The 21st Century Cure

Chapter 2 - Stars

Chapter 2

Six vials. Not a bad day. Not a bad day at all. Shilo walks back to the dealing place with Graves, a kind of calm about her. Robbing helped take her mind off of things, almost as if she were taking the Zydrate instead of just dealing it. She glances over at Graves. His promise had helped to settle her also. She didn't know if it was just today, or if she'd secretly felt it the whole time, but she everything seemed better when she was around him. Maybe it was just her emotions raging. Or...maybe it was something else. Shaking off her thoughts, she heads over to the dealing wall, ahead of Graves, and does the signal.

Knock. Knnnnock. Knock, knock, knock. Knock.

Almost out of nowhere, tons of druggies pop out hiding, ready for their next dose. She glances over at her partner, who rolls his eyes in unison with her. Three years and she still found the anticipation of the crowd amusing. Already one of the scalpel sluts was around his legs, begging for the drug. Most of the junkies had paid him beforehand - which was very surprising to him - so all he had to do was give them what they wanted.

The dealer takes out his syringe gun and his Zydrate-filled vial. He pushes the vial into the gun, smiling as he does so, and lowers it to one of the addicts. Pointing the tip of the gun at her neck, he injects the Zydrate. The gun goes off with a spark of energy, making the girl collapse on the ground. She starts rolling around, feeling the effects of the drug take place. Another hand comes over to him, grabbing his shoulder. Immediately, he pushes it off. Graverobber groans as he rubs the area the male druggie grabbed. There would definitely be a bruise there later.

As he injects the man with Zydrate, he looks over his shoulder to see how Shilo was doing. She hadn't eaten all day, and he knew so many things were bothering her. She was leaning against the alley wall, her arms crossed. Her face didn't hold anger, or frustration - it held worry and a somewhat lonliness. Quickly, Graverobber gives each druggie their dose of Z and watches as they all collapse on the ground. He looks up to where Shilo was, still in the same location and position as before. He throws the Zydrate gun in his trash bin and walks over to her.

"Little bug?"

Hm. New nickname.

"Yeah?"

She rips her gaze away from the druggies, who were now rolling on the ground and moaning like pigs. Almost reminded her of...suddenly she shook her head. Sometimes her own thoughts surprised herself. Graverobber glaces behind him at the druggies - some still rolling around, others now unconcious - and returns his gaze to Shilo. He looks down at the pavement and sticks his hands into his pockets. What does he say? He was never the best at comforting people. Lifting his head, he notices Shilo's face. Not much different from usual, but it seemed...distinctly different, for lack of a better explanation. "Hey..."

He bites his lip and reaches down into his coat pocket. Finding what he was looking for, his hand comes out, a vial full of small, fireflies. The lights on their backs were still yellow, untainted from a from the poisons in the air. Graves smiles, anticipation rising up in him for Shilo's reaction. He knows how much she loves bugs. Fireflies, especially the yellow ones, were her favorites. They light up the night like stars, she'd told him. The city hadn't seen stars in years.

"Happy birthday, kid." He hands her the vial.

Her eyes light up as she spots the vial. Her breath catches. Gently, afraid it will break if she holds it to tight, she takes it from Graves' hands and gazes at the magical creatures inside. Fireflies. The Star Bugs. Tears streak down her face.

"Oh...Graves..."

Those had to be tears of joy, right? Graverobber watches as she brings the vial close to her chest. Tears were flowing down her cheeks again. Unable to say anything at the moment, he embraces her. It pained him every day to see her burst into tears like this. "Shh..." He rubs her back, hearing her sobs slowly subsiding. "What's wrong now, Shilo?"