Grace sat in her prison and lied in wait for the return of Simon. She had a plan, and she would see it through, no matter the cost. As she sat she wondered about the Apex kids, she wondered how far away they'd gotten. She hoped that they weren't doing anything destructive to the train or god forbid to some poor denizen they happened across. In hindsight Grace regretted not going into more detail about what she'd been wrong about specifically but she didn't know how long it would be before Simon returned and getting them out of the area was her greatest priority. Deep down she wondered, if only a little, if the choice she was making was right.
Surely Simon deserved a death by her hand and she'd be happy to deliver, but what that would do to her number, what that would do to the Apex kids if they ever found out… Grace's thoughts trailed off as she stared at the door once again praying for it to open so that she could leave this prison, this car, forever. Grace wanted to heal, wanted to start on the path to recovery, but she couldn't do that while staying here and each moment that passed Grace grew more weary of the action she was about to take. She knew what she had to do but that didn't mean she'd have to feel good about it.
Silently, she recalled dream Hazel's words to her, "Just because he deserves it doesn't mean it's easy." she'd said to her. How right she'd been. Still alone and bored Grace's thoughts drifted to her number. She hadn't checked it since all of this had started and at this point she was a little afraid to. Grace had silently held on to the slightly depressing hope that going through hell would have lowered her number significantly. Then maybe her trauma would have meant something, maybe all of this would have been worth it in some weird way because the train would have deemed her a better person afterward.
In reality Grace knew that if she checked her number and was incorrect about the way the train had changed it she would have to face an awful reality. That the awful things she'd gone through hadn't been some grand lesson to lower her number and make her a better person. The reality that those awful things had just been awful things, shitty but ultimately meaningless. As if to punctuate her thoughts about the cruel randomness of the world she heard the approaching footsteps of Simon.
Grace steeled herself mentally reminding herself to play the part of the prisoner even if that was the furthest thing from what she was. She couldn't risk acting suspicious and giving herself away. She just needed him to get close enough to her for her to strike.
"Considering how often he touches my face that shouldn't be a problem." Grace thought bitterly. That was good, bitterness was good. It would make this next part easier. He opened the door and Grace looked for signs that he'd noticed the kids were gone. Simon looked mildly annoyed but not furious so Grace decided that he probably hadn't. Of course he hadn't.
"Hey Void, I'm back." he announced the annoyance in his voice clear. He stood near the door still, not close enough for Grace to make a move.
"I wished you'd stayed gone." She spat back at him. Simon didn't seem at all phased by this ignoring her comment and continuing on. Clearly his mind was somewhere else.
"I saw that old lady who worked for the false conductor." he said with clear indignation rising in his voice at the thought of her. Grace could tell that the interaction likely hadn't gone well from that bit of anger that he'd conjured up in his voice, though considering how much Amelia already didn't like him it was a miracle he'd even made it out of that conversation in one piece. Or, whatever the opposite of a miracle is.
"Let me guess, she kicked you ass?" Grace questioned snarkily. Simon glared at her before his expression softened back to it's normal level of disgust with her existence.
"That reminds me, I saw your little null friend." he said with a smile that made Grace's skin crawl. He'd seen Hazel? That was a lie, it had to be. It didn't make any sense, how and why would he have found her.
"You're lying." Grace said, attempting to project confidence rather than nervousness. Simon couldn't be trusted, Grace knew that. Still, the idea that he'd found Hazel made her stomach turn, which was likely why he'd done it.
"You can believe whatever you want to believe. I just thought I'd tell you since I did it for you. You were mumbling about her in your sleep." he said casually as he approached her slightly closer. Not close enough, but closer. Grace knew what he was saying was bait, but she couldn't help the fear that enveloped her at the idea of Simon finding Hazel "for her". It was so encompassing she almost didn't have time to be disturbed at the idea of Simon watching her sleep.
"Why?" Grace asked. Simon smiled at her in that same awful way that was filled with more cynicism and hate than happiness.
"I just wanted you to know that your little null friend was still okay." he said once again with more flippancy than she could handle. Grace could feel her heart racing at the way he'd phrased it. He wanted her to know Hazel was still okay.
"Is that a threat?" Grace asked. Her voice wavered more than she would have liked. Simon was awful but he wasn't that awful, right? If he was going to take things that far wouldn't he have done it already?
"Do you want it to be, Void?" he asked her. Grace felt her hands shake. This was a game to Simon, she was a game to him. He was doing this to hurt her, to toy with her. He wouldn't really go through with it. He wasn't really serious.
"You wouldn't dare." Grace said seriously. She wanted to believe that was true. She wanted to believe that there were some lines even he was incapable of crossing. Simon laughed.
"Maybe you're right. But, maybe you're wrong. Is that really a chance you want to take?" he asked her. As discreetly as she could Grace slipped her hand behind her back and grasped at the brick she'd found and chosen as her tool. All she needed was an opening, she could do this. She stared him dead in his cold, awful eyes that wanted nothing more than to hurt her.
"What do you want from me?" she asked him. What was the point of threatening her when from his point of view she was still being held prisoner? What else could he possibly want to take from her, what else was there left to take from her? Simon smirked at her and shook his head as if she'd said something utterly ridiculous.
"Absolutely nothing." he said before crouching down to her level. Without warning he grabbed her face and forced a kiss on her. Grace thought that she might vomit. It was awful, this was awful all of it. She wanted to pull away or scream or slap him, the feeling of his lips pressed against hers making her cringe, reminding her that she really was just a game to him. Instead, as hard as she could she reeled back and hit him with the brick that she held. Everything happened in a blur the second it connected. The sound, the fall, there was no time to react.
"Good." Grace thought. "He doesn't deserve a reaction." and like that it was over. Grace grabbed her crutches and stood over someone who was her best friend once, who she might have loved once. She assessed the damage that she'd done, trying to decide if she'd have to do more but ultimately concluding that it wouldn't be necessary. She'd hit him pretty damn hard, and with a brick nonetheless. Besides that a huge gash had been torn in his head from where the impact had hit. "The blood loss will kill him if the brain trauma hasn't already." Grace decided before leaving her prison.
As she left the area she'd been held captive and stood within the empty mall car Grace felt conflicted though she wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because of how quickly it had happened, Grace hadn't properly processed the events that had just occurred. She'd just killed someone, her former best friend of eight years. Maybe she should have felt worse. On the other hand he'd done such awful things to her, his last moments had been forcing a kiss on her, so maybe he deserved worse than what he got. Maybe she should have felt better, more triumphant.
As Grace looked around the car that she'd called home for years, a place that had been filled with memories, all she really felt was tired. But this was no time to rest, content with how things had gone. Killing Simon had been difficult but she had an even more difficult task ahead of her. Grace had to go meet up with the kids, to start over, to make things right. Almost automatically Grace headed towards the escalator with the intention of packing a bag for her journey only to be met with a stark reminder of how things had changed.
She didn't have anything to pack anymore. And even if she did, she couldn't get up the escalator. It wasn't lost on her that both of those things were due to the actions of the same person. Still, Grace knew that once she'd left this car she was never coming back again and maybe she was a little afraid of that. So, doing her best to balance, Grace hopped her way up the stairs nearby to the escalator in order to see what was left of her old room.
The place had been completely torn apart, nothing was left except for things structural to the room's foundation. At least that's what Grace thought upon first entering the room. Upon closer inspection there had been a few things left behind. Clothes that had been dropped, shards of glass left from her vanity but most interestingly a photo of her and Simon. The same one that she'd watched him burn. Grace was confused by this for a second before realizing that Simon must have made a copy of it before burning it.
Grace didn't know whether to be happy the photo still existed or pissed that for everything he'd done Simon still too much of a coward to follow through on being awful when it affected him. Grace stared at the photo and thought to herself. "When I get off the train, will anyone believe me? Or will I have absolutely no proof that this ever happened? Do I even want proof?" she asked herself. She stared at the photo and felt something she couldn't describe.
She could destroy it now, or even just leave it here. It would be like this had never happened, it would be like Simon had never happened. Grace brought to mind the words of dream Hazel once again. "It wouldn't be the truth." Grace cared about the truth. She cared that this had happened to her and she cared that the person who had done it was someone she used to care about.
Maybe taking this photo with her meant that she was still holding on to something. Or maybe it meant that the things she'd been through would still be a part of her long after this had all passed. Grace didn't really care to think about that at the moment. She stuffed the photo in her pocket and headed toward the exit of the mall car, towards a new life. Wearily, Grace finally smiled.