Reborn [BioShock]

3: A Bullet in the Head

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"Artemis Suites," I muttered to myself.

"What was that?" Mr. Ward asked.

I glanced back towards the sign that hung above the arched doorway. It read ARTEMIS SUITES in neon blue, and an illuminated coral v-shape jutted out from behind it. The wreckage of a train-like capsule was crashed against the pillar that held up the sign and ceiling, fire spitting out from inside.

Mr. Ward followed my gaze and chuckled. "Yeah, where I used to live. Guess you did, too, seeing as I found you there."

"I honestly don't really remember it," I mumbled, looking down at my foot.

"That makes a hell of a lot of sense. Wasn't really that memorable, but I guess it was just a pigpen compared to where all the wolves lived, and getting there was pretty damn impossible."

I was intrigued. Pigpen. Wolves. I supposed I was a pig in the situation. "Sounds interesting."

"Doesn't it." He looked back towards the sign, and his scars were highlighted in the neon glow. "It's all thanks to that son of a bitch Ryan and his promises. If anything, this city owns me." Douglas glanced over at me, his face furrowed irritably. "Ah, never mind. You don't need to know about all that, kid." And he left the conversation there, as I wondered about these pigs and wolves and this man Ryan's promises.

Looking up, I could see that we were now in a massive train station. The walls that curved high over our heads were glass, supported by thick iron beams with columns running down to the floor, so I could see the ocean wafting and all the stagnant buildings looming around ours. The hall was, of course, dimly lit, but an odd glow was emitted from the green sea depths and pooled up on the bloodied tile floor.

Mr. Ward looked at me as I was staring up into the ocean above us. "Welcome to Apollo Square," he muttered. "Now, we've just gotta ride the Metro over to the Welcome Center and take the main bathysphere up to the surface. Should be easy. The Metro feeds out just over there and I've got the key."

"Huh," I breathed, curious. I've missed a lot of this city.

We continued walking, and as we passed one of the pillars that held up the ceiling, I glanced back at it curiously. The pillar was feathered in missing people signs from floor to as high as possible to reach, and I noticed just how many people had been unaccounted for in this place.

That made me wonder something, which made me ask a question. "Mr. Ward, why are you helping me?

That question seemed to startle him, and he stopped, turned around, and glared at me with cold eyes.

"First of all, my name is Douglas. Remember that."

I was startled even more so, and wondered about why he was so harsh all of a sudden. What a strange reaction, I thought to myself.

"And second," he continued, just as a chorus of piercing shrieks echoed out from behind me. He took out his handgun and shot twice in that direction, but the noise continued.

Douglas turned towards them, glaring and firing off several shots. They were far too fast for his excellent aim, which was shocking, to say the least. I watched as they leapt clear over my head.

They both were horrifically burnt, one without an entire hand. A large kitchen knife was strapped to her wrist in its place. Their expensive-looking velvet dresses were ruined, tattered and drenched with blood, and their hands pulsated with a burning red glow as they squealed and laughed at us.

Douglas growled. "Damn splicers."

The two splicers began to circle around me, faster than Douglas could catch up with. He had begun to materialise behind them, attempting a punch or a shot before they quickly got away, giggling playfully.

They shrieked in delight at his attempts to catch them. "Hehehe! You gotta try better than that, cutie!" one squealed, obviously enjoying it.

The one-handed splicer leapt onto the side of a column and launched herself off, slicing the air furiously as she landed on the floor right where Douglas had been standing a second before.

They continued on like this, the two splicers teasing and racing around us, sometimes grabbing Douglas by the neck or arm. He would disappear and reappear a few metres away.

Contact happened only a couple of times. where one cut into Douglas' forearm with a sweep of her knife. He also shot the other in the knee once, apparently to no prevail because the only signs of injury she showed was a bead of blood dripping crookedly down her leg.

Suddenly, his hands lit up blue, and lightning formed on his fingertips. The lightning flamed up and shoot out at the splicers, and they would narrowly escape before screaming with equal parts fright and thrill. The splicers had that same power, but their hands would shoot out plumes of fire and the flames would lick at Douglas' heels.

Douglas even started to sweat, breathing heavier. Eventually, his blue hands began to flicker and fade, and he looked faintly beaten as one of the splicers knocked him to the floor with the blunt of her severed arm. She placed one foot firmly on his chest and a hand on his wrist, pinning him down.

Out of fear, I gradually receded into the shadows behind me. My heart thudded against my chest and dark hair blew across my watering eyes as I watched Douglas suddenly fail to protect me, let alone himself.

All of a sudden, I was hoisted up into the air by an arm clenched around my neck. A shrill voice giggled in my ear.

I felt the nose of a gun being pointed at my head.

Douglas looked up to where I was being held captive and began to reach for his handgun. The splicer who held him down laughed and slammed her other foot down on his wrist, holding it down to the floor as he writhed around. She glared at him, with a look that supposedly read something along the lines of "Don't you dare."

I watched as a handful of hunched shadows formed towards the end of the terminal. Their arms glowed and buzzed faintly as they glared at me, drooling and coughing. The terror rose in my throat as I realised what they wanted behind those hungry, inhuman eyes.

The splicer who had lifted me into the air with a machine gun lodged into the side of my head let out a laugh that sounded more like a sick hyena than a woman.

She looked towards Douglas' heaving body and hissed, "Hey sexy." His brows furrowed and he tried again to retrieve another gun, but the other splicer dug her heel into his wrist even more, drips of blood squeezing out.

"Oh no no no no! You won't be needing that." She seemed to be smiling as she looked at me, redirecting the crowd's aim and Douglas' eyes.

The splicer who was currently suffocating me cleared her throat, tucking away the gun. "Ladies and gentlemen," she began, addressing the crowd. "This one here is quite a beauty. Blue eyes like the sky, lovely, long black hair, even comes with a pretty little dress! Isn't it just a doll?"

I looked down at the nodding heads, mortified.

"Now, this little treasure is in less-than-mint condition, as you can see," she motioned towards my leg, "but don't y'all worry! We're gonna clean it up, nice and pretty."

The crowd stirred with anticipation.

"Starting price," she squealed as she looked towards Douglas. He gave a defiant look that vanished with her next statement.

"His head."

I watched fearfully as his eyes dilated in horror.

He and I realised that he wouldn't be shooting his way out of this one. No, I could see that he felt oddly helpless, and I silently pleaded for him to come to my rescue without response.

He just stared into my eyes with a kind of apology that made me feel worse with the swelling fear inside of me, and a tear slid down his reddish cheek as he shook his head.

I'm sorry.

The next thing I saw was sudden darkness as a male scream split the air.