties to the floor while returning his gaze to her face. Her cheeks were flushed pink with embarrassment. Though he'd told her that she could trust him, he could still see a hint of distrust in her eyes. He lifted her up and set her gently into the warm water. He gave her a final quick once over. "Take your time, come down when you're ready. I'll see what I can do about breakfast." He started to leave. "And kid," she looked up at him, "you're still beautiful, still perfect. Don't let what happened today make you feel any diff'rent." With that he pulled the door closed and left her.

Shilo sank down into the water and let it soothe her nerves. She tried closing her eyes and relaxing, but flashes of the attack played themselves over and over in her mind. She thought of Graverobber. He'd had her at her most vulnerable. She'd stood before him just now naked and ashamed and he hadn't made a single move on her, not that that'd disappointed her. In actuality it had helped cement her trust in him. Much to her surprise, she found herself thinking about the attack but, instead of the strange mans rough touch, she imagined Graverobber's gentle hands caressing her, soothing her. She felt the tension ebb as she scrubbed the traumatic event away.

**************

Graverobber pulled on his shirt before going downstairs to dig through the bags of groceries to see what Shilo'd gotten. He pulled out the carton of eggs and inspected them. Luckily the fall hadn't done as much damage as he would've thought. There were five with cracked shells, but he could salvage them. The bread was slightly squashed, and he was pretty sure that at least some of the cookies had been reduced to crumbs, but overall, the food had remained intact... just like her. He clenched his jaw at the thought.

He rummaged through the cupboards until he found a couple of frying pans, some plates, and a bowl. He put them on the counter and sifted through a couple of drawers. He found the silverware and plucked out three forks. A spoon, and a couple of knives. He set two of the plates on opposite sides of the small kitchen table and arranged forks and knives beside them.

He placed the larger of the two frying pans on the stove and turned the burner on medium. While the pan warmed up he used the knife to open up the bacon, he paused, turkey bacon. Leave it to a shut-in to grab possibly the worst impostor to the food world since tofu, he snickered to himself. He forked the bacon into the pan before dropping in a fair amount of breakfast sausage in as well. He let the meat sizzle until it was well browned and beginning to crisp before he put on the smaller pan and heated it while cracking open the already damaged eggs into a bowl and adding some milk before beating the mixture. He was about to pour the eggs into the pan when he remembered the cheese in the fridge. He pulled out the bag of shredded cheese and looked it over. As far as he could tell it wasn't moldy and it tasted just fine to him so he added a few handfuls before dumping the eggs in the pan and scrambling them with the spoon.

He prodded the sausages and flipped the bacon, not entirely sure what fried turkey was supposed to look like, before being satisfied that it was done and forking it onto a plate. It wasn't long before the eggs were done too and he turned off the stove and moved the pan to a cold burner. He scooped a pile onto his plate and added a few links of sausage and a couple strips of the impostor bacon and sat down to eat. He lifted a forkful of eggs halfway to his mouth when he fixated on the squat three arm candelabra in the center of the table.

He set his fork down and headed back to Shilo's room. He peeked cautiously in, making sure that she was still in the tub or at the very least not in the middle of getting dressed. When he didn't see her he walked to the bed where she'd slipped off his coat. He dug through an inner pocket and fished out a lighter. He stuck it into the pocket of his pants and went over to the bathroom door. He knocked softly.

Shilo looked up at the sound of a knock. She expected to see Graverobber stick his head in the room, but he didn't. "You okay?" His voice was quiet and muffled by the door, but he'd been loud enough for her to hear.

"I'm fine," she called out. And honestly, she was. It was comforting to her that he was giving her some space and privacy. She knew that everything he'd done up to this point had been his way of being a gentleman, letting her take her time.

"Just thought I'd check in on you," he replied. "I got some food ready if yer hungy. 'Sokay if yer not though, take yer time kid. I can always fix ya up somethin' later. I'll be downstairs if ya need me." He didn't wait for her to reply, just went back to the kitchen.

Shilo leaned her head back on the rim of the tub. Her stomach was beginning to ache and she didn't feel as filthy as she had when Graverobber had first lowered her into the steaming water. Besides, the water had begun to cool off. She took a deep breath, she was still a little rattled, but it was time to towel off and get on with her life. She'd made a mistake and it had nearly cost her, but she had learned from the experience. It wouldn't happen again, she'd make sure of that. She'd stick close to Graverobber, carry her own protection if she needed to, and she'd be less naive about the dangers of the world next time. She smiled inwardly. Really, she thought, you'd think I'd already know better by now. She pulled on a knee length petti-skirt, a black button up blouse, and tights and went downstairs to eat. As she stepped into the kitchen she was surprised by what she saw.

Graverobber sat at the small kitchen table with a brightly lit candelabra in the middle of it. He paused, fork halfway to his mouth, when he saw her framed in the entryway. Setting aside his fork, he stood up to greet her. He took her by the hand and led her to the seat opposite his. He pulled out her chair and bowed slightly. She sat down and he edged her toward the table and fixed her a plate of food. He set the plate in front of her and swept the candelabra to the side so that he could have an unobstructed view of her before sitting back down and continuing the meal.

Shilo ate slowly. Taking a bite of the bacon, she made an amusingly funny face. Graverobber couldn't help but let out a low chuckle. Shilo, quietly pushed the crisp strips to the side of her plate. "What's the matter kid, dontcha like it?"

The look on her face said I've been found out. "Wha- no. Everything's great. I didn't know you knew how to cook."

She tried to skate around the question, but he was onto her. "A man learns a thing or two about how to feed himself when he's on his own, well, if he wants to eat decently at least once in a while anyway. But ya can't hide yer feelings from me kid. You don't like like it do you?"

"Honestly I do... just not that," she said pointing to the bacon.

"I don't blame ya kid. Bacon's sposed ta come from pigs, not turkey's." He plucked the shriveled

strips of her plate and munched on them. He swallowed, "still, living on the street you learn to appreciate almost anything." He smiled at her and they continued their meal in peace.

It was... almost... romantic, Shilo reflected. It didn't take long for Graverobber to finish and he began to load the empty dishes into the sink and wash them. Shilo brought her empty plate and silverware over to the sink and dropped them in. She attempted to take the sponge from Graverobber, but he wouldn't let her. "Go lie down, read a book, whatever you want. I'll take care of things here."

Shilo was a bit disappointed but did as she was told. She slunk away to her bedroom and picked a book from one of her shelves and sat on the bed to read. The book was one of her favorites, well worn and well read. The gilded lettering on the worn leather binding could just be made out, The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe. It wasn't long before she heard footsteps on the stairs and her door creaked open just enough for Graverobber to poke his head through. Shilo closed the book, keeping her finger between the pages to keep from losing her place.

Graverobber let himself in and glanced at the book in her hand. "I dwelt alone in a world of moan, And my soul was a stagnant tide, Till the fair and gentle Eulalie became my blushing bride," he recited.

Shilo looked shocked. "You know Poe?" The question was filled with a pleasant curiosity.

"Not everyone in this godsforsaken city is obsessed with genetic perfection, my dear. Some people, even the lowliest street urchin and the self professed god of glow, are still cultured enough to enjoy the classics. It's refreshing to actually meet someone else with some class and a mind." Shilo felt her cheeks grow warm, but Graverobber seemed not to notice.

Shilo contemplated him for a minute, studying him in a way she hadn't before; curious to know what other secrets she had yet to discover. "What else do you like?" She asked curiously.

He ran his fingers over the books on one of her shelves and inspected the beetles and butterflies in their glass tombs. "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages." he tossed a sly smile her way.

"As You Like It." She said

Graverobber raised an eyebrow. "Girl knows her Shakespeare," he said aloud to no one in particular. He thought for a moment. "Surgeons must be very careful when they take the knife! Underneath their fine incisions stirs the culprit,- life!"

Shilo wrinkled her brow in thought and soon gave up. "I've never heard that one before, who is it?"

Graverobber grinned, happy to have stumped her. "Emily Dickenson. I'm surprised you've never read her before, I think you'd like her." He wandered over to Shilo and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Alright kid," he said tenderly, "I gotta go out tonight. We don't exactly have a whole lotta food and the funds are runnin low from last night." Most of that statement was true. But what only Graverobber knew was that they had plenty of money. You didn't live like a pauper when you were the Zydrate King and not have at least a little money. Still, it didn't matter much if there was money or not. He'd grown used to a certain lifestyle and no matter what his feelings for Shilo were, he had to stay true to himself. He had to go out; he had to walk that line between right and wrong. It wouldn't work to try and force himself to be a "family man" so to speak. He would never be accustomed to living the life that Shilo was used to; a life with a home and family and the feeling that you're safe. Even though he understood that they could never have a conventional life, he could no longer deny the twisted romance that was brewing. He'd stopped accepting sex as payment and he'd grown used holding Shilo in his arms when she thought he was asleep. She was the poison in the well of his mind, but he couldn't pull away from her even if she was going to be his downfall.

Shilo attempted to protest but Graverobber pressed a finger to her lips and silenced her. "Shhhhh. I have to go. You know how it works. I can't stay cooped up in here, it won't work. It didn't for you now did it?" Shilo's face fell and she shook her head in sullen acknowledgement. "I'll be back soon. He reached for the coat next to Shilo on the bed and extracted a folding knife from it's pocket. "I want you to lock up when I leave. I don't wanna have to worry about you. Take this," he said thrusting the knife into her hand, "I hope you don't have to use it, but I expect you to if anything else happens, okay?" Shilo nodded. Graverobber smiled again. A smile that, at face value, said we'll be fine don't worry, I'll protect you; at the same time, hidden, asked how did I ever get in this deep, I'm in over my head.

With that, Graverobber stepped into the bath room and made quick work of applying his face paint before heading downstairs. Shilo followed him. She tried to get him to take the tunnels to her mother's tomb, but he was adamant that he wouldn't be noticed even if he left out the front door. Shilo relented and closed the door behind him. The key clicked loudly in the lock against the backdrop of silence that enveloped the house. She pulled aside a curtain to watch Graverobber disappear down the walkway, but he was already gone.