Family Ties

You Still Invade My Dreams

by: Hotaru

Disclaimer: Well this chapter is focusing on Sherie for a bit. I thought up a part that might play into what happens later so I wrote it all out. Also, the chapter titles I'm using are poem titles from "Ruth's House of Poetry". I don't want Ruth coming after me since I didn't give her props.

-=-

Luckily, there wasn't a wait at the restaurant, so the group of five got a table right away. "Wow this place is expensive!"

Sherie exclaimed.

"That it is. But, Leon and Chris said they'd split the check, so..." Claire said with a grin.

"It's not like we'd make you pay anyway, Claire." Leon replied, nudging her side. Chris eyed them, but said nothing.

"So, does anyone know what they want?" Claire asked.

"Ooh, salmon, salmon, salmon!" Sherie squealed.

"Sherie, that costs $13." Claire whispered.

Groaning, Sherie opened her menu back up. "Don't worry about it, kid. You can get it if you want." Chris said quickly.

Grinning, Sherie closed the menu again, and looked around the restaurant. Soon, a waiter came and they ordered their drinks. They talked for awhile, afterwards, trying to decide what to get. Five dishes would be way too expensive, and they would have a ton of left overs, so they ordered four. Leon and Chris vowed to eat every last piece of rice.

"So, Jill, how is everyone doing in Europe?" Claire asked, while they awaited their food.

"They're good. I was telling Chris on the ride over here that Barry's looking to lose some weight." Jill replied.

"Oh, yeah? Barry always had that gut on him..what about Carlos and Rebecca?"

"They're both fine...so how's work down at the precinct, Leon?" Jill asked, turning the conversation over to him.

"Oh..fine. You know, just...busting criminals, and things." Leon answered, caught offguard.

"Anything big?"

"No...well, there was a big drug bust the other day. Just pot and stuff. I had to sit there in the evidence room, bagging pot all fuc--...all night."

Snickering, Sherie took a sip of water. "It's ok, I know adults curse, Leon." She said.

"That's not the point." He countered.

"Then what is the point?"

"When you start trash talking, then at least you can't blame me."

"Hey, can you bring me some of that pot?"

"Sherie!" Chris exclaimed, slamming his hand on the table, and gaining a few stares from the other patrons.

"I was kidding, Chris. I like my lungs the way they are. Besides, it smells horrible." Sherie replied, stirring the ice in

her water.

"Kids these days...how do you know what pot smells like?" Claire questioned.

"Dead beats at school smoke it, and then stand around so I smell it when I go in."

"Oh. Is that right. Has anyone offered you any pot? I can make arrests you know." Leon added.

Laughing, Sherie just shook her head. "God, this is taking forever and I'm starving!" Claire whined.

"It'll be here in a minute." Leon assured her.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom." Sherie said, squeezing out of the booth.

"Me too." Chris added, following her towards the bathroom.

After looking in the mirror, making sure her hair looked alright, Sherie went back outside, and stood by the pond in the

middle of the restaurant to wait for Chris.As Chris approached her, he saw her turn around suddenly and look at the ground.

"Sherie...what's the matter? Are you okay?" He asked, stopping in front of her.

"Shh...he'll see me." She hissed. Chris looked around, trying to figure out who she was talking about.

"Who?" He asked.

"That waiter...right there. He goes to my school and well...I kind of like him." Sherie admitted.

"Oh...go talk to him." Chris said, turning her around.

"No way! He'd never talk to me. He's really popular. I see girls around him all the time. He wouldn't look twice at me." She

refused.

The waiter finished serving the dishes he had, and then turned to go back to the kitchen. He must have caught sight of Sherie because he smiled and nodded at her. Sherie smiled back, and once he was gone, she exhaled deeply. "Oh my God...did you see that! He actually smiled at me!" She squealed. Chris grinned as they ran back to the table, just in time for the food. "You tell anyone, and I'll kill you." Sherie warned.

"Tell anyone what?" Claire asked.

"Confidential information, ma'me." Chris replied.

-=-

"Alright, Sherie, you have to get up to bed. It's getting late." Chris said in a fatherly way when they got home.

"Ah, it's only eleven!" She complained.

"Go on, git." He continued, waving her up the stairs.

The adults all settled down on the living room and sat their quietly. "I should probably get to bed too. I'm exhausted."

Claire said, standing up.

"Yeah me too. I gotta go to work early tomorrow." Leon said, stretching.

"You can have my bed, Jill. I can sleep here on the couch." Chris offered.

"Oh, no, you don't have to. The couch is fine for me. Besides, you always complain about your back." Jill refused.

"No, no. I insist. I'll learn my lesson one of these days, but I want you to be comfortable."

Claire and Leon shared a look before heading upstairs. Leon stopped half way up the stairs, whispered something to Claire,

and then kissed her cheek before going towards the front door. "I'll see you all later." He said, heading out. Chris would probably try to murder him in his sleep if he stayed over. "Goodnight bro, Jill. See you tomorrow." Claire said, heading to

her room.

"Night Claire." They both replied.

Jill smoothed her skirt and smiled. "I guess you're going to bed now too?" She asked. Chris shrugged and blinked tiredly.

"I guess so. You want me to put fresh sheets on my bed or..." He asked.

"No, that's not necessary. Unless you dirtied them somehow..."

"No, of course not! Is that what you think of me?!" Chris exclaimed. Chuckling, Jill pat him on the shoulder.

"Relax, I was just teasing. I'll be able to sleep easier if I smell you there." She said, walking towards the stairs.

"Wait...are you coming on to me?" Chris asked wide eyed. Jill turned and smiled coyly, but did not respond.

-=-

A few days later, it was the last day before Easter vacation. While Sherie was at school, the adults were out shopping.

Sherie had just walked into her band class when her teacher caught sight of her. "Sherie, you wanna do me a favor?" He asked.

"Sure. What do you need?" She asked.

"I need you to go down to the basement to bring down some stands. We just got a new shipment in, and we have to make room by

getting rid of the messed up ones." He replied.

"Okay."

"So you and...Peter, take that group down and then come up for more." He said, grabbing the next kid that walked in the door.

/Not him! I can't be alone with him, I'll make a total ass of myself!/ Sherie thought, smiling at the crush she had seen just

a few nights earlier. "What do we have to do now?" Peter asked, tossing his bag into the auditorium seats.

"Take the crappy stands to the basement. I didn't even know we had a basement here." Sherie replied, walking over to the stands that couldn't even stand the weight of a piccolo.

"Yeah, It's downstairs, past the library. There's hardly any light down there, so be careful." Their teacher said, walking by

with the week's music score.

Grabbing two stands in each arm, Sherie walked towards the door, and butted it open with her backside. She held it open for

Peter, and then followed him down the stairs. "So...I didn't know you worked at East Pacific." Sherie began. "The food's really great there."

"Yeah, I just started actually. My parents started calling me a free-loader." Peter replied.

"Are you just a waiter there?"

"Yeah. The chefs are all Asian guys. They're fun to talk to though cause they pretend to understand what you're saying, even

though they can't."

Chuckling, Sherie glanced into the brightly lit library before going down another flight of stairs. "He really should have

recruited some more people to do this. I don't want to do these a dozen more times." Sherie said, her arms getting tired.

They finally reached the basement, which was quite dark indeed. There were a few lights, just the lightbulb;no cover, every

ten or fifteen feet.

"So where should we put these?" Sherie asked.

"Ah..there's gotta be a room down here somewhere." Peter replied, walking down the dim walkway. "Here we go." He announced,

turning into an old supply room of sorts. There were desks with papers and small lamps scattered around the room.

"Do you think teachers come down here to work?" Sherie asked, lowering the stands to the ground.

"Maybe. I guess it's the only place they could concentrate with complete silence." Peter replied. They turned back, and

headed up the steps to the decrepid door.

"Come on.." Peter whispered, pulling on the door handle.

"What's wrong?" Sherie asked worriedly.

"It won't open. It wasn't locked when we came down here. Do you think someone locked it?"

"I don't know. There isn't a key or anything right?"

"No. Shit. Let me try my cell phone."

"Yeah, me too."

They went back down the stairs, trying to find a place where they could get service. "Dammit. Nothing. Stupid metal bars." Peter groaned, putting his phone away.

"Now what are we gonna do?" Sherie asked, not liking the creepy basement.

"There...there are phones around the school, that are used to call room to room, right? Maybe there's one down here."

"Yeah. Let's look for one." Sherie said, walking towards the nearest wall.

"I'd be suprised if there's any electricity running down here, aside from those light bulbs." Peter called a short while

later. Slumping in a chair, Sherie sighed.

"Sooner or later, Ray will realize we're missing and send someone to get us." She said.

"I guess so. So what are we going to do til then? He can be absent minded sometimes." Peter replied.

"I have no idea."

There was silence for awhile, before Peter spoke again. "So what were you doing at East Pacific the other night? Was it a

special occasion or..?" He questioned.

"Ah...sort of. It was for my...guardian, Claire. SHe just got out of the hospital so we wanted to celebrate." Sherie

answered, knowing he'd ask about her parents.

"Is she your aunt or something...?"

"No. Just a friend I made after my parents died."

"Oh, sorry about your parents. That must suck, huh?"

"Yeah. Most of the time, I don't think about it. Usually it's just around the holiday's and stuff. I'd remember baking

cookies with my mom at Christmas, or my dad dressing up in a ridiculous bunny costume for Easter. Though they weren't there a

lot, they always managed holidays..."

"They weren't there for you a lot...?" Peter asked quietly.

"No. They were always so freaking occupied with work. Sometimes I used to think they forgot about me. Do you remember hearing

about Raccoon City?"

"Raccoon City?"

"Yeah...it was like...the biggest mass murder in history or something. I..was there at the time, and Claire helped me escape.

Her boyfriend was there too."

"Wow. So that's how your parents died?"

"Yeah. They were...in a huge lab facility. My dad...got fucked up and went psycho and my mom...she didn't even care about me,

just her stupid research. Someone set off the self-destruct system and Claire, Leon, and I flew out of there like bats out of

hell."

Peter snorted. "I take back anything I might have said about having a crappy few years." He grinned.

"Yeah. So what about you? You seem happy enough." Sherie replied.

"I guess. I keep myself occupied with baseball and basketball, and now my new job. I like to avoid being home as long as

possible. I won't say it's as bad as your's but...it's pretty shitty none the less."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Are you going to stay on campus when we go to college?"

"I don't know. Depends if I can afford it. I really don't like giving people the opportunity to say that I owe them anyhing, you know?"

Nodding, Sherie stood up and walked into the hallway. "Maybe there's another way out of here." She said, starting down the hall way again.

"You think so?" Peter called, appearing behind her.

"Could be. There's always at least two ways out of huge places like this."

They walked down a moist hallway before taking a small flight of stairs up to a door. Sherie turned the knob, and it turned, but the door didn't move. "Shit. Something must be blocking it." She said, bumping the door with her hip.

"Is it moving?" Peter asked.

"A little. If we can't open it, maybe someone will hear it and help get us out of here." Sherie said, ramming her body into the door. "Ow. You wanna try?"

"Sure."

They both took turns banging the door open, before Sherie finally opened it fully, before landing on the floor. "Oww..." She moaned, rolling off her back and standing up.

"Where are we now...backstage?" Peter asked, pulling curtains open.

"I think so. I guess class is over?" Sherie replied, wondering why there were desks piled up in front of a door.

"Well. That was fun, but I'm probably really late for my next class."

"Yeah, me too. As if I don't hear enough at home. Well...sorry about this."

"Ah, it's not your fault. See you later."

Right..see ya."