The room I was reminded me of the Ashford palace. It was beautifully decorated. The room with dimly lit with candles. There were some paintings on the wall and a bookshelf. There were some herbs and ammunition for guns I didn't have, I decided to leave everything there. I was disappointed when I didn't find Claire in the room.
'She must be more further away then I thought,' I thought miserably. I was afraid about what might be happening to her now. I didn't want her to die after all we've been through together. I ran into a narrow corridor, decorated with more Ashford paintings. I ran through it when I felt something smash into my back. I went flying forward and landed face-first on the ground. I heard a familiar cry that I hoped I'd never have to hear again. I turned and saw another lizard monster staring at me with cold yellow eyes. Drool dripped down its mouth. It was very, very hungry.
I didn't want to fight it. It was the last enemy I wanted to fight right now. However, I wasn't going to be beat by it this time. It charged at me, lifting its clawed hand to strike me. I lifted the shotgun, just when it came close enough and fired. The monster shrieked in pain. Blood poured from its stomach. It looked shocked for a moment, then looked at me with sheer hatred. It leaped at me and I moved out of the way. Its claws scrapped against my shoulder, but it wasn't enough to actually wound me. It landed behind me and I turned around. I fired at it again, my own hatred growing for it with every shell I fired into it. I ran towards me, taking every shot. It seemed unstoppable.
'Does it ever die?!' I thought, frantically firing at it. It leaped at me just as I shot at it. I thought it was going to land on me and knock me down so it could have the advantage. That's when I saw it raising its claw. It was trying to finish me in one hit. I cried out and began firing at it in the air. It shrieked in pain as blood splattered against the wall and its body fell right on top of mine. It knocked me to the floor and I struggled to push it off before it could attack. Once I pushed it off me, I realized that it was dead. I wiped the sweat off my forehead and walked past it.
I was in an eerie prison area. It reminded me exactly of cell where they had kept me for so long, minus the zombies. I shuddered and tried to decide where to go.
"Claire? Can you hear me?!" I shouted as loud as I could. I didn't hear her respond and I began to worry. I needed to make a decision fast. I picked the door closest to me and entered.
I had a bad feeling about this place. It was just one long, dark corridor that was filled with creepy statues. I began walking down the corridor, and I felt like the statues were watching me the whole time. I quicken my pace and hurried to the end. Maybe I'd be able to find Claire or something of use. Unfortunately, when I reached the end, it was just a chair. An old stone chair. There were straps attached to it. I wasn't really surprised by it, after all I've seen.
'Claire isn't in here so you should just leave already,' I told myself. I turned around and ran. Dread and fear filled me when I suddenly saw the gate beginning to shut. If it went shut, I'd be trapped and Claire and I would be doomed.
'Run faster! RUN!' I screamed at myself. I ran as fast as I could possibly go. I was almost there. I was going to make it...
"Silly boy, do you really think I'm going to let you get away from me?" a female voice giggled. It was Alexia. I felt something hit me hard and I fell to the ground. I watched in horror as the gate shut closed. I was trapped inside. I turned around and saw Alexia standing right in front of me. I narrowed my eyes at her.
"Let me out," I growled. She only chuckled at me.
"Not yet, I still need you for some tests," she said.
"I'm not going to be one of your tests! Let me out so I can find Claire!" I yelled.
"Oh, that girlfriend of yours? Don't worry, she's already been taken care of," she smiled. Dread rose in my chest. Claire couldn't be...
"Relax, she's not dead...yet. I have big plans for the both of you," she said.
"What have you done with her?" I demanded.
"Well, let's just say she's in a rather sticky situation," Alexia said with a chuckle. I was furious. Alexia had trapped me in here, and now something was going to happen to Claire. I aimed the shotgun at her. She jumped back in surprise, then immediately relaxed.
"Now, now. Such a violent temper. I wouldn't do that if I were you," she said. I ignored her and pulled the trigger. Alexia was going to pay. I expected to hear some sort of cry of pain from her, but instead she easily dodged it. She looked at me with inhuman eyes. Alexia was a monster.
"That wasn't very nice of you," she hissed. I tried shooting her again, hoping to hit her. She leaped out of the way, and before I could fire again she punched me. I went flying and landed on my back. I struggled to stand, but in an instant she was at my side. She grabbed me and dragged me onto my feet.
"This is what you get for trying to interfere with my plans," she snarled. I felt another rush of pain before falling unconscious again. The last thing I saw was Alexia's smiling face.
I groggily woke up and felt cold metal against my skin. I was propped up in a chair, the same chair that I had seen at the end of the corridor. I went to get up and began to realize that I was fastened in. There was a large metal strap that fastened my arms to my sides and that there was another strap that bound my legs together. There was an axe pinning me in, as if someone was being extra careful that I wouldn't escape. Yay.
"Oh, are you awake already?" a cheerful voice asked. I groaned. Alexia was still here.
"Wh...what did you do to me?" I asked. I noticed she was holding a syringe in her hand.
"Oh, nothing yet, my dear," she purred. I fought against the restraints, but it was useless. I couldn't loosen them. I kept my eye on the syringe. There was some strange-colored liquid in it. She gently touched the tip of the needle and looked at me.
"What are you going to do with me, then?" I finally asked. I was afraid of the answer. Whatever she was going to do, it wouldn't be good.
"What am I going to do with you? I'm going to give you a better, more powerful form. You should be honored, this is the same experiment I had performed on my father years ago. I gave him the T-Veronica virus and now I'll give it to you," she said. My eyes widened. She experimented on her father? And now she was going to turn me into one of her experiments.
"Do not be afraid, you should be happy. I'm doing you a favor, you don't have the spend the rest of your life as a weak, pathetic human," she told me.
"I'd rather be a weak, pathetic human than a heartless monster!" I spat. She came closer to me and ran her finger down my cheek. I flinched away.
"Well, we'll see..." she said softly. She then stabbed the syringe into my arm and injected me with the T-Veronica virus. I screamed as the virus took effect. My chest felt like it was going to explode and I felt like I was choking. Everything hurt so badly for what seemed like hours. Soon the pain stopped and I slumped forward, breathing hard. I felt sick afterwards, like I did when I had the flu when I was little.
"I see it's working. I'll leave you for a little while," Alexia said. She left, but I couldn't lift my head to watch her leave. I had fought so hard to rid myself of the T-Virus, and now I was going to turn into a monster anyway. I had failed Claire, and myself. I didn't dwell on it much, for as sickness took over, I began falling in and out of conscious. I kept having strange dreams. Sometimes I'd be sitting at home with mom and dad, other times I'd be lying on the beach with Claire sitting on the beach saying how nice it was to finally be free. I must have been dreaming for a while, because I heard the gate being raised and footsteps coming toward me.
'Alexia,' I thought groggily. What did she want me with me now? Did she want to taunt me some more?
"Steve? Is that you?" It was Claire! I forced myself to look up, feeling very sick as I did.
"Claire?" I asked weakly. Claire was okay. I was glad. She ran over and pressed a button on the side of the wall. The straps around me came off. The only thing that kept me from falling onto the floor was the giant axe in the wall.
"Hold on, I'll get this off you," she said. Claire grabbed the axe and began pulling with all her strength. She kept trying until she realized it was too heavy for her to pull out.
"No! I can't do it! Who did this to you?!" she demanded. My body began to hurt again, but I forced myself to ignore it.
"That crazy woman told me she was going to perform some experiments on me like she did her father," I jerked from the pain, "she completely insane!"
"Steve? Are you alright?" Claire asked. She placed her hands on my shoulders. I screamed in pain and she jumped back in surprise. I felt like I was going to vomit, and the pain was far worse than before. Sweat dripped down my forehead.
"What's wrong?!" Claire asked. I gave her a desperate look. It felt like my lungs were closing up.
"Ahh...C-claire...help me! I...I can't...breathe..." I managed to choke out. I felt my bones cracking. My vision was blurry, but I could still make out Claire's panicked look.
"Help me! Claaaire!" I screamed. Everything went black and I felt my entire body beginning to reshape itself. Bones cracked and blood was dripping everywhere. My body was being made into a monster. I couldn't feel anything for a while. My memories were slipping away...
Help me, Claire...
When I was able to see, all I saw was red. Everything was a nice red color. I liked it. My body felt weird, but it was okay. It was powerful. The strange thing was that I couldn't remember anything. I saw a young human girl staring at me fearfully. Tears had formed in her eyes and she was screaming things at me. I didn't understand her. Her screaming was hurting my head. I didn't want her here, I hated her for being here.
'KILL! KILL HER!' my mind screamed. I wanted to see her bleed. I want to see her die on the floor covered in blood. The only thing keeping me from her was the axe embedded into the wall. I grabbed it and charged after her. She fled towards the closing gate. I swung the axe at her and she leaped away from it. The axe knocked into some statues, shattering them. I growled in rage and swung again, but my prey was too fast. She dove under the gate and it shut. She had escaped for now.
I smashed the axe into the gate over and over. I hated it for being there. It was keeping me from the girl. My urge for blood and death was too strong to let her get away alive. A tentacle suddenly broke through the wall in the room the girl was in. It knocked her back and before she could get up, it wrapped around her. It lifted her off the ground as she struggled to free herself. The tentacle was giving the girl to me. Overjoyed, I finally broke through the gate and started towards my prey. I lifted my axe and prepared the final blow. I looked at her before I struck her. She looked so familiar. There were faint images and voices flowing through my mind.
"Hey! Look what I found...err, thanks to you!"
"Be careful, Steve."
"It'll be okay, just rest for now,"
"I'll stay with you until you're strong enough to leave."
"After we're reunited, we'll put a stop to Umbrella."
I shook my head. These memories were so confusing. I roared and brought my axe down on the girl. She had stopped struggling and had leaned her head down, as if she was preparing to die.
"I swear I'll protect you next time, Claire..." my eyes widen. It was Claire. That girl who I wanted to kill so much was her. I remembered now. I had almost killed her. The axe stopped several inches away from her neck. She looked at me with confusion.
"Steve? Steve, do you remember me?," she asked. She cried out as the tentacle tighten its grip. It was going to crush her to death. Rage boiled inside me.
"Claaaairree..." I managed to growl. I sliced through the tentacle to free her. She fell to the ground and the tentacle oozed green liquid, but it wasn't finished yet. The tentacle slammed into me violently and I smashed into the wall. I felt ribs breaking, something pierced through my stomach, and horrible pain followed afterwards. I slid to the floor and I felt my body changing again. I was slowly becoming human again. The T-Veronica virus had lost. However, it had come with a cost. I was dying.
"Steve..." Claire walked up to me. Her voice sounded so quiet and meek. She crouched next to me and laid her hand on the wound on my stomach. Everything was slipping away from me. I gently took her hand and pressed it against my cheek. It was soft and warm.
"You're...warm..." I said. Claire's eyes began to tear. I didn't want to die and leave her like this.
"Steve, c'mon...you've got to hang in there, okay? My brother has come to save us, we're getting out of here!" she said desperately, as if those words would keep me alive until her brother came. I forced myself to smile.
"You're...brother...kept his promise...I'm sorry, I cannot..." it was getting more difficult to speak. My vision was beginning to fade away.
"What...? What are you saying?" she asked. It was far too late to explain. I had one last thing to say. I looked her in the eyes. This is goodbye, Claire Redfield...
"I'm...glad that I met you..." I said, then sighed, "I...I love you...Claire," I managed to get out. As everything began to fade, I knew my time was up. I was so happy that I had been able to say it. My eyes closed.
"Steve...?" Claire said, she pulled me closer to her.
I'm so sorry, Claire...
"Steve!"
Good...bye...
"PLEASE DON'T GO!"
....
'She must be more further away then I thought,' I thought miserably. I was afraid about what might be happening to her now. I didn't want her to die after all we've been through together. I ran into a narrow corridor, decorated with more Ashford paintings. I ran through it when I felt something smash into my back. I went flying forward and landed face-first on the ground. I heard a familiar cry that I hoped I'd never have to hear again. I turned and saw another lizard monster staring at me with cold yellow eyes. Drool dripped down its mouth. It was very, very hungry.
I didn't want to fight it. It was the last enemy I wanted to fight right now. However, I wasn't going to be beat by it this time. It charged at me, lifting its clawed hand to strike me. I lifted the shotgun, just when it came close enough and fired. The monster shrieked in pain. Blood poured from its stomach. It looked shocked for a moment, then looked at me with sheer hatred. It leaped at me and I moved out of the way. Its claws scrapped against my shoulder, but it wasn't enough to actually wound me. It landed behind me and I turned around. I fired at it again, my own hatred growing for it with every shell I fired into it. I ran towards me, taking every shot. It seemed unstoppable.
'Does it ever die?!' I thought, frantically firing at it. It leaped at me just as I shot at it. I thought it was going to land on me and knock me down so it could have the advantage. That's when I saw it raising its claw. It was trying to finish me in one hit. I cried out and began firing at it in the air. It shrieked in pain as blood splattered against the wall and its body fell right on top of mine. It knocked me to the floor and I struggled to push it off before it could attack. Once I pushed it off me, I realized that it was dead. I wiped the sweat off my forehead and walked past it.
I was in an eerie prison area. It reminded me exactly of cell where they had kept me for so long, minus the zombies. I shuddered and tried to decide where to go.
"Claire? Can you hear me?!" I shouted as loud as I could. I didn't hear her respond and I began to worry. I needed to make a decision fast. I picked the door closest to me and entered.
I had a bad feeling about this place. It was just one long, dark corridor that was filled with creepy statues. I began walking down the corridor, and I felt like the statues were watching me the whole time. I quicken my pace and hurried to the end. Maybe I'd be able to find Claire or something of use. Unfortunately, when I reached the end, it was just a chair. An old stone chair. There were straps attached to it. I wasn't really surprised by it, after all I've seen.
'Claire isn't in here so you should just leave already,' I told myself. I turned around and ran. Dread and fear filled me when I suddenly saw the gate beginning to shut. If it went shut, I'd be trapped and Claire and I would be doomed.
'Run faster! RUN!' I screamed at myself. I ran as fast as I could possibly go. I was almost there. I was going to make it...
"Silly boy, do you really think I'm going to let you get away from me?" a female voice giggled. It was Alexia. I felt something hit me hard and I fell to the ground. I watched in horror as the gate shut closed. I was trapped inside. I turned around and saw Alexia standing right in front of me. I narrowed my eyes at her.
"Let me out," I growled. She only chuckled at me.
"Not yet, I still need you for some tests," she said.
"I'm not going to be one of your tests! Let me out so I can find Claire!" I yelled.
"Oh, that girlfriend of yours? Don't worry, she's already been taken care of," she smiled. Dread rose in my chest. Claire couldn't be...
"Relax, she's not dead...yet. I have big plans for the both of you," she said.
"What have you done with her?" I demanded.
"Well, let's just say she's in a rather sticky situation," Alexia said with a chuckle. I was furious. Alexia had trapped me in here, and now something was going to happen to Claire. I aimed the shotgun at her. She jumped back in surprise, then immediately relaxed.
"Now, now. Such a violent temper. I wouldn't do that if I were you," she said. I ignored her and pulled the trigger. Alexia was going to pay. I expected to hear some sort of cry of pain from her, but instead she easily dodged it. She looked at me with inhuman eyes. Alexia was a monster.
"That wasn't very nice of you," she hissed. I tried shooting her again, hoping to hit her. She leaped out of the way, and before I could fire again she punched me. I went flying and landed on my back. I struggled to stand, but in an instant she was at my side. She grabbed me and dragged me onto my feet.
"This is what you get for trying to interfere with my plans," she snarled. I felt another rush of pain before falling unconscious again. The last thing I saw was Alexia's smiling face.
I groggily woke up and felt cold metal against my skin. I was propped up in a chair, the same chair that I had seen at the end of the corridor. I went to get up and began to realize that I was fastened in. There was a large metal strap that fastened my arms to my sides and that there was another strap that bound my legs together. There was an axe pinning me in, as if someone was being extra careful that I wouldn't escape. Yay.
"Oh, are you awake already?" a cheerful voice asked. I groaned. Alexia was still here.
"Wh...what did you do to me?" I asked. I noticed she was holding a syringe in her hand.
"Oh, nothing yet, my dear," she purred. I fought against the restraints, but it was useless. I couldn't loosen them. I kept my eye on the syringe. There was some strange-colored liquid in it. She gently touched the tip of the needle and looked at me.
"What are you going to do with me, then?" I finally asked. I was afraid of the answer. Whatever she was going to do, it wouldn't be good.
"What am I going to do with you? I'm going to give you a better, more powerful form. You should be honored, this is the same experiment I had performed on my father years ago. I gave him the T-Veronica virus and now I'll give it to you," she said. My eyes widened. She experimented on her father? And now she was going to turn me into one of her experiments.
"Do not be afraid, you should be happy. I'm doing you a favor, you don't have the spend the rest of your life as a weak, pathetic human," she told me.
"I'd rather be a weak, pathetic human than a heartless monster!" I spat. She came closer to me and ran her finger down my cheek. I flinched away.
"Well, we'll see..." she said softly. She then stabbed the syringe into my arm and injected me with the T-Veronica virus. I screamed as the virus took effect. My chest felt like it was going to explode and I felt like I was choking. Everything hurt so badly for what seemed like hours. Soon the pain stopped and I slumped forward, breathing hard. I felt sick afterwards, like I did when I had the flu when I was little.
"I see it's working. I'll leave you for a little while," Alexia said. She left, but I couldn't lift my head to watch her leave. I had fought so hard to rid myself of the T-Virus, and now I was going to turn into a monster anyway. I had failed Claire, and myself. I didn't dwell on it much, for as sickness took over, I began falling in and out of conscious. I kept having strange dreams. Sometimes I'd be sitting at home with mom and dad, other times I'd be lying on the beach with Claire sitting on the beach saying how nice it was to finally be free. I must have been dreaming for a while, because I heard the gate being raised and footsteps coming toward me.
'Alexia,' I thought groggily. What did she want me with me now? Did she want to taunt me some more?
"Steve? Is that you?" It was Claire! I forced myself to look up, feeling very sick as I did.
"Claire?" I asked weakly. Claire was okay. I was glad. She ran over and pressed a button on the side of the wall. The straps around me came off. The only thing that kept me from falling onto the floor was the giant axe in the wall.
"Hold on, I'll get this off you," she said. Claire grabbed the axe and began pulling with all her strength. She kept trying until she realized it was too heavy for her to pull out.
"No! I can't do it! Who did this to you?!" she demanded. My body began to hurt again, but I forced myself to ignore it.
"That crazy woman told me she was going to perform some experiments on me like she did her father," I jerked from the pain, "she completely insane!"
"Steve? Are you alright?" Claire asked. She placed her hands on my shoulders. I screamed in pain and she jumped back in surprise. I felt like I was going to vomit, and the pain was far worse than before. Sweat dripped down my forehead.
"What's wrong?!" Claire asked. I gave her a desperate look. It felt like my lungs were closing up.
"Ahh...C-claire...help me! I...I can't...breathe..." I managed to choke out. I felt my bones cracking. My vision was blurry, but I could still make out Claire's panicked look.
"Help me! Claaaire!" I screamed. Everything went black and I felt my entire body beginning to reshape itself. Bones cracked and blood was dripping everywhere. My body was being made into a monster. I couldn't feel anything for a while. My memories were slipping away...
Help me, Claire...
When I was able to see, all I saw was red. Everything was a nice red color. I liked it. My body felt weird, but it was okay. It was powerful. The strange thing was that I couldn't remember anything. I saw a young human girl staring at me fearfully. Tears had formed in her eyes and she was screaming things at me. I didn't understand her. Her screaming was hurting my head. I didn't want her here, I hated her for being here.
'KILL! KILL HER!' my mind screamed. I wanted to see her bleed. I want to see her die on the floor covered in blood. The only thing keeping me from her was the axe embedded into the wall. I grabbed it and charged after her. She fled towards the closing gate. I swung the axe at her and she leaped away from it. The axe knocked into some statues, shattering them. I growled in rage and swung again, but my prey was too fast. She dove under the gate and it shut. She had escaped for now.
I smashed the axe into the gate over and over. I hated it for being there. It was keeping me from the girl. My urge for blood and death was too strong to let her get away alive. A tentacle suddenly broke through the wall in the room the girl was in. It knocked her back and before she could get up, it wrapped around her. It lifted her off the ground as she struggled to free herself. The tentacle was giving the girl to me. Overjoyed, I finally broke through the gate and started towards my prey. I lifted my axe and prepared the final blow. I looked at her before I struck her. She looked so familiar. There were faint images and voices flowing through my mind.
"Hey! Look what I found...err, thanks to you!"
"Be careful, Steve."
"It'll be okay, just rest for now,"
"I'll stay with you until you're strong enough to leave."
"After we're reunited, we'll put a stop to Umbrella."
I shook my head. These memories were so confusing. I roared and brought my axe down on the girl. She had stopped struggling and had leaned her head down, as if she was preparing to die.
"I swear I'll protect you next time, Claire..." my eyes widen. It was Claire. That girl who I wanted to kill so much was her. I remembered now. I had almost killed her. The axe stopped several inches away from her neck. She looked at me with confusion.
"Steve? Steve, do you remember me?," she asked. She cried out as the tentacle tighten its grip. It was going to crush her to death. Rage boiled inside me.
"Claaaairree..." I managed to growl. I sliced through the tentacle to free her. She fell to the ground and the tentacle oozed green liquid, but it wasn't finished yet. The tentacle slammed into me violently and I smashed into the wall. I felt ribs breaking, something pierced through my stomach, and horrible pain followed afterwards. I slid to the floor and I felt my body changing again. I was slowly becoming human again. The T-Veronica virus had lost. However, it had come with a cost. I was dying.
"Steve..." Claire walked up to me. Her voice sounded so quiet and meek. She crouched next to me and laid her hand on the wound on my stomach. Everything was slipping away from me. I gently took her hand and pressed it against my cheek. It was soft and warm.
"You're...warm..." I said. Claire's eyes began to tear. I didn't want to die and leave her like this.
"Steve, c'mon...you've got to hang in there, okay? My brother has come to save us, we're getting out of here!" she said desperately, as if those words would keep me alive until her brother came. I forced myself to smile.
"You're...brother...kept his promise...I'm sorry, I cannot..." it was getting more difficult to speak. My vision was beginning to fade away.
"What...? What are you saying?" she asked. It was far too late to explain. I had one last thing to say. I looked her in the eyes. This is goodbye, Claire Redfield...
"I'm...glad that I met you..." I said, then sighed, "I...I love you...Claire," I managed to get out. As everything began to fade, I knew my time was up. I was so happy that I had been able to say it. My eyes closed.
"Steve...?" Claire said, she pulled me closer to her.
I'm so sorry, Claire...
"Steve!"
Good...bye...
"PLEASE DON'T GO!"
....