Chapter One:
The (Love?) Letter



Claire Redfield whistled a soft tune to herself as she walked down the driveway and
reached into the mailbox. Her hand pulled out a small stack of envelopes and she quickly
flipped through it as she turned back to the house. Bills, bills, bills, credit card offer, bill,
bill….and an exquisitely perfumed light pink envelope. Claire's interest peaked when
she smelled the exotic fragrance of jasmine and the loopish, feminine writing on the
address. Her interest peaked even more so when she saw who the letter was addressed
to….
"Chris just got a letter from some woman in Paris." Claire said excitedly as she burst
through the doors.
Leon Kennedy, who had just woken up and was groggily scratching his rump, was
wearing a plain white T-shirt and his Garfield boxers.
Leon sniffed cynically. "So Chris had a one night stand in a foreign city, promising that
helpless, innocent child that he'd return to her one day—so what? Everyone knows your
brother's a tramp."
To assure her he was joking, he gave a half-hearted punch on her shoulder. Claire
frowned at him deeply, not convinced that all he said was in jest. It had always pained
she heard people call her brother a good-for-nothing drifter or an evasive womanizer
when deep down, Chris was the greatest person she had ever known.
"Claire! Make five cups of coffee!" Chris voice grumbled from behind her and she
turned to see him still in his bathrobe, unshaven and his blood-shot eyes half-closed
beneath his lids. "And you might want to see if anyone else wants some too."
Okay… so Chris was a diamond-in-the-rough… he was still a good person. "Well,
hop-to Claire!" Chris barked as he sat down.
Claire rolled her eyes and turned to Leon holding up the letter in her hand. "Dare I give it
to him?"
A grin crept up on Leon's face but he turned away and opened the fridge, bending in to
look (and giving Claire an eyeful of his firm butt). You could probably eat breakfast off
of that… or bounce bullets off… Claire thought as she bit her bottom lip and quickly
turned around and tossed the pink envelope to Chris.
"It's for you Chris…" Claire crossed her eyes at him. "And it's from a guurrrlll.."
she purred in a ridiculous voice.
"Coffee." Chris scowled as he stared down at the envelope.
"Yeah, I know." Claire replied as she got up and filled the coffee maker with water. Just
as she was filled the filter with the coffee, a loud yelp came from Chris.
Whipping her head around, Claire saw Chris staring down in horror at the white, lace
trimmed stationary, the envelope was hanging loosely at his fingertips.
"What is it, Chris?" Claire asked as she turned the coffee pot on and started towards him.
"She wants me to come to her castle!" Chris exclaimed cravenly.
The word 'castle' caught Claire's attention immediately and she frowned. "What?"
"She wants me to come to her castle!" Chris repeated hysterically.
"Who has a castle?" Leon asked, suddenly fascinated.
Chris became withdrawn and sat back.
"Good morning everyone!" Jill exclaimed as she entered the kitchen.
"Shut-up!" Leon exclaimed.
Without losing her cheerful disposition, Jill punched Leon's arm, sending him reeling
backwards.
"Hey! I just mean that Chris is going to tell us about his affair with a royal." Leon
defended, rubbing his shoulder.
"Oh?" Jill said as she turned questioningly to Chris. "And who was this?"
Chris breathed heavily as he spoke, "It was just a one-time thing! How was I supposed to
know that she'd write one day out of the blue, asking me to visit her!"
Claire shook her head. "Oh Chris! How could you?"
"Oh my God! What if she's pregnant?" Chris asked, suddenly horror-struck. He
grabbed Claire's arm. "If she's pregnant, I don't know what I'll do!"
"Chris, get a grip!" Claire order. "What are you talking about? Who is this girl?"
Chris backed off and a blush suddenly crept up on his cheeks.
"I wouldn't exactly call her a 'girl' exactly."
"Oh my God, Chris! Don't tell me that you slept with a guy." Leon shook his head.
"Honestly man, how wasted where you?"
"I wasn't wasted, okay?" Chris snapped. "I was just so desperate for good news and
good thoughts after the Spencer Estate thing—and when I arrived in Paris, I ran into her
and… and well, we hit it off!"
"Who is 'she'?" Jill butted in.
Chris looked down at his hands and mumbled, "She's the widow of the Italian
Ambassador in France…"
The three of them gasped in what seemed to be one breath and Claire felt that she would
faint. In fact, she grabbed on to the edge of the table and sat down hard on her chair.
Everyone was silent for what seemed to be forever when Chris spoke up, "… she wants
me to come visit her for a while…" he looked from the letter then up to the three of them.
"…But…" a twinkle sparkled in his eyes. "She said I could bring my friends with me…"
Claire's eyes widened. "No. No, no Chris. I will have no part in this freaky love
affair you are having with… what ever her name is."
"Carlotta Cornaro." Chris said as he put his puppy dog face on. "Come on you guys,
PLEASE?"
"Why should we do this?" Claire asked him.
"Because it will be a great adventure for you guys!" Chris sighed as he turned to Leon
and Jill. "Leon, you know how much you love those chocolate croissants? Well,
Carlotta has a cook who MAKES them right away."
Leon's eyes shone. "You mean I wouldn't have to wait in line?"
"Nope." Chris assured him.
Leon looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'd like to go to Gay Paris…" he said,
pronouncing Paris the French way: Par-ree.
"And Jill," Chris said, turning to Jill and knowing that she would take a little more
convincing. She wasn't as easy as men were. "You love all that scenery and romantic
shit, Paris has wonderful landscapes and stuff you can take pictures of. You could
experience something new for a change!"
Claire thought Jill still looked unconvinced but she just shrugged, looking as if she
wanted to beat Chris' face in.
"And Claire," Chris said as he faced her. "you're my sister, so you have to do what I tell
you to do."
Claire frowned. "I most certainly do NOT. Chris, I think you're way in over your head.
You can't continue your relationship with this woman, be serious. Besides, weren't you
just horrified that she started contacting you now?"
Chris snorted. "That's in the past, besides, with you guy going with me, what's there
to be scared of?"
Claire was about to shake her head when she saw Leon giving her a pleading look. 'Just
say 'yes'! Leon's eyes flashed at her. Honestly, how men could get so worked up over
food was just beyond her. Claire turned to Jill to help her out in this, but Jill wore an
unreadable expression.
"Claire," Chris said, his voice soft and unsure. "Please, say that you'll go. I don't
know what I'd do if you didn't come."
Claire bit her bottom lip. After a few minutes, she sighed. "Let me think about this."



"Come on!" Chris shouted as he thundered downstairs. "We're going to miss our
flight."
Claire groaned inwardly as she struggled to close her suitcase and locked it. It was four
days later and Carlotta had sent them four tickets (the three of them, plus Sherry) express
way. Claire had thought Chris couldn't be serious when he wanted them to go with him
to France, but when the tickets arrived, she found out that she was mistaken.
Claire felt a flutter of excitement and nervousness as she dragged her suitcase to the
car and then threw it into the car. Why was she doing this? Everything was moving too
fast. In a matter of hours, she would meet Chris' girlfriend that no one knew about. She
had bristled with anger when she found out about Chris' affair with Carlotta, but after
some thought, she understood.
Chris had wanted to hear of good things, better things especially after Umbrella had
shattered his spirit and filled his nights with dreams of vengence, that he had fallen for
the first person available. Cupid must have been aiming straight at the old folk's home
when Chris had called. From what Chris told her , Claire knew that Carlotta was at least
45 years old. She would be infertile by the time Chris (if ever) reached sexual maturity.
She had tried to tell him this, but he had just stared at her as if she didn't know what
she was talking about and told her to go and pack.
"SHERRY!" Chris shouted up the stairs and right in Claire's ears.
"OW! Chris!" she shouted back.
"What?" Chris asked.
"Sherry's outside already." Claire pointed out, and Chris turned to see Sherry wishing all
the plants and the houses good-bye. As if she were leaving forever.
"Well, then let's go!" Chris said. He was trying to appear fearless, but Claire could
see that Chris was scared shitless.
Jill came trudging down the stairs and sighed before going outside to deposit her suitcase
into the trunk of their car.
"Paris, France, here we come!" Leon exclaimed as he came down the stairs, grinning.
"What's wrong?" he asked, noticing Claire's slightly less than enthusiastic expression.
"Nothing's wrong." Claire said. "Just that Chris is dating a MUCH older woman. And I
don't like it one bit."
"I don't think that 45 and 27 is so bad." Leon said openly and Claire just laughed.
"Of course you don't," Claire said. "Your sister lives in the Playboy Mansion. With that
sick old pervert."
Leon's upper lip stiffened and he frowned. "And she hasn't invited me ONCE." He
grinned wider and put his arm around her shoulders as he led her out to the car. "Don't
worry. Everything will be okay. Just think of this as a well-earned vacation."
Leon's confidence was contagious and as they rode to the airport she began to feel
herself relax.