Author's Note: Hiya! Sorry for the delay. This chapter sort of explains what happened during the eight months after "Countdown to Freedom", and there's a new character that was mentioned earlier in the story! So, enjoy!

Chris sat at the table with his head buried in his hands. He knew he couldn't trust Wesker. There had to be some reason he wanted him to go to that mansion. He didn't think Wesker was doing this out of the kindness of his heart.

'Claire...why did you have to run off?' Chris thought. She should have told him. They could have gone together to save her friend. He knew Claire was strong, but he was still her brother, and it was his job to worry about her safety.

'Then I need to get out there and find her. I'll have to pack weapons and supplies, but what should I do about Sherry?' The little girl was asleep in her room. He tried to think of someone who could stay with her while he was gone. It was too risky to leave her alone. The only person she really trusted was Claire...

'What about Leon? She knows him, right?' Chris picked up the phone and dialed Leon's number. As the phone rang, he silently prayed that he was home.

"Hello? Who is this?" a groggy voice asked.

"Leon?" Chris asked.

"Chris? Why are you calling so late? Has something happened?" he asked. Chris hesitated about telling him. He knew Claire was a good friend of his, and that he'd want to go if she was in danger. And Leon was the type of guy who hated to sit around while someone else was in danger.

"Yeah. Something important has come up and I have to leave, but I can't leave Sherry alone," Chris said.

"Does it have to do with Claire?" Leon asked. Chris sighed, he couldn't lie now.

"Yeah...she's run off, and I'm afraid that she's in danger. I'm going after her," Chris explained.

"Let me help you, then. It'd be safer to-"

"No, I need you to watch Sherry for me," Chris interrupted. He felt bad about making Leon play baby-sitter while someone he knew was in danger, but Sherry wouldn't feel safe around anyone else and he knew he could trust Leon with keeping Sherry safe.



"But I-"

"Please, Leon. You know I can't leave her alone," Chris said. He heard a sigh from the other end of the line.

"Okay, I'll be over there as soon as I can," Leon said.

"Thanks, you don't know how much I appreciate this, and I will bring her back safely. I promise," Chris said. There was a click on the other end of the line, and Chris sat the phone down, rubbing his forehead.

"This is going to be a long night," he muttered.

"Chris?" a small, child-like voice spoke. Chris turned his head to see Sherry standing at the bottom of the stairs. She was dressed in her light-pink pajamas. She looked sleepy. Chris wondered how to tell her about Claire's absence without alarming her. Ever since Rockfort, Sherry had always been worried that Claire would suddenly leave and not come back. Chris guessed it was because of the scarring memories she had when she was taken by Umbrella.

When Leon had first brought her back, she didn't speak to anyone-not even Claire-and stayed close to him as if Umbrella would snatch her back the moment she left his side. Her physical appearance was horrid. Sherry looked pale and sickly, and had some scars across her belly. She kept having nightmares, and often woke up screaming and sobbing until someone came to comfort her. She eventually recovered, and the nightmares seemed to stop, but she refused to tell anyone what had happened to her. Leon seemed to know something about it, but he wouldn't tell anyone either. It was their secret.

The uncomfortable silence between Chris and Sherry ended when the little girl looked around and asked the one question Chris wished he didn't have to answer.

"Where's Claire?" she asked innocently.

"Claire...left to do something. I'm going to go bring her back, okay?" Chris said in a gentle tone. A tone he wasn't used to using, but he was trying the best he could.

"You're going to leave me alone again?" she asked fearfully. Chris quickly shook his head.

"No. Leon's coming over soon. You'll be safe, I promise," Chris said, silently hoping that she would be safe. Sherry's eyes immediately lit up.

"Leon's coming?" she asked, sounding happy. Chris nodded.

"Can I...stay up until he comes?" she asked. Chris couldn't help but smile.

"All right, kiddo, but go straight to bed after he arrives, okay?" Chris said. Sherry nodded, and Chris felt a little better about leaving Sherry with Leon. Now he just had to wait until Leon arrived.

The minutes ticked by with agonizing slowness. To Chris, it seemed like hours had passed. Chris talked to Sherry to keep his mind occupied, but he couldn't stop thinking about Claire. The more time he wasted, the more Claire's life was at risk. He was upset with her that she had run off without telling him, but he knew she was doing it to protect him.

"Leon's here!" Sherry's excited voice snapped Chris out of his thoughts. His front door opened and Leon stepped inside. He was greeted by Sherry, who wrapped her arms around his waist in a tight hug.

"I'm glad to see you too, Sherry," he smiled. He looked up at Chris and the smile faded.

"I brought some weapons for the both of us," Leon said.

"Thanks. Take good care of Sherry," Chris replied.

"Don't worry, I won't let them take her again," he said protectively. Chris nodded and went to go pack everything he would need for the mission. He had no idea what was in store for him, but he'd risk everything to get Claire back.

'Claire, just hang on until I get there,' he thought to himself.

Steve was lost in thought. He knew he should be paying attention to his surroundings, but he kept thinking about the events that had happened after his "revival". It was like he was thrown into the middle of some horror story. He felt like he was relieving Rockfort all over again, except this time there were no Umbrella soldiers bursting into his house, killing his mother...

'Shut up,' he told himself. Claire had found him too. She had thrown herself into a death trap just to find him, and it certainly saved him the trouble of finding her himself. Steve felt a mix of emotions. Did she really care about him?

Steve came to a stop as he entered a room.

"Oh man..."

There were two paths for him to take, and neither path looked better then the other. A blood-covered staircase was to his left, and right beside it was a rotting wood door.

'Maybe I should finish exploring the first floor,' Steve thought. He grabbed the rusty doorknob and turned it, but it was locked. Frustrated, he rammed his shoulder into the door. He was so sick of all the locked doors. He couldn't help but feel as if he were being led somewhere by some unknown force. Like something was trying to control him, and he hated it.

He felt something small and light fall onto his head and into his hair. It wriggled about as he frantically brushed it off, his fingers touched something wet and slimly as he pulled it off him. He threw it to the ground, where he was able to get a good look at it.

"Oh sick..." he muttered. On the ground was a wriggling, slimly maggot. It was about the size of a baseball and it looked like something had been eating away at it. He brought his foot down on it, and with a sickening crunch the maggot was nothing more than a pile of green ooze. For once he was glad that Claire wasn't around, because if he threw up, he certainly didn't want Claire to see it.

He heard a disgusting noise above him. Steve looked up to see that this rotting door was home to several huge decaying maggots. The crawled in and out of the holes in the door, leaving trails of green slime.

Repulsed, he ran up the staircase, trying hard to ignore the blood on the stairs. As he reached the top of the stairs, he heard a faint sound. It sounded like it could have came from anywhere. He walked down a long hallway, past the row of doors. There was an opened door at the far end. His pace quickened, anxious to get through that door.

A loud noise from one of the rooms made him jump. It was the sound of someone banging on piano keys. The horrible banging stopped, and was replaced by a smooth, beautiful, and melancholy sound. Steve didn't have a lot of musical knowledge, but he guessed it was some sort of classical piece.

'Who would be playing music in a place like this?' Steve wondered. Without hesitating, he shoved open the door and pointed his shotgun at the mysterious piano player. The piano player was indeed a man, dressed in a dark suit. He had long, raven black hair that seemed to shine in the dim light. He continued to play, either unaware or not caring that he was being held at gunpoint. For a few minutes, the only sound that could be heard was soft composition that the piano player was engrossed in. As the music continued, the piano player finally spoke.

"What do you think of this place? Such beauty, isn't it?" he said in a deep, calm tone. Steve looked around. The room was decorated with green carpeting and there were candles everywhere. There were paintings of a little girl all over the room, in each painting she was doing something different. Always happy and smiling.

"This is one of my favorite rooms," he spoke, "Here, I'm always surrounding by the things I love most."

"Who are you?" Steve demanded. He kept his shotgun trained on the man. No normal guy would be sitting in a mansion full of monster, playing the piano and commenting on the mansion's decor. The piano player stopped playing and turned to look at Steve. His eyes were a dark blue and partially hidden by his long bangs. His face was very pale and serious-looking. Steve assumed he was in his late thirties. He looked very frail, like he had never lifted a weight in his life. A smile appeared on his face.

"You may call me Cornelius," he said calmly, "and welcome to my home."