Bioshock: Beneath the Crimson Ripples
Chapter 1: Going down memory lane
The heavy breaths of seventeen year old Colette could be heard echoing through out the halls, cutting through the silence of Fontaine Futuristics. The thumping of her feet against the marble floors matched her accelerating heartbeat. Her oxygen deprived lungs had her panting and gasping for air that seemed almost nonexistent. Her dark brown ringlets flung behind her messily as she tried to out run those damn thug splicers. Her heterochromatic eyes focused as her nose scrunched up in concentration, causing her small square rimmed glasses to slip down her nose. Despite Colette's stressed state, she moved swiftly and quietly. Thanking her mother in heaven for forcing her to take those god forsaken ballet classes, at least they were good for something.
"Please, wait! We just wanna talk!"
"We're just lonely!"
Perhaps when she first arrived in Rapture three years ago, she would have believed them. But when she peered into those glassy eyes she knew they were lying. She ignored their cries, she had to focus on the task at hand. All that mattered was getting the case to old man, Richard. She tightly clutched the handle of the titanium suitcase in anticipation, as she neared towards the Bathysphere.
She focused on the bathysphere and with a long leap, she threw herself into the mini submarine, slamming the door shut. It groaned and shook slightly due to the force of the intrusion. The splicers slammed their led pipes and wrenches on the thick glass screen. Their heavy breaths mingled together as they laughed, fogging up the clear barrier.
"Come on little girl, we just wanna play!"
She took one last look into their swollen and blood shot eyes before she pulled the bathyspheres lever, making it descend back down into the dark depths of the ocean. She sighed while placing the suitcase on the plush seat that the bathysphere accommodated, took off her black ballet flats and massaged her sore and blistered feet.
"Why the Hell is this case so important to the old man anyway?" She wondered out loud. Although she was curious she never questioned him in person. He saved her life, after all.
She made sure to brush off all the debris and dirt from her oversized white, button-up shirt and black slacks that clung to her long legs. She never was one for dresses, her mother was alway on her back about it when she was younger. She didn't care though because they were comfortable and easy to move in, and you need to move fast in a City like Rapture. She then began to continue to clean her fogged up glasses. She hugged her tatty coat closer to her body to keep her warm, and arranged herself in a comfy position for the twenty minute long ride to the Medical Pavilion. Slowly, the exhausted brunette fell into her dreams.
There was complete and total chaos in the streets of Rapture. People screaming and running in mass hysteria as they were beaten, clubbed, and shot to death by birds, cats, and butterflies. People were burning alive, shattered to pieces, and electrocuted , all in less then a couple of hours. The air smelt of burning flesh, metal and blood. Colette was ignorant to the insanity at the moment. She was still in her suite in Olympus Heights lying on a cushiony bed, waiting for her parents to return from their dinner party. She was startled when the front door was thrown open, revealing her very distressed mother. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, smearing her make up, her hair was a tangled mess and her beautiful light blue dress was now besotted in blood and dirt. Her mother closed the door quickly, and locked it. She didn't like seeing her mother like this, it scared her.
"Mommy, what's wrong? Where's daddy?" She asked quietly.
Her mother frantically walked over to her and gave her a warm embrace.
"Oh, Colette... your father, he......" Her mother was cut off by a sob as she began to cry uncontrollably in her daughters arms, her shoulders quivering. Colette didn't like where this conversation was going, she couldn't possibly mean that her father was-
"Open up, we know your in there!" cried a scratchy voice.
A number of noises was heard from the other side of the mahogany door. Fists and heavy objects striking the only barrier separating Colette and her mother from those monstrous people. Colette's mother quickly grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the closet.
"S-sweetheart I need you to l-listen to me, stay here and don't make any n-noise" Her mother stuttered with obvious fear.
"Remember, mommy loves y-"
CRASH!
The mahogany door now lays in ruins, kicked in by the masked culprits behind it. One was a cat and the other a bird, their clothes and weapons caked with the blood of innocents. They made no effort to hide their excitement for a grin stretched their red and swollen lips. The cat walked towards Colette's mother, raising the rusty and dented led pipe he clutched in his hand and struck her across the face. Her mother collapsed to the ground, and she was still. Blood pooled and stretched out beneath her like wet, crimson wings. A whimper escaped Colette's dry throat, catching the attackers attention.
"Well, look at what we have here!" sneered the cat
The man in the bird mask stalked towards the closet that Colette hid in and closed his right hand around her arm, dragging her into the middle of the room.
The bird gripped her arms, trying to hold her still as she struggled. The cat reached up a rough and calloused hand and gripped her chin, forcing her to look in to his glazed over eyes.
"Ah! what's this? A heterochromatic! Haven't seen one o' these in a while!" crowed the cat.
"One violet, the other blue! So pretty, maybe I'll gouge those pretty little things out! smirked the bird.
The bird released his hold on Colette and pulled out a screw driver from the left pocket of his ripped and dirtied slacks.
"Hold 'er still." ordered the bird.
Grinning, the cat gladly complied and held down her arms, while the bird held her face in a vice like grip. She let out a small scream, hoping to gain the attention of a sane bystander, as if there were any left.
"Shhhh, this'll only hurt for a second." he rasped
But before the rusty screw driver could reach her violet eye the cat masked splicer suddenly crashed to the ground at her feet, revealing a man in white scrubs clutching a bloody kitchen knife in behind him.
"What the hell?!" cried the other splicer
The bird could not utter another sentence, for the doctor in white pulled out a revolver and shot the him in the face. Colette gave a loud yelp at the sudden assault. His hold on Colette went slack as he fell into a puddle of his own blood.
All Colette could do was cry, it was just to much for her. She bent down to her mothers bruised and broken body. She gripped the soft fabric of her mothers dress in her hands, burying her face in it and inhaled her sweet perfume. Colette cried until she felt her soul itself had been drained. Her cries finally came to a stop, and completely she promptly fell asleep on her mothers cold body. Her savior watched the scene with mournful eyes, his mask guard covering his frown. He walked over to her small form and picked her up with little effort.
"Don't worry kid, I'll take care of ya"
She cracked open her heavy eyelids one last time, catching a glimpse of his destroyed name tag.
"Dr. Richard"
She awoke from her slumber slightly dazed, and tried to rub the sleep from her eyes. After finally fully waking up she realized that the bathysphere came to a stop at her destination. Sighing softly, Colette exited the mini submarine with the suitcase in hand, and entered the medical center.
Bioshock: Beneath Crimson Ripples
Chapter 2: Mermaid in the window