JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Blood Ties (A JJBA Fanpart)

Chapter IV - Chased

"Lady Versace, it appears Grace and the others are on the move," said a man, kneeling in front of a woman. "Should we go after them?" 

"No, send Florence after them for now," Versace responded calmly. 

"But Lady Versace, Florence doesn't possess a stand!" 

"She will serve as a threat nonetheless, Bowie," Versace's tone became harsher. "And if she doesn't return, well, we'll know that Grace is determined to defy me." 

"Yes, Lady Versace. I'll tell her to head out right away."

***

"So eventually I'm going to have to get you to meet a few other people the Speedwagon Foundation has been keeping eyes on, Grace," Neil laughed as he drove. "Obviously other Joestars, like Jotaro Kujo, Josuke Higashikata, and a few others. I'm basically setting up a family reunion for you!"

"Jotaro Kujo was the one who defeated Dio, right?" Grace asked. 

"Yep," Hol Horse responded, "He seemed like a really strong kid when I first encountered him. He was just a year older than you when I fought him." 

"Indeed," Neil laughed. "He's doing his own thing now I hear. Marine biologist. And Josuke is going to be a cop from what I heard." 

Shani laughed softly, "Well, Grace, this puts pressure on you to do something great too, doesn't it?" 

"Sorta, yeah," Grace laughed.

"I believe in you, Gracie. You'll do great things," Hol Horse smiled. 

"Exactly! And the Speedwagon Foundation will help you in any way we can!" Neil smiled at her through the rearview mirror. "You're a Joestar after all."

"Technically I'm a Brando," Grace retorted with a dry laugh.

"That birthmark says otherwise," Hol Horse chuckled.

"Touché."

The car accelerated as Neil turned it to a back road. "We're going to have to avoid some bigger streets for obvious reasons, you never know where an enemy could be. While I know we should find the person sending the letters, getting into a fight on the main streets wouldn't end too well."

"Agreed," Hol Horse nodded, "Some stand users wouldn't take too kindly to that."

"Yeah," Grace sighed, "Won't want to end up like my mom."

"If you don't mind me asking, Grace," Shani asked, "What happened to your mom?"

Grace sighed, looking out the window of the car. 

"Gracie, you don't have to tell her. I can tell her later," Hol Horse said reassuringly as he looked back at her. 

"No, Dad, it's fine," Grace said. "Ten years ago now, my mom and I were walking home from just hanging out in the town. At night, obviously. Mom must have sensed something I didn't because while we were walking past an alleyway, she suddenly shoved me in there. There were a couple of sketchy-looking guys following us. I hid behind a pile of boxes since it was obvious why mom shoved me at that point. She wanted me to hide. They beat her to a pulp with what I now understand are stands. Obviously, I couldn't see them at the time. They took their sweet time, too. I could hear her bones breaking. I'm certain they broke most of them." Grace took in a shaky breath before continuing, tears stinging her eyes. "The look on my mom's face when she glanced over at me... she was crying. I remember her telling me when I was only about 4 that she was almost 100 years old, but I am certain she didn't expect to die that night. Why would she? She thought she was safe. We thought we were safe."