Taylor stared at her bleeding father. Her lungs hurt from how hard she screamed. Her arms thrashed and her legs kicked at the giant holding her but she might as well have been a bookbag for how much she did to the hulking thing.
The monster had to be nearly a foot taller than her dad and it's head was bigger than she was even though her mom said she was tall for a five year old. It had what seemed like a thousand glowing eyes all bright crimson red.
Her father laid in the car bleeding and reaching out to her. His face looked like it had been caved inward and his clothes were covered in so so much blood. Taylor screamed and tears blotted out the sight for just a moment before she blinked them away to see once more.
She continued to scream even as she was dragged into the water and into the odd bubble like structure. As it descended and she prayed for her dad to save her, her mind not processing that he could somehow die or not be able to save her.
It would be the last time she would see the sun for over a decade.
oOo
The sound of yelling woke her up. Her eyes itched from dried tears. Scraping away the tears she looked around the small room. Filthy was the word to describe it. Two mattresses thrown to the ground provided bedding and a leaning chair was the only other thing in the room. Her head ached and she pushed herself off the mattress she laid upon to listen closer to the yelling. Standing didn't improve the quality of the room and now she could see the wallpaper peeling. She pressed her head to the stained wooden door to listen to the continuous yelling and stomping.
"...Thinking you dumb bastard?! You were supposed to go to the surface and look around, not mur…" The first voice trailed off as the sound of stomping filled her ears causing Taylor to recoil back. Gathering up her courage she leaned forward once again.
"What are we going to do with the child?" Another voice asks, a woman, who sounded a bit older than Taylor's mom.
The first voice answered calmer this time, seemingly not angry at the woman. "Might as well get some use out of her. She's the right age, might as well get an extra little sister." The voice said and things got quiet for a time no matter how hard Taylor strained her ears. Realizing she needed to get out of here she hid in a corner and waited. It wasn't long before Taylor heard footsteps.
The door opened and a short bald man entered looking at the mattress in some confusion. As he took a step closer to it Taylor ran as fast as her legs could carry her and scrambled her way to the door.
She passed the threshold and saw a pair of adults staring at her. She ignored them and ran for a far door. She knew she could escape. She knew she could. She made it 8 steps before she was grabbed and lifted up into the air. She screamed from the top of her lungs until she couldn't scream any longer.
OoO
Taylor sat with the other girls on the cold bench feeling nervous and looked at the heavy doors at the end of the hallway. The ugly dress she wore was identical to the other's. It looked like something her Gran's old dolls would wear.
The grown ups in charge kept saying her parents were both dead but she knew her mom was still alive. Her dad… she didn't like thinking about that. She bit on her finger once again cringing from how close she bit on the wick of her nail.
They had been told they were here for an important purpose. To save the city. She didn't know what city they spoke about. She had tried to escape three more times after her first attempt. The first two saw her being deprived of meals until she behaved. The third had her delivered here without comment.
She didn't know what happened once one of the orphans passed through the doors but she knew she hadn't seen any come back. Still could it be worse than the orphanage? The ratty moldy bed's, the spoiled food, the angry adults. She would be glad to leave that place. This place, despite its ominous look, seemed nicer. Everything was cleaner, brighter, and a song played. There were other girls here playing and everything seemed newer and more kept.
"Next group." The doctor called from the now open door, sounding annoyed. She and the others rose at varying speeds but they all walked into the room. Multiple beds were arranged with strange tools hanging above. It looked like some ancient hospital room, like the one her dad had been in when he broke his leg. Taylor wasn't sick so she hoped this was just some checkup.
The girls were directed to lay on the beds which they did. Once on the bed Taylor's eyes widened at the strange little fish bowl beside the bed she had picked. A glowing slug latched onto the inside of the bowl and she peered closer at it as it pulsed a bright blue. Her dry lips cracked apart for a small grin to be allowed through. That was so cool! Maybe she could keep the slug as a pet?
Her screams would last hours.
oOo
Taylor stood in line with the others not moving an inch. Her face itched from the thick white makeup that concealed most of its details. But it was important. Sometimes evil people would try to steal the Little sisters away. The makeup meant no one could see who they were.
She longed to scratch it or move or look around or do anything. But that wouldn't be part of the Rules.
Little Sisters were supposed to be good and do as they were directed.
The sign was red and red meant stop, green meant to go and these were rules all little girls know.
The mantra repeated in her head as she stared ahead. When they were good they could play. Her eyes felt so heavy. How long had it been since she had slept? The beds were soft but the music that played in her home was so loud she couldn't sleep. The words that were repeated to her made her eyelids feel heavy and everything more dull.
She clenched her hand together for a moment. It wasn't the right color yet but it was getting there. Soon it would be a pretty gray instead of the ugly color it was now. Her fingers were the right color though which made her happy.
Everything around her seemed like it was in a thick bright haze. The girl's beside her swayed as the sign switched to green and they all walked their eyes just as hazy and dull as hers. It felt good to be in the group.
She had friends, Eleanor, Suzy, and Cindy all liked to play and giggle and do the games that made them better and follow the rules together.
She had had another friend once.
She wasn't allowed to remember names from before but there weren't rules against remembering how people looked. Her friend from before had had such red hair. Her head hurt as she tried to think about anything but the rules. The rules were important. The rules had to be followed. She would be Bad if she broke the rules.
OoO
It had been a good day when her voice had gotten right. When it gained the nice heavenly echo all the Little Sisters got when they were good. It meant she was close to being ready. The day her eyes turned right had been a fantastic day. Her eyes, once… once… once some other color she didn't remember, were now the glowing yellow of a light bulb. She felt so happy the way they glowed and showed she made ADAM. That perfect material that was so important for something that made Uncle Andrew happy.
She stared up at Mr. Bubbles as she dragged his hand to where she could smell the angel. "Come on Mr. Bubbles! If you don't stop being a slowpoke the ADAM will be gone!" She said exasperated that her Big Daddy wouldn't speed up. She gave up and began to skip as she glanced all around at the gold and silk curtains, she couldn't remember but she was fairly certain the Place Before Rapture hadn't been this nice or fancy.
Seeing the angel she grinned and ran to it. It looked so amazing in the bed of roses it slept on. Silly angel flowers weren't a bed! She giggled to herself as she stabbed it with the needle and watched the rich ADAM blood drain away. She looked up and smiled broadly as she saw more angels waiting just for her. She couldn't think of anywhere she'd rather be.
oOo
Taylor shivered in the dark. Her fellow sisters were somewhere but she didn't care. She just wanted to hit something, to break something. Her hands ached, her head ached. Everything ached. She looked up from the corner she had slept in, for one moment the room was bright and glittery, silk curtains on a window, an angel laying on a purple coach. In another moment it was a filthy dark room. A horrible corpse laid in a ruined chair, its face looking like it was melted.
She squeezed her hands open and closed and felt sick. Why was this happening? She had been a good girl. She had gathered all the ADAM she could. Even after Mr. Bubbles had fallen asleep she had still done her job. What rule had she broken? She crawled from the corner as she smelled a Mr. Bubbles nearby.
A fucking bastard shit liar she would rip limb from damn limb! She gasped at the horrible thought and shook her head unsure why she was so mad. Big Daddies were heroic knights who had shining armor and made sure she was safe! She promised herself to make a nice drawing for the big daddy as an apology.
She approached it and saw it had another little sister who smiled up at Taylor. Taylor realized just how much taller she was than her sister.
OoO
Her head pounded and she screamed into the air. The fucker had deserved it! She needed ADAM, he had it in him. It wasn't her fault there were no angels near. He had stunk of ADAM. Why couldn't she make him an angel? Her teeth felt slick from where she had pulled the ADAM from the angel. She chewed and nawed and clawed at the flesh until she was certain there was no ADAM remaining.
The nice lady had promised to help her. She would make things right. She'd make her limbs not hurt so much, not twist and rip with a single wrong step. Her legs wouldn't go pop when she skipped. She pushed at the bracelets on her wrists that kept her in the chair trying to remind herself of that.
She had been here for hours. At first it was simple games, like back when she hadn't been right and hadn't been a little sister. She wasn't supposed to think about those before times, it used to make her head hurt to do so. It didn't hurt so much now.
She glanced at one of the many mirrors and looked at herself. Her once pretty hair with its ribbons had been sheared off and her eyes were a dull angry red glow compared to the perfect yellow glow they once were.
She forced herself to think happy thoughts and soon they went back to the right color.. Her limbs looked like a little sister had drawn her, too long and too skinny.
The games had been simple but nice. Then it was a doctor's visit. She had hoped it was Papa Suchong but it was some new man. He had made her hurt with his knives and scissors. "To survey the changes" he had said and she had stared blankly at him not sure what any of that meant. Most of the scars had healed within minutes. Leaving her with the one on her stomach from when she had been made a little sister, and a new one right beneath it and a long thick white scar on her arm where the doctor had wanted to look at her muscle.
She had tried to be good but by the time he cut her arm open she had used her ADAM to set part of the room on fire. He had stopped hurting her soon after.
oOo
The braces felt good. She could dance and skip and run and spin. Her legs and hands didn't hurt so much now. She could lift her Little Sister in the air and spin her around and never worry about breaking her bones or shredding her muscles. The thick suit and armor felt even better. She was like a big daddy in a way. She liked protecting her Little Sister, and the weight of the cage on her back made her smile.
The girl, Rosie was the name Taylor called her because she hadn't had a name before, would laugh and sing and do all the things Taylor had done with her big daddy. Taylor wasn't sure where Rosie had come from. Taylor had gone to the ugly surface at night with her other sisters and rescued the little sisters to be. They were always so afraid at first but soon would be gray and happy and searching for angels. She had never seen Rosie on those rescue trips. She had just appeared one day when Taylor had been tested.
She had been told the Little Sister was hers. She wouldn't have any other Little Sister, just this one.
The night was growing late as Rosie found her way back to Taylor after a day of collecting ADAM. Taylor had watched her the entire time hidden high above in the darkness. Several splicers lay dead now. She knew enough to know the perfect Rapture wasn't for her anymore. She knew it had been a fable. But she would still be good and protect Rosie.
Lifting the girl up as she skipped to her and depositing her into the cage filled with ribbons and toys and drawings she leapt into the air and ran through the empty halls letting out a screech of warning to any that would approach her.
OoO
Taylor sat down with Rosie and picked up the soggy book she had found on the ground. Pulling her helmet off she shook her mangy hair out and placed it on the ground. Rosie leaned up from where she sat on the cage and showed her the drawing of the pair of them holding hands. Taylor smiled at it and opened the book. She glanced over at Rosie. She'd need a haircut soon. Taylor as well. Taylor usually just burned or hacked her own hair off. But she'd try to find a set of scissors for Rosie.
She opened her mouth and began to read. The words were hard to make out and it took her time to sound out all the syllables. "The… beast… said… to the…" She continued on, her hoarse rasping voice sounding like serrated chains dragging on stone. She rarely spoke but she made the effort for Rosie.
When she had read the chapter to Rosie she felt exhausted but she pulled Rosie into her lap and pointed at various letters for Rosie to say them. She wanted to ensure Rosie knew how to read. She knew it would be important to someone but couldn't remember who.
OoO
Her body was bleeding as she fled from the rogue Big Daddy. It had tried to steal Rosie from her. She would die before that. Leaping past a set of splicers she used her powers to set them ablaze before charging on. Rosie stayed silent in the cage where Taylor had added thick blankets and a pillow so she could nap better.
Taylor had to get out of here. Things she should no't have remembered, she did. She remembered faces from before Rapture. Names. Where she had lived, her father who died to the drill of a big daddy, fighting to reach her. Her mama. Who lived. More importantly, she remembered how she arrived. And she knew how to escape.
She didn't care anymore for Rapture, her friends were dead. Eleanor vanished, Suzy killed by splicers, Cindy killed by that Big Daddy she now fled from. Lamb lied and lied and lied. She wanted to hurt Rosie. The surgeries done on Taylor had hurt but she didn't care. But no one would hurt her Little Sister.
oOo
She found her way into the abandoned room. Power flickered in the light. The bathysphere lay inactive as did the complicated machinery used to use it. This one was special. It had taken her from a coast none of the others had been from. It had taken her from home.
OoO
Taylor hated the yellow burning orb. It was angry and bright and made her eyes burn. She shielded her eyes as best she could with her helmet but Rosie had lacked any protection. So they had waited until darkness happened. Taylor leapt over buildings and off light structures and marveled at the lack of water. No roof to worry about hitting, no flooded buildings or dangerous water to come flooding rooms. The darkness above speckled with glittering glows was a wonderful blanket.
She continued to run and leap in the air with Rosie holding on in the cage, her giggles a beautiful sound. She followed half forgotten memories and truly worried she was lost many times. Her body ached for rest. It had been days since she had eaten, her wounds still had yet to heal and her blood dotted her suit. So hungry.
When she came upon the right street she stopped dead and smiled so wide her mouth ached. She pounded her feet across the pavement, the only lights from her ADAM containers and the street lights.
When she came to the right house she banged on the door until the paint started to chip. The door opened and an older version of Taylor stared back at her. She recoiled as she saw the nearly seven foot monster looking down at her. Taylor ripped her helmet off, feeling cold air on her face. The glow of her eyes illuminating her mother.
"I'm home mama."
/\\\
AN: Thanks to BigBadBen for beta reading and brainstorming with me!
Thoughts and criticism are welcome.