~Book I~

Both Rebecca and Billy stared ahead for a moment before taking a few steps forward.

"Claire told us to be on the look-out for a prison ward," the young woman spoke up, "but she also mentioned the possibility of an underwater facility being the place where Chris is being held hostage."

"Well, how would we get to it?" Billy asked her, holding his handgun close but keeping his eyes open for any danger.

"I'm not sure," Rebecca replied. "Let's not worry about that for now; I'm sure Claire can help us out with that, but first we need to explore the island."

There were a few more seconds of silence during the walk, but this time Billy was the one to fill it.

"This place must've seen better days," he muttered.

"It did," Rebecca confirmed. "First it was bombed, then it was made to self-destruct."

"You mean someone tried to blow up the entire island?" Billy queried, glancing at Rebecca and seeing her nodding her head. "Huh. Well, I've seen bullets do more damage. A self-destruct sequence should reduce buildings to dust."

"Look on the bright side; we can still find Chris' location without getting lost among the rubble," Rebecca pointed out, trying to see something positive in the lack of complete destruction.

"If there was rubble, I'm sure our Fox guy would've found a different den to bring his prey into," Billy retorted. This comment seemed to win the overall debate, since Rebecca had nothing to say to that.

There was a brief silence as they continued to walk, until Rebecca spotted what looked like a prison ward. "There!" she pointed. "That looks like a prison ward... Let's go take a look!"

"It's oddly quiet," Billy mentioned, almost sounding suspicious as he glanced around. Rebecca only continued to walk ahead.

...

Chris began to open his eyes, his vision blurry as he forced himself to awaken. He was sitting upright with his hands behind his back, but as he attempted to move them he found that they were practically locked in place. Snapping himself to full conscious, Chris looked back only to see that his hands were cuffed to the chair he was sitting upon, and as he finally managed to scan his surroundings he saw that he was sitting in some sort of kitchen-like room with rusted metal walls. Outside a round window he saw nothing but water. He was at sea.

That's when he came to the conclusion that he was on a ship.

He heard voices up ahead, so he quickly turned his attention to see a young man speaking to another individual who he couldn't quite see, since the man was standing slightly in front of them. However, Chris' eyes widened at what he could see.

Bleached blonde hair, short but perfectly swept back. White skin. Black clothing, most notably being a long black leather coat.

No...

This individual must have caught sight of Chris awakening, since the young man before them turned his head to look back at him and the other individual gave a glass.

Black sunglasses. And Chris could swear he saw glowing eyes behind those shades.

Before Chris could stare for too long, they swiftly turned away and marched down the corridor when turning a corner.

There was no way it could have been who Chris thought it was.

Was there?

The young man with blue eyes was now standing before him, which Chris barely noticed until he spoke up.

"It's nice to see you awakening, Chris Redfield," he greeted with a smirk.

"Who the hell are you?" Chris hissed through grit teeth, struggling against his cuffs.

"Oh, I forgot! I did not introduce myself to you properly," he said. "I am Charles Fox, and this is my ship. I recommend you get comfortable; you may be here for a while."

"What the hell do you want from me?" Chris interrogated, fire in his eyes. This man did not look familiar to him.

Charles merely gave a chuckle. "It is not I who has made plans for you, Chris Redfield," he confessed. "My boss is the one who wants revenge on you, but not just yet. First my revenge plan needs to take place, and you must witness it; my boss and I both know that you will suffer once you see what is to come."

His boss was the one who wanted revenge?

The pieces were being put together far too easily.

Was that really him?

Charles laughed once again, seeing Chris' expression. Chris went from confused to worried as he tried to figure out what the British man before him was talking about.

"You look so scared, Chris Redfield!" Charles mocked. "Oh dear, it looks like I've given you too many clues."

"What are you talking about?!" Chris snapped. "Tell me why I'm here!"

"You're in no position to be making any demands, Chris Redfield," Charles responded calmly. "Just sit back and relax; your time will come soon. Now, if you'll excuse me, I, too, am a busy man, so I'll be speaking to you soon when I have some important updates." With that, the man turned on his heel and began to walk away. "If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed."

As Chris listened to his following laughter, he narrowed his eyes. Of all books to quote, why had this man chosen to quote the Book of Revelation? There had to be a reason, and it seemed that his quotes were to be used as riddles.

Currently, Chris was in captivity.

Was someone else going to be killed?

...

Pushing open the door, Rebecca and Billy found that the ward they were walking into was dark and empty.

"This ain't right," Billy murmured after taking a few cautious steps. "Are you sure we're on the right island?"

"This is Rockfort Island," Rebecca confirmed. "This is where Charles said he was. This is where he said he was keeping Claire's brother."

"You'd expect the guy to have at least an army of zombies," Billy replied with a hint of sarcasm.

"Charles wanted Claire to come here," Rebecca recalled. "He wanted to lure her into a trap. She's fought zombies and infected creatures enough times before - twice on an island."

Billy raised his eyebrow while picking up some abandoned supplies, such as ammo and a herb. "So you think this guy might have planned something else for her?" he questioned.

"Seems likely," Rebecca answered. "Come on; there's nothing in here."

The pair left the prison facility, still cautious but also baffled by the silence. Not even one infected human could be found.

They entered the remains of the training facility; with the building being large, Chris may have been somewhere here. But again, as they opened one door to the next, they only found empty rooms and few supplies, with no clues which could lead them to Chris' location.

"I don't get it," Billy said to Rebecca. "The whole place is just... dead."

"It's starting to creep me out," Rebecca confessed, still keeping her eyes peeled. "Maybe we should head back to the chopper for now." Billy nodded his head in agreement, leaving the facility alongside Rebecca.

While walking, Rebecca took out the transceiver and held down a button. "Claire. It's Rebecca," she greeted. "The island's pretty much empty. Not even a dead body has been spotted, let alone a zombie..."

"Nothing at all?" Claire reacted. "That is strange..."

"Josh and I are heading back to the chopper," Rebecca announced. "Maybe Duke can fly us around the island or something, I don't know. Walking around on foot has so far been pretty pointless."

"Sounds like a good idea," Claire agreed. "Alright. Call me again if your situation changes." With that, she cut the call.

Rebecca put the transceiver away, seeing the chopper up ahead. The propellers were no longer spinning, but this was not seen as a concern; Duke probably wanted to keep quiet while they were gone.

"The island's empty, Duke," Rebecca told the pilot as she climbed into the chopper. "Think you could fly us around the island? Maybe then we'd be able to find anything unusual much faster."

Billy climbed in and sat beside her but immediately noticed Duke's silence, though he chose not to speak up. Instead he just stared at Rebecca, waiting for her gaze to meet his. She stared at him for a brief moment before becoming aware of Duke's lack of response, so she turned and leaned over into the cockpit and placed a hand on Duke's shoulder. "Hey. What's going o-"

Her hand retracted as if she had touched a hot surface. As she lightly shook Duke, his body fell back onto the floor. It looked as if his eyes had been gauged and his jaw broken severely, with streaks of blood leaking from his wet sockets. Billy instinctively pulled Rebecca back by her arm, the pair both staring silently at the deceased pilot. Someone, or something, had killed him.

Keeping her eyes on Duke's body, Rebecca lifted up the transceiver once again. "Duke's dead," she simply revealed. "He's dead, Claire. It looks like someone - something - killed him."

"What?" Claire gasped. "Shit. Looks like there's something to worry about on that island after all. Just get away from the body; you don't know what killed Duke and it could've been infected with something."

"You're the expert," Rebecca muttered in an attempt to ease herself, slowly stepping out of the helicopter with Billy following her. "Right. Josh and I are gonna go back and look around some more; we need to find what killed Duke."

"Be careful," Claire warned before once again the conversation came to an end.

"Whatever killed him can't be too far away," Billy stated. "That might be the only thing on the island."

As he said that, a rubbling sound could be heard behind them. They were both quick to turn around, guns at the ready, but were both horrified upon seeing the helicopter breaking. Emerging from it was a large green hulking monster, which let out a mighty roar. That monster was formerly their pilot.

"What the hell infected him?!" Billy exclaimed, taking a few steps back.

"I don't know," Rebecca responded, again pulling out her transceiver while watching the monster as it appeared to analyse its surroundings. "Claire, you were right to warn us. Duke's turned into something horrible. He's huge and green; he's a monster, Claire!"

There was a pause on Claire's end, but then she spoke up with some simple instructions. "Run," she commanded. "Just run." At first Rebecca didn't act, but then she watched hopelessly as Duke locked his eyes onto the duo and grabbed the broken helicopter tail.

"Let's go," Billy said almost calmly, grabbing Rebecca's wrist and turning to run. He let go of her once he knew he had her attention, and together they ran towards the training facility. "The facility looks safe," Billy assumed. "We can lose him as we go in there."

The sound of Duke's heavy footsteps came to a sudden halt, which at first suggested that Duke had stopped running, but it was too late when both Billy and Rebecca realised what had really happened. A loud crash came from just behind them and sent them tumbling forwards; Duke had bounced up high and landed just behind them, causing them to lose their balance as he collided with the ground.

Duke immediately took a swing at Billy using the chopper's tail, but Billy flattened himself against the ground to narrowly avoid it. He caught sight of Rebecca watching him with worry so grit his teeth. "Go!" he yelled. Rebecca hesitantly stumbled to her feet, taking a few steps back as she watched Billy roll out of the way of another attempted attack. He was then able to find his feet, running after Rebecca. Both individuals made it inside the training facility and closed the heavy door behind them, but the lock wasn't going to keep Duke out for long.

"We've gotta keep moving," Billy clarified. "Come on, doll face." He turned to run, not giving himself the time to be amused by Rebecca's irritable expression, and together they ran deeper into the facility. They heard the door breaking down as Duke entered, but they just hoped that he would soon lose interest in them.

...

Charles once again entered the same room as Chris, wearing a look of annoyance. "You're in luck, Chris Redfield," he announced. "For now."

"What are you talking about?" Chris snarled fiercely. Charles shrugged his shoulders passively and gave a smirk.

"Your sister was supposed to fall into a trap Wesker and I prepared on the abandoned Rockfort Island, but it looks like I underestimated her; instead two other people have been sent. I suppose even she understands that some lives are worth sacrificing in order to discover the truth."

Wesker.

He said it.

He definitely said Wesker.

Chris wasn't sure what to question. Why did this man want to bring harm to Claire so desperately? Why was she being sent to Rockfort Island once again? Who had she sent in her place? And was this man truly working for Wesker?

Charles giggled to himself when seeing the confusion and hate in Chris' eyes, his expression constantly changing. "Oh my, I can see the little men in your brain working so hard to process what I've told you," he mused. "Yes, Chris. My plan was to have you watch your sister die. I'm the one who wants her dead, but Wesker wants to make sure you suffer."

"What have you got against my sister?!" Chris barked, his brotherly nature guiding him to ask that question. "I've never seen you before; what has she ever done to you?!"

Charles' grin faded into a scowl, his own eyes now filled with anger. "She made my family lose everything," he hissed. "That is why she must be punished, Chris Redfield. The fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."

"Enough of your recitations, I want answers!" Chris demanded.

"The Lamb will be the one to end your sister," Charles declared. "I will make sure of that. It is his job to punish those who have done wrong, and your sister is his top target. She was the one who led him to his first death."

"Nobody touches my sister," Chris spat. "If any of you lay a finger on her, I'll personally send you into the burning lake myself - tell Wesker I'm not afraid to send him there again!"

Charles chortled. "Oh, how I can't wait to see Wesker deal with you," he chirped. "But by then you'll be broken after witnessing your sister's end. Although I suppose first I must dispose of the two sacrifices she sent to the island. I'll send a little prayer to the Lamb; he'll listen to my words."

He let out an ominous laugh as he once again left Chris to himself. Chris couldn't help but feel even more worked up now. His sister was in danger. And even worse, Wesker was back. At least, he thought so... But who else could it be if it wasn't Wesker?

The Lamb would need to be dealt with, too. Chris remembered finishing off on his last campaign, only to turn around to come face-to-face with a fist. After that was black, and then he was here.

He remembered the Lamb wearing black clothing suitable for combat, and he could definitely pack a punch. The Lamb was in fact a man, but there was something empty about him which suggested that he was not just a trained assailant. He appeared to be younger than Chris but older than Charles, with icy blue eyes as opposed to Charles' sapphire ones. He had ginger hair which hung over one of his cold eyes, and he never once said a word.

At least he could remember his face. That would make it easier when confronting him.

But first, Chris had to escape.

And he had to find out what was going on with Wesker.

~End of Book I~