Author's Note: This is a submission that was two short pieces written around the theme of death. I thought they would be too short to have seperate stories for, so I put them together.


Chris's Version:

"Richard!"

He hardly had any time to mourn when it had happened, but now that he was alone, and out of the Aqua Ring, he could think again, about what had happened. His clothes were half soaked, some of it with a mixture of blood and water.

It had happened so quickly. Richard had been standing there, in the middle of the water, staring into the depths, at something Chris couldn't even see. Chris approached his fellow S.T.A.R.S member, but before he could get close, Richard yelled to him.

"Chris! Stay back!"

He didn't understand, what was wrong? Again, he made a motion to move, when Richard lunged at him, shoving him out of the way of this monstrous blur of grey-and like that, Richard was gone. Just the sickening crunch of bones being snapped, and a cloud of blood. It didn't quite register, until the dorsal fin of one of the creatures were suddenly visible.

Holy fuck, those are SHARKS! Chris thought as he frantically made his way to the drainage system.

Even now, that he was quite safe from the monstrous shark, he still felt the urge to tread carefully. He felt the urge to vomit rise, and he forced it back down, as he paced the room. He was in a bedroom, the bookcase moved aside to allow entry into the secret passage that led to the Aqua Ring.

His eyes settled on the desk, and his mind struggled to push out the black thoughts that were crowding his mind. He'd seen all types of deaths this particular day; Richard's was no different. He couldn't understand why it was so different for Richard though. He closed his eyes, recalling the dark, lidless eyes the shark possessed. They seemed souless and bleak, and stared at him as he had crept by.

He knew they would haunt him as long as he lived. He collected himself and let out a long sigh, rolling his shoulders back, and whispering a prayer. He wasn't religious in the least, but it was the sense of ritual that he took comfort in, repeating the words to himself that did the trick. It calmed him; he was a creature of habit.

His thoughts wandered a bit. He thought of the team, and imagined how they were doing. He hadn't run into Jill or Barry yet, but he had a brief run-in with Captain Wesker and Bravo team's medic, Rebecca. …and that's when it hit him: he'd have to break the news to Rebecca. It was obvious to him she really liked Richard, and it killed him to know he would have to break the news to her.

Jill's Version:

She wanted to be out of the attic as fast as humanly possible. She didn't like spiders, and from the look of things, the attic was infested with them. She chafed her arms as she made her way deeper into the attic, when the sound of glass shattering made her stop and look around. In bolted the largest snake she had ever seen in her life. It was easily larger than she was, and venomous. It had a gaping mouth, that gave off the appearing of yawning-even spittle flying from it's mouth.

Jill didn't have time to think, as it hissed again and darted at her. She dove out of the way and off to the side, the serpent's seemingly endless coils flying past her. When it landed on the other side of the room, it landed with a heavy thud. She glancing around frantically for anything of interest before spotting the death mask in the corner, on a cardboard box and diving for it. She could hear the snake moving behind her, but then, there was another noise: a door slamming. Jill dared to look over, and there was Richard Aiken, arm wrapped in a bandage, and his shotgun mounted on it.

"Bastard, see you in hell!" He cried, firing at the satanic serpent. Jill watched the scene unfold, in horror. The snake hissed painfully, blood spraying everywhere and retreated partway, changing course, and going towards Jill. She moved quickly, making her way over to Richard. She took out her handgun and fired, the shots ringing in her ears. She couldn't hear anything over the constant blasts erupting from Richard's gun. The snake stopped just short of them, on the ground, motionless. There was so much blood, they were sure it was dead.

They both stopped firing and sighed in relief, Jill turning to face Richard.

"Thanks Richard… Are you alright?" Richard smirked.

"Of course I am, how about you?" Jill felt her skin go pink. Richard reminded her of Chris who she had always had a soft spot for. Thinking of him now gave her a sinking sad feeling, and had her hoping that the blood she had seen before in the dining room hadn't belong to him. She shook her head.

"Have you ran into-"

Richard caught it first. A shadow loomed over Jill, and covered her completely, as the serpent rose once more. Richard didn't waste any time. He ran at her, dropping his gun and shoved her out of the way, connecting the blow, and taking her spot as the snake's next meal. Jill fell, sliding back, and watched in horror as Richard was snatched out of the air, and devoured whole. She couldn't scream, she never was the screaming type; instead, she found herself staring, unable to tear her eyes from the macabre scene. She watched, in bile fascination as Richard was eaten whole.

"Richard!!" She cried, lurching to her feet and diving for his gun. The serpent rounded on her now, his movements slowed by the abnormal mass that had once been Richard. Jill took up the gun and aimed at his muzzle, locking eyes with it. She pulled the trigger, the gun making a deafening blast. The snake reeled, and quickly darted for the window, blood oozing from it's face. When it finally had gone, Jill grabbed her legs and pulled them to her chin, sobbing to herself softly.