(a/n: Enjoy and please review!)
Ch.5: Grace
The train lumbered down the tracks, carrying Delta, Jack, Sinclair, Wally and Artemis to their destination.
As the train carried them along the track, Wally asked Sinclair about Sofia Lamb. "Who was she?" asked the speedster "And why is she out to kill us?"
Sinclair explained, "Sofia was a doctor, a psychologist to be precise. She was brought to Rapture to help the people deal with life down here in the deep dark ocean. When Rapture hit hard times, she began to slowly instill her crazy ideas into her patients."
"What ideas?" asked Artemis.
Sinclair shrugged "Something about unity. Anyway, she gained support with the poor and the lower working class. Eventually she gained a following that Andrew Ryan didn't like. He tried to publicly discredit her in public debates but that only strengthened her following. Eventually, Ryan had me plant a spy in Sofia's camp to keep an eye on her"
"What happened?" asked Jack.
Sinclair shook his head "The spy found something on Sofia and Ryan had her arrested. But she quickly gained a following among the prisoners in Persephone. She could've taken the city but she decided to wait and let Atlas and Ryan kill each other. But now that they're both dead, Sofia is free to run amok and do as she pleases"
"Our bad" apologized Jack.
Sinclair smiled a little than said, "Say what you will about Andrew Ryan but that tyrant is sane compared to Lamb. Sofia Lamb is far worse than Ryan ever was".
Everyone in the train car shivered a little. A person far worse than Andrew Ryan was pretty hard to picture.
The train slowly climbed an incline and crawled out of the seawater. It followed a track towards the next door but suddenly it came to a halt at a grimy, dimly lit station. Sinclair looked out the window and frowned "What in the world?"
Sofia Lamb's voice boomed over the loudspeakers "Attention, Subject Delta and his band of miscreants are now trapped in Pauper's Drop. All railcar travel is suspended until they are found. Remember, our enemy is few and we are the Family, we are many."
Sinclair groaned "Oh no…" "What is it?" asked Wally.
Sinclair turned to Wally "Lamb's tryin' to box us in. This is a goddamn city wide lockdown"
"What do we do?" asked Artemis.
Sinclair paused and he thought for a moment. After a few moments of silence, Sinclair said "To get the train movin' we're going to need to get the security override key from the local governor…Grace Holloway". He then mumbled "She kicked me outta my own hotel, The Sinclair Deluxe" he looked up the other saying "You'll find her there. Go and get that key"
"We're on it" said Artemis.
Artemis, Jack, Wally and Delta disembarked the train. Sinclair stayed with the train and tried to see if he could get the train back up and running.
The four passed through the station and passed through a door.
On the other side of the door, they saw a little sister's vent where several splicers sat around it, placing candles around it. A banner hung above the vent saying "Give yourselves unto her".
The Splicer's bowed their heads towards the vent in worship.
Wally muttered, "Now there's something you don't see every day". The Splicers all turned and they saw the four standing there.
Artemis sighed "Great".
The Splicers snarled at them then attacked.
After defeating the Splicers, the four carried on and entered an enormous area that looked like a small city enclosed in glass and steel.
Scattered around were restaurants, shops and apartment buildings. Jack frowned "I remember this place"
"You do?" said Wally in surprise, glancing at Jack.
Jack nodded "Yeah, this place was my old neighborhood. Mom and I lived here for a few years before I was sent to the surface".
Artemis glanced around the empty buildings and said "No offense, but this place is a dump" "Hence the name, Pauper's drop" said Jack.
Wally spotted Sinclair Deluxe and they made their way over to the hotel. They passed through the lobby and made their way to the stairs but suddenly a new voice came on over the loudspeaker.
The voice was female and sounded old and bitter "I remember you monster. You stole Eleanor from me…twisted that baby girl into a thing that was so sick that it can't even die. And now you come waltzing into my neighborhood looking for me? Wrong turn, tin daddy".
Jack frowned a little "I know that voice". He thought for a moment then he remembered. It was Grace Holloway.
Grace growled "When we hang you from a streetlight and you're choking out your last, I want you to remember my face…"
"Geez" muttered Artemis as she turned to Delta "What did you do to piss her off?" Delta shrugged.
They heard a deep, growling voice snarl "Grace says, piss off you tin shithouse" there was a loud boom followed by a cloud of dust and a rain of debris. Once the cloud of dust vanished, Artemis and the others saw that their way up was blocked.
Sinclair spoke over the radio "I suppose Grace is home. But that big lug just dropped half my damn hotel in your way. You need a genetic research camera"
"Why?" asked Artemis. Sinclair answered, "You could learn a few things from that Splicer. Maybe that could help you get to Grace"
"I got a camera" said Jack, withdrawing his research camera from his pocket. Wally saw that it was the same camera from their first visit to Rapture.
Sinclair said, "You'll need a new one kid. This new one is like a film camera. You can find one in the pawnshop downtown"
"Ok then" said Wally "Downtown it is". The four departed Sinclair Deluxe and went in search of the pawnshop.
After several minutes, they cured a Little Sister they encountered and they managed to break into the pawnshop where they found the camera.
Sinclair spoke as Delta studied the camera in his hands "That thing's a miracle in Technicolor. It works like a film camera, just roll the film before you fight a splicer and anything you hit him with will tell you more about his DNA."
He explained "These things will spit out a prize once and a while but if you capture one of those big brutes on film, than Delta will be able to brush past the debris like nothing".
Delta droned and the four went in search of the brute splicer.
The four searched high and low in Pauper's Drop. They passed by old rundown stores and homes.
They waded through small flooded sections where pipes dripped ocean water. As they passed through a small, grimy market place, they heard a deep voice growling something up ahead.
Carefully, they approached the source of the voice. The four ducked behind cover and they saw a large, muscular Splicer staring out of a wide window.
Sinclair whispered, "There's one of them goons. Roll the camera and let him have it".
Delta droned a little then handed the camera to Jack. Jack took the camera and switched it on.
Jack gave Delta a thumbs up and the Big Daddy attacked the Splicer with Artemis and Wally providing cover fire. The Splicer wrestled with Delta for a bit, growling and punching at the Big Daddy. The Splicer managed to shove Delta back and he charged at the Big Daddy.
Delta armed himself with his drill and rammed it into the Splicer's chest. The Splicer winced in pain then crumpled to the ground.
Delta turned back at Jack and Jack said, "Got it".
Sinclair commended Delta "Nice work sport. Now get back to the Sinclair Deluxe and you can push right on through".
Artemis, Wally, Jack and Delta started making their way back to the Sinclair Deluxe.
On the way back, Sofia Lamb spoke "For Grace, the paradise of Andrew Ryan was most unkind…she spoke out against him in song and he had her blacklisted. It left her penniless"
"Sounds like dad" muttered Jack.
Sofia continued "But in the Family, she has found hope a reason to draw breath. Ask yourself Delta, do you deserve to take it from her?" the radio went silent.
When they reached Sinclair Deluxe, Delta smashed through the wall of debris with his drill and they found the main stairs that led up to the upper floors. Jack looked down and saw scrawled on the floor were the words "Baby Snatcher" in black letters.
Sinclair told them "Grace lived up on the top floor. Go up there and try and get her to give you the key".
Delta droned and he began marching up the stairs.
Artemis, Wally and Jack followed. As they climbed up the stairs, the four fought their way through waves of Splicers. They crisscrossed through dimly lit halls, climbed over walls of sandbags and fought their way up more stairs.
Grace growled over the loudspeaker "Tin daddy is heading up stairs. He wants me to get to Eleanor. Tin daddy feels no pain but we are the family and we will show him how!"
As they got higher and deeper into the hotel, the Splicers fought harder and they swarmed the four relentlessly.
Artemis panted "Just how many more are there?"
Wally shrugged "Who knows".
Grace spoke to Delta on the radio "Blood makes us strangers, monster. But we are all family. We are one people, one cause. You may stop this old heart, this old body but you can't end the family. But as for you, tin daddy, you and your topside friends will die alone".
Jack frowned "What am I, chopped liver?"
On one of the upper floors, Delta battled another brutish Splicer. After ramming his drill through the Splicer's heart, Delta chucked the Splicer's corpse aside and they pressed on.
Artemis, Jack, Wally and Delta climbed a steep incline made from the floor of a room above, which led them to the top floor of Sinclair Deluxe.
Sinclair spoke softly "Grace's room is just ahead. Now she's been sendin' all manner o' unkindness your way, so I'm not sure how you're going to get the key from her. But she's old and this grudge was based on an misunderstandin'."
Delta and the others walked on.
They reached a door at the end of the hall. Delta opened it and inside, they found a modest sized apartment.
There was a descent-sized living room. Off to the side, Jack saw an open doorway. He carefully approached it.
Inside, he saw a small room with pink walls, a bed, and drawings of butterflies scattered around the floor. Jack spotted something on the bed. He walked over to it and he picked it up. It was a small, yellowed photograph.
In the photo, there was a little girl in a white dress and a little boy in brown. Jack noticed some shops behind them. He recognized that the photo had been taken in Fort Frolic before Rapture fell into ruin.
Jack also recognized the boy. It was Jack, when he was younger.
Then it hit him. The girl in the photo was Eleanor.
Jack heard Grace's voice echo around the apartment "We both die tonight monster I, because it is your nature to kill. You, because the family won't let you leave with that key."
Jack placed the photo back on the bed and left to join the others in the main living room.
The four cautiously made their way through the apartment. They passed through a messy bedroom.
Artemis noticed a tape recorder on the bed. She picked it up and pressed play.
Grace spoke, her voice sounded melancholy "Empty house. Only an echo to my name. Eleanor, baby... where are you? I turned my back, and someone took you - it happened so quick. I'm not even a half-momma to you, girl. I couldn't protect you... This poster of Doctor Lamb in my room is staring me down like it knows I'm ashamed... I've always been loyal to your real mother, Eleanor... always trusted her with my secrets. But I lost you - what will the Doctor think of me now?"
Artemis glanced over at the wall and saw a poster of Sofia Lamb. Sofia stared icily at the archer. The archer shivered and muttered "Creepy".
Delta spotted something sticking out of the poster. The big daddy tore the poster apart and found a button on the wall. He pressed it and a bookcase slid aside, revealing a hidden passage. Jack glanced into the passage then to Delta "After you".
Delta entered the passage first, followed by Wally, then Artemis and finally Jack. At the end of the passage, Delta found a door with a window. He wiped away dirt and grime, revealing a small room. In the room, sat Grace Holloway governor of Pauper's Drop. Grace was dressed in a plain orange dress and she was smoking a cigarette.
Grace regarded Delta coldly and said, "I know what you're here for. Go on and take it. I won't have you touchin' me".
Artemis asked, "Why do you hate Delta so much? He hasn't been doing anything bad"
Grace sighed, she placed her cigarette into an ashtray and she got up.
She walked to the window and looked Delta in the eyes saying "Doctor Lamb trusted me to take care of her child…but baby Eleanor disappeared. Then one day, I see her walking with him" she jabbed a finger at Delta "Lookin' wrong and when I tried to hold her, he knocked me down. Broke my jaw"
Jack winced "ow".
Grace glared at Delta "So I'm ready baby snatcher, come on in and finish the job". The door slowly slid open.
Delta marched inside, Wally, Artemis and Jack followed.
Grace glared at Delta and she glanced at Artemis, Wally then Jack. She turned her gaze back to Delta. Delta stared back at Grace. They stared at each other for a few tense moments. Finally, Delta grabbed the key off the table and he left the room without a word. Grace watched as the Big Daddy left.
She looked utterly surprised.
Jack, Wally and Artemis hurried after him. As they left, they heard Grace growl "To hell with you then!"
Sinclair spoke to Delta "You're a bigger man than I am chief. Maybe this will teach Grace to not to point fingers until she has all the facts. Now, come on back and we'll be on our way".
Slowly, the four began making their way down to the ground floor.
As they descended to the lower levels, Grace spoke on the radio "You had me under a gun, yet you walked away? No monster alive turns the other cheek. No monster does that. A thinking man does that"
"He's just full of surprises" said Jack.
Grace chuckled a little then said, "I know that Doctor Lamb is no liar but maybe she's wrong about you. It doesn't seem right now, letting you walk into that bush whack waiting outside." The four froze.
Artemis asked "An Ambush?"
"Yes"-answered Grace. She continued, "I can't call off the Family. But I can whisper a bit and improve your odds".
Delta, Jack, Artemis and Wally reached the lobby.
When they were about to leave, a pair of security bots hovered appeared in the lobby. Grace told them "These two are custom jobs from a friend. They're not much but its all I can do for now"
"Thanks for the help" said Artemis. The four left the hotel.
When they left the lobby, they encountered an ambush but there were fewer Splicers than they expected.
Delta and the others fought their way through Pauper's Drop and they made their way back to the station. As they passed the shrine at the Little Sister's vent,
Grace spoke "Well sir-I don't know what to call you now. You've done more than spare my life. You've opened my eyes. I might put in a few questions to Doctor Lamb"
"That sounds good" said Wally.
At the station, they found Sinclair waiting at the security booth, trying to get the doors open.
When he saw them, he smiled saying, "Got the key?"
Delta handed Sinclair the key. Sinclair accepted the key and he got to work, trying to open the doors with the key.
As Sinclair worked on the doors, Sofia spoke on the radio. Her voice was venomous "By sparing Grace, do you seek to gain my trust? A feeble ruse"
"What ruse?" said Artemis "there isn't any ruse"
Sofia ignored Artemis and continued "Your crocodile tears may have poisoned her with doubt but I am not so easy a mark". The radio went silent.
Artemis looked to Wally saying, "This lady is crazy" "Tell me about it" muttered Sinclair.
After several minutes of tinkering, Sinclair got the key to open the door. He rubbed his hands together saying, "Now we're cooking"
The five boarded the train and the train took off, carrying them onward.
Back at the Sinclair Deluxe, Grace left her private office and went to Eleanor's old room. She sat down on the bed and sighed deeply.
Sofia Lamb was a good friend and she would do anything for her but something didn't sit right with Grace.
Grace looked down at an old photo that sat on the bed. She picked it up and she saw Eleanor when she was a still a child. Before her disappearance and her transformation into a Little Sister.
Next to her was a little boy. Grace remembered him. Eleanor met him at Fort Frolic, when she got lost. She later met him again somewhere else in Pauper's Drop. They became good friends until he mysteriously vanished.
Grace remembered something that Sofia said to her. Something about a young man returning home to Rapture. She thought for a moment about who it was but the only people she could think of where those three newcomers that accompanied Delta.
Grace obviously knew it wasn't the girl and she knew that the red head wasn't either. Something about them screamed topsiders.
But the third, the young man in the grey suit, he was most likely whom Lamb was referring to. There was something about him that was common with everyone in Rapture.
Not only that, he looked very familiar. At first, she thought he was the ghost of a young Andrew Ryan come back to haunt her but when she looked again, he was different then Ryan.
Grace looked down at the picture than she realized that the boy in the photo was the young man who was with Delta.
Her eyes widened in horror. They were on the train heading to Siren Alley. Grace knew what laid in wait for them. Delta and the others were walking into a hornet's nest of trouble.
End of Chapter.
(a/n: I hoped you enjoyed this. Please review!)