Ashes
As your eyes start to bleed,
you realize it's too late.
And as your sky starts to fall,
you realize you're standing alone.
The time has come for this to bleed.
The opening of what you've always known is growing near.
All you've feared here,
Looks you in the eyes.
We all fall down.
Jill stood silent. Her mask rested easily on her face. She could barely feel the weight of her cloak on her shoulders. For now, she was The Plague Doctor. Wesker stood before her, contemplating what should happen next. Inside, Jill seethed with hatred. This monster before her had taken away her life yet kept her alive. Taken away her choice and managed to drain away her will.
"I believe the locals should fear you a bit more. The Plague Doctor shouldn't just spread sickness. The Plague Doctor should be someone that mothers warn their children about. That men have nightmares of." His voice was condescending at the same time it is amused. The corner of his mouth went up in a smirk. "Perhaps you should find someone that has done a wrong and... Right it." She felt a shiver go up her spine and couldn't do anything about it. As long as the jewel burned into her chest, she couldn't do anything. She was forced to listen to his words. His face darkened as he looked at her mask. "And no more... Escape attempts." By this, he meant suicide. She's tried so hard to accidentally be killed. He told her not to take her own life but she had found ways to endanger it. She'd almost been shot more than once. She was shot too, but Wesker's doctors had fixed it. There wasn't even a scar.
He motioned for her to leave and she did. His departing words were, "Strike fear into their hearts."
She hated how her body wouldn't listen to her anymore. She knew exactly what she was going to do, but she wasn't not the one doing it. Wesker was. He used her like a puppet to do horrible things. She was about to find a man who has 'sinned' and write with his blood a message. Her brain is telling her what she's doing, but she can't do a thing to stop it.
She hated it. She wished that she could have just died already. The people who mattered to her already thought she was dead. Chris, Claire, her father... Everyone. They thought she had died plunging off the cliff in order to safe Chris. That's the death she would've wanted, dying for the man she loved. It was better than this half alive state she was in where she couldn't control her own actions. She was no longer afraid of death. She craved it.
She hid in the shadows, listening to people from the local village. It was easy to close in on a man who wasn't exactly a saint. The opposite, really. She didn't care about his name, but she knew he was a theif. She cornered him in a barn. He was stealing some chickens. She passed behind him as he leaned over the small fence holding the poultry in. He had a sack in his hand in which he shoved a chicken. She came to a stop behind him and waited. He felt the prescence and glanced back as he reached down for another bird. He froze when he saw her. He stood again and tried to step away. She stepped closer and drew the dagger from within the depths of the fabric. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth to scream. Her free hand caught his throat before he could, and she lifted him up. He struggled for breathe as she spun the dagger around and sank it into the top of his chest until it hit the sternum. A scream strangled in his throat. She dragged the dagger down, gutting him. His intestines fell at her feet. She dropped the dead man. With his blood, she wrote on the wall of the barn. The Plague takes all.
The wrath of your hate has returned.
The plague is reaping back.
Three-fold of what you've already sown.
All you've feared here,
Looks you in the eyes.
We all fall down.
Wesker allowed her to retire when she returns. She went to the 'house' she was given in the caverns. It had a few rooms. A kitchen, a bathroom, and bedroom. The bedroom had a closet with three more of the battlesuit she wore as well as a large double bed. She dreaded the day Wesker might visit her there. She prayed Excella kept him satisfied.
She crawled into the bed and curled in on herself. She could still see the look in the mans eyes as she killed him. Eventually though, she fell into a tortured sleep. She kept seeing faces of those she loved flashing up before her and disappearing, leaving her in the dark. And then she was falling, down into a black creature that engulfed her, sinking into every pore like a disease. She couldn't breathe, only watch herself be corroded and eaten by this monster.
"Again," Wesker commanded. She repeated the move perfectly, using her elbow to knock the gun from the man's hand and twisting his arm back until she heard a loud crack. The man cried out in pain and fell to his knees, holding his arm. She finished him off with a powerful blow to the back of the head. Her heel pierced the base of his skull, severing his head from his spinal cord. He fell to join the other bodies. "Good." Wesker's gaze continued to be directed at her. "I'll need you to go out again." He had done this five times before, the first time being the chicken theif. "I'm nearly satisfied with the amount of control over these fools. Once more should be effective." She nodded, though she'd rather not.
She turned and walked away, cloak covering every inch of her. She knew where she'd go. There was a warehouse nearby that was the HQ for a gang. She'd slaughter them all. Leave another message. It didn't take long for her to reach the warehouse. Inside, a few of the members had gathered. She slipped in a window and went unnoticed. The place was filled with oil drums and canisters of gasoline. One man sat on the top of one, tapping out a beat with a couple sticks. His back was turned to her so it was easy to quickly grab his short matted hair and in one fluid motion, slit his throat. The silence was immediately noticed by the remaining members. When they saw their dead friend on the ground, they froze. One tried to make a break for the door but a black blur over came him and he was on the ground with his neck snapped. They scattered like frightened rabbits, trying to hide. One by one, she found and killed them. Each scream scared the remaining ones to tears. They had heard of the Plague Doctor. The graceful movements, the inhuman abilities. The fact you wouldn't know it was there until you were dying or dead. She stopped when she was sure she had gotten them all. She leaned down and dipped her hand in the blood. Another message. She hated this. This massacre, this lack of free will, this life. She'd much rather die.
It is said hail and fire mixed with blood,
Will be thrown down upon the earth.
Darkness fills a third of the lands,
And the angels cry woe.
As she stood again, a small item was tossed at her feet. It exploded on contact, letting out a blinding blast of light. She stumbled back, unable to see. She heard something land nearby again. She tried to get away from it, but she still couldn't see. She knew it was a grenade. It detonated and she felt herself throne back by an explosion that was much too large for only a grenade. The oil drums. She landed on her side. Her eyes finally see again only for her to find everything on fire. Including herself. The ceiling and walls were gone as well as the bodies. She could see one a few feet away, quickly burning due to the accelerate. She tried to move, but couldn't. Her cloak was on fire, her mask was yards away, sticking out of the dirt like some long abandoned toy. She felt the fire slowly making it's way to her skin, and frankly, she didn't care. As long as death came. No more Wesker. She could just die and be at peace. She had lasted as long as she could. Almost two years of his control, two years away from Chris, two years of hell. She had been strong since birth. Thirty years of fighting not to cry at night and succeeding. But now, it was over. She had been strong. But no longer. Now she only need wait for death. The fire reached her skin at her torso first. She felt no pain. It clawed it's way over her side and up her back. She closed her eyes (the one part of her she could move) and waited.
A star from heaven is thrown from the sky,
Destroying a third of our seas.
Not only these things but more will come.
It is our fate, it is the end.
Apocalypse.
But she then heard something. A kind of dissaproving hiss. She opened her cold blue eyes and saw him. He was only a few feet away, staring at her through dark reflective glasses. She would've frowned if she could have. Instead, the emotion drained from her eyes. "Now, Jill," he spoke. "You're better than this." In one swift movement he tossed a fire blanket over her, extinguishing the flame. She swore in her head. She writhed with hatred inside. He acted as though he cared in the way he lifted her from the ground. His entirety was a lie. He was only using her. One day he'd get bored and simply kill her. The only reason he used a gentle touch on her now as he carried her back to a vehicle was so she'd survive. She'd live on in the hell that was her life. "It seems you've broken your back," he muttered. His tone turned dark. "I told you. No more escape attempts." He sighed. "At least all the damage done is fixable. You'll be back to normal in a week." She remained motionless. How could she move with her back snapped like a twig? He placed her in the back of the truck he had driven there. The drive was long. She let her eyes slip closed for what she'd hoped would be the last time.
We die here tonight.
You die here tonight.
We all die here tonight.
Skies are falling tonight.
As you run and hide.
Ashes to ashes.
Dust to dust.
It wasn't, of course. No, she opened her eyes again. She was lying with her back pressed to cold metal. As far as she could tell, she wasn't wearing any clothing. There was a thick blanket tossed over her, covering everything from the tops of her breasts down to her knees. She then realized there was no omnipresent glow of a the jewel on her chest. It was gone. She tried moving her hand and was surprised to find she had control over her actions. But she was shackled to the table. Wire connected to her body, keeping track of her heart rate and her temperature.
There was a gaping hole where the jewel had been. She could see her bone. Her sternum, the edges of her ribs. Each blood vessel was perfectly in tact. She looked away. She tried moving her toes and discovered she was no longer paralyzed there. She wished that these doctors that Wesker's would put their time into something other than destroying the world. If they were able to fix her broken spine, they would able to restore millions of people paralyzed from fighting in the army or getting into a car accident.
She closed her eyes again, leaning her head back. As far she could tell, the shackles on her wrists were magnetically locked. She had no lockpicks, not that they'd help her. She needed the special tools that Chris had gotten her. She heard someone outside and immediatley feigned sleep, relaxing completely. Wesker and Excella entered. She heard papers flipped. "We'll need to replace the device before she wakes again."
There was silence for a few moments before Excella spoke. "I don't see why you keep her. You should get rid of her."
Silence again. Wesker's voice was a cold steel blade as it cut through Excella's confidence. "I will not be disposing of her at any point. She will be an asset over the next few weeks. Even if she isn't useful in the infection, she will provide quite the distraction for a certain threat you have informed me of."
"The BSAA? Please, Albert. You doubt my abilities."
"And you underestimate the man being sent in for the job. Jill will stay here and alive. She is our secret weapon. The agent being sent has a one track mind. If we tell her she's alive, he'll only be interested in finding her. Providing me with plenty of time to go through with my plans. And Redfield won't be able to stop me."
Jill's heart rate rocketed. The machine keeping track went off, alerting Wesker and Excella to her status. "What's happening?" Excella asked.
Jill could hear the scowl in his voice. "She heard us mention her precious little partner. I'm not sure if it's an involuntary reaction or not. I'll give her a dose of anesthesia to make sure."
As the mind numbing drug pumped into her system and she began to fade, she found hope to live again. Chris was coming.
Ashes to ashes.
We all fall down.
This is based on Ashes by In This Moment. Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated!