(a/n: Please enjoy and review!)
Ch.4: The Impossible Woman
Wally and Booker left the small gondola station.
They followed a long corridor until they came to a door. The two found themselves in the middle of a tranquil garden.
There was a stone path that led to other areas around the island. Scattered around were some benches for visitors and in the middle of the stone path was a large stone fountain.
Wally and Booker followed the stone path until they came to wall that surrounded the monument itself. Posted on the walls were warning signs and signs telling visitors to stay out. The two looked up at enormous monument that easily towered over any building in Columbia.
Booker muttered, "Here we are, just like they said"
"It's huge," said Wally in astonishment. The monument easily dwarfed any structure back home.
Booker frowned a little saying "Wonder why they're keeping her in a place like this?" Wally shrugged.
The two began searching for a way in but they saw that gates were sealed up tight and the wall was a too high to climb. Booker noticed a hook hanging high over the wall. He held up his skyhook and was instantly pulled off the ground by the strong magnetic pull of the hooks. Booker swung himself forward and he threw himself over the wall.
When he landed, he told Wally what to do. Wally did as Booker instructed and landed on the other side of the wall.
Booker and Wally hurried up the front steps. They passed a pair of stone angels and entered the monument.
Inside, they entered the entry hall. Along the walls were lockers where workers would keep their belongings.
On the floor were long electrical cords that snaked their way up the walls and up through the ceiling.
Wally saw some placards by the door on the opposite side of the entry hall, warning employees not to touch the specimen.
Booker searched through some of the lockers for some extra ammunition when he stumbled upon a Voxophone that belonged to a janitor.
Booker hit play and a voice spoke "I guess even in a restricted area, these crackers need someone to clean floors, hm? Hmph. Those politicians and scientists don't bother 'bout what they say 'round me, because I'm some half-lettered colored boy. But I can tell they scared out of their wits by that thing they got locked upstairs, yessir. They got a tiger by the tail, and they don't know whether to hang on...or run."
Booker felt a little nervous. It seemed whatever they had locked in the monument, it was very dangerous.
Booker stashed the Voxophone back into the locker and he motioned for Wally to follow.
The two crossed a solid red line and opened the door on the other side of the entry hall.
Booker and Wally trudged down a dimly lit hall, they passed a fuse box which spewed a sparks at them and on the wall ahead of them on a chalkboard that had a chart which recorded a person's growth, beginning from infancy to adulthood. The lights above them flickered on and off. They pressed on.
Booker and Wally passed through what looked like a research laboratory. In the middle of the lab, there was a massive machine, which had hundreds of conduits running from the ceiling to the heart of the machine itself.
The machine had a series of nodes that absorbed large quantities of electrical energy, which came from the conduits.
What its purpose was, Wally didn't know. On a table were three glass jars that were connected to switches.
Booker flipped the switches and saw a light come on in each of them. Inside each of the jar were a variety of items. On the jars were labels with somebody's age. Booker watched as each of the objects vanished in a flash of blue light.
The private investigator frowned and decided to just keep moving.
Wally and Booker circled around the massive machine and found the door out of the research laboratory.
Quietly, Wally and Booker walked down an empty corridor that had several different doorways leading to different rooms.
In one room, Wally found an operating theater that had an operating table with restraints on them. On a nearby table were blood and hair samples.
Booker found a room where a bunch of black and white photos were being developed. In the last room, there was a projector showing a series of security footages of a young woman.
Booker muttered to Wally "What do you think they were doing to her?"
"I don't know" said Wally "But whatever it is, it can't be good".
Wally and Booker continued on.
The two entered a spacious room where there was a massive machine that had a large node enclosed in glass, absorbing massive amounts of energy. Surrounding the machine were massive speakers, which emitted some otherworldly sounding music and feedback forcing Wally and Booker to shield their ears.
They circled around the machine, carefully trying not to get hit by the bolts of energy striking the machine.
Booker found an elevator thanks to the massive placards warning employees not to touch the specimen by the doors.
They got in the elevator and Booker hit the button, causing the doors to slide close.
The elevator carried them up to the higher floors of the monument.
After a few minutes of silence, a bell dinged and the doors opened.
Booker and Wally poked their heads out of the door. Outside, they found that the elevator had brought them to what looked like an observation room.
There was a pair of large metal blast doors blocking something with a control switch beneath it. In front of it was a pair of chairs and a table. On the other side of the observation room, there was a door leading elsewhere.
Booker approached the controls and he pulled on the lever.
The metal blast doors slid aside, revealing a window into a small room that had a chalkboard with a complex code written on it.
Wally and Booker shared a confused look then decided to move on.
The two passed through the door on the other side of the observation room and traveled down a short corridor.
At the end of the corridor was a small box labeled "Specimen Tracker".
On the box were several light bulbs, each with its own label like "Bathroom, conservatory, library, dining room, bedroom and dressing room".
The light bulb next to dressing room began to flash and Booker muttered "Dressing room, that's where we need to go".
Wally and Booker left the small corridor and found themselves on scaffolding that circled around a cylindrical structure that was contained within the monument. They followed the scaffolding till they reached the first door, marked "Dressing Room".
On the other side of the door, they found a similar observation room. This time, it only had one chair and an old style film camera.
Booker pulled the lever and the metal blast doors aside, revealing a window into a dressing room. Inside the dressing room, they saw a woman standing there looking at a photo of the Eiffel Tower.
The woman had raven hair, blue eyes and pale features. She wore a white blouse and a blue skirt.
Booker pulled out the pamphlet of Monument Island and he looked up at the woman muttering, "That's her"
"Great" said Wally "Now lets get her out of here".
The woman looked up from the photo and directly at the two. She leaned forward a little and adjusted her hair. The woman sighed and she walked away. The metal blast doors slid back in place and the two hurried after her.
As they raced down the scaffolding, Wally saw the Specimen Tracker indicate that the woman was in the dining room. The speedster pointed to the door marked Dining room and they hurried inside.
In the observation room, Booker threw the switch and the blast doors opened, revealing a dining room.
In the dining room, the walls were covered in sketches and paintings of various subjects. Some sketches were of animals, objects, and people. Wally frowned at a sketch of a young man and a young woman. They looked eerily familiar but he just couldn't place them.
But the most common subject of the collection of artwork was Paris.
There was a completed painting of Paris at night. The city was like a sea of light underneath a starry sky.
Booker saw the woman enter the room. She placed the photo down on a table then she glanced around her, as if she knew she was being observed. The woman turned to the painting and she reached toward it with both hands. She then suddenly moved her arms apart as if she were drawing curtains apart.
To Wally and Booker's astonishment, a tear in the air ripped open and formed a perfectly round window into what looked like modern Paris.
Wally rubbed his eyes and exclaimed "Whoa!"
"What the hell?" said Booker in disbelief.
Through the tear, the woman, Wally and Booker saw Paris at midnight. The tear was placed at a quiet street corner. The woman looked through the tear and she waved at someone.
Booker and Wally saw that she was waving at a young man who was crossing the quiet road. He waved back at her and he approached the tear cautiously.
The woman said something to him and he said something back. She reached out for him and asked him something. He nodded and he extended his hand.
Suddenly she shouted something, the young man spun around then he threw himself out of the way of a fire truck that came hurtling towards the tear at an alarming pace.
The woman, Wally and Booker braced themselves and suddenly the tear snapped shut, just in time before the truck could entered the tear.
Booker and Wally were breathing heavily and they felt their hearts racing. The speedster looked to Booker and said breathlessly "W-what was that?"
"I don't know" replied Booker shaking his head slowly. The private investigator managed to regain some composure and he said "But it's got nothing to do with the job at hand".
The blast doors slid shut and the two left the observation room. Booker and Wally hiked up some stairs that led higher into the monument and they found another observation room.
Wally found a Voxophone lying on the chair by door. He picked it up and pressed play.
The voice of Rosalind spoke "What makes the girl different? I suspect it has less to do with what she is, and rather more with what she is not. A small part of her remains from where she came. It would seem the universe does not like its peas mixed with its porridge."
The Voxophone clicked and the recording ended.
Wally didn't know what to make of it but he felt that there was more to the woman and Columbia than he originally thought.
Booker flipped the switch and the blast doors opened, revealing a spacious library. The woman was across from them, staring out a window that gave a magnificent view of Columbia.
Booker glanced around and he found a second door. He nudged Wally and the two hurried through the second door.
They followed a short corridor to a heavy bulkhead. Booker and Wally opened the bulkhead door where they were greeted by a blast of ice-cold wind.
The two stepped out and they found themselves standing on scaffolding connected to the monument.
To Wally's surprise, they were on the shoulder of the massive monument. The wind whistled loudly in their ears and whipped at them.
Booker followed the scaffolding until he found some stairs. They followed the stairs up to another bulkhead door. Wally and Booker hurried inside and they followed a narrow corridor until they came to a circular shaped room that had a flat, bronze floor with chains running from the ceiling to the floor.
Booker stepped into the room and the floor suddenly tilted. One of the chains snapped and the floor suddenly gave way, causing Booker to fall.
The private investigator fell and he managed to grab hold of a railing. Booker pulled himself up and he found himself staring face to face with the woman. She stared at Booker in shock.
Booker grinned sheepishly "Uh…hello"
The woman screamed and Booker's grip on the railing slipped and he fell all the way to the floor.
Wally looked down at the hole in floor and saw that Booker fell into the library. He saw the woman scream and Booker falling the rest of the way. The speedster wondered how he was going to get down to the library when suddenly the floor gave way, causing Wally to fall.
He landed beside Booker.
The two moaned in pain. Booker glanced at Wally muttering "I was wondering when you were going to drop by"
"Shut up" grumbled Wally as he tried to sit up.
Suddenly a book struck Wally on head. The speedster yelped in pain.
Booker sat up where he caught a book in the face.
The two found themselves being pelted with books. The woman was chucking books at them. As they were being pelted, Booker yelled "Hey! Ow! Knock it off!"
"We're not here to hurt you" added Wally.
The woman picked up a book and she paused. She scowled at them "Who are you?"
"I'm DeWitt" said Booker. He nodded to Wally "He's Wally, we're here to help you".
The private investigator got up and he approached the woman. The woman growled, "Get away" she swung the book in an effort to hit Booker in the head but he caught the book. She tried to pull the book out of his hand but she suddenly stopped.
She looked at Booker then Wally in surprise. The woman asked Booker "Are you…real?"
"Real enough" said Booker.
Suddenly there was a high-pitched whistle emanating from a bronze statue of Comstock that sat in the corner of the library.
The woman's eyes widened in horror "Oh no". She turned to Booker "He's coming…y-you got to go"
"Why?" said Booker looking confused. The whistling began to form a tune and the woman's tone began to grow more panicked "You don't want to be here when he gets here" there was some odd sounds coming from the ceiling and the woman shouted at the ceiling "Just a minute, I'm getting dressed!"
"We came to get you out of here" said Booker.
The woman glanced around in panic "You can't, there's no way out. Trust me, I looked" she yelled at the ceiling "Stop it! You're too impatient, that's enough!"
Booker reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. He held it up so the woman could see "How about this?"
"What about it?" asked the woman
"It's the way out, isn't it?" said Booker.
The woman frowned "What are you…" she trailed off when she looked at the key. She snatched the key out of Booker's hand and she inspected it closely. On the key were two symbols. One was of a bird, the other of a cage.
The woman quickly ran over to a large, heavy door that looked like the door of a bank vault. She inserted the key into a small keyhole on the door and twisted it. The locks clicked open and the doors swung open.
The woman grinned "The way out!" there was a high pitched chirping sound coming from the ceiling and the woman said, "We got to go!".
The trio slipped through the door open doorway and hurried down a long flight of stairs.
There was a loud screech and the entire monument shook.
Wally exclaimed, "What was that!"
"It's his job to keep me here" explained the woman
"We'll see about that" said Booker. There was another screech and the monument shook again, rattling objects loose from the ceiling.
As they raced down the scaffolding, the woman asked Booker and Wally "Who are you? Why did you come here?" before they could answer, the monument shook causing pieces of the monument's support beams to fall and crash in front of them.
Wally pointed to an open doorway "That way!" the three raced through the doorway and continued on.
The monument quaked some more and suddenly large claw marks appeared on the monument. Support beams fell around them and more claw marks began to appear. They reached the elevator at the first observation room. Booker closed the heavy bulkhead door and he told the woman "call the elevator"
"What?' said the woman.
Booker groaned, "For the love of…push the button!"
The woman pressed the button and the three waited for the elevator to come. The monument continued to quake and the screeches grew louder and louder.
The woman noticed the windows into the dressing room and the room with the chalkboard. She frowned "T-they were watching me? All this time…why?" she looked at Booker and Wally in shock "Why did they put me in here? What am I? What am I!"
Booker replied, "You're the girl who's getting out of this tower".
Suddenly a massive claw burst through the wall and tore away the rubble, revealing a massive mechanical bird. The bird peered inside with its massive, glowing eye. The three jumped back as the bird began pecking its way toward them.
Luckily, the elevator crashed down on the bird's head and forced it out of the way.
Booker yelled, "Lets go!" he jumped through the opening in the wall where the elevator once was and the others followed. They hurried up some stairs.
The woman almost got hit with falling debris and Booker told her "Be careful Elizabeth"
The woman looked at Booker in shock "How do you know my name?" "Not now" grunted Booker.
The trio reached a bulkhead door at the top of the stairs. Elizabeth tried to open it wouldn't budge. Booker tried and the door opened. They found themselves outside again and Elizabeth yelled over the roar of the wind "Where do we go?"
"Up!" yelled Booker.
Wally, Elizabeth and Booker scurried up the monument.
As the ascended to the top of the monument, Wally saw a massive, birdlike shape dart through the clouds.
At the top of the monument, they found themselves at a dead end. Wally, Elizabeth and Booker searched for a way out but suddenly something slammed against the monument, knocking the three off balance. Elizabeth, Booker and Wally felt the monument tilt and the three went sliding over the edge.
Wally heard Elizabeth screaming and he saw Booker grab her hand. Booker held up his skyhook in the other hand. Wally did the same.
Booker and Wally aimed themselves for the Sky-line rails beneath them and they managed to latch onto the rails in time.
The Sky-Line rail carried them away from the monument then it circled around a building then carried them towards a bridge that sat next to the monument.
Wally saw the monument crumbling to pieces. There were large claw marks etched all over the monument, causing large chunks of bronze to crumble away. The rail carried them under the bridge but a massive slab of bronze crashed through the bridge and broke the rail.
Booker, Wally and Elizabeth fell off the rails and they fell.
They fell for what seemed like an hour and they landed in cold water.
Booker looked around underwater for Elizabeth and Wally when suddenly the massive mechanical bird crashed in the water.
The bird thrashed around a bit and it saw Booker floating beneath it. The bird tried to peck at Booker but the water was affecting its systems. The glass lens on its eye began to crack and oil began to leak out of its wings. The bird screeched and quickly flapped its wings, forcing it to ascend out of the water.
Booker was a little relieved when he suddenly felt something hit his head and everything went black.
The Man in Grey watched as Songbird screeched angrily and the massive bird shot out of the water.
Songbird perched itself on a nearby building, trying to dry itself off. Finally, it flew away to be repaired by its maker.
The Man in Grey sighed in disappointment. He thought that the bird would make short work of them but it appears that they will be harder to kill.
He vanished in a flash of light to search for more ways of destroying his targets, before the situation got out of hand.
Booker's eyes fluttered open and he found himself back in his office. A loud voice growled "Mr. DeWitt, Mr. DeWitt, are you in there?"
Booker sat himself up and he looked around the office.
He found that it was exactly as it was when he got the job to go to Columbia.
The voice growled "Bring us the girl and wipe-" "Away your debt" finished a new voice.
Booker looked up and saw Elizabeth standing in the corner of the office. Her expression was blank and she spoke in unison with the man at the door "Wipe away your debt".
She began humming an eerie melody and the man at the door knocked louder. Booker got to his feet and approached the door.
As Booker approached the door, he saw a man dressed in a grey suit and fedora watching him with icy blue eyes. Standing beside him was a dark haired young man that Booker recognized from one of the sketches Elizabeth had at the Monument and he was the one standing on the other side of the tear before the truck interrupted them.
The two watched as Booker approach the door. Booker reached the door and he opened it, letting in a blinding light.
The private investigator coughed up seawater and his eyes fluttered open.
Booker found himself staring up at Elizabeth and Wally. The two of them looked relieved.
Booker frowned and asked, "Where am I?"
"Back in the land of the living" answered Elizabeth.
Booker moved to get up and Elizabeth grabbed his hand "Let me help you"
"I'll be fine" said Booker
"You almost drowned" said Elizabeth in concern "You need to-"
"I said I'm fine" grunted Booker "Just…just give me a minute".
Elizabeth frowned at Booker for a moment then she nodded. Suddenly Elizabeth turned her head and her eyes widened "Do you hear that?"
"What?' asked Wally.
Elizabeth breathed, "It's music!"
"Go" said Booker "I'll catch up"
"Ok" said Elizabeth "I-I won't be long, Mr. DeWitt". She got up and she walked away. Booker looked to Wally saying "Keep an eye on her"
Wally nodded and he hurried after Elizabeth, leaving Booker lying there staring up at the sky.
Booker stared up at the sky for several minutes until finally passed out.
In Paris, the dark haired young man stood there on the sidewalk staring at the road where he saw what looked like a window into another world.
He remembered the woman asking him for help and the fire truck almost running him over. When he looked back, the window and the woman were gone.
"Hey" said a familiar voice.
He turned and saw his friend. She had short dark hair and light eyes. She asked "You ok Jack?"
Jack Ryan nodded "Yeah, I'm fine Eleanor…it's just I thought I saw something"
Eleanor Lamb raised an eyebrow "Really?"
"Yeah" said Jack. He explained what he saw to her and he then said "And the weird part is…she looks familiar"
"She does?" said Eleanor in surprise. Jack nodded.
End of chapter
(a/n: What do you think? Tell me what you think. Please review!)