This is just a slightly updated version of Chapter 1. I have Chapter 2 finished and will post it shortly. I've got a lot of plot points figured out, even to the point of having a sequel, but I have a hard time with those 'in-between' moments. I feel like this story hasn't gotten much love from the views, so I'm kinda weak on it. Maybe I'll find some motivation this time around. Enjoy!
As Wesker walks to his office, he contemplates the test subject's status. A minuscule part of him reminds him, like a tap on the shoulder, "She's not just a test subject. Her name is Madelyn." He brushes it off and corrects that small part, "She's test subject MA-42. Expendable." He laughs under his breath and resentfully corrects himself. "Hardly expendable." He thought, "She's been my greatest success." In the five months since her infection, she has slowly grown stronger, faster. Her power can almost rival his own. He theorizes that, with time, she will grow stronger. Perhaps as strong as him. Yet without the proper training, she cannot utilize the full extent of her abilities.
"But Christ, she's a handful." he thought. He would never admit that to anyone—least of all her. While he has been wanting to begin training, her rebellious demeanor makes things…difficult, to say the least. Despite her current situation, she has quite the mouth on her. Her snarky remarks and condescending sarcasm is similar to his own and he can easily keep up, given that he isn't in a bad mood. "I really ought to teach her some manners." He thought in a sinister tone.
A young tech turns the corner ahead. When he sees Wesker, he immediately pales and his pace slows. Out of fear and respect (mostly the former), he looks downward, watching his shoes shuffle along the tile flooring. In response, Wesker sneers at the pathetic man but otherwise ignores him. After seeing the man's black boots pass by, the tech waits another ten seconds before breathing again, not realizing he had been holding his breath.
"Pathetic." Wesker thinks before returning to his prior engagement.
It sometimes amuses him when the woman acts defiant. It makes things interesting. However, there is a very narrow line between amusement and irritation. She often dances precariously upon that line, crossing it more often then he would like. Whenever she does cross that line, he immediately puts her in her place, though she never seems to stay there long.
"Rebellious, yes. But also, admirably resilient." Although the tests they put her through are taxing on both her physical and emotional health, she still finds the energy to attempt escape. As well as go out of her way to annoy him in any way possible. He finds that energy exemplified after she's been through a particularly difficult trial. Usually one where she must fight a horde of B.O.W.s. Her difficult and stubborn nature reminded him of someone else.
"Yes, I haven't met anyone so difficult since—" He pauses and takes a deep breath as he tries to quell the growing hatred. Under his breath, he mutters, "Chris", grinding out the syllables through clenched teeth. Their last encounter still left a sour taste in his mouth. Seven years later, he could still remember the excruciating pain of swimming in lava and two RPGs to the face.
He growls inwardly and shakes the thoughts of his old nemesis from his mind. "Where was I? Right, combat."
Whenever a fight has been especially difficult, and she has been torn and bloodied by some of the most extreme specimens available, she limps back to her room and tries to rest. Let her body heal from the damages. Sometimes it is so severe that she even falls unconscious and remains so for several hours (something he can remember all too well from his early days).
She is certainly powerful enough to dispatch the beasts, but her lack of combat knowledge greatly disadvantages her. When she fights, she lashes out barbarically, with no form whatsoever. In doing so, she drains her energy quickly and with little effectiveness towards her enemies.
He finally reaches his office door and decides on his plans for the woman. "I'll start training her soon. Teach her how to properly use her abilities." He sighs and as an after-thought, adds: "So long as she can behave herself until then."
Pulling the key from his pocket, he unlocks the door and expects to find his office dark. Instead he is surprised to find a lamp on. And a guard at his desk, perusing through his personal belongings.
"What the hell are you doing in here!" He growls, his eyes turning red and starting to glow through his shades.
"Seriously, what is your thing with sunglasses?" The guard did not need to turn around for him to know exactly who it was. He grinds his teeth in response and wonders how the hell she had escaped this time.
The guard turned and revealed Madelyn under the helmet. The visor was raised and her expression exhibited one of genuine curiosity mixed with smug triumph, undoubtedly knowing that her escape made him very upset (which is an understatement). In one hand she holds a photograph, in the other, a glass of his favorite scotch. She casually takes a sip of the liquor and smirks.
Wesker closes his eyes and allows himself a moment to relax, giving his eyes time to return to the pre-virus blue-gray. She always gains some control when she sees him lose his usually calm demeanor. However, he refuses to let her keep it for long.
"Miss Avery, what a pleasant surprise." He says in a very exasperated tone. She ignores his greeting and continues her query.
"I mean, this is before the virus-red-eye-monster-thing, right? So, it shouldn't be from sensitivity. Unless you had sensitive eyes prior to the virus." She waves the photo around and takes another drink.
He sighs and walks towards her to see what photograph she was referring to. She looks up innocently at him from below her lashes and turns the photo so he could see. It was from the research team back at Arklay facility, where they had been working on developing the T-virus. He was wearing a lab coat and, as usual, wore a pair of sunglasses.
He grunts but does not answer her question. As she raises the glass to her lips once more, he deftly takes it from her hand, much to her displeasure.
"Hey! I was drinking that!" She says, annoyed. Her eyes turn red, but only for a moment.
"Hmmm." He hums a response as he moves to the small cabinet behind his desk. He sets her half-finished glass down, opening the cupboard door and pouring his own before sitting at his desk.
Madelyn growls before sitting in one of the two chairs facing him. She removes the helmet and her long blonde hair cascades down across her shoulders. The helmet is placed in the seat next to her where she had already laid the standard semi-automatic rifle before she lays back in the chair, crossing her legs and pouting her lips playfully. He smirks, as he knew she was indeed annoyed, leans back in his chair and takes a sip of his drink.
She glares at him for a few moments before returning to studying the photo in her hand. Once he finishes his drink, placing the empty glass next to hers, he casually asks, "How did you get out this time?"
She glances up from the photo and smiles. "Well, wouldn't you like to know." She smiles and returns to her previous studies.
"You know I'll figure it out. Wouldn't you like to tell me yourself?"
She chuckles softly and relents. "Vents are amazing. They can take you practically anywhere."
"And the uniform?" He inquires. She leans back in the chair, propping her feet up on the edge of his desk. He rolls his eyes behind his sunglasses.
"So, I got out into the janitor's closet. A guard went by outside and I lured him in, knocked him out no problem. I'm sure you can imagine what happened next." She gestured toward the clothing.
"Anyways, since I was free for a bit, I decided to do some exploring. You know it gets kinda uncomfortable when you're stuck in that room by yourself for so long. And anytime you do get out it's all test and needles and, "Let's see if this monster can kill her." She adds sarcastically with a falsely enthusiastic smile. His lips twitch to the side, humored, but otherwise he shows no emotion.
"After walking around for a bit, I get to this office area. When I find a particularly important looking door, imagine my surprise when I see my favorite sunglass-wearing, narcissistic, asshole's name printed on it! I thought to myself, 'What kind of person would I be if I didn't stop by and say hello to that blonde bastard?' You weren't home, but I took the liberty of letting myself in and going through your stuff." She ends her story and waits for a response. After a minute, she finds none but smirks, satisfied that she has annoyed him sufficiently.
"Oh yeah, and another thing," she adds, "You haven't answered my question." She sits up and points to the photograph.
Wesker gets up to pour himself another drink. Once he sits back down, he takes a casual sip as if unimpressed. Truth be told, he was mildly impressed with her story, but sure as hell wasn't going to let her know that.
She rolls her eyes at his silence and looks at the photo for the millionth time that night, commenting, "You've always been such an expressive individual, haven't you?"
He shrugs. "What can I say? My time is valuable. I don't waste it on small things such as emotions."
She scoffs. "With the exception of anger, pride, and hatred." She shakes her head. "You poor bastard. Your childhood must have been awful."
He cocks his head and asks, "What drives you to that conclusion, my dear?"
"No one is born this cold." She says, tossing the photo on his desk in emphasis. He remains motionless as she stares at him hard and they stay that way for several seconds. Eventually she concedes and instead looks around the room. He takes this time to finish his second drink, placing the glass on the cabinet.
"Nice place you've got here."
The room is nice, indeed. His desk is dark mahogany, the top is well organized with a laptop pushed slightly to the side. The only disorderly items were the files containing old document and a few photographs that Maddy had been rifling through. He had been meaning to move those files to his penthouse but had never gotten around to it. After tonight, however, he was going to be sure to take them with him when he leaves.
As for the rest of the room, there was an expensive black leather sofa in one corner with a spotless glass table sitting in front of it, a matching leather seat next to it. Against the wall across from it stood a bookcase, also mahogany. It contained various biology and bio-engineering books he had collected over the years. Behind his desk is a cabinet that contained his personal selection of liquor, which as of late, he had hardly touched before tonight. The wall behind it was made entirely of windows overlooking the compound. Industrial lights were strategically placed between the buildings so that nearly every inch of the compound was illuminated at night. Beyond the heavy concrete walls, forest stretched for miles in every direction.
As he returns to his seat he replies, "It's suitable." He opens his laptop, finding it already powered on.
"I see you tried getting on the laptop."
"Yep. No luck though."
"Obviously." He sneers. She narrows her eyes at him but says nothing.
He opens the latest reports and reviews them. For some time, they both remain silent. Maddy sighs loudly, getting up from the chair to move to the couch, taking the semi-automatic rifle with her. He watches her closely form the corner of his eye.
She lays down, her head on the armrest facing him, one foot flat on the floor while the other one joins her on the couch. Like a bored child, she begins to toy with the rifle, being particularly amused when discovering the safety switch, repeatedly flipping it back and forth. His burning stare must have finally affected her, as she sheepishly places the rifle on the table next to her and proceeds to lay still. He returns to his review.
It was ten minutes of blissful silence before it was disrupted with a click. Looking at Maddy, he finds that she has discovered the sidearm. Thankfully, she flips the safety back on before clumsily inspecting the weapon. The last thing he needs tonight is to have to call clean-up crew because she accidentally shot herself.
Eventually, she spies him staring at her again. Silently, she flips the safety off and aims it at him. He coolly raises an eyebrow, daring her to pull the trigger.
"Relax, you know I wouldn't bother. No way it'd hit you anyway." She flips the safety back on but continues to aim at him.
"But a girl can dream." She sighs sadly before mime shooting him, dramatically recoiling and blowing against the barrel.
He smirks. "You've never fired a gun before in your life."
She frowns and returns the gun to its holster. "No. I haven't." Intrigued, he leans back into his chair, his review forgotten. He rotates the chair to fully face her.
"Why not?"
She shrugs, "I don't know."
He scowls, annoyed at her response. "'I don't know' is not an acceptable answer Miss Avery. Use your colorful vocabulary and give me a clear response." He sees her look away, pursing her lips to the side in thought.
After a moment she responds, "I didn't have anyone to teach me. It's not like I didn't want to shoot a gun. I just never learned how."
"Why didn't you find someone to teach you? You could have gone to any gun range and asked for assistance."
"I don't kn..." She begins to reply but catches herself when she notices his jaw tighten. "I guess...I didn't want it that much." She finished and waits silently. Gauging his reaction, waiting to see if it was suitable.
He stares at her a moment more before grunting and returning to his work. The answer wasn't satisfying, but he knew it was the best he would get.
At 11:40 he decides to call it a night, packing his laptop and collecting the files she had browsed through. He wanted to at least attempt a few hours of sleep.
Madelyn, on the other hand, had already fallen asleep on the couch, which would explain why she had been quiet for the last half hour.
He watches her sleep, her chest gently rising and falling with each breath. Silently and smoothly, he raises from his chair, taking his briefcase. As he approaches her, he can better see her face. This is one of the few times he's gotten to observe her when she is relaxed.
He recalls the first time he met her. When he had seen her, he doubted she would survive the procedure. But she surprised him. He even remembers the first thing she said to him, the fear in her gray-green eyes:"What have I done?" How she trembled in his firm grasp, her blood-splattered face searching his shaded expression. Then her eyes flashed hellfire red and she screamed, body contorting in pain...
Her face, relaxed and serene, he thinks "Beautiful. But so immature, childish. Can hardly believe she's 26." After a moment he corrects himself, "No, not childish. She's just stubborn and defiant. Along with a strong attitude."
His thoughtful gaze travels down from her face and he sighs. "It's such a shame. The uniform leaves everything to the imagination." He already knows her body is quite attractive. However, it would have been nice to take a closer look.
Without meaning to, he began to imagine. "Her physique and attitude would undoubtedly be interesting in bed. Oh, how delicious it would be to watch her unruly attitude crumble as I kiss her lips until they are plump and sore. As I kiss and caress every curve of her body, explore her sweetest places. How she would mewl and moan, claw at me as I savagely thrust into her..." Desire began to stir in his groin.
His lustful train of thought derails violently all of a sudden and he's shaken from his sinful reverie. "What the hell am I thinking?! She's a damn science experiment!" He thinks, appalled by his behavior. The fact that there is a 30 year age difference crossed his mind for a moment, though he hardly found that relevant.
"Miss Avery." He attempts to wake her up. She doesn't stir.
He yells this time, "Miss Avery!"
Maddy jars awake and sits up abruptly, like someone caught sleeping on the job. Her eyes blink rapidly as she begins to orient herself. Satisfied, he walks toward the door, reaching for his black leather coat.
"I am afraid visiting hours are over, my dear." He sneers as he puts the coat on. She stands and begins to walk to the door.
"Leave the handgun." He growls.
"Dammit." She mutters under her breath, bowing her head in failure. She removes the gun from the holster and lays it on the glass table. Approaching the door again, she pauses in front of him and looks at him curiously.
"I've never seen you in that coat before." She thoughtfully adds, "It makes you look like even more of an asshole."
He ignores her comment and locks the door behind them. "I trust you can escort yourself back to your room?" Of course he doesn't, but by this point he is tired and wants to get away from her: his previous thoughts angering him. As she was the source of those thoughts, his anger is partly directed towards her (like it so often is). "It's not like she could escape the facility anyway. At least, she wouldn't survive long."
All test subjects are implanted with a device that connects to their carotid artery. The device is on a 24 hour timer. Daily injections are needed to reset the timer. If one happened to escape, without the injection the device would release a toxin into the body that rapidly clots blood flow. They would be dead in a matter of minutes.
She scoffs at him. "Ha! Trust? That's cute." He watches as she turns and begins to walk down the hall. Growling softly, he follows her.
When he reaches her side, she looks at him and stops. She gasps slowly with her hand fluttering to her chest, like someone who has just been startled.
"Walking me home on the first date? Such a gentleman." She smiles slyly, her tone sarcastically flirtatious. His eyes narrow at her, annoyed. Not that she could see it behind his shades anyway.
She abruptly drops her performance and continues walking, Wesker falling in beside her. They remain quiet for some time, navigating the corridors, echoing footsteps the only sound piercing the silence.
Maddy's outburst interrupted that silence, "Goddammit, you still didn't answer the question!" Her pace slowed but Wesker continued. When he doesn't answer she jogs to catch up with him.
"Why do you wear sunglasses all the time?" He continues to ignore her. Irritated, she dashes, disappearing momentarily before reappearing only two feet in front of him. It effectively stops his progress.
He growls but she stands her ground, crossing her arms.
"Miss Avery, it is simply a personal preference. Even if there was some other reason, it would be none of your business. Now, if you would please, turn around and let us continue to your room so that we may bring this delightful visit to an end." He practically hisses the words between clenched teeth. It was taking all of his remaining patience not to grab the woman and drag her the rest of the way.
She huffs and turns around, continuing onward without another word. After a short elevator ride and navigating a few more corridors, they reach the containment cells. Maddy stops next to her door and waits for Wesker to input the code to unlock it.
His gloved fingers ghosts over the keypad quickly and the door releases with a click. He steps back and opens the door, allowing Madelyn to walk through. Once inside, she turns to him and leans against the wall next to the door, asking, "So what's on the agenda tomorrow? What monster gets to try to eat me?"
"Tomorrow consists of a blood sample. After that, you will be left alone for the day."
She groans. "Why do I have the feeling there's gonna be a very unpleasant experience later in the week?"
"Sometime this week you will combat a new B.O.W type. Aside from that, there will be an endurance and speed test. The rest is in the process of being planned." He replies.
"What B.O.W type is it?"
"It's a surprise." He says flatly.
"God, it's not another Hunter type is it?" She curls her lip and slumps her shoulders, like a child who has been told to do their chores. She hates the Hunters the most.
He can't help but chuckle. "No, it is not another Hunter type."
"Good. I swear to god, the asshole who decided to make a variant with the ability to turn invisible can burn in Hell."
Her last run in with the Hunters ended in her passing out in her room to heal from the extensive injuries. And she had had plenty to say to Wesker when she woke up. He must admit, her language is quite colorful.
"Do I get any hints?"
"No."
"Fuck it all." She grumbles and pushes away from the wall. Wesker backs away from the door and prepares to close it before remembering one more thing.
"Miss Avery, if you would, please remove the uniform before you go to bed. Leave it on the desk, it'll be collected tomorrow when you are taken for blood work."
She replies without looking at him, "Yeah, whatever."
He grunts and finally closes the heavy door. It thuds dully and automatically locks back. Before leaving, he checks the small screen next to the keypad. It displays the room via a camera installed in the ceiling. Maddy turns toward the desk in the corner and starts to strip off the uniform. Satisfied that she is doing what she was told, he leaves the way they came.
"So much for good behavior."