Ch. 46
Grace Holloway had spent more than half of her adulthood in Rapture. She never told a soul how she found the ship that took all ethnicities below the water's surface and away from the strife and worries of the topside. That was an unspoken rule for all citizens of Rapture. They all escaped their past predicaments to start a new life as they saw fit.
It was here in Rapture that Grace Holloway began her career. Having grown up around her parent's ideals, her songs targeted Rapture's second and lower classes. She decidedly moved to Pauper's Drop, not because it held her target audience, but to be around familiar people who were like her. She found her stage and entered the spot light. Her voice carried hope for the struggling and peace for the weary. Soon every miser and beggar traveled afar to the Limbo Room to hear her sing and count their blessings.
One such troubled soul found her music so moving that he felt almost drawn to her. If not for his timidity he would have approached her a long time ago. Instead the man came to every one of her shows. Grace was no fool and noticed the handsome man that was so devoted to see her singing. When she inquired about the mysterious man the bartender informed her that the man called himself Carver. One night Grace approached him at the bar and offered to buy him a drink. He asked for a shot of their hardest liquor. The man down the shot quickly then replied in a very dry voice that his name was James Carver.
Grace found a close friend in James and soon that friendship blossomed into love. They held a small wedding at the Limbo Room on one of the nights it was randomly closed. Grace Holloway counted these happy days to be second to that of her childhood. Her music even seemed to improve even as the shadows grew throughout Rapture. It was only until she found, like her mother, Grace could not conceive any children that she realized how sinful Rapture had become. The news was like a wake-up call from a very beautiful dream. Her pain and suffering allowed her to see the suffering of Rapture's people. Even her husband James saw it and refused to sit back idly but remained at Graces side because she pleaded with him to not leave. Instead they both wrote songs together. Songs that pinned Andrew Ryan for neglecting his duties and for not maintaining the peace in Rapture. With propaganda in hand Grace Holloway summoned the entire capacity her chest would allow and sang the woes of Rapture. Even after being black-listed by Andrew Ryan the people still listened. While Grace sang, James passed out leaflets to her fans. Beyond his wife's knowledge, the flyers contained instructions to those willing enough to step forward and change what was wrong with their world. And then one night after a show James crawled into bed next to Grace. He kissed her on the forehead.
Grace turned toward him. "What was that for honey?"
"Nothin, just can't believe what a lucky guy I am. You know something? I would go to the ends of the earth for you," he stated entangling his fingers through hers while doing the same with his toes.
"I know baby," she replied kissing him and giggling. She rolled over on top of him and kissed him again. She grasped his hand and held it to her cheek. "I would do the same for you."
James lay with his wife in the bed he had bought for her as a wedding present. It was so soft and comfy that when they first used it on their wedding night all they could do was cuddle before falling asleep. But that night was different. It was the last time Grace fell asleep next to James only to wake up…
"Alone," Grace stated hoarsely. She licked her lips and found her mouth dry. Having noticed a glass of water on the familiar nightstand, Grace grabbed the cup and drank deeply until she was sated. As she drank she felt the familiar pang in her jaw from when it had been broken.
'Broken,' she thought. Grace immediately started choking on what little water was left and spewed it out. Her groggy mind snapped back to the present. She remembered the devil big sister killing one of her neighbors and nothing or at least she did not remember anything else. But why was she dreaming about James at a time like this. Maybe it was this bed, it felt…
"Familiar?" a voice boomed around her.
The voice ended just as abruptly as it had begun but it rang true. The bed was the same but even more, the sheets smelled of her beloved James. The pictures, the bookshelf, nightstand, lamps, even her nightgown were so familiar; too familiar. She got up and grabbed her cane, not the least bit surprised it was there, and made her way to the kitchen and bathroom and found them the same. But when she opened the front door to the small apartment she found a metal door with a tiny slit blocking her path. As she peered through the hole she saw not Pauper's drop but a vast room. In what she gathered was the center of the room was a colossal mess of wires surrounding a computer. Next to the computer was a giant metal ring. But what caught her attention next was the same voice booming throughout the massive place.
"Welcome to Hephaestus Grace Holloway. For your viewing pleasure why don't you go back to your bedroom?"
Grace did not reply but clenched the ball of her cane until the blood rushed out of her fingers. She silently complied and, once in her room, sat at the foot of her bed. Grace inhaled deeply before staring coldly at the screen. "Who are you and where have you taken me and for what purpose."
The voice chuckled mildly. "You know I remember hearing so much of your praise that I actually went to one of your shows. I came in disguise of course. And even if your singing did lack a some-what refined tone you definitely had spirit. You had a spirit that connected to the people, a spirit that could rouse the people. You really left me know choice but to black-list you like so many others who wished to tarnish my name. That said, I always like that no nonsense attitude of yours."
"You… Andrew Ryan? But your dead"
"As so many have wished but it was not to be."
Grace grasped both ends of her cane and held them till her fingers hurt. "So you just decided to waltz out of your watery grave and hurt the people some more? You are a sick man. And you will pay for your sins in this life as well as the next."
Andrew Ryan maliciously laughed for a few moments. "Ah yes, I remember you having such a lively spirit even after being blacklisted. You did eventually stop but I cannot recall why."
