2 Holloway Home - Chapter 2

Grace looked shocked to see me, she must have been hurried to see a teen down in this horror-show of a city. "You alright Grace? You look like you've seen the ghost of Ryan," Conner said, despite his joking words, he didn't sound like he wanted to laugh, "The lad's strong, able to speak pretty clear and walk on two feet," Conner said, patting my shoulder with his large hand, "Heck, he doesn't have a scratch," he added, looking at my arms. "How did you get down here?" she asked, I could hear the seriousness in her tone, it made me scared again, "I-I don't know, I just woke up without my m-memory," I said, "What? You've lost your marbles as well?" Conner asked, I nodded to him before looking at Grace, he looked hurt from my answer. "You lost your memories?" She asked, "I only remember my name and my age ma'am," I said, crossing my arms behind my back. "Well, you've certainly not forgotten your manners," she said, lightening the mood a bit, I couldn't help but crack a smile, "Who are you talking to Grace?" I heard someone asked in her room, she had a British accent to her. "Looks like we have a new guest," Grace hollered inside, he motioned me to come inside and Conner pushed my back and into the room, "See ya around porkchop," he said, waving his hand to me as Grace closed the door.

The apartment was bright and very calm, amber lights illuminated the place, black and white pictures were hung on the walls. "I love the amber lights," I said, they made me feel calmer, "Why thank you," Grace said, grabbing a cane that was next to the door. "Say, what's your name kid?" she asked, putting both her hands on the handle of the cane, "Austin, Austin...something," I said, I couldn't remember my last name, it was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't grasp it. "Austin somethin', nice name," she joked, I rolled my eyes as she walked down the small hall and into a nice looking living room, I walked behind her and saw a woman in a diving suit sitting on a brown couch. She looked over at me, even though I barely made a sound, I guessed she was very timid, "Who's this?" she asked, she was fiddling with some kind of doll, with the head being a baseball and a watch as its eyes, one arm having a corkscrew and little metal covers for its metal boots. She looked to be a teen, but just the way she talked made me think she was older, maybe no older than 25. Her suit seemed to be clean and dry, although it had stains on it, a metal sphere helmet sat next to her leg, she had short black hair with bangs, deep blue eyes that matched water. "This is Austin, he says he just woke up down here, lost his marbles too," Grace said, "Marbles?" she asked, "Memories," I said, I guess she wasn't too familiar with southern lingo. She didn't look happy, sad, mad, disgusted, shocked, she just looked flat, blank, but not emotionless, it was weird. "Oh? You lost your memories?" she asked, she stood up, and she was tall. She looked to be about 6 feet, maybe taller, "What's your birthday?" she asked, "My birthday? Uh...hmm," I thought for a moment, but nothing came to me that felt like the correct date. "Ok, what about your age?" she asked, "14, I only remember my age and name," I said, "Half of it," Grace corrected me. "Hmm, I doubt a splicer would be able to erase so much and not fill it with anything, you might have some brain damage," She said, sitting back down on the couch, "Oh! By the way, I'm Eleanor, Eleanor Lamb," she added. I just nodded, she felt friendly, but so did Conner, and I felt like he had other motives, who would say otherwise for this girl? "Well, at least you have a friend closer to your age, most of the people here are over 30," Grace said, sitting down next to Eleanor, I just gave her a confused look. How old was Eleanor? "He's still 4 years younger, I'm an adult," Eleanor said, she's 18!? She looked 16 at best! I was surprised, but then again, I didn't fully trust her words. "At least he's not a splicer," Grace said, I was still confused on that word, what exactly was a splicer? "Oh, you can sit down on my arm-chair if you like darlin'," Grace said, pointing her cane at the empty yellow arm-chair, I sat down on it, it was quite comfortable, but I could feel that it was old, the springs being one of the signs. Grace and Eleanor started talking to each other as I just thought to myself, tuning everything out. When I'm I going to "repay" Conner? What will I have to do? Will I be able to trust these two here? I trusted Grace a bit, she was kind and I couldn't hear anything that could be a lie, but I was still on the fence about Eleanor. Sure, she was nice too, but she seemed, off, like a musty smell that tickled your nose, but you couldn't quite know what it was. I just held off from trusting her for now, I just wanted to get out of this city. But then what would I do? I don't have any memories, no idea where my home is, nothing. These people here were my only hope, and half of them I was afraid of.

After a while, two seemed to stop talking and we just sat in silence, I wanted it to stop, but I was too afraid to say anything. My anxiety always was high, but now it was the highest I've ever felt. "Hey, Austin," My head shot up when Eleanor called my name, "Do you have any hobbies?" she asked. "I...don't remember, I can't remember anything," I said, what did "can't remember anything" mean to her? "Maybe we can get them back," Eleanor said, she picked up a blank piece of white paper and a sharp piece with blue butterflies. The items then floated over to me, Eleanor sat back on the couch as the items fell onto my lap, I was in shock. I didn't even know what to say, what did she do!? What happened!? "Telekinesis," Eleanor said, I looked up at her confused, "It's one of the plasmids I acquired after I became a teenager," she said, but her explanation didn't' help, I was still confused. I just shook my head out of my daze and picked up the things, drawing. She wanted me to draw, maybe that was one of my hobbies, even though it didn't feel right, it was worth a try. Everything's worth a try, right?