Hello! First of all, I would like to thank mythstoorfoot, netherlady, Betty Royale and samik (one autograph coming up!) for their encouraging responses to Scarred! That really acted as a catalyst for me to write further! More comments are welcome! And anticipated for this one! :D For this fan fic, I've written my own interpretation of Grace's character, since there's not much on her in the game. And ya, she's better looking in this one (just google Ginnie Watson, the actress who dubbed for her, to get an idea). Please, please comment. I'd love to know what everyone thinks and will try to respond to all of you! Never done a fan fic before, and crime fiction, never ever! So please be a little kind. But honest! I wish my summary was better, though.

Grace Garner had never felt such a sickening feeling before. Not even when her older son Jason died. But the thought of losing Shaun was unbearable. The police had been looking for him, but a certain intuition told her that they didn't have much time. She tried calling Ethan again, hoping that he'd answer this time. He did. "Ethan, where are you?" "Grace?"

"I am sitting in the car outside your house, you aren't there!"

"I won't be staying there for a while now…."

Grace was getting desperate. "Ethan, listen…." she sobbed. "The Origami Killer's got Shaun, I know it! We need to find him, together. Please tell me where…" A high-pitched whistle and the rumbling sound of the train muffled something Ethan said. "Doing it alone….bring back…..safe and sound….." And then the call got disconnected. She tried calling again. The cell was switched off.

Grace nervously grasped the steering wheel. Ethan had been acting very strange since Shaun disappeared. They had just left the police station together, their separate ways, after which he just stopped taking calls. And now this…. Actually, Grace realized, for quite a while now. She thought of Lieutenant Carter Blake. "If you remember anything unusual around the time Shaun Mars disappeared, you might wanna let me know." Grace knew where she was going.

Madison Paige hadn't slept well in a very long time. An occasional nap did not count. Nor did a slumber induced by pills. Even if her insomnia permitted her a few hour's rest, she saw terrifying visions of people, converging on her, faces she never forgot. She glanced through an article on the front page of the late evening tabloid to distract herself from those thoughts. It had a photograph of Ethan Mars and spoke about the disappearance of his son, about the probability of Shaun being the killer's next victim and about the mother (Grace) and the police being repeatedly unavailable for comment.

Of course, Madison thought. Hounding the distressed parents always got front page prominence. So typical of us, journalists… Putting the tabloid aside, she got down to cleaning her apartment…..for the third time in the night, I'll check into Crossroads after I'm done….high time! I need my sleep. She switched on the vacuum cleaner only to have it splutter and die out. "Behold," she muttered to herself, "the glamorous life of Madison Paige."

Norman Jayden watched in silent rage from behind a two-way mirror as Lieutenant Carter Blake slammed a man's head into the table. "Fuckin' bullshit," he cursed and stormed out of the room. "Good evening," Kathy beamed when she saw him approaching the coffee vending machine. Detective Kathy Conley was the only person in the police department Norman shared a rapport with. The others either resented his presence or wouldn't give a damn. Kathy had been friendly and a little flirtatious at first, but backed off when she realized he wasn't interested.

"What's with the cowboy flick silence?" she asked. Norman slowly drummed his fingers against the table. "Blake's interrogating Korda…" Kathy nodded. "Yes, I could almost hear it."

"Miroslav Korda is only a suspect! What gives Blake the right to…"

"To use such brutal methods?" Kathy interrupted. "Korda's a suspect in the Origami Killer's case. Tempers are bound to flare."

"Not like this…." Norman frowned. He paused to take a sip of the coffee. "Why doesn't anyone complain?' he grimaced. "What, like in high school?" Kathy sneered. They began walking towards the cubicles. "Blake may be a ruthless son of a bitch," she continued, "but his methods have yielded results. So, everyone's happy."

"By 'complain'," Norman said with a wry tone, "I was referring to the coffee. But thank you for your delightful insights." "Coming, Norman?" Blake asked, swiftly over-taking him. Norman exchanged a quick glance with Kathy, before following him to his work station.

"Ms. Garner?" Grace looked up. "This is Agent Norman Jayden from the FBI." Her swollen eyes lingered on him for a moment before returning to Blake. "You said I could tell you if remembered something unusual…." "I did."

Grace nervously crossed and uncrossed her legs. "This happened some time back….it was very late at night, when there was a knock on my door."

"I opened it to find Ethan standing outside, completely drenched. He had a wild look in his eyes and he spoke about drowning and dead bodies…" She paused to stifle a sob. "The next day, there was news about a boy's body being found in a wasteland…..the Origami killer's eighth victim."

Blake and Norman listened, intrigued, as she spoke about the psychiatric help he had been taking after Jason died. "He's not even home right now," Grace said as she rose from her seat. "From what I gathered, he's probably in a motel near a railway line. I heard the sound of a train when I spoke to him last…"

"Is there anything else?" Blake asked. "No..." she hesitated for a moment. "I don't know if this will help the investigation or not…I just felt that this was something you should know." Blake nodded. "I just want my son back…" she mumbled fervently. "We'll do what we can, Ms. Garner," Blake said .

He watched her leave before turning to Norman. "Come on Jayden." He threw on his coat. "We have a doctor's appointment."

Okay, I have no idea how this chapter's turned out. Please pardon any jargon-related error I may be making in the later chapters. And ya, a disclaimer… I don't own Heavy Rain or the characters (would luurrrve to own Norman Jayden, though!). Any resemblance to any person living or dead, place, etc etc is purely coincidental. Thanks for reading! Do comment.

PS : I wish my summary was better, though. I wanted it end it with something like, "They all have to face their worst fears and try to deal with The Hell Within." But I guess that sounds a little….odd…