It's the waiting, she realized. Grace had cleaned her entire house for tenth time. It had been at least over two weeks since her little girl had left. Having worried the entire time, Grace had obtained a gray hair for each day Eleanor had been gone.
To keep herself from fretting too much she had decided to clean her small house. Even the second floor was immaculate which was a real pain given the fact that Grace's knees were not what they use to be. But she cleaned the house top to bottom and when she finished she cleaned again. Cleaning and fretting seemed to be what she did best. In fact she had just finished dusting Eleanor's room. Darn that girl for not contacting me, she continued.
As Grace left the room a yellow light peered from inside the window barley escaping the woman's notice. The light flashed left and right then dropped past the window sill.
Meanwhile Grace was making her way past to the kitchen. She had put the pot on for some tea and it was due to boil any moment. The moment she entered the room the tea pot began whistling full tilt. Grace mentally patted herself on the back. She had always been good at timing the pot. Having put her walking stick aside, she set out a cup for herself and grabbed an old tin full of tea bags. Two tea bags dropped into the cup closely followed by steaming water. Grace stirred the contents until the water turned crimson red. Grace lifted the tea bags out and set them on the counter.
(Meow)
A familiar face jumped up on the counter next to the old woman. Having been startle, Grace recovered quickly clutching her chest. "Nemo, you little rascal," Grace chastised then scratched his ears. "You nearly gave me a heart attack. Oh fine play with the them." She chuckled quietly.
Nemo, her little kitten, loved to play with the tea bags the second Grace lifted them out of her cup. At first she had been worried the kitten would burn his paws but the little guy was fine. She scratched his ears while he busied himself batting one of the tea bags.
Grace pleasantly shook her head and picked up her cup putting it too her lips. To her taste buds it seemed like pure bliss was washing over them. Black-cherry tea, it was her favorite and most coveted tea. The old tin, which she had brought from the surface, carried only a few more… to her dismay.
Grace allowed herself a third sip then put the cup down just as a loud knock echoed throughout the house. Nemo skidded sideways, his fur on end, and hissed furiously.
"Oh Nemo be nice," Grace replied grabbing her walking stick. As she grew closer to the door the knocking grew heavier hastening her steps. "I'm comin. I'm comin already. No need to break the door on account of…"
Grace, having opened the door, nearly had whoever was knocking fall onto her but the person was held back by some unseen force.
"Jacob," she gasped.
Jacob was one of her neighbors who lived a couple houses over. Living by himself, he was always out of his house tending his small garden. The garden mostly was made up of vegetables that did not need vast amounts of sun light and what little they did need he would provide by using a special lamp he had bought back before the splicer uprising. He was always kind and would share his produce with Grace.
But Grace could tell something dreadful had happened to the man. He was very pale and was clutching his stomach with one hand while the other was weirdly propped skyward like he was still knocking. The man was moaning and looked like he should have passed out minutes ago.
"Mr. Jacob what on earth happened?" She reached for the hand clutching his stomach and gingerly pulled it away to reveal soggy, red blood soaking through his shirt just below his sternum.
Grace gaped at the oozing wound. "Heaven help us."
Just as she was about to rush the dying man into the house his upraised arm suddenly dropped allowing the rest of the body to slump to the ground.
The old woman looked in horror as Jacob's arm slid off a shiny metal tube that had been propping his arm and body aloft. The yellow light from the Big Sister's helmet turned red just as the dying man's body came to rest between her and Grace.
Grace stood still, her mouth slightly agape, as her mind struggled to process what had just happened. Her hand shook as she unknowingly white knuckled the knob of her cane. The Big Sister drew her hands back and inhaled. She screamed. Like nails on a chalk board. Like unfettered hatred and years of frustration audibly unleashed.
It shook Grace's soul. It shook her back to her senses. "monster," she whispered quietly under the din. "Monster," she screamed in reply. Her hands held her cane firmly and she swung it with all the might she could muster. The thick knob of her cane connected with the Big Sister's porthole shattering it.
The Big Sister fell backward and screamed again but this time in agony. Her face, cut up by the glass, mended quickly but healed over the shards. The deformed girl tried to rub her face but the helmet would not allow her too. She thrashed around wildly with fire surging from her finger tips. This time Grace was the one to fall backwards while trying to escape the flames that lapped around her.
As the girl got to her feet Grace saw the Big Sister's eyes: they bled cold hatred, vengeance, and murder. She took one step toward Grace when another Big Sister appeared behind the first. The second Big sister drove the first to her knees with ease. It took a moment to stare at Grace then plunged its large syringe down the first Big Sister's spine. The girl thrashed as her body tried to repair itself but to no avail for she no longer had Adam.
The Big Sister extracted her syringe letting the corpse fall beside Jacob's now dead body. Meanwhile Grace was struggling to get back to her feet when she felt something hit the back of her head knocking her out. Her last conscious thoughts were to warn Eleanor.
The Big Sister bent over to lift Grace's unconscious body and found a little kitten rubbing the old woman's head with his own. The girl slowly reached out to pet the little kitten but when Nemo noticed he hissed and sank his teeth into one of her gloved fingers. The kitten ran up the stairs and hid in the bedroom. The Big Sister picked up Grace's body and, after taking another look towards the house, disappeared.
