Alive Again.
By C S Sinclair.
Chapter Ten.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder they said. And even though the hall bore the usual signs of an outbreak - splashes of blood, ripped and torn furnishings and an appalling stench of death and decay, Ada had to admit to a slight electric feeling. Not quite a 'home again' feeling for obvious reasons, but rather one of meeting an old friend you hadn't seen in ages.
"It's all the same – everything's the same" she muttered with hushed… reverence was it?
Probably seeing that she was a bit overwhelmed, Jill had taken charge and crept along one of the walls, looking in doorways and scanning the upstairs landing. Finally she appeared satisfied and moved back to where Ada was still standing in the entranceway.
"I think it's clear. Are you ready to do this?" she asked in a quiet, respectful tone.
Ada nodded and forced herself to move forward, one step at a time, until she was a few feet inside the hall. Jill was close by, plainly expecting her to faint at any moment. 'I'm tougher than I look' she thought, 'but thank you, anyway'. It was just that in here, things were more familiar – here she could remember the old days, before all the things that had gone wrong.
"So… where do we start then? Any ideas?" Jill asked, after a minute or so had passed.
Ada nodded: it was time to pull herself together and get on with it. She pointed to the far end of the hall, where tiers in the flagstone floor that started roughly two thirds of the way in, led up to a large mahogany desk, with a deep crimson curtain towering in the archway behind it.
"There's probably something we can use in there" she stated, moving forward, but not managing more than a few steps. She felt somewhat nauseous…
"I'm okay, I'm okay" she snapped, pulling away as Jill had leapt to support her. She immediately felt wretched for this, but turning, saw that Jill hadn't taken offence.
"It is a bit fresh in here isn't it? I suppose we'll get used to it again though…"
Jill was clearly trying to act casual about it, to put her at ease. She did have a rather skeptical look on her face however, when she looked at the desk. She noticed Ada's questioning look:
"It's just… From your timeline, the infection could only have spread this fast, if people were exposed en masse. So your sister either got really lucky, or someone got her to a place of safety."
"Someone had to send that text and my sister doesn't have my phone number for obvious reasons" agreed Ada.
Jill looked about the cavernous hall, before continuing: "We need to find some kind of plans or blueprints: something that'll show us places people could use in the event of an outbreak like this. I mean… are we going to find that in the secretary's desk?"
Jill seemed extremely worried at disagreeing with her on this, but it was understandable. After all, Jill didn't know her mother's ways…
"It's not the secretary's desk, Jill. It's my mother's – this is her office" Ada replied simply.
Jill's face was a picture – she looked utterly lost for words: "I… she… she keeps her office here - in the entrance hall?" (Ada nodded, trying not to smile). "But… why? I mean anyone could just come in and…"
Ada took her hand tenderly and pointed at the desk and surrounding area: "But no-one ever has. See all the stuff strewn about here. What you'd expect from the zombies shuffling about here and there, right? But near the desk…"
"It's clean as a whistle" finished Jill with awe, turning to face her.
"You don't know the spell my mother casts over people. The place is upside down now, but if we'd been careful, we could have got here at any time. She always had a policy that the doors in this house were never to be locked. We could have just walked in on any given day, and gone through that desk."
"But… but that worked? Umbrella have more reason to guard their secrets than most and she just left them out where anyone could get at them? That's… suicide! All the spies and espionage agents…"
"Like me, you mean?" Ada offered, getting a cuff on the arm for her troubles.
"That's not what I meant" protested Jill.
"No, you're right. If it was really that easy, why hasn't anyone done it before, right? Why didn't I come here and try to save my family before now?"
Jill grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her gently but firmly: "That is not what I meant, Adi! It's just a little… unexpected is all."
"She doesn't see any need to lock her secrets away. She doesn't see what she does as wrong in any way. She'd say that people who lock their doors and hide their things away, are really just saying they're afraid; that they have something to hide etc."
Ada took a few steps towards the desk, mounting the first tier. It felt like invisible barriers were pushing her back, outraged at her intrusion. Jill followed at her side, confused and bewildered.
"I… I told you – it's all about image and perception. Because people know they can steal so easily from her, it sort of prevents them from ever actually doing it. It's like some kind of righteous protection – she's trusting them not to act against her."
She forced herself forward towards the desk. Her instincts told to run, told that her if she did this, something awful was sure to happen. Jill should after all, be right about this – logically, the desk shouldn't have anything important for them… not when her father or sister could have looked through it at any time… But she knew logic didn't apply here – the desk had something they needed. She was sure of it.
"So when they don't act against her, it makes them feel better about themselves, like they've received some kind of blessing for their good behavior."
She stopped, with the desk almost in touching distance. Its polished surface gleamed dully in the weak light. Files and papers were stacked neatly in piles, and there were sure to be many more in the drawers. A few photographs stood in frames, facing away. Ada knew she wouldn't be in any of those, nor would there be any hidden away somewhere, showing that her mother still cared. They would all have been destroyed by now.
"Hey, we don't have to do this now" Jill soothed, stroking and kissing her. "We can look around a bit first, maybe? Who knows what we'll find?" she offered.
Ada shook her head sadly: "You see? This is how it works – how she knows it works. Everyone always finds a reason not to, good reasons…kind reasons." (She leant against Jill in thanks, before turning to her with determination): "But we have to."
Jill gave her a searching glance to see if she was really okay with this - Ada did her best to look strong and determined. Finally she nodded supportively, but motioned her to stay put as she checked behind the curtain.
"With my enemies before me" Ada whispered, as Jill threw back the curtains and drew back, gun at the ready, before dropping it to her side in alarm.
"And my God at my back" Ada finished.
"It's… a chapel" Jill said in a quiet voice. Peering into the small personal chapel, Ada noticed her girl had a faraway look in her eyes. She moved over to her.
"Is something the matter?" she asked.
"No… not really – just remembering something. It's nothing…" Jill replied, her voice so soft now.
Ada felt like she was on fire, her curiosity was burning so much. It was incredibly nosy of her maybe, but she wanted to know. 'I shouldn't badger her though; she's doing so much for me, the least I can do is let her be and not intrude.' Besides, Jill would tell her when she was ready – and if she didn't, she'd just pester her until she did. She turned to face the desk…
She began picking at various files and documents, not really sure of what she was doing. Reaching under the desk, her hands lit upon a pull out tray, which she duly slid forward. Laying on the uncovered tray, a large framed photograph stared up at her. Obeying an instinctive urge, she picked it up.
The photo was an outdoor scene, probably somewhere on the estate. Twelve people, two older women and ten girls ranging from early to late twenties were caught on camera. The woman on the left of the group was her mother, though she had no idea who the woman opposite was. She was wearing a lab coat, so she was probably a doctor or scientist or such.
Some of the girls she recognized as being those that her mother had shown off all those years ago. They seemed to sparkle in the picture, faces so perfect and unmarked, but also… they looked so happy. All of them wore big, genuine smiles of contentment, not a trace of malice or sorrow in any. And mother and the doctor too - so happy and carefree… She wanted to turn around and ask Jill to hold her, but she resolved not to be so selfish whilst her girl was occupied.
Ada realized though that she was gripping the edges of the photo so tightly, her fingers were bleaching white. The glass could crack at any moment. 'Even in our best times' she thought to herself, 'You were never like that with me'. She wanted to smash this picture, rip it to pieces. But there was no point – this place had forgotten her. All the places she played, the things she did here… gone.
Even her room, one of the most beloved, private places for any child, was unlikely to have escaped. After all, it stood as a reminder of her, that she had existed here – she didn't like to think what her mother would have done to it. She probably wouldn't have used it for anything else – she'd want to keep it (albeit in a suitably desecrated and neglected way) to remind her of the 'evil' daughter she had; of the necessity of using that deviant girl to accomplish her good works (she gripped the picture ever tighter).
Maybe she should look in on the room – maybe she had to; see the violent force of her mother's hatred. Could she look at it and tell herself that her mother was wrong? Flashes of her victims flitted in her mind: people she had stolen from, betrayed and… worse. With a great effort, she lifted her head to look at the landing, at where her room…
"There's someone up there!"
Ada's mouth was still open in surprise as she realized she had not managed to utter those words – Jill had passed her, whispering the comment and leaning in to give her an encouraging squeeze as she did so. Ada felt her heart swell - Jill had been paying attention all along! She felt… looked after, special.
Thus enraptured, it took her a moment to collect herself and remember what was going on. Jill was staring up at the landing, at the… face? Looking properly at last, Ada saw a figure was definitely peering down at them – a woman most likely. She appeared to be wearing a pale white dress, and had some sort of eerie bone white mask on her face that seemed to glimmer in the darkness.
"She's running! Take that stairs – I'll head her off!" shouted Jill suddenly as the figure vanished back from view.
Jill raced off towards the right hand of two flights of stairs that reached up to the landing overhead. Ada dived after her and opened the bag at her side. Jill turned to see what she was up to.
She held up the repel gun she had snagged out of the bag. A look of alarm crossed Jill's face.
"Oh I knew I should have left that in your car!"
Ada grinned from ear to ear, and fired it off. The hook flew up with a satisfying whoosh wrapping around the wooden frame one of the old chandeliers. And then she was soaring again, like old times, the ceiling rushing towards her, the world opening out before her. Throwing out her legs in mid air, she swung up and over the balcony, to land lightly on the left side of the landing, gun already in hand.
Barely managing to resist the urge to cry out to her girl in triumph and bask in her praise, she pointed her gun at the newcomer. This caused the figure to pull up, like a rabbit in the headlights. Chancing a glance over, she saw Jill running along the opposite landing.
"Stop her!"
The figure had leapt up onto the balcony rail in a flash, and sprang out onto one of the chandeliers, before Ada could react. The old circular chandeliers were bolted firmly in place, but still quivered as the girl hopped across them, leaping and skipping with alluring grace. As she jumped briefly onto the large central one, Ada felt the repel gun that she was still holding, wrench out of her grasp.
Wringing her arm in pain, she saw the figure had crossed to the far end of the opposite landing, where it disappeared through a door. Jill had frozen in alarm also, but was recovering herself now from the looks of things. She turned to her, just as Ada was mounting the balcony.
"Hey hey hey!" she howled, causing Ada to look up.
"Don't give me that look! Don't even think about it, Adi! Go round!"
Ada hadn't thought anything of it – it seemed the logical thing to do: "Don't worry baby – I do this sort of thing all the time!" she called.
Seeing Jill was unmoved, she felt a jolt of irritation. Jill had plainly been impressed by that girl doing it just now – she had to give her a chance to match it!
"Oh come onn, baby! Please!" she wheedled.
Jill looked along the landing, before shaking her head. Ada was about to slam her palms down and get down in pure frustration, when Jill held out her arms and beckoned her.
"Come on then, if you're coming! Handy pair we make – she'll be long gone!" she grinned nervously.
Never mind jumping, Ada felt like she could fly to her girl, she felt so happy. Leaping and balancing just right, applying force along her body just so… one, two, easy! It was all she could do to stop herself twirling around the central chandelier's main chain! Before she knew it, she was falling – into her girl's arms, her jumps having been timed to elegant perfection.
"Happy now, show-off?" Jill gushed, sweeping her round and dropping her lightly in a standing position. As she let go, Ada simply pressed joyously against her and gave a purring noise.
"Ma'am, if you can understand me, we'd like you to please come out. We are armed, but we're not going to hurt you. We just want to talk."
Cautiously, they moved into the smallish waiting room, furnished only with a small table and chairs. Another door stood ajar nearby – to one of the function rooms if the layout was the same, remembered Ada.
Jill cleared her throat before trying again: "Ma'am, you have my word you won't be hurt. I'm with the police."
"Was with the police" Ada whispered, smiling as Jill shushed her.
"I don't know what's happened to you, but I… we want to help. My name's Jill Valentine and this…"
"Soon to be Jill Valentine Wong" whispered Ada cheekily. She couldn't help it.
"Will you be quiet!" shushed Jill with a peeved smile.
She seemed to think about what she was saying for a second, before turning back: "Hang on, did you just ask me…"
Before Ada could reply, a movement to the right preceded a heavy thump that sent her crashing into the wall. Most of the impact was taken by her shoulder, so she was more shocked than anything. Coming to her senses, she saw Jill and the figure struggling, its ghastly white mask flashing in the dim light.
As she straightened up to join the fight, she saw Jill's gun fly out of her hand. Looking down, she saw she had dropped her own gun also. Pushing a fallen chair out of the way, she moved around the figure and chopped at her neck. Connecting hard, she felt the figure flinch in pain, before her vision was engulfed with a white face coming at her.
Forced up against the wall, she felt surprisingly powerful hands around her throat, squeezing her in a vice like grip. Stunned with the pain, she met the figure's gaze, who seemed to be regarding her with some interest.
"Save her, please" came a thin, wispy voice from behind the mask, before it was pulled away.
Jill had grabbed the woman and swung her off Ada. As Ada slid choking to the floor, the figure lashed out with a back kick, catching Jill in the side, and moved to escape through the far door. A stifled yell caused Ada to look up through tears of pain, massaging her throat. Her head wrenched back briefly, the figure flew through the door as the mask she was wearing came free in Jill's hands, who collapsed back against the table, panting.
Ada forced herself up and stumbled dizzily towards her girl, but was stopped in her tracks by a piercing scream, followed by a shattering of glass from the next room.
Bursting into the room (still a conference room, with its giant table and array of old weapons on the walls), they saw the girl hunched over on the floor, screaming at the top of her voice. All around her, shards of glass coated the floor, where she had smashed the large central mirror of the far wall. Evidently in distress, she was tearing tufts of her hair out in bloody handfuls, and as they gaped in shock at this, grabbed a large piece of glass and lifted it to her face.
"Jill! Be careful!" Ada heard herself shout as Jill bolted forward and snatched the shard away. Blood dripping down its length, staining the girl's white dress red, told that Jill hadn't been in time to prevent her using it.
Moving in, trying to make sure Jill was in no danger, she saw her girl was forcing the girl's hands apart, trying to stop her from inflicting more harm on herself. The girl, whom Ada recognized as being one of those from the photo (although she didn't appear to have aged hardly at all), thrashed and screamed incoherently, seemingly intent on mutilating herself and who knew what else. An awful gash bled freely along her cheek. Not knowing what to do, Ada bent down and tried to control the girl's wild kicking.
"Why… why are you doing this to yourself?" Jill shouted with anguish concern. It was stupid, but Ada couldn't repress a tinge of jealously at this. She tried to dismiss the thought – this certainly was awful. But she just wished Jill would come away before she got hurt. How could they trust someone like this?
"I… what are we going to do?" shouted Ada.
Jill struggled to control the girl, who seemed not to be in any danger of running out of energy or fight anytime soon: "What about the sedative? We have any left?"
Ada reached for her purse, leaning down on the girl's legs to pin them in place. Before she could retrieve the needle however, the girl got a leg free and CRACK! One wild kick later, and Ada was rising groggily off her back from the floor. Something brushed past her – the girl fleeing. But that meant…
"Jill!"
Jill lay groaning on her back, having been blindsided too. She didn't appear to be bleeding, Ada saw with relief. Shuffling round so she could see the door, Ada thought she could hear the sound of the chandeliers again, and the slam of a door. What if she had fled into her old room, she thought with an icy, knotted feeling in her stomach? Wouldn't that just be like life to do something like that?
As she knelt, stroking Jill's hair, and rubbing her head girl's temple soothingly, she reflected this would be a chance to see the room - a chance to face the fear on her own. She had reason to believe the girl may have fled there – she certainly could know something important…
She turned to look out the door and thought of her room. It was like she could feel it – the evil, the sheer delusion and force of will that it must have taken to keep the room desecrated all these years, when anyone could look in there and see it. And she knew it was like that, she just knew it. Could she face it, or would it be too much? A small moan from Jill brought her back to her senses.
She remembered when Leon had saved her when Annette Birkin had tried to kill her. He was shot saving her life, and she'd left him unconscious and bleeding, perhaps fatally for all she'd known at the time. She'd abandoned him without a second thought, because she needed to track someone down. Well that wasn't going to happen this time, not with Jill. She was staying right here with her girl. As for the room, the things it could force her to see about herself and her mother…
'It doesn't matter' she told herself. 'I'm done jumping through your hoops, mother. I'm not here for you; I'm not here to prove something to you or to myself. If Jill was in there, or Liddy or father… then I'd go in without any hesitation. But I won't deny who I am – I can't pretend that helping that girl is a good enough reason for me, not when my girl is hurt. And I don't need to prove you wrong about me either - my love for Jill is nothing I'm ashamed of. As for the rest… it's the past. Dwelling on it or assigning blame won't change anything. We will be free of you; you have no power over us...'
She sat down next to Jill, lifted her up to rest her girl's head against her chest and kissed her. She stirred, and blinked.
"Hi" Ada trilled cheerily.
"Y'okay?" Jill mumbled in a dazed voice (Ada nodded happily). "The girl… got away?" Jill managed, trying to rise before Ada gently restrained her.
Shaking her head, Ada touched her hand softly against her girl's cheek: "Not a chance - I've got my claws into the only girl that matters, and she's not getting away from me."