Lock and Key

It Ends

Grace sat in her prison and lied in wait for the return of Simon. She had a plan, and she would see it through, no matter the cost. As she sat she wondered about the Apex kids, she wondered how far away they'd gotten. She hoped that they weren't doing anything destructive to the train or god forbid to some poor denizen they happened across. In hindsight Grace regretted not going into more detail about what she'd been wrong about specifically but she didn't know how long it would be before Simon returned and getting them out of the area was her greatest priority. Deep down she wondered, if only a little, if the choice she was making was right.

Surely Simon deserved a death by her hand and she'd be happy to deliver, but what that would do to her number, what that would do to the Apex kids if they ever found out... Grace's thoughts trailed off as she stared at the door once again praying for it to open so that she could leave this prison, this car, forever. Grace wanted to heal, wanted to start on the path to recovery, but she couldn't do that while staying here and each moment that passed Grace grew more weary of the action she was about to take. She knew what she had to do but that didn't mean she'd have to feel good about it.

Silently, she recalled dream Hazel's words to her, "Just because he deserves it doesn't mean it's easy." she'd said to her. How right she'd been. Still alone and bored Grace's thoughts drifted to her number. She hadn't checked it since all of this had started and at this point she was a little afraid to. Grace had silently held on to the slightly depressing hope that going through hell would have lowered her number significantly. Then maybe her trauma would have meant something, maybe all of this would have been worth it in some weird way because the train would have deemed her a better person afterward.

In reality Grace knew that if she checked her number and was incorrect about the way the train had changed it she would have to face an awful reality. That the awful things she'd gone through hadn't been some grand lesson to lower her number and make her a better person. The reality that those awful things had just been awful things, shitty but ultimately meaningless. As if to punctuate her thoughts about the cruel randomness of the world she heard the approaching footsteps of Simon.

Grace steeled herself mentally reminding herself to play the part of the prisoner even if that was the furthest thing from what she was. She couldn't risk acting suspicious and giving herself away. She just needed him to get close enough to her for her to strike.

"Considering how often he touches my face that shouldn't be a problem." Grace thought bitterly. That was good, bitterness was good. It would make this next part easier. He opened the door and Grace looked for signs that he'd noticed the kids were gone. Simon looked mildly annoyed but not furious so Grace decided that he probably hadn't. Of course he hadn't.

"Hey Void, I'm back." he announced the annoyance in his voice clear. He stood near the door still, not close enough for Grace to make a move.

"I wished you'd stayed gone." She spat back at him. Simon didn't seem at all phased by this ignoring her comment and continuing on. Clearly his mind was somewhere else.

"I saw that old lady who worked for the false conductor." he said with clear indignation rising in his voice at the thought of her. Grace could tell that the interaction likely hadn't gone well from that bit of anger that he'd conjured up in his voice, though considering how much Amelia already didn't like him it was a miracle he'd even made it out of that conversation in one piece. Or, whatever the opposite of a miracle is.

"Let me guess, she kicked you ass?" Grace questioned snarkily. Simon glared at her before his expression softened back to it's normal level of disgust with her existence.

"That reminds me, I saw your little null friend." he said with a smile that made Grace's skin crawl. He'd seen Hazel? That was a lie, it had to be. It didn't make any sense, how and why would he have found her.