One dark and stormy Night

I looked out at the driving rain, how it seemed to burst in all its fury on the wing of the plane as the light aeroplane drove into the thunderstorm, only just staying airborne. This wasn't the sort of weather I'd expected near South America, but then again if you've been living my life, anything's entirely possible.

This story should begin on It all began on a dark and stormy night…but that's just way too cliché, even if it does sum up the sort of scenario I was in right now. It seemed overly typical to me that no matter where I went the grim reaper lurked with his scythe, even if I am with somebody I love.

My name is Leon Scott Kennedy, I'm twenty-something and spend much of my time staring danger directly in the face. I've got brown-reddish hair, and I have been through a nightmare that has lasted nearly two years now. My girlfriend, Claire Redfield, sat next to me, smiling encouragingly at me as we clung to each other, enjoying what warmth we could share.

Claire was a beauty; auburn hair, a kindly and warm face plus a body most men would kill to be at least a foot away from…oh yeah, she's a fabulous girl alright. I think it started with our kindred spirits, the way we felt like we'd both been robbed by Umbrella. I met her that night in Racoon City…the night we so badly want to forget but which have so much trouble doing; but then again, if I hadn't experienced that I wouldn't have met Claire. Since then we've been through thick and thin together, even when we went our separate ways immediately afterwards. After we met up again, we got to know each other better. The more missions we went on, the more times we stayed in the same hotel, the more often we sneaked looks at each other the more we began to feel something a little more than friendship for each other. She had something of a hang-up about some guy called Steve Burnside, a guy who died a year and a half ago in the Antarctic when Claire had been there. I'd had something of a hang up about Ada Wong, a woman I met in Racoon City and who was probably incinerated with the rest of the population.

We found solace in each other; we always felt more comfortable in each others arms. We'd kissed for the first time three months ago…and slept together for the first time two months ago.

But here we now were; together and huddled on this miniature tin can that maintained a constant battle against the gale and the hammering rain.

And there was only one parachute. The plane groaned under the stress of the constant battle its engine faced, the rain drumming down like an army of determined line dancers. We'd got hold of this plane from some fairly disreputable types on the South American border, which was where we'd started and were now one hundred miles away from.

"Leon, are you sure this plane is safe?" Claire asked as the plane rocked again.

"I'm not so sure myself" I replied "But it's all we could get, especially for the price they charged"

The plane rocked violently this time.

"Leon, this plane feels like we're flying in something that's never seen a repair garage in its life" Claire added.

"Aww, Claire…" I squeezed her "Don't worry; I'm sure it'll be okay"

"Oh shut up" she giggled, slapping me on the back.

"Where on the island does this Archaeologist live?" Claire asked, after finishing slapping me.

"The mansion that's its centrepiece" I explained "Sounds good, doesn't it? A mansion in the middle of nowhere, an island that's fallen silent…"

"Ooh, déjà vu" Claire replied raising an eyebrow.

"Apparently he's only been there recently; Morton hates his family home on Shadow Island " I said, removing the file that Chris had given us, the papers closed in a brown card file that could be easily bent and hidden in case we had any problems.

"That's Dr. Morton isn't it?" Claire asked, scratching her head "What's an academic genius like him doing in the middle of nowhere?"

"I don't know; the secret part of the file says he came here to do research that utilised his knowledge into Ancient languages"

"Weird" Claire said, shaking her head "I want to know why Umbrella would be interested in that?"

"If it's weird then we've got to find out" I replied.

The co-pilot staggered in from the cockpit, looking decidedly unwell.

"How long?" I called over the crash of lightning.

"Um…should be about five minutes!" the co-pilot called back despite the fact the lightning had settled down for now "We have to find an airfield; it's a nightmare to land anywhere in this weather!"

"Sure!" I said, waving at him idly with one hand.

I put my arm around Claire, smiling at her to comfort her.

"We'll be on and off Shadow Island before you know it" I said.

"I'm not afraid Leon" she replied "But I want this to be our last outing for a while, you know?"

"How do you mean?" I asked.

"Leon, I want us to spend real quality time together; we spend so much time going on missions we never have time to stop for a few moments…after this, can we go on holiday or something?"

I smiled, a little thrown by her plea; but I knew that this was what I wanted too. We both wanted peace, at least some peace for us…

There was a loud explosion; and suddenly to our alarm, the plane's trajectory tipped down several degrees sending us crashing to the floor. I looked up.

"What the hell's going on?!" I bellowed, as Claire picked herself up.

"I think this plane's going to crash!" Claire shouted above the screaming of the engine that seemed to fill the world.

We staggered into the cockpit, staring out at the hammering rain and the view of a dark island rising sharply from the ocean towards us, the perspective of it changing as the windshield tilted crazily, giving a constantly distorted view of our destination. I had a deep sinking feeling about it as Claire asked, very loudly.

"What's going on?!"

"We've been struck by lightning!" the co-pilot said "You'll have to bail out!"
I nodded, running into the back as the plane seemed to tip yet further down. I grabbed the two orange parachutes, tossing one to Claire as I hauled mine on.

She smiled, I smiled back; we were both frightened, but it wasn't anything we hadn't dealt with before.

We were flying over the island now getting lower and lower…

"GO!" I yelled, "I'll find you! We've got our walkie-talkies!"

Claire nodded reluctantly, she grabbed the parachute and secured it on. She ran up to me and kissed me quickly, before hauling open the side-door. She jumped out, ice cold win roaring into the rear of the plane, I clung on as I stared out and saw with relief that her parachute had opened, its white circular shape drifting downwards.

I took a deep breath, and dived out of the open door into the slipstream. Wind and rain pummelled my face as I fell, nearly forcing me unconscious due to its pummelling effect, but I managed to stay awake. I yanked the cord, felt my body jerk sharply as the parachute opened…then I drifted down, drifting on the wind as I stared downward. I couldn't see Claire, in my feverishly swimming mind I assumed the wind had forced her to a location further away.

I watched my feet as I descended, slowly towards the ground.

The grounded started to take some shape as I went down, the black mass of trees rushing up to meet me and swallowing me whole…I was faint, and I felt myself passing out of consciousness as I crunched through the foliage…everything went black.