here is the third chapter of To the End, thank you to lilmonsnerdDG, TalkOrWalk, Katara Melody Cullen, for favoriting this story i am glad that you enjoy it very much. I would love to hear back from anyone about my story, i love hearing feedback. now on with they story.
They all piled into Mark's vehicle to drive back to the pentagon so Mark could get back to work and where Chris left his own vehicle. Victoria lean forward from the back seat to ask Chris when they were leaving.
"Tomorrow evening." Chris told her
"Where are you guys staying?" Victoria asked.
"I have taken the liberty of talking with your mother and asking if they could stay on the Ranch. She agreed and their luggage is already there in the spare bedrooms." Mark said
"That's cool." Victoria said. "Mama would have killed me if I didn't see her before I left. And it would give us time to get to know each other better before we left for the mission,"
"Are you sure you don't mind?" Sheva asked.
"Yeah, and if you want you can help out with the horses, but you don't have to." Victoria said not wanting to push anything on them but she always enjoy the company when she work, hopefully C.J. will be there so if they don't want to she will at least have someone. Mark drove them to the pentagon where their cars were. Victoria hugged Mark and he went back to his office to finish up work. She stopped as she realized that she didn't have my car. Victoria face-palmed and groaned, turning to the others she sheepishly smiled. "Uh, would it be too much to ask if I can get a ride with you, I ran from our apartment and it would waist too much time to go there and get it then drive from there."
"Sure but my Ford Truck can only hold five people so you'll have to sit in someone's lap." Chris said.
"You can sit in my lap Chika." Carlos smiled. Victoria turned to him with an eyebrow raised and a smirk on her face.
"Don't think so." She said.
"Eh, it was worth a try." Carlos smiled. Chris led the way to a black Ford Super-Duty 450. "Nice truck." She commented.
"Thanks." Chris said as he got into the driver seat, Jill got in to the passenger seat next to Chris. In the back Carlos sat behind Jill, Sheva sat in the middle and Leon behind Chris. Victoria blushed as she found that it would be Leon's lap she would be sitting in.
"Are you coming?" Leon asked holding out a hand to her. She nodded and took his hand; Leon pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her waist to hold her in place. Victoria was blushing bright red, his arms felt like steal around her waist, she turned away hoping to hide her red face, but Sheva and Jill caught it. She managed to calm her face in time for Chris to look back and ask for directions. Victoria told him where to go and then felt the day start to catch up with her. Everyone was talking about monotonous things and she soon fell asleep listening to everyone talk.
Leon looked down at Victoria, her head resting on his chest; he had to physically resist the urge to play with her wild hair. It was her, the girl who he saved a couple years ago. It has been years since then, but he remembers it well. The embassy was the first of a long list of attacks that have only gotten worst, the attacks are almost becoming too much to hide. But, it seems like she doesn't remember it at all. It is the general's request that it remain that way. But he will not forget the strength and fear in her eyes that night. Leon, lost in his thoughts, turned to Carlos who was smiling at him.
"So our stone cold agent finally found someone that he likes." Carlos teased. Leon scowled at him but said nothing, Leon wouldn't dare hurt the man who he viewed like a brother, but if he didn't feel that way about Carlos he would have put him six feet under. Leon growled at him but stopped when Victoria snuggled deeper into his chest, Leon felt his cheeks heat up when she whispered unintelligibly into his chest. Carlos started to laugh when he noticed Leon's blush; Leon growled again and quickly took a swipe at him reaching over Sheva, who ducked.
"Hey! Don't make me separate you two." Chris yelled into the back. Jill and Sheva started laughing at the two of them, Leon was about to tell them to shove it when he was distracted again by Victoria who shifted around and hugged him closer. He tried to gently remove her arms but she was surprisingly strong for someone of her size. Leon sighed and just wrapped his arms around her and breathed in her cinnamon, vanilla and pumpkin pie scent that reminded him of his mother home cooking watched as the scenery pass falling asleep soon after.
Carlos looked around at the endless hills of the countryside reminding him of his Diné –or more the widely known name, Navajo -grandfather's home where he use to run through the fields and forest. He sighed remembering those days, he felt so free and wild, but since Umbrella turned the world around he hasn't been able to do that in a while. Carlos sighed and turned his head to look over Leon and Victoria, who were asleep. Jill and Sheva had out their camera phones taking pictures, he'll have to ask for a picture, it isn't every day that you see Leon actually warming up to someone like that. Leon is still was uncomfortable with Claire hugging him. Maybe Carlos thought he could spare a moment when he is there to go for a run, there is plenty of room.
3 hours later-
"Hey, Sheva, can you wake Victoria, I need the next part of the directions." Chris said. Sheva nodded and then gently shook Victoria awake.
"Darlin' wake up. We need to give us more directions." Sheva said gently Victoria yawned and stretched her arms accidently hitting Leon in the face. Victoria realized that she hit Leon and gasped. Leon woke with a start, gripping Victoria tighter to him and growled out, as if to protect her from an unseen adversary.
"Oh, Sorry." Victoria apologized and Leon relaxed, turning to Sheva Victoria gave the rest of the directions to her ranch. After twenty minutes they pulled through the gates of Autumn Run Stables. Lining the road were wood fences and acres of land behind them. After traveling a couple miles in they reached a beautiful red brick three story mansion and not too far way was a large red barn with corals and paddocks around it, off to the right there was a good size lake with a dock attached to it. In the background you could see the Appalachian Mountains.
"Wow, you live here?" Sheva asked
"Yeah, welcome to Autumn Run Stables. It's been in our family for generations, my dad's family has had this land since Europeans came to America. And we have been raising horses since the Revolutionary War." Victoria said proudly. As they pulled up to the house, next to a group of cars, an older woman stepped out of the house to greet them, behind her a couple dogs followed barking their greeting to the new arrivals. Leon opened the door and helped Victoria out of the truck and she ran to the older woman and gave her a hug. "Evenin' Mama." She greeted. The others joined her as she stepped away. "Mama I would like to introduce to you my new partners…" Victoria trailed off not knowing what to say and hoping that they would fill in for her. Each one stepped forward and gave their first name.
"It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Helena." She said flipping her curly black hair over her shoulder. A small body flew past Helena and crashed into Victoria, almost knocking her down.
"Sissy!" the little one yelled.
"Annabelle!" Victoria shouted as she stood up with the small girl in her arms and tossed her up in the air. The little girl squealed as she flew in the air. Victoria caught her and placed Annabelle on her hip.
"And that is Annabelle our youngest." Helena said chuckling gently ruffling the girl's curly blond hair. "Oh, and Dear, C.J. is just about to leave with a group of overnighters, why don't you go make sure everything is set."
"Sure mama." Victoria said and walked off.
"We run trail rides, over nighters, and lessons here at our ranch, C.J. has been working for us for quite a few years now, and she is one of the best and one of Victoria's best friends. Come, let's go inside we have much to discuss." Helena told them and they followed her into the house.
Victoria smiled as she looked out into the pasture and saw a large black stallion, standing at around 17 hands. "Tori!" a voice yelled. She turned and spotted a short woman with shoulder length flaming red hair.
"C.J., what's up, I heard you are taking a group out on an overnighter." Victoria said to her.
"Yeah, you want to join us?" C.J. asked.
"Maybe later for a little, I found out that I'm going to be leaving for a mission tomorrow evening. My partners are here, most likely getting coddled by mama." Victoria joked.
"Yeah, your mom sure knows how to run a house hold." C.J. said as she walked back to where the trail group was waiting by the horses. There were a family with young kids and some young men and women in the group. Victoria and C.J. helped the younger kids on the horses first, and then started with the older riders. The older, obviously single, men flirted with both girls, C.J. and Victoria rolled her eyes at the men's advances.
"Awe, common we are already blessed with one gorgeous guide why not two. We could have a lot of…fun." One man laid it on thick.
"Oh, don't worry it will be fun with or without me, but I have other things to do." Victoria said politely as she could, all while trying to reign in her temper. C.J. scowled at him and asked Victoria to help with one of the other female riders. Victoria smiled and nodded; she was relieved to be away from the persistent men.
"Look here, mister." C.J. growled. "You may be a payin' costumer but I will not tolerate that kind of talk to my friend and you are lucky she didn't kick your ass for it." When they started to snigger, C.J. cut them with an icy glare. "You think that is funny?"
"She doesn't look like she could hurt a fly. How is she going to take on a man like one of us?" the Youngest of the men boasted.
"She has been trained by some of the top military professionals, and is well versed in quite a few fighting systems, some of which are illegal to use in the United States." Claire said.
"You're just messing with us." Another of the men said nervously.
"No, I am not, and even if she doesn't maim you, her Navy SEAL brother would. So watch it." C.J. then smiled brightly as the men grew pale. She walked to her own horse Andromeda, a white mare, and mounted her. "All right you guys, are you ready for some fun?" C.J. asked the little ones replied enthusiastically, and the adults chuckled at their antics. "Well, alright let's go." C.J. kicked her horse to go and the other horses fell into line.
Victoria smiled and waved them off before turning back to the pasture where she saw the large stallion. She leaned against the fence and brought her hand up to her lips and blew a loud whistle. In matter of seconds she heard a loud whinny and the thunder of hoof beats as they struck the ground. The black stallion came cantering up the field stopping in front of Victoria, who smiled and petted his large forehead.
"Hey, how's my big boy. Are you doing just fine?" Victoria said. The horse goes for her other hand, nibbling at it, as if she had food there. "Gabriel, what are you doing…no I don't have any food for you." She giggled. "If you don't watch it you are going to get fat Gabe."
"Is this your horse?" a male voice said. Victoria turned to see Leon walking up. She turned away from him as she blushed.
"Uh yeah, his name is Gabriel, a pure breed Frisian." She told him.
"He certainly is a handsome creature." Leon said he held out his hand for Gabriel to sniff, at first Gabriel seemed skittish of Leon but slowly he moved closer to Leon's hand sniffing. Leon started chuckling as the horse nibbled at it looking for food "Seems like he is hungry."
"He is always hungry, but he is my hungry baby." Victoria smiled at Leon as she scratched Gabe's neck. Leon, who was petting the horse's forehead, put his hand in his jacket pocket and pulled out a carrot.
"Helena said that he liked carrots." Leon smiled as he fed the horse.
"Oh I see trying to bribe him into liking you." Victoria teased.
"Well it's said that the fastest way to a horse's heart is through his stomach." Leon replied
"Same thing can be said for men."
"Touché" the two laughed over the small friendly banter.
"Have you ever ridden?" Victoria asked
"Yeah, I had an uncle who owned a couple horses and he taught me to ride pretty well, though it has been quite a few years." Leon smiled.
"Yeah, well they say it's like riding a bike, once you know how to do it you never forget." Victoria smiled back, then a light sparked in her eyes and her smile turned mischievous. "Come on, Cowboy, let's test that theory." She said and grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the barn.
"Dressed like that?" Leon asked motioning to her red dress and boots. Victoria laughed and pulled up dress to reveal tight black shorts underneath.
"I never wear a dress or skirt without shorts, I learned that lesson a couple years ago when I had to chase Gabe who had stolen my hat; I tripped over a log and gave everyone a nice view." Victoria then led him to a stall that had large stallion that was a slivery dun color with dark brown mane and tail. "This is Hercules, he is Gabriel's sire." She grabbed a halter and gave it to Leon. "Come on, I hope you remember how to tack up a horse, cowboy." Victoria teased Leon laughed and walked into the stall and calmly placed the halter onto the horse and led him out to the hall and secured the horse with two lead ropes. Gently he stroked Hercules's neck and then took the grooming tools Victoria held out to him.
"See, no problem." Leon smirked as he started to groom Hercules. Victoria laughed and shook her head.
"So does that mean I can go get Gabriel and tack him up." Victoria smiled. Leon nodded his head and she grabbed a red halter and lead and walked out to the pasture. Leon smiled as he watched her walk away, she was an intriguing person, and he actually liked to have her around. He has never been this trusting of someone he just met since it happened a couple years ago. Ever since he…
"Leon you ready?" Victoria interrupted his thoughts as she tied up Gabriel. He nodded his head she patted Gabriel on the nose before showing Leon Hercules's saddle and bridle, she grabbed Gabriel's grooming supplies then got to work with brushing out his jet-black coat. Leon saddled Hercules and then walked over to Victoria and helped her with Gabriel. She smiled and thanked him, once finished brushing Victoria grabbed Gabriel's saddle and put it on him. Leon grabbed the bridle and put it on Hercules and then waited for Victoria to do the same. She put on Gabriel's bridle and then walked out of the barn with Leon. Once outside they mounted the horses and Victoria took the lead. They headed up a steep path; she took this in hopes of catching up to C.J.'s group and ride with them.
"So, where are we headed?" Leon asked.
"Well, if I'm right, we should run into the trail group that just left, I wanna check on them first then a little down their path is the path I want to take you on." Victoria told him. He nodded his head and they fell into a comfortable silence. Just up the path they started to hear people talking and the horses' sounds. "C.J.!" Victoria yelled out to the auburn haired woman leading the herd of tourist. Victoria spurred Gabriel into a canter, with Leon on her tail; she caught up to the head of the group and smiled at them. "Hey y'all, I hope you are have a great time here. I'm Victoria and this here is Leon, we'll be riddin' with y'all for a short while then veer off onto another trail." Victoria turned to C.J. to introduce Leon to her. "C.J. this is Leon," she said motioning to Leon not noticing his look of recognition. "And Leon this is…"
"Claire?" Leon interjected
"Claire." Victoria repeated. "Wait? What? Do you two know each other?"
"Yeah we kinda do hon'." Claire sheepishly smiled at her.
"Does this mean what I think it means." Victoria asked her.
"If your thinking what I'm thinking then yes it does." Claire responded.
"Oh-dear." Victoria sighed.
"I'm guessin' you will want some sorta explanation later on right?" Claire asked.
"You betcha." Victoria gave her a 'duh' look then shook it off smiling for the group.
"Now what trail are you heading up?" Claire turned her horse and started once again on the trail.
"Up Sander's pass." Victoria pointed off into the distance, in the direction of Sander's pass.
"Really? I heard that there have been reports of a cougar in that area."
"Hmm I haven't heard, well I guess I'll keep an eye out for one." Victoria took the warning seriously It was the Blue Ridge and it was known to have cougars, especially in this area. Lucas had to hunt one down a couple years ago that was threatening the horses. It shook her and her family that it was so close, it was in the same paddock that Annabelle was riding Big Blue. The cougar didn't get close enough before Gabriel jumped the fence and scared it off.
Up ahead they reached the turn-off for Sander's pass Victoria and Leon said their good-byes to the group and followed the trail. "How did you meet Claire?" Leon asked further up the trail.
"I met her a couple years ago, her bike broke down a couple miles down from our farm and I met her when I was riding Gabe, I stopped and gave her a ride to our place where she called the mechanic. Her bike needed a couple days to be fixed and my mother wouldn't allow her to waste money for a hotel room when she could stay at our place." Victoria smiled at the memory, her mother badgering C.J. into staying at the house. "Anyway, once we got her onto one of our horses we couldn't get her to stay away, and soon she was staying and became a ranch hand. Best one we've ever had."
"It is nice knowing now that she has been happy." Leon said. Victoria looked at him curiously, wondering if there was something going on between him and C.J.
"Yeah, I'm sure from what I saw playing Resident evil." Victoria said.
"So you play video games often?" Leon asked. Victoria looked at him like he grew a second head then started to laugh.
"That sounded like a pickup line a thirty-two year old WOW gamer who lives in his mother's basement would use." She laughed; Leon shook his head and chuckled quietly. Taking a deep breath and calming herself down, she answered him. "And yes, when I can. My favorites are the zombie and or monster games, like Left 4 Dead, Silent Hill, Bio-shock, and of course Resident evil."
"Oh, and who is your favorite character from Resident evil?" Leon asked, he smiled watching how she blushed from her face down her neck disappearing under her dress.
"Uh…" Victoria coughed and said the first name, other than his, that came to mind. "Nemesis."
"Nemesis?!" Leon asked surprised. Victoria stifled her laughter and straightened her face for her next words.
"What can I say, I like bad boys." The look on Leon's face was enough to send her into a fit of laughter. "My God, you totally fell for that." She wiped the tears from her eyes as her laughter subsided.
"Oh, ha, ha, Laugh at me now, but just you wait I'll get you, just you wait." Leon teased. He was fully relaxed around Victoria it was astounding.
"Oh, I'm so scared."
"You should be, I have happened to have taken down things over two stories tall." Leon said jokingly, he stopped when he didn't hear Victoria laughing along with him. He turned to see why and saw the solemn look on her face. "Victoria?"
"It must have been scary." She said Leon face dropped into a blank stare as he thought back to those times when he faced creatures unimaginable by a normal human.
"It was." Leon said.
"You must think badly about me." Victoria looked troubled. Leon looked back at her wondering what was going through her head. "I mean I always found enjoyment in the games, you know it was fun to me, to sit there in the comfort of my home and play kill the zombie or kill the monster."
Stopping his horse Leon frowned at her. "I don't think badly about you for enjoy the game, that was part of the purpose of it." Victoria stopped her horse and turned to face him. "I'm glad you played the games it helps you understand what is going on, and there is a large difference between the games and real life. They were designed for fun, not for training or to show what really happens." Leon urged Hercules forward and stopped right next to Gabriel. He put his finger underneath Victoria's chin and lifted her face up towards his, his dark blue eyes staring down into her golden green ones. "Don't worry about it, from what I've heard so far there is no way I could think badly about you." Victoria blushed and smiled brightly at him.
"Alright." She said as she turned her horse around. "Thank you for making me feel better about it, it has been eating at me ever since I met you guys."
"Good." Leon said. "So where are we going again?"
"To Sander's pass, it's a remote place that only locals know." Victoria explained. "It takes some time to get there but it is defiantly worth the trip."
"Are we staying up here all night?" Leon asked.
"No, we'll be out here just long enough to have enough time to get back in before supper." Victoria told him. "It isn't that much farther up." She kicked Gabriel into a trot with Leon following close behind. After fifteen minutes they reached the pass. Leon looked over the land and was amazed at the simple beauty of it.
"Wow, it is quite a sight." Leon said.
"I know when mama took me here, right after my father went missing, she told me that my father always took her out here and that this is the place where they shared their first kiss, and where he proposed to her. I love it because of its beauty and because I feel that I am always a tiny bit closer to my dad here." Victoria told him.
"The General told us what happened to your father on the way to the restaurant."
"So you know about me. That's unusual; he usually leaves that up to me, if I want others to know." A comfortable silence settled between the two as they rode down the pass.
"You miss him don't you?" Leon said after minutes of silence.
"Yeah, I do. I still have that little girl fantasy that one day he will walk back in the front door and everything would be alright." Victoria's eyes misted as she held back the tears. She shook herself of the depressing emotion and brought a smile back to her face. "Come on." She said.
"Where are we going?" Leon asked.
"Come on, there is a path that leads to this gorgeous lake." Victoria took the lead with Leon close behind. Leon slowed down after a while; there was something in the air that didn't sit right with him. It took him seconds to realize what it was, but it was seconds to late to stop it. A large cougar sprang out from a high ledge onto Victoria. She screamed as the cat's large teeth latched onto her arm that she had raised to fend off the large animal. The large cat and Victoria both landed onto the rocky ground. Victoria's head landed on a rock creating a nasty gash on the back of her head. Sharp claws dug into her side as her vision started to get blurry and her mind fuzzy. Leon reacted with unnaturally fast reflexes, he was on the cat in seconds ripping it off of Victoria, gripping the head in one hand and with a sharp and quick twist the cougar's neck snapped like a twig. The animal's body slumped in Leon's arms; Leon tossed the body and knelt down next to Victoria.
A quick assessment noted that her right side was ripped open by the cougar's sharp claws. Her left forearm was crushed by the strong jaws of the animal and her left shoulder and arm were also ripped open. Leon cursed and lifted her into his arms, he swiftly moved to Hercules and mounted quickly and took off in the direction of the house.
Well, it seems there is more to this than meets the eye. How will Victoria survive an attack such as this. Stay tuned. Please let me know what you think if this story Ialways appreciate hearing from my readers.
