Chapter Twelve: Truth Be Told..
A/N: Holy shit! It's been a little over a year since I started this baby, and its popularity has soared! This is, of course, only thanks to those loyal readers and reviewers, so, thanks for everything! ^-^
Beware of character backgrounds, lol. I think I needed to add some more detail to our little friends, so, here ya go.
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As the cat flew through the air towards Richard, time seemed to slow to a dull crawl. His eyes were so wide they nearly bulged out of their sockets, yet he merely stood ramrod-straight, unmoving. Faintly, he heard Lara cry out his name in terror, but made no move to acknowledge it as his attacker closed the distance between them. Eyes still locked onto his own, the cat uttered a fierce yowl of challenge. Now only a few inches from Richard's delicious-looking face, the frenzied feline bared its lethal fangs for the kill.
All of the sudden, though, the animal was knocked directly out of its path by a large blur of brown and tan. It roughly flew sideways into the nearest wall, making a sickening thud as it hit, and once and for all disproving the theory that cats always land on their feet. The thud acoompanied by the sickening wet crunch of bone, the beast snarled and yowled pitifully, writhing about on the ground. Subject T straightened, momentarily looking somehow proud of himself. After a moment or two of listening to the downed and officially helpless creature's wails, Subject T warily stepped forward, shadowy eyes cold and unmerciful.
With one swift swipe of his claws, the cat's head was separated from its broken body, and after a drawn-out series of convulsions, it lay still. Blood slowly began to blossom out from the serrated mass of bone and tendon that once held the head upon the rest, oozing around Subject T's feet in a course through the cracks in the tile. Slowly turning to face the other two, Subject T snorted and swiped his hand again to rid his hand of the balmy fluid, pleased with the fresh speckles of blood that appeared upon the wall and floor.
Richard was on his knees, staring openmouthed at the deceased thing, eyes as wide as dinnerplates. Lara was covering her mouth with one trembling hand, white as a sheet and looking as though she were about to vomit. Mumbling incoherently under his breath, Richard buried his face in his sweaty palms and took a series of deep breaths, trying to will himself to his feet. Subject T observed silently from his position several feet away, looking rather confused. Why did he look so damned upset?! If it hadn't been for quick reflexes, that bastard would be in several pieces on the floor!
Hissing faintly and stepping forward a few paces, Subject T found himself satisfied when Richard jerked his head to look in the direction of the sudden sound. The man's eyes bore into his face with what appeared to be nothing but the purest and most unyielding hatred, almost as if he were trying to melt him with simply a stare. One hand was clenched into a fist so tightly that his knuckles were almost pure white, the other holding the gun with the same breed of death grip. To put it simply, he looked almost the polor opposite of the cool, calm, and collected 'leader' he had been not five minutes ago. Now, he was reduced to a shaking mass of fear and burning emotion, the source which remained a mystery to both Lara and Subject T as they stared him into the ground.
After another solid fifty-seven seconds of trying to kill Subject T with his piercing eyes, Richard swallowed dryly and pushed himself to his knees. Lara made as if to help him up, but he waved her off angrily, keeping his face turned away form them both.
Turning for the door, Richard grabbed the stunned Lara's arm and pulled her out and back into the hallway, followed immediately after by an irritated Subject T. Going to the left and down and previously unexplored hallway, Richard seemed to forget all about the vicegrip he had upon Lara's forearm and continued to drag her down the hall, his thoughts swirling about within his mind and dizzying him to the point where he stumbled once or twice.
Lara, wincing and trying to wrench her arm free, looked back to Subject T for help. Subject T immediately took charge, stomping up behind Richard and easily plucking him off of Lara and several feet into the air with one clawed hand. Richard strugged viciously, now taking the time to utter a rather profuse string of curses, his voice making a swift crescendo into an unmistakably pained wail.
Lara, having scooted away and was currently giving the pair the old 'fish face', watched in almost pity for the raving man, his face nothing short of beet red and his eyes straining for release from their sockets. He swung his fists blindly, growling and snarling to be released 'immediately', yet Subject T merely held him three or so feet off the ground, staring blankly at the confused Lara.
After another good three minutes of enraged bellowing, Richard's profanity tapered off into gasping for breath, and after that, he fell silent, simply hanging by the back of his shirt and staring at the ground through tear-filled eyes. Lara, who had stood there helplessly and silently the whole time for lack of a way to help, slowly inched forward, motioning for Subject T to gently release the man.
When Subject T set Richard back on his feet, the man crumpled and dropped instantly to his knees. Scrambling to get to his side, Lara finally found her voice and spoke softly.
"Are.... you alright? What was that all about..?"
Okay, so perhaps it wasn't the most intelligent way to tiptoe around her still furious superior, but her words seemed to have some effect as Richard reached up and ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to further calm himself. Subject T kept his distance, making a wary glance or two down both ominous-looking sections of hallway.
Pausing briefly before visibly straightening, Richard slowly cast a cold gaze upon Lara. He wondered whether it would be wise to even mention the shadowed reason for his unprofessional outburst, clenching his hands into fists and mentally cursing himself for his own blatant stupidity. Slowly, he wiped the back of his hand across his forehead, before realizing that he'd dropped his gun a few yards down the hall. Subject T followed his gaze to the discarded metal piece, and snorted, wondering whether or not he should crush it beneath one clawed foot.
After another moment of pondering to himself, Richard decided that, since it was doubtful they'd actually SURVIVE this ordeal, what harm could it possibly do to tell them? Lifting his head and sighing, he opened his mouth and let it hang that way, searching for the right place to start.
"Do forgive my sudden lapse in good judgement... " This sounded rather sardonic, and right after he realized how off his tone was, he mumbled more self-damaging words. After a drawn-out period of silence, he continued slowly.
"I suppose... I should start at the beginning. You see, my brother, Alexander, and I started several research centers, much like this one, several years before the American market turned into such a merchandise whore. Now, it's all about making the masses happy and filling our wallets." Shaking his head in disappointment, he glanced up at Lara, who still looked utterly confused. Inhaling deeply and smirking, he spoke again.
"At the time, test subjects," he gave a sharp glance to Subject T, who flinched at the words, "were so much more difficult to acquire because people cared much less about money and more about their own welfare. What a dramatic change in society, eh?" Snorting a little at the absurdity of it, Lara shook her head and let herself fall back into a cross-legged position.
"I'm guessing you never knew I had a son, did you..? No, of course not. His name was Michael. Michael Richard Ashford. He was supposed to be the one who took over my companies, my EVERYTHING, really, when I either grew tired of constantly lying to the public or I gave in and died. At the time of this agreement with several lawyers, we were in a discreet statewide search for willing test subjects.
This was about.... six and a half years ago. Michael, always so eager to please his father, immediately volunteered upon hearing word of the project. I, trying to think sensibly if only for once in my life, refused avidly. But, he managed to talk me into testing a new virus sample directly upon him, swearing to me he would be fine, that it could be reversed. "
With the last few words, Richard's voice broke and he slammed one sweaty fist into the ground, hiding his face from the shocked Lara's view.
"What happened to him, though? If you went through with the experiments, shouldn't he have-"
"Mutated. Yes, he did. He was the unique one, though. Since this was a prototype of the X-Virus, it involved a highly unstable mixture of chemicals. His body began to change almost immediately, though not dramatically. There was a great deal of pain involved in this, and the only way to numb it at all was to up the dosage of X-Virus infusions. After perhaps a month, he began to mutate uncontrollably, taking on a...a... catlike form. This was about the time he stopped responding to anything remotely familiar to him. I went to visit him in the treatment center, and...." Richard's voice cracked again, his eyes welling up with a fesh set of burning tears.
Lara was staring wide eyed at him, curiosity burning her mind to the point where her next word was unconsciously spoken.
"....And...?!"
Richard looked up at her, catching her eyes with his own. Resuming speaking, he made quite sure he put empshasis on every last word.
"I opened the door, eager to see how my son was doing. The first thing I heard was deafening screaming, coming from one corner of the room. In that corner was one of the attendants, his left arm ripped clean off. Blood was just... gushing... from him, and he just looked at me through the most frightened eyes I have ever seen, and screamed. He screamed until my son finished with the other attendant and ripped his throat open with his lovely new set of claws. Then, my son turned to me and made this awful, pained noise, and I realized that I was a MONSTER for what I had done. And I knew that whatever that thing was, it was no longer my son."
Lara found herself unable to speak, her imagination running wild and tossing all sorts of stomach-turning images at her. Richard, seeing that his words had hit home, slowly turned his head to look at the still wide open door of the room, staring at the visible splatters of blood and being grateful he could not see the headless creature.
"I guess... he must have escaped.. when Subject T was destroying things in Lab 5..." Lara offered dumbly, wringing her hands in her lap and wishing she could think of some way to comfort the broken man, watching tears run down his face unnoticed.
"I..I suppose I should be thanking you. " He rose, slowly and shakily, to stare at Subject T, who gave him a look of pure human confusion.
"I couldn't bring myself to terminate him when I had the chance. Not six years ago, and obviously not now. If... if not for you, we'd be dead now." Having shoved his pride aside to say such, Richard lowered his head and swallowed hard.
Subject T made no motion at all, simply stared silently at Richard. Feeling his inner anger slowly begin to subside, he found it being replaced with pity. Lara pushed herself to her feet and gnawed on her lower lip silently, allowing Richard time to regain himself.
The gracious moment of silence was interrupted by another distant hissing sound, once more coming from overhead in the pipes. All three heads snapping up and in the direction from whence it came, they made a decision as group without saying a word.
The first to move was Richard, walking a few paces back to grab his gun before continuing down the hallway. Lara jogged after him, and Subject T, as always, followed close behind.
"If we can make it safely to the next staircase, we can get downstairs and get food, water, and a lockable room to take a break in. " Richard spoke to them without looking, keeping up his prior brisk pace and stomping down his emotions.
'Take a break in? Jesus, he makes it sound so... casual..' Lara thought to herself, for some reason annoyed by the comment, but said nothing.
When they heard a sudden chorus of moans from the hallway behind them, they somehow found the motivation to run, turning left at the next hallway. After what seemed like a painfully short time of running, all but Subject T's muscles were screaming for them to stop, and for a moment, they almost did. Instinctively, Richard looked back over his shoulder.
Stumbling around the corner behind them was a horde of perhaps nine deceased Umbrella workers, mouths hanging open and eyes glossy. Almost tripping because he wasn't paying attention, Richard felt his stomach turn at the appearance of one man, part of his throat torn open, and what seemed to be dozens of chunks of flesh and clothing missing from his body. The entire group left a hude trail of blood behind them, their pace slow enough for the slightest bit of comfort.
"Whatever you do, don't look back!" Richard shouted, whipping his head to look in front of him once more. He panted now, his heart pounding in his chest, and he was quite sure that the young woman was feeling about the same. Luckily, though, she took his advice, keeping her eyes trained on the staircase that was steadily coming up before them.
Finally, they reached it, and with little to no hesitation, dashed down into the darkness.
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W00T! YEAH! :: Does the update dance. ::
Well, if you liked it, review. If you DIDN'T like it, review. ....I have cooookieess....
A/N: Holy shit! It's been a little over a year since I started this baby, and its popularity has soared! This is, of course, only thanks to those loyal readers and reviewers, so, thanks for everything! ^-^
Beware of character backgrounds, lol. I think I needed to add some more detail to our little friends, so, here ya go.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As the cat flew through the air towards Richard, time seemed to slow to a dull crawl. His eyes were so wide they nearly bulged out of their sockets, yet he merely stood ramrod-straight, unmoving. Faintly, he heard Lara cry out his name in terror, but made no move to acknowledge it as his attacker closed the distance between them. Eyes still locked onto his own, the cat uttered a fierce yowl of challenge. Now only a few inches from Richard's delicious-looking face, the frenzied feline bared its lethal fangs for the kill.
All of the sudden, though, the animal was knocked directly out of its path by a large blur of brown and tan. It roughly flew sideways into the nearest wall, making a sickening thud as it hit, and once and for all disproving the theory that cats always land on their feet. The thud acoompanied by the sickening wet crunch of bone, the beast snarled and yowled pitifully, writhing about on the ground. Subject T straightened, momentarily looking somehow proud of himself. After a moment or two of listening to the downed and officially helpless creature's wails, Subject T warily stepped forward, shadowy eyes cold and unmerciful.
With one swift swipe of his claws, the cat's head was separated from its broken body, and after a drawn-out series of convulsions, it lay still. Blood slowly began to blossom out from the serrated mass of bone and tendon that once held the head upon the rest, oozing around Subject T's feet in a course through the cracks in the tile. Slowly turning to face the other two, Subject T snorted and swiped his hand again to rid his hand of the balmy fluid, pleased with the fresh speckles of blood that appeared upon the wall and floor.
Richard was on his knees, staring openmouthed at the deceased thing, eyes as wide as dinnerplates. Lara was covering her mouth with one trembling hand, white as a sheet and looking as though she were about to vomit. Mumbling incoherently under his breath, Richard buried his face in his sweaty palms and took a series of deep breaths, trying to will himself to his feet. Subject T observed silently from his position several feet away, looking rather confused. Why did he look so damned upset?! If it hadn't been for quick reflexes, that bastard would be in several pieces on the floor!
Hissing faintly and stepping forward a few paces, Subject T found himself satisfied when Richard jerked his head to look in the direction of the sudden sound. The man's eyes bore into his face with what appeared to be nothing but the purest and most unyielding hatred, almost as if he were trying to melt him with simply a stare. One hand was clenched into a fist so tightly that his knuckles were almost pure white, the other holding the gun with the same breed of death grip. To put it simply, he looked almost the polor opposite of the cool, calm, and collected 'leader' he had been not five minutes ago. Now, he was reduced to a shaking mass of fear and burning emotion, the source which remained a mystery to both Lara and Subject T as they stared him into the ground.
After another solid fifty-seven seconds of trying to kill Subject T with his piercing eyes, Richard swallowed dryly and pushed himself to his knees. Lara made as if to help him up, but he waved her off angrily, keeping his face turned away form them both.
Turning for the door, Richard grabbed the stunned Lara's arm and pulled her out and back into the hallway, followed immediately after by an irritated Subject T. Going to the left and down and previously unexplored hallway, Richard seemed to forget all about the vicegrip he had upon Lara's forearm and continued to drag her down the hall, his thoughts swirling about within his mind and dizzying him to the point where he stumbled once or twice.
Lara, wincing and trying to wrench her arm free, looked back to Subject T for help. Subject T immediately took charge, stomping up behind Richard and easily plucking him off of Lara and several feet into the air with one clawed hand. Richard strugged viciously, now taking the time to utter a rather profuse string of curses, his voice making a swift crescendo into an unmistakably pained wail.
Lara, having scooted away and was currently giving the pair the old 'fish face', watched in almost pity for the raving man, his face nothing short of beet red and his eyes straining for release from their sockets. He swung his fists blindly, growling and snarling to be released 'immediately', yet Subject T merely held him three or so feet off the ground, staring blankly at the confused Lara.
After another good three minutes of enraged bellowing, Richard's profanity tapered off into gasping for breath, and after that, he fell silent, simply hanging by the back of his shirt and staring at the ground through tear-filled eyes. Lara, who had stood there helplessly and silently the whole time for lack of a way to help, slowly inched forward, motioning for Subject T to gently release the man.
When Subject T set Richard back on his feet, the man crumpled and dropped instantly to his knees. Scrambling to get to his side, Lara finally found her voice and spoke softly.
"Are.... you alright? What was that all about..?"
Okay, so perhaps it wasn't the most intelligent way to tiptoe around her still furious superior, but her words seemed to have some effect as Richard reached up and ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to further calm himself. Subject T kept his distance, making a wary glance or two down both ominous-looking sections of hallway.
Pausing briefly before visibly straightening, Richard slowly cast a cold gaze upon Lara. He wondered whether it would be wise to even mention the shadowed reason for his unprofessional outburst, clenching his hands into fists and mentally cursing himself for his own blatant stupidity. Slowly, he wiped the back of his hand across his forehead, before realizing that he'd dropped his gun a few yards down the hall. Subject T followed his gaze to the discarded metal piece, and snorted, wondering whether or not he should crush it beneath one clawed foot.
After another moment of pondering to himself, Richard decided that, since it was doubtful they'd actually SURVIVE this ordeal, what harm could it possibly do to tell them? Lifting his head and sighing, he opened his mouth and let it hang that way, searching for the right place to start.
"Do forgive my sudden lapse in good judgement... " This sounded rather sardonic, and right after he realized how off his tone was, he mumbled more self-damaging words. After a drawn-out period of silence, he continued slowly.
"I suppose... I should start at the beginning. You see, my brother, Alexander, and I started several research centers, much like this one, several years before the American market turned into such a merchandise whore. Now, it's all about making the masses happy and filling our wallets." Shaking his head in disappointment, he glanced up at Lara, who still looked utterly confused. Inhaling deeply and smirking, he spoke again.
"At the time, test subjects," he gave a sharp glance to Subject T, who flinched at the words, "were so much more difficult to acquire because people cared much less about money and more about their own welfare. What a dramatic change in society, eh?" Snorting a little at the absurdity of it, Lara shook her head and let herself fall back into a cross-legged position.
"I'm guessing you never knew I had a son, did you..? No, of course not. His name was Michael. Michael Richard Ashford. He was supposed to be the one who took over my companies, my EVERYTHING, really, when I either grew tired of constantly lying to the public or I gave in and died. At the time of this agreement with several lawyers, we were in a discreet statewide search for willing test subjects.
This was about.... six and a half years ago. Michael, always so eager to please his father, immediately volunteered upon hearing word of the project. I, trying to think sensibly if only for once in my life, refused avidly. But, he managed to talk me into testing a new virus sample directly upon him, swearing to me he would be fine, that it could be reversed. "
With the last few words, Richard's voice broke and he slammed one sweaty fist into the ground, hiding his face from the shocked Lara's view.
"What happened to him, though? If you went through with the experiments, shouldn't he have-"
"Mutated. Yes, he did. He was the unique one, though. Since this was a prototype of the X-Virus, it involved a highly unstable mixture of chemicals. His body began to change almost immediately, though not dramatically. There was a great deal of pain involved in this, and the only way to numb it at all was to up the dosage of X-Virus infusions. After perhaps a month, he began to mutate uncontrollably, taking on a...a... catlike form. This was about the time he stopped responding to anything remotely familiar to him. I went to visit him in the treatment center, and...." Richard's voice cracked again, his eyes welling up with a fesh set of burning tears.
Lara was staring wide eyed at him, curiosity burning her mind to the point where her next word was unconsciously spoken.
"....And...?!"
Richard looked up at her, catching her eyes with his own. Resuming speaking, he made quite sure he put empshasis on every last word.
"I opened the door, eager to see how my son was doing. The first thing I heard was deafening screaming, coming from one corner of the room. In that corner was one of the attendants, his left arm ripped clean off. Blood was just... gushing... from him, and he just looked at me through the most frightened eyes I have ever seen, and screamed. He screamed until my son finished with the other attendant and ripped his throat open with his lovely new set of claws. Then, my son turned to me and made this awful, pained noise, and I realized that I was a MONSTER for what I had done. And I knew that whatever that thing was, it was no longer my son."
Lara found herself unable to speak, her imagination running wild and tossing all sorts of stomach-turning images at her. Richard, seeing that his words had hit home, slowly turned his head to look at the still wide open door of the room, staring at the visible splatters of blood and being grateful he could not see the headless creature.
"I guess... he must have escaped.. when Subject T was destroying things in Lab 5..." Lara offered dumbly, wringing her hands in her lap and wishing she could think of some way to comfort the broken man, watching tears run down his face unnoticed.
"I..I suppose I should be thanking you. " He rose, slowly and shakily, to stare at Subject T, who gave him a look of pure human confusion.
"I couldn't bring myself to terminate him when I had the chance. Not six years ago, and obviously not now. If... if not for you, we'd be dead now." Having shoved his pride aside to say such, Richard lowered his head and swallowed hard.
Subject T made no motion at all, simply stared silently at Richard. Feeling his inner anger slowly begin to subside, he found it being replaced with pity. Lara pushed herself to her feet and gnawed on her lower lip silently, allowing Richard time to regain himself.
The gracious moment of silence was interrupted by another distant hissing sound, once more coming from overhead in the pipes. All three heads snapping up and in the direction from whence it came, they made a decision as group without saying a word.
The first to move was Richard, walking a few paces back to grab his gun before continuing down the hallway. Lara jogged after him, and Subject T, as always, followed close behind.
"If we can make it safely to the next staircase, we can get downstairs and get food, water, and a lockable room to take a break in. " Richard spoke to them without looking, keeping up his prior brisk pace and stomping down his emotions.
'Take a break in? Jesus, he makes it sound so... casual..' Lara thought to herself, for some reason annoyed by the comment, but said nothing.
When they heard a sudden chorus of moans from the hallway behind them, they somehow found the motivation to run, turning left at the next hallway. After what seemed like a painfully short time of running, all but Subject T's muscles were screaming for them to stop, and for a moment, they almost did. Instinctively, Richard looked back over his shoulder.
Stumbling around the corner behind them was a horde of perhaps nine deceased Umbrella workers, mouths hanging open and eyes glossy. Almost tripping because he wasn't paying attention, Richard felt his stomach turn at the appearance of one man, part of his throat torn open, and what seemed to be dozens of chunks of flesh and clothing missing from his body. The entire group left a hude trail of blood behind them, their pace slow enough for the slightest bit of comfort.
"Whatever you do, don't look back!" Richard shouted, whipping his head to look in front of him once more. He panted now, his heart pounding in his chest, and he was quite sure that the young woman was feeling about the same. Luckily, though, she took his advice, keeping her eyes trained on the staircase that was steadily coming up before them.
Finally, they reached it, and with little to no hesitation, dashed down into the darkness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
W00T! YEAH! :: Does the update dance. ::
Well, if you liked it, review. If you DIDN'T like it, review. ....I have cooookieess....