Eleanor still found herself full of questions. "A-Aunt Gracie, how did I get here? If I came out of the Vita-Chamber… does that not mean I died? What of my mother?"

"Honey you're askin a lot of questions that I don't have answers to. Last time I heard you were in Persephone with your mother. I can't help you dear but I do know somebody that can. I have to confess the moment I saw you again I had the feelin you were goin to leave again. I just didn't think it be this soon. Here take this."

Gracie picked up the old backpack and handed it to Eleanor. The girl opened it up to find several wrapped portions of food and small amount of cash.

"If you spread it out it should be enough food for a couple days. And don't worry about the money. I was saving it for a rainy day but after seeing you in good health, well let's say that I won't be having rain for a long time."

Eleanor didn't know what to say but she did know what to do. She reached out and hugged Gracie. The old woman returned the hug she thought she would never feel again. The joy of the moment brought tears to her eyes.

"I had promised myself I wouldn't cry. Seems even at my age I still have things to learn."

With all her might Eleanor tried to remember this wonderful person. She knew somewhere deep down that this person was special to her. But as she tore through her mind she felt something pulsating. The pressure became pain, excruciating pain. The sudden sensation almost made her loss consciousness. Gracie felt something was wrong and helped the girl to the bed.

"Baby, honey what's wrong," Gracie stared into Eleanor's eyes. The one thing that stuck out was that her pupils were uneven.

Unable to reply, Eleanor sat shivering on the edge of the bed. Her head felt as if it was going to explode. A second later the pain subsided but now her nose was running. She wiped her nose to find blood covering her fingers.

"Your nose is bleeding," gasped Gracie. "No-no. That good-for-nothing Doc Johnson must of missed something. I'll go get his lazy ass back here but you stay put. Ya hear?"

But before Gracie could hustle out the door Eleanor grabbed her shoulder.

"I remember," exclaimed Eleanor.

"That's fine and all but you need help."

"No," Eleanor replied. She took hold of Gracie's hand and cupped it to her face. "I remember this. I finally remember you Aunt Gracie. And I am not leaving you."

Gracie pulled the girl in and hugged her with all her might. "My sweet Eleanor. That's just fine. We'll go see Doc Johnson together."

The two exited through the door to the apartment together and walked down the flight of stairs of the hotel where Gracie had been staying. At the bottom, a crowd of people waited for their arrival. In the front of the crowd stood Doc Johnson. Gracie rushed forward to meet him.

"Good news everyone, my Eleanor had her memory returned. Oh but doc you need to check her out again. Her nose was bleeding something awful a second ago."

"I'm sorry Gracie," Doc Johnson stated.

"No its okay dear but you need to," Gracie said before Doc Johnson grabbed her wrists.

"No, you don't understand. We are here for Eleanor."

At that moment everybody in the crowd retrieved their concealed weapons and pointed them in Eleanor's direction.

Gracie struggled in Doc Johnson's grasp. "Do you mean to…"

"She's got ADAM, Gracie," the doctor roared. "Her bloods intoxicated with the stuff. It runs rich in her veins. Normally the temptation wouldn't even cross our minds. We're good folk and you know it but… But times are changing. Lamb is falling with nobody to in her stead and a man's got to protect his family as well as himself."

Several heads nodded in unison of their approval. Gracie stood where she was dumbstruck at their audacity. These people were her friends and family. The severe blow felt like a stab in the back.

"If our community is to live to see tomorrow then we need ADAM to survive. Our wives cannot make a home in peace and our children won't grow up in fear. And your Eleanor is the only way we can have a fighting chance. I'm sorry Gracie. I hope someday you forgive me. Eleanor, I haven't known you for a long time but I do know how special you are to Gracie here. If you come quietly I can make it painless but if you resist… well I think you know what will happen. So for Gracie's sake please do the right thing."

"The right thing," fumed Gracie. "You speak of doin the right thing. My baby is sick and you want to finish her off for the greater good? You people make me sick."

Several voices were raised throughout the crowd as it grew agitated. They banged their weapons crying for Eleanor's head while she stood there, at the top of the stairs, steaming herself.

"Let go of my Aunt Gracie," Eleanor screamed. The crowd hushed as the girl's voice screeched throughout the old hotel. "You people are no better than the common splicer!"

"It's for our children," a mother in the crowd cried out. Several heads nodded in agreement.

"It has always been for some virtue that makes the common folk turn to splicing. But it warps their mind and they become addicts to ADAM. Enough isn't enough and people splice more and more. And if you people have fallen this low as to hurt someone as close to you all as my Aunt Gracie, then there is no hope for you."

The crowd fell silent for a brief moment. Then a man stepped forward with a pistol in his hand.

"Miss, my name is Fred Tumble. Now I don't know you and you don't know me but I do know Mrs. Holloway over here. She's a good person and I think you are too but a fact is a fact. We need ADAM to survive this world and you've got it. Now I'm a father of two boys and I'd splice without a doubt if it meant they would live. And may god strike me down if I ever betray them. But if splicing makes me a terrible person," the man sighed as he leveled his pistol on Eleanor. "Then so be it."

As the man pulled the trigger, Gracie tugged out of Doc Johnson's hands and into the path of the bullet. Eleanor screamed as she leapt towards her long lost aunt. The doctor also realized what Gracie was trying to do and tried to pull her back but it was too late.

(Bang)

The hammer struck the casing of the round causing the explosion that sent the bullet speeding towards Gracie. The round pierced just to the left of her sternum and exited from her mid waist. The woman crumpled into Eleanor's arms with Doc Johnson still holding her. As Gracie tried to breath she gasped in agony from the pain of her collapsed lung. Eleanor started wailing out loud. She wished this had never happened. She wished she was somewhere else.

(Poof)

Both Doc Johnson, Aunt Gracie, and Eleanor disappeared into thin air leaving behind only red petals. The crowd stood silent as statues. Everyone wondered where they had gone. Then the man named Fred Tumble dropped the pistol on the floor, the barrel still smoking. He clutched his head and wailed. The disturbing sounds could be heard throughout Pauper's drop.