Sweet Friends

Part 9

Shilo did manage to nap and woke up in time to make a good dinner and take a long shower. She felt very good about the night and put on one of her most Amber-esque outfits, a slippery gold dress that hung in drapes, coming down low in the back and in the front. She couldn’t wear a bra or underwear with it, so she didn’t.

When she got to the car Amber had decked herself out as well, wearing a leather bustier over a flowing satin dress. It was actually very conservative for Amber—the skirt came half-way to her knees. “We are going to tear it up tonight,” Amber said. Shilo was careful not to flash anything when she got into the car. “You and me Shilo. Drugs, booze, dancing, sex, we’re going to do it all tonight.”

“I’ll have a drink,” Shilo said. “And I would like to dance.”

“There’s nothing to be scared of,” Amber offered to her. “It’s just sex. And you’ll love getting high if you just try it.”

“No I won’t,” Shilo insisted. “And I want to have sex. But not with just anybody. It has to be, you know, somebody.”

“You don’t make any sense.”


At the club Amber was swarmed with admirers, like the last time, and Shilo found herself bumped to the side, until Amber approached her with a young man. He had black hair and blue eyes, his skin very pale. He wore leather pants and a studded belt. She could see the scars from his surgeries through the netted shirt he wore. “This is Rip,” Amber told her. “He wants to dance with you.”

“Okay,” Shilo said, slightly uncertain. He was without a doubt the best looking guy in the building, and she knew it was an honor for Amber to give him to her. Rip took her by the hand and led her out onto the dance floor.

It was made up of colored lights that flashed and glowed under Plexiglas, giving Rip’s face an unearthly glow. “Amber says I’m to show you a good time,” he said as they danced. He leaned close to her ear so he could be heard over the music. “So what would you like to do?” His breath felt hot on her skin, and he leaned closer to kiss her neck.

Shilo shivered even though his mouth was warm. She found herself being kissed, earnestly, completely, mashed together close with this man in the middle of the dance floor. < This is what you want, > she told herself as his hand reached up to grab her breast, but she pushed him away. “I’m sorry,” she muttered before hurrying away.

Shilo found an empty chair at a table in a far corner and watched Amber. Rip went up to her, said something, and Amber smacked him and sent him away. Shilo sighed. It wasn’t his fault that she didn’t know how to be normal. She turned her attention to the dancers, deciding that if she couldn’t be normal she could at least watch everyone else.

Eventually Grave Robber came over to her table, sliding a drink towards her. “Amber wanted me to spike it with something so you’d have some fun,” he said.

“Did you?” she asked, not touching the drink.

“No.”

She considered him for a moment, but he didn’t look like he was lying, so she picked it up and took a sip. “Thank you.”

“Kid, it’s none of my business, but can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Why are you hanging out with Amber? You’re so much better than she is.”

“Amber has been very good to me,” Shilo answered. “She takes care of me.”

“By giving you to Mr. Hands over there?”

“No.” Shilo shook her head. “She gave *him* to me. But I don’t think I’m ready for the things I want.”

“What’s that?”

“Nothing,” she said with a blush and took a large gulp of her drink, letting the heat of alcohol wash over her.

He smiled at her and sat down in the other chair. “Maybe we should talk about the other night.”

“No, that’s okay,” she said, even though she really did, desperately, want to know what that was. Why had he winked at her? “Really. What you do with Amber is none of my business.”

“I’m not talking about—“

“Do you want to dance?” she asked him.

He sighed and then smiled. “Sure.”

As soon as they stepped onto the dance floor the music ended and the next song came on. It was slow, a Blind Mag song. He pulled her into his arms and held her close, and they moved slowly to the music. “I miss Mag,” Shilo said, grateful to have something else to talk about, even something as bittersweet as the godmother she never got to know.

“I didn’t know you knew her.”

“I didn’t, not really. But I still loved her. You can love someone you don’t know very well. I knew her soul, and it was kind and good.”

“Like you?” he asked.

“I’m not anything,” Shilo said matter-of-factly. “I don’t know how to be a person, you see. Amber’s trying to teach me how, but its hard.”

“You shouldn’t learn to be the type of person Amber is. She’s selfish and mean.”

“So why do you have sex with her?”

He threw his head back and laughed. “Because she wants me. Now that’s power, knowing someone wants you. She can afford what I charge more than any of my customers, but she never offered to sleep with me in exchange for pay. The first time, the first time she asked.” He might have started jovially, but he leaned closer to her as he spoke, the work ‘ask’ sliding off his tongue close to her ear. “There’s a lesson for being human, Kid. If someone asks you for something, you have the power. It makes the world go round.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Shilo said, turning her head slightly so their cheeks touched. The simple touch of their flesh sent a fire through Shilo. She smiled a little and pressed herself closer against the Grave Robber as they danced out the rest of the song.

“Thank you for the advice,” she said with a smile when they parted. “And the dance.” She took off back to Amber’s side, still smiling. She knew now. All she had to do was get him to ask.

*****

Part 10


Grave Robber left the club before they did, and like before, Shilo and Amber rode in silence to his apartment. “This really isn’t appropriate,” he told Amber when he opened the door and she and Shilo came in. “She’s just a kid.”

< I’m not, > Shilo wanted to say, but she knew this was one of those situations where she was just supposed to keep quiet.

“Shut up and fuck me,” Amber told him.

“God forbid I argue with that,” he said, looking over his shoulder at Shilo as he led Amber to the bed. He raised his eyebrows at her, but she only shrugged her shoulders and turned away, sitting down on the couch.

A few moments later a black t-shirt sailed across the room and landed on the back of the couch. She slowly reached out and grabbed it, feeling the soft fabric and pulling the shirt close to her. It smelled slightly of sweat, and of earth, cool and comfortable. From crawling around graveyards she figured, but no smell of death clung to him. The shirt was an offering, and Shilo held it close to her as she turned around to see what was going on behind her.

They had their heads at the foot of the bed again, Amber on her back while the Grave Robber moved between her legs as she made appreciative moaning sounds. He didn’t look at Amber at all as they coupled, his eyes on Shilo crouching on the couch and holding his shirt against her chest.

< It’s all a show for me, > she thought, wondering exactly how she felt about the situation. She didn’t like that he was sleeping with Amber, and liked it even less that Amber wanted to sleep with him. On the bed Amber noticed that his attention was straying to someone other than her and she slapped him across the face, grabbing is chin and pulling his face down so he would look at her. “Don’t,” she told him, and Shilo turned away and slid down on the couch cushions, burying her face in the t-shirt. They had been found out.

Amber was completely silent on the ride home, barely acknowledging Shilo as she got out of the car. “Goodnight,” Shilo said, and went inside.

*****

Grave Robber went to work after Amber and the Kid left. Amber wasn’t happy, not that he cared. Gauging the Kid however, was harder. He’d been completely turned on looking at her while fucking Amber, and that just wasn’t right. But she hadn’t cowered away, but looked him in the eyes, daring him to do something about it.

Grave Robber used a crowbar to break the locks on a mausoleum door and make his way into the crypt. It was a large one, for twelve bodies, and he went to the first one, raising the sledge hammer he brought to smash through the marble sealing in the casket.

As he worked he thought about what he had told her about power, and why he had done it. Of course he knew why. To keep anything from happening between them. She was just a child, after all. He could hardly have his way with her, being nearly twice her age, no matter how much he wanted to. She was strong willed. After that speech he had given her she would never ask him, wouldn’t want him to have power over her. So as long as he didn’t give in and ask her first, she would be safe.

Somehow this didn’t comfort him as he made his way home at first light, his coat full of glowing blue Zydrate, and it certainly did nothing for him after he stripped down and threw himself into bed, unable to close his eyes without seeing her face.