Chapter 14: The Manor

While Claire, Sheva, and Barry began to patrol, Jill and the others stepped into the entrance hall of the manor, and a tall, skeletal man stepped away from the walls to greet them. "Good evening," he boomed in sepulchral tones.

Kirsty shrieked and grabbed Leon's arm.

"My apologies, my lady," the man said, bowing. "I am only the butler. There is no need to be alarmed."

The butler? "What happened to the previous butler?" Jill asked, feeling something cold uncoil itself in her stomach.

"He retired."

You mean he was retired, for helping me.

The new butler rang the bell for the servants, tugging on the rope twice. Two blue-liveried men appeared, and he said, "Four more of our guests have arrived."

They both bowed. One stepped forward and told them to follow him to the dining area and ballroom. They followed them through the doors, although the second servant then parted from them and went off in a different direction. Jill glanced after him, wondering where he was going. She felt uneasy being back here, and the fact that she had concealed weapons on her person didn't change how ill suited for combat her outfit was.

The servant led them in a much more straightforward route than that they had taken to get to the white parlor room. They passed the grand hall, where the hydra sat, fully intact again, beside the staircase. Jill thought she saw movement behind it, like the flutter of a dark cloak, but when she took a closer look, nothing was there.

They passed through another hallway, and then the servant opened a massive, elaborately carved set of doors. He bowed and stepped aside for them to pass. It opened onto a gigantic chamber with marble pillars and towering windows; sparkling chandeliers hung from the ceiling and filled the room with light. Half of the room was set up for dining, with small tables covered in white tablecloths. The other half appeared to be the ballroom, and the floor gleamed in the firelight. A chocolate fountain flowed beyond the tables, with a water counterpart at the other end of the room. Beneath the windows, the wall arced back to make room for the orchestra, which was currently playing a quiet tune. A couple dozen guests or so were already in attendance, some seated at the tables, some talking in small groups, and some sitting on the couches that were set against the walls.

Even though they were in the house of a man she considered to be an enemy, Jill couldn't help but be impressed.

They walked over to an unoccupied table near the wall, and Chris pulled out one of the chairs for her. She sat down, smiling because he had remembered that she would want to sit with her back to the wall. He sat down beside her as Leon pulled out the next chair for Kirsty. Once they were seated as well, a small man with a pad of paper walked over.

"Will you be having the turkey dinner or the baked ham?" he inquired.

I won't be having anything, because I don't trust that Rathbourne won't arrange for me to have a "tragic accident" while I'm here, she thought to herself, but she just smiled demurely and ordered the ham.

"What do we do now?" Kirsty asked, once he was gone. She sounded excited. "Do we start asking questions? I feel just like James Bond!"

Leon rolled his eyes.

"Let's mingle for a little bit," Chris said. "Ask questions if it comes up naturally, but don't do anything suspicious." He looked around. "Judging by what other people are doing, I think we should go around as couples."

They got up, and he offered Jill his arm again. She accepted it, appreciating how close it made them. We're going to have to talk about this some time, she told herself, as his leg brushed against hers.

However, now was not that time. They approached one of the groups of guests, introducing themselves. There were four people in this group, two executives of one of the major pharmaceutical companies that were in the Consortium, and their spouses. None of them appeared very interested in talking to members of the B.S.A.A., and Jill felt that familiar suspicion rise up in her.

It's not fair to suspect people of wrongdoing just because their company makes medicine.

They wandered around the room some more, finally approaching an elderly gentleman who was sitting by himself. He got up and greeted them exuberantly, and upon hearing who they were, he told Jill that he had been very moved by her obituary. She grimaced, feeling the memories of her "death" stirring in her mind. Chris noticed and hastily ended conversation with the man.

A few people did want to talk to them about the current world situation, but no one gave any indication that they suspected the G.P.C. One woman did comment that the group behind these attacks had to have extensive resources, but after glancing around at the others sitting with her, she said she had nothing further to say on the subject. They were looking around for more people to talk to, when silence started to fall over the room.

Rathbourne had entered the room, and now he was standing in front of the dining area as though about to give a speech. All of the guests, including more that had just arrived, began heading to their seats. Chris and Jill returned to their table, and the other two joined them shortly thereafter.

"I thank you all for joining me on this occasion to celebrate the beautiful alliance that is the Global Pharmaceutical Consortium. My fellow executives—" he bowed in the direction of the people he was addressing, who all seemed to be sitting together, "—honored members of the B.S.A.A. and honored government agent—" he bowed towards them, "—and friends from the pharmaceutical companies, without whom we would not have a consortium." He gave a final bow in their direction.

As he spoke, servants entered the room and began serving the food. Jill smiled politely when hers was set in front of her, even though she still had no intention of eating it.

"Of course, in times like this our alliance is even more important. We must stand strong, and be not swayed by accusations or rumors that we are behind these terrible attacks." The speech sounded very rehearsed, and Jill was sure he looked right at her when he said that part. "This year, our gathering is smaller than ever. It is sad…and yet, it can only make us stronger."

Tricell, she realized. The B.S.A.A. had been unable to find enough evidence to implicate the entire company, and so they had remained active, although in a shaky position with the public, following the Kijuju incident. She hadn't realized until now that the Organization's Tricell targets had amounted to basically the entire company.

"With these shadows cast away from us, we can look forward to a bright future!" Rathbourne boldly proclaimed. "I thank you again for coming." He walked over to the other executives and sat at one of their tables. Conversation slowly picked up again.

"Well, he did it again," Chris said. He was cutting up the food on his plate and moving it around so that it would appear he had eaten some. "The attacks 'can only make us stronger;' he's making it sound like it was a good thing again."

"Hmm," Kirsty said.

It sounded so odd that Jill looked up from pretending to eat her ham. "Hmm?"

"Hmm."

"Riveting conversation," Leon commented.

"Psychology interests me," Kirsty said. "I had a line of thought, but I was, um…afraid to pursue it because it might end with…well, with Chris yelling at me." She glanced down at her plate. She hadn't eaten anything either, following their cues.

Chris raised his eyebrows. "Go ahead. I won't yell."

She cleared her throat. "Well, having observed you, I would have guessed that you consider the attacks on those people to be such a terrible crime because it involved the loss of life. Innocent life, to be sure, but not everyone who died that day was innocent. Do you still condemn the killing of those people?"

"Well, I don't think an act of terrorism—and that's what it was—is ever the right answer. Those people should have been given a fair trial. They shouldn't have had the T-virus and Las Plagas set on them. Rathbourne thinks it was all right, and that's what bothers me."

She began polishing her fork with the cloth napkin beside her plate. "Perhaps he feared these people more than you do."

"Aren't you the one who's convinced he's part of the Organization?" Chris asked in a whisper.

Kirsty smiled. "We're talking theoretically, Chris. And theoretically, he could be innocent. Now suppose—theoretically—that these attacks had happened a few years ago. You get a call, the B.S.A.A. tells you what happened, sends you the list of the dead—and there, killed in the attack, is Albert Wesker. Perhaps it would be you saying that there was a good side to these attacks. Hmm?"

Chris gaped at her. He didn't quite seem to know what to say.

Jill didn't know what to say, either. She didn't have an answer, and every time she tried to think about it, she felt memories spiraling around her and pulling her down. She looked out at the other guests and stiffened, seeing Wesker himself casually pulling out a chair.

Then reality reasserted itself fully, and she realized it was just another guest who happened to be tall and blond.

"Why don't we talk about something else," she suggested, going back to moving her ham around on the plate.

"Good idea," Chris said. He was giving his food a blank look.

"Oh, um… I'm sorry. I hope I didn't…upset you." Kirsty was now cutting up her meat so fast that her silverware was clanging against the plate. "Sometimes I just get going, and I don't realize what I'm saying. It seems to cause problems," she mumbled, not looking at any of them.

"Maybe I have an answer for your little problem," Leon said. "The ends don't justify the means, Kirsty. Killing evil people in an attack like that is still a crime."

She lifted her glass to him and smiled. "We'll have to talk about psychology and morality more in the future, Leon."

Jill breathed a sigh of relief that they weren't going to keep going with that conversation immediately.

Some of the guests were finished eating already, and the orchestra struck up a lively tune. Several couples got up and walked out into the open area, starting to dance at the musical cue. They looked perfectly normal, and it was depressing to think that many of them might be involved in the Organization.

It was going to be hard to find anything out from this party. Servants were standing near the doors; while they weren't quite guarding it, it was likely that they would cause a ruckus if some of the guests decided to sneak around the manor for a bit. She hoped the outside team was having more luck—and she abruptly realized that Chris had jumped to his feet.

"Jill, may I have this next dance?"

She stared at him. Shouldn't we at least be attempting to do something useful? she thought, but the words died on her lips when she noticed the half-hopeful, half-panicked look in his eyes.

"All right," she said, getting up.

When the music stopped and the orchestra started setting up for their next song, they stepped out onto the dance floor. Jill realized she was blushing, but decided it didn't matter. At least it would bring a little color to her face. The orchestra went into the opening notes of a waltz, and Chris put his hand on her shoulder blade and took her other hand. She rested her free hand on his shoulder and smiled up at him. She hadn't danced in a long, long time.

She kept an eye on her feet as they started moving, not wanting to step on him. After a while, she felt confident enough to lift her head. Chris was looking at her like nothing else in the world existed, and as they moved around the dance floor, she knew how he felt. At a time like this, it was possible to forget all of the horror awaiting them. They spun around the room, weaving through the other dancers with more speed and skill now that they were getting used to it.

The music stopped, and Chris let go of her hand. His now-free hand made its way to the small of her back. Her heart skipped a beat.

"Jill, I've been meaning to ask you…" He cleared his throat and tried again. "I mean, there's something I'd like to say…"

"Yes, Chris?" she asked, looking up and realizing that their faces were only inches apart.

"I…"

As he struggled for the words, the distance between them closed even further. Jill realized she was breathing too heavily and tried to calm down, but it was hard to focus when his arms were around her and his lips were so close.

A millimeter, she thought vaguely, feeling a sudden urge to giggle. One millimeter more, and his lips would brush against hers. He had given up even trying to speak. She had just parted her lips almost unconsciously, when there was a flicker of motion in her peripheral vision.

Standing in the doorway was a cloaked figure of the past, staring at her through the red eyes of that beaked mask. She gasped, stiffened, and Chris turned to see what had alarmed her. The figure stepped away, moving out of sight just as he looked.

"What is it, Jill?" he asked, turning back to her with a puzzled look.

She stared at him, not knowing what to say. She couldn't tell him what she had seen, because if she did, he'd…he'd… He'd help me stop her, whether she's real or just an illusion.

She took a deep breath. "Lately I've been seeing—"

Someone screamed as the sound of gunfire came from outside. Jill and Chris sprang apart and ran to the windows, but it was hard to see what was happening. It looked like some sort of battle had begun, and the guests were panicking.

"Nobody panic!" Rathbourne shouted, although he sounded on the verge of panic himself. Either he was a very good actor, or he hadn't been expecting this. "I'm sure it's just the guards…"

No one was listening to him. People were running around wildly, and while no one wanted to go outside, few wanted to stay near those windows. Jill saw Leon take advantage of the chaos to slip through one of the doors out of the room.

"What is that?" someone screamed, pointing as a man outside began to twist and pop, transforming into a grotesque, though still humanoid, figure.

"Claire!" Chris shouted, as one of the people around the monster moved close enough to the windows to be recognizable as his sister. He reached into his suit jacket and pulled out the rifle he had concealed there.

"Jill!" a voice screamed, and she turned to see Kirsty, amazingly keeping her balance as she sprinted across the room in those shoes. She grabbed her arm when she reached her, looking panicked. "I heard Rathbourne talking. He said something about going to the control room and then his chambers to 'take care of things' in case the B.S.A.A. went searching during the confusion! He saw me there, but he said it didn't matter because I couldn't follow him without a key. Then he walked behind a curtain!"

"He's using those passages," she muttered. "Don't worry, I can take the secret way." She ran for the door they had come in through, and Kirsty followed. She didn't argue, because it didn't look like any place around here was going to be safe much longer.

"Where are we going?"

"To the hydra!"

"Oh!" Kirsty let out a gasp. "Don't tell me there's one of those in here, too!"

"It's just a statue," she assured her.

They reached the grand hall without being stopped, because everyone was running in one direction or another. Two more were not suspicious in the least.

"Bring over one of those candles!" Jill shouted, opening the hydra's heads as quickly as she could. They got the candles lit within seconds, and she hit the button on the final head to move the statue. It slid out of the way, with Kirsty staring in amazement as Jill pulled open the trapdoor.

As soon as they were in the passage, she reached down and retrieved the gun she had strapped to her leg before the party. Catching Kirsty's alarmed look, she explained, "I couldn't attend a formal event with a visible holster."

She looked around for the medallion, but she couldn't find it. She hoped that either they wouldn't need it, or that it was still stuck in one of the doors. They ran until they reached the five branching paths, and then stopped. Jill frowned at them, trying to decide which was most likely to lead them in the right direction.

Something caught her eye, then—a glimmer of red eyes down the middle passage. She raised her gun, but the eyes disappeared into the darkness. "Did you see that?" she whispered.

"See what?"

"Red eyes, right down there." She shook her head and started for the passage. "Never mind. Let's go."

"Wait!" Kirsty squeaked, as they hurried down the path. "No one runs towards red eyes!"

"It's the only lead we have," she replied grimly. The door at the end was already open, and nothing blocked their progress as they ran to the end. Stairs led up to a trapdoor, just as they had on her previous journey through the secret way.

Pushing open the trapdoor, she found that they were in a twisting hallway. It wasn't very long before they reached a choice of two possible directions. A sign labeled "Control Room" pointed helpfully to the right.

It could be a trap, she warned herself, but ignoring the sign seemed foolish. At least this way, she was prepared for the possibility of a trap. She tightened her grip on the gun and beckoned for Kirsty to follow.

She made a right turn at the sign, but after walking down the hallway for a while longer, they reached another intersection. She looked to her left and froze. The cloaked woman was standing there. The figure turned around another corner, walking at a slow pace that was almost mocking.

Jill turned left and started running.

"Why are we going this way?" Kirsty asked, following.

"There's someone down there!"

They ran down another twisting section of hallways, with the cloaked figure as a guide. She was always just out of reach, cloak flapping around a corner whenever they reached the next turn. Finally, they turned a corner and found themselves in a wider corridor. The masked figure was standing in the center, staring at them.

"Who are you?" Jill asked. She took a step closer and raised her gun.

The figure turned and ran. She approached a door at the end of the corridor but turned again; Jill shot at her and missed.

"What is she doing?" Jill muttered out loud.

"Who?" Kirsty's voice was barely a whisper.

She turned towards her, seeing that the other woman's eyes were wide and frightened. She suddenly felt uneasy. "That person in the cloak." When her eyes only widened further, she added, "The one standing here just now; I just shot at her!"

"But…" Kirsty took a step back. "There was no one there…"

Jill felt her blood run cold. That was impossible. It was too vivid to be a hallucination, wasn't it? She took a deep breath to try to steady her nerves and continued down the corridor. She turned at the end, hoping to catch this mystery person once and for all.

"Jill, wait! This door…it says it leads to the control room."

She hesitated, looking back at the door. There was no one there… "All right," she sighed, and pushed open the door to the control room.

It opened onto a room filled with computers, all humming. Screens lined the walls, some dark, but others still displaying information. Some looked to be in the process of a hasty shutdown, no doubt due to Rathbourne trying to get rid of any evidence. No one was there, however, and she remembered that he had been going to continue on to his chambers. There was a door at the other end of the room.

"Kirsty, are you any good with computers?"

"Yes!" She beamed. "I've used computers to help analyze the patterns in the Organization's movements!"

"All right." She checked her gun to make sure it was still loaded, just in case. "I'm going after Rathbourne. Stay here and see if you can dig anything up about the Organization and G.P.C., or anything else he wouldn't want us to see."

"Roger!" Kirsty sat down in front of one of the flickering consoles, and Jill ran through the other door.

It led to another hallway, and from there it was a short sprint through a series of doors that were swinging open. She wasn't certain that Rathbourne had gone that way, but it certainly gave the impression of something racing through in a hurry. The further she went, the more sumptuous the surroundings became, lending support to the idea.

Finally, she forced open a richly decorated door—the doorknob was encrusted with diamonds, of all things—and came face to face with an alarmed Mr. Rathbourne. He was standing beside a fireplace, which was roaring happily as it ate up a stack of documents.

"How did you find me?" he gasped.

"Never mind that," she said, pointing her gun at him. "Mr. Rathbourne, you are under arrest."

"For what? Burning documents?" He started to laugh. "Don't I have the right to burn things? You never did get your warrant, did you?"

She took an angry step towards him, thinking about Horbes and the butler.

His eyes widened, as if it had suddenly occurred to him that maybe she didn't care about warrants anymore. He darted to the side, and she saw he was heading for the thick curtains hanging on the wall. He dove behind them with her in pursuit, and she was right behind him.

The door was already open, and he stepped inside, wrenching free the jewels from the doorknocker as he did so. Jill grabbed the door, pulling it open again, and he slammed it on her fingers with surprising force. They struggled, but since she only had one hand on the door due to holding her gun, he succeeded. The door closed, and she was left with no way inside.

There has to be a path on the secret way that leads to where he's going.

She ran back the way she had come, going back to the control room and its computers. Kirsty was hitting keys furiously, copying things onto a flash memory stick that she had apparently brought with her.

And she gave me a funny look for bringing a gun.

"Did you find anything?"

"Yes," Kirsty breathed. She sounded even more confident than she had during the psychology discussion. "I did a search on that man you knew, Mr. Horbes, and it brought up all sorts of files related to him. If you can prove he was in the H.C.F., then I think we have the data to prove that G.P.C. was working with them. I also found some orders—" She stopped, as a loud siren started up. "What is that?"

"I'm not sure," Jill said, looking around.

"Do not panic," a cool, computerized voice instructed them. "Please exit the manor in an orderly fashion. Self-destruct will commence in five minutes."

"Get that data and let's get out of here!" Jill shouted. Even with all she had seen, she hadn't expected Rathbourne to blow up his manor. She couldn't help but wonder why he was this desperate.

Kirsty yanked her memory stick free of the machine. "Done!"

They ran through the halls as fast as they could, and Jill didn't even look around to see if the cloaked figure was anywhere. She was amazed that Kirsty could keep the pace in those shoes of hers, but she supposed she was used to them. The computer continued to give calm updates as they ran.

They clattered up the ladder as quickly as they could and fled the grand hall, nearly colliding with a few confused servants who were trying to figure out why the hydra statue had moved. They reached the area the party had been in and noticed that it was nearly empty already. There was no sight of Chris, and Jill didn't know where Leon had gone.

They raced out of the room, running through the manor until they reached the entrance hall. The doors were wide open due to the mass exodus, and they ran outside and didn't stop until they were across the street. The outside was chaos, as the computer's words were being broadcasted onto the grounds as well. Jill saw Chris running towards them, with Claire and a redheaded young man right behind him.

Then the manor and its grounds exploded in a ball of fire.