Jack Smith sat on his porch looking out into the field. It was quiet. He closed his eyes and listened to the crickets chirping softly. The stars hung over his head like glittering diamonds.

Jack closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

"Get him! Kill him Mr. B" The gigantic creature struck him in the face, sending Jack flying into a nearby wall.

Before Jack could recover, the lumbering monster charged him. He rolled out of the way just in time as the thing's drilled hand went for his head.

Jack drew out his pistol and fired. The bullets bounced of the creature's armored body.

As Jack went to reload his gun, the drill struck right into his face……

"NO!" Jack awoke with a start. He jumped out of his chair looking around. Cold sweat ran down his face.

When he finally realized where he was, Jack sat down back in his chair, breathing heavily. It had been another nightmare.

For the past couple of weeks they have been getting worse and worse. But this one had seemed so real, so vivid. He could actually smell those monstrous…..things. Those Big Daddys.

"Daddy?" A soft voice called from behind him. Jack turned around to see his daughter Jessica. She had long curly blonde hair with big brown eyes. She wore a look of concern on her face. "Are you ok? We heard you scream from inside." Jack recovered himself and gave his daughter a warm smile.

"I'm ok honey, I must have dozed off for a second." She still looked at him with worry.

"Another nightmare?" She asked. Jack sighed and looked down. She could always tell what he was feeling. It seemed he couldn't hide anything from his daughters.

"Yes, but I'm ok now. Don't you worry." Jessica continued to look at her father for another minute searching his eyes then finally gave him a small smile.

"Ok, I also came to tell you that dinner is ready." Jack walked up to her and put his arm around her shoulders.

"Thanks, it smells really good."

Jack followed Jessica inside to his dining room. When he sat down at the head of the long table he looked up to see eight faces staring at him with identical looks of concern. Before any of them could start throwing questions at him, he held up his hand and said.

"Don't worry my dears, I am fine." There was finality in his tone and the rest of his daughters started to eat their dinner. Soon his daughter's chatter filled the large dining room.

Jack looked down at his plate and smelt the wonderful aroma coming from the food. He looked at his daughter with light red hair and freckles sitting at the end of the table.

"This chicken smells delicious Bethany." She looked up at him and giggled.

"Oh daddy, you say that about everything I cook." He didn't say anything, just smiled. He was about to dig into his table when he noticed an empty chair in the middle of the table.

"Where is Rachel?" Jack demanded to his daughters. They all stopped talking and exchanged uneasy glances. Finally one spoke up.

"Rachel went to the park." Jack glared at her.

"The park? By herself?" His daughter gulped.

"No, with a boy from school." Jack pounded his fists on the table. All of his daughters flinched.

"A boy?! Why didn't any of you tell me before? This is….." Before Jack could finish his rant he heard the front door open. Soft steps could be heard coming to the dining room,

A young girl entered. She had long black hair that went down to her waist. She had deep, almost scary red eyes. The girl wore a look of arrogance on her face. Her red eyes looked at all her sisters in turn before finally resting on her father.

"And where were you young lady?" Her dad asked with a hint of anger in his voice. She hesitated for only a second.

"At the park with Dennis from school," she answered. Jack tried his best to hide his anger but failed.

"You know my rules, no boys unless I meet them first." Rachel glared at her father.

"I know, but I didn't feel like having you meet him and scare him away." Jack stood up from his chair.

"You didn't feel like it? Well let me tell you something, whether you feel like it or not you will do as you are told. And if you have any problems with it then maybe you just won't see any boys all together." Rachel met her father's glare with full force.

"I will do whatever I want! You can't make me follow you're rules." Jack walked toward her.

"Wanna bet?" Before he could do anything, Rachel stormed out of the room and up the stairs slamming her bedroom door.

All of the sisters were looking at Jack waiting to see what he did next. He looked at them for a second then walked back outside to sit on the porch.

None of his daughters followed him. They all knew that when he got like this it was best to let him be. Jack sat back in his chair and looked out across the field.

Where did I go wrong with her? He thought to himself. Jack remembered stepping out of the pod and onto the docks in the morning sunlight. He took each one of their little, almost fragile hands and helped them out of the vessel. They had all looked at him with hopeful eyes. Hopeful and nervous. Nervous at what the future might hold for them.

Right then and there, Jack had promised them that he would always be there, no matter what. He would give them a life worth living, and he had. All of the "Little Sisters" were in a loving family with their adoptive father. The love he had for them was unmatched by anything else he felt. They were his world and he would do anything for anyone of them.

It had been ten years since he pulled them out of that hell under the sea. In ten years he had raised them, teaching them the difference between right and wrong.

Although they had memories of that awful city and the time spent there, the Little sisters grew up normal enough into blossoming young ladies. And they loved their father with all their hearts.

Bur Rachel seemed different. It was almost like she hated Jack. Ever since that day she was rescued she had always been distance with him, despite Jack's best efforts.

Jack had tried everything he could think of to connect with her like he did the others. But nothing seemed to work.

As he sat on his porch lost in thoughts a cold feeling washed over him. He listened to the woods around him and realized something. All of the crickets had stopped chirping.

--

Rachel sat up in her room. Her fists were clenched in anger. Anger at her father.

For almost as long as she could remember Rachel had been angry at him. The rest of her sister loved him and never showed any kind of anger toward the man that rescued them.

Rachel laughed to herself. Rescued? That's what they all though, that their beloved father had rescued them from what they were. But she knew. She remembered.

She remembered Jack coming out of nowhere. He had killed the only thing that ever loved her. Her Big Daddy was the first thing she could remember. It had been with her from the beginning. Following her around, protecting her. And then to top it all off Jack had taken her power. Now all Rachel felt was emptiness inside her.

Rachel gazed out her bedroom window. Everything was quiet for a while when she heard a voice.

"Rachel." It called to her in a whisper. She squinted her eyes, looking outside for the source of the voice. She could just make out a dark figure motioning for her to come. "Come to me Rachel"

In a trance, Rachel climbed out her window and down the side of the house. She was drawn to the figure.

She walked out into the woods at the edge of the field surrounding her house.

Once she was deep into the woods her trance seemed to break. Rachel looked around in shock.

The dark figure appeared from behind a tree. It was a man dressed in a cloak that covered his face. Rachel stepped back and tensed up.

"Don't be afraid my dear, I'm not going to hurt you." He said in a gravely voice. Rachel continued to back up not convinced. "I am here to give you something that was once stolen from you." Rachel just looked at the man in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" The man chuckled. The laugh sent shivers down Rachel's spine.

"Once you had great power, you were invincible. You never grew old and you had all the ADAM you could want." Rachel winced at the words. That word triggered a bunch of memories. Images of mutated figures dying in front of her and trying to attack her flashed before her eyes. And she injected them with a small device draining them of a red liquid. She sighed.

"Nothing can ever bring back my Big Daddy." The man chuckled again.

"That is where you are wrong my deer." The man stepped aside and a tall figure stepped out of the darkness.

It stood about seven feet tall. The thing wore some kind of monstrous diving suit. Its right hand was a drill. It looked down at Rachel and extended its hand toward her.

"Mr. Bubbles," She said in a hushed voice as she took its hand. The cloaked figure stood beside them laughing to himself. Phase one of the plan had worked perfectly.

Behind him he could hear the loud breathing of dozens of Big Daddys waiting for their orders.