Author's Note: Hello everyone! Here's the newest chapter. I finally found a beta reader! He's CJJS and he's amazing, he's been a great help and this chapter wouldn't be that good without him. Make sure you check out his awesome stories!

Anyways, on with the story. You'll finally see the character that will change everything from here on. You might wanna take a wild guess. I suppose plots like this have been overused but I'm planning to make mine different, hopefully.

Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews especially Cloud Ex-SOLDIER who pointed a very important detail in the story: How Leon got released from the Secret Service. I'm going to get to this a little bit later on.

That's all with my rambling, I guess. Hope you all like this chapter and leave me a review if you like. I'd really appreciate it. I promise the next one will be longer. Again, many thanks to CJJS.

Chapter Four: Hallucinations

"Did you hear that?" Leon whispered as he walked closer to Claire.

"Yeah." Claire said. "Sounds like it came from the back of the building."

Leon looked around. They were still in the 'hospital' corridor but it looked as dead as it did before. The walls were whiter and cleaner than any part of the facility they'd seen. Claire felt it had the feel of a hospital but the stillness wasn't that similar. Hospitals were usually crowded and hectic. Being in one only made her feel agitated, that's why she generally tended to avoid them. This place was too quiet though, which gave her the feeling it was something other than that. "You think someone's here?"

"Maybe it's Grimes and Lambert."

"No, they went the other way." Leon said nodding his head to their back. "But it could be Chris and Jill."

"Either way, there is someone here other than us. The question is, do they know we're here?" Claire said keeping a low voice just like Leon did.

The corridor seemed endless but they finally reached an opening. It led to a huge wooden staircase. It went both ways. It was tall and swirly like the ones old houses used to have. It didn't make sense since the building wasn't that old. They definitely had the resources to build better stairs. The whole building seemed out of place like there was no consistency to it. Like it had been built and then remodeled but parts of it remained untouched. As soon as they set foot on it, it started creaking.

"Be careful." Leon grabbed her wrist.

Claire nodded as she walked forward, taking very small and careful steps. The floorboards complained to the weight of the two people but they kept steady. "Where do you think this leads?" Claire asked. She tried not to look down; seeing how high it was only made her feel dizzy.

"Somewhere below would be my guess."

"There are always monsters below." Claire complained.

"We'll be fine as long as we stick together." He said as he looked at her and faintly smiled.

"You'll be my knight in shining armor?" she joked but then her expression changed upon remembering a certain person who once tried so hard to be that for her. Too hard maybe.

"If you wan-"

Suddenly, there was a loud echoing voice Claire turned around carefully trying to locate its source. It squealed like a pig but at the same time the sound was screechy like a bat's. Claire turned to Leon but before she could look at him something launched itself at her. She didn't get a chance to see what it was; she only felt its weight on her and she struggled to get it off as it clawed at her maniacally. She had completely forgotten where she was standing.

"CLAIRE!", she heard Leon's voice sounding further and further away and soon realized she was falling. The floorboards gave way under her feet and she strived for something to grab onto during her descent. But there was no such luck.

She started falling and hoped it would end as soon as possible. She felt the rush run through her as if riding a rollercoaster only there was nothing to hold on to and no sense of her surroundings. It took her a few seconds to start screaming, she was too petrified to let out any sound.

She landed abruptly on her back, trying to use her elbows to cushion the fall, but it only resulted in tearing of the skin and extreme pain in her back. She went numb for a while as a way for her body to block the pain but when it subsided she winced and felt hot tears running down her face. Her head was spinning and she groaned at the agony in her lower spine. She brought one hand to her elbow and gently touched it until she felt a sting. Her fingers came back bloody.

"Claire! Hey, are you alright?" Leon yelled from above; his voice echoed all over the place. "Claire!" He yelled again as she didn't respond.

"L-Leon…" She managed to breathe. "I'm here!" she yelled even louder.

"Oh, God, Claire. Are you alright?" he asked.

She looked around. Her whole body ached but she would be alright. She looked up. It was a long way down. She was lucky to be alive. "Yeah, I'm fine!" She yelled as loud as she could. "Nothing's broken, I hope."

"Where are you?" he asked. "What was that?"

Hell if I know, she thought. She looked around. The place was too dark to see anything. She reached for her flashlight and turned it on. Even with the light, it still looked dark. The surface where she was lying on felt damp and the soft feel of muddy ground made her understand why she hadn't broken any bones. She checked the place thoroughly making sure whatever had attacked her wasn't hiding in the shadows. "Nothing's here." she said.

"I think it flew away as you fell." Leon explained. "Be careful, it might still be around."

She stood up slowly, wincing through the pain in her back, and dusted herself off. She made a full circle, trying to shed light everywhere around her. "I think I'm in some sort of underground tunnel. Looks like a cellar, actually."

She could hear Leon curse and she looked up. The light was much brighter compared to where she was. She shielded her eyes but couldn't see him.

"Claire, just hold on." he said. "I'm gonna try to find a way to get to you."

"Don't worry about me!" Claire yelled. "Just keep going down the staircase and we'll probably meet somewhere."

"Maybe I can find a rope." He sounded desperate. "There must be something!"

"Just go, Leon." she urged him. "It's no use if we both get trapped in here."

"Alright. Just… be careful." he said.

"You, too." Claire said under her breath; he probably hadn't heard her.

She sighed and clipped her flashlight to her gun. Here goes, she thought. She started walking slowly her boots making a faint splashy sound with every step. The walls were made of dark red brick and there were small symmetrical indentations. She walked slowly and carefully. The pain in her back was subsiding, but the pain in her elbows wouldn't quite do the same. It made holding her gun difficult and tiring, and so eventually she put it back in the holster. She knew it wasn't a smart move but figured she'd have time to draw it back out if she saw anything since this was a one-way route.

I hate this place, she thought to herself. She always had a deep hatred for underground places, and sadly, during most incidents there would be one for her waiting to be explored. She reached a crossway with a lamp hanging from the ceiling. The light gave a warm feeling to the place but it also made her feel the presence of somebody else. Unless they had a back-up generator there would be no reason for it to still be on. Someone must have left it on for a reason. She was very wary by now and wished she wasn't alone. She hoped for Leon to get to her as soon as possible before something like the thing that had attacked her made another appearance. What had it been? From what she saw during the attack it was dark and could obviously fly. Her best guess was a bat but the sound it made was unearthly. Ignoring the pain, she drew her gun back out.

Which way, which way… She didn't know where to go next; it would have to be a wild guess. She chose left and started walking along the path, but it was like the previous one, almost like a maze. The last thing she needed right now was to get lost. "Leon?" she tried not to yell. It was a stupid but desperate move; maybe he'd hear her if he was close.

She heard rustling in the distance. She snapped her attention to the direction where it came from.

"Hello? Anyone there?" She was unsure of what to do next. The wise decision would be to go back and choose another route. But she took the stupid decision and kept going. The rustling continued. "Leon?" she repeated.

She felt a soft brush on her back, and before she had the chance to turn around she was pushed to the ground. Her head hit the floor as she tried to look at the figure that was standing above her. She could only make out shadows and a few strands of auburn hair before it disappeared. It looked awfully familiar.

Leon tiptoed on the staircase in order to keep his balance, trying not to fall like Claire had moments before. As soon as he was on firm ground he paced faster, looking for a way to get to Claire. It was darker in comparison to the corridor so he took out his flashlight. The path was a straight line leading to a door. He paced faster and faster eager to reach it. He heard the button on his radio beeping. He pressed it and brought it closer to his mouth. "Kennedy here, over."

"Leon!" He heard Chris' voice coming from the other end of the line. It sounded rushed.

"Chris!" he responded feeling relief at the sound of a familiar voice. "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah." Chris replied. "Listen, where's Claire? I can't get her on the line."

Leon cursed under his breath. "I… lost her." Leon tried to explain.

"You what?" Chris shouted.

"We… we were going down a flight of stairs. The floor collapsed. She fell."

"What?" Chris' voice was louder than before. "Where is she now? Is she okay?" Chris yelled even louder. It was justified, she was his sister but Leon was just as worried as Chris was.

"She's fine." he reassured him. "I just couldn't get to her from above. I'm looking for her right now." He felt guilty having to tell her brother that he had lost his sister but it wasn't his fault. He wanted to find Claire quickly. He was mostly agitated because he didn't know what that thing was. For what it was worth, there could be many more and they could be dangerous.

Chris sighed. "Just… find her, Leon. Please."

"I will." Leon promised. "What's going on?" He was curious about the reason Chris had called.

"We… uh… found something." Chris paused. "It's a girl."

"A civilian?" Leon asked.

"You could say that." Chris picked his words carefully. "It's Sherry Birkin."

Leon's mouth just hung open for a few seconds unable to respond. Sherry Birkin? What was she doing here? The government was supposed to keep her safe, that's why he was working for them. "A-are you sure it's her?"

"Positive. We checked her file."

"Is she… infected?"

"No, but she's a carrier."

"A carrier of what?"

"The G-virus."

"What?" Leon said. "We cured her back in Racoon city!"

"It was in a dormant state, just like mine." Jill's voice came from the other end of the line. "My guess is Wesker used her antibodies for creating Uroboros."

Leon was silent for a moment trying to take in all impossible things he was hearing. He didn't have time to process it all. His main concern was to find Claire. He sighed. "I can't talk about this right now. We'll talk later. I need to find Claire." he said as he cut the connection abruptly.

This place wasn't safe and neither was Claire.

Claire had gotten back on her feet, her head was still spinning from the fall. She was alarmed now; something had come at her moments ago but it left in the flash of a moment. Why did that auburn colored hair remind her so desperately of someone that couldn't be? And most importantly, why hadn't it attacked her?

"Great." she mumbled to herself. She looked around trying to adjust to the place. The path was narrow and dark. Maybe she picked the wrong way, she thought but kept walking along the path, taking slower steps this time, ready for anything.

A shadow dashed at the intersection that was right in front of her. "Who's there?" she yelled as she started running in that direction. "Leon, is that you?" She still kept her gun at eye level. Without giving it a second thought she randomly picked a direction and kept following the path, hoping to find something. Having a slow alarmed pace would do her no good in getting out of there as soon as possible.

"Claire!" She could hear a voice yelling in the distance. Was it Leon? He must have been somewhere close. She tried to follow the voice.

"Leon, I'm here!" she yelled, trying to keep contact. She stopped dead at her tracks when she saw the same figure standing before her only a few feet away. It was standing awfully still like an inanimate object but still looked very much alive. "Leon, is that you?" she whispered as she crept closer. The figure hadn't moved an inch. It was just staring at her. Claire swallowed a knot in her throat and took a deep breath. It could be dangerous whatever it was. She slowly raised the flashlight to the figure, revealing it from top to bottom. As soon as the light reached its face she gasped and staggered backwards almost dropping her flashlight. "No…" she whispered, unable to believe her own eyes.

The figure just stood there, unaffected by her reaction. It was him. It was impossible, but he was actually standing in front of her, alive, flesh and blood. Was she hallucinating? Had she hit her head too hard on the ground?

She could never mistake that face for anyone else's. On the outside, it looked exactly like him but something had changed. Something more than his appearance. He had rough angles now, and that soft young skin of his looked tired and abused. His hair was longer but still the same color it had been before. His expression was dark and blank. But his eyes… they weren't bright blue anymore. They were dark and hollow, glowing with bright red irises. Like Wesker's.

She took fast deep breaths. She was immobilized. The figure was as still as a statue. Why wouldn't he move? She tried her best not to stutter. "S-Steve?", she whispered.

"Claire!" She heard Leon's voice sounding closer. As soon as the figure heard the voice, his head snapped to that direction. Claire caught a glimpse of Leon running to her, his gun pointing forward. Don't shoot! she thought but the figure disappeared, running as fast as light, knocking Leon over on the way. Leon might have taken a shot if he hadn't been that fast.

He groaned and Claire ran to his aid. She offered her hand and he took it, even though he didn't need help to stand on his feet. As soon as he got up, he immediately hugged her, tightly but briefly trying not to hurt her. "Are you okay?" he breathed. He let go and looked at her, his hands gently on her shoulders.

Claire nodded.

"You sure?"

She nodded again staring into the distance, to where Steve had disappeared.

"What was that?" Leon asked. He got no response. "Claire. You look like you've seen a ghost."

Claire turned her attention to him. He was looking into her eyes trying to find anything to bring her back to her senses. He was worried but mostly relieved that she was alright. "I think I did.", Claire said as she looked back over her shoulder once more and then back to Leon's clueless stare.