A/N: Tabitha is the other character created by Vizord that I previously mentioned. Both her and Natasha are recreations of OC's that Vizord created for a minecraft roleplay server. Another potential character later on is also one of his, but I haven't decided on how to introduce that OC for quite a long time from now.
Tobias finished exploring the west wing within about twenty minutes. The dining room had an obnoxiously loud grandfather clock and a nice fireplace, and he even checked inside the kitchen, where Victoria and Antonio were busily preparing for dinner.
After that he found the living room, which was just as he expected. Big TV, a lot of bookshelves, and a few photos of Alice and some of the staff.
As he explored, he had the distinctive impression that one of the staff was covertly following him. So as he entered a corridor, he suddenly spun on his heel to find Natasha stopping in her tracks several feet back.
"Young Master, my apologies, but your mother is looking for you." Natasha bowed respectfully. "If you'll please follow me, I shall escort you to join her."
Tobias turned and followed Natasha back to the foyer, finding Alice waiting with a smile on her face.
"How far did you get?" Alice asked in Russian, knowing that Tobias was more comfortable speaking the language when others were present.
"Kitchen, dining room, and living room." Tobias answered. "That grandfather clock in the dining room is incredibly loud."
"The dining room echoes, so it isn't really as loud as it seems." Alice smiled before beckoning for him to follow her.
As he walked towards her, Tobias caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye, and instantly turned his head in the direction of the person, only to catch a glimpse of long hair fluttering past one of the windows. For that fleeting moment, he could've sworn the hair was either blue or purple.
Was that... Rize?!
"Toby?"
Alice's voice brought him back from his reverie, and he followed her up the main staircase and down the west corridor.
"I saw someone outside the window..." Tobias suddenly spoke in English, his gaze locked onto Alice's face for a reaction. "A girl with long hair."
"Are you sure?" Alice's eyes sharpened suddenly, as if she knew who it was. "Outside the front entrance, right?"
"Yeah, the right window. I could've sworn the girl's hair was either blue or purple."
Alice hummed in thought, but before she could say anything, Malcolm came marching towards them, gripping a young blonde girl by the collar of an over sized trench coat, not unlike his own. The only difference between them was that the girl's coat had clear evidence of repair and intense usage.
"Tabitha... How many times do I have to tell you? Call ahead before coming to visit!" Alice sighed in annoyance, waving her hand for Malcolm to put the little girl down. He did, and the girl was almost instantaneously swamped by her huge trench coat. It was so large that her hands didn't even reach the ends of the sleeves.
"I did!" The girl piped up immediately. "But I got the answering machine 'cause someone was using your phone! I thought you were doing boring work stuff and wouldn't come play with me!"
Tobias was visibly confused by the sudden change of events, glancing between Alice and Tabitha warily, his jaw clenched tightly shut. Who was this girl?
"Tabitha, I'd like you to meet someone..." Alice crouched down to one knee. "This is Tobias, my son."
Tabitha looked at Tobias curiously, then smiled before saying, point blank. "He looks funny."
Tobias scowled, but Alice started to laugh. "It's just how Toby likes to dress. It's called goth."
"Is it meant to be scary?" Tabitha asked. "'Cause he didn't do a good job. He should probably go see Javier."
"I could say the same for that patchwork tent you call a coat." Tobias growled in Russian, none to pleased that this little lunatic was insulting him.
"What did he say? Can he speak English?" Tabitha turned to Alice, who was still laughing at their exchange.
"I insulted how you choose to dress, Mishka." Tobias switched to English, staring down at Tabitha in annoyance. "Seems fair, considering you just did the same to me."
"What does 'Mishka' mean?" Tabitha tilted her head in confusion. It must still be from the language he was using a moment ago.
Alice glanced at Tobias for a moment and he shook his head slightly. He meant it as a nickname; calling her 'baby bear' instead of insulting her like he was sorely tempted to do.
Tobias didn't answer, quickly turning on his heel and walking down the hall away from Tabitha and Alice.
"Oh dear..." Alice muttered as she hurried after him. When she caught up to him, she gently put her hand on his shoulder and spoke quietly to him in Russian. "Look, Tabitha's a bit... odd, sometimes. She doesn't mean any harm."
"She makes poor first impressions." Tobias replied. "I assume there's a reason you take care of her?"
"You could say she's an orphan, like you were..." Alice was once again censoring her words. "But, to answer your question... yes, there is."
Tobias nodded in understanding. There was a time and place for such a story. This wasn't it. "Alright... But I'm not going to apologize to her unless she does first."
Alice chuckled for a moment. "Do you mind if she joins us for a bit? Otherwise I can have Natasha entertain her..."
"For a bit..." Tobias took a minute to agree. "After that, I'd like to relax."
"Tabitha usually doesn't stay for long anyway." Alice patted his shoulder before turning back to Tabitha, who was waiting beside Malcolm. "Come on, Tabitha, we're giving Toby a tour of the mansion."
"Okay!" Tabitha scurried forward, her huge coat dragging along behind her like a superhero cape.
"So, this is my bedroom." Alice pushed opened a double door, revealing an elegant and spacious room with massive windows overlooking the front yard of the mansion.
"I expected nothing less." Tobias spoke English, but was more concerned with drawing his mental map of the mansion so far. That is until he glimpsed someone outside the mansion again. Someone was standing at the gate, wearing a suit and holding a silver briefcase. Something about that person was strange, as if they were... waiting.
Instinctively Tobias knew he was missing a piece of the puzzle, so he turned to Malcolm, and spoke to him in English. "Can you see that person across the street with the briefcase?"
Malcolm turned his gaze to the person, and his eyes narrowed. "Yes, Young Master."
"Okay, thought I was seeing things." Tobias gave a nod, and asked Alice. "Shall we continue?"
Alice nodded, noticing that Tabitha was peering up at her with concern. She knew about the person outside.
"Sure, let's head to your room next." She lead them further down the hall until stopping at another set of double doors. "Here we are!"
Tobias half-expected his new room to be totally dark and themed to reflect his appearance, but was quite surprised to find that he was only partially correct.
Consisting of white walls, black furniture, fiery scarlet bedspread and matching floor to ceiling curtains - which lead to his own balcony - with dark ebony hardwood flooring, Tobias' room was...
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Alice suddenly seemed a bit embarrassed for some reason. "I hope you like it..."
Tobias was utterly speechless. It was amazing! He couldn't have created anything better in his wildest dreams! "It's... perfect."
Tobias took two slow steps inside before coming to a halt. He suddenly spun around and wrapped his arms around Alice's shoulders, hugging her tightly. "Thank you."
"Now what kind of parent would I be if I didn't provide for you?" Alice teased him before kissing the top of his head. "Your welcome, Toby."
Tabitha gave an impressed 'Ooooh' sound as she peered around the doorway. She had previously known this room to be empty, and hadn't seen it used for anything.
"Wow, it's so cool!" Tabitha scurried inside the room and attempted to run past Tobias and Alice, but a hand flashed out and caught her coat collar. She was lifted into the air again by Malcolm with a silent shake of his head.
"I don't believe the Young Master would appreciate you forcing your way into his bedroom like that." Malcolm reminded the small girl, who was suddenly livid.
"Let me go, Malcolm! Put. Me. DOWN!" She started to squirm and struggle, but couldn't escape his grip. "Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!"
Tobias spared Tabitha's outburst a glance. Up to this point, she was somewhat calm. But the moment that Malcolm picked her up, she started to panic.
Another longer glance made Tobias realize what exactly was wrong. It was the coat. Tabitha's outburst was because of how Malcolm was grabbing her by the coat every single time. She was clearly highly attached to the coat, given the amount of repairs it had, plus the obvious size issue.
Before he could say anything, Tabitha managed to squirm herself free of Malcolm's grasp and went back into the hall in a huff. Malcolm gave no reaction at all.
Alice quickly held up her hand for Tobias to wait. "Look, I'll talk to her. Remember what I said about her being odd sometimes." She gave him a briefly apologetic look. "You just sit tight, this shouldn't take very long."
Tobias gave a silent nod, Alice seemed to know Tabitha quite well, so he slowly turned and laid down on his bed, putting an arm behind his head as he enjoyed just how comfortable the bed was compared to the old one at the orphanage.
He never really liked that old bed anyway... It was so stiff and unyielding, no matter what he tried to do to make it comfortable...
Before Tobias knew it, he had fallen asleep.
When Tobias woke up again, it was past midnight. He sat upright in his bed, realizing just how long he'd been asleep when he suddenly sensed that he wasn't quite as alone in his bedroom as he'd expected.
"You're a lot cuter up close than I expected..."
With his heart rising into his throat Tobias turned his gaze to the source of the soft female voice. If it was who he thought it was...
"A girl could get lost in those eyes... You should make sure to bring her back once in a while." Rize was leaning in the open doorway to the balcony, her demeanor completely relaxed.
Tobias glared at her, not saying a word as she continued to speak barely above a whisper, forcing him to listen to every single word.
"Such a frosty glare..." Rize suddenly smiled and began to approach his bed. When she stood at the edge, she simply began to crawl over the surface towards him, her voice edged with a husky purr. "It just perfectly matches your icy blue eyes..."
Tobias never let his gaze waver from her scarlet eyes, even as Rize crawled closer, giving off an aura of noticeably intense heat. There was something about her that was paralyzing his whole body and numbing his brain... But it wasn't fear. This was a different feeling entirely.
"A little bird tells me that you're Russian..." Rize continued seductively, as if the thought of learning his nationality was erotic in and of itself. "But that little bird also told me you're not much of a talker either..." She added with a mock pout.
"Why are you here, Rize?" Tobias growled in Russian, his usually sparkling gaze was - as Rize described it - turning into a pair of ice shards shining in the darkness of the bedroom.
"Sweetie, I only know Japanese and English. I know from my little bird that you can speak English too. So let's keep things on a level playing field, yes?" Rize smiled a sugary sweet smile as she began to crawl over him, still maintaining eye contact the entire time. "Can you do that for me... Toby?"
"Why... Are you here, Rize?" Tobias growled out in English, still trying to figure out the strange feeling that was holding him back. He had to figure it out, fast, otherwise he was trapped beneath Rize's strange heat aura.
"Oooh, I love a sexy accent like that." Rize bit her lip seductively, as if she was resisting a strong internal urge. "You should know why an attractive woman sneaks into a cute boy's room in the middle of the night... Oh the rumours that could be had..."
"By the sound of it..." Tobias smirked slightly, thinking fast. "You can't resist me, can you? So which one is it... intrigue? Or is it desire?" He could feel the strange feeling rising up in his chest again, as if it was just waiting for the right trigger...
With a low chuckle, Rize placed both of her hands onto Tobias' shoulders, towering over him as she lowered herself to straddle his thighs. She gently pushed him back down onto the bed, biting her lip hard.
"Desire..." Rize breathed warm air into his ear. "That word is such an understatement..."
"Sir, I have found a suitable candidate for the next T-Virus/Ghoul Hybrid." A scientist reported to a man wearing a lab coat that was staring at a report with a bored expression on his face. The nameplate of the man's desk read 'Jon Issacs'.
"Oh? Show me their summary data." Issacs glanced up from the paperwork in his hand before tossing it gently onto the desk in front of him.
"Yes, sir. Displaying files now." The scientist typed several commands into his tablet computer, which caused a nearby screen to activate, displaying a young man with black hair and several piercings in his ears, and one in his nose. "Subject's name, sir... is Tobias Darkwood."
A/N: Throughout the story, I've made references to Umbrella, one such reference being the colour scheme of Tobias' bedroom. Another reference I made in this chapter is from Jormungand, which is Tobias calling Tabitha 'Mishka', which means baby bear in Russian. In Jormungand, Jonah is given that nickname by Chiquita.
