The night sheltered its dark blanket over the sky as Shilo peered out of her barred window in hopes of seeing her ghastly friend materialize again. There was The Crow, her vigilante on vengeance with a vendetta against her father. Nathan Wallace had been immorally infusing his daughter with his medicine for an illness she didn't have--a rare blood disease. The ghost's eyes met hers and electricity snapped like a wave of shock through her synapses. Skipping beats, her heart fluttered and she ducked below the window. Eric Draven, the former Musician now turned into the immortal dead, metamorphosed into substance for the night's special occasion--the eve of her 18th birthday.
Shilo prodded the curtains nose-first to see if The Crow was still there. He'd gone from the ladder to the ground luring her out of her haven.
"Suddenly, I heard a tapping, as if someone gently rapping--rapping at my chamber door." Eric spoke, breaking the night's veil of silence.
Shilo successfully picked at the door's lock and ran downstairs.
"You heard me rapping, right?" Eric added. She galloped in a scurry and quickly unlatched the door handle. "I thought I'd use your front door," he said.
The atmosphere enveloped the two as they stood in an awkward silence. "Did you swallow the pills tonight, Shy?"
"You know there's no other way," Shilo answered.
"What the fuck, Shilo? Why do you summon me, anymore?"
"It's not my fault,"
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, yeah. I'm daddy's little girl, remember?"
"It's funny," Eric said.
"Finally, I'm eighteen," Shilo cooed.
"Nothing is trivial," Eric retorted.
"You see... I made a wish from my window... to see you again... to help me."
Eric turned his gaze away momentarily from her radiating face glistening with the glow of the pale moonlight.
"If dad found out, that I'd been let out, or that you'd been let in," Shilo implied.
"They'll kill you," Eric chuckled, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Don't go," Shilo squeaked.
Eric inhaled a butt of a cigarette, contemplating the decision. Would he acquiesce a birthday wish or vanish?
