Haunting Me Tonight

She had survived that night. A night that had taken much from her- her father. Her sense of the world- the world she'd been denied access to for years. Now all was open.

2 Months Later

"Ms. Wallace, the contract is quite simple. We know that your father had knowledge of GeneCo's inner working because ff his relationship with my father. In order for GeneCo to make a fully realized transformation regarding organ repossession, we need access to the files," The dark haired woman with blue eyes said, pushing a sheaf of paper to the young woman across the table.

Shilo picked it up and thumbed through it, looking carefully over the implications.

In the past 2 months, Shilo had transformed. In more ways than one.

Physically, after stopping her medication, she seemed to have grown into a young woman, no longer looking as she had before the Opera. Her body had filled out and her hair- it was an amazing tranformation. It had grown out to her chin, framing her face in violet-black body had awoken from a long, medically induced coma.

Mentally, she had grown. After the Opera, she knew she wanted to keep Amber to her promise of changing GeneCo's organ repossession. The thick files in her father's workshop could do so.

Carefully flipping through the pages, she looked to see if there was a way Amber could weasel her way out of the deal.

"What's the catch, Amber?" Shilo said, leaning back in the chair and accepting the coffee Amber had offered.

Amber gave a small smile. "I knew my father saw something in you, Kid."

For a brief second, Shilo felt her heart skip a beat.

He had called her Kid. For some reason, it left an ache in her throat.

Amber noticed and was concerned. "Are you all right?" she asked.

Shilo quickly recovered. "Yeah. Coffee went down the wrong way, heh."

Amber nodded.

"Here's the deal, Shilo. I know it's only been 2 months, but my dad…well. He sorta knew what was coming. It's taken a long time to go through his files and papers, and we've found some unsettling things. As the CEO, I have to put the company first. I want to improve our image and the things I've found from my dad…not very good P.R."

Shilh nodded her on.

"Running this company helped me get off 'Z. Fuck, you saw how bad I was. So I owe the company, simple as that. My dad wasn't all bad; he did want to make the world a better place. But…after your mom left him, he changed. He became vindictive. He wanted to hurt as he'd been hurt, so he figured take away what you give."

"The Repos…" Shilo whispered.

"Exactly. Your dad was one of the first he recruited to be a Repo Man. But, as it turns out, your dad was part of the Elite Group. We could find them, but only with your help, Shilo."

Shilo tilted her head back and thought.

The past two months had been a blur- cleaning out her father's workshop and finding those files. Absorbing the horrors he'd committed. "Amber, I need to think. Some of these files are locked- I can't find the code to open them. Give me some time, please."

Amber nodded. Her mind, which had been 2 months free of 'Z, was remarkably clever. She clicked her intercom as her two escorts entered.

"Take Shilo home, please," she said, turning open another stack of files on her desk.

"It's fine, I can get home.""You sure?" Amber asked, momentarily looking up.

Shiloh nodded and said good-bye.

As she walked home, she thought.

So far, Amber had made good on her promises regarding GeneCo. Payment plans were altered to allow lee-way for certain cases. Case more than 6 months in default were still taken care of my repossession, still taken care of gruesomely.

Progress was slow.

The sky had darkened and Shiloh stopped when she saw where she was.

Zydrate Addicts Anonymous.

She looked around, seeing women still checked out on 'Z. Seeing dealers peddle 'the cure'.

She looked but didn't see him.

Steeling herself against tears, she turned and left the alleyway.

"Where you goin' cutie pie?" she heard a voice slur.

Shiloh turned and saw a man- obviously a 'Z addict. Behind him were two others, looking at her up and down, making crude noises.

"Anywhere but here," Shiloh said, summoning false courage and walking away.

The one who'd addressed her, his cheeks having zippers on them, grabbed her arm.

"Nah, see. It don't work like that here, cutie pie," he said, turning her around, pushing her back to his friends.

Her heart began to pound in her ears, fear coursing through her veins. She looked around, and saw no one there to help.

"All alone, babe. What, you think you're too good for us?" He sneered as his friends laughed.

They began to push her in the circle, grabbing her body and releasing her to the next.

As one of them made to grab her, she ran, but to no avail. Even a 17 year old girl is no match for the perversions of addicts.

One made a jump and she landed on her stomach, sharp breaths of pain covering their laughter.

"Let's see how good you are, bitch," the zippered addict said

With that, came a fist, then came darkness.

Shiloh woke up, screaming and clawing thin air.

"Kid! Kid! Chill out, relax!" a familiar voice said, grabbing her wrists and holding them gently.

She opened her eyes and saw him.

"Graverobber…" she whispered, tears starting to fall.

He released her wrists and she collapsed against him, crying and shaking.

"Shh…it's okay. You're safe. You're home. You're okay, kid," he whispered, stroking her hair.

After her tears stopped, he eased her away from him.

"Now, what the fuck were you doing there?"

"I…I was…I was looking for you."

He chuckled and stood up.

"Can't find someone who doesn't want to be found, Kid," he said, walking away.

"Wait! Wha- what happened? Where are you going?" she cried.

"I'll tell you later. Sleep now, I'm still going to be here when you wake up.

Graverobber closed the door softly and she heard him take a seat outside of her door.

After breathing a few minutes, she lay back down, all fear leaving her as she closed her eyes.

He was back.