15
Medusa's Resort, Rapture
"I thought you didn't know who your mother was?" Jack called rather disinterestedly, walking down the hallway that Holly was standing in. She seemed incredibly impatient, and uncharacteristically excited.
"I didn't," Holly's answer came curt and indignant. "But I do now." She hesitated, glancing down at the roll of newspapers she held in her hands. "At least… I think I do…"
The girl's past was none of Jack's business. He didn't much care about her parents, and he didn't have any desire to learn about them. He knew more than he wanted to about Sander Cohen – One parent seemed to be more than enough. Neither of them were alive, anyways. But Jack figured he'd show her theories some sort of interest. It might be the wisest thing he could do right now – Holly did just maul a man to death…
"What makes you say that?" Jack asked unenthusiastically, stopping by Holly. Before he could even respond, he was being handed the rolled up newspaper, and being directed to look at the part of a photo that was visible on one of the pages.
"I found this." Holly pointed to the woman in the picture, her black-and-white photo slightly bled-out from water damage. It was that Patsy Oswald, again… The woman who was faintly familiar, yet was a complete and total stranger to Jack. "We look incredibly similar, yeah?" Holly prompted expectantly, watching Jack as he stared down at the photo with squinted eyes.
"I guess…" Jack looked to Holly, to the papers, and back. "But you can't just stake it all on the idea that you both have the same cheekbones, or something."
"I'm not." Holly huffed like it was obvious. She walked to the sheet-and-candle covered dresser, gesturing to a mangled piece of paper. "This obituary was left here, too. Patsy Oswald died a year after I was born… That's when my mother left me and father."
"Why wouldn't Sander just tell you that, then?" Jack followed her to the dresser, setting the newspaper down, briefly glancing at the obituary before he looked directly at Holly. "Instead of lying to you?"
"Well, she worked here…" Holly didn't seem to notice – She was too busy looking at the bled-out photo. "Maybe he didn't want me to know about that, so he lied. Maybe abandonment was better than working here."
Jack nodded slowly – It was more of an understanding nod than a nod of agreement. "Sander was more worried about his pride than the truth…" That seemed to be a common trend. "But that doesn't necessarily prove anything. If I were you, I wouldn't go around with the belief that that woman is your mother."
"Why not? Where's the harm?"
"Because your hopes will be built up – And believe me when I say that it's far less painful if there aren't any hopes to be destroyed."
Holly tossed the photo back onto the dresser, where she had picked it up from. "Your experiences don't define mine. Your parents weren't there for you – But mine were, at least, at some point in time." She glared up at him, her green eyes filled with an angry desperation. She pointed to the photo on the dresser. "Father Wales put this stuff here for a reason. He wanted me to see it. That woman is my mother. Until you can prove otherwise, I'm not going to lose the hope that she didn't just abandon me and father. She was killed."
Feeling frustration filling up in his chest, Jack waved his hand to signify that he was done talking. "Holly, believe what you want. I'm not here to tell you what to do."
"You're right – You're not."
Why did he even bother? Holly clearly wasn't going to listen. She had her heart set on finding someone to call 'mother'. Any sort of advice Jack had to give to her was going to be shot out of the air almost immediately. He just wanted to change the subject, now.
Awkwardly, Jack stuck his hands in his pockets, continuing down the hall, which he noticed too late had been blocked off somewhere near the middle. Even with his back turned to her, Jack could feel Holly watching him walk down the hallway. Knowing she was expecting him to say something, Jack stopped walking. "Did you find anything we might be able to use?" He asked, turning to face her as he spoke.
Holly was still watching him. "No." She answered simply. She didn't even bat an eyelash.
"So then this was a giant waste of our time…" Jack sighed irritably, running his fingers through his hair in frustration.
"Did you actually expect it to be anything?"
"I was hoping something, at least, would come out of this." He muttered, hurriedly walking down the hall. "We need to go get those Plasmids of yours – We've wasted enough time, here, as it is…" As he headed for the stairs, he heard the Securis door at the entrance of the building open and close. Jack skidded to a stop, holding his hand out to stop Holly.
She ran into his hand, shoving it angrily out of the way, looking up at Jack with her mouth open to question him. Jack brought his finger up to his lips, and then pointed down. "Someone just joined us…" He whispered cautiously, proceeding towards the railing that overlooked the foyer, peering over it.
A terribly disfigured man had limped into the building, holding his broken top hat as he looked around his surroundings. With a scoff, Jack pulled out his pistol, aiming it at the Spider Splicer.
"My Lord!" The Splicer stopped in the middle of the foyer, loudly calling out with a very thick Dublin accent. He hadn't seen Jack - He was looking around the room. There was a slight nervousness about his movements. He called out again, moving a little further into the room.
"Is that Father Wales…?" Holly had peeked over the banister, looking out at the foyer, alongside Jack. "What's he doing here? I thought he didn't want to 'taint you with his sins'… or something like that." Jack barely heard her utter: "So ridiculous…"
Jack, still uncomfortable from their argument, simply gave a slight shrug of the shoulders. "That's above my pay grade…" He eyed the warped figure standing in the foyer. "… but I don't think he'll be much of a problem." The Father seemed unarmed – Not that that accounted for much.
Nonetheless, Jack straightened his back, leaning slightly over the railing to be seen. "Up here, Father." He announced with a hint of preservation. No need to go off and do anything hasty…
"Ah!" Father Wales' distorted face lit up for a split second before falling into a dismal expression one more. "I must apologize, my Lord… I ne'er had the intention of seeing ye in the flesh. But my connection to ye was cut off."
"Cut off? Why?"
Father Wales hesitated. "Sofia Lamb cut it off. She doesn't believe yer the true messiah – She believes yer an imposter, come to take all the glory."
"Trust me," Jack insisted dryly. "I'm not here to take all the glory."
"I trust ye, my Lord – I believe yer the true messiah of the Rapture Family. I have faith in ye…"
Both Jack and Holly donned a cautiously confused look. "You have faith in me for… what?"
"Sofia Lamb wants to test ye. She wants to see whether or not yer the true messiah, or an imposter. She's… sent some willing members of the Family." Quickly, Father Wales added: "They're willing to die for ye, my Lord, if it helps prove your existence. Most of us believe yer the one who'll clear the path to redemption."
Right. As if Jack needed to be reassured that a flock of crazed fanatics 'believed in him'.
"So what happens now?" Jack didn't at all like where the conversation had gone.
"Ye prove yerself, my Lord. Show the doubters that ye are the one and only." Father Wales gave a slight tip of the hat. "I must leave, my Lord, but I wish ye luck. We will keep ye in our prayers, and wait for the word that we'll be wanting to hear." With that, he started to head out of the foyer, back to the Securis door that he had first limped through.
Jack exchanged a short-lived look with Holly. "Thanks for the heads up, Father…" Jack muttered under his breath. Hurriedly, he headed for the stairs.
"Where are you going?" Holly demanded as she followed him.
"We're leaving before Lamb's goons get here. I don't have any plans of falling into another trap…"
"You can't leave, Jack – You heard Father Wales, didn't you?" Holly stopped halfway down the stairs, waiting until Jack turned to look back at her from the bottom of the stairs. She gave him an annoyed gesture. "The followers of the Rapture Family think you're some sort of messiah. The moment you leave this building – the moment you fail to prove yourself – the Family will see you as an enemy. Besides… where are you planning on going? Everything is blocked off."
As Holly spoke, there was a muffled sound coming from the walls. It sounded like something was moving through the vents. Out of instinct, Jack looked up, searching for the source of the sound. He looked back at Holly. "Looks like we don't have much choice, anyways."
Ingrid Sapphire, sitting in front of a vanity table, looked down at the rewired service radio that sat beside a pearl necklace. She could hear the panic in the Ryan's young companion as she asked where the Splicers were emerging from. The sound of heavy breathing and moaning was heard, and the Ryan let out a yelp of surprise. The Splicers were upon them already.
Quick footsteps were followed up by a question. "Are you OK?" Holly asked breathlessly. She took in a sharp breath. "She got your arm pretty badly…" A tearing sound, and grunts of exertion from Holly. "… Here – Take this. I don't think we'll have much time to bandage up. This'll have to do."
Even as the girl spoke, a blood-curdling cry echoed through the room they were in. Sapphire cringed at the sound.
There were no cameras in the Medusa's Resort. Not anymore, at least. There used to be a few in the foyer, but they short circuited after the building was lit up like a match. Unfortunately, Sapphire would not be able to view what was happening inside the building. She could hear it, and make assumptions based on what was said… but a rewired service radio will only do so much for her.
"Sounds like Sofia Lamb is desperate to get rid of you…" Sapphire murmured to herself as she picked up the pearl necklace. It's not exactly surprising… Anyone who poses a threat to Sofia Lamb's 'perfect utopia' is either isolated from her people, or killed. On a regular basis, Sofia Lamb isn't exactly above the latter.
Loud footsteps echoed. "These goddamn gorillas, again?" Jack spat angrily. "I've had just about enough of these idiots…"
Sapphire calmly clipped the necklace in place, straightening it in the mirror in front of her. She brushed a loose strand of brown hair out of her face, gathering all of it up, twirling it carefully. After clipping it in place on the top of her head, listening to the fight on the other side of the radio, she slipped on her heels, and straightened out her dress.
"I do hope you manage to survive this ordeal, Mr. Ryan…" Sapphire sighed, picking up the radio before exiting her bedroom. "It would be a real shame if you were to die before I could meet you."
She walked down the carpeted hallway, listening to the sounds coming from the other end of the service radio. From the sounds of it, the duo was just barely managing to handle themselves. It also sounded as if Sofia Lamb truly wanted them dead…
Sapphire turned the corner, exiting onto the floor that looked down on the front entrance – a large, tall, black-and-white checkered room – and passed the curving stairs that led down. She entered the door at the end of the floor that overlooked the entrance, emerging into her work-space. She had yet to distribute a new batch of Plasmid for the day. Those who relied on the new Plasmids in order to maintain their sanity were probably getting antsy.
As the door closed behind her, Sapphire heard Jack calling to Holly. He was distant, somewhere else in the room.
"Behind you!"
The last thing that Holly remembered was hearing Jack call out to her. The next thing she realized, she was on her back on the top floor, trying to fend off a bulgy-eyed Splicer who had saliva mixed heavily with blood dripping from his gaping mouth. Holly cried out as she struggled to push the Splicer off, terrified that he would bite her.
A loud snapping noise cut her struggle short.
The Splicer fell to Holly's chest, slumping over. Blood oozed from a hole in the side of his head, staining Holly's dark blue frock a dark purple. Holly took in short, panicked breaths, staring at the Splicer with wide eyes, even as it was pushed off of her.
"Are you alright?" Jack extended a hand to her, gripping his pistol. He was glancing around the room, readying himself for a Splicer to jump at them.
"I'm fine…" Holly took his hand, letting him help her to her feet. She cringed. "Actually… my ankle's messed up."
At that, Jack pulled an ADAM syringe out of his pocket, handing it to her. "Use this. I need your help – We're not done yet."
"Where did you get this…?" Holly frowned, taking the syringe anyways. She wouldn't get very far with a busted ankle.
"It was in one of the Pneumo tubes – Someone sent it to us." Jack explained quickly, reloading his gun. "Are you OK to fight?"
Holly tested her ankle, and nodded. "Sure – But who sent the syringes?"
"I don't know. I just saw the Pneumo's light on, so I took whatever was inside."
"Well, who would've sent it?"
"Let's speculate later, Holly – We're not exactly in the safest situation."
"How many more of them are left?"
"There's a couple of those idiot Brutes. Think you can handle one of them?"
"Of course."
Jack nodded, looking over the railing that they were once leaning calmly against. "They're down in the foyer, waiting for us. I think they're at least smart enough to realize that it's too small of a space, up here, for them to fight in." He placed one hand on the railing, giving Holly one last look. "… Watch yourself, alright?" And then, without warning, he vaulted over the railing.
Holly blinked, shocked that he just jumped down to the second floor, and quickly looked down at the Ryan, expecting to see him lying on the floor in pain.
Instead, he had his palms facing the scorched floor as he fell. The fall seemed much slower than it should have been. The moment he hit the foyer floor, he tucked and rolled, stumbling back onto his feet. Bravely, he ran towards the Brute closest to him. Holly wondered where he learned that trick...
Before the second Brute had the chance to barrel after Jack, Holly tossed the first object she could at him – An old, broken ashtray that was stuck beside one of the large pillars that was on either end of the railing. The ashtray hit the Splicer with surprising accuracy, and his attention was immediately focused on Holly.
"Get your ugly mug up here!" Holly shouted to the Brute, leaning of the railing to be seen clearly.
The Brute's face split into a grin, and he stopped at the bottom of the stairs, glaring up at Holly. "I ain't goin' up there, love – You're just going to have to bring your pretty little face down here…"
Holly scoffed, flicking her hand at the Brute. Several small, sharp shadows shot out at the Splicer, piercing into his skin and through his clothes. The Brute let out a surprised grunt, looking down at himself, and then back up at Holly, who was lightly tapping the pads of her fingers against the palm of her hands in the 'come here' motion. "Come on up here, you ugly creep – Unless you're afraid of a little girl…"
"I ain't afraid of you," The Brute snarled.
"Then get up here fight me like a real man, instead of standing down there like a fucking pansy." Holly smirked, smacking him with shadows once more.
"Fuck you! I ain't a fucking pansy!"
"Standing down there, afraid to fight a girl one-on-one? You look like a chicken-shit pansy."
The Brute bared his teeth, letting out a guttural growl before plowing up the stairs. Holly could hear the stairs creaking and breaking from the strength of the Brute, and the speed at which he moved up the stairs. He howled as he charged at Holly, throwing a meaty fist directly at her. Before his knuckles could make contact with her, Holly disappeared from her spot.
She reappeared behind the Brute, watching as his fist collided with the marble railing. Even though it crumbled, the Splicer let out a bark of pain, clutching his fist to his chest.
Without thinking, Holly took a deep breath, giving herself a moment to muster her strength. She dipped low, her arms pushing against an invisible force. Shadows gathered around the Brute, wrapping around his legs and arms, gathering under his feet. He struggled, spitting out insults at Holly, but she didn't hear much of them. She was concentrating on lifting the hulking man off the ground – And lift him off the ground she did.
The Brute seemed more confused than afraid as he looked down at the floor below him. Holly, sweating and breathing heavily, took a few steps forward, holding the Brute over the side of the railing. With whatever willpower and physical strength she had left, she slammed the Brute down, smashing him into the floor of the foyer with something that was a sick mixture between a 'crunch' and a 'splat'.
It sounded like someone kicked a puddle of slush.
Or perhaps it sounded more like a sopping wet towel had hit the floor.
Jack wasn't entirely sure which description fit the sound the most. He did know that it would be a sound that he might never forget. He knew that one side of his body was sprayed with droplets of blood. He knew that even the Brute in front of him was aware that the thing that slammed into the floor across from them was another Splicer. The knockback affected both Jack and the remaining Brute, though the Brute only took a step back, whereas Jack stumbled back.
"Holy shit…" The Brute breathed, staring down at the bloody, meaty puddle.
Using the opportunity to his advantage, Jack aimed the pistol at the Brute's head, finally able to aim with precision. After three quick shots, the Brute fell backwards, loudly hitting the floor. One extra shot rang through the air – Jack never felt safe leaving those things without make sure that they were actually dead.
"Holly…?" Jack called out, breathing heavily. He wiped blood off of his face, turning around on the spot, looking for Holly. He avoided looking at the remains of the fallen Brute, and especially avoiding thinking about how Holly had managed it. "Holly?" Jack repeated after catching his breath. A flash of worry made him frown. Had she been badly injured?
He headed for the flight of stairs that weren't broken, fearing the worst – Perhaps Holly had been injured right before she managed to off the Brute? Maybe she bled out from something? He needed her alive. Cursing his drastic thoughts, Jack hopped up the stairs.
Jack stopped by one of the large pillars by the railing. "… Holly?" He prompted cautiously. He spotted her, lying on the floor once again. She was on her side, but there didn't appear to be any blood around her. Looks like she passed out, again…
Well… at least she appeared to still be alive.
Carefully, Jack picked her up, draping her legs over his arm, and looping one of her arms around his shoulders. Gripped her tightly, he slowly made his way down the stairs, heading for the entrance of the building. He didn't much care whether or not Sofia Lamb had finished sending in Splicers – He was leaving, and they were going back to that airlock. If Jack needed to hunt down Sofia Lamb and get her to open it, he would – But he was done with Medusa's Resort.
He stopped briefly in front of one of the cameras in the train station, glaring at the little glossy eye. To whoever was watching, it would appear was as if Jack, covered in gore, sweat, soot, and blood, had emerged from the fight a hero. He knew that he had only emerged as a fool, though.
Without saying a word, he turned his back to the camera, and headed into the train.
An Atlantic Express Train Station
Holly was asleep for a long time before she finally woke up.
She walked through one of the doors on the side of the train car, her eyes squinted at the fire, clutching at a dark, stained blanket that Jack had found and draped over her. As she rubbed her eyes, Jack set down an empty can that once held Spam. "How are you feeling?" Jack hadn't heard her wake up. She might have been awake for a while before he actually noticed. He had been busy with the food he'd found, sitting by a makeshift fire pit he had made just outside the train that Holly was in. It wasn't much – just a few pieces of stray wood, surrounded by some loose concrete that came from a crumbled wall. Any heat seemed preferred, though, especially while sitting still for so long. The North Atlantic was not a very warm and comforting place.
The girl took a few moments, sitting down a few feet away from the little fire. She wrapped the blanket a little tighter around herself. "Crummy…" She finally croaked. "… but a little bit better than before, I guess…" She nodded to the unopened can of Spam that sat beside Jack. "Can I have that?"
Without protest, Jack handed the can over, watching Holly curiously. As she opened it, Jack's curiosity got the better of him. He'd been alone with his thoughts for a few hours, now, and there was really only one question on his mind. "Why did you push yourself, so much?" He asked, holding his hand out to offer her help with the can. "During that fight. Whatever you did, you did it a little too well - You took the Brute out, but you hurt yourself in the process."
Holding the can out of his reach, Holly shrugged effortlessly. "I just… was fighting him, and I guess that happened." The can popped open, and she tossed the lid to the side, eating the salty meat from the inside of the can with just her fingers. Without pausing, she mumbled through a mouthful of food: "And I didn't hurt myself – I only tired myself."
"You don't smear a guy across the floor and claim it just 'happened'." Jack pointed out softly – He didn't have enough energy or motivation to start another fight with the girl.
Holly didn't respond for a while. She was staring down at the can of food, eating what she could as quickly as she could."Well, it happened…" She finally muttered, setting the nearly empty can down, wiping her hands off on her frock, and untying one of the bags on her utility belt. "It's not like it matters all that much, anyways." She pulled out a small, thin, cork- stopped vial. "The guy was scum."
Jack had vaguely heard what she said – He had momentarily stopped listening to her defense. He nodded to the vial in her hands. "What's that?"
Holly pulled the cork out, quickly down the smoky-black liquid inside. She puckered her lips, shaking her head quickly, as if she'd just eaten something overly sour. "Shadow Dancer." Her answer came with a slight cough. She put the emptied vial back in the pouch she got it from. "Just something to help get my energy back."
"Shadow Dancer… the Plasmid? You just drink it?"
"It's more of a little pick-me-up, if you drink it after you've already had your genetic code rewritten to the Shadow Dancer Plasmid. Like a shot of adrenaline – Wakes up your senses." Holly pushed the half-empty can back towards Jack, slowly getting to her feet. "Do you mind if we stay here a little longer?"
Jack leaned back against the wall behind him. "If you don't think you can go on without a little more resting up, then we can stay here for a few more hours."
"I think we could both use the rest…" Holly agreed as she climbed back into the train car. She stopped in the doorway of the car, turning back to look at Jack. "… Thanks, by the way." She nodded curtly, as if she wasn't entirely sure if she actually wanted to thank him. "For the help. I just… I—"
For what felt like the hundredth time that day, Jack's radio hissed to life, interrupting Holly.
At first, Jack almost felt annoyed, simply because he expected the person on the other end of the radio to be Father Wales, Sofia Lamb, or even Lady Sapphire again. He picked the radio off his belt, exchanging a look of irritation with Holly, and opened his mouth with the full intention of asking the other person what they wanted now.
He didn't get much of a chance, though, because the person on the other end was eager to speak. With a smooth, southern twang, a suave tone, and a confident voice, the man on the other end spoke. "Oh, good – I finally got through… How are you holdin' up, sport? Everythin' still intact?"
Both Jack and Holly froze. Holly stared at the service radio with wide eyes. She gripped the blanket around her shoulders so tightly that it was turning her knuckles white.
The other end went silent for a handful of seconds, awaiting a response. When he didn't receive one, the man, sounding concerned, prompted "Hello? Anyone there?"
Jack's stare slowly slid over to Holly, who was still glaring at the service radio. He knew that all that was going through their minds was one question. Without doubt, that question was:
How the hell did Wayne Coleman survive?