"There's a penalty for that!" Raven said, killing the zombie on the screen. She was in her uncle's room and they were playing Resident Evil 5. They were playing Mercenaries Reunion. She was playing as Heavy Metal Chris, as she often did. It was getting late, almost 11. She stifled a yawn. The game ended and her uncle decided to call it a day. She nodded and signed out. Putting the controller back where it will wait to be used again, she grabbed her drink and walked out of the room. She was relatively tired, so she decided to just go to bed.
The next day, she got up in time to join her grandma on a trip to the store. While at the store, she went off on her own. There were a few things that she wanted to get. While she walked through the store alone, she was careful not to bump into anyone. As she neared the electronics section, someone walked out of an aisle that she was about to pass. She tried to stop herself, but her momentum kept her going just far enough to bump into the man. He automatically reached out to stop her from falling backwards, causing him to drop the things he was holding. Raven blushed deeply when he grabbed her by the arms. She steadied herself as he let her go. She didn't look up at him, instead looking at the things he dropped. She knelt down to pick them up, her face a deep red.
"I'm sorry. I should have been paying attention," she tried to apologize. The man knelt too, picking up the few things that she hadn't yet. They straightened and she handed him the items that she'd picked up. She finally looked at him and gasped. She was seeing things. She had to be. The man gave her a confused look and she blushed again. She had to be seeing things. There's no way that this man was really...
"Sorry," she said again.
"No harm no foul," he said without missing a beat. He smiled at her. She tried to tell herself that this wasn't real, that she was imagining it, but as she looked at him again, she couldn't deny that this man was who she thought he was. He turned to walk away. Before she could stop herself, she said one word.
"Chris?" she asked. She covered her mouth, but it was too late. The man stopped and turned to look at her. Her eyes were wide, shocked. He had turned around. That meant that she was right. She wanted to turn and run, but her feet were seemingly planted to the floor.
He didn't say anything for a moment. He gave her an appraising look, as if he was trying to remember if he'd met her before. He didn't recognize her.
"Have we met?" he asked. Raven froze for a moment before shaking her head. Her hand was still covering her mouth. She knew what the next words out of his mouth would be before he spoke them.
"Then how do you know my name?" Raven hesitated. She knew all about him. Between the games, her uncle telling her stuff, and wikia, she knew plenty about Chris, Wesker, Jill, Leon, and several others. She slowly lowered her hand.
"I...I've heard about you," she managed. He gave her a look that said 'That's the best you can come up with?'
"Since you know my name, I think it's only fair that you tell me yours," Chris said.
"It's Raven," she said. Then she thought of something. They were near the electronics section. She was almost certain that they'd have the fifth game there. "Um, can I show you something?" she asked. He thought about it for a moment, then decided there was no harm in it. He nodded and she walked past him. She led him into the electronics section and over to where the games were kept behind locked glass doors. Finding the X-Box section, she scanned the shelves until she found the game. She glanced at Chris before pointing at the case. The cover art on the case was him and Sheva. She looked at him again as he studied the case. A thought crossed her mind. She was standing here with Chris Redfield. While she was mentally going fangirl, she realized something else. She had previously thought that the games were fictional, not real in any way. If Chris was here, in real life, then that meant that the others were real too. Leon, Jill, Billy, Wesker, Sheva. They were all real. Another thought crossed her mind and she went pale. Everything was real. The zombies, the virus, Umbrella, Tricell, everything. Chris glanced over at her before turning back to the cover. He did a double take, seeing how pale she was. She didn't register the fact that he was giving her a somewhat worried look.
"You alright?" he asked. She looked up at him, fear in her eyes. It took a moment before Chris realized that he knew that look. Something had frightened her. "What are you scared of?" he asked. She opened her mouth to speak, but her mouth and throat were dry. She tried to swallow and speak.
"It's all real," she managed to say. He gave her a confused look.
"The game? It's about me and Sheva?" he asked. She gave a weak nod. He thought about what could have her so scared. She knew his name, she's obviously played at least a few of the games, and she then meets one of the main characters in the game. She thought that it was fake. He'd have to find out what these games were about. The game that she just showed him was him and Sheva. He was with her in Africa, when they faced the Majini. Is that what the game was about? His and Sheva's encounter with those zombies? If so, she must have thought it was all fake. That the zombies weren't real. Now that she knew that he was real, she must have realized that it was all real. The thought that zombies were real, that the T-Virus was a real thing must have terrified her. He could hardly blame her. He had to find a way to calm her down. He thought about how to do that for a few moments. He sighed. This would be easier if he knew anything about her. He noticed that she had a cord hanging around her neck. One end of the cord reached down into her jeans pocket and the other end hung around her neck. At the end of the cord was a couple of earbuds. Music. She had some sort of music player in her pocket. He set the items he was holding on a nearby shelf and walked up to her. He grabbed the cord and tugged it gently out of her pocket. It was an Mp3. That seemed to get a reaction out of her. She looked down at the Mp3, then up at him. She blushed, though he wasn't sure why. She looked down, then lifted her hand, palm up. He dropped the Mp3 into her palm. She held it in her hands, and a few seconds later, the screen lit up. She lifted one of the earbuds to her ear and slipped the device back into her pocket. That seemed to work a bit. She was no longer pale, but when she looked up at him again, there was still a trace of fear in her eyes.
"I think we need to talk," he said. She hesitated, then nodded.
"I'm here with my grandma and uncle," she said. She knew that this wasn't the place to talk about this. He fought back a sigh. This would have been easier if she'd been alone. She reached into her other pocket and pulled out a sleek black cell phone. She dialed in her grandma's number and let it ring. She turned away from Chris. She wasn't sure she'd be able to talk coherently while looking at him. She tried to ignore her fangirl thoughts as her grandma answered. She explained the situation as best she could without admitting that she was here with someone she had previously thought was a fictional character. After a few minutes, she got her grandma to agree to let her go with him. She thanked her and said goodbye, then slid the phone shut and back into her pocket before turning to look at Chris again. She nodded. He grabbed his stuff and turned to walk away, Raven following without a word. As the walked through the store, she thought about the situation. If Chris and the others were real, then she was almost glad that she'd bumped into Chris, and not Wesker. As much as she liked Wesker, she knew that there was a chance that he'd experiment on her. She wasn't sure that she wanted that to happen. At least she could trust that Chris wouldn't try to turn her into a test subject.