Author's note: Sorry again for the lack of updates. Finals week. Horrible, horrible Botany. Exegetical study. Can't think straight.
Visions: Don't worry about it Molotov. Reviews aren't really that important, just as long as I receive the notion that there are people reading, I'll go on.
Molotov: That's okay.
Chaotic Chaos: Oo nga e, pano ko kaya naisipan mag-update? Ikaw, mag-update ka na rin, inspired ka naman diba? : D
Frenchy: That's because I had people spy on you around the clock. Be very afraid.
Chapter 7: "Journey to Stoneville"
Leon entered their room, leaving a trail of water as he did. He looked around, seeing everything in complete order, no open books, no untidy folds, it was as if no one has ever used the room. "God, where could she be? Did she leave? No, please not." He thought as he slowly trudged to inspect the room further. Something told him that he'd find the answer in that room, most probably because the others never held any significance for Rachel, or at least she said, not unless he was there with her. Something permeated the very being of Leon, something that he wished he'd never have felt. It was the fear of losing Rachel. He knew the feeling all too well because he felt it once with Claire.
His eyes trailed the bed, next the floor, then left, up to the mirror where Rachel always fixed herself. A small piece of paper, most probably from a small notepad, was stuck on the reflective surface. The only other thing in that room, the paper screamed at him to come over. It was Leon's natural instinct to practically sprint over to the piece of paper and pull it off of the glass. His fingers moistened the edges, and his hands were shaking as his eyes adjusted to the handwriting of Rachel. Small patches of shriveled areas were by the middle of the paper, products of Rachel's tears as she wrote. No, he didn't want to read what was written. He wanted to take the paper and blow it up with a shotgun. Unfortunately for him, he had too.
"Leon,
I'm so sorry. I really shouldn't have brought it up. I know how much you hate it when I begin to pry, and I can't justify what I did, but it's just that I had to find out. I can't have a future where I'd spend every waking moment in doubt, if my husband truly loves me. I know, I'm selfish, aren't I? I must be the most horrible person in the world if I managed to hurt the kindest person there is. I don't really know what you're thinking if you read this. Maybe you're happy. Maybe you're glad that I'm out of your life, and you won't have nagging old Rachel to stop you from pursuing your true love. Right? I know that I could never amount to what she was to you. I know I'm not special in anyway, and I am so sorry for being a burden in your life. God knows how much you've put up with me. I saw it in your eyes. I felt it in your touch. You're still looking. You still want something more, more than I could ever hope to give you. I'm so sorry that I couldn't be the woman for you. Just remember, that I still love you. Always.
Rachel"
At first, Leon's heart didn't beat. The words, marked so richly in red, seemed to dance and scream around him, retelling the message over and over. It took a few seconds before Leon felt like something rose deep within his chest, like a wave of vomit that didn't each past his throat. He breathed heavily, unknowingly crumpling the paper in his hand. "No." He looked at the mirror. "No!" he screamed at the top of his lungs as he punched through the glass. "No!!" He slammed his fists against the cabinet by him, nearly breaking through the panel. "No!!!" he grabbed the small chair by what was once Rachel's mirror, and hurled it across the room, making a sickening, cracking sound as its leg broke off of the wall.
Leon didn't want to admit it, he never did, but deep inside, he knew that those allegations were true. His anger was a reflection of both his hurt, and his self-pity. It hurt so much because after all these years, he never did change, and now, another person, innocent, was pulled into his hole of self-depreciation. He knelt on the floor and rested his arms and head on the bed. Leon wanted to tear open the sheets and upturn the bed, but all his strength suddenly disappeared the moment he began to cry. He could not remember the last time he cried. Not when he realized what nightmare he fell into when he rode into Raccoon city, not even when he left Claire and the rest.
Rachel didn't want to go to her parents. She didn't want them to tell her that sorry and that maybe he really wasn't the one for her. Rachel kept her cellular off, since she knew that it was the first way that Leon would always try to contact her. The breath of life seemed to escape her each move. With a trembling hand, she knocked on the front door of Emily's house. It took awhile before the young woman answered the door, wearing a pink sweater as well as a pair of cream slacks.
"What are you doing here?" was the initial question.
"…I just need somewhere to rest for the night. Would you…"
"Of course, here, come in."
The courtroom was filled with silence, as the final verdict was passed. "Sherry Birkin is to be taken care of by her immediate family, Aaron and Helen Hamilton." Ordered the jury representative. "Visitation hours from Claire Redfield would be restricted to Tuesdays and Thursdays, and only within nine in the morning, to five in the afternoon." It wasn't a grand courtroom; it was small, dark, and antiquated. The only people present were the jury, the judge, Claire, Sherry, the Hamiltons and both parties' respective attorneys. "Listen Sherry, I knew that…we really had no chance of winning this. I can't give you anything, not even a home. It was selfish of me to try and keep you here…and I'm sorry. I never should have kept you away from the life that you deserve."
Claire's eyes were kept on the floor. She dreaded this day, but at the same time, knew that she couldn't really do anything about it. Aaron and Helena shouted in gaiety, embracing each other as their sincere cry of joy permeated the walls. "You're going to have a future now. Away from the rat-infested hellhole that I've dug for the both of us. I guess that maybe, I am destined to be alone."
The judge looked down on Claire, mouthing the word sorry. She was a middle-aged, African American woman, who already saw too much heartbreak in her lifetime. Claire wore an orange, sleeveless flannel shirt and a black blouse. On the other side, the Hamiltons each wore a blue top, with Aaron wearing cream slacks while Helena wore a blouse of the same color. "Sherry, the truth is…I've always kept you with me because I was afraid of it. I was afraid of not being able to be with somebody I care about. I've already lost two…and you're the last remnant of the memories that I shared with one of them."
"It's okay Claire. It's not your fault." Whispered Sherry as she held her protector's hand.
"I'm…so sorry." Whispered the elder woman, then slowly kneeling down and pulling the child into her embrace. It was going to be that way. Flashbacks of the times that the two girls held flashed in Claire's mind as she held Sherry tightly. Helen and Aaron stopped their celebration, watching the two share the moment. Aaron took a deep breath and walked toward the girls.
"Sherry." He called to her in a whisper, placing his hand on the back of her shoulder. Claire lifted her face so that she could look up to stare at Aaron in the eye. "…Take care of her." She told him, half in a plea, and the other in an almost threatening tone.
Aaron simply nodded at her, and with that, Claire let Sherry go. "They're going to give you a better life than I could." Claire told the girl as she began to step away. Amazing how so many things could happen in just one day. That morning, she and Sherry were thrown out of the complex, and just now, hours later, Sherry is taken away from her. "I needed you, more than you needed me…and I am so sorry. I am so sorry for using you like that…and having to drag you here with me. It was so unfair for you. You have so much to live for…you still have so much…" Claire remembered uttering those words to Sherry just before the trial, or what could have been called a trial, started. Sherry stood silent all the time, very much aware of the fate that was dealt to them. A lunatic with a mutated arm couldn't do anything to tear the away from each other, and with that they thought they were strong. It only took a pen, paper, and a room full of people, to do what a city filled with the undead couldn't.
Sherry was led out of the room, all the while keeping her eyes on Claire, who stood still. Grief was imminent in her eyes. Helena slowly approached her, awkwardly at the very least. "Claire?" she asked in a soft voice. "…I can see that you care very much for her…and…trust us. We…won't do anything to harm her. We'll…"
"Get the hell away from me." Claire scornfully chided, gathering her belongings and marching away.
Emily handed Rachel a cup of tea. "You…left him?" she asked her. Rachel looked down on the carpeted floor, still as melancholic as she was hours before. "No…I…really don't know what I'm doing." She replied in a soft voice, uncharacteristic of her strong nature. "I had a really hard time keeping him out of this house. Didn't believe that I haven't seen you at all."
"He's…so stubborn like that…isn't he?" Rachel asked, her eyes wandering away as if reminiscing something from the past.
"You know, you can't go on like this."
"…I know."
"Are you going to look for her?"
"…And if I find her? What the hell do I do?" she asked, her voice suddenly becoming sterner. "I can't just…walk up to somebody and tell her to stay the hell away from my fiancée's mind."
"…"
"This is just so…frustrating. It's like…so much like what happened with James."
'Tell me about it."
"I just hope that history won't repeat itself. I don't want anymore heartbreaks."
"…"
"You know, mom and dad warned me about Leon. They said that…they saw too much of James in him."
"…"
"I said that…I trusted Leon, that he made me actually believe that there's such as thing as love…and said that…he won't be like James."
"…"
"And I was right. Even when I messed up with something, or when I…accidentally put shrimp in the food and practically poisoned him…he never got angry."
"…"
"He never beat me, like James did."
"…"
"And now…the thought of losing him, the thought of losing this wonderful person to a girl that's…I don't know, prettier, smarter and stronger than I am…it's tearing me apart." She said, her voice becoming smaller.
"But…I thought you trust him."
"I do. I trust him…and I know him. Enough to know for sure that…he'll go looking for her. And that he'll leave me."
"…"
"It's just that…I feel as if this is what everyone wants. I feel like there's an invisible mob of people rooting for Leon and Claire to get back in each other's arms…it's a bigger picture…it's…the better fairytale, much better than mine."
"…"
"I'll never win, Emily. I'm doomed to be alone. No one will ever love me because everyone else is…so much better than me."
"She's gone back…" Emily thought sadly, referring to the days when Rachel was held under the fist of a drunken man who was once the knight that saved her from the dark.
Leon turned the key to his black, four-seater Audi tap-down, a gift to him from a wealthy family that he saved from a group of lunatics that stalked them. He looked back, trailing his eyes over the now dark, lifeless home that he and Rachel bought together. The key was left under the welcome mat, the place that he knew where Rachel would look first. He didn't know what it was he would say the moment he finds Claire. He didn't know what he would feel. Would he be angry with her, for single-handedly destroying the foundation that he and Rachel had built through love? Would he throw his arms around her, and never let her go, afraid of the years that she'd be away from his life? "I am seriously about to throw my world into a whirlpool of shit."
With a doubtful heart, he left the driveway, and sped away; trying his best not to think of the moments he shared with both women. Trying not to think of what's possibly going through their minds, or what's tearing each other apart. "Room 204 Blue Creek Apartment…" The address stuck in his head, it was the only thing he really wanted to think of right now. He knew for a fact that Rachel was staying with Emily. All his years as a police officer taught him how to see underneath a person. The problem was that he couldn't see underneath himself. Common with most people who took a psychology course.
The wind blew through Leon's hair as he rode. His wore a long-sleeved black shirt, and a pair of cream slacks. He really didn't know what it was he was doing as he sped off into the horizon. A soft song from the band 'Stephen Speaks' was playing over the radio, with the breath-like tones reaching deep into the police officer. "What'll it feel like when she…opens her eyes… and will she see… just what I see? Will it be a surprise to find… that she hasn't changed… her eyes are just a little bit wider now…she's getting ready…will she be soft, will she be strong? Would she be ready to be wrong? Would she move to fast, or wait to slow, will she look me in the eye…what'll she look like?" Leon increased the volume, letting the lyrics settle in. He heard the song before, and it was one of his favorites. It didn't hit him how much meaning it held that moment. A part of his life was sealed in Claire's and he knew that he would never be complete without getting some answers. He didn't know what she'd look like, how it would feel, but he had to try, as frightening it was to him as it may sound.
"…I still think you should go." Emily told Rachel.
"…"
"You just have to find out if she still loves him. That's all."
"And if she doesn't? Is that supposed to make me any happier?"
"…"
"She loves him, Emily, I know it."
"…"
"He knows it."
"Rachel, you can't just let this girl take him away from you!"
"Well, what should I do? I can't go there and murder the woman."
"…"
"Rachel, you know that he's headed there. You know that he may not ever return."
"…"
"If you sit there, and just cry and moan, about how bad things are, then that's how they are going to be, unless you stand up, and do something about it."
Author's note: Hey, wish me luck on my coming report. I have to present a comparative study on the two accounts of creation dictated in the Book of Genesis. Major malfunction here. Well, hope you enjoyed. If anyone's still there that is.