Author's Note: Here's the first chapter! I don't know how well the prologue played out for anyone since I'm putting this up right after it, but I hope you're enjoying it so far. Who ever you are.

Chapter 1: We All Have A Job

I was somewhat grateful how slow deliveries were going today as I took the opportunity to step outside and light up a cigarette. The wonderful smoke floated downwards to fill my lungs and I tilted my head back, enjoying the small break I was given. You don't get a whole lot of those when you're a courier these days. It's always running around and worrying about being on time. People get pissed even if you're late by only a couple of minutes and it's not even your fault.

"When did you start smoking?" The voice came from my right. I payed my visitor a small glance before shrugging.

"Recently."

He chuckled as he came closer but not too close, I'm pretty sure he knew I was still a little peeved with him.

"That stuff will kill you, you know."

I could practically hear the smirk in his voice, and I couldn't help but chuckle. Damn him for always setting me into a good mood. "You're one to talk; being a dealer and whatnot," I smiled over at the friendly neighborhood GraveRobber as he grinned in return.

"Speaking of which, interested? I'd share only the best with you," and that's when he risked stepping closer to me, attempting to turn on the charm as he pulled out a vile of that glowing blue poison. Its too bad it doesn't work like that with me and he bloody well knew it.

"Bullshit, I bet you say that to all the girls," My smile had vanished at that point as I flicked the useless butt of the spent cigarette to the ground, "…and again, no thanks. I'm not interested in that shit anymore. You know that."

His smirk didn't leave his cheeky little face as he gave a surrender shrug, tucking the Zydrate back into his coat. "Can't say I don't try. Anyhow, you off for the night?" His grin turned mischievous as his lips pulled apart to show his teeth. The closer he got, the more I could smell that musky scent that always followed him around.

But I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a bit attractive.

As tempting as the unspoken offer was, I wasn't about to give in and be another one of his fuck buddies. God knows he has miss Amber Sweet for that and I really didn't want to dip my toe into that pot of crazy.

Before I could come up with some slick response, my boss poked his head out and tossed me a clipboard and a good sized package. Taking the items, I flashed Graverobber a smile and started past him, leaving him with a simple "nope," before climbing onto my bike and taking off.

I couldn't help but wonder if all the offers Graverobber sent my way were just his way of teasing me. We were friends- well, kind of. We talked and would get drunk together sometimes. And I might have bought a few hits of Zydrate off of him back when I was younger. Really though, who hasn't tried that drug at least once? But anyway, I don't think you can consider someone an actual friend if you knew next to nothing about them, including their name. I wasn't interested enough to pry either way. Let him have his secrets.

I usually could tell when a guy was hitting on me. Graverobber, though? Grave was different. He just seemed like the flirtatious type, enjoyed hitting on women to entertain himself. Or maybe he had a fat ego thanks to Zydrate junkies willing to roll in the hay with him for a fix. The thought of it disgusted me. Not so much the women themselves but being so fully captured by a drug that you were willing to use your body just for a small hit. That was one of the reasons I quit before I seriously got hooked on the stuff.

I didn't even realized that I was parked next to my drop off until a passing car honked, for whatever reason, and startled me out of my thoughts. I jumped slight and inwardly scowled at the laughter and hoots as the car continued down the street.

A city full of assholes was what this place was.

I kicked up the bike stand and without removing my helmet and goggles, I walked around the large house- or rather, damn, the boarder line mansion, and stopped outside the front gate. Was I suppose to find my own way in? Before I could seriously consider just hopping the damn thing, a guy came out the front door and walked up to meet me on the other side. Well wasn't he a dapper man. I had to admire his detailed black vest and matching black slacks with a neatly tucked in white shirt as he signed for the package.

He cleared his throat as he pushed up his glasses and passed the clipboard back to me through the bars. I found the whole transaction to be a little odd and couldn't help but wonder if I looked so threatening that he couldn't just open the gate and do this like a normal human being. But then again, with the world we lived on, I couldn't blame him for being weary of strangers. I myself kept a switchblade in my back pocket nearly at all times ever since- ...yeah.

I gave the paper a once over before smiling, "Alright, that 'otta do it, Mr.- …Wallace. It was a pleasure doing business with you."

He gave a curt nod and turned away with a quick "you too" before he was gone once again, disappearing back into the darkness of his house.

"Alright, then. Rude." I huffed, returning to my bike on the side of the house.

I had mounted the machine and was ready to leave when I heard a high pitched screech and the sound of something breaking. Even with the constant death around me, screaming still startled me. My eyes were drawn to a high window of the very house I had just stopped at. My brain then decided to whip up a worst case scenario. The image of that guy unwrapping some kind of online purchased torture device to use on some poor woman popped up in my head. The thought made me shiver in a way that made me worry for myself rather than whoever screamed.

I began to chew on my bottom lip, wondering if I should do something, or pretend like I didn't just hear any of that, when something came sailing out the window and landed in the bushes below.

I held my breath.

"Pssst-!" The noise caught my attention as I looked back up at the window. A girl stared right back at me, a look of embarrassment and anger pulling on her pretty features. Her cheeks were a shade of pink in contrast to the rest of her pale skin. She cleared her throat, glancing back into her room before waving me closer.

Curious, I took off my helmet and stepped off my bike to walk back up to the tall fence that lined the whole house.

"Hey," I greeted and held back the urge to laugh at her look of surprise. Was she shocked that I was the one to greet her?

"Hi…" She responded, dumbfounded after a moment of just staring at me. Did I look weird or something?

"Can I help you with something?" I couldn't hold back my smile at her deer-in-the-headlights stare. It was kind of adorable.

"Oh! Yeah- can you, can you get that for me? I didn't mean to throw it out the window."

She pointed down at the bushes and I followed her line of sight, standing on the tips of my toes to see what she was pointing at. A doll lay entangled in the bush, its delicate looking hair spider webbed through thorns, but otherwise looked to be in good condition.

"Sure, give me a second," I grabbed onto the bars of the fence before heaving myself over with little effort. I heard the girl give a small gasp at the feat and I couldn't help but let my ego eat it up. I plucked the doll from its landing spot and picked the twigs from its hair.

"So, what? You want me to throw it up?" I called, which oddly made her cringe and glance over her shoulder before looking back down at me and nodded with a quiet "yes please".

I gave the toy a toss, which wasn't high enough the first time. The second throw was the right height but she missed completely, nearly falling out the window in the process and just about scared the shit out of me. After the third throw was another failure, I grew irritated.

"Alright, screw this. I'm just going to hand it to you."

As she uttered out a confused "what?", I grabbed onto the side of the house, finding different spots that would support me, and quickly climbed up the wall. I pulled myself up to her window sill just as she staggered back, a look of shock now plastered to her face.

I huffed and held the doll out to her, which I had tucked into my satchel on my way up. She stood there, just staring at me. I gave the doll a little shake when she didn't take it from me right away, "Uh, you still want it right?"

She snapped out of whatever trance she had been in and cautiously took the toy back, as if afraid to touch me.

"You alright, kid?" I attempted a laugh, starting to feel somewhat uncomfortable under her intense stare.

"Yeah….I mean- yes. Thank you, Ma'am," This made me smile, "how did you do that?"

Swinging one leg in, I straddled the window and leaned back on it, "believe it or not, I used to be apart of a circus,"

Her mouth opened into a 'o' shape in amazement as she held her doll to her chest. She couldn't be any older than fifteen but she acted like a bright eyed five year old.

"By the way, why were you tossing that thing around?"

She looked down at the doll before that embarrassed blush came back to her cheeks. "My daddy- I mean, my dad and I got into another fight and I got kind of angry…"

"So you threw a hissy fit," My grin only grew at the glare she shot me.

"No! You just don't know what its like living with him sometimes. He doesn't get that I'm not a little kid anymore." She sighed, looking a lot like a little kid to me as she twirled her doll's hair between her fingers.

"Well, I would count my blessings if I were you. You have a parent that's taking care of you and a pretty snazzy roof over your head. A lot of people don't have that."

A twinkle of guilt appeared in her eyes and she stared down at her feet. Aw shit, that wasn't really what I was going for with that little speech. But before I could explain further, both of us looked at the door as its handle began to jiggle, the sound of keys jingling just on the other side. She looked back at me in a panic and frantically whispered "hide!" as she waved her arms at me. I ducked back out the window just as her bed room door opened.

I heard the voice of a man, the one I had spoken to at the gate, who was no doubt her father. Even though he only spoke a couple of words to me, his voice sounded completely different. It was softer, much more caring like a father's voice should sound. It was like a wall had come down.

"Shilo, honey, I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to yell at you like that. You just need to understand that- why is your window open?" His tone suddenly changed as worry and a hint of anger came out.

"I, uh, just wanted some fresh air, Daddy" Shilo quickly answered and followed it up with a nervous giggle.

"Well why aren't you wearing your mask?" Footsteps came up to the window. Again I held my breath, wondering if he could see me just below, but then I heard a click as the window closed and I let out a relieved sigh. That could have been awkward. Their voices were kind of muffled now but I could still hear the conversation…

Why didn't I just leave at that point?

"Its not a big deal, Daddy." Shilo insisted but her father wouldn't have any of it. Their voices grew more quiet as they moved away from the window, seemingly the father won the small argument. I heard him talk some more before telling her to take some kind of medication. There was a long pause before the window opened back up and I saw the girl's face peek out in search for me.

I popped up, frightening her before quietly chuckling to myself. I saw past her glare at the smile in her eyes before she gave up and laughed too.

"So you take medication, huh? You sick?"

Shilo noticeably flinched at the comment so I quickly changed the subject before it made her uncomfortable.

"Well, I have to get going. I'll see you around, Shilo."

She panicked slightly as I started slipping back out the window once again. "Wait!" She loudly whispered, holding a hand out to stop me. "What's your name?"

Surprised with myself, I halted and glanced back at her. "Elena."

I watched a small smile pull its way across her face as she asked, "Will you come back to see me?"

Awkwardly, I scratched at the back of my neck. "I don't know, Shilo, I only really come up this way when I make deliveries," My heart ached as that smile disappeared and a look of hurt replaced it.

"Oh."

Reaching over, I gently patted her shoulder, "tell you what, the next time I have to drop something off up this way, I'll stop by. Sound good?"

Her smile came right back as she nodded happily. "I'm holding you to that," she practically chirped.

I chucked and lowered back out of the window.

"See you later, Shilo."

"Bye, Miss Elena."