Chapter One
Sherry Birkin stared out the window of her bedroom. A light breeze entered and
ruffled her soft white curtains as she gazed down into the garden that a frustrated Claire
Redfield was tending. Every now and then she would find a weed, pull it out, mutter
something under her breath and then continue to work. It was just the beginning of
Spring Break and it was still pretty cool during the days for Sherry. Leaning against her
wall, she let out a small sigh. After break, it would soon be Mother's Day, and her school
was having a picnic for daughters and their mothers. Or daughters and their fathers if
they didn't have a mom.
'What if you don't have either of them?' Sherry thought wistfully as she twisted
the hem of her white T shirt. Bitterly, she thought back to the night she lost her parents,
at least three years ago. All because of Umbrella and their sick experiments. Ever since
Raccoon City, Sherry had felt a huge emptiness inside her that had never filled up. She
hadn't had the strength to tell anyone about how she was feeling. Wouldn't have been
able to get it out anyway. Her feelings were all twisted, jumbled, and tangled up inside,
she felt that she would never be able to sort them out.
So she went on with her life, acting as if everything were fine on the outside. She
had adjusted well into her new school, did well in her studies, and never once did she
mention her parents. She didn't want anyone to know that she was secretly hurting. The
hurt came and went, when she was with people she could push the pain away for a few
hours. But later, when she was by herself it would come back again.
"Sherry!" she heard Claire call from outside.
Taking a deep breath, she called back with a steady voice, "Yeah?"
"You want to help me with this garden?" she asked. "I would've asked earlier, but I was
ashamed for anyone to see how crappy I made it."
"Sure!" she called back. She hopped off the little built in window sofa (she really didn't
know what it's real name was), grabbed her jacket and bolted downstairs and out the
door.
"What's up?" she asked as she walked over the perfectly mowed grass.
Claire grinned bashfully as she pointed to a pile of freshly pulled weeds. "Um..."
Sherry smiled and took a look at the flowers Claire had planted in the beginning of the
spring season. Aside from a few weeds poking out, it look okay.
"Don't worry." She told Claire. "It can be saved."
"Oh great!" she bent down on her knees and motioned for Sherry to sit near her. "Help
me pull out the rest of these weeds, will you?"
Sherry nodded then knelt down and started pulling. After a few moments of silence, a
sudden uneasiness swept over her, she squirmed around to get more comfortable, but that
didn't help either. Something inside her brain told her to stop pulling weeds before she
noticed something. She didn't know what that something was, but she would soon find
out.
After rooting around she stopped and admired the bright purple of the lilacs.
They were so beautiful and royal looking, with a smell that had to have come straight
from heaven down to earth. She smiled fondly until something dawned on her. Lilacs.
Those were the ones she and her mother used to grow. Way before Annette Birkin
became a workaholic, they had had a little garden. They grew all kinds of flowers in it,
but mostly lilacs. Her mother loved them.
They would work in their garden for hours on end, Annette telling the five-year-
old Sherry that the environment was something that needed to be cherished. A great
coldness swept over Sherry's body, paralyzing her and she became tense.
"Sherry?" she heard Claire's voice. "Is something wrong?"
Sherry looked over to her. There was Claire, not her mother, sitting just like her mother
used to sit and tending the same flowers they used to tend together. Sherry began feeling
a bit guilty. It seemed so disloyal to work on something that was so special to her and her
mom with someone else.
"I'm not... I'm not feeling very well..." she lied. "Can I go inside now?"
Claire nodded, a worried frown creased her forehead, "Will you be okay?"
"I'll be fine." Sherry said. "It's just a head ache. I'll be fine once I lie down."
Without another word, she got up and ran inside the house. She bolted up the stairs and
retreated to the safety of her room. As if heartache had been waiting for her, she felt
heavy with gloom and she buried her head in her pillow.
She wanted to cry, she wanted to cry for her parents so badly. To show that she
still had some feeling for them. To show she hadn't forgotten them, that she never would.
But the tears wouldn't come. Every time she closed her eyes, trying to remember her
mom and dad, it was always Claire. Or Leon. Or Chris. But never her parents. Never
Annette or William Birkin. It was as if her mind were telling her that she was officially a
Redfield or a Kennedy.
Punching the pillow in frustration, she tried hard to remember her parents. But
the more she tried, the more the memories faded. The pain had always been
overwhelming, but never this much. From outside, she heard a car pull up, then Leon and
Chris' voices getting out. She sat silently, hoping, praying that they wouldn't call her
down. And they didn't until and hour later.
"Sherry!" Chris shouted up the stairs. "Time to eat!"
Without answering, she slid under the sheets and buried herself in them. She must have
drifted to sleep because the next thing she knew, there was a knock on the door, and then
the slow creak of it opening.
"Morning Sher," Claire replied as she peeked in. "Can I come in?"
Struggling to become fully awake, she saw the sun shining brightly outside. She had a
slight headache and it was as if she had a dead fish in her stomach. Or as if she was a
dead fish.
"You didn't come down to eat last night." Claire observed, a look of concern
sweeping over her gray eyes.
"I was tired, I fell asleep." She said.
"Yeah," Claire replied. "I figured that was the case."
Claire sat on the edge of Sherry's bed and traced the intricate designs of the little red rose
buds on the comforter. "I've noticed you haven't been very happy lately."
"Oh... really?" Sherry asked, mainly for lack of anything else to say.
Claire nodded. "And so Chris, Leon and I wanted to do something special for you this
break."
Sherry waited.
"Our parents had a cabin near a lake up north." Claire told her. "You remember, the one
we went to after R---" Claire cut herself short. "when we met? Well, we want to take
you there."
Sherry shrugged her shoulders, "That would be fun, I guess."
Claire smiled, relieved that she'd accepted. "Great. Because we leave in a few hours.
Get packed."
Sherry had to smile. Claire seemed so enthusiastic about the cabin. She didn't
really want to do much this break, but maybe the trip would be good for her.
At least it would get her away from lilacs.
Sherry Birkin stared out the window of her bedroom. A light breeze entered and
ruffled her soft white curtains as she gazed down into the garden that a frustrated Claire
Redfield was tending. Every now and then she would find a weed, pull it out, mutter
something under her breath and then continue to work. It was just the beginning of
Spring Break and it was still pretty cool during the days for Sherry. Leaning against her
wall, she let out a small sigh. After break, it would soon be Mother's Day, and her school
was having a picnic for daughters and their mothers. Or daughters and their fathers if
they didn't have a mom.
'What if you don't have either of them?' Sherry thought wistfully as she twisted
the hem of her white T shirt. Bitterly, she thought back to the night she lost her parents,
at least three years ago. All because of Umbrella and their sick experiments. Ever since
Raccoon City, Sherry had felt a huge emptiness inside her that had never filled up. She
hadn't had the strength to tell anyone about how she was feeling. Wouldn't have been
able to get it out anyway. Her feelings were all twisted, jumbled, and tangled up inside,
she felt that she would never be able to sort them out.
So she went on with her life, acting as if everything were fine on the outside. She
had adjusted well into her new school, did well in her studies, and never once did she
mention her parents. She didn't want anyone to know that she was secretly hurting. The
hurt came and went, when she was with people she could push the pain away for a few
hours. But later, when she was by herself it would come back again.
"Sherry!" she heard Claire call from outside.
Taking a deep breath, she called back with a steady voice, "Yeah?"
"You want to help me with this garden?" she asked. "I would've asked earlier, but I was
ashamed for anyone to see how crappy I made it."
"Sure!" she called back. She hopped off the little built in window sofa (she really didn't
know what it's real name was), grabbed her jacket and bolted downstairs and out the
door.
"What's up?" she asked as she walked over the perfectly mowed grass.
Claire grinned bashfully as she pointed to a pile of freshly pulled weeds. "Um..."
Sherry smiled and took a look at the flowers Claire had planted in the beginning of the
spring season. Aside from a few weeds poking out, it look okay.
"Don't worry." She told Claire. "It can be saved."
"Oh great!" she bent down on her knees and motioned for Sherry to sit near her. "Help
me pull out the rest of these weeds, will you?"
Sherry nodded then knelt down and started pulling. After a few moments of silence, a
sudden uneasiness swept over her, she squirmed around to get more comfortable, but that
didn't help either. Something inside her brain told her to stop pulling weeds before she
noticed something. She didn't know what that something was, but she would soon find
out.
After rooting around she stopped and admired the bright purple of the lilacs.
They were so beautiful and royal looking, with a smell that had to have come straight
from heaven down to earth. She smiled fondly until something dawned on her. Lilacs.
Those were the ones she and her mother used to grow. Way before Annette Birkin
became a workaholic, they had had a little garden. They grew all kinds of flowers in it,
but mostly lilacs. Her mother loved them.
They would work in their garden for hours on end, Annette telling the five-year-
old Sherry that the environment was something that needed to be cherished. A great
coldness swept over Sherry's body, paralyzing her and she became tense.
"Sherry?" she heard Claire's voice. "Is something wrong?"
Sherry looked over to her. There was Claire, not her mother, sitting just like her mother
used to sit and tending the same flowers they used to tend together. Sherry began feeling
a bit guilty. It seemed so disloyal to work on something that was so special to her and her
mom with someone else.
"I'm not... I'm not feeling very well..." she lied. "Can I go inside now?"
Claire nodded, a worried frown creased her forehead, "Will you be okay?"
"I'll be fine." Sherry said. "It's just a head ache. I'll be fine once I lie down."
Without another word, she got up and ran inside the house. She bolted up the stairs and
retreated to the safety of her room. As if heartache had been waiting for her, she felt
heavy with gloom and she buried her head in her pillow.
She wanted to cry, she wanted to cry for her parents so badly. To show that she
still had some feeling for them. To show she hadn't forgotten them, that she never would.
But the tears wouldn't come. Every time she closed her eyes, trying to remember her
mom and dad, it was always Claire. Or Leon. Or Chris. But never her parents. Never
Annette or William Birkin. It was as if her mind were telling her that she was officially a
Redfield or a Kennedy.
Punching the pillow in frustration, she tried hard to remember her parents. But
the more she tried, the more the memories faded. The pain had always been
overwhelming, but never this much. From outside, she heard a car pull up, then Leon and
Chris' voices getting out. She sat silently, hoping, praying that they wouldn't call her
down. And they didn't until and hour later.
"Sherry!" Chris shouted up the stairs. "Time to eat!"
Without answering, she slid under the sheets and buried herself in them. She must have
drifted to sleep because the next thing she knew, there was a knock on the door, and then
the slow creak of it opening.
"Morning Sher," Claire replied as she peeked in. "Can I come in?"
Struggling to become fully awake, she saw the sun shining brightly outside. She had a
slight headache and it was as if she had a dead fish in her stomach. Or as if she was a
dead fish.
"You didn't come down to eat last night." Claire observed, a look of concern
sweeping over her gray eyes.
"I was tired, I fell asleep." She said.
"Yeah," Claire replied. "I figured that was the case."
Claire sat on the edge of Sherry's bed and traced the intricate designs of the little red rose
buds on the comforter. "I've noticed you haven't been very happy lately."
"Oh... really?" Sherry asked, mainly for lack of anything else to say.
Claire nodded. "And so Chris, Leon and I wanted to do something special for you this
break."
Sherry waited.
"Our parents had a cabin near a lake up north." Claire told her. "You remember, the one
we went to after R---" Claire cut herself short. "when we met? Well, we want to take
you there."
Sherry shrugged her shoulders, "That would be fun, I guess."
Claire smiled, relieved that she'd accepted. "Great. Because we leave in a few hours.
Get packed."
Sherry had to smile. Claire seemed so enthusiastic about the cabin. She didn't
really want to do much this break, but maybe the trip would be good for her.
At least it would get her away from lilacs.
