" I've been working for Saddler for some time as a scientist, the subject of my studies is a parasite they call the las plagas, it has the ability to control its host and Saddler can control the las plagas .His goal is to cleanse the world but in truth that's just sugar talk for rule the world with him as god. His background is somewhat vague ,he himself was a scientist at one time beyond that is anyone's guess, although I gather he was not born in Spain . I've heard him sometimes talk in his sleep about his beloved and of course not much information I can take from that but from what I've observed something horrid happened ,perhaps that's where his hate for the world came from originally , I also feel the plagas has something to do with his behavior the parasite effects him and what does a parasite want to do? that's simple it wants to spread , those two things which are driving Osmund makes him a dangerous individual but he is by no means stupid I find him a nice man as long as you can stay on his good side but even so ,I do fear losing his trust ,I know what happens he wont kill me but I wish that was the price I'd rather be dead then a mindless slave . Saddler knows I've worked for Umbrella but I fear bringing up anymore on that matter will make him suspicious as he is a smart man but I hope my undying loyalty and the length of time I've been working for him is enough to snuff out his suspicions but as I stated he is a smart man .Originally I thought treating him like Birkin would be enough that wasn't the case , Birkin was fueled by paranoia ,Osmund however is not a least bit paranoid, he is careful but he's more confident and has even told me there's not a person in the world that could stop him and the way he said that makes me half believe him .
There is a scientist that I have been working with his name is Luis Sera he's different from the others ,he's not infected with las plagas and he has been working for Osmund longer then I have ,I recognize his name my old boss William Birkin, he had a friend named Luis Sera from college but as of yet I do not know if it's the same Luis Sera ,perhaps I'll ask him ,I wonder if he knows of his friends death? He's a little bit paranoid around me but his behavior is understandable ,my attitude towards Saddler is one of devotion and I feel Luis is following the same act .Luis was born in Spain but where I don't know, he couldn't of been born in this shit hole ,I say that because he's well educated and his family had to have a fair amount money to send him to an American college . It was his grandfather he visited when he was younger that taught him a fair bit about the village perhaps when his grandfather told him stories about the plagas and the cult that got him interested when Saddler contacted him ,a fairy tale came true I guess .I wonder when he really got to experience the horrifying effects of the plagas first hand he changed his mind ?
Recently we have been having trouble with the village ,the people frown upon us and do not agree , they grew up with the horrible tales of the parasite and the cult , they are superstitious and believe bad luck will befall them ,Saddler has tried to convince them this isn't true and only a handful few believe him and got converted ,Saddler is being really patient he feels that if he can convert the village leader he will win them over ,the village leader goes by the name Mendez I didn't catch his first name ,he's taller then Saddler and has a fair bit of muscle and he look likes he's capable of taking Saddler and ripping his head clean off ,I hope for my sake Osmund shows that ugly beast some courtesy and quickly converts him . Mendez was born and raised in this village he grew up with those stories but he has a bit more intelligence compared to the others but that could be a good thing using logic could win him over …..Saddler I hope you put an extra amount of sugar in your words .That man scares me I can see he's somewhat smart but still his height and strength it terrifies and unnerves me ,I do not want to be around him without Osmund.
Mendez is proving to be stubborn ,he has mixed feelings ,he sees the logic but I feel he's still bound by superstition the question now is what will Saddler do? forcing that beast to submit would be more trouble then its worth but mere convincing is not working and hounding him would only prove to be make things worse .
Osmund has been visiting a castle that's outside the village ,I'm not sure why ,on the outside place looks dingy and abandon but still intimidating when you look up at the sheer size of its walls ,Luis says there's a castellan who lives there and lord Saddler plans to convert him , I believe the reason for that is to show the village that their governor approves of this idea and hopefully everything falls into place ,if the castellan equals a governor that is.
Saddler gave me some news today ,the castellan is willing to convert ,good news I suppose ,plan B seemed a little too unwieldy for mine and Saddler's taste , the strange thing is that Osmund requested me to play doctor, I don't understand converts only need a shot then a few hours they don't need a doctor unless they're sickly but even so the parasite will cure those ills to an extent or completely .With that aside in my opinion I will be able to retrieve the samples as requested soon, give or take a few weeks, and if they wish I will try to collect a regenerator as well ,that is IF they help me out ,I dare not attempt to bag one of those things myself
Julia Sterling "
Julia sat at her work table her mind else where, soon she would leave the lab and throw her lab coat into the bin it was a good thing ,she had been wearing that for a week ,the ganados that worked for the lord didn't do the laundry often and although her and Luis let a out few complaints Saddler ignored them ,work was more important .and that was all they did work ,work work there was little time for rest but to complain about that wasn't wise .but this assignment was a nice getaway for Julia all she would have to do was watch the castellan not a hard job " and why are you so excited?" Luis asked, he noticed that through the morning Julia's odd behavior her trying to hurry things along and her happy attitude tipped him off ,Julia popped a cigarette in her mouth " I'm going on a field trip ,it just so happens there's a castellan Saddler plans on converting" she replied while giving a goofy grin in doing so the cigarette fell from her lips and plopped on the floor she picked it up " Señorita you're not planning to put that thing back into your mouth ,god only knows what's been on that floor …." Luis said with a hint of disgust and sure enough Julia popped the cigarette back in her mouth " cigarettes are expensive ,and I don't feel like wasting a single one" .
"It's not like you have a clean mouth anyway " Luis mumbled he walked over to the desk and placed a yellow folder in front of Julia ,she looked at them with a hint of annoyance then glared at Luis ,he looked away " I'm sorry but it didn't work as we predicted ,here's the results " Luis said his voice low Julia grab the folder and look through the pages ,most of them recorded the blood pressure, chemicals that increased or decreased in the body before and after infection other pages held drug information the results from a few drugs that were tested and the last page Julia skimmed through was basic information gender, age, height ,weight and family history when she was done she placed the folder back on the desk and let out a sigh " I do not get it …..you and I have been working flat out and this… THIS is all that we've achieved, god I need some nicotine and some Mozart …" Julia growled she grabbed a lighter from her coat pocket and lit the cigarette before continuing "Really does this fucking parasite not like children?….well I don't really blame it ,never cared for those needy ,ugly and smelly bastards myself ….. Thank you Luis you have ruined my good mood " she mumbled and took a puff of her cigarette .
Luis shook his head "yes but look at the bright side, at least Señorita this helps narrow down the problem " he smiled weakly ,he picked the folder back up " It has to be something to with the immune system or even the height could be a factor ,whatever I'll leave that to you for now ,Lord Saddler wants this problem to be figured out and corrected " she said blankly as she drifted off back into thought . Having nothing else to say Luis thought it best to go back to the lab " well see ya and enjoyed your vacation " he softly said but Julia ignored him . On the way back to the lab Luis also was lost in his thoughts this constant cycle of death and atrocities was making him sick but he couldn't quit now as much as he wanted to escape he knew it be foolish but even if he were to escape he couldn't escape the fact there's a lot of blood on his hands . He had hoped they could test the parasite on the children indirectly but that wasn't the case it simply would not suffice a few dozen would be brought to him and the others ,how and where he didn't ask but it didn't make any difference , in the end all the children brought there shared the same fate ,sometimes it would be quick but most of the time the parasite wouldn't stop mutating its host and the continued mutations lead to a painful death being ripped to shreds by the plaga's erratic behavior . He hated to have to tell Saddler it was unsuccessful and he hoped Julia would tell him, Luis didn't want to see Saddlers face cool and calm he would only say " then perhaps you should return to your work, I'll make sure to get another shipment in " Saddler was a monster but Luis couldn't do anything as he faced a small child its eyes wide with fear ,a dirty orphan not even four years old terrified he could hear the screams of the others the rooms as they were ripped apart ,he tried to struggle but men dressed in black robes restrained him and forced him back in to his seat where they then bound him, Luis held a needle in his hand suspended in the purple liquid was an egg Luis hesitated when the child look up at him his eyes wide Luis wanted to say "you wont feel a thing" but he knew that wasn't true he bit his tongue and sentence the child to an uncertain fate . Julia stood by the door way and watched Luis and the other ganados performed their task " are you here to help?" Luis said weakly as he held a syringe and a small vial up to the light Julia shook her head in response and said "No I'm not, I'm here to collect a few things before I go to take care of that Salazar dude " she held a piece of paper in her hand and looked at for a second then walked past the others and headed for the supplies room Luis could see she carried a large brown leather bag ,it was an old style doctors bag and was more then capable of holding a fair bit of medications ,tools and have enough room for extra .
Luis had heard from his grandfather about the castle owner and some of the stories he knew about them ,the family name was Salazar ,the Salazar family was both feared and revered ,along time ago the first of their family before the Salazar name became nobility saved the village from a terrible monster ,an insect like demon that took slaves ,some would mistake that as the first account of the plagas's appearance but the stories go deeper in the past although the information is scant ,.This is not the only account of the Salazar name saving the people from the plagas , the most recent story is of a cult who secretly worshipped the plagas and gradually the village fell prey to their brainwashing there's even some accounts that the Salazar that ruled at the time was infected with the parasite but information is sketchy at best on that detail ,The story goes that the he massacred the cult and all their followers and sealed the plagas deep inside the mines. Where and how Saddler got so much information about the Los Illuminados Luis did not know nor did he ask ." Ta-ta " Julia chimed breaking Luis from his thoughts ,at the same time the heart monitor started beeping erratically and the host started convulsing alerting Luis and the other scientist of the problem they've prepared for, they started pumping the test drug in the Ivs and stood back a moment ,Luis carefully noted the equipments results the body started to stabilize and the plagas started to go back into its routine ,it was not mature yet but this was just the first stage they passed ,the final stage was yet to come when the plagas matured into an adult . Luis gave a sighed of relief it was over for now he looked over to Julia and weakly smiled " Adiós Señorita" " he said , " Good luck " Julia replied her voice low ,she lowered her eyes and stared at the floor a moment then she look back at Luis ,their eyes met and he could see from the look on her face that she meant something more along the lines of " Be careful and don't piss anyone off " Luis knew he couldn't trust Julia or anyone for that matter but her face was that of a human and not of a mindless puppet, even so he decided that he will not trust her though she could be useful to him in some ways and when/if the time comes it might come in handy to take advantage .
The sky was dark and the air was calm ,it felt like a storm was coming ,this made Salazar feel uneasy although he wasn't a child he still felt scared whenever a fierce storm struck but he wouldn't admit it to anyone ,but his butler seen through his mask" señor, your coat" he held a dark blue coat perfectly folded and draped over his arm ,Salazar mumble something under his breath he felt awful his head was spinning from all the things that had happened in this year ,the death of his parents ,Saddler ,the los illuminados and the plagas he knew his ancestors took pride for sealing the plagas and supposedly exterminating the los illuminados but when he went to the church to hear Saddler preach ,he at first thought they were mad but Saddler stopped by and they spoke about the world and the sin ,Ramón felt as a Salazar he should do his duty and prevent these monsters from ever seeing the light of day ,but he also felt Saddler's goal sounded heart felt and true ,to cleanse the world of evil …..a heaven, no murder, no stealing ….just everybody living together in harmony no more hate ….no more insults…"I must ask " he turned to his butler and faced him "what is your opinion " his butler lowed his head " I have no place to speak ,my lord " he said softly Ramón sighed" I gave you permission to tell your opinion on this matter " .
" I feel this is but a charade ,Saddler is not a man you should trust …and I feel he using you my lord " his butler replied " is that so.." Salazar murmured ,his butler looked away he didn't want to irritate his master but he didn't want his master to tarnish the Salazar name either ,he knew little Ramón was conflicted from these events and it hurt him to see his master in such a state "I just have to have faith in you my lord" he thought
" a cup of earl grey would be nice for this rotten day , and please have what's left of my servants set the table and cook a meal ,don't forget wine …my finest will work " Salazar ordered his butler bowed in response, he walked to Ramón's side and placed the coat on his shoulders "please wear your coat when your outside" he said then walked off to prepare a cup of tea and tell the servants their orders. Ramón turned back to the balcony he leaned on it and stared out to the vast scenery he spied a truck in the distance it was far off but it wouldn't take to long before they arrived Salazar went back inside and closed the door he had to get ready to tend his guest.
It was nice to see the countryside fly by effortlessly , the lack of greenery and the grayed sky didn't bother Saddler as he stared out the window of the jeep ,a flick of the lighter and the smell of smoke made him frown ,smoking was a disgusting habit his servant did and loved to do ,she was an odd ball scientist but a good one non the less ,between her and Luis they contributed quite a bit to his dream and they showed loyalty to his cause ,he couldn't ask for more better pawns .Julia always talked about interesting things her opinions about science and philosophy always amused him ,she also had a habit of insulting him ,that amused him that she had very little fear of punishment ,Luis on the other and was more quiet and less willing to talk freely ,he was devoted to science and helping people was his wish ,Saddler asked him once that if he thought what he was doing was wrong and Luis replied " in order to advance one must make mistakes " it sounded as if Luis said that just to satisfy his lord and Saddler didn't care for it but decided to leave him be for the time being ,the plan was more important as long as it ran smoothly, Saddler could careless about his non converted servants . The villagers that despised him and wanted to disrupt their progress didn't even bother him …soon they would see it his way " My lord ,don't tell me your sleeping…"Julia said out of the blue ,Saddler turned and looked at her with a blank expression " I was thinking about what subject I shall use in my next sermon ,perhaps I will talk about the evils of smoking " he chuckled ,Julia scowled in response of his insult and looked out the window "By the way, it is of the utmost importance that you be polite " saddler said in a serious tone Julia nodded in response "I understand " she muttered .
When they got to the castle Julia couldn't help but be awed at the sight ,the place truly was a fortress ,it stood there old but proud ,she couldn't wait to see the inside but she contained her excitement and pressed onwards to the castle entrance ,they entered the door to the main room ,it truly was a castle the insides were lavishly decorated ,everything seemed perfectly placed and dust free and the size of the room was large and open. There were two people standing under the balcony an old man, obviously the butler from the way he was dressed and a small well dressed brown haired boy ,to well dressed to be a servant but he seemed to young to be the castellan . He and the butler walked up to them and the well dressed boy bowed and said something in Spanish to Osmund ,the look on the butlers face was far from being friendly he seemed to be holding back his displeasure ,Julia wasn't the only one to notice ,Osmund gave him a smile and the man face twisted to that of disgust for a moment ,and that is what he saw in this Lord Saddler a disgusting man .
The boy walked to Julia and eyed her for a moment he seemed to be waiting for her to do something confused Julia looked to Saddler, he looked at her with a displeased look and motion for her to hold her hand out ,she did as she was told and held out her hand the boy grasp it and kissed the top of her hand gently and said something in Spanish ,even though her mind screamed at her to use him as a soccer ball and kick him clear over the balcony she resisted the urge he said something again in Spanish the tone told her he was asking something but for all she knew he could have been asking her if she had a lollipop or chocolate "Sorry kiddo ,I don't have any sweets for you ,now be a good lad and tell me were the restrooms are so I may take a quick piss before I meet your master" she said nonchalantly, the boys eyes widen then his face turned bright red and he gave her the most pissed off face she had ever seen in her life ,she looked over to Osmund , the hood of his robe was up but she could still see his face ,it was slightly red and he was glaring intensely at her ,she glance at the butler he look repulsed and a bit shocked and quickly turned her attention to the boy .Saddler said something in Spanish ,the castellan glanced at him then glared at Julia and nodded saying something in Spanish back then letting out a shrill laugh before walking over to Saddler." Señorita I will escort you to the restrooms " the butler said his tone far from friendly Julia nodded ,before she followed him she scowled at Saddler and that freakish little kid for insulting her .
" I cannot apologize enough for my servant's rudeness please don't take her seriously she is an American after all ,instead I hope you laugh at her foolishness " Saddler calmly ,Osmund and Salazar walked down one of the many hallways ,they were heading to the library Salazar hoped to entertain his guest with a good conversation before their meal was ready " I accept you apology ,but why did you bring that filthy thing here?" Salazar growled " Don't be fooled by her….stupidity she's one of my best scientist ,I would of brought Luis but I felt his talent was needed at the lab " he replied "is that so…" Salazar mumbled as he open the door ,he waited for Osmund to enter then he shut the door ,he two men sat down at a large table ,there was a few books two were stack upon each other and on was open Saddler eyed them they were about the history of the village an uninteresting subject for him " will it be painful? " Ramón asked,
Osmund smiled gently and replied" I wont lie ,you may experience minor pains but nothing a mere aspirin can fix ,Julia will be there twenty-four seven to take care of your needs " Ramón shook his head "I don't want that filthy American swine near me ,I'm afraid her stupidly may be contagious , my butler can take care of my needs "
" there is a slight chance of complications due to your….fragile condition that is why I brought Julia with me ,please reconsider for the sake of your soul and your family "Saddler's voice was gentle and soft ,Ramón studied Osmund face for a moment he sensed Saddler's sweet words were forced but his face was sincere , could what his butler said be true? was Osmund was only using him ? And what does he mean by complications? Could converting kill him?
"Are you having second thoughts? "
Ramón diverted his eyes from Saddlers gaze "There's no need to rush, please take your time and think about it" Saddler said Ramón nodded " I will think it over while we eat ,but for the time being ,Osmund let me hear some more of your lectures "
The tension in the air was thick since lord Saddler's arrival making it difficult for Julia to think of what role she would play for this game ,it irritated her that she made the mistake of insulting the castellan ,he was important to Saddler for the time being and mucking up this delicate game would surely mean a punishment she couldn't afford to take " this is a nice place" she said weakly " yes …it is and I would prefer to keep it that way " the butler mumbled in response
"You don't like my lord, do you"
"My opinion is the same as young master Salazar "
" are you sure?"
"positive"
"ahh I see"
The butler opened the door to the library ,Julia entered slowly ,Ramón and saddler glanced at the her then Saddler continued on with his lecture ,before Julia took a seat she plopped the heavy doctors bag she'd been lugging around ever since she came to this place.
The butler served some tea ,it was a strange smelling tea ,spicy and earthy but its taste was a blessing, he then took Julia's coat and hung it up gave a bow and left them . Saddler lectured for what seemed like hours and Ramón watched his every move intently ,nodding his head when he approved or shaking his head in doubt to what Osmund preached .
Julia meanwhile sick of her boredom reached for one of the books sitting on the desk but her hand was met by a light smack and her eyes met with the discontented face of Salazar ,he looked over to Saddler and said something in Spanish which Julia interpreted as an insult by the tone he used and the slight laugh Saddler gave in return . It pissed her off to feel like an outcast, if Salazar wasn't in Saddlers favor she'd use him as a test subject. …..Not like she wasn't going to do that anyway ,to her everything was a test subject including lord Saddler after all this dream as it were wasn't going to last forever ,sooner or later someone somewhere will find out …if they hadn't already .
The butler came back in and gave a bow " diner is ready my lord "
Salazar grinned he look to Saddler " I hope you enjoy my honored guest ,my servants prepared the finest meal to fit this day of my conversion"
The butler was horrified ,the honor of the Salazar family was about to be taken away by a sweet mouthed devil but he held his ground he was after all a faithful servant and to show such rudeness and displeasure to his master's choice was against the code all servants abide by .
He wearily lead them to the dinning room saddler took his seat first as an honored guest ,then Salazar took his place at the front of the table ,Julia was about to take a seat next to her lord when Salazar gave a chuckle and said " My butler will lead you to the servants eating room " "oh…" she growled then followed the old butler ,when the a ways from the ears of the two lords she started talking ,little or nothing was said but she seen how interested in Salazar's conversion was to his butler .
" your not happy about your lords decision " she said carefully
" that is little to no concern of yours"
" true it ISNT my concern he's just another mindless ganado "
The butler stopped " My lord isn't one of those mindless ganados even if he converts I know he wont be " he said with a hint of aggravation
Julia stayed quite for a moment to study his reaction before speaking
" ….but how can you ever be sure? Haven't you seen enough? Or are you going to …wait and fail your master ? "
The butler turned his gaze to her " Its very rude to get involved in another's affairs miss ,especially if they have nothing to do with you " the old ,man said with a venomous tone that made Julia's hairs stand on end
Instead of the effect Julia desired she was met with even more hostility
" I may be old and feeble ,but I'm not dumb enough to listen to a viper's meaningless words "
" is that so…well at least my conscious is clear " she smiled
Nothing more was said between them ,they ate silently among the few other servants .
That night the time was set when Ramón was to receive the plagas ,they went to the church in the village, it was once an old catholic church but since saddler appeared he converted to the los Illuminados cult . All the ganados attended and even though Mendez and some of his people weren't ganados themselves they attended as well .
The ganados chanted meaningless words as Saddler himself put on a show and at the end he held the in his hand the object that was sacred to the cult and as he was about to plunge it into the neck of Ramón his butler cried out and made haste to his master and bowed at his feet " my lord I beg of you please STOP this madness!" he cried and kissed Ramón's face but his master turned away from the pleas and instead smacked his servant " HOW DARE YOU! " he hissed and then stood to his full height " my lord ….please -"
" ENOUGH WITH YOU BE GONE " Salazar roared his butler shook his head and staggered back to his seat.
The chant began once more slow in pace but steadily getting faster and faster and at last like saddler plunge the needle into the castellans neck ,Ramón let out a gasp of pain then he feel silent .