Chapter 8 - Lost And Found

Grace POV - I froze. What was I meant to do? I couldn't tell Her that Wheatley was here. She would kill him. But if I didn't, She would hurt me, maybe even kill me. Finally, I decided to risk myself. Wheatley and his girl were more important than me. They would know how to defeat Her. How to kill Her. Me, well, I'm just a worthless little teenager with no significance in the world apart from being one of many teenage girls.

"Still debating whether to tell me the truth or not are we?" Her voice cut through my thoughts, like a knife cutting through a piece of flesh. "Maybe I can make up your mind for you?" I knew I should have moved, should have run, but my feet were glued to the floor in fear. Unmoving. Inanimate.

*WHAM*

The impact of the claw hitting my face sent me flying across the room once again. But it didn't hurt. There was no pain. Only terror. I was defenceless. I could do nothing to save myself.

"Now will you tell me?" Her voice was getting more evil to my ears. My bleeding, lifeless body rested limply on the ground.

"No," I managed to gasp through the immense pain that my brian was now registering. Feeling was returning to me. I was able to speak. Able to move. I could feel warm liquid trickling down the side of my face. Blood. Suddenly I felt something make contact with my chest. Something sharp.

Wheatley POV - I raced along my management rail towards the sound. Please, I begged fate. A white object flew through the air in front of me. But it wasn't a white object. It was her. I had found her. My girl. My test subject. My friend. As she saw me, a look of recognition entered her eyes. Then a mixture of surprise and relief spread across her face.

"Come on," I called to her. "I can get us out of here. Come ON!" She finally seemed to realise what I wanted her to do and made her way across the test chamber to reach me. "Follow me," I said, to reenforce what I wanted her to do. She was just as I remembered in her white tank top with 'Aperture' written across the front. Her brown hair was tied back in a ponytail, as always, and her orange trousers hadn't changed. I started along my management rail towards the nearest lift. Once or twice along the way I had to hack a door to open it (smash it through) but eventually we arrived at the lift. All the time I had been filling her in on the situation with Grace and Tammy and how I had got out of space. She looked shocked in some places but now she just looked worried. Probably for Grace's safety, as she knew how dangerous GLaDOS could be. We entered the lift and she pressed the button marked '-2' with her lovely, delicate looking finger. Of course she was anything but delicate, having survived in Aperture all these years. The lift started traveling upwards. It felt so slow, but that was probably because we were in a hurry. She had taken me down from my management rail and was now holding me. So far, everything had gone as planned.

Grace POV - I knew what had hit me, and I knew what it had done. The blade of the knife had cut through my chest and made contact with my heart. In that moment I knew I would never see the light of day again. And now here I am, in this moment of unstoppable death. I remember my short life. I remember my dad taking me to the top of a hill near where we live, and showing me the stars. He said that you couldn't really see them properly because of light pollution, but at the age of only 7 years, I thought it was the most beautiful sight on earth. I remember my mother taking me shopping on my 13th birthday, showing me lovely dresses and skinny jeans, telling me I could have whatever I wanted, because I would never turn into a teenager again. I remember all the christmases and birthdays I spent with my family, in my Grandma's little house in the trees. I remember the songs and the presents and the food. And finally I remember Tammy. The most amazing, kind, perfect friend anyone could wish for. I think how we told her to stay behind, and how much I thank God that she did. I couldn't bear it of she died for this. In this place. And I wish I could have spent more time with her. Now I am brought back to the horrible reality that I am living now. There is no pain. No terror. I feel peaceful. I am sinking through the water of the ocean, my favourite thing I ever visited. Orcas and dolphins and fish are swimming around me, all at peace in the perfect place to which I am traveling. I hit the bottom and the light begins to fade. Through all this I hear a voice.

"Grace," it shouts, desperation filling it. And then darkness devours me, and I am at peace.

Wheatley POV - We reached Her layer only about 5 minutes after the lift started ascending, but when we reached it, I knew we were too late. Grace was lying, motionless on the floor, in a pool of blood, a giant blade piercing her heart. She wasn't breathing. I wanted to go to her. To save her. But my girl was still holding me, and I couldn't go anywhere.

"Grace," I shouted, desperation filling my voice. It was my fault she was dead. She had come here to help me. If it hadn't been for me she would have still been alive. But GLaDOS had heard me. She spun round to face us, her yellow optic meeting perfectly with my blue one. "Run," I said to the girl. And she did. Towards the lift, as fast as her tired legs would carry her. We reached the lift and she turned around to look at GLaDOS through the glass. It was only then that I realised GLaDOS had been trying to kill us. A lifeless claw lay by the entrance to the glass lift and She was shouting after us.

"One day I will get my little test subject back," She shouted evilly. And then my test subject pressed the '0' button and we were ascending once again.